Liu Che, dressed in casual clothes, walked between the ridges of the fields, looking at the vibrant wheat seedlings, his eyes full of joy.

Liu Che smiled and looked at Huo Xian and asked, "Xian'er, what do you think of the growth of these wheat seedlings now?"

Huo Xian smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I think these wheat seedlings are growing well. This year will definitely be a good year."

"Our Han Dynasty is so huge that every year is a good harvest." Liu Che said confidently, "But it may be a good harvest here, but it may be a disaster there. When new grain is stored here, disaster relief will be needed over there."

After hearing what Liu Che said, Huo Xian could naturally understand it completely. This is the feeling that only a country with a large territory can have. Sometimes a small country cannot understand the true meaning of a vast territory.

Seeing that Huo Xian didn't say anything, Liu Che said, "I used to be a little confused as to why some people reported good news every year, while others reported disasters. Later, I understood all this."

Huo Xian also said, "Your Majesty, I know this now. The world is huge. Guanzhong is one scene, the south of the desert is another, and when you go to Hexi and the Western Regions, it's another scene."

Huo Xian was indeed very qualified to speak on this, saying, "When I went to Dayuan, I saw the mountains with snow that never melted for years. That was also a sight!"

Liu Che asked with great interest, "I have heard about it from others. Li Guangli said before that Yucheng City is difficult to attack. Isn't it because it is thousands of miles away and the soldiers are exhausted?"

There is certainly nothing wrong with saying this. The reason why Li Guangli failed in his first expedition to Dayuan at Yucheng City was indeed due to the long journey.

Huo Xian smiled evilly and said, "He is also a stubborn person, he just wants to fight his way through. Didn't I bypass Yucheng City and still reach Dayuan? It was his first time leading troops and he had no experience, so it was not unfair for him to lose."

Liu Che had no objection to this. Although Li Guangli had been defeated before, Huo Shan won and brought back more results than expected. This was enough.

Liu Che did not go off topic and continued, "Xian'er, I know that many people complain that their lives are not as prosperous as they were in the past, but I can't do anything about it."

Warmongering is a label that Liu Che cannot avoid, and his constant use of military force is the best proof of this.

The Han Dynasty's financial resources were almost exhausted, but the emperor still wanted to go on expeditions everywhere, which was something that everyone could see.

Liu Che looked into the distance and said, "Sometimes I also want to stop and take a few years off, but I have to seize the right time. If I miss the opportunity, I will be guilty for generations to come!"

Huo Xian was quite resolute. "Your Majesty, let's not talk about other things. Anyway, we must fight the Xiongnu. If we don't defeat and destroy the Xiongnu, the people of our Han Dynasty will not be able to live in peace."

Liu Che looked at Huo Xian with a smile, "You are a military marquis, so you naturally want to fight. Do you know that many people in the court and the country say that the Xiongnu will never be as arrogant as before, and ask me to stop the war?"

Huo Xian said sarcastically, "We should send them to the Xiongnu and let them see how the Xiongnu live! The Xiongnu no longer has the arrogance it once had, but those people should recover a little and head south!"

This is Huo Xian’s attitude. He will never feel at ease with the nomadic peoples on the grassland.

I won't mention Maxim and the like for now, because it's unrealistic. But we have to admit that when the basic productivity was insufficient, the nomadic peoples encountered survival pressure and thought about going south to plunder.

Once a disaster year came, there was no need to think about such a thing. Whether it was the Huns or the Mongols, they were essentially the same, when the output from grazing was not enough, they would think of going south to plunder.

Even when there was abundant grass and water, the tribe continued to grow and develop, and they needed larger pastures and more slaves, and then they had to go on expeditions everywhere.

In the final analysis, whether it is agricultural civilization or nomadic people, they are essentially the same. When faced with the pressure of survival, they will think of some ways.

Agricultural civilizations may not think of fighting to get through any difficulties, but nomadic peoples certainly think so.

However, there is no doubt that as agricultural civilization developed and grew, it would also think about expanding territory, obtaining more land, more people and more livestock.

Now that things are developing well, it is naturally something to be happy about. But after the development is good, we must be thinking about developing even better.

