The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 722 721 Population Declines
Xu Huang launched a fierce offensive against the Sichuan soldiers. The heroism of his subordinates is no less than that of Ma Chao's subordinates. Moreover, Xu Huang's subordinates also have a typical characteristic, that is, their weapons are sharp and their armor defense is very good. Rush and beat, like a hungry wolf, opened its bloody mouth, biting the Sichuan soldiers mercilessly.

After a while, Xu Huang ended the battle and cleaned up the enemy troops in this area.But Xu Huang didn't stop, and continued to charge forward with his subordinates. Using the same style of attack, he quickly captured the next enemy's defense.Under his command, the soldiers were as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Seeing such a scene in the distance, Ma Chao couldn't help frowning, and thought to himself: "It seems that I underestimated him..."

The battle on the front line was going on in full swing. From morning to noon, the two elite troops led by Ma Chao and Xu Huang attacked alternately, cutting a bloody path as long as seven miles.

At the same time, Pang De was not idle. He was directing hundreds of strong and strong Qiang people to clear the boulder obstacles in the mountain path and the corpses of Sichuan soldiers.

When these Qiang people saw the corpses of countless Sichuan soldiers lying in disorder in front of them, they finally got a little bit of comfort in their hearts that had been suppressed for a long time, and they even worked harder.

Pang Tong sits at Jiameng Pass and commands the entire army. Although Jiameng Pass was burned beyond recognition, the hard city walls were not affected by the fire. The general outline of the pass city still stands on this land. The only difference is Almost all the city walls were blackened by the fire, and all combustible objects in the Guancheng were reduced to ashes.

Pang Tong asked his subordinates to clean and rectify Jiameng Pass, so that the bluestone walls and bricks of Jiameng Pass could shine again. Not only that, but also sent people to repair the city gate and order daily items needed in the city. , although it is dilapidated, it is still a pass city, which can accommodate thousands of soldiers and horses, and can also store supplies. It can be used as a military stronghold after the Han army enters Shu.

Pang Tong even sent some troops to occupy Baishui County, spread the benefits of the Han army everywhere, and spread rumors that Zhang Fei was seriously injured as a rebellious traitor. On the front line, only in this way can we step by step, fight steadily, and capture the hearts of Sichuan people.

In addition, Pang Tong even sent people to Hanzhong quickly, so that Niu Jin who was stationed in Hanzhong began to deliver food to Jiameng Pass.

When Ma Chao captured Hanzhong, although a large number of gold, silver and jewels were transported away, the food in Hanzhong County was not transported away. Zhang Lu had been operating in Hanzhong for many years. Dangshan.

The terrain of Tiandang Mountain is dangerous, and it forms a corner with Dingjun Mountain and Guyangping Pass. It is the western gateway of Hanzhong Basin, controlling the main path of Sichuan and Shaanxi in the west, and the south entrance of Chencang ancient road in the north. As an important military barrier to ensure the safety of the Hanzhong Basin, it has historically been a military pass that military strategists must contend for, and it has been a battleground for military strategists of all dynasties.

It is precisely because of its dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, that Zhang Lu chose this place as a place to store grain.

Originally, with Zhang Lu's strength, there was no problem at all in defending Hanzhong, but because of his carelessness, Ma Chao took advantage of the loopholes, making the three important passes in Hanzhong, such as Tiandang Mountain, Dingjun Mountain, and Yangping Pass, useless.

After Ma Chao killed Zhang Lu, Zhang Lu's power quickly disintegrated. Yang Bai, Yang Ang, Yang Ren, Yang Song and others who were stationed in Zhang Lu's old troops surrendered without a fight because of Ma Chao's bravery.

Later, after Pang Tong and Xu Huang arrived in Hanzhong, Ma Chao led the crowd westward, and Pang Tong took over Hanzhong. He didn't trust Zhang Lu's old troops, so he let Niu Jin who came with them guard Hanzhong, and all the garrisons were changed. , Several large granaries located in Tiandang Mountain were also taken over as a matter of course.

When Pang Tong inspected the granaries in Tiandang Mountain in person, he realized that Zhang Lu’s granaries had reached an astonishing level. Several large granaries were full of grain, roughly estimated to be about 500 million shi. I don't know how long a lot of food has been stored, and it has begun to rot. Even the animals around the granary are much fatter than other places.

If Zhang Lu was smarter, relying on these stored grains and sticking to the pass, he could persist for ten years.

But just at this time, Zhang Lu's meritorious service Yan Pu heard that Zhang Lu had died, and turned back from the road to Pengcheng. After paying homage to Zhang Lu, he surrendered to Pang Tong. He served as the meritorious officer of the county and assisted Niu Jin in handling the government affairs of Hanzhong.

On the other hand, Pang Tong went to the imperial court, requesting to send a capable person to serve as the prefect of Hanzhong, and also reported the gains of the Battle of Hanzhong.

As a supervising army, Pang Tong has certain powers and can coordinate the surrounding states and counties to assist him. After occupying Jiameng Pass this time, Pang Tong began to want to take root near Jiameng Pass. Go to Hanzhong to urge Niu Jin to transport grain to Jiameng Pass.

