Overlord!

After the plan to attack Liu Biao was decided, Sun Ce did not stop the discussion.

Capturing Jiangxia, which has a mere [-] people, is now a piece of cake for Jiangdong.

A war that can be solved with just a partial army is not worthy of Sun Ce's massive deployment of troops and the summoning of all the top civil and military officials from Jiangdong. Even ministers like Zhang Hong who were responsible for supervising Huainan were summoned all the way.

There are two important topics in this discussion. The first topic is the tax situation reported by the three envoys.

After a year of rest and recuperation, Bu Zhi finally clarified the taxes of 110 and [-] nine counties in Jiangdong.

For the first time there is so much wealth in the treasury, how to distribute it is the top priority now.

Wealth does not need to go out for construction and development, it will just pile up in the treasury as a pile of scrap metal.

So Sun Ce took the initiative and said to everyone: "Now the country's recovery and recovery have begun to take effect. There are more than 190 kilograms of gold, [-] million yuan of money, more than [-] million shi of salt, and more than [-] million shi of grain in the treasury. It is enough to strengthen the people east of the Yangtze River. What are your plans, Sir?"

Whether it is nearly 200 million yuan or tens of millions of shi of food, this is an extremely huge wealth, enough to feed [-] soldiers and civilians for at least three years.

How to distribute this tax? Zhang Zhao was the first to speak, saying: "Those who serve the country well must first control the water. When water conservancy flourishes, agriculture will prosper, and when agriculture prospers, all industries will prosper. Therefore, the recuperation of Jiangdong has begun to bear fruit, and there are no internal or external worries. It is appropriate to make every effort Build water conservancy projects to maximize the benefits of irrigation and revitalize the east of the Yangtze River."

"The general has implemented the farmland water conservancy law, ordered the meritorious officers of various states and counties, and evaluated the county officials to reclaim waste fields, build water conservancy projects, and build embankments. All officials and people are good at cultivating acres of land, and talk about the pros and cons of ponds, dikes, and ditches. , and the results are remarkable, rewards can be given according to the utility. At the end of the year, rewards will be given to people who can build water conservancy and irrigation in various places and reclaim abandoned fields."

"However, water conservancy matters not only need to be guided according to the situation, but also need to be directly promoted by the central government with a large amount of money to recruit people and build large-scale water conservancy projects."

Want to build a large-scale water conservancy project?

The first thing Sun Ce thought of was Wu Jun.

Since ancient times, all the benefits in the world have been in the northwest.Yangxian, Piling, Yuhang, Qiantang and other places in the south of the Yangtze River were no more than a country before the Han and Tang Dynasties.

It was necessary to wait until the Southern Song Dynasty was peaceful, the people gathered and the land was developed, which became the focus of wealth.

Nine out of ten money, food, taxes and taxes in the world come from the southeast.

The terrain of Zeguo was nothing to worry about for Sun Ce. It was not like the dense camphor forest where people would die from miasma.

In fact, these four counties are located on the flat Wujun Plain. It is the only flat terrain in the southeast, so it has been the foundation of Wangba since ancient times.

Yuhang and Qiantang suffer from seawater intrusion all year round, and the land is often abandoned due to salinity.

Yangxian and Piling are located in the northwest of the Taihu Plain, with a large number of swamps and wetlands. The method of later generations was to dig out two large lakes here to collect water and create farmland.

Others can build water conservancy facilities like Hupi, and Sun Ce feels that he can naturally build them too.

He is not trying to change the color of the entire world. In fact, there is not much construction work. Hundreds of miles of sea dikes have been built in Yuhang and Qiantang, and lagoons have been dug.

The main focus of water conservancy construction this time can be placed in Yangxian and Piling counties, and a lake will be dug in their respective counties.

Then he helped the people reclaim wilderness, build paddy fields, and build roads.

The Song Dynasty was able to change the Yellow River water course several times. Even if Sun Ce's background was poor, he would not be unable to repair the water conservancy in the two counties.

So after Zhang Zhao finished speaking, Sun Ce immediately said: "Yes. If we want to build large-scale water conservancy projects, we must reclaim all along the Taihu Lake in Yangxian and Piling counties to build a land of fish and rice and a land of abundance."

Yangxian was later named Yixing, and Piling was later named Changzhou. These were almost the richest areas.

The climate, water patterns, topography, and landforms are all very suitable for agricultural development and silk textiles. It is a true land of abundance. Changzhou in "Su Changshu, the world is full" refers to the area of ​​Piling.

Nowadays, the territory of Piling County is not a swampy country. On the contrary, Piling County is very prosperous. Within a few hundred miles to the east connected to Wuxi County, the terrain is flat and fertile. The people are rich and the warehouses have been abundant for nearly five years.

Hundreds of miles to the west is a marsh country. If these hundreds of miles of marsh country can be opened up into paddy fields, then the fertile farmland in Piling County will suddenly double, and the people will be several times richer than before.

The lives of the people in the entire county, the taxes of the entire Jiangdong, and even the entire world will benefit from this.

