The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 860 The imperial commander’s personal expedition
In the blink of an eye, it was the fourth year of the Zhongxing era. In early spring, in February, as the river had just thawed, Xiao Xia led an army of 30,000 men and dozens of officials on thousands of warships from Luoyang, heading towards western Liaoning via the Yongji Canal.

Since the peninsula has been incorporated into the territory, the Northeast region is divided into Liaodong and Liaoxi, with the Liao River as the boundary. This time, Xiao Xia is not only going to inspect the four new prefectures in Liaodong, but also to personally lead an expedition to eliminate the three tigers of Liaoxi: the Khitan, the Xi, and the Xi.

The Xi and Xi tribes are easy to deal with, but the key is the Khitan. In the very year I ascended the throne, the Khitan actually sent troops to invade Liucheng County and kidnapped thousands of Han people. Although they later released the Han people and sent people to apologize.

But Xiao Xia had already decided to destroy the Khitan. Regardless of whether the Khitan apologized or not, the Khitan was a venomous snake entrenched in the northeast. Once it grew stronger, it would inevitably become a major threat to the Central Plains.

There are also the Mohe tribes, among which the Heishui Mohe later became the Jurchens, and the Shiwei tribe, among which the Mengwu tribe produced Temujin, who almost conquered the whole of Asia. Xiao Xia has already formulated a plan to completely wipe them out within five years.

Xiao Xia planned to launch a counterattack against the Khitan the year he ascended the throne, but he held back for the time being after hearing that there were still sporadic outbreaks of plague in the Khitan. Now that the plague has stopped, it is time for him to send troops.

However, Xiao Xia was still very careful and brought a large amount of medicinal herbs, lime, and alcohol with him on this expedition.

The plague in the ninth year of the Daye era not only brought annihilation to Goguryeo, but also dealt a heavy blow to various tribes in the northeast, with the Khitan, Xi and Xi tribes losing nearly half of their population.

At present, the Khitan are still a loose tribal alliance, far from the era of the Yelü tribe. The Dahe tribe is in power now, forming the Dahe clan alliance. It will take another hundred years for the Khitan to enter the Yaonian clan tribal alliance, and another hundred and seventy or eighty years for the Yelü family of the Diela tribe to rise.

But with the existence of Xiao Xia, a Sui emperor who was well-versed in history, it was a misfortune for the Khitan. They were like a small snake that had not yet grown up and had no chance to become an adult.

Heading north along the Yongji Canal, the fleet sailed into the Bohai Sea from Haikou Town, heading towards the Liao River.

That morning, the fleet entered the Liao River. To the west was a newly built county town called Liaokou County. This area belonged to the Liaoxi Peninsula, and 30,000 artisans were settled here to carry out rudimentary iron smelting.

At this time, Luo Shixin was also waiting here for the emperor to arrive.

The fleet slowly approached the shore. Xiao Xia disembarked from the large ship, and Luo Shixin hurriedly stepped forward, leading dozens of generals to kneel on one knee and pay their respects. "Your humble servant Luo Shixin and his troops pay their respects to Your Majesty, wishing Your Majesty a long life!"

"General, please rise, all generals!"

Xiao Xia arrived at the main camp with his ministers and generals. The main ministers who came with him this time were Privy Councilor Zhang Liang and Minister of War Li Jing. Li Jing had just returned to Luoyang and came to Liaodong with Xiao Xia again. However, this time Li Jing came as a civil official. Also present was the newly appointed Liaoxi Pacification Commissioner Yang Gongren. Yang Gongren is currently serving as the Deputy Privy Councilor. It is his responsibility to deal with the Khitan, Xi and Xi tribes after the war.

In addition, there was Gao Shengdao, the first governor of Liaoxi Commandery, who was Gao Jiong's eldest son.

Inside the main tent, Xiao Xia listened briefly to Luo Shixin's report on the situation in Japan. Fei Qingnu was still on Kyushu Island, serving as the governor of Kyushu Prefecture, and Pei Shiqing was serving as the chief secretary. However, the navy had returned and was currently under the command of the naval commander Lai Hong.

"Your Majesty, Japan no longer has a court. Various states have declared themselves kings and are preparing to send envoys to pay homage, hoping to receive investiture from the Sui Dynasty."

Xiao Xia nodded. Splitting Japan was only his first step. Once he completely annexed Kyushu, he would continue to annex Japan to the east, occupying it for five years. Eventually, the entire Japan would become the territory of the Sui Dynasty. Luo Shixin and Fei Qingnu knew about his plan.