In fact, there is no shortage of food in the army now.You must know that the terrain of Shu is difficult to walk, and it is extremely inconvenient to transport grain. Pang Tong can only make preparations first, and don't be unable to transport grain when he needs it.

When Pang Tong, Ma Chao, Xu Huang and others were blocked near Jiameng Pass, Zhang Yan, who was far away in Pengcheng, was not at ease.

After Jiangnan was pacified, the first thing to bear the brunt was the restoration of people's livelihood. The remnants of the Sun family in Jiangdong had basically been cleaned up, but Jiangnan after the war was devastated.

In the past few years, Zhang Yan has imposed economic sanctions on Jiangdong. Jiangdong's economy has not been able to grow, and the population loss is also very serious. After the pacification of Jiangnan, statistics from various places have come out one after another. Currently, the number of households in Jiangdong is less than 30. The population is less than 80.However, Jiaozhou and Guangzhou have always been remote areas. Although they have not been affected by too many wars, their populations are small, with only about 26 households and a population of only 56.

Among them, Jingzhou has the largest population. However, after Jingzhou experienced several turmoil, the population loss is also very serious. Three years ago, the statistics of the Dasinong Yamen were 360 million households and the population was 770 million. After statistics on the number of households and population in Jingzhou, there are only 93 households in Jingzhou, with a population of just over 160 million.

Calculated in this way, the entire area south of the Han River and the Yangtze River has a total population of less than 500 million.

As for the northern region occupied by Zhang Yan, statistics were also made, and the total population is only over 800 million.Although the Bashu area in the southwest that is currently being crusaded is not included, Zhang Yan can also use the statistical data of Emperor Guanghe of the Han Dynasty in the imperial court as a reference. The total population of the Yizhou area in the Bashu area in the southwest will not exceed 300 million.

Calculated in this way, the national population is less than 700. Compared with the national population of more than [-] million in the third year of Yongshou of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population has dropped sharply.

In the final analysis, one of the most important reasons for the sharp drop in population is war.Since the Yellow Turban Uprising, the Eastern Han Dynasty began to enter a situation of existence in name only, with separatist regimes, warlords fighting, natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the population loss was very serious.

In history, Cao Cao once wrote a poem called "Walking in Haoli", the last few lines of the poem read: "The armor is full of lice, and all surnames die. The bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles. Living people leave behind one thing, and the thought of it breaks people's hearts."

The general meaning of these poems is: due to the continuous war, the soldiers could not take off their battle clothes for a long time, the armor was full of lice, and many people died in large numbers due to the successive years of war.The bones are exposed in the wild and no one is buried. There is no human habitation for thousands of miles, and the crowing of cocks cannot be heard.It is extremely sad to think that only one out of a hundred people is still alive.

Due to the long-term warlord melee at the end of the Han Dynasty, a large number of people died and the social economy was greatly damaged.Cao Cao's poem is a true reflection of this historical period.

Now Zhang Yan has merged warlords one after another through wars, and gradually gained his status today. Seeing that the southwest area is about to return to the embrace of the imperial court, and once again realize the unification of the country, as the leader who holds the power of life and death in the world , what Zhang Yan is considering has already reached the issue of unifying the whole country.

These days, Zhang Yan has been receiving memorials from various places, and asked Chen Qun, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to make a statistics to figure out the population of the world.

Nowadays, wars are still going on in the southwest, people will die in the wars, people will continue to die, and the population will continue to drop sharply. How to restore the population and recuperate after the unification of the country has become the current thinking of the entire court. the most important issue.

You can win the world immediately, but you cannot rule the world immediately.

What Zhang Yan has to do is to carry out a series of post-war recovery and recuperate. At least he needs to formulate a long-term goal and make efforts to revitalize the big man.

In addition to this matter, there is another matter that makes Zhang Yan very headache, and that is moving the capital.

The matter of moving the capital is already a certainty, but the matter of moving the capital cannot be rushed, and it needs to be done step by step.Moreover, among the officials of the imperial court, many of them have extremely large properties in Pengcheng. Because of this, many courtiers will oppose moving the capital. Once the capital is moved, their efforts will be in vain and they will lose a lot of financial resources. .

For this reason, Zhang Yan followed Zhuge Liang's suggestion and set up a capital relocation office specifically for this matter, and asked Zhuge Liang to be the director of the office, and he was fully responsible for the relocation of the capital.

At this moment, Zhang Yan was holding a memorial in his hand, carefully reading the contents of the memorial, and in front of him, Zhuge Liang stood there respectfully, waiting for Zhang Yan's instructions.

This memorial was written by Zhuge Liang himself, and it is about moving the capital. The specific methods are clearly written in the memorial.

After Zhang Yan read it carefully, he put down the memorial in his hand, picked up a writing brush beside the table, dipped it in cinnabar, and wrote the word "Chi" at the end of the memorial, which was equivalent to approving Zhuge Liang's memorial.

Zhuge Liang caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, and the heart in his throat finally returned to its original place, with some inexplicable joy in it.

"Your Highness, urgent report from Hanzhong!" At this time, Xu Sheng, the commander of Jinyiwei, walked in quickly from outside, handed a memorial to Zhang Yan, bowed his body, and said loudly.

(End of this chapter)