At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 216: The broken relationship between life and death and the war of robbing hundreds of families

Zhang Liang thought for a while and set a standard and said: "In Hengshan County, all those whose land exceeds 1000 acres will be tried in public. Those with big public grievances will be killed, and those with small public grievances will be punished. But the punishment of Qin officials and Qin troops must be done in our Han country." Under the order of the court, legal means should be used instead of lynching by soldiers. The general must control this, otherwise it will become an abuse of lynching for revenge, which will only amplify hatred."

Lu Chen continued to ask: "What should the Qin army of Yan do? If we do this, they will not dare to join us."

Zhang Liang smiled and said: "If they don't surrender to our Han army, how dare they surrender to the Yan army? The Qin army has no right to choose. At this time, we have to divide the 5 Qin army in Yan. Tell the Qin army generals that we We can accept their surrender, but they must be judged for their crimes. We will try our best to let the ordinary soldiers of the Qin army go as long as they are not killing people and setting fires. As long as we can win over the 5 low-level Qin army soldiers in Yan, even if the Qin army Even if military officers are unwilling to surrender, they will be coerced into surrender by these soldiers."

Zhang Liang felt a little happy at this time. Before he met the King of Han, it was difficult for him to think about the problem from the perspective of an ordinary soldier. Now from the perspective of the King of Han, he found many very difficult morale problems, but he changed It's extremely simple.

The senior officials of the Qin State obviously did not dare to surrender, but their Han army could win over the lower levels. Without the 5 lower-level Qin troops, dozens of Qin army generals would have no negotiating capital.

Lu Chen said: "Okay, I'll join the army."

Lu Chen began to stir up trouble by posting posters throughout Hengshan County, asking the people of Hengshan County who had enmity with the Qin army to come to the Han army to complain. As long as the evidence was conclusive, Qin army officers with great public resentment would be arrested by Lu Chen in front of tens of thousands of people. , publicly tried their crimes, and then hanged them in front of the victims.

This move of the Han army quickly calmed down the anger of the soldiers and made the people of Hengshan County quickly return to their hearts.

And just as Lu Chen was worried, after the Han army publicly tried the Qin officials and Qin army officers, the Qin army officers who came to negotiate immediately fled Hengshan County overnight. After the Qin army's five captains discussed for a while, the Han army must not be able to After taking refuge, several people decided to negotiate with Chen Yu and Han Guang respectively to see which of the two parties had better conditions, and then they would join them.

"Two stones and five buckets!" Zhou Zhang was shocked.

However, due to the strong suppression of the Han State, Chen County's handicraft industry and the Han army accelerated the large-scale absorption of labor. There were not enough tenants in the Han State, forcing these large households to find ways to centralize their land management and cultivate the most land with the least labor force. They dug canals, built waterwheels, and even used the farmyard fertilizer that farmers had just begun to popularize in Chen County.

This year, the entire Han Kingdom has lost 60 young people, which has seriously affected agricultural production. The entire Han Kingdom is full of old, weak, women and children working in the fields, so the grain production is expected to decrease. Now this situation is considered good. .

After speaking, Xiao He took out a piece of data on the grain income of large households with more than 10,000 acres of fields in the Han Kingdom.

"With such high taxes in Dahan, Naigong would have run away long ago if his son hadn't been an official in Dahan." 'This is what Xiang Biao and Jing Yi are saying. They have too many dissatisfaction with the big man.

October 37th, the th year of the First Emperor's reign. Chenjun Prime Minister's Mansion.

But Xiang Biao and Jing Yi don't see it that way. They want to revive the Chu State in order to let the country safeguard their own interests. If the Chu State is revived, but the taxes they pay increase, then what does the revival of the Chu State do to them? significance? It is better to let Tyrant Qin continue to be in power.

It's a pity that no matter how good the friendship is, it can't experience the friction of interests. After he became the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, he had to find a way to get these nobles to cough up more profits for the expansion of the Han army's armaments. In Zhou Zhang's opinion, this is what every Chu person who wants to restore the country should do.

Xiao He smiled and said: "A large number of young people returned before the autumn harvest, and there was no field tax this year. Farmers were more motivated. Moreover, the large households in Han not only did not reduce their grain production, but increased their production due to the construction of water conservancy projects and waterwheels. "

The large households in the Han Dynasty used to plunder fertile land close to water sources, but it was difficult to farm such land in pieces, so the land of these large households was also divided into pieces in the east and west, but because it was tenanted to farmers, they did not have to manage it. .

