Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 54 Only Han can be strong
"Haha, it's good to divide the land. I'll have someone bring my family over in a few days!"

"Yes, yes, yes! We, like the other generals, have settled in Shandan!"

"If you ask me, the reason why the land was divided so quickly is that the other general arranged it well!"

"Yes, if there were no other generals, we don't know when the land division in Shandan would be completed."

In Shandan City and the small courtyard, Liu Jilong couldn't help laughing and scolding Ma Cheng, Chen Jingchong and Geng Ming who were talking nonsense.

"Okay, if you don't know, you might think I've done something big!"

"Hehe..." The three of them laughed when they heard the words and wanted to say something, but saw Liu Jilong raising his hand to stop them.

"Please wait for the relocation for now, at least this year, until the beginning of next spring."

"In addition..." Liu Jilong looked at Ma Cheng and said seriously:
"Aunt Zhao has taken all the land that Zhao Qian and his men used to join the army. Before winter comes, send someone to Jiuquan to ask if they are willing to come to Shandan after the spring ploughing."

"If they are willing to come, tell them not to worry about food. I will take care of their food for the first year."

"In addition, I will find someone to teach Zhao Qian and his brothers and descendants how to read and write. The same goes for your descendants and brothers."

Although Zhao Qian and his men had only known Liu Jilian for a month, they were the first batch of soldiers led by Liu Jilian.

Although 500 strings of cash had been given to their families before, more than 300 strings of cash were the rewards for Zhao Qian and his group being the first to reach the summit.

Moreover, it is not realistic to expect 500 guan to support six households with more than 30 people for a lifetime in a place like Hexi.

You need to recruit a group of people who are loyal to you and can write and parse.

Since we have to raise them anyway, we might as well find Zhao Qian's brothers and children to raise them.

"Don't, you..."

Ma Cheng and Geng Ming obviously didn't expect that Liu Jilong was still thinking about his old brother.

In their eyes, the third group was already a thing of the past. Although they also regretted the departure of Zhao Qian and others, the friendship they had for each other had gradually faded over the past month.

Liu Jilong suddenly brought up the old story, which made them both feel touched.

Not to mention them, even Chen Jingchong, who didn't know Zhao Qian, felt an indescribable emotion.

With a leader like Liu Jilong, what else do they have to worry about?

"Don't worry, I'll report it to you after I've done it!"

Ma Cheng raised his hand and bowed solemnly. Liu Jilong also waved his hand and said, "We are all brothers. It was Zhao Qian and his men who were unlucky and lost their formation at the beginning. But maybe one day it will be you and me who will lose our formation."

"Although this may sound unlucky, I often think that since I have the ability to take care of it, why should I be stingy?"

His words touched the three of them. Ma Cheng picked up the bowl and said, "Don't worry, use water instead of wine!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he drank the well water in the bowl. Seeing this, Chen Jingchong and Geng Ming also followed suit and toasted Liu Jilong.

After drinking a bowl of water, Liu Jilong also instructed Cao Mao who was not far away:
"Cao Mao, after the autumn harvest, you can go to the city and find some poor people to help you farm my permanent and official fields. We can split the harvest in half."

"Yes!" Cao Mao agreed and didn't say anything, because the rent in the city was 50%.

Not many people would prefer to settle in Shandan. Liu Jilong's permanent farmland and official farmland totaled 600 acres.

However, 50% of this year's grain must be handed over to the government office, and starting next year, it will be paid according to the 10% tax rate set by Zhang Yichao.

The Han people in Hexi had no idea about the tax system of the Tang Dynasty.

In order to facilitate tax collection, Zhang Yichao established a system of 10% tax and there were no miscellaneous taxes.

This is the advantage of starting from scratch without any constraints. If we wait until the Hexi Corridor and Longyou are opened up, the situation will not be like this.

"By the way, General, this Sima went to Zhangye this morning. I wonder when he will be back?"

Chen Jingchong asked Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "This time I am going here on the order of Governor Xiao Zhang. It will take five or six days to go back and forth, and I estimate that I will not return until the beginning of August."

