Han officials

Chapter 26: Haedong Three Koreas [4K]

At the beginning of the second year of Zhongping, Wei Zhe spent almost all his time in the fields.

Perhaps he had never experienced the feeling of extreme hunger before, but the Yellow Turban Rebellion taught him a lot!
People regard food as their first priority.

Whoever can provide them with food is the emperor.

This was Wei Zhe’s greatest realization during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Do you really think so many people believe in Huang Tian? Isn't it true that they can't survive?

The spring plowing season had not yet ended, but Wei Zhe was busy with the land tax issue again, and this time he was really collecting taxes.

But before he could do anything, he received another imperial edict.

……

"The tax on all land is ten coins per mu?"

Looking at the bamboo slips in his hand, Wei Zhe couldn't help but frown.

"The turmoil in the world has just subsided. Doesn't the court know how to rest and recuperate?"

Ten cents per mu may not seem like a big deal, but it was enough to force a small farmer to flee.

The straw that broke the camel's back was not how heavy it was, but the complete loss of hope.

Xi Zhicai naturally knew that this decree was absurd, and helplessly explained, "In early February, a fire broke out in the Nangong Palace. It took half a month to extinguish. Lingtai Hall, Lecheng Hall, Jiade Hall, Hehuan Hall, and Beique Dudao were all destroyed in the fire. The Nangong Palace was half destroyed. The emperor said he had no place to stay, so... sigh~"

Wei Zhe fell silent upon hearing this, and only let out a sigh after a long time.

Even though many people in later generations defended Emperor Ling of Han, how could the Han Dynasty not perish with such an emperor?

Compared with Emperor Xian of Han, he was the real king who lost his country!

In fact, after this order was issued, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, such as Zhang Niujiao, gathered tens of thousands of people in Taihang and raided the surrounding counties and prefectures outside the mountains. People in Jizhou called them "Black Mountain Bandits".

"Let's keep this order for now." Wei Zhe said helplessly, "The money will be paid from the money and goods of the Tian and Zhang families. It's only 40,000 or 50,000 coins anyway."

Although the emperor did not care about the world, Wei Zhe could not help but care about Daifang County.

After all, Daifang County is his base now, and every small farmer who escapes is his loss.

Seeing Wei Zhe say this, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but sigh: "Ming Gong is benevolent!"

Wei Zhe just smiled when he heard that.

"When serving as an official, it is my duty to benefit the people."

Then the two of them said nothing more and quietly went about their business.

However, not long after, the sound of footsteps broke the silence in the main hall.

A county sergeant hurried in with a card and reported, "My lord, there is a middle-aged scholar claiming to be the son of Guan from Donglai, and he is seeking an audience."

This county sergeant had accompanied Wei Zhe to Zhuxu County to pay taxes, so he naturally knew the relationship between Guan and his master. Therefore, after learning of this person's identity, he did not dare to neglect and immediately came to report.

Wei Zhe didn't think much about it when he heard it. He thought that Guan had some important news and sent someone to tell him. So he put down his official duties and asked the county clerk to bring the person over.

However, what Wei Zhe did not expect was that the middle-aged scholar knelt down and apologized as soon as they met.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Could it be that he encountered a cliché plot like breaking off an engagement?"

Just when Wei Zhe was beginning to doubt his life, the middle-aged scholar spoke frankly, "I've heard that Duke Wei is diligently working to govern the land of Haidong. Although I'm humble, I have a heart for helping the world, so I've come to serve you."

Yes, this person is Guan Xiu.

This kid has been thinking about joining Wei Zhe ever since he met him in Zhuxu County.

So half a month ago, after selling his remaining belongings, this man finally boarded a ship to Liaodong.

It can be said that he has gambled everything just to make a name for himself.

It was precisely because of this that he had the audacity to mislead the county guard into thinking that he was delivering a letter from home.

After all, if he couldn't even see Wei Zhe, he would really have no hope at all.

After finding out the origin of this person, Wei Zhe was speechless, and Xi Zhicai on the side also laughed.

"Mingsir, why not keep this man?" Xi Zhicai laughed heartily and said, "This fellow is quite courageous and has the potential to be a lobbyist."

Wei Zhe couldn't help but sigh helplessly when he heard this.

Why did Liu Bei only meet this kind of weirdo instead of either Sleeping Dragon or Phoenix Chick?
However, since Xi Zhicai had already spoken, Wei Zhe gave him a chance. Seeing that he hadn't presented any strategies, Wei Zhe directly asked, "What can you do?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Xiu raised his head proudly and said, "I am not very talented, but I know a thing or two about cheating and deceiving people, and I am also proficient in medicine, divination, and astrology."

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but hold his forehead and suddenly regretted asking to keep the person.

However, Wei Zhe became interested after hearing this. After a moment of hesitation, he came up with an idea.

