Han officials

Chapter 32 Adapting to Local Conditions [4K]

Whenever a dynasty comes to an end, there are always people who lament the loss of people's hearts.

But what is the human heart?
Simply put, it is the heart of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans.

To be more precise, it is nothing more than scholars and farmers.

The former holds the vast majority of the power, while the latter undertakes the vast majority of the production tasks.

And the latter also represents the largest group in the world.

The outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion indicated that the common people's patience with the court had reached its limit.

The outbreak of the Liangzhou Rebellion indicated that some "scholars" began to despair of the Han Dynasty.

In fact, Liangzhou was out of the control of the imperial court before the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled.

In November of the first year of the Zhongping reign, the Qiang people Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou rebelled, naming themselves generals. Following the rebellion, they kidnapped Bian Zhang and Han Sui, two prominent Liangzhou scholars, and placed them in command of the military and political affairs. Together, they revolted in Longyou, beheading Chen Yi, the prefect of Jincheng County, Ling Zheng, the Protector of the Qiang, and other local officials.

Of course, Bian Zhang and Han Sui were initially forced to join the bandits.

Although the two men later turned the tables and actually rebelled, they might not have wanted to do so at first.

If Wei Zhe was an alchemist, he might even say that the Han Dynasty was not doomed.

But the rebellion of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun a few years later really explains some issues.

You should know that Zhang Chun is not a Confucian scholar in plain clothes. He once served as the prime minister of Zhongshan and is a genuine official of two thousand stones.

As for Zhang Ju, who rebelled with him, he also served as the prefect of Mount Tai.

When such high-ranking officials with the rank of two thousand stones began to rebel against the Han Dynasty, it meant that the Han Dynasty really had no foundation.

For this reason, Wei Zhe couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency after seeing Zhang Ju's name in the official newspaper.

"The sun and the moon are passing away, and the years are not with me!"

Looking at Wei Zhe who suddenly felt emotional, Xi Zhicai felt a little puzzled.

Although he didn't know why Wei Zhe suddenly became impatient, he still consoled him: "Everything is ready now, why should you be so anxious?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe nodded immediately: "Alas, I was too impatient."

After discussing this issue of the court bulletin with Xi Zhicai, Wei Zhe left the county temple directly.

His job today is to inspect the Haiming Ship Station.

……

The ancients used fallen leaves as boats.

After thousands of years of development, the ships of the Han Dynasty became more diverse.

One type is the pleasure boats used by wealthy businessmen. These boats are light and have skylights on the arches so that they can enjoy the scenery in their own lakes.

The second is the "cargo boat", which is a simple cargo ship used for inland waterway transportation.

This type of boat generally has a short and wide hull, narrow bow and stern, wider in the middle, a flat bottom, and a cabin in the middle. The hull is an arched canopy that can be disassembled at will, making it very convenient.

Nowadays, this type of boat is widely used on many rivers in counties and prefectures in the Central Plains.

As for the third type, it is a small boat used for farming.

In fact, Wei Zhe had never seen such a small boat before. It was the head of the Haiming Shipyard who said:

"Your Excellency, you may not know this, but these boats are often found alongside paddy fields. They're shaped like a crescent moon, with only two planks in the fore and aft. There's no cabin, no canopy, not even a deck. They're extremely crude, used only for transporting goods across the paddy fields. I once saw one in Jiangdong when I was young."

The master craftsman's name was Teng Yu, and he was the shipbuilding manager sent by Guan.

This person is very experienced and the above three types of ships are basically not in his eyes.

Because what he was best at building were tower ships used in naval battles and ordinary ships for trading goods.

As he spoke, the old man led Wei Zhe onto the boat and headed towards an island.

Since there are many islands in Haiming Camp, the Haiming Ship Station was directly set up on an island.

"What is the name of this island?"

"Haha~ Everyone calls him Funajima, so I'll just follow suit."

Wei Zhe couldn't help but laugh when he heard that, but after getting off the boat, his eyes lit up.

I saw more than ten stone ponds arranged in an orderly manner on the island.

The so-called "Shitang" is what later generations called a dock.

However, the stone pond at that time was not as wide as that in later generations. From what Wei Zhe saw, the pond was only 65 steps wide and 353 steps long. It was obviously not suitable for building any giant boat.

But even so, Wei Zhe was already very satisfied.

I saw a group of strong men speaking with Qingxu accents carrying a huge tree and shouting slogans as they methodically moved a tree trunk that was ten feet long and four or five feet thick to the wooden frame in the stone pond.

After they were placed, a group of carpenters came running from the other side in groups of three or five, carrying various tools on their shoulders and in their hands, with the fragrance of tung oil wafting around their bodies. Then the sound of axes and chisels rang out.

As the calls and the sounds of axes and chisels rose and fell, there was an inexplicable rhythm.

