Three Kingdoms

"These barbarians who passed through are actually the remnants of Xianbei?" Why don't they come to Yinshan? Didn't you just fall into my hands when you came to Yinshan? Sigh... What a pity... However, the weather in Mobei is said to be getting colder and colder now. I heard that there is a group of Semu people in the north of Jiankun who are ready to move, and they have the intention of gathering south to plunder... So, these Xianbei people are Do you want to do things on your own, or have you united with the Semu people? 』

Zhang Xiu, who was guarding Yinshan City, frowned and said to Wang Chang, with some regret, some worry, and some excitement in his tone. His news was delayed a bit and he was unable to get the latest information.

Zhang Xiu is not afraid of beating barbarians, but he is afraid that there are no barbarians to fight.

Over the years, Zhang Xiu has been serving in the northern desert, from a general under Zhao Yun to a deputy general in Yinshan, and now as the chief general in Yinshan, he is well aware of the situation of the surrounding barbarians.

But Wang Chang put forward a new idea, "What if the Xianbei people are at odds with the Semu people?" 』

"Um? ” Zhang Xiu was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it, “This, it’s quite interesting... tell me your speculation...”

"Xianbei was originally in the land of the Xiongnu, and had many connections with the surrounding Wuhuan people and the old tribes of the Xiongnu. There were grievances and friendships, but there were few Semu people among the Xianbei people, and there was no news that Xianbei had any dealings with Jiankun... ”Wang Chang said slowly, “Among the Jiankun people, there are many Semu people. If there is a connection between Xianbei and the Semu people, there should be many connections with the Jiankun people...”

"Ah..." Zhang Xiu muttered.

Judging from the racial distribution of later generations, Xianbei and Wuhuan are relatively close to the northeastern fishing and hunting tribes, while the Jiankun Rouran in the deep desert mostly belong to the nomadic faction in the north and the Aryan nomadic faction in the west. Bordering each other, it is normal that there are many people with colored eyes in Jiankun and Rouran, but few in Xianbei and Wuhuan have contact with people with colored eyes.

"So my guess..." Wang Chang drew on the map, "The Xianbei people in this group were originally in the area north of Longyou. Something happened. It was probably because Jiankun Rouran's tribe went south. , the vacant territory was invaded by the Semu people, and then the Semu people further broke into the territory of these Xianbei people. The Xianbei people may be unwilling, or they may not be able to defeat them... So these Xianbei people did not have a strong relationship with the Semu people. The Rouran tribe came into contact and directly took a detour through the Xianbei hometown of Yinshan Mountain to reach northern Liaoning... However, this is all speculation, and the specific situation still needs to be investigated..."

The grassland and desert are like dominoes stacked together.

Zhang Xiu nodded, "Your speculation seems to be somewhat reasonable... Hasn't there been any news from the Jiankun and Rouran people?" 』

"No, but Jiankun Rouran King's tent is closer to the Northern Territory, so most of the news will be transmitted to the Northern Territory..." Wang Chang said, "In addition, the capabilities of Poshihe inside Jiankun are limited, and it seems that it cannot fully Control the rest of the tribes..."

"This ability is limited, which is a good thing..." Zhang Xiu nodded and said, "Now Jiankunkong has its own appearance, it is said to be 70,000 string-controlling soldiers, is it really... Haha, it is just a pile of loose sand, no threat at all. . Among the 70,000, not to mention the old, weak, sick and disabled, the Poshi River can only control three or four tribes that are close friends with each other. The total number is just over 30,000 at most, and the rest of Jiankun Most of the people only obeyed Po Shihe's orders in name, but in fact they neither paid taxes nor paid tribute to people and livestock. If Po Shihe showed some signs of fatigue, these tribes might not have the idea of ​​replacing them, so Po Shihe must at least leave some people behind. Guard these people with half the troops... That's good..."

Wang Chang nodded, "And the biggest drawback of the Hu tribe is that once the leader wolf dies, all the wolves will disperse!" If there is a ruthless character among his tribe, it will be like gathering sand into a tower, forming a threat that is difficult to deal with. But if this wolf dies... just like Tan Shihuai back then... no matter how large the tribal alliance is, It will also collapse in an instant..."

