Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1130 Sima Genji
The Han Dynasty under Liu He's rule has now brought the spirit of martial arts to its fullest extent.

The implementation of the "equal field system" and the "military merit system" mobilized the enthusiasm of everyone in the Han Dynasty for external expansion to the limit.

Ordinary people, relying on the land divided by the equal-field system and the water conservancy facilities built in recent years, can have enough food and clothing for their families under the current light taxes and levies, and they can eat solid rice instead of porridge, and they can also eat meat during festivals. Some more industrious farmers raise a few chickens and ducks, and their lives are even better.

However, this was limited to just having enough food and clothing. If one wanted to seek more wealth and even bring honor to one's family, there were only two ways. One was to enter an official school or the Imperial College. If one achieved academic success and performed well in the examinations, one could become an official. Even if one's parents or ancestors were farmers or even slaves, as long as one met the court's standards, one could become an official.

But this one is obviously very difficult. Although the court is now engaged in wars and has more and more cities under its jurisdiction, and your majesty's reforms have resulted in a huge shortage of officials in the court, your majesty has always advocated rather having few than having unqualified people. Therefore, the number of students who can meet the standards in the Imperial College every year is only a few hundred, while the official schools that have just been converted from private schools in various places have to recruit tens of thousands of new students.

Although those who were not recruited by the court could find quite good ways out based on their own achievements, such as working in chambers of commerce, engineering teams, mining bureaus, and even major workshops run by the court, they could not only display their talents but also obtain considerable remuneration. Those with outstanding performance could also be recommended for promotion. Although they were not officials, they also received salaries from the court, but they were always inferior to those who actually wore official uniforms.

If this road is too narrow, there is another way - joining the army.

The imperial court is now sending troops everywhere. Although the Qiang people in the west have generally surrendered, there are still some tribes that are unwilling to submit to the Han Dynasty and still often rebel.

The capital of Goguryeo in Liaodong was bombarded day and night by two generals, Ma Chao and Tian Yu, with hundreds of thunder chariots, causing the so-called indestructible tall walls to become badly damaged and the several-meter-wide moat to be almost filled up. The newly-appointed king led the civil and military officials out of the city to surrender. Now this king and the princes and nobles of Goguryeo have all come to Luoyang, accepted the canonization of the Han emperor, and become subjects of the Han Dynasty.

The imperial court sent Minister of Agriculture Zhan Qingyuan to investigate the fields and soil, and concluded that the land in this country was extremely fertile, especially a kind of dark soil, which was said to be so fertile that it was several times more fertile than the land in Guanzhong. This made the Minister of Agriculture very excited, and he decided to take root here and run the farm well with hundreds of Ministers of Agriculture and Assistant Ministers of Agriculture from the imperial court's official farms.

And after hearing that Wuhuan, Fuyu and Sushen in the north had more such black soil, the people of You, Ji and Bing states went completely crazy, and cursed the ignorant Hu people. They guarded such fertile land but lived like primitive people, and had to come to the Han Dynasty to plunder from time to time to avoid starving to death. This was simply a waste of food. This sentiment became even stronger after Mr. Hua Tuo took his disciples and people from the Ministry of Industry's Mineral Bureau to visit the nearby mountains and heard that there were abundant magical medicines and herbs and various minerals in the mountains.

In view of this, Youzhou Governor Zhao Jin, Commander-in-Chief Tian Yu, together with Bingzhou Governor Xun Yan and Jizhou Governor Cui Jun, submitted a memorial to the court, requesting to send troops to attack Wuhuan, Buyeo and Sushen in order to avenge them for harassing the Han border for many years and funding Goguryeo's invasion of Liaodong.

As for the south, they were engaged in a fierce battle with the little thief Sun Ce. Although they had suffered a defeat on the river not long ago, I heard that the losses were not great. After all, it was the first time for the northern navy to suffer some losses in actual combat. No one thought it was a big problem, or it could be said that everyone's attention was not on the outcome of this war.

The imperial court said that Jingzhou and Yangzhou are both lands of fish and rice, and in the mountains of Lingnan further south, there are Jiaozhou and even areas further south, with countless spices, gems, minerals, furs, etc. It is said that there is also grain that can mature three times a year.

