A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 617 Possessing an Army of 100,000
Secretariat
All the prime ministers were present. A charcoal stove was lit in the Hall of State Affairs. The prime ministers in purple robes took their seats, and a minor official served tea.

"Gentlemen, Dou Jing, the Chief Secretary of the Bingzhou Grand General's Office, is waiting to see you outside."

"Please come in," Pei Ji said.

Li Yi, the Grand General of Bingzhou, submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of military settlements and agricultural cultivation in Daibei, as well as the recruitment of merchants for these settlements, in order to reduce the transportation of military provisions. This matter was submitted to the court for deliberation, but the prime ministers all considered it too troublesome and did not approve it. Li Yi repeatedly submitted memorials requesting this, and now that Li Yi and his men have unexpectedly recovered the Yunshuo region of Daibei, they are requesting that troops be stationed and agricultural cultivation resumed.

He even specially sent his chief secretary, Dou Jing, to the court to make the request in person.

The emperor then ordered Dou Jing to personally come to the Hall of State Affairs today to debate this matter with the prime ministers in power.

Wearing this robe, Dou Jing entered the Hall of State Affairs under the guidance of the clerk below the hall and bowed to the group of prime ministers.

Several prime ministers treated him with great courtesy, not only because he was the Chief Secretary of the Bingzhou Grand General's Office, a third-rank official, but also because his father was the late founding prime minister, Duke of Chen, Dou Kang, and his younger brother was the emperor's son-in-law, Princess Xiangyang, Dou Dan.

Although the Dou family of Fufeng is actually a Xianbei who changed their surname and claims to be descendants of the Dou family of the Han Dynasty, everyone knows the truth.

Since the Western Wei Dynasty, the Dou family has intermarried with the imperial family generation after generation, and has been very prosperous.

"Chief Secretary Dou, His Majesty has asked you to speak about the land reclamation in Hedong. Please tell us in detail."

The prime ministers, led by Pei Ji, opposed the military-agricultural colonies because the northern border was previously unstable, with the Turks frequently invading. Therefore, establishing military-agricultural colonies in Daibei would be a waste of effort.

It would be better to transport grain and fodder from the south and store them in fortified cities and strongholds.

However, Li Yi insisted on establishing military settlements, and even proposed a large-scale plan combining military and commercial settlements. This involved many things, the first of which was the court's confidence in Daibei.

"Gentlemen," Dou Jing bowed, and then began to explain.

"This year, the Turks launched two major invasions, but were defeated and driven out of the pass both times."

Now, under the leadership of the King of Qin and the King of Wu'an, our Tang soldiers have even recovered the Yun and Shuo regions outside Yanmen Pass.

This land north of Dai, surrounded by the inner and outer Great Walls, was brought under the rule of our Great Tang Dynasty for the first time. However, in the years since, the north had been repeatedly ravaged by the iron hooves of the Turks.
The land is vast and the people are sparse.

Next, the imperial court must guard the border and prevent the Turks from invading every year. This requires stationing troops to garrison the area. However, the northern part of the country is remote, and the transportation of grain and supplies is extremely inconvenient.

The excessively high transportation costs are seriously affecting the garrisoning of border troops.

Therefore, Grand Steward Li Yi proposed to establish military settlements in Daibei, extending from Yunshuo and Yingzhou, to Beiyanzhou and Weizhou, then to Daizhou and Wuzhou, as well as Bingzhou, Lanzhou, and Shizhou.
The entire land reclamation plan involved ten prefectures.

This is a place that was once ravaged and sparsely populated. Now, to increase the troop presence and maintain military supplies, the best solution is to cultivate the land.

It should be used for both military and commercial settlements.

The Prince of Wu'an planned to station 12,000 troops in the three prefectures of Shuozhou, Yunshuo, and Yingzhou, and to cultivate 24 villages, each with 5,000 mu of land, for a total of 120,000 mu of land.

The Daizhou General Administration, under the jurisdiction of Daizhou, Xinzhou, and Weizhou, also stationed 12,000 troops and cultivated 120,000 mu of land…

Dou Jing brought over a very detailed plan.

Roughly speaking, the ten prefectures of Daibei were under the jurisdiction of the four general administrations of Bing, Dai, Shuo, and Shi. Each of the three administrations of Shuo, Dai, and Shi had 12,000 garrison troops and 120,000 mu of farmland, while Bingzhou had 24,000 garrison troops and 240,000 mu of farmland.

In total, there were 60,000 troops stationed in the four prefectures and 600,000 mu of farmland.