As he spoke, he raised his cup and took a sip. "Jiu Juyan and Li Ji will follow Suo Xun to Qilian City. According to the time, they should arrive tonight or tomorrow at noon."

"Based on my understanding of Suo Xun, I estimate that the army will arrive tomorrow night."

Listening to Liu Jilong talking about Suo Xun, Geng Ming said indignantly:

"That Suo Guoyi has a bad temper. Jiu Juyan and Li Ji are going to suffer."

"Not really." Liu Jilong shook his head.

"He was only doing it for Shandan, but he didn't think too much about it. He only considered military affairs and never considered the livelihood of the people of Shandan."

"Given his personality, even if he wants to deal with someone, he will deal with Zhang Sima and me, and will not vent his anger on the two brigade commanders."

"If he was such a villain, he wouldn't have chosen to stay in Shandan. Look at this city, apart from him and the two captains of the Suo family, where else are the favored sons of the powerful people in Shazhou?"

"That's true..." Geng Ming nodded somewhat embarrassedly, and Chen Jingchong sighed at the right time:
"If we do well in this place, we won't get much credit, but if we don't do well, we will be guilty of a great crime. Among the five lieutenants and ten brigade commanders in the city, nearly half of them are of ordinary origin."

"On the contrary, those sons of powerful people, once they have gained power, either serve in the state government or in Shazhou."

"Okay!" Seeing the atmosphere was a little depressing, Liu Jilong chuckled and said:

"It's true that the place is inferior, but we are no worse than them. We are all people with two arms and two legs. Who knows who will be more noble in the future."

Liu Jilian did not have the mentality of admiring the sons of powerful people. In his opinion, they were all people with one head on two shoulders. Why should some be born nobler than him?
Even though garrisoning in Shandan was not an easy job, he wanted to do it well.

"After this autumn harvest, the grain in the treasury will be enough for us and the people to eat for three years."

"Shandan is different from other places. We can't train a strong army if we train every five days. We must shorten the training to two days and drill every five days."

Liu Jilong explained to the three people and sighed:

"Although we own four states, the number of Han people in these four states is less than 40,000, and the number of males is no more than 10,000."

"I would rather spend twice as much food to train well than train carelessly for a year and then fail to show my ability when I go into battle!"

After understanding the combat methods of the Guiyi Army generals, Liu Jilian finally understood why the Guiyi Army was unable to mobilize any Han forces to help in the end.

The local Han people had long been wiped out in repeated battles, especially when the Guiyi Army recaptured Liangzhou in history. Liu Jilian remembered that the war was very difficult and he didn't know how many Han people had sacrificed their lives.

In fact, he had no opinion on the ordinary people of various ethnic groups in Hexi, but Liu Jilian knew very well that if Hexi wanted stability, the Han people must be the majority ethnic group.

Given the current population situation in Hexi, it would be impossible to keep the situation under control without at least 100,000 Han people.

The reason why Liangzhou was lost in history was because there were not enough Han people in Liangzhou city, which allowed the Umu people to take advantage of the opportunity.

Hexi needs enough Han people, and the only emperor who is willing to relocate the Han people is the current high-ranking Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

If he waited until his son and grandson, those two anthropomorphic creatures, came to the throne, let alone relocating the Han people, it would be considered human for them not to be torn apart by the Guiyi Army.

Therefore, the Guiyi Army could not blindly follow the course of history and wait until Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was about to die to recapture Liangzhou, but should do it as soon as possible.

Even if Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty squeezed in many people during the migration of Han people, it would be much better than the Han people losing all of Hexi in the end.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong turned to look at Cao Mao:

"Cao Mao, go to the city and see if there is anyone raising poultry. Buy two and cook for us!"

"Yes!" Cao Mao walked out with a smile. When Ma Cheng and others heard that there was poultry to eat, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Liu Jilong saw this scene, raised his water bowl and said with a smile:

"Starting tomorrow, the soldiers' daily rations will be increased to three catties. We will kill a batch of sheep every five days to reward the soldiers. We will train every two days and drill every five days!"

"Everyone should eat well today. If Shandan wants to become stronger, it still depends on us!"

(End of this chapter)