At the beginning, I gave up my military power with a cup of wine, and I ascended the throne

Chapter 476 Xiao Han's Inspection
seeing is believing.

Starting from Xiliang City, heading east, we first went to Xia Pi and Shangdang to check the conditions of each garrison.

Then he went north from Shangdang, turned into the territory of Hexi Prefecture, and passed through one prefecture, county and county after another.

In the past, the territory was small and could be traveled in ten days or half a month. Now, there are eleven states, covering most of the world. If you want to travel to all the places, it will take at least two or three months.

At the end of May, the grass is green and the birds are singing. In Suizhou, the vegetation is lush, the water from the river is flowing, and canals are connected to the river, bringing the river water into the plain.

The straight official road is like a long sword that goes through the sky and the earth, disappearing to the end of the sky and the earth. On both sides of the official road, a village can be seen not far away.

Smoke from cooking is rising.

The carriage was moving slowly on the flat official road. More than a dozen personal soldiers in front and behind were wearing black warrior uniforms, with long swords on their waists, and riding strong war horses.

On the official road, vendors and caravans can be seen everywhere.

"What a smooth field."

The curtain of the car was opened, Ning Xi stuck his head out, and looked around. It was full of green, which was truly pleasing to the eyes.

"I've traveled to several states, and the rice seedlings in Suizhou grew the best."

“And the fields are the flattest.”

"It's hard to imagine that before last year, this place was still barren."

In the battle to destroy the Northern Wei last year, almost every time a state was captured, an administrative decree would be implemented in that state. As soon as the Western Liang cavalry arrived, a large number of Western Liang officials would follow to take charge of various matters.

"The land is good."

Xiao Han chuckled, "It's just that the Northern Wei Dynasty has been at war repeatedly, and nine out of ten houses are empty. In addition, in the past few years, our cavalry has been heading north every now and then to plunder Suizhou, so these lands have been abandoned."

"Moreover, the Northern Wei Dynasty's decrees were strict. If you planted ten dou of grain and harvested it, the Northern Wei court would take eight dou."

"And Xiliang not only provides seeds, farm tools, and oxen, but also only requires two buckets from them. If you are not stupid, you will know what to choose."

"giggle"

Ning Xi pursed her lips and kept talking, "Sister Miaoyu and I have calculated that if the grain production in the five states is good this year and next year, then we will be able to break even and just recover the cost."

"Starting from the year after next, the grain and taxes collected from the five states will be in surplus."

"Remember to have the business travel departments of various places take control of the five states in advance."

Xiao Han yawned. "Inns, wine shops, jade shops, silk and other profitable businesses, most of them are controlled by the Business and Travel Department."

"And we have to do it well. When they become richer and have more money, they will not be satisfied with their current life. They will definitely want to try good food."

Currently, there are four major sources of Xiliang’s income. The first is taxes from ordinary people, and the second is taxes on salt, iron, tea and grain. The taxes collected from this part are more than those from ordinary people, and are all controlled by the Xiliang government.

The third is the money earned by merchants and travelers from all over the country, and the fourth is the various industries run by the government.

Currently, the departments and offices of Xiliang Prefecture are in a state of chaos because there are too many and too complicated things to deal with and the powers to do so.

Therefore, Xiao Han is already making preparations to completely reorganize the Xiliang Yamen and the Military and Political Department after a while.

Thoroughly break down rights and responsibilities.

This matter is already in preparation, and we will start after this inspection is completed.

"Look."

Xiao Han raised his lips and said, "I told you back then that wherever my Xiliang Iron Cavalry goes, it will be a paradise on earth."

"Yes."

Ning Xi nodded: "Our Xiliang King is indeed a trustworthy man. He always keeps his word and never breaks his promise."

The carriage traveled along the flat official road without much bumps, passing through villages and towns, bathed in the warm sunlight, with warm breeze blowing on the face, mixed with the fragrance of flowers.

"Husband, I heard that Mogong is developing something called cement."

Ning Xi said: "Zhengzhong cement only needs to be mixed with water and sand and gravel. After solidifying, it will be extremely hard."

"That's right." He nodded. "That thing has been developed, but the production volume is a bit small. I am asking the Supervision Department to expand the production capacity as soon as possible to see if it can be used in Xiliang City first."

“Cement is a good thing.”

Xiao Han said: "When the time comes, all the official roads in Xiliang will be paved with cement, so that it won't be muddy whether it's sunny or rainy."

"In this way, the speed of vehicles and pedestrians will increase greatly, and then our speed of transporting food and mobilizing troops will be much faster."

He said mysteriously: "And Mogong has been promoting Iron Horse Technology recently."

"Iron Horse?"

Ning Xi was curious: "What is that?"

“It’s a kind of carriage that only needs to boil water to pull things.”

He explained: "And you can pull a lot at a time."

The Mo Palace is the most mysterious palace in the Academy, because many things in the Mo Palace are top secret.

Only Xiao Han, the King of Xiliang, knows the truth; even Ning Xi and Miaoyu don’t understand.

The carriage passed through Suizhou and continued forward towards the next county.

Just when Xiao Han and Ning Xi were patrolling around.

Outside Shangdang City.

Several riders were galloping towards the towering Shangdang City.

They were heading to the Goguryeo territory to investigate the situation.

The walls of Shangdang City were high and deep, and it intimidated the area within hundreds of miles. The general guarding the city saw Jiaxiong and others from afar and hurriedly opened the city gate.

"Lao Jia, how is the investigation going?"

Shi Qing rode out of the city on horseback, bringing a group of armored soldiers with him, and led Jia Xiong into the city.

"Goguryeo is somewhat wary of us and has deployed a lot of troops on the border."

Jiaxiong wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It may be because we have never fought against Goguryeo, so they probably think that this time, we are mobilizing troops to threaten the Liao region."

"Even the Goguryeo army in Liaodong has distributed dry food. It seems that they are planning to take advantage of our southward advance to fish in troubled waters."

"Hahaha"

Shi Qing grinned and said, "These barbarians are quite calculating."

"Let's go to the county governor's mansion first."

He patted Jiaxiong on the shoulder and said, "The soldiers are here, just waiting for your final confirmation of the combat deployment."

Since they were heading straight for the Shangdang County Magistrate's Mansion, there were many armored soldiers patrolling outside the mansion and the security was extremely strict.

as predicted.

When Jia Xiong and Shi Qing came in, the hall was already filled with more than 20 people, all of whom were elite warriors of the Xiliang Army. They charged into battle, killed generals and captured flags, each one faster than the other.

"marshal"

All the generals stood up.

"Everyone sit down."

Jiaxiong was not arrogant. He took off his helmet and placed it on the table, then ordered someone to hang the map on the wall behind him.

"Now, let's make the final confirmation of the combat deployment."

"If everyone agrees, after confirmation, send it to the Military Affairs Department at an expedited rate of 800 miles."

Jiaxiong pointed to the two Goguryeo cities on the Liaodong line on the map and said, "Currently, Goguryeo has 30,000 elite troops stationed in Liaodong, 10,000 in Ju'an City, and 8,000 in Suiping City."

(End of this chapter)