Tsk tsk tsk, who said Lingnan is a barren land? It is clearly a treasure land bestowed by God, of course, by the hardworking and wise Han people, not those stupid barbarians who guard the treasure but still start tribal wars for an iron pot and a few ounces of coarse salt.

Under the military merit system, soldiers who made meritorious services would be rewarded with money, land, and real estate according to the size of their contributions. Although the rewards were not small, they were not generous. However, for undeveloped areas, the rewards would be increased to three times the original amount, which became extremely tempting.

And this is not the most important thing. What makes those soldiers crazy is the special products of these new lands. A complete mink fur coat only costs more than 100 yuan in Liaodong, but in the shops in Luoyang City, it will be marked with at least 5,000 coins. This is the price now when the local area is stable and the official roads are unobstructed. If it were six or seven years ago, the price would be more than doubled. Damn it, no wonder those merchants would rather risk being robbed and killed by bandits and Hu people and run here when it was so chaotic decades ago.

Although the imperial court had issued a strict order prohibiting the military from engaging in commerce, the soldiers had just conquered a new piece of land and bought some local specialties. Even the imperial censors in the court could not find fault with this. These specialties, when brought back to their hometowns in the future, would be treasures that ordinary people could pass on to their descendants.

Therefore, in today's Han Dynasty, those who are not academically excellent and find it difficult to enter the Imperial College, and even if they go there, they are likely to be at the bottom of the class, should simply give up the hope of studying and becoming an official, and find a way to be thrown into the army to obey orders. This is the right way. If there are more than two sons in a family, the parents' idea will be even stronger.

If a man of your stature cannot serve the court and seek wealth for his children and grandchildren, what is the point of living? When my father was young, the court was corrupt and civil strife continued. The people could not even have enough food to eat. Now that you have caught up with the good times and have a good life, how can you sit at home and eat up all the food?
These parents will use this sentence to teach their sons a lesson.

As a result, ministers for their own merits, merchants for the rich specialties outside the Great Wall, soldiers for their own glory and wealth, and the common people for the sake of bringing honor to their ancestors and protecting their descendants, so everyone was united and anxious, and everyone was rubbing their hands, ready to take action against those neighboring countries and barbarian tribes that had been very unfriendly to the Han Dynasty in the past hundred years.

Of course, on the surface we must say that this is for revenge. Well, national hatred and family feuds must be avenged. It has nothing to do with interests.

Well, that's it. That's what everyone says anyway, and there's nothing wrong with it.

For Liu He, the initiator and ultimate controller of all this, this is truly the most wonderful thing.

The essence of the equal-field system is to nationalize the land and distribute it fairly, avoid and slow down the pace of land annexation as much as possible, and allow the vast majority of people to cultivate their own land. In this way, naturally no one will rebel. A court that can be supported by the vast majority of farmers will naturally have a much lower probability of being overthrown. This is the best choice for both the emperor himself and the people.

The biggest enemy of the equal-field system was the overly powerful aristocratic families. Each of their families had hundreds of people and could get a lot of land. If they monopolized the opportunities to serve as officials and win titles for meritorious service, then within a hundred years, at least 70% to 80% of the country's land would fall into their hands.

This is the best way now. The opportunities to study, become an official, and join the army to make merit are all distributed to the people. Although the children of common people cannot study or join the army to make merit most of the time as well as the children of wealthy families who have a strong family background and can receive better education since childhood, they still have a chance.

The common people have the largest population, and even if their chance of becoming successful is only one percent or one thousandth of that of the children of wealthy families, a considerable proportion of the officials in the court and the list of those who have made meritorious services in the army will be occupied by them.

As the population grew, there would be a day when there would not be enough land to go around. Therefore, diverting the attention of the subjects to the outside world was the best way. The Han Dynasty was so rich that it was almost the only one in Asia, far ahead of the rest. Liu He, a graduate student in history, was very clear about this.

Therefore, the surrounding Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Goguryeo, Buyeo, Wuhuan, Shanyue, and Nanman all wanted to take a bite. When the Han Dynasty was weak, even the small countries in the Western Regions, after defecting to the Xiongnu, often joined in the bullying.