How many miners does the Iwami Ginzan mine have?

"Currently, there are 40,000 people, and we will eventually recruit more than 100,000 more, as well as thousands of Han Chinese craftsmen responsible for smelting."

"Are Japanese laborers easy to recruit?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.

The people on Ryukyu Island have a good opinion of the Japanese laborers. They are hardworking, obedient, and compliant, like donkeys. They can eat their fill every day and earn 20 coins. After three years, they can earn 20,000 coins. If they die, they can also get 10,000 coins in compensation, which makes them very happy. Back home, they can only earn a few coins a day and go hungry. If they die, they are left to rot on the roadside like dogs and no one cares.

"Your Majesty, it is very easy. Japan has a large population and little land, and the people are generally very poor. They are trying every means to find someone to work in the silver mines."

Xiao Xia said happily, "This year we need 100,000 Japanese laborers to develop Lugong Island. This task will be assigned to Fei Qingnu. Don't recruit from Kyushu, recruit from Japan." Lugong Island is the later Luzon Island. Lu Meng of the Three Kingdoms period once visited it, hence the name Lugong Island. Currently, only a small number of natives live there. Xiao Xia plans to grow sugarcane, tobacco, and cocoa on Luzon Island, and make cigarettes to sell to the West. It will definitely become a money-making tool, and the West can't get the seeds anyway, as they are all on Luzon Island.

Luo Shixin bowed and said, "This subordinate will remember!"

Xiao Xia clapped his hands and said, "Now let's get down to business. This time, I will exterminate the Khitan, Xi, and Xi tribes. The principle is the same as that of the Tuyuhun back then: all noble men will be killed, regardless of age, and the common people will be relocated to Hebei and Henan provinces."

"Your Majesty, if we relocate the people, what will happen to the land?" asked Yang Gongren, the Pacification Commissioner of Liaoxi.

Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said, "Use them as military pastures for the Sui army. I estimate that we will capture several million sheep, which will still be grazed in the same place, and Han people will be recruited to herd them."

Yang Gongren remained worried, saying, "Your Majesty, I am concerned that the Shiwei in the north will take this opportunity to annex these lands."

"I'd be delighted if they came to annex me!"

Xiao Xia said calmly, "This way, we'll have a legitimate reason to attack Shiwei next!"

Xiao Xia did not immediately attack the Khitan. On the one hand, he sent out scouts to gather intelligence, and on the other hand, he let his soldiers rest well.

He arrived in Liaokou County, where a new city called Yingkou was later built. However, this was an important iron and steel city of the Sui Dynasty, where 30,000 craftsmen smelted iron. Each worker could earn five strings of cash a month, enough to support his family.

In addition, they could enjoy the benefits of the frontier, including a plot of land provided by the government, a house built for each family, five acres of vegetable gardens, and free education for children. Basically, the men went to the factory to smelt iron, while the women stayed at home to grow vegetables and raise chickens.

If you have children, you can receive a monthly child allowance of one cent, which continues until the child is ten years old; the more children you have, the more you receive.

Xiao Xia arrived at a house outside the city and found an old man growing vegetables. The vegetable garden was actually ten acres in size.

"Sir, you may not know this, but I have two sons!"

The old man pointed to the two plots of land and laughed, "The two brothers live next to each other, so their vegetable gardens are also together. They went to work at the ironworks, and they left the land to me."

"I see. Where is your ancestral home, sir?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, I am from Yangxin County, Bohai Prefecture. We were flooded, so we moved to western Liaoning. My son went to work in iron smelting, my daughter-in-law raises chickens and pigs, my grandson is in school, and my wife and I are in charge of growing vegetables."

"Ten acres of vegetables, surely a family can't eat them all?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.

"We definitely can't eat it all, but every family has a vegetable garden. Vegetables aren't worth much, so we can only use them to feed chickens and pigs. I even planted three acres of pig feed specifically."

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Next year, several new crops will be promoted. You can plant five acres of corn, which will yield two to three thousand catties per acre. It's good for people to eat and also good for feeding pigs. You can also plant pumpkins in front of and behind your house. They are fragrant and sweet when cooked."

Before they knew it, dozens of people, mostly women and elderly, had gathered around and started asking all sorts of questions that worried them.

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[Chapter 3 of the new book "Tiger Owl"—Intercepting Lu Su—is now available. Readers are welcome to offer their criticisms and suggestions. Please also vote for Lao Gao (the author) and consider giving him a small donation. Thank you!]

(End of this chapter)