Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 89: The Prosperity of Han Dynasty
"I'll sit here, I'll sit here!"

"Give it! Give it!"

"Don't squeeze..."

Three poles high in the sun, outside Shanzhou City.

When thousands of civilians, with their families, rushed to occupy the carriages, eight hundred elite cavalrymen and two thousand horse infantrymen not far away had already loaded their armor onto the carriages and were ready to travel light.

In order to transport 30,000 shi of grain back to Shanzhou, Shang Bibi and Tuoba Huaiguang deployed almost all the usable carriages in the city.

More than 5,000 Han people were beaming with joy, having never been so happy before.

There were four or five of them in a carriage, holding several pieces of clothes in their arms, and everyone had a smile on their face.

From today on, they will be Han people in Hexi. Liu Guoyi from Shandan told them that after arriving in Shandan, they will be given new clothes and iron farm tools, and wasteland will be designated for them to reclaim.

During the period of land reclamation, adults were given two kilograms of rice per day, and children one kilogram, and this was not stopped until they could be self-sufficient.

Few people in the Tang Dynasty would believe in these policies of population migration, but if they were implemented in Hexi, all Han people who had not forgotten their roots would believe in them.

Because they grew up listening to the fairy tales told by their parents: "During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, a bowl of rice was just a few coins, and every family was well-off."

Therefore, in their opinion, what Liu Guoyi said must be true.

They had no doubt about Liu Jilong. After all, Liu Jilong looked like an upright person.

They are nothing like the foreign generals in Shancheng, who are all ferocious and have fat faces.

When they thought of the good days after arriving in Shandan, they couldn't help but smile.

Liu Jilong saw their smiles, but in his ears he heard Shang Bibi's flattering voice.

"These eight hundred elite cavalry will be handed over to Guo Yidonglue when the time comes."

"After the Donglue, the other rules will not change. The rules of this herd will be Guoyi Seven and Shanzhou Three, right?"

Shang Bibi took the initiative to give in to Liu Jilong. After hearing this, Liu Jilong glanced at Shang Bibi.

He knew in his heart that it would not be easy to get benefits from Shang Bi Bi, but Shang Bi Bi was part of his plan, so he didn't mind getting benefits from Shang Bi Bi.

"June 4th."

He started to counter-offer, and at the same time asked Shang Bibi: "How are you going to run Shanzhou?"

"To be honest with Guo Yi..." Although Shang Bibi didn't understand why Liu Jilong gave in to her, he still told her his plan openly.

"Huai Guang told me about the situation in Helong. Lun Kongre is planning to go to Chang'an in May to borrow troops. But in my opinion, this plan may not be successful."

"If this fails, the people under Lun Kongre's command will surely split up, and the most valuable things in Helong right now are food and livestock."

"I plan to recruit Lun Kongre's scattered followers after the internal split, and in due course, I will assist Jiedushi Zhang in recovering Helong."

Shang Bibi's words sounded very nice, and recruiting the tribesmen was also to help Hexi open up Helong.

But in Liu Jilong's opinion, this guy is saying this now, but he will say something else when he becomes stronger.

In order to check and balance him, it seems that I have to give Tuoba Huaiguang some advice from time to time.

"The Helong area is certainly nice, but the scenery of Luoshui City is what the Fan people long for."

Liu Jilong was hinting at something, and Shang Bibi's smile froze. Fortunately, he reacted within a breath, and nodded as if he didn't understand, without saying anything.

Seeing him like this, Liu Jilong sneered in his heart.

No matter how well Shang Bibi pretends to be now, once he becomes strong enough, Liu Jilong doesn't believe that he will not yearn for Luoshui City.

Liu Jilong has been thinking a lot these days, especially about his future destination.

Helong must be opened up. If Helong is not opened up, the Han people in Hexi will not get population support from the Han area and will one day be assimilated by the Uighurs and Tibetans.

However, after Helong is opened up, the Tang court's fear of Hexi will rise to a higher level.

After all, Chang'an was still hundreds or thousands of miles away from the three towns of Heshuo and the Lianghuai vassal states. Once Hexi recovered Longyou, it would only be separated from Chang'an by the Long Mountains.

The Tang court, which had long suffered from vassal phobia, would naturally not allow Hexi to develop peacefully.

They would insert obstacles into Hexi, just like transferring troops from Yunzhou to Liangzhou to balance the power of Hexi in history.

Of course, this is nothing.