Liu Che looked at Huo Xian and said, "Xian'er, I know you only want to fight the Xiongnu, and there is nothing wrong with fighting the Xiongnu. But sometimes, I can't just fight wherever I want, do you understand?"

Seeing Huo Xian shaking his head, Liu Che explained, "Sometimes, whether to fight a war or not is not up to me to decide!"

Hearing the emperor say this, Huo Xian subconsciously thought he was joking and that this was impossible. However, when he thought about it carefully, the emperor's words made a lot of sense and this was not a joke.

Countries are often destroyed because of their weakness, but the Han Dynasty alone perished because of its strength.

This makes sense, not just in the Western Han Dynasty, but also in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty often used the strong to bully the weak and used force to intimidate the border.

The war with the Xiongnu lasted for a hundred years, and the war with the Qiang tribe would last for a hundred years. As for the Western Regions or Nanyue, they were nothing. When a war lasted for a hundred years, it would naturally consume countless military expenses.

Such long-term wars were fought and repeated over and over again, and the huge military expenditures led to fiscal deficits. Selling official positions and official corruption were also problems that broke out immediately.

Liu Che looked at Huo Xian and asked, "A military marquis like you wants to fight, and many knights and common people also want to fight, and those soldiers also want to fight and be awarded a title. Xian'er, do you think I can stop?"

Huo Xian said quickly, "Your Majesty, I know this. This trend is even more prevalent in the army."

Huo Xian was not exaggerating. Young soldiers wanted to make meritorious deeds, and everyone wanted to be awarded a title and get promoted. Fighting was the best opportunity, and it was the best way to cross classes.

As for the possibility of losing one's life, many people would not even consider this. There are risks, but once successful, there will be greater rewards.

"It's good that you don't understand. This is how it is now." Liu Che said with a smile, "Sometimes wars are like this. I really have no other choice."

Although it is possible that Liu Che was shirking responsibility, it is also possible that he was just speaking from the heart.

Liu Che pointed at the fields in front of him and said, "I have told you before that many lands have been taken away by the rich and powerful, and many people do not have their own land. Shan'er, do you think the Han Dynasty has enough land?"

Huo Xian didn't know how to answer this time. After careful consideration, he said, "Your Majesty, the land of the Han Dynasty seems to be enough. But I also think that the land of the Han Dynasty is still a little insufficient."

There is nothing wrong with this statement. The territory of the Han Dynasty seems to be relatively vast, but the current grain production is limited, which is an indisputable fact. Even after years of war, the household registration of the Han Dynasty has been continuously reduced, and now there are still 36 million people.

This does not include some people who fled or hid, which is also quite different from the population of 60 million during the peak period of the Han Dynasty. It seems that the number of people is directly reduced by half.

When the Han Dynasty was first established, the population was 13 million. Now, after a period of recuperation, the population of the Han Dynasty is rapidly exceeding 50 million. In the final analysis, there are simply too many people in the Han Dynasty.

Even if there were no war now and we started a large-scale population census, the population might exceed 40 million. These are real numbers.

Liu Che looked at Huo Shan and said with a smile, "Shan'er, I think you also understand this truth. If there is no more land, I can't reward more people."

The population is too large, and many people want to make achievements. Even some interest groups are pushing for constant wars to protect their vested interests.

Liu Che smiled and said to Huo Shan, "Shan'er, do you know what happened to the captured cattle and sheep after each great victory?"

Huo Xian said without thinking, "That's not enough. It's not enough to reward the soldiers, not to mention that the court also needs it."

This is also true. In several great victories over the Xiongnu, a lot of cattle, sheep, horses, etc. were captured. But even if the base number was tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, it was not worth mentioning for the Han people.

Liu Che smiled and said, "That's right. There are also those captured Huns. They were either resettled or rewarded as slaves, but it's still not enough."

Huo Xian thought about it carefully and said, "Your Majesty, my family still has more than 20 Xiongnu slaves."

There are quite a few slaves in Guanjun Village. Those young and strong Xiongnu are prisoners of war and are placed in Guanjunhou. They can help herd livestock at ordinary times. This kind of situation is common in the Han Dynasty.

In some border areas, these prisoners of war need to take on even heavier tasks and work hard to survive.

The same goes for the Huns on the opposite side. If they captured Han soldiers and civilians, they would be treated as slaves by the Hun nobles. This situation will not change now or in the future.

