Overlord!

Chapter 212 The inversion of rich and poor
Moling County, the ancient name of Jiankang, covers an area of ​​about hundreds of miles and is vast.

However, as Sun Ce vigorously developed Danyang, the administrative divisions here became more sophisticated. One county was divided into two, Moling in the south and Jiankang in the north.

Therefore, the population of Moling County was only about [-] households, but its county monarch was a capable minister named Zheng Li.

Zheng Li was from Peiguo in Yuzhou, the area where Liu Bei once stationed his army.There are constant wars here, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei are still fighting fiercely here.

Therefore, a large number of scholars in Pei and Qiao were forced to stay away from the Central Plains to avoid chaos in Huainan and Jiangdong.

For example, Liu Fu, a fellow countryman of Zheng Li, took refuge in Huainan where Yuan Shu was located.After Sun Ce captured Huainan, his reputation was greatly shaken, and Liu Fu successfully joined Sun Ce.

This was one of the six most famous governors in Cao Wei who were able to clear affairs and clear thousands of miles. It was he who rode into the empty city of Hefei alone, stabilized the Jianghuai River, and repaired the city of Hefei, making it the foundation of Zhang Liao's power in the world.

Now, with his extraordinary talents, he has been entrusted with the important task of Shouchun Ling, that is, acting as the Shouchun County Magistrate, responsible for stabilizing the place and restoring production.

However, unlike Liu Fu, a fellow countryman, Zheng Li joined Sun Ce very early.He took refuge in Jiangdong in his early years and was as famous as Sun Shao and Teng Yin.When Sun Ce captured Qu'a, he took advantage of the situation and surrendered.

In the history of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, after the founding of the country, some people presided over the revision of laws and etiquette. For example, in Cao Wei, it was Chen Qun who presided over this aspect, in Shu, it was Zhuge Liang, Liu Ba, Fazheng and others, and in Wu, it was responsible for this They are Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, Teng Yin and Zheng Li. These four people copied the Zhou and Han Dynasties and compiled the imperial rites.

With the talents of the temple corridor, it is naturally no problem to manage three thousand households.

When Sun Ce and Gu Yong arrived at Moling, he, the chief of Moling, immediately led several small officials in soap robes and kuijin to greet them in front of the city.

Zheng Li's footprints can be said to have traveled through most of China, so his accent is not particularly obvious and he speaks elegant dialect.

Since 770 BC, when King Ping made Luoyi the capital and established the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the language of Luoyi gradually became the basis of Yayan throughout the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. "The Analects of Confucius·Shu Er Seventh" says: "The elegant words of Zi, "Poems", "Books", and "Zhao Li" are all elegant words."

That is to say, Confucius taught in Luoyang Yayan.

This tradition will continue until the Yongjia Rebellion, the overthrow of Luojing, the Eastern Jin Dynasty moving the capital to Jiankang, and then combined with the Wu language to form Jinling Yayin, which was then passed down by the Southern Dynasties.This is what Wu Nong said softly in later generations.However, softness does not mean delicateness. For women, they have a unique softness and elegance, while for men, they are quite elegant and suave.

Zheng Li spoke in an elegant and calm manner, giving people the impression of a humble gentleman and as gentle as jade.Communicating with him makes people feel like spring breeze.

Sun Ce asked curiously: "Mr. Zheng's accent is not elegant in the north of Luoyang, but he has lived in the south for a long time?"

Zheng Li nodded and said: "Xunzi has a saying: Yue people are An Yue, Chu people are An Chu, and a gentleman is An Ya. I had served as the magistrate of Wushang County before, so my accent was affected by it."

Magistrate Wushang!Sun Ce knew this place. After all, it was the southernmost county in Kuaiji County under his command.

Going south about a thousand miles, you will reach Dongye, which is the newly established Wuxing County.

Before the establishment of Wuxing County, there were no counties or cities of the Han Dynasty south of Wushang County for a thousand or two thousand miles. You had to go to Jiaozhou to see the states and counties subordinate to the Han Dynasty again.

In the past, this land of nearly two thousand miles was full of Shanyue and clan thieves. Although they were called Han ministers, they were not controlled by the Han Dynasty at all.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Li had served as the county king in Wushang County before. Sun Ce immediately became interested and asked: "You went to Wushang County before, how is the local situation?"

Zheng Li did not praise blindly, but said fairly: "The general once sent He Qi, the captain of the southern part of Kuaiji, to break through Shanyue and the northern part of the country, and subjugated the clan traitors and the like, and then emptied the territory. Later, Wang Lang rebelled, and Dongye The rebellion caused Kuaiji to be empty and the residents to flee. When I entered Wushang, the county was already empty and the city was empty."

At this time, Gu Yong praised: "Since the generals swept the mountains and mountains, selected talents and appointed capable people, and stabilized the counties, there has been China. People from all over the country began to move to consolidate their counties. At the beginning, customs were mixed, and there was a certain trend. Before Jian'an, , There are not a hundred acres of land to cultivate, there are too many businesses to hang out, weddings and funerals are only enough to complete the ceremony, and the soldiers are suffering from the construction of the board."