This means that each garrison soldier has ten mu of land to supply with grain. The income from 600,000 mu of military farmland is about 400,000 to 500,000 shi of grain a year, which is enough to provide basic rations for the 60,000 garrison troops.

In addition to the subsidies from the investment of merchants to cultivate the land, and the supplementary land taxes from the local government,

That way, the 60,000 border troops can be supplied locally without having to transport them from the Central Plains, saving a lot of manpower and resources and reducing food consumption.

Regarding the Shangtun section

Li Yi proposed a special solution.

The imperial court used the salt from Jiechi in Hedong to attract merchants to cultivate land. Merchants cultivated land in Daibei, transported grain to the border army, and were then given salt collection certificates from the Jiechi official salt warehouse. After paying the grain, they could exchange the certificates for salt permits to collect salt from Jiechi and sell it.

Because selling salt was more profitable, this strategy attracted merchants to settle in Daibei to cultivate land. After all, it was more cost-effective to cultivate land locally and then hand it over to the border troops than to transport grain from the interior.

Daibei has plenty of land, and in this chaotic world, there is no shortage of cheap laborers. In fact, the cost of large-scale slave farming is even lower.

Although the salt laws in the early Tang Dynasty were the same as those in the Sui Dynasty, which did not prohibit private salt mining and sales, the salt was mostly monopolized by the government.

Now we're opening a door.
The practice of cultivating land and exchanging grain for salt was naturally a win-win situation.

Sixty thousand soldiers were stationed there, and 600,000 mu of land were cultivated, averaging ten mu per person. In reality, it was three parts defense and seven parts cultivation. Four thousand soldiers were responsible for defense, and eight thousand for cultivation.

Of course, most of these soldiers were local garrison troops transferred from the interior. They were on rotation, farming during busy seasons and training to patrol and guard the city during their off-seasons.

Four thousand elite soldiers were focused on defense.

So, if we calculate it this way, each soldier in charge of farming only cultivates 15 mu of land, and six or seven people cultivate 100 mu, which is not considered a heavy burden.

Just like warfare, land reclamation was subject to rewards and punishments, and tasks were set.

Pei Ji sipped his tea.

He opposed the military-agricultural colonies in Daibei, not primarily because of the potential profits, but because he had always been a proponent of peace.

He shared the same view as the Crown Prince: to repel external threats, one must first secure internal stability.

They believed that the most urgent task was to quell the internal strife, unify the country, and then allow the people to recuperate and grow stronger before challenging the Turks.

Now, it is necessary to negotiate peace first, or even make some temporary concessions.

Therefore, he and the Crown Prince both believed that Yuan Junzhang, north of Yanmen, could be spared for the time being, just like Liang Shidu in Shuofang. These two Turkic dogs could be put aside for now.

Meanwhile, the border prefectures such as Xin and Dai within the pass...

The primary strategy was to defend the cities. When the Turks came, they would retreat into the cities and avoid open battle. In short, if the Turks wanted to plunder, let them plunder; after all, the northern border prefectures were already devastated and didn't have many people or wealth for them to take. The court only needed to defend some major cities and towns to prevent the Turks from occupying northern Dai for an extended period.

Given this mindset, how could they possibly be willing to engage in land reclamation and settlement in Daibei?

But now that the emperor has sent Dou Jing to the Hall of State Affairs to debate with the prime ministers, it already shows a change in attitude.

all of these,
Naturally, it was because Li Yi and his men had captured Yun Shuo.

This was something that surprised everyone in the court.

Last time, Li Yi instigated Gao Manzheng to rebel, captured Mayi, and ambushed Yuan Junzhang and the Turkic coalition at Huanghualing, annihilating them.

However, Mayi was eventually taken over by the Turks.

But this time, things seem different.

"His Majesty has already issued an edict ordering the Prince of Qin to withdraw his troops and disband the Hedong camp. Why is the Prince of Wu'an provoking trouble on the border again and sending troops to instigate Yuan Junzhang's rebellion at this time? Isn't this just inviting the Turks to attack again?" Pei Ji interrupted Dou Jing.

Dou Jing said, "Prime Minister Pei, Chang'an is a thousand miles away from Daibei. His Majesty's edict had barely left Chang'an when Prince Wu'an had already led his troops out of Yanmen Pass."

Before the imperial edict even reached Taiyuan, Yunshuo had already been captured.

With a single sentence, Pei Ji stopped Li Yi from accusing him of disobeying the imperial edict.