What Liu Jilian was worried about was that the Tang court would sow discord among the internal forces in Hexi, and he even transferred Zhang Yichao away in advance.

If Tang Ting really did that, he would undoubtedly be drawn into the vortex of the Guiyi Army's civil strife.

It is one thing that the Guiyi Army might fall apart by then, but I am afraid that he would suffer the same fate as Zhang Huaishen, with his head and body separated.

It was because of these thoughts that Liu Jilong wanted to support Shang Bibi.

The trick of keeping an enemy for one's own benefit can easily turn into a threat, but Liu Jilong was confident that he could deal with Shang Bibi, so supporting him was the best choice.

If Tang Ting is ready to attack me at that time, don't blame me for giving Tang Ting a little shock.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said to Shang Bibi:

"If you can recover Kuzhou, Hezhou, Linzhou, Weizhou and Tuyuhun, I don't mind exchanging food for my Han people."

"How about I give you two shi of grain for every Han Chinese you send back?"

His eyes were burning with anger, and he was not worried that this move would cause Shang Bibi to pack up all the Han people in Helong and send them to him.

If Shang Bibi could really do it, even if there was not enough food in Shandan, Zhang Yichao would use all the strength of Hexi to rescue the Han people in Helong.

As for whether there would be Han people in Longyou in the future, Liu Jilian was not worried at all.

There are no Han people in Longyou, but there are enough Han people in Shannan Road and Jiannan Road, and there are no less than tens of thousands of Han people who have become bandits.

It is much closer for the Han people to migrate from Shannan and Jiannan Road to Longyou than to Hexi.

"it is good!!"

A look of joy flashed in Shang Bibi's eyes. He didn't expect that Liu Jilong would be willing to exchange food for the Han people.

For Longyou at the moment, population is just a burden and food is the top priority.

Even though there would be no population and no one would grow crops next year, the problem was that Helong had been experiencing severe drought for months. If they couldn't survive this year, what would next year have to do with them?
Without being reminded by others, Shang Bibi could imagine how much grain she could earn from this business.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. The governor can go back to the government office."

Seeing that the deal was done, Liu Jilong pretended to leave, but halfway through he seemed to remember something:
"By the way, Hexi needs sulfur as a medicinal material. If the Jiedushi can get sulfur, I am willing to buy it at the price of one bushel of grain per kilogram of sulfur."

"Okay!" Shang Bibi couldn't hide the smile on her face. She suddenly found that doing business with Liu Jilong was quite cost-effective.

There are quite a few sulfur mines in Hehuang, but no one mines them because they are not of very high value.

As long as he asked the various states for a profit, even three kilograms of grain and one kilogram of sulfur would be considered a high price.

For the Helong states that were suffering from food shortages and droughts, food was hard currency.

"gone!"

Seeing that all the deals were done, Liu Jilong jumped on his horse, shook the reins and walked to the front of the team.

Seeing him take action, Zhang Chang, Shang Duoluo, Shang Moyan and others who had been looking forward to it blew the whistle.

Soon, a team of more than 8,000 people began to march towards Shandan, and Shang Bibi also rode back to Shanzhou City.

For him, how to stabilize Shanzhou is the most important thing at the moment.

The food in Hexi was only a small amount, and he had to solve the rest by himself.

As time passed, Liu Jilong, who was returning to Shandan via the Sanxie Road, did not need to worry about enemy attacks, because this road could only be taken from two directions, Ganzhou and Shanzhou, and it just so happened that these two directions were now considered his own people.

Along the way, except for the problem of firewood, no other problems could trouble Liu Jilong.

The coal we brought here has been almost used up, but there are few trees in the valley.

For this reason, Liu Jilian could only eat dry food with his soldiers for two days, while the people could only eat corn rice soaked in warm water.

Even though the rice was half-cooked, they ate it with great joy, which made Liu Jilong sigh that the people's demands were too low.

More than ten days passed in a flash, and as the time came to April 27th, Liu Jilong also led the team out of Sanxie Road and came to Qilian City for food.

There were tens of thousands of kilograms of coal stored in Qilian City by Liu Jilong's order to Jiujuan, so the team finally had a hot meal after traveling for a long time.

While Zhang Chang was asking the troops to set up camp, Liu Jilian went to get some wine from Juyan.

The two of them sat in the city gate tower, and Jiu Juyan seemed a little restrained.

Liu Jilong looked at him and said slowly: "At present, Shanzhou will not change sides for at least a year, so the location of Qilian City is not that important for the time being."