Now, in the name of revenge, we are conquering their land inch by inch, strengthening the national strength, boosting the morale of the army, and comforting our ancestors. By the way, we are also incorporating those sparsely populated areas into the territory of the Han Dynasty. While the population of the Han Dynasty is growing, land is also being continuously opened up. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone?
Zhao Kui, who is well versed in animal husbandry, is discussing with people from the Ministry of Works how to make better use of wool and how to combine grazing with animal husbandry. Many merchants have also shown great interest in this and have established many workshops on their own to assist the court in conducting such experiments. Their keen sense of smell tells them that if wool can be woven into cloth on a large scale, and it is not the simple and crude wool felt of the Hu people, but real cloth that can be made into beautiful clothes, then the profits from it will be enough for them to spend for several lifetimes.

Tong Jian, who is good at water conservancy, is also racking his brains for the construction of water conservancy facilities on the vast grassland. As long as there is a stable water source, building more cities on the grassland is no longer a dream. The herdsmen on the grassland, whether they were originally Huns or Xianbei, are now eagerly looking forward to this coming as citizens of the Han Dynasty. No one would want to live in a tent if they could live in a solid city and warm houses.

If these two things can be achieved, the troubles caused by the nomadic peoples of the grasslands that have plagued the Central Plains for thousands of years will become a thing of the past. Instead of being a disaster, they will be wealth, huge wealth. All foreign herders will rush into the Han territory and strive for the identity of a Han citizen. They will be proud to pay taxes to the Han.

After all, this tax is definitely much less than what they have to pay to the chiefs and nobles of their tribes, while the protection and living environment provided by the Han Dynasty are much better. Even if those herdsmen are illiterate, they can clearly understand the account.

Thousands of miles of land, with arable land, pastures, and forests, are enough to feed tens of millions of people. These tens of millions of people can provide the Han Dynasty with at least hundreds of thousands of horses, hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, and millions of stones of grain every year, not to mention the many minerals on the grassland. The Mining Bureau has discovered more than ten iron and copper mines near Yunhai and Shuofang counties, which is not even a drop in the bucket for the entire grassland.

Liu He thought that he might not see the day when the prairie was completely annexed in his lifetime. This was not something that could be accomplished in one or two generations. However, since he had started it, someone would naturally finish it, and he would not have to worry about future generations. Another person who also discovered the value of these seemingly barbaric lands was Sima Yi.

Although he was not as clear-sighted as Liu He, he also saw the wealth hidden in the mountains of Lingnan. This place was not poor at all, it was extremely rich, otherwise he would not be so impatient to kill Shi Xie and completely control Jiaozhou.

Sima Fu, who had just completed the coming-of-age ceremony a few months ago, walked in holding a pile of account books. He saw his second brother staring at the model map of Lingnan and Jiaozhou areas, with a smile appearing on his lips from time to time.

He has often seen such scenes since he was sent by his lord to assist his second brother not long ago.

"General, I have brought you the information about the Shanyue villages that we have just pacified, as well as the account books of supplies that will be sent to Jingzhou in a few days. Please have a look."

Sima Yi was very caring towards his younger brothers and sisters at home, but he was extremely strict in this official residence. On the first day Sima Fu arrived, he was dragged away and beaten with twenty military sticks for disrespect just because he called Sima Fu "his second brother" in the army. He did it on the parade ground in front of many soldiers.

Although Sima Fu was somewhat resentful about this, when he learned that some newly surrendered Shanyue generals and newly recruited soldiers had witnessed their commander's younger brother being punished in public for violating a minor military rule, they seemed to have become much more honest. Sima Fu understood his second brother's intention and no longer felt resentful about it.

Sima Yi turned around to look at his brother, waved his hand, signaling him to put down the documents and account books, and then ignored him and continued to look at the model.

Sima Fu walked forward, looked at it for a long time, opened his mouth several times, but still said nothing.

"You can say whatever you want to say. There is no rule in the military that subordinates cannot ask questions to this general to resolve their doubts."

Sima Yi did not look up, but seemed to have noticed all the changes in his brother's expression.

Sima Fu got the permission and immediately said: "General, although the Lingnan area is not as poor as expected in the past, it is still not as good as Jing and Yang, not to mention Yuzhou and Xuzhou. Why are you so happy?"