"Well, it seems that this matter was also mentioned in the newspaper of Jiangwu Hall..." Zhang Xiu thought, "Ever since the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu fought, they always chose to attack the royal court... Well, if we can fight with the Northern They joined forces to destroy the Xianbei Royal Court..."

Wang Chang nodded and said: "It would be great if we could break through his royal court. However, in this desert, there are endless yellow sands and many oases. It would be unwise to search endlessly. Therefore... we need to determine the location of his royal court. Even if it can't be broken, it can be driven away... Captain, the Southern Huns might as well use this now. After all, in the desert, it can still be used to find out information... In addition to the remnants of Xianbei, there are also these Semu people. ...』

Zhang Xiu nodded, then frowned and said, "I don't know about Thief Cao... Forget it, let's do our work first!" 』

Wang Chang was about to take the order and leave, but was stopped by Zhang Xiu, "Wen Shu, wait a moment..."

Wang Chang thought Zhang Xiu had any other instructions, but he didn't see Zhang Xiu taking the latest issue of the Lecture Hall newspaper from the table beside him, "Wen Shu, have you read the latest issue of the Di newspaper?" 』

Wang Chang nodded.

Zhang Xiu slightly said with some embarrassment: "Can I ask a question?" 』

Wang Chang said quickly, "The captain is so polite. Chang must know everything and say everything." 』

"Thank you, thank you very much. Come on, sit down." ” Zhang Xiu pulled Wang Chang to sit down, then brought the newspaper in front of Wang Chang, and asked, “What does the sentence “Chinese body is different from that of barbarians” in this newspaper mean? This... I saw the Huns, they also have one head and two eyes..."

"Oh, Captain, this "Ti" means "Guo Ti"," Wang Chang said, "In the past, Hussar was riding in Chang'an, and he once had a discussion in Qinglong Temple about "the system of the country", so it is called "Guo Ti". ”. 』

"Oh, that's it. ” Zhang Xiu was stunned, and then said, “Then what does this theory that “the use of money is not just about the power between mother and son” mean? ”

"The power of mother and son comes from an article by Shan Mugong admonishing King Jing." Wang Chang was naturally more familiar with these allusions than Zhang Xiu, "In the twenty-first year of King Jing's reign, he will mint large amounts of money." Shan Mu Gong blocked it, saying that the currency was used to bring down natural disasters and save the people. Therefore, if the people's disaster was light, he would make heavy coins to carry out the operation. So there was mother power and son to do it, and the people all benefited. If it cannot bear the heavy weight, then do more light things and do them, and do not abolish the heavy ones. Then there will be sons and mothers who can do it, and small things will bring big benefits..."

Zhang Xiu tilted his head, his eyes turned into mosquito-repellent incense, and after a moment he said, "What...what does this mean?" I still do not get it……"

"Ah... this..." Wang Chang thought for a while and simply took out some coins from his body, "Xiaowei, the mother's money is this gold coin, and the child's money is copper coins. There are only mother's money. That is to say, if there are only gold coins, it will definitely be inconvenient for the people, but if there are only copper coins, there will be a lot of copper coins, just like the proliferation of five-baht coins in the past..."

"oh! Zhang Xiu suddenly nodded, "I understand, I understand!" So why would the Lord say that the money in the Western Region can be used to connect all nations and rule the world? I think among Jiankun and Rouran, well... there are tribes further away, and some of them don't even have coins, so how can they make them? 』

Wang Chang smiled and said, "The captain's confusion was discussed in Qinglong Temple... But it's a long story..."

"oh? Talk about it, talk about it..." Zhang Xiu became interested. Seeing that Wang Chang seemed a little thirsty, he immediately asked the guards to get some water.

Wang Chang took a sip of syrup, and then said: "If we talk about this matter, we have to talk about it from the Spring and Autumn Period..."

…

…

If when Feiqian first built Beiqu, Beiqu only existed as a temporary market and a craftsman's workshop, then now Beiqu can be regarded as a medium-sized primary industrial city.

The lumber, coal mines, metal mines, rock mines, etc. from the Luliang Mountains were gathered in Beiqu, and then large-scale water and fire power workshops were built on both sides of the Beiqu River. Black smoke and water flowed out almost continuously day and night. molten iron. The farmers and some craftsmen around Beiqu Gongcheng almost all exist to supply the needs of the workers in Beiqu Gongcheng.

