Picked up a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 516
The news that Liu Mastiff was canonized as the prince did not spread to Guishuang battlefield.

At the very beginning, Dong Zhuo hated Jia Xu's arrival very much. He almost believed in his heart that this guy was here to grab the credit, but when it comes to war, he has been in the frontier fortress for a long time. How can this Sangong sitting in the temple compare to himself? ?However, up to now, he is somewhat grateful for Jia Xu's arrival.

After acquiring the Sogdian area, Dong Zhuo only had one thought in his mind: how to defeat the enemy's reinforcements. Apart from that, he didn't think about anything else. However, Jia Xu was different. He was thinking about how to reduce the army's attack on the Western Regions. Liangzhou's burden, he pushed Nishijia out, let Nishijia take up the position of the original tax collector, and became the city lord of Malacanda.

Jia Xu still underestimated Nishijia's prestige among the people of Guishuang. He had learned from Cao Cao that Guishuang implemented a caste system, and those of lower castes often bowed to higher castes, and Nishijia was The highest caste, that is, the first caste, is the only one in Sogdia, so when he walked to the streets of Malacanda, he almost caused the turmoil here again.

The people frantically flocked to the streets, chanting his name, kneeling on both sides, and as for the fourth caste, they are not qualified to come to see him, and they cannot even be seen by him, otherwise they will be punished, and so on Strict, Jia Xu seemed to be at ease with Nishijia, and did not arrange for anyone to follow or protect him, but only sent a few surrendered Guishuang officials to protect him.

Nishika has the highest status, and as the lord of the city, no one dares to disobey. Even the people readily accept it, thinking that it is better for him to become the king of Sogdia than before. With him sitting in Malacanda, people from all over the country They quickly calmed down, the officials returned, surrendered, and under the arrangement of Nishika, they went to various places to calm the turmoil caused by the war.

Because of successive years of wars, most of the land has been abandoned. Farmers, handicraftsmen, and businessmen have all been hit to varying degrees. In Guishuang, unlike Dahan, there are not many merchants and handicraftsmen here. In addition, there are A large number of slaves, although the Han Dynasty also had slaves, but there were many restrictions, because many Confucians were extremely disgusted with it.

Therefore, the aristocratic families and the local tyrants did not try their best to keep slaves on a large scale. This was considered an inhumane act. They only left the slaves who managed the mansion, while the rest were called tenants and had no land. They who can only farm for the big clan all their lives are essentially no different from slaves, but Guishuang is more direct.

Inside Guishuang, slaves are very harsh. The slaves are responsible for mining, farming and other heavy labor for the nobles. There is even an army of slaves under King Guishuang. King Guishuang promised them that as long as they kill ten The head of the enemy can get rid of the status of slaves. Therefore, this army is extremely fierce. It is the most elite soldiers in Guishuang. It once defeated the vanguard army of more than 4000 Anxi with less than 1 people.

Sogdia has gone through two raids, and the number of people is very small. There are less than 30 farmers in the entire Sogdian area. In Dahan, a small county town, the number is close to this number. Of course, plus the rest However, Sogdia does not have a strict household registration policy. This population is still 90 years ago, and no one knows whether it is true or not.

In order to stabilize the situation here, Nishijia personally inspected the territory of Sogdian. Jia Xu arranged for him nearly 40 elite soldiers to guard him personally. He only needs to say the words, and the officials here will implement them wholeheartedly, not daring to relax in the slightest, which is not like the Guishuang people at all.

When Nishijia visited various places, Zhang Da, that is, the official who was left by Jia Xu before, followed Nishijia all the time, helping him to deal with important matters here. If it goes well, it still depends on his help. He is here to spread the news of Nishika. He is the highest official stationed here, and he has played a big role.

After inspecting for a while, Nishika returned to Malacanda. However, it seemed that he was not in a happy mood, and he did not visit Jia Xu. He went back to his mansion and locked himself in the study. What, Jia Xu had no choice but to call Zhang Da to understand the situation. Although Zhang Da was busy all the way, he appeared in front of Jia Xu immediately after Jia Xu summoned him.

Jia Xu looked at the person in front of him, stroking his long beard, and asked: "I heard that Mr. Ni seems displeased. After returning to the mansion, he hasn't seen anyone again, but the journey is too tiring?"

Zhang Da shook his head and said, "That's not the case. He has traveled all the way in a chariot and never got off his horse. How tired is he? He just saw the situation of the local people and was worried. That's why he was so worried." Hearing what Zhang Da said, Jia Xu nodded and said, "It seems that the people in this place are not doing well?"

"It's more than that. Mr. Jia came here for the first time. He didn't know that there are few people in the villages. There are ten rooms and nine empty rooms. Even if you want to work, there are no people. It's really miserable."

"Oh, so that's the case." Jia Xu said again: "Then what did he say and do along the way?"