He looked at Guan Xiu in the hall with a slightly raised mouth and said, "Well, you can be an alliance official."

Guan Xiu was overjoyed when these words came out, and immediately thanked him with a cheerful expression in the hall: "Thank you very much, my lord. I will do my best to live up to your trust!"

After saying this, he happily followed the county official to go through the official procedures.

Only after this person left did Xi Zhicai look at Wei Zhe with some confusion and ask, "Are you... planning to attack the Dongyi people?"

Because the duty of the alliance official is to be in charge of the affairs of the border troops and the barbarians.

This position is unique to border counties, and generally only in border counties where Han and Hu people live together will alliance officials be appointed.

Wei Zhe did not hide it and nodded slightly immediately.

"Daifang is a remote and cold place. If you want to become strong, you have to go out!"

Xi Zhicai was not surprised to hear this, "Wu Mo or the Three Han?"

The Xianbei people actually have a long history. In history books, they are also called Wibei, Xian people, Bei people, He people, etc., because they are of similar ethnic groups, have the same language, and live in adjacent places.

It is said that this type is one of the "Nine Yi" mentioned in the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

However, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the rise of states such as Yan and Zhao, the Xianbei people had to migrate to Liaodong and gradually dispersed throughout Liaodong, with new names such as Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Wokou.

Therefore, nowadays, only the barbarians around Lelang County are generally referred to as Xianbei, and the others are all called by the new name.

However, Wei Zhe's answer this time was beyond Xi Zhicai's expectations.

Wei Zhe said calmly, "I will fight against the Wubei people, and I will also fight against the Three Han people."

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but frown.

If he didn't know that Wei Zhe was not an arrogant person, he would have suspected that he had heard it wrong.

"Isn't this... a bit too hasty?"

If he were to deal with just one of them, Xi Zhicai could probably handle it, using nothing more than divisive tactics. But if he were to attack both the Wumok and the Three Han at the same time, even Xi Zhicai wouldn't be able to come up with a good solution.

Wei Zhe couldn't help but laugh when he saw this, and asked, "Zhicai, don't you find that these two tribes have anything in common?"

"What do they have in common?"

After being provoked by Wei Zhe, Xi Zhicai's competitive spirit was also aroused.

He stopped questioning Wei Zhe and started thinking hard.

After deciding to come to Daifang, Xi Zhicai naturally put in a lot of effort. After officially settling here, he also asked the locals about various origins. Therefore, Xi Zhicai knew a lot about both the Xianbei and the Three Han.

The reason why Wei Zhe often referred to the Xianbei and the Three Han as Dongyi was because the earliest inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula were called Niaoyi by the Chinese, one of the Nine Yi, and were also called Dongyi during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

However, later on, as China expanded, the Xianbei people migrated eastward and merged with the Nori people of the Korean Peninsula to form Mahan.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, some refugees from the Chinese fled here and lived together with the local bird barbarians, forming Jinhan.

As for the native Torii of the Korean Peninsula, they were squeezed to the easternmost corner and became Byeonhan.

So, in a sense, the Xianbei and the Three Han are both branches of the Dongyi ethnic group.

So after Wei Zhe's guidance, Xi Zhicai quickly figured out the key points.

There is no need to say much about the Xianbei people around Lelang County. The key still lies in the Three Kingdoms of Han.

Xi Zhicai said thoughtfully:

"The Wumo people make their living by hunting and farming, and so do the people of the Three Han. This is how their customs are similar."

"The Xianbei tribes lived in a mixed state, without a unified system. They had no ruler, each with its own leader as their leader, and they constantly attacked each other. Although the Three Han lands each had a common ruler, the system was quite similar to that of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The Three Han tribes never paid tribute or made offerings, each ruling independently and often attacking each other, clearly with only a common ruler in name only. This is a similar system!"

"Moreover, both the Wubei and the Three Han have no official magistrates, and everything is done by the people. This can be said to be a similar style!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but clap his hands and praise: "Zhicai is quick-witted, he is indeed extraordinary."

However, Xi Zhicai shook his head with a wry smile when he heard this.

"Please do not praise me, my lord. I am only picking out some sentences from the scriptures. I do not have any solution."

Wei Zhe couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, and didn't really think Xi Zhicai was stupid.

After all, his method was indeed unconventional, and people without the experience of later generations might not have thought of it.

So Wei Zhe did not keep the secret any longer and immediately took out a two-inch square piece of iron, only slightly larger than a copper coin, and placed it in front of Xi Zhicai.

In fact, Wei Zhe originally had no way to make a final decision, but after arriving in Daifang, a piece of news caught his attention.

Wei Zhe pointed at the iron on the table and said, "The land of the Three Han is different from China. Copper is scarce in the East Sea, so the Three Han use iron coins for transactions. All transactions between the tribes of the Three Han use iron, just like China uses coins."