"However, when the general promoted education, the Lord of Zhengxian County encouraged him to teach farming and mulberry cultivation. After three years, the idle land became fertile soil, and the middle-class families had enough livestock. They were lying in the sky at the end of the day, and they were also in the same wind as the inner county. I passed by When I was in Wushang County, I saw fertile fields and stretches of fertile fields."

At the end of the day, I am also in the same wind as the inner county!That is to say, although the local area is remote, the language, customs, and clothing are already the same as those in the inner states of China.It's no wonder that Zheng Li's elegant music already has southern characteristics.

And the people have reclaimed a large amount of wasteland, making the land thousands of miles fertile, and they have become a middle-class home.

This is indeed an advantage of Sun Ce's system of not establishing a land system, otherwise the people would not have the initiative to actively open up wasteland and cultivate land.We are all waiting for the land to be distributed evenly. I am afraid that even now the local area has only less than [-] acres of cultivated land.

In particular, there are a large number of Shanyue people in the local area. It is not an easy task to appease Shanyue and make them participate in mulberry farming in large numbers.

In the end, Zheng Li was indispensable for such a grand scene!

Therefore, in three years, he will be directly promoted from the remote county in the south to the magistrate of Moling County.

You must know that Moling is the most important county next to Jiankang City, almost equivalent to Wuling next to Chang'an City. It won't be long before it will be filled with dignitaries and Wuling boys.

Zhang Zhao also wanted to use Zheng Li's political talents to reclaim Danyang and build Jiankang and prosperity.

When Zheng Li arrived in Wushang County three years ago, the city was empty and the counties were empty. But by the time he left, the county had become fertile and had thousands of households.

If this feat could be repeated in Moling, Moling would probably be able to increase its household registration from [-] to over [-] in just a few years, and would be praised by the world.

Sun Ce did not dare to think that the population of each county under his rule would be tens of thousands of households. The household registration of those 110 nine counties would probably exceed that of the early Zhenguan period.

If there are more than a dozen counties or even dozens of counties with household registrations exceeding [-], Jiangdong can already be called a prosperous age!

Sun Ce asked Zheng Li seriously: "The current situation in Danyang is similar to that of Kuaiji. As the king of Moling County, do you have any good strategies for running the county?"

Zheng Li had obviously thought about this question for a long time, and immediately replied: "Since the Han Dynasty, the residents of Danyang have been mixed together, and their origins are from the past. Most of the people are weaving felts and farming hard, and the people are mostly poor. The town is poor. The mountains and mountains are far away from each other, and their temperament is strong and courageous, and they like to fight bravely and fiercely, which has been passed down through the ages, even to this day."

"I think we should change our customs and encourage people to cultivate mulberry trees in the surrounding areas. We should use silk brocades instead of felts, and use fertile fields to cultivate the mountains. In my spare time, I will be induced to study poetry and calligraphy. Study scholars. , exempting them from taxes, this will make the people want to learn culture and education, and the barbarians will lose their customs. In this way, it may be difficult to get rid of bad habits in the streets, and a wealthy family will definitely lead the rule of honesty."

The issue of tax exemption remains to be considered.

Sun Ce would rather be like the Qin Dynasty and distribute silk, meat, and oil to Litian, a filial piety who is diligent in farming and learning, rather than expecting to be exempted from taxes. As a result, the country was unable to collect taxes from scholar-bureaucrats like the Ming Dynasty.

However, Sun Ce strongly agreed with Zheng Li's other point, and his thoughts somewhat coincided with Gan Ning's.

That is to open up mulberry fields near Moling, and use raw silk textiles to replace felt farming and animal husbandry, attracting the customs and culture of Shanyue to be the same as those of Hua.Seeing that Sun Ce was still thinking, Zheng Li said: "As long as the general's army has not been killed in the battle and is replenished, it will not be like Liang and Bing, who invaded the barbarians and occupied the counties."

Sun Ce couldn't help but smile, you really trust me.

If we want our army to win repeated battles, we cannot recruit troops on a large scale to replenish the army.

In this way, the recruitment system of elite soldiers is really more suitable for assimilating foreign races.After all, there are a large number of able-bodied men among the people, and there will be no situation where the people are empty and dominated by barbarians and foreigners.

However, since Zheng Li already had such a belief, Sun Ce was naturally also ambitious and believed that he would be able to bring peace to the troubled times with elite troops and strong generals.

Sun Ce then said: "What you said is consistent with Gu's aspirations. You can then write a letter to discuss the matter with Chang Shi in detail. Gu came here to check the situation of the mansions and warehouses in Moling County in order to build a post road." "

In theory, this matter should be brought to the attention of the county magistrate.After all, the county magistrate is responsible for warehousing matters within a county.

But under the current system, the county king has great power and can intervene in all matters within a county, from taxation, storage, and public security to population, culture, education, and even military affairs.

Therefore, Sun Ce had intended to abolish the county magistrate, combine the Tian Cao and the City Cao, and establish a special branch to professionally manage tax collectors and collect taxes.