Xiao He explained: "After these large households concentrated their land, they invested a lot of money to manage the land, and they could get more information. For example, many people did not believe the farmyard fertilizer promoted by farmers in Chen County, but these large households had the third With first-hand information and using farmyard manure on our own land, the return on high investment will naturally be high.”

Zhou Zhang was somewhat dissatisfied and said: "The production-increasing technology developed by our Han army ended up being advantageous to them."

Shi Xiaohe, the chief minister of the Prime Minister's office, took the statistics of each county in the Han Kingdom and said: "Prime Minister, these are the grain harvests reported by each county for this year. My subordinates have already compiled the statistics."

When Lu Chen led the Northern Expeditionary Army to invade Guangyang County, the Qin army officers wanted to lead their soldiers to resist, but the soldiers directly rebelled and opened the city gates to resist the Han army's entry into the city. Lu Chen led the Han army and captured Guangyang County, most of the cities in Dai County, Shanggu County, Yuyang County, and Youbeiping County without encountering any resistance. Of course, this is all a story later.

Zhou Zhang took a look at the data above and breathed a sigh of relief: "It actually dropped by only 30%. I expected it to be much better. I thought it would drop by half."

Zhang Liang made these soldiers understand that what the Qin army did in Yan State always had to be paid by some people, either the officers or the soldiers. Zhang Lianghai spread Xiang Yu and Tian Heng's actions in Qidi, and the Qin army only needed to be caught He will be made a capital official.

Such high investment has brought about high output. Most of the land owned by these large households is about 3 dan. Some of the land is even applied with farmyard manure, and the yield per mu reaches 4-5 dan.

But at this time, Zhang Liang sent spies and began to spread specific information about the public trial in Yan State, letting these Qin soldiers understand that the Han army only tried the most guilty people, and would not harm the soldiers at the bottom. But if the Qin army generals defected to Chen Yu and others The nobles of the Yan State and the upper-level Qin Army officers may be fine, but they may be massacred by the Yan people.

Zhang Liang's series of news caused an undercurrent in the entire Yan region, and soldiers from all over the Qin army were also secretly cooperating.

Fields in this era are generally divided into upper fields, middle fields, and lower fields. Upper fields are fertile lands close to water sources that are easy to irrigate. The productivity of these lands can generally reach 3 stones. Middle fields are lands far away from water sources, but these lands can still be obtained. With watering, the yield per mu is about 2 dan, but the fields are in fields and mountains without water sources. These lands can only be irrigated by God, and the yield per mu is only a little more than shi. If you plant a handful of millet and reap two scoops, you can barely get by with shi and dou. It’s time to go to the field.

Because of Zhou Zhang's relationship with Chun Shenjun and Xiang Yan, he had a close relationship with most of the nobles in the Han Kingdom. He and Xiang Biao and Jing Yi could be said to be life-and-death friends.

Zhou Zhang and them were close friends of life and death. As a result, after he became the prime minister of Han Dynasty, he not only failed to protect his own interests, but also continued to steal their family's wealth. The relationship is extremely tense, and the two of them hate each other.

Xiao He said: "This is also good for our Han country. Because of the investment in land by these large households, Chen County has more than 100 million acres of farmland in the past two years, adding more than 200 million shi of grain to the entire Chen County. This grain will always enter the Han Dynasty's finances in the form of taxes, and their purchase of waterwheels, multi-head iron plows, sickles and other agricultural tools also greatly boosted the income of Chenjun's workshops."

Zhou Zhang was right. It was better for big households like Xiang Biao and Jingyi to invest their money in transforming farmland and increasing production capacity, rather than using their money to buy land and create more gangsters.

Zhou Zhang thought for a while and said: "Order the officials in all counties and counties to strictly control the land taxes of these large households and tell them that the court will not let them pay taxes this year. How much taxes they can keep depends on their own ability. But Next year I want to see them add 5 acres of farmland in each county."

Xiao He smiled bitterly and said: "No!"

The Prime Minister was also infected by the King of Han. You must know that the largest taxpayer in Chen County was Jing Yi, who was the Prime Minister's life and death friend.

Then Zhou Zhang ordered people to find Kong Kun, Shang Nong, and Chen Chui.

Zhou Zhang said to Kong Yu: "There must be no mistakes in this year's imperial examination. I, a big Han, suddenly gained more than a dozen counties. The King of Han has given me an order to prepare 3000 Han officials to go north, so this time the imperial examination must be successful." Select good seedlings.”