"Among them, Jinhan, having received many refugees from the Qin and Han dynasties, possessed the most advanced iron smelting techniques of any of the Three Han. Therefore, Jinhan was particularly rich in iron coins among the Three Han. Not only Mahan and Byeonhan, but also the Emok and Wa peoples frequently came here to trade."

However, after hearing this, Xi Zhicai became even more confused after playing with the iron coin.

"So what?" Xi Zhicai asked, puzzled. "Even if our smelting skills far surpass those of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, we can't produce large quantities of iron coins for trade outside the borders, right? Otherwise, how would that be any different from aiding the enemy?"

The methods used in the Three Kingdoms of Korea and other places to smelt iron from iron ore may still be very primitive and inefficient.

But if a pile of iron coins were placed in front of them, even the Dongyi craftsmen would know how to make them into weapons.

It can be said that every iron coin that flowed from the Han area to the Three Kingdoms of Korea strengthened the military strength of the Dongyi people.

It was precisely because the Goguryeo people relied on their swords, spears and armor that were no less powerful than those of the Han people that they completely devoured the Xuantu County of the Western Han Dynasty, forcing the current dynasty to establish counties within the Liaodong County.

Wei Zhe naturally understood this principle, but he did not explain it. Instead, he took out a six-inch square piece of iron, the size of a palm, and smashed it to the ground.

Then, in Xi Zhicai's surprised eyes, he saw that the iron sheet actually shattered into several pieces and scattered all over the ground.

"Bad iron?"

Looking at the broken iron pieces on the ground, Xi Zhicai suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind and vaguely figured out some problems.

However, he still didn't understand the most critical points, so he looked at Wei Zhe again to see how he would explain.

Wei Zhe was also straightforward and explained immediately: "This iron was refined by someone after I came to Daifang. The raw materials used were all sourced locally."

Speaking of it, Daifang County is actually a treasure land.

Today's Daifang County and later Daifang County are actually the later Hwanghae-do South Province.

You should know that the Korean Peninsula is mostly mountainous, and there are actually not many plains that can be cultivated.

However, the area south of Hwanghae Province in North Korea is mostly plains and hills with relatively few mountains. It is the largest plain area in northern North Korea. It also has four peninsulas and nearly 200 small islands, which provide rich geographical conditions for the utilization of marine resources.

Most importantly, there are large-scale iron and coal mines in Daifang County.

The location of North Korea's Haeju Iron and Steel Plant in later generations is actually in the old site of today's Haeming County.

Although the quality of coal and iron ore is far inferior to that of Liaodong, it is actually a good thing for Wei Zhe at the moment.

……

A moment later, at the barracks in the north of the city.

Ever since Wei Zhe learned that there was a foundry here, he ordered Zhong Hu to keep a strict watch and not allow outsiders to enter.

In fact, apart from the craftsmen here, Xizhi was the third outsider to come in.

However, at this moment, Xi Zhicai seemed unable to feel the scorching air and walked straight to the stove.

After seeing the fuel used by the craftsmen to smelt iron, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Stone Nie can actually be used for smelting?"

You should know that this thing also exists in the inner counties of the Central Plains, but it is mostly used as a medicinal material. Alchemists believe that Shi Nie is sweet, pungent and warm, and can be used to treat women's blood and qi pain, various sores, bleeding wounds, children's phlegm and epilepsy and other diseases, and they believe that it is highly toxic.

Because there are often cases where ignorant people die from using Shi Ni.

Seeing his reaction, Zhong Hu said bluntly, "Of course it can be made, but iron refined from stone is no different from scrap iron. It is very brittle and cannot withstand any forging. It can't even be made into arrowheads."

After all, in the process of making iron arrowheads, they often need to be forged into shape.

Even if the arrows are cast directly from a mold without forging, they are still not easy to use.

Zhong Hu tried it, and found that arrowheads made of this inferior iron would often shatter upon slight impact, and were not as effective as bone arrows in penetrating armor.

Armor made of this inferior iron was heavy and cumbersome. Not only would it shatter with a single blow, it would also affect the soldiers' movements and waste their energy.

As for swords, spears and other items, there is no need to mention them. No wonder Zhong Hu called them waste.

At the same time, the clerk Wang Cen, who was in charge of this matter, said with regret, "We have tried every secret method, but nothing can change its nature. I guess there is indeed a conflict between stone and iron."

Wang Cen felt really sorry. After all, if Shi Nie could be used to smelt iron, it would definitely be great news for Daifang County.

After all, using coal to smelt iron requires enormous manpower and material resources. Given Daifang County's current size, even if everyone worked to cut wood and burn charcoal, iron production would probably not increase much.

(End of this chapter)