I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 568: The Way of Enlightenment
When Liu Bian received the memorials from He Miao and Dong Zhong, he was summoning Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song and other important ministers to discuss military and national affairs such as matters related to Shuofang County and Beidi County.

Because the memorials of the two were of great importance, and the head of the Secretariat, Huangfu Song, and his deputy Xun Yu, were both in the Yuntai Palace, the ministers did not dare to act on their own and sent them to the Yuntai Palace as soon as possible.

To be honest, although Liu Bian had already made plans to stop fighting and pacify the people, the troops of the two generals were not among the troops he wanted to reduce first. Moreover, although he had also thought that the Han Dynasty still needed two generals from foreign relatives, the answer was that it didn't matter whether there were any or not, but he didn't think of dismissing the two generals from their positions immediately.

Of course, the most important reason is that He Miao is not the kind of domineering relative. He himself is not that kind of person because of his special upbringing. As for Dong Zhong, he wants to be domineering, but he doesn't have the capital.

However, Liu Bian still felt warmed by the fact that He Miao and Dong Chong took the initiative to write a letter of resignation.

After all, he is a relative. Although his ability is a little limited, he knows how to share his worries.

After putting the two people's memorials aside, Liu Bian said to Zhu Jun and others: "Just now we talked about re-cultivating the Shuofang County. There are many difficulties. Rebuilding water conservancy, relocating people, and sending soldiers to guard, it requires a lot of manpower. In addition, after many years of farming, the water and soil in Shuofang have changed, and it is not suitable to reclaim more arable land. Can we migrate the Xiongnu people who can speak Chinese and know etiquette to this place and register them as farmers?"

Liu Bian also remembered that Hetao was indeed located in the northwest. Like the four counties in Hexi, agriculture was entirely dependent on irrigation. Once overdeveloped, it would easily cause land desertification. The existence of the Yellow River made the central desertification of this loess plateau even more harmful.

Huangfu Song bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the mobility of people on the grassland is complicated, especially the herders, who have to migrate frequently. Even if we really compiled the household registers when Shuofang County was first established, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to collect taxes."

Liu Bian vaguely remembered that there was a method of storing fodder called silage, but he didn't know how to do it specifically.

He only asked, "I heard that on the grassland, grass is collected and stored in autumn. In this case, can we designate grazing areas for each household, improve their way of storing grass, and reduce their mobility?"

Huangfu Song replied: "The grass they store for the winter is mostly hay, otherwise it will rot easily."

"As for households...there are many natural disasters on the grassland. It would be difficult for a single household to resist."

After hearing what Huangfu Song said, Liu Bian realized that he was a little anxious to recover his homeland, so he could only return to the helpless choice at the beginning: "Use the name of a county, but act as a vassal state."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song and others bowed in unison.

But it was impossible to make Liu Bian accept the current situation. He finally had the opportunity to take Hetao back into his hands, so how could Liu Bian be willing to just have nominal control?
He said: "In the past few years, the court has promoted education among the Qiang and Xiongnu people, so that they can understand etiquette and shame, and thus Liangzhou and Bingzhou are now stable. However, most of those who have been educated are farmers. For example, among the Xiongnu people, there are also nobles from various tribes who have been educated. Most of them accept education and learn etiquette in order to become officials."

"Now, I want to go one step further!"

"The Southern Xiongnu have been vassal states for many years. Their tribes are also my people. Naturally, we must teach them to be polite, righteous, and honest."

Liu Bian announced to his important officials his ambitions for the future of the Huns, believing that the nomadic Huns should not be excluded from the scope of education.

Education has never been an easy task, and it is not something that can be accomplished by simply sending a few people from the court. The important officials present naturally understood this truth.

You and I started discussing.

In the end, they came to the conclusion that the policy for the Xiongnu should be implemented from top to bottom - as long as the Xiongnu nobles were determined to serve as Han officials, then those nomadic herders would follow suit and there would be no doubt that they would have such ideas.

Liu Bian finally added: "In addition to the Confucian classics, Zhang Lu's Five Pecks of Rice Sect and even Buddhism introduced during the reign of Emperor Yuan can all be tried in Bingzhou... Although their ideas are different from Confucianism, they are always better than the witchcraft of the Xiongnu people themselves."

After hearing this, the ministers who came from Confucian backgrounds felt a little bored, but no one thought that these two could compare with the educational power of Confucianism, so no one objected.

As the emperor said, any impact would be better than the Huns continuing to maintain their traditions.

After discussing this matter, we quickly moved on to the next topic.

As the saying goes, big events are handled in small meetings. The efficiency of handling affairs in the Yuntai Hall is much faster than in court meetings.

Taiwei Zhu Jun said: "After withdrawing troops from the Western Regions, we must leave troops stationed there, otherwise the Western Regions countries may think that the Han Dynasty is withdrawing from the Western Regions. Although Xianbei Mohou has been defeated, there are still powerful countries in the Western Regions. We must not let Wusun and other countries take advantage of the opportunity to occupy them."