Xiao Yu asked, "Minister Li's plan is quite good. Of the ten prefectures in Daibei, 600,000 mu are designated for military settlements and 400,000 mu for commercial settlements."

One million mu of farmland can yield at least 700,000 to 800,000 shi of millet annually, which is more than enough to support 60,000 border troops.

However, while the idea is good, it's not something that can be accomplished with just a piece of paper and a few words, is it?
How were the oxen, farm tools, and seeds considered?
If the Turks invade again, will all this land reclamation be for nothing?

Several prime ministers took turns asking questions,

But everyone knows very well that today's discussion is not about land reclamation; the real issue is about troop deployment.

Li Yi plans to station 60,000 troops in the ten prefectures of Daibei.

This is quite different from the tens of thousands of troops in the Hedong military camp. The military camp was set up during wartime and would be withdrawn after the battle. These 60,000 troops, on the other hand, were to be stationed permanently, with the local militia taking turns to garrison the area.

In addition to the local army.

This means that the ten prefectures of Daibei could have nearly 100,000 troops.

The permanent military presence numbers 100,000.

This is amazing, and also very sensitive.

Especially now, the King of Qin is still in Daibei under the pretext of war.

Although Li Yi was the Grand General of Bingzhou, he also held the title of Left Vice Minister of the Grand Secretariat of Shaanxi East Circuit, which meant that Li Yi could manage the troops of the four prefectures and ten states of Bingzhou, Daizhou, Shuozhou, and Shizhou.

Military settlements were a good solution to the problem of grain transportation.
But they were more concerned about the issue of stationed troops.

"I think it's unnecessary to station so many troops in Daibei for a long time. The 20,000 troops stationed in Yanmen and Taiyuan, plus the local state troops and militia, are enough."

Adding more troops would be difficult for the imperial court to sustain. Even with land reclamation, oxen and seeds are still needed, not to mention that the expenses of stationing troops go beyond just food.

Pei Ji simply laid it all out on the table.

If there is an opposition to stationing so many troops in Daibei, then there is no need to carry out so much land reclamation.

Li Yi's so-called "opening the middle" method, which involved transporting grain to the border troops in exchange for salt permits, was even more unnecessary.

Dou Jing looked at the group of prime ministers,
He said very sincerely, "My lords, when I went to take up my post in Bingzhou and went north with the army, what I saw along the way was shocking. The land north of Dai is beautiful, but in many places, people can't even hear the sound of chickens and dogs, and white bones are exposed in the wild."

The repeated invasions by the Turks ravaged the border regions beyond recognition.

If the imperial court does not station troops, then there is no border defense.

Without border defenses, the Turks will only become more emboldened. Before long, the prefectures north of the Dai River will become their horse-breeding grounds. Then they will continue their southward invasions. At that point, will we have to abandon Bingzhou, Fenzhou, and even Jinzhou as well?

"When the Prince of Wu'an was in Mayi, he said, 'Although China is vast, not an inch of land is superfluous. Our Great Tang is the legitimate successor of China, so naturally we must protect every inch of land left by our ancestors.'"

We cannot allow our descendants to speak ill of us behind our backs.

Pei Ji countered, "Can the King of Wu'an guarantee that with 60,000 troops stationed in ten prefectures and a million mu of farmland, he can defend the borders and prevent the Turks from invading again?"

Dou Jing stood up and said frankly, "No one dares to guarantee that the border defense will not be lost, but it is better than doing nothing and just giving up on the border defense."

Before Pei Ji could speak again,
Right Minister Xiao Yu spoke first, "Well said. It's always better to do something than not to do it. I think that now that Prince Wu'an has recovered Yunshuo, it's time to rebuild the northern border defenses. I support Prince Wu'an's plan to station troops and cultivate land."

Grand Chancellor Feng Deyi followed with a smile, “Indeed, I also agree with the Prince of Wu’an stationing troops to guard the border.”

Both prime ministers, Yang Gongren and Chen Shuda, supported the plan. Once Yunshuo was recovered, anyone who dared to give up would be criticized and even have their position as prime minister threatened.

Moreover, the fact that the Emperor has ordered Dou Jing to come to the Hall of State Affairs to debate with the prime ministers is enough to demonstrate the Emperor's attitude.

In the Hall of State Affairs,

It was an unusual situation where only Pei Ji opposed the idea, while the four prime ministers—Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Yang Gongren, and Feng Deyi—supported it.

This result was reported to the emperor.
Therefore, Li Yuan decided to agree to the plan to establish military settlements in Daibei.

With the land reclamation plan approved, the troop deployment plan was naturally also approved.

(End of this chapter)