There is no doubt about the importance of this project. A capable minister must be fully responsible for this matter. Sun Ce looked at Zhang Zhao and asked: "Is there any talent that the chief historian can recommend to Gu, so that he can be good at this important task?"

Zhang Zhao immediately said confidently: "I recommend Ma Hua, a famous scholar in Kuaiji."

"Ma Hua?" Sun Ce frowned slightly. Why didn't this man have any impression of himself?
Zhang Zhao introduced: "Ma Hua, also known as Yunshu, was born in Shanyin County, Kuaiji. His grandfather was Ma Zhen, the former prefect of Kuaiji."

"Ma Zhen is a famous minister of the Han Dynasty and an expert on water conservancy. When he first took office, he made a detailed study of farmland water conservancy, mobilized the people, and created a 120-mile mirror lake. The embankment is 350 seven miles long, and the lake circumference is [-] eight miles. It can store floods above and prevent floods below. When there is a salty tide and there is a drought, the lake is drained to irrigate the fields, so that more than [-] hectares of fertile farmland in the Shanhui Plain can be harvested despite droughts and floods."

It was precisely because of this lagoon that there was no rebellion in Kuaiji after Sun Ce conquered Jiangdong.

Mirror Lake is 350 miles around!More than [-] hectares of fertile farmland are irrigated.

This is Taihu Lake in Kuaiji County!
This is truly a big deal. The water conservancy facilities built in one go are enough to benefit future generations for hundreds of years.

There are more than 90 hectares of fertile farmland, which is [-] acres of Buqiutian irrigation area with guaranteed harvest despite drought and floods.

Based on the harvest of three shi per mu, this is also 270 million shi of grain.

That's why Ma Zhen was rated as one of the twelve major water conservancy experts on par with Li Bing, Sun Shuao, Su Shi and others.

Even now, Ma Zhen and Wang Jing are the most outstanding water conservancy officials in the Han Dynasty in the past 400 years.

Sun Ce was just surprised and asked: "Ma Zhen's grandson Ma Hua is in Kuaiji?"

Zhang Zhao explained: "Although Jinghu Lake has great benefits for a long time, the people have been happy with it for nearly forty years since its creation. However, due to the flooding of graves and houses at the beginning of the creation of the lake, it was falsely accused by the powerful, and Ma Zhen was sentenced. The more people think of his contribution. , and his son Ma Ke moved the remains from Luoyang back to Shanyin, buried them in Jinghu Lake, and built a temple to commemorate them."

"Ma Ke died young, and his son Ma Hua stayed by the Jinghu Lake, personally carrying soil with his neighbors, leading the people to plant rice, and maintaining water conservancy."

"When Wang Lang was the prefect, Huang Longluo, a bandit from Shanyin, caused trouble to this place. When the general entered Kuaiji, he sent troops to destroy it, and Jinghu was Ning Yan."

"Ma Hua led the people in the local area to cultivate fertile fields and dredge ditches, and he was very famous."

Sun Ce nodded slightly in approval. He could maintain water conservancy, know how to dredge ditches, and had a family tradition. He was the most experienced water conservancy expert in this era.

The water conservancy projects built in Piling and Yangxian counties will not be much larger than those of Ma Hua's grandfather Ma Zhen.

Mirror Lake, which is 350 miles away, is already very prominent on the map.

And irrigating 90 acres of fertile farmland is an extremely vast area, almost enough to cover the entire Zeguo of Piling County.When Lü Meng dug ditches, the irrigation area was only a few hundred hectares, and the people were happy with it.

Now that Sun Ce has chosen more professional water conservancy experts and can mobilize more wealth, it will be easier to build water conservancy in the plains of Piling than in the mountainous areas of Shanyin County.

After all, just within Piling County, hundreds of miles to the east, there is still a grain-producing area, with a large number of fields producing ten stones per mu.

Therefore, if you want to build water conservancy projects and dredge swamps, you only need to mobilize enough volunteers to the local area, and food can be supplied nearby.

The supply is really insufficient. Wuxi and Wuxian are nearby. The granaries are abundant and can be easily transported to Piling County.

Sun Ce then said: "Then I will order Ma Hua to guard the water conservancy in Wu County, patrol the fields and soil, and recruit people to prepare for the construction of water conservancy projects."

Shuicaopu was a prominent official in Han Dynasty counties and counties, and was in charge of the construction of rivers, waterways, Jinliang and other water conservancy projects.

It was an expedient move to let Ma Hua act as the Shuicao Bo of Wu County. As long as he could complete these two projects properly, Sun Ce would not hesitate to promote him to the Shuicao Bo of the General's Mansion and be in charge of the entire water conservancy construction in Jiangdong.

After it was decided to open up Wu County, it was natural to decide on the allocation for this water conservancy project.

Zhang Zhao took the initiative and said: "Every inch of land in Wuxi and Wu counties has been reclaimed. There are large swamps in Piling and Yangxian, which can be said to be a problem for all the people."

"The general's large-scale water conservancy project in this territory will inevitably attract powerful local families to enthusiastically help."