Liu Che joked, "Ten or twenty? That doesn't quite fit your status. Your vassal corps, the Marquis of Guanjun, should have hundreds or even thousands of Xiongnu slaves."

"I don't need so many people. They can't help much with farming. Most of them are horse slaves." Huo Xian said with a smile, "But I did send a lot of Xiongnu people out, and a lot of them will leave the general."

Cao Zong couldn't listen any more, Huo Guang also looked constipated, and they didn't think Huo Shan was playing dumb.

Liu Che laughed, tapped Huo Shan's head and said, "Shan'er, you really should have a housewife who can manage the household. The Queen and Princess Pingyang have been helping you all these years, and you don't even know how to manage the household anymore."

Cao Zong and Huo Guang both nodded repeatedly. They were extremely speechless about some of the things Huo Shan said.

Liu Che further explained, "You have more than 20 Xiongnu slaves on your farm. They are indeed horse slaves. But you are a marquis after all. Do you really think that they are just ordinary people providing for you?"

Huo Xian was stunned and asked quickly, "Your Majesty, the court won't give us land now."

Huo Shan's words completely shocked Liu Che and others. Huo Shan, the Marquis of Guanjun, really only cared about fighting wars and knew nothing about what was happening outside. This was not "aloof" or "out of touch with worldly affairs".

Liu Che complained, "Yes, the court is not giving you land now, but giving you princes and dukes fiefs. You are thinking of giving you the grain produced by 10,000 households, right?"

Huo Xian nodded repeatedly, because this was the most common fiefdom system, and the Han Dynasty now really did not give land.

Liu Che said angrily and amusedly, "Are the people of the Han Dynasty enough? Go back and ask your family generals. If they say that you have less than 500 slaves, I will kill them!"

Huo Guang stepped forward and said, "Xian'er, some farmlands are still uncultivated. It's a pity to let them go to waste. In addition, for the purpose of raising horses, some pastures have been allocated in places such as the south of the desert."

Huo Xian was dumbfounded. "No, I also have a horse farm in Mo Nan? Why didn't I know about it?"

Huo Guang explained with a frustrated look, "There are only a hundred or so horses on the horse farm in Mo Nan, all of them are ordinary horses. Most of the ranches are raising sheep, about four thousand or so."

Huo Xian was shocked, "Uncle, how could you give me so much property on the grassland!"

This is simply a small tribe. If anyone tells others about this, people will doubt whether he, the champion marquis, has any ideas.

Liu Che said directly, "You don't have enough military officers like you? You conquered such a large area of ​​land south of the desert and just left it there? Let the Huns come back again? You can't relocate the people there, and you don't have enough soldiers to guard the border. What can you do?"

Huo Xian seemed to understand that it was normal for immigrants to guard the border, and there were also some soldiers and civilians at the border. However, compared with the vast area of ​​Mo Nan, such a small population was really not enough.

Even if some of the surrendered Xiongnu tribes were given pastures, the reality was that the Han Dynasty could not completely trust those surrendered Xiongnu people, otherwise it would be raising a tiger to cause trouble.

Therefore, on the grassland, some powerful people, with the intentional or unintentional help of the court, also divided some small pastures.

Increase the Han population base to a certain extent so that we can truly control some land.

This kind of practice is quite normal. The land that was conquered with great difficulty cannot be given up easily.

On the other hand, the conquered lands can also become strategic buffer zones for the Han Dynasty. Controlling these places can indeed give the Han Dynasty more room for adjustment when facing future conflicts.

Liu Che patted Huo Xian's head and said, "Think more about things in the future. If you were just a general of cavalry, it would be fine. But you are the Grand Marshal and General of cavalry after all, so you should think more about things."

Then Liu Che looked at Cao Zong and said, "Cao Zong's ability in fighting is not as good as yours, but when it comes to being stable in the court, you are far inferior to him."

Cao Zong couldn't help sweating. He felt that the emperor was speaking with hidden meanings and was warning him.

Huo Xian glanced at Cao Zongcai and said, "Your Majesty, I just don't want to think about it anymore. It's too tiring. After I defeat the Xiongnu, I will think about how to be a good Grand Marshal!" (End of this chapter)

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