"You are now promoted to captain. I want Geng Ming to exchange you and let you return to Shandan. What do you think?"

"I will follow Guo Yi's instructions." Jiu Juyan nodded in a deep voice. Liu Jilong glanced at him and nodded after a long while, saying, "Let's do it this way."

After saying that, he stood up and prepared to go out, but when he reached the door, he asked again: "By the way, I remember you said your family is from Dunhuang, Shazhou. You should be a servant of the Zhang family, right?"

Seeing Liu Jilong asking, Jiu Juyan's face flashed with confusion, but in the end he nodded and admitted: "Three generations of my family have been servants of the Zhang family."

"That's good." Liu Jilong smiled and left without saying anything.

When Zhang Huaishen prepared drinks for him with Ju Yan and Chen Jingchong, he guessed that these two people might be responsible for supervising him.

It's just that time has passed, and he didn't really think about it that much at the beginning, so he didn't take it to heart.

Now as his official position rises, the things he has to do are becoming more sensitive.

Of course, he would not be on guard against Jiu Juyan. On the contrary, he would keep Jiu Juyan and the others by his side.

Only when Zhang Huaishen, Zhang Yichao and others are aware of his every move can they feel at ease with him.

In this regard, Liu Jilong was not upset because they had spies around him. After all, that's how it is in troubled times, not to mention a place like Hexi where people's hearts are unsettled.

No one can guarantee that anyone can be completely loyal to anyone, so it is necessary to have the necessary spies.

The reason why he wanted to be frank with Jiu Juyan was not to drive him away, but to make him feel guilty.

This guilt will be useful one day sooner or later...

"Xilulu!!"

The next day, Liu Jilong continued to lead the team towards Shandan.

Three days later, as Shandan City emerged in the distance, everyone on this trip finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yizhong, Cui Shu, Chen Jingchong and others had already set up their formation at the South Gate.

More than twenty soldiers who could read and write began to take charge of the more than 5,000 people and register them.

As for the distribution of farm tools, oxen and new clothes, they will have to wait until tomorrow.

The soldiers and civilians in the city had already moved out a lot of food. Upon seeing this, Shang Moyan asked Liu Jillong for instructions. Seeing that Liu Jillong agreed, he immediately led people to load the food onto trucks.

After being transported by 2,800 Shanzhou soldiers, 30,000 shi of grain were loaded onto the trucks in just two hours.

"Guo Yi, I will take the two thousand cavalry and infantry to the previous camp to rest, and set off back to Shanzhou tomorrow."

Shang Moyan rode over on horseback and saluted respectfully to Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong nodded when he heard this: "Be careful on the road."

"Yes..." Shang Moyan nodded, then looked at Shang Duoluo beside Liu Jilong.

After a glance, Shang Moyan turned his horse and left, while Shang Duoluo bowed to Liu Jilong and said:
"Guo Yi, the governor asked me to lead the troops to follow you to the east, and then exchange the herds for food before returning to Shanzhou."

"I know, you don't have to worry, go into the city early and rest." Liu Jilong said:
"I estimate that I will be busy for half a month. Once the issues of these people are resolved, it will be time for us to invade Liangzhou again."

"Yes!" Shang Duoluo still enjoyed fighting with Liu Jilong.

When fighting under Shang Bibi, Shang Bibi often asked him for advice, but he was not good at it.

On the contrary, when fighting against Liu Jilian, Liu Jilian often had plans before the battle, and they only needed to execute them.

In addition, Liu Jilian was also extremely generous to his soldiers. For example, when they invaded Liangzhou in the east last time, they seized a lot of copper coins, but Liu Jilian just waved his hand and let them divide it among themselves.

Afterwards, Liu Jilian also asked Cui Shu to give each of the Donglue soldiers two dan of rice and a sheep.

It’s a pity that after returning to the camp, these rewards were confiscated by Shang Bi Bi on the grounds of insufficient food and fodder.

Now Shang Bibi is far away in Shanzhou, and he has become the leader of the Shanzhou army in Shandan. He is confident that he can lead the team well and complete the tasks assigned by Liu Jilong.

Therefore, when Liu Jilong asked him to take his men to rest, he took 800 elite cavalrymen from Shanzhou into the city to rest without hesitation.

Among these eight hundred elite cavalrymen from Shanzhou, more than four hundred were former subordinates of Tuoba Huaiguang.

Shang Bibi didn't know how she persuaded Tuoba Huaiguang, but he finally handed over the more than 400 elite armored soldiers and cavalry.

