Han officials

Chapter 78 Unexpected Development
When Wei Zhe was farming in Daifang County, he was troubled by what kind of food to rely on as the main crop.

After all, he still understands the principle that orange trees in the south will not grow well in the north, and blindly copying and pasting will only lead to failure.

At that time, Wei Zhe was actually troubled by this issue for a long time.

Even Xi Zhicai had no good solution after finding out.

So Wei Zhe had no choice but to choose the most clumsy way, which was to let the people on the front line speak.

Although the old farmer doesn't understand any profound principles, his feelings about food are the most real.

It was after consulting many veteran farmers in Daifang County that Wei Zhe decided to use corn as the main food for military farms.

It is said that ever since Dong Zhongshu requested Emperor Wu of Han to order the people in Guanzhong to grow wheat, the status of millet has actually been gradually declining.

Especially in this dynasty, the popularity of stone mills made Hubing and Tangbing the staple food of many northerners.

Under such circumstances, the wheat planting area in the north is getting larger and larger.

After all, compared to corn, wheat usually has a higher yield than corn, and the most important thing is that wheat seems to be more resistant to hunger than corn.

Judging from these conditions alone, it seems that Daifang County should grow wheat.

However, the old farmers in Daifang County told him that they preferred to grow corn.

Because corn, which was artificially domesticated from foxtail grass, is so hardy that it can grow even in dry and barren land. In contrast, wheat has higher requirements for climate and soil.

The Korean Peninsula is not Liaodong. There is no black soil here, and the terrain is mainly mountainous and hilly. It is an appropriate description to say that the land is barren.

Therefore, for areas with better conditions, growing wheat may be more advantageous;
However, for areas with poor conditions, growing corn is more suitable.

This is called "adapting to local conditions"!

If Wei Zhe has the opportunity to go to Liaodong to open up wasteland and cultivate land in the future, the staple food he grows may be replaced by wheat.

But then again, even though corn can grow in dry and barren land, clearing the land is bound to be a difficult job, especially in the first few years.

Take Dai Fang for example. Wei Zhe started to reclaim wasteland in the second year of Zhongping.

However, this year the output of new wasteland is basically only one-tenth of that of cultivated land.

If Wei Zhe had not plundered a batch of grain from the Three Kingdoms of Korea last year by bringing Fang Tieqian, the output of the military farms alone would not have been enough to provide food and fodder for the battle against the Huibei.

But this year is much better. The powerful people in Lelang County joined forces to give him a big gift package.

Thousands of hectares of fertile farmland in each county allowed Wei Zhe to have his fill.

After all, if we assume that one hundred dan of corn can be harvested from every hundred mu, then one thousand mu would yield one hundred thousand dan.

Nine counties and nine thousand hectares of land means a production of nine hundred thousand shi.

If the grain harvest from land reclamation is included, there is definitely one million shi.

Of course, Wei Zhe would not exhaust all the resources, as the soldiers and residents also needed to eat.

To keep them motivated and allow Wei Zhe to exploit them sustainably, he strictly followed the original contract and ultimately received only a little over 500,000 shi. Adding in the gains from this year's trade, it was barely enough.

Whenever he thought of this, Wei Zhe was particularly envious of Cao Cao.

After all, Cao Cao had experimented with farming outside the city of Xuchang and harvested a million dan of grain that year.

There is no way. After thousands of years of development, there is no wasteland left in the Central Plains.

Cao Cao's farming conditions are much better than Wei Zhe's, there is simply a world of difference.

Moreover, he only collected one million shi, which shows that the harvest from the military farms in Xuchang that year should have been nearly two million shi.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. The more I think about it, the angrier I get!"

……

If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

After discussing the plan of sending troops to the Three Han States with Xi Zhicai, Wei Zhe began to prepare.

Collecting grain, selecting soldiers, training, etc. are extremely complicated.

During this process, the abilities demonstrated by Guo Yuan surprised everyone.

The performances of Sun Shao and Shi Yi were also very impressive. There were no mistakes made with either the fleet or the craftsmen.

With the tacit cooperation between the two, Guo Yuan almost dominated the entire logistical work.

It can be said that as the chief steward of the Marquis's Mansion, he relied on his ability to make the county officials obey his orders unconsciously.

Wei Zhe was naturally very pleased with this situation.

The Xiping Township Marquis' Mansion, which originally had a sparse population, gradually grew stronger in this process.

While Lelang County was busy, the situation in the Three Kingdoms of Korea began to become increasingly serious.

It’s strange that even though their food reserves were not yet exhausted, everyone started to panic.

Whether it was Mahan, Qinhan or Byeonhan, the feeling of panic was almost everywhere.

The tribes that had food were in panic, and the tribes that had run out of food were also in panic, and death began to spread rapidly!
Although a poor harvest was inevitable, few people died of starvation. Instead, a large number of people from the Three Kingdoms of Korea died in battle. Even when food was still plentiful, many tribes had already begun to artificially create famine.