"He seems to be extremely jealous of Mr. Jia. Along the way, he told the officials everywhere not to offend Mr. Jia so as to rectify the rule of the people. He also wanted to give some advice to the common people, but these commoners dared not look at him. , did not dare to answer, just bowed his head to the ground, which made him helpless. In addition, he also asked the officials to borrow spring seeds for farming from the Western Regions."

"Oh, by the way, he also went to Xinha and met General Sun and General Cao. General Sun ignored him, but General Cao seemed to have a good relationship with him, and he stayed with us for two days. We talked for a long time in the mansion, but I was not allowed in, and I don't know what they talked about."

"Well, it's all right, didn't you encounter any problems on the way?"

"No, people are kneeling and worshiping along the road, and it's no big deal for officials to greet them in person."

Hearing Zhang Da's words, Jia Xu shook his head. He still couldn't understand why the people of Guishuang respected Nishijia so much. He couldn't help asking: "This Nishijia, who left Guishuang since childhood , has been studying in Dahan, I don't know why he is so respected by the people?"

"Mr. Jia, he is the first caste. It is very rare in the north." Zhang Da told Jia Xu in detail. After the people established the Guishuang Empire here, they refused to admit that the priests were higher than themselves. Finally, after a compromise, the Guishuang royal family became the first caste, higher than the priests.

The rest of the princes, kings and ministers, are listed with the priests and become the second caste.

After explaining this, Zhang Da continued: "Secondly, the current king of Guishuang is tyrannical and incompetent. After he ascended the throne, all of Guishuang's territories in the west have been lost, which caused displeasure among the people. , some caring people vigorously publicized the younger brother of the former king, Nishijia, and under their publicity, out of dissatisfaction with the current king, Nishijia's reputation is getting bigger and bigger."

"However, these people didn't expect that Uncle Nishijia is still alive. They just want to use his name to do great things." Zhang Da smiled embarrassingly, and Jia Xu suddenly asked: "There must be some How about you?"

Zhang Da just smiled, but didn't reply.

"Okay, you go down and rest first, you have done a good job, it may be a bit wasteful to follow me, when the time comes, I will recommend you to the emperor, and you will go to Luoyang."

"Thank you, Mr. Jia, thank you, Mr. Jia!!"

After he left, Jia Xu didn't even think about going to Nishika. The Sogdian region, after years of wars, has caused huge damage. It seems difficult and unrealistic to harvest food to supply the army this year. However, Guishuang's reinforcements have not come for a long time, and the army can't stay here all the time. I have to find a way to anger the Guishuang King. The letter I wrote earlier didn't have much effect.

This king of Guishuang is not as mediocre as in the rumors. He thinks there are capable people around him, and he has not attacked for a long time, allowing himself to occupy Sogdia, because he wants to consume the strength of the big man, or wait for the big man to be weak and transport his luggage. , and then attack?
In this way, after three days, Nishika finally walked out of the mansion and went straight to Jia Xu's study.

Hearing that Nishika was coming, Jia Xu asked the soldiers to bring him in, and quickly put away the map on the file. Speaking of which, he still didn't trust Nishika enough in his heart, so Nishika walked in and paid his respects. After leaving Jia Xu, he sat in front of him, and it seemed that his face was still a little sad. He sat in front of Jia Xu, did not speak, frowned, and seemed to be still in thought.

Jia Xu also didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.

After a long silence, he opened his mouth and said: "Mr. Jia, in Sogdia, there are ten rooms and nine empty houses. In the countryside, there are no strong people, only the old, weak, women and children. These people are too few to support themselves. This is impossible." He said, raised his head, looked at Jia Xu, Jia Xu was indifferent, he sighed helplessly, and said: "Sogdia will not be able to provide food for the Han army in a short period of time. Instead, we need the assistance of the Han army.”

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "How is this feasible? Our army's food and grass are not enough to feed ourselves."

"I know! But those princes and nobles, before they fled, they took away the food in carts!! The common people are eating wild vegetables and bark to make a living, and no one is farming. How long can they last? ? If Duke Jia refuses to help, how will the people in the city survive? There are nearly a million people, I am afraid that they will all die together with Duke Jia!!"

Jia Xu asked angrily, "Are you threatening me?"

"That's not the case, it's just that, I hope Mr. Jia can think of a way! These millions of people are all innocent people. How can Mr. Jia not be based on benevolence and righteousness when studying classics? Can't you do good deeds?"

"The Western Regions and Liangzhou are also poor places. How can they afford the needs of millions of people?"

Jia Xu said, but thought in his heart, Guishuang has not sent troops for a long time, could it be that he is waiting for the Sogdian civil unrest?Don't look at Nishika now, the situation is stable, but if they continue to starve and have no food support, sooner or later, they will not be able to bear it anymore. At this time, no matter how brave the Han army is, facing so many people, so what?

Ni Sejia pursed her lips and said, "Then, please, Mr. Jia, lend me a battalion of soldiers!"

Jia Xu was startled, but a name subconsciously appeared in her mind.

Cao Cao!

(End of this chapter)