"I think the garrison in the Western Regions should be divided into two parts, the northern and southern parts. The northern part will be stationed in Liuzhong and other cities, and the two parts in front and behind the Cheshi Kingdom. The southern part can be stationed according to the situation, whether it is Haitou City or in Qiuci, Shule and other countries."

Si Tu Dong Zhuo is now in charge of the finances. He only realized how expensive firewood and rice are after he took charge. It's fine that the matter of Shuofang County and Anding County was decided by the emperor himself, but how could he not know what the Western Regions are? There are two armies at any time, at least 1,500 to 1,600 people, and it's better for the army in the Western Regions to be equipped with horses, so the cost will be even greater.

He immediately said: "When the Western Regions Chief Secretary's Office was in place, the troops and soldiers stationed in the fields were no more than a thousand people. Now that we have won, why do we need to divide the troops like this?"

Zhu Jun replied: "Looking back at the past of the Western Regions, even if there was no Xiongnu rebellion, the big countries in the Western Regions would still rebel because of the change of rulers. The last time the Han Dynasty withdrew from the Western Regions, the Shule Kingdom was in constant fighting over the position of ruler. It took the military strength of Dunhuang and the coalition forces of various countries to stop the rebellion several times."

"If it weren't for the difficulty in supplying the Western Regions, it wouldn't be a big deal to keep all the 7,000 troops that are heading to the Western Regions!"

When Zhu Jun said this, Huangfu Song was the first to advise: "The Western Regions are far away after all. The Xianbei are no longer a threat. We just need to make sure that all the countries will submit to us."

Liu Bian also knew that now that there was no threat from the north, the importance of the Western Regions had declined again. The court that did not call for giving up the Western Regions as a "waste of money and food" could be said to be full of hawks.

But the importance of the Western Regions lies not only in the present, but also in the future.

Liu Bian knew that this was the time for him to make a decisive decision again: "When we were managing the Western Regions in the past, we allocated 80 million yuan every year. Now the trade routes in the Western Regions are open, and the goods carried by merchants from Hu and Han are worth more than hundreds of millions. Most of the profits go to the people. Merchants passing through Hexi and other places can also benefit the local people with their food, accommodation and business."

"Besides, with the Western Regions, which are connected to Bingzhou through Hexi, we can deter the Xianbei in the west from rebelling."

After talking about the benefits of maintaining effective rule over the Western Regions, Liu Bian concluded: "For now, let's stick to the old system and allocate 80 million coins to see the results."

After saying this, Liu Bian noticed that Dong Zhuo suddenly looked sad, so he continued: "Among them, part of the income from the Western Regions trade route will be allocated to Xiyuan... The details will be discussed after Mi Fang returns from the Western Regions, and 20 million yuan will be set first."

It should be noted that in the past, in order to make the Southern Xiongnu serve as good thugs, the Han Dynasty allocated more than 100 million yuan each year to allow the Southern Xiongnu to buy the goods they needed, in addition to giving them the land they depended on for survival. Even earlier, in order to hire Xianbei people as thugs to deal with the Xiongnu, the amount allocated reached 270 million yuan per head.

In the past, when facing the rebellion in Liang Province, 80 million coins a year were enough for Sun Jian and Fu Xie to maintain an elite army of 5,000 people, including 3,000 elite cavalry.

But this money would be greatly discounted if it were placed in the Western Regions. After all, the Western Regions were not real Han territory, and unless one established military farms, even grain would have to be purchased.

As for transportation, not to mention that the food in the four counties of Hexi is limited, even if there is enough food, it may not be enough for people and animals to eat when it arrives at the destination.

Nearly 100 million yuan could not be used entirely to maintain the military force. In Liu Bian's estimation, he would be able to accept the situation if he could maintain half of Sun Jian's military force in Hanyang in the Western Regions.

In the final analysis, there were too few Han Chinese in the Western Regions, and the Han Chinese alone were simply unable to provide food for the garrison.

Liu Bian decided on the general plan, and the specific decisions on the remaining garrisons, military farms, etc. were left to the ministers to handle.

Only Dong Zhuo had to force a smile on his face, but even with 60 million coins, he was still having a headache. He was already preparing to go back and discuss with the Minister of Agriculture how to squeeze out the money.

Fortunately, this will probably happen next year. …

Military and national affairs were being discussed in the Yuntai Palace, and Zhang Lu, the Grand Secretary, had no idea that he had become part of the plan.

Since he was assassinated at the end of last year, and later followed Bao Xin to Hanzhong to quell the rebellion and kill Zhang Xiu, the elder of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect who killed his brother Zhang Wei, he felt that he had made some contributions.

But after returning with Bao Xin, he was still just a Taizhu Cheng.