It was Wei Zhe who urged them, otherwise they wouldn't have to be so anxious.

You should know that the wood needed for normal shipbuilding needs to be dried in the shade for about a year in advance.

But for now, in order to have a boat, I can't care about that for the time being.

Even though they are all experienced shipbuilders, these ships will basically not be used for more than a few years.

However, Teng Yu was quite open-minded and especially praised this group of refugees.

"You may not know, but quite a few refugees here are quite knowledgeable about carpentry. This has saved us a lot of effort, otherwise the construction period would have been extended."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe nodded gently and said, "If we're short on manpower, Mr. Teng, please feel free to ask."

The ships currently being built at this shipyard are the seagoing ships that the Guan family often uses to transport goods. They have a flat bottom and a square head, and are solidly constructed. They can sail on rivers, lakes, and seas, and are highly seaworthy, making them the most suitable for Wei Zhe's current situation.

As for tower ships and the like, Wei Zhe hadn't even thought about them at the moment.

"That's enough, but..." Teng Yu hesitated for a moment before speaking again, "Are these ships really all built with oak?"

Since Wei Zhe is Guan's son-in-law, he is also half the master of Teng Yu, the head of Chuantun, so he does not hide some things.

"Although this oak is very hard, I have never used it before." Teng Yu said with a worried look on his face, "I can't guarantee how the boat will perform after it's launched."

When he was in Qingzhou in the past, he mostly used fir, pine, cypress, and teak to build ships. Although he had seen oak, it was mostly used to make fine charcoal for heating by wealthy families.

If Wei Zhe had not requested so, Teng Yu would not have dared to try this new ship material rashly.

Hearing him say this, Wei Zhe immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Teng. Even if something goes wrong, I will take the responsibility. If there is any blame from Guan, I will handle it!"

Wei Zhe was also helpless.

There is no way around it, since the most common trees in Lelang County are oak and ginkgo trees.

Especially in the sparsely populated forests, oak trees that are more than ten feet tall and require more than one person to hug are almost everywhere.

If the oak trees were left out, Wei Zhe would have wasted a lot of time on the wood.

So even though he knew it was a bit reckless, Wei Zhe still let Teng Yu take the risk.

On the other hand, oak is dense, water-resistant, and strong, making it a good material for shipbuilding. Aside from its extremely slow growth cycle, it has few drawbacks.

That is to say, Lelang County is vast and sparsely populated, and the surrounding barbarian tribes have not yet developed.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to see so many towering oak trees again after another four or five hundred years.

Even Ren Weizhe's praise for oak trees left Teng Yu skeptical. "Actually, the best wood for shipbuilding is Yuzhang nanmu!" Teng Yu couldn't help but smack his lips. "This wood makes the best ships, and it's incredibly durable. Only this wood can be used to build a massive ship capable of holding tens of thousands of hu!"

Hearing this, Wei Zhe shook his head speechlessly.

He really wanted a huge boat with a capacity of ten thousand hu, but could he afford to build it?
So he had no choice but to interrupt the old man's mumbling and ask about the size of the ships in the boat village.

Upon hearing this, Teng Yu immediately spoke in a familiar voice, "What we just built is nothing more than a small boat with a capacity of 3,000 hu, over ten feet long, and two feet above the water. It can carry 300 people and is navigable on both the sea and the river."

In fact, the ships built by this Haiming Shipyard are almost all of this size.

It’s not that Teng Yu couldn’t build a bigger one, but the oak tree he delivered was only about ten feet tall.

In addition, Wei Zhe was urging him to do so, so he could only adapt to local conditions and choose to build the fastest ship type.

If nothing unexpected happens, Wei Zhe will have a fleet of more than ten 3,000-hu sea-going ships in four months.

When he heard this, Wei Zhe secretly calculated and immediately felt relieved.

Fortunately, he just happened to make it in time for the transaction agreed upon by Guan Xiu and the three Korean tribes.

By the way, this fleet belongs to Wei Zhe, and the Haiming Shipyard belongs to the Guan family, not the county or temple official camp.

Public is public, private is private, Wei Zhe is very clear about this.

After all, it is the Han Dynasty now, and everything is under the government control. The boss can take it away with just a transfer order.

In fact, according to convention, it would be no problem for him to take most of the property seized from the Tian and Zhang families.

It was just that Wei Zhe took the initiative to contribute in order to attract more immigrants.

Almost all the officials in Daifang County who knew about this matter admired Wei Zhe.

They have seen many officials making money, and although it is rare to see officials who are honest and not corrupt, they have seen them.

But it was the first time they saw someone becoming an official by paying money, and they had never even heard of it before.

In other words, Wei Zhe was not from a noble family and did not have a good teacher, otherwise he would have become famous and gained great prestige just based on this one incident.

After all, you are a celebrity, but without celebrities to praise you, how can you be considered a celebrity?
Not to mention any resentment in Wei Zhe's heart.