This is the prototype of an industrial city.

In Beiqu, most of the people are workers who work in workshops. They sell their labor power every day in the workshops and get paid once every ten days. Then the money these workers get quickly returns. It turned into all kinds of money, rice, oil and salt in the shops in Beiqu.

After the merchants took the money, they happily went to the farmers in the countryside to purchase scattered agricultural products, went to Pingyang and Chang'an to purchase bulk goods, and transported various steel and bronze products produced in Beiqu to Chang'an and Pingyang, and then from Pingyang to Pingyang. Pingyang in Chang'an brought the items needed by the workers in Beiqu, and the cycle continued.

The workshop workers were happy.

The surrounding farmers and women are also happy.

The merchants in Beiqu City were also happy.

Everyone makes money, benefits, and is happy.

So among them, is anyone losing money?

Beiqu County Magistrate Zhang Shi has actually been thinking about this issue, but the more he thinks about it, the more confused he becomes.

The accounts on the table clearly show that although Beiqu's current population cannot match those of Shandong's large counties, its tax revenue far exceeds those of Shandong's large counties with population.

Money cannot come out of thin air, but the question is why Beiqu Gongcheng can collect a lot of taxes and get a lot of money?

The key is that in the past, the tax collection of the Han Dynasty, especially when it came to collection and calculation, was simply resisted by the villages, the villages howled, and even some tax collectors who were accidentally singled out would die inexplicably in the ravines.

The folk customs of the Han Dynasty, especially in the northern border areas, are still somewhat tough.

Sometimes rural folk, in order to save one more place in the oral calculation, will even throw away their newborn babies or drown them to death.

If you can kill your own children, then you will be polite to the tax collectors who come to your door?

Therefore, once it was time to collect taxes, a large number of soldiers were needed to protect them and go to the countryside in groups to collect taxes. This model did not last long. After all, it was time-consuming, labor-intensive and thankless, so many times the taxes were collected. The task was subcontracted to labor dispatch...well, to the big rural owners, the land gentry.

After outsourcing, the court officials suddenly felt relaxed. Sitting in the high hall, you can eat, drink, and have fun, without having to work hard, and money will be delivered to you on time. Why not do it?

Unfortunately, what followed was the huge power of the country gentry, which later backfired on the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Shi was more or less aware of this, so it was understandable for him that the Hussar General ordered that taxes be collected by inspections instead of local surnames. However, what Zhang Shi didn't know was why the previous township taxes were collected. The common people were so resistant to paying taxes, but now they are so happy to pay them?

Especially oral arithmetic.

Over the years, Zhang Shi has heard less and less about children falling to death or drowning babies. Almost all farmers and workers are happy about the birth of a child, and even come to the government to register their household registration after the full moon. Perhaps it is because the government promised that after the full moon, a man will be rewarded with a pot of wine and a lamb, and a girl will be rewarded with a bundle of cloth and a piglet?

This practice is not unique to the Han Dynasty. It appeared as early as the Warring States Period, but why did the Han Dynasty not do it later?

These various questions were all in Zhang Shi's mind, but he still couldn't get any answers.

Zhang Shi took the pen and calculated Beiqu's income and expenditure this year. He put the tip of the brush into his mouth and held it casually. On the one hand, it is because the weather is cold. If it is left outside for a long time, the brush will easily freeze. On the other hand, this is also his habit for many years. When I was a poor scholar, if a writing brush was frozen, I would have to regret it for a long time.

"Your Majesty! ” Before the inspection commander Cheng Yun arrived, the voice came in first, “It is said that the Fan family has gathered a lot of people. I am afraid they have some conspiracy! 』

"ha! ” Zhang Shi sprayed out the brush, and then he didn’t care that his mouth was covered with ink. He opened his mouth like an ink basin and laughed with black teeth and black tongue, “These guys are so brave! But little did they know that today’s Hedong is definitely not what it used to be! Keep an eye on them all! Just wait for them to come! 』

…

…

Who does Hedong belong to?

Fan Xian felt that Hedong should be his.

His ancestors lived here, and both Fei Qian and Zhang Shi were outsiders.

Foreigners actually took advantage of locals?

The "hatred" of locals towards outsiders actually stems more from conflicts of interest.