Originally he had some complaints in his heart. The emperor asked him to come to Luoyang, so he came. The emperor asked him to quell the rebellion, so he went.

It’s not that he didn’t want to improve. He seized the opportunity given by the emperor, but he made no progress at all.

It was not until he returned and saw that his mother, Mrs. Lu, was not only sad about Zhang Wei's death, but also felt a bit guilty. Only then did Zhang Lu realize that the rebellion in Hanzhong was probably caused by his mother.

Zhang Lu did not dare to ask more questions because he did not know whether his mother was involved at Liu Yan's instruction, and he did not want to know what his mother had done.

As a result, the resentment in his heart disappeared, and now he just hoped that he would not be implicated.

Now his favorite thing to do every day at home is - Zhang Lu looked at the huge alchemy furnace in the yard and sniffed the smell coming from the furnace. It was familiar and beautiful... Just burn it for another two days...

Hey, wait, Zhang Lu suddenly smelled something burnt.

He sniffed closer again, and the smell was even stronger. Zhang Lu quickly shouted, "Quick, stop the fire and open the lid."

When the alchemy cauldron was opened by the servants, Zhang Lu looked inside and saw only the residue of the medicine left.

Failed again.

Zhang Lu sighed when he saw this. After being stunned for a long time, he suddenly seemed to have thought of something and shouted, "I understand. I will definitely be able to make it next time!"

That’s right, Zhang Lu was refining the elixir of life.

What else could he do?

Moreover, even though the emperor is in his prime, what if?
Many emperors throughout the dynasties have sought the elixir of life.

Just then, a servant came to report that Xun Pushe came to visit.

Zhang Lu panicked instinctively when he heard this.

It was Xun Yu who came to visit him when he was assassinated. Zhang Lu doubted whether Xun Yu had noticed the problem with his mother. After all, it was actually a bit unreasonable that he did not receive any reward after going to Hanzhong to quell the rebellion.

And if a senior official knew about this, and took into account his status as a teacher, it would be reasonable to offset the merits and demerits.

No matter how panicked he was, Xun Yu was here and he had to see him.

After thinking about it, Zhang Lu simply took out a cloth, wiped the ash under the alchemy furnace, and while it was still hot, applied some on his face and body, and then hurried to see Xun Yu.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you... I shouldn't have greeted you like this when you came here. I really don't want to neglect you by cleaning. I hope you can forgive me."

Xun Yu smiled and said, "It's okay. I came here today because I have something good to tell you. Go and clean it up first!"

Zhang Lu then apologized, and then quickly sorted out the things, and came back to continue to apologize: "Recently, I have often refined elixirs according to the ancient books, but I have failed repeatedly, and then it became like this... I am sorry to make you laugh."

Xun Yu heard this and asked curiously, "So you have this hobby? Did you often make elixirs before?"

"I knew a little bit, but I just picked it up again recently."

"That's good... To be honest, I came here this time because I have an important task for you! You probably won't have time to make pills by then."

After hearing this, Zhang Lu suddenly looked up. He knew very well that his greatest role in Luoyang was to allow the followers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect to continue to live in peace in Hanzhong.

Doesn't the emperor even want to maintain this status quo?
Xun Yu noticed Zhang Lu's change and comforted him, "Don't worry, I told you it's a good thing."

Zhang Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "May I ask, sir, what is going on?"

Xun Yu asked, "Do you want to preach somewhere else?"

Huh? Zhang Lu was stunned. He even thought that Xun Yu would come to ask him to correct the false accusation against Liu Yan, but he never expected this answer.

But he immediately realized that this change of place might not be a good place: "May I ask where it is?"

"Bingzhou, Xiongnu."

As these two words came out of the gentle mouth of Xun Yu, Zhang Lu's heart felt colder than ever before.

He really didn't want to go to such a poor and remote place. Instead of going there to preach, he might as well stay in Luoyang to make elixirs.

And if he succeeds in refining it, he can even ascend to heaven in broad daylight!

Zhang Lu thought that Xun Yu was a kind and noble man, and he might be able to ask for mercy: "Pu She, you don't know, I have suffered from palpitations since the last assassination. I am afraid that I will have convulsions if I encounter something unexpected... Now I am refining the elixir to cure my illness..."

"So that's how it is." Xun Yu followed suit and continued, "I remember that I met your mother last time I came to your house. I heard that your mother is good at ghost and god magic, so can't she cure your illness?"

Zhang Lu was shocked when he heard this - Xun Yu had seen through it. Otherwise, Xun Yu would not have mentioned his mother so quickly.

He really had no choice.

"My mother's actions have alleviated the situation somewhat... But I don't know if it is the emperor's order to preach to the Xiongnu. If so, as a subject, I will certainly not refuse even if it means death!"

Xun Yu smiled and said, "Why do we need to die a thousand times? Education is the most important thing!"

(End of this chapter)