"I think that as long as we send enough money, silk and grain to the two counties, we will be able to recruit tens of thousands of people to participate in the recruitment."

Jiangdong implemented a recruitment law, and there was no provision for corvee service. Therefore, the number of people to be recruited depended on the sufficiency of the treasury.

Therefore, Zhang Zhao continued: "Nowadays, the recruitment fee for counties and counties is usually 150 yuan per month, which is slightly lower than that of petty officials."

"To raise 30 people, the monthly fee is not more than 60 yuan, which is about 200 yuan a year. In two years, Piling County Zeguo will be dredged. In five years, nearly 2000 acres of land can be opened in Yangxian and Piling. Ten thousand acres, the output is [-] million shi.”

Annual output of 2000 million stones of grain!

Everyone in the hall was excited!

And this is all to be expected.

Once this land is dredged and there is no open land in the two counties, it will be another fertile paddy field, just like Wuxi, Wuxian and other places around Taihu Lake, which can produce ten stones per mu!
With a farmland output of 2000 million yuan that guarantees yields regardless of drought and floods every year, Jiangdong will surely become more prosperous and stable.

Sun Ce also calculated that it was more than [-] yuan a year, accounting for about one-third of the treasury.

Even if we don't mobilize troops and give out massive rewards, the supplies in the treasury are already stretched thin.

The remaining 100 million yuan can only be used to pay salaries to tens of thousands of soldiers and officials, and the treasury may still be empty.

An important reason why Sun Ce is not too worried is that as a time traveler, he has greatly promoted technological progress.

No work means no wealth, no business means no life.

Industry is the industry that can best create wealth.

Sun Ce controlled the Wuxian Weaving Department and the tidal flat salt field in Haiyan.

There are also more than 300 million pieces of cloth and more than 200 million rock salt in hand.

In the past, one piece of rock salt in the Han Dynasty was worth 200 yuan, so these 150 million pieces of rock salt were worth more than [-] million yuan.

Even if Sun Ce lowers the price significantly to facilitate people's livelihood, he can still sell it for more than 100 million yuan.

In addition, more than 300 million pieces of cloth and silk are also worth nearly 200 million yuan.

As long as necessary, he can sell large quantities, at most causing the price of cloth to plummet.

However, this also shows the fragility of feudal society and agricultural economy.

Just building a water conservancy facility next to Wujun's granary, which was limited to one county, almost bankrupted the government's treasury and left it financially empty.

It’s no wonder that since ancient times, the art of war in the Central Plains has emphasized caution in warfare.

If the war goes wrong and is delayed for a year, the country that has just started to improve will once again be on the verge of people's livelihood and government collapse.

Sun Ce had to say to Zhang Zhao: "The water conservancy in Yangxian and Piling counties is related to the prosperity of Jiangdong. Qin stopped the war and built the Zhengguo Canal, and prospered Guanzhong, and finally settled the world. Wu County dredged the water and built water conservancy, which also made Jiangdong strong for us. Infrastructure is the foundation. If the people's livelihood is stable, we in Jiangdong can have a century-old foundation without fighting! In order to achieve this great cause, I have sent [-] prisoners and prisoners to help with the construction."

What Sun Ce said was no exaggeration. The large-scale water conservancy facilities built in the two counties of Wu County were an important water conservancy project comparable to the Zhengguo Canal for Jiangdong and even for all the southern forces from then on. It was enough to A piece of inaccessible wilderness was reclaimed into a land of abundance and became the foundation of southern power.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Wu dominated the world with Wu County.

Now Sun Ce has dredged the swamps and reclaimed tens of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland, which will expand the foundation of the south from the Suzhou area to the Suchang area, and the scope of the foundation land will be greatly increased.

Its significance is not weaker than that of Qin Xiu Zhengguo Canal.

This is a great undertaking that requires the mobilization of 10 troops to complete.

Sun Quan had an army of 20 in history, but Sun Ce now had an even better population in Jiangdong. He did not have an army of 30, but recruited [-] to [-] civilians, which was more than enough to develop production.

Especially since Sun Quan still needed to work on an expedition, Sun Ce only needed to build a water conservancy project next to the granary.

Moreover, these 30 people will not be brought here at once, but will be built in batches.The impact on people's livelihood will be very limited. If we get help from local powerful people, it will definitely be smoother.

After the Zeguo in these two counties was dredged, the powerful people would inevitably come first. They only spent two or three years of hard work to open up wasteland here, but what they gained was a century's worth of wealth!

Now the world is in chaos at war, and the cities are in ashes and devastated.There are a large number of counties and counties, where thieves and refugees are mixed, refugees live in the old cities, and the people in Jingyi are poor, and the counties and counties often have less than a hundred households.

Any wealthy family or powerful person with a little knowledge can see that this water conservancy project will attract a large number of northern refugees.

If they don't want their future land of plenty to be taken away by the Hakkas, they can only actively participate in it and gain greater influence.

Sun Ce even wanted to get a share of the pie and left a large amount of official land in case of disaster. (End of chapter)