After leaving Haiming Ship Village, he became busy again.

After all, shipbuilding requires more than just huge trees. Iron, tung oil, oyster ash, raw lacquer, rattan, palm, hemp, and many other materials are indispensable.

Some of them can be produced in Daifang County, but some are not available here and we can only buy them.

Fortunately, his father-in-law gave him four ships, otherwise he would be worried to death just preparing these things.

But now it’s all right. We can cross the East China Sea from Haiming Port and reach Donglai County in just a few days.

If all raw materials had to be transported by land, the shipbuilding period would probably be doubled.

……

……

At the same time, Yuan Jun was also very successful in conquering the various tribes of Xianbei east of Dandanling.

Unlike the lands of the Three Han, the area east of Daling was once part of the Han Dynasty.

The Maoling Book records:
The capital of Lintun County was Dongqian County, 6,138 miles away from Chang'an, and it had 15 counties.

The seat of Zhenfan County was in Lu County, 7,640 miles away from Chang'an, and it had 15 counties.

Hundreds of years ago, after Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty conquered Wei's Korea, he established Lintun County to the east of Dandan Daling the following year. However, there were few Han people in this area at that time, and the people were almost all Xianbei people.

Therefore, in the fifth year of Emperor Zhaodi's reign (82 BC), the court abolished Lintun County and Zhenfan County, and incorporated the remaining territories of the two counties into Lelang County.

As a result, Lelang County became extremely large at that time.

Therefore, at that time, Lelang County designated the area east of Daling as the jurisdiction of the Eastern Commandery.

By the way, at that time the imperial court used to call the Xianbei people the Wokou people.

However, with the fall of the Former Han Dynasty and the establishment of this dynasty, the situation in Haidong changed again.

As mentioned in the preface, Emperor Guangwu of our dynasty adopted a conservative attitude towards foreign affairs.

Therefore, after the establishment of this dynasty, Emperor Guangwu changed the system again and simply abolished the Lelang Eastern Commandery.

As for the Wokou people in the east of the Ling Mountains, they were governed by their leader, who was also granted the title of Bunai Hou by imperial decree.

The reason why he was named "Bunnai Hou" was mainly because during the rule of the Han Dynasty, the area east of Dandan Daling was divided into seven counties, namely: Dongqian, Cantai, Bunai, Huali, Xietoumei, Qianmo, and Fuzu.

Among the seven counties in Lingdong, Bunai County has the largest population, hence the title.

However, as time passed, the title of Bunai Hou conferred by Emperor Guangwu had long been lost.

Not to mention the bloodline of Bu Naihou, even his tribe has long disappeared.

Therefore, the seven counties in eastern Lingnan today are completely inhabited by various tribes of Xian and Mo, and no one submits to the other.

The Suolu tribe, which had previously frequently harassed Daifang County, was actually a loser who was driven out.

It was precisely because he had no foothold in the seven counties of Lingdong that he occupied the land around Daifang as pasture, and from time to time he would plunder the people of the Three Han, which in turn made him stronger.

If Solukhu had not been wiped out by Wei Zhe, he would have fought back long ago.

However, Yuan Jun's luck is much better than Guan Xiu's.

Although the Xianbei people were unruly, their population was far less than that of the people of the Three Kingdoms of Han.

Yuan Jun made inquiries along the way and found that the seven counties in Lingdong had a maximum of more than 40,000 households and 160,000 people.

The population of each of the seven Xianbei tribes was actually only around 20,000 to 30,000 people.

The young and strong cavalry that each tribe could produce were actually similar to those of the Solu tribe, but their weapons and equipment were too poor, mostly leather armor and bone arrows.

By the way, due to the terrain, the Xianbei people also live along the coast, which makes it a lot more convenient for Yuan Jun.

Relying on iron coins to pave the way, he walked directly from Dongqian County, the easternmost county of the Xianbei people, all the way to Fuzu County, the southernmost county.

He encountered many fights along the way, but fortunately he managed to get through them all.

Even the Xianbei people understood how rare Han merchant caravans were that could cross the border.

So for Yuan Jun, the most dangerous people along the way were the filthy and barbaric people who left their tribe for various reasons and wandered in the wilderness and mountains.

So in the end he simply hired this group of filthy savages who had lost their tribe.

They killed the disobedient ones and kept the well-behaved ones, screening them as they went. The size of the caravan actually increased instead of decreasing, becoming more than 300 people.

This gave Yuan Jun a new idea, so while he was buying furs, cattle, and horses from the various Xianbei tribes, he also started working as a human trafficker. He accepted any young and strong captives who could ride horses.

Late at night, the husband rented a big tent.

Thinking of everything he had seen along the way, Yuan Jun thought again and again and finally wrote a letter to Wei Zhe...
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(End of this chapter)