Looking at their departing backs, Liu Jilong did not return to the yamen to rest, but sat in the shed at the city gate, waiting for the household registration statistics to be completed.

Under his watch, more than 5,000 Han people from Shanzhou were registered. After the registration, they were given food according to their population size and taken to live in houses in the city.

The houses in Shandan City had been repaired and built and had long been able to accommodate tens of thousands of people, so the sudden influx of more than 5,000 people would not exceed its upper limit.

“We really gave you food!”

"That's three buckets, right?"

"There must be three dou of rice. How can you give me three dou of rice a month?"

At dusk, the people queuing at the back looked at the people in front who were receiving rice with envy.

"Adults are given three dou of rice per month, and children are given two dou. Don't squeeze, just line up properly!"

At the city gate, Cui Shu ordered the Tang cavalry to make notifications back and forth, which made the team calm down a little.

According to Shandan’s previous standards, three dou of rice per month for an adult was not considered a lot.

However, in order to prevent the stored grain from being eaten up, Liu Jilong still set this lower standard.

If there is still enough food afterwards, it will not be too late to increase it then.

As he was thinking this, the sky was getting darker and darker, until the time came when he needed to light torches and place oil lamps, the sky had already fallen completely dark.

Even so, there were still nearly two thousand people queuing outside the city gate.

There was no other way, so even Liu Jilong had to personally start the registration process.

They were busy from Youshi (17:21) to Haishi (:), and it took them two full hours to re-register all the Han people in Shanzhou.

As the last family was sent into the city, Liu Jilong also stretched his sore shoulders.

About a quarter of an hour later, Cui Shu, who had compiled all the household registrations, bowed to Liu Jilong and said:
"Guo Yi, everything has been compiled. There are 1,342 households and 5,713 people registered this time."

"Including the previous ones, there are now 1,200 Shandan soldiers, 800 Shanzhou soldiers, 2,816 households of civilians, and 9,210 people."

After Cui Shu finished speaking, Liu Jilong asked about the amount of grain in the granary and the number of livestock.

"After the grain was distributed today, there are only 34,600 dan of new grain left in the warehouse."

"But the herd is huge, with over 80,000 sheep alone."

"It's just that the oxen for farming in Donglue have all been distributed last time, and there are only more than 1,500 draft horses left in training. These more than 5,000 newly naturalized citizens..."

Cui Shu asked Liu Jilong tentatively, and Liu Jilong said:
"Distribute one trained draft horse to each household and let them start the reclamation."

"In a few days, I will lead my elite cavalry to attack the east again, and I will be able to bring back some cattle and sheep."

"Tomorrow you will count the people who received food last year and see how long they will have enough food to last."

"If there is not enough food, then select a group of old sheep and go to Zhangye to exchange them for some food from the governor."

He instructed about these minor details, and Cui Shu wrote down everything he said one by one.

After writing down everything, he advised Liu Jilong: "Guo Yi, you are tired from the journey, go back to the government office and have a rest first."

"Well, I will rest longer tomorrow, so the regular meeting of the government office can be cancelled."

After giving some instructions, Liu Jilong walked to a nearby distance, jumped on his horse, and rode back to the county government office.

When he entered the inner hall, Cao Mao, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up quickly: "Guo Yi, the food is still hot!"

"Bring it up here, and boil a bucket of hot water for me to bathe."

Liu Jilong was not very tired, but his shoulders were numb from sitting for so long.

His body is full of energy. Even if he feels sleepy, he will not sleep for a long time. He can usually feel full of energy after resting for three hours.

Under his gaze, Cao Mao brought the food to the table.

Fresh wild vegetables and some newly grown vegetables were stir-fried and served with a pot of stewed mutton, which made Liu Jilong's appetite very excited.

Cao Mao put down the food and went to boil hot water for him, and he also immersed himself in eating.

While he was enjoying his meal, a team arrived at the city of Fengzhou in the darkness thousands of miles away.

"Who is that person under the city!"

In front of the Fengzhou city wall in the dark, more than a dozen soldiers held torches and tried to see the people below the city.

There were only seven or eight fires below the city. The leader was wearing a black robe and his facial features were not clear.

Amid the shouting of the Fengzhou soldiers on the city wall, the man took off his bamboo hat, revealing his bald head.

"Shazhou monk Wuzhen, under the order of Guasha governor Zhang Yichao, has come to report the victory..."

"Gua, Sha, Gan, Su... the four states have been liberated!"

(End of this chapter)