Many tribal nobles hold a large amount of food in their hands, but are unwilling to give any to the lower-class people.

They would rather let these people starve to death than take the risk of starving to death themselves.

Although the tribal warriors who were won over by them sympathized with those tribesmen, they still chose to become accomplices for the sake of their families.

The complexity and ugliness of human nature are exposed nakedly at this moment.

This was actually something Wei Zhe had not expected.

He originally thought it would take at least two more months for the Three Kingdoms of Korea to collapse due to famine.

But now it seems that Wei Zhe is still a little conservative.

However, what Wei Zhe could not have imagined was that in the face of this sudden famine, the people of Chushan Tubili State in the southernmost part of Mahan actually began to choose to risk going out to sea.

Because there is a big island (Jeju Island) to the west of Chushan Tubili State, and many people live on it.

In the official archives of Lelang County, these people were called "Zhou Hu".

These Zhou Hu were different from the people of the Three Han. The men all had tattoos, were shorter in height, and spoke a different language from the people of the Three Han. They all had shaved heads like the Xianbei, and their clothing consisted of a top but no bottom, almost like they were naked.

However, these state Hu like to raise livestock such as pigs and cattle, and often take boats to Mahan City to buy supplies.

It was precisely because of this that the people of Chushan Tubili took the risk to go there in the hope of finding food.

Similarly, large numbers of people from tribes along the coast of Byeonhan, such as the ancient Zimidong, Ranxi, Gouye, and Silu kingdoms, began to paddle canoes or even hold driftwood and swim eastward towards the Wa Islands.

You should know that as early as the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Wu conquered Korea, the Japanese sent envoys to pay tribute.

Later, Ban Gu recorded in the Book of Han:

The Wa people lived in the mountains southeast of Korea, in the sea. They had over a hundred kingdoms, all of which claimed the title of king, a tradition passed down from generation to generation. The men all had their faces and bodies tattooed, while the women wore their hair in a bun and wore clothes like a single blanket, which they wore over their heads.

After Emperor Guangwu of our dynasty ascended the throne, the Wa Kingdom again offered tribute and congratulations, and Emperor Guangwu also bestowed seals and ribbons on them.

Even in the first year of Emperor An's Yongchu reign, King Shuai Sheng of Wa and others offered 160 prisoners to see him.

It can be said that among the barbarians surrounding the Han Dynasty, Japan was the most enthusiastic about paying tribute.

However, after the current emperor Liu Hong ascended the throne, Japan was in chaos, with internal attacks on each other and no one was the ruler for many years.

Finally, there was a shrine maiden named Himiko, who was so skilled in dealing with spirits that she deceived the people into making her king. She had over a thousand maids to serve her, but few could see her in person. This was because the Queen of Japan only had one man to serve her when she ate and drank.

Most of this news was spread from the Three Kingdoms of Han to the Han area. If the Han people knew this, the Dongyi people in the Three Kingdoms of Han would also know it.

As a result, by accident, a large number of people from the Three Kingdoms of Korea began to cross the sea to the Japanese island to survive.

For a time, this caused chaos along the coast of the Japanese island, causing many Japanese to call the captured invaders "Korean bandits" and they began to fight each other endlessly.

At the same time, the Hulu Kingdom, Nanmilidong Kingdom and other tribes in the northern part of Jinhan also began to attack the Xianbei area.

When Taishi Ci discovered this situation, he was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

He didn't expect that they would attack him before his army even attacked Chen Han.

So he had no choice but to order a massive killing of the various Xianbei tribes at the border to curb this trend.

Affected by this, many people from Boji began to flee to Daifang County at the border between Lelang County and Mahan.

Because there were too many people, the soldiers guarding the border wall were stretched thin, and Xi Zhicai had no choice but to take action.

Although the new garrison troops in Daifang County are not well trained, they can still defend the border walls without any problems.

Of course, Xi Zhicai would not stop everyone, he still wanted the woman.

As for the other Mahan barbarians, now is not the time to take them in.

"The fire is not yet ready!"

After saying this, Xi Zhicai went to look for Wei Zhe with a happy look on his face.

"Mingsir, I know how to justify my actions!"

When he saw Wei Zhe, Xi Zhicai's words cheered Wei Zhe up.

After all, the Han people have always insisted on having a legitimate reason to expand their territory, otherwise there would be no "Han envoys".

Wei Zhe originally wanted to follow the example of his predecessors and send an envoy to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but he had never made up his mind.

Hearing Xi Zhicai say this, he immediately listened attentively...
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References:
Quan Hansheng's "General History of Chinese Social Economy"

Eastern Han Dynasty - Zhong Changtong's "Changyan Sunyi"

The Book of Si Sheng, The Book of the Later Han, and The Book of Han: Food and Goods

"Records of the Grand Historian: Book of Canals", "Records of the Grand Historian: Records of Ditches and Canals", "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Merchants"

(End of this chapter)