Just like Fan Xian welcomed Fei Qian at the beginning, but now he has become very disgusted with Fei Qian. The main reason for his disgust is Fei Qian's various new systems.

Very disgusted.

Tian Zheng cut off his financial resources, while the inspection stabbed him in the back.

Because since these inspections began, those unruly people gradually no longer feared him and no longer listened to his words.

Although the unruly people are cunning, most of them are stupid. Even if there are occasionally some shrewd ones, they can't understand the complicated calculations and laws. They can only listen to Fan Xian's explanation to them, so in the end it's all Fan Xian's fault. be able to profit from it.

To take the simplest example, when the superiors allocate funds to the people to provide them with exemptions or benefits, do the unscrupulous people understand what should be done? Big investors will add some specious processes to it, such as asking Diao Min to prove that his father is his father, his mother is his mother, his children are his children, and he is himself, and then ask Diao Min to go here by himself. Just sign and get a seal, even if everything is done, you still have to prepare a file and wait three to five days, one or two months, six months or one year before you can receive the money, and you still have to do it yourself. One more trip...

In this case, Diao Min will think to himself that three melons and two dates are not worth traveling so many times, so he simply refuses to receive it. And the more you don't receive these benefits and exemptions that you should have, the more you win Fan Xian's heart. After all, the less you add, the more you add...

Not to mention the tax calculation, the conversion between property, the interest rate difference between one in and one out...

After the inspection came, these financial avenues were cut off.

If that's all, that's it. After all, even if this financial path is extra, it is impossible for the court to have benefits every day and have exemptions and exemptions every year. The power to collect taxes cannot be distributed to all large households.

The other way of making money was also cut off, causing Fan Xian to suffer heartbreaking pain.

The Han Dynasty originally had many hermit households and lodging households.

This problem did not arise after Guangwu, but appeared very early, and it existed on a large scale at least during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Historically, when civil servants talked about military generals, they would certainly despise the idea of ​​eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers. It seems that if you don’t say this, you cannot reflect the nobility of civil servants. However, in fact, civil servants may not have many opportunities to eat. They drink the blood of soldiers with free pay, but civil servants can eat and drink the blood of the people year after year. They even eat more and drink harder than the generals!

These civil servants also like to wear gloves, and Fan Xian once wore a pair of gloves. No matter which civil servant comes up, he will insert it, stir it up, and then pull away after feeling satisfied, and then leave Fan Xian down...

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he fought against the Xiongnu, which ultimately led to "waste at home, and the household registration was halved." The first half of this sentence is true. After all, the civil servants in the court at that time were not like the feudal bureaucrats of later generations. The whole volume was full of absurdities. There is no truth in the statement, but the second half is false.

In fact, in the last years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the population decreased by only about 4 million compared to the early years of Emperor Wu. Since the war with the Huns was fought every year, the total population dropped from 36 million to 32 million. And where does the so-called "hukou halving" come from? In fact, it is very simple. The total population has not dropped so much, but the total taxes have dropped by half!

The population has not actually been reduced by half, but taxes have been only half of their original size. So where will these taxes go?

Just like the feudal dynasties of later generations, every time there was a disaster, it was a local feast!

Until the days of Bald Qiang, nothing had changed. The front line is tight and the rear is tight. Everyone knows that the country's destruction is just around the corner, but after all, it is not there yet!

These things cannot be accomplished without the close cooperation between upper- and lower-level bureaucrats and local powerful squires, as well as the emperor's acquiescence and the ministers' silence. After Emperor Wu felt something was wrong in the later period, he had no choice but to give up if he wanted to change it back. Just like Emperor Guangwu once wanted to "transfer the fields", but almost saved his own life.

This is what makes Fan Xian angry.

Everyone eats and drinks human blood on the table, so why should anyone be nobler than the other?

How come the bad reputation is all his own, and then those civil servants are pretending to be human, and can in turn accuse and insult the local bigwigs and have nothing to do with them? If it weren't for the nodding approval of those civil servants, would so many procedures and procedures have been completed? Didn’t you take so much money?

Well now, when the Qiaoqi came, the civil servants who had taken the money in the early years either ran away, went bankrupt, or refused to admit their debts. Only Fan Xian's own properties were all in Hedong, and he could neither run away nor be bankrupt!

What the hell is this thing called?

Fan Xian will naturally not be willing...