Of course, correspondingly, the central government will also establish a three-department system to be responsible for the three major financial departments: the Department of Finance, the Municipal Shipping Department, and the Ministry of Household Affairs.

However, this matter cannot be rushed at all. At least it must wait until the post station is built and Sun Ce can have strong control over the counties before proceeding.

Zheng Li didn't think much and immediately replied: "Now there are three granaries and two charity warehouses in the mansion of Moling County. There are a total of [-] shi of dry beans, [-] shi of beans, [-] shi of wheat bran, and [-] shi of corn. , five hundred shi of rice, a total of [-] shi of grain to prepare for famine years.”

It is a blessing to be able to eat wheat bran in lean years.

Moling County can store [-] shi of grain, which can probably support [-] families through the famine years. It is much better than ten houses with nine empty houses.

But Sun Ce frowned slightly and asked: "This year's rice harvest is good, why don't you store an extra batch of rice? I only have five hundred shi."

Zheng Li replied calmly: "The two sides of the warehouse store mainly rice. The scale of rice is limited for two main reasons."

"The number of charity warehouses is insufficient. The county is recruiting people to build three new warehouses. We strive to build three warehouses and store two thousand kilo of rice before next spring plowing."

"Secondly, even if charity warehouses are built, the government and people will not dare to store large amounts of rice. After rice is stored, it will become moldy in only two or three years. If corn is stored well, it can be stored for five or six years. I heard that a new granary was built in Jiankang City. , stored in a cellar with several layers of plant ash to prevent moisture, it can store grain for more than seven years."

Gu Yong nodded in approval and said: "As far as I know, among the people, the powerful families generally grow rice, and the poor families grow corn. Rice has a high yield, and the powerful can sell it in large quantities and make wealth. Corn is drought-resistant and easy to store, while the common people can Be prepared for times of famine.”

Sun Ce sighed: "People's livelihood is not easy. Although the country is now at peace, the people are still worried about hunger. This shows that the people are still uneasy."

The people obviously do not believe that if there is another drought or military disaster, the government will transport millions of stones, grain and grass from Wujun, Kuaiji and other places to relieve the victims.

Of course, most people may not believe that the food produced by one county in Jiangdong is enough to prevent several counties in Jiangdong from starving to death.

Therefore, most people's simple thoughts are to have food in their hands and not panic in their hearts.

Sun Ce said: "The more this happens, the more we need to build roads to facilitate industry and commerce. Let official roads and inns connect all counties and counties!"

Even if merchants want to transport grain, someone has to notify them of a drought somewhere.

The difference between a messenger traveling hundreds of miles a day and a messenger traveling dozens of miles a day is enough to affect the lives and deaths of countless people.

People cannot just focus on the output of their own dozen acres of land and live a self-sufficient life as small farmers.Otherwise, if a drought comes, they will lose their families and sell their land.

Zheng Li fully agreed with Sun Ce's plan to build roads, build inns, and build ferries.

He said: "When I was in Luoyang, everyone from the emperor to the nobles and the common people liked to eat Hu cakes. Does the general know about Hu cakes?"

Sun Ce nodded, this kind of food is also quite popular in Jiankang City.

It's very simple to say, they are pancakes made from fine white flour. This thing is still a rare thing at the moment. It was a delicacy brought by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.

However, this thing became commonplace during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and army sergeants used cakes as military rations.

In the Song Dynasty, we went a step further.Everyone in the army eats rice, and snow-white rice is their staple food.

The Song Dynasty seized the food of the Jin army. The soldiers could not swallow it at all and vomited it all out.

The food of the Jin army was mainly corn.It is also the staple food of the Han army and civilians today.It's just that the military has a little more pickled vegetables than the poor people, but the dried fish and meat from middle-class families are far inferior.

Only Sun Ce’s army supplies preserved meat and fruits.Even if the logistics are sufficient, pigs and sheep will be killed so that the soldiers have oily mouths and meat every meal.

Zheng Li said: "Nowadays, the situation among the people is obviously reversed. The people are hungry, but they grow corn with insufficient yield. The powerful fields are connected with each other, but they grow rice with abundant yield. So that the poor are getting poorer and can only eat bran. And the rich are getting poorer. Rich, rich in meat, rice and noodles."

"The rich use rice to lower the price of food, while the poor have no way to sell their corn. Their families become increasingly poor, and their wives often find it difficult to cover their bodies."

"I think the top priority should be to build mansions and pavilions to stabilize people's hearts and build roads to facilitate industry and commerce. Is it true that I am a dignified Central Plains person who is not as good as a miscreant in the West?"

After hearing Zheng Li's last decisive words, Sun Ce couldn't help but nodded heavily.

The Sogdians in the West now eat Hu cakes made from fine flour, while the people in Jiangdong still eat corn.

Is it possible that the output of the Sanwu land in the east of the Yangtze River, which is a land of plenty and plenty, is not as good as that of the barbarians in the western regions?
It is obvious that the people are not at peace. The people are really afraid of wars, droughts, etc., and would rather eat coarse grains to have a stable future.

(End of this chapter)