Sima Yi glanced at him with seeming disgust.

"How can you, a person like you who is so unpromising, bring glory to our Sima clan?"

Sima Fu felt a little ashamed and lowered his head in silence.

"No matter how much I tell you, I'm afraid you may not understand. Just stay with me. After a year or so, you will understand that this mountain range will become the most stable foundation of our Sima family."

As he spoke, a strange light flashed in Sima Yi's eyes.

He had received news that more than ten days ago, his lord and Zhou Yu led the already exhausted and defeated army to fight against Jiang Huan's 50,000 navy.

With the assistance of the brilliant strategy of Pang Shiyuan, a famous scholar in Jingzhou, and Zhou Yu's unparalleled ability in naval warfare, they barely repelled Jiang Huan. Although Jiang Huan was almost unable to command the battle in that battle because of poisoning, he managed to save Jiangdong and the face of his lord and Zhou Yu.

After this battle, the status of the Pang family in Jingzhou rose rapidly. In addition, after the Battle of Hulao Pass, the Cai family and other big families suffered heavy losses and were seriously injured. Therefore, the Pang family is now rising rapidly and has the potential to dominate all the clans in Jingzhou.

As for the various clans in Jiangdong Yangzhou, they were led by the four major families of Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang in Wu County. The fact that Danyang County was almost lost this time left these four major families with lingering fears, and they all offered their troops, food and fodder to show their loyalty.

In addition to the troops that Pang Tong asked for from various tribes in Jingzhou, Lord Sun Ce now had an additional 40,000 to 50,000 combat-ready soldiers under his command. This not only made up for the losses in the battle of Yuzhou, but also strengthened the military strength.

Now, these new recruits are being trained by Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu respectively, but there is a huge gap in supplies and military equipment, so a military order has come, requiring Sima Yi to prepare military equipment in Lingnan. Now everything is ready and it will be shipped to Xiangyang tomorrow.

Sima Yi won victory after victory here, and tens of thousands of Shanyue surrendered. Compared with the great defeat in Yuzhou, the reputation of the Sima family was greatly enhanced. When Sun Ce wanted to confer titles on Sima father and son, Sima Fang took the initiative to submit a petition, requesting that the fiefdom be located in a remote area in Lingnan instead of the prosperous cities in the nine counties of Jingxiang.

This move won unanimous praise from Sun Ce and the gentry of Jingzhou. On the day the imperial edict arrived, Sima Yi knew that the first step of his plan for his family had been successful.

No one knew how much he had earned in Lingnan. One pound of coarse salt for ten pounds of spices, and one piece of linen for one thousand pounds of iron ore. Such a deal was already a huge bargain compared to the prices marked by merchants in Xiangyang City. No one doubted it. Even if they suspected that Sima had gained some benefits from it, it was probably just a small amount. Everyone thought it was natural. After making such a contribution, it was nothing wrong for them to get some benefits.

However, only Sima Yi himself knew that the real benefits he exchanged with the locals were twice as much. He kept half of it and sent the other half to Xiangyang. His lord and the so-called ministers in the court were all delighted and exclaimed. Even his father and brothers did not know this.

Those native tribes worshipped me as a god. The Five Xi barbarians came to me in this way. After I announced the amnesty of their past crimes, those Shanyue people also came down from the mountains and pledged allegiance to me.

Sima Yi was a very generous person. He gave expensive tea to these leaders. Those leaders regarded it as a treasure and would only take it out to smell it on weekdays. They would never take it out to drink it unless there was a happy event or a festival.

Sima Yi knew that these people would not live for more than two years. If you want to know why, only God knows. Anyway, he had enough confidence that within two years, all the soldiers and people under their command would become loyal to him, the Sima family, and no longer be leaders.

Zhou Yu and Lu Su were both smart men. They seemed to have seen something, but they had no evidence anyway. In addition, Yuzhou was now defeated, and the government and military affairs in the court were so busy that people wished they had eight hands to handle them. They were also cautious, and they did not have the energy to investigate themselves. After all, the enemy in the north was reorganizing his army in Yuzhou, Xuzhou and Yizhou, and might soon move south again.

"Liu He is a good person." Sima Yi had this thought for the first time.

(End of this chapter)