Kong Yu said with a smile: "With the scholars admitted last year, there are many more scholars taking part in the imperial examination this year. There are tens of thousands of scholars. This year's candidates will definitely not disappoint the prime minister."

The strength of the Han Kingdom is getting stronger and stronger, especially before the imperial examination, it was reported that the King of Han led the coalition to annihilate Meng Tian's 30 Northern Xinjiang Army. All knowledgeable people in the world know that the new leader of the world must be the King of Han, so There are particularly many people coming to take the imperial examination this time.

Zhou Zhang nodded and said, "That makes me feel relieved."

Zhou Zhang looked at Chen Chui and Shang Nong and said, "The King of Han also asked the Mo family and the farmers to provide a thousand outstanding talents to go north to serve as Han officials. You two must prepare."

Chen Chui said: "There is no problem with the Shaofu. It's just that leaving so many technical talents at once will affect the output of many workshops."

Zhou Zhang said: "It's okay. Hanwang's affairs are important now, and we can still bear the reduction in production capacity in a short period of time."

But the merchant farmer said: "If so many farm children leave, many of my manor estates will have problems, especially the sugar cane plantations. The original expansion task may not be completed."

Zhou Zhang was hesitant. Now the sugarcane plantation has become the most important pillar industry in Han Dynasty. It is only under the agricultural tax and exceeds the salt tax. From this, we can see how profitable sugar can be. Zhou Zhang plans to use the sugarcane plantation this year. Expanded to 10 acres.

Xiao He said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, because of the income from sugar cane last year, many large households have started to plant sugar cane. Next year, I am afraid that the entire Chen County will have hundreds of thousands of acres of sugar cane fields." Not only did this not explain Zhou Zhang's answer, , but made Zhou Zhang's face even more ugly.

“Who gave them permission to grow sugar cane?”

Xiao He said: "Our country of Han does not allow others to grow sugar cane."

Zhou Zhang thought for a while and said: "It seems that we will legislate this year to allow sugar cane to be monopolized."

The income from selling cane sugar, white sugar, and rock sugar has accounted for 10% of Han's finances. Zhou Zhang does not allow others to occupy this profit, at least not now.

Chen Chui said: "Why did the prime minister go to such trouble? Those big households can plant sugar cane, but they are not allowed to have sugar mills. Moreover, we still control the white sugar and rock sugar processes. These two sugars are the most valuable. .”

Zhou Zhang thought for a while and said, "Xiao He."

"My subordinate is here!"

"Arrange manpower to determine the location of the sugar cane fields in Chen County. After they have a good harvest, the imperial court will send Han officials to purchase them at a fair price!"

Xiao He said: "No!"

The merchant farmer left the Prime Minister's Mansion and went to his teacher Xu Feng to complain: "I only have more than 2,000 peasant children. The King of Han has left half of them at once, and a lot of land needs to be managed by new junior brothers. Moreover, we They are originally farmers, but the King of Han always lets his juniors enter the officialdom. This does not mean that the skills of the juniors are wasted."

After hearing the complaints from the merchants and farmers, Xu Feng smiled and said: "I had the same idea when I first came to Han. I thought that the King of Han would waste your craftsmanship by letting your brothers enter the officialdom. But as a teacher, you can't really do this. Although all the countries in the world say that agriculture is the As a teacher, the most powerful people in the world are noble officials, so as a teacher, I cannot hinder the progress of your junior brothers."

"Now it seems that what I did as a teacher was right. Even if you became a county guard, you still did not forget your original intention. Your junior brothers have also become excellent officials and changed the status of their families. Today you have to face You made the same choice as your master, if you really leave them in the manor, will your junior brothers be grateful to you?"

Although Shang Nong is simple, he is not stupid. He quickly understood what his teacher meant and could not hinder the future of his juniors.

"But what to do with these manors now? Especially in the experimental fields, grain seeds with an yield of six stones per mu have been released. The effect of farmyard fertilizer is very good. The disciple also wants to lead the juniors to popularize new grain seeds and farmyard fertilizer."

Xu Feng smiled and said: "Now our farmers are still worried about the lack of disciples. There are tens of thousands of scholars in the city."

"Tian Yan!"

A young man came out and said, "Teacher?"

"You went to the school field and told the failed scholars that my farm family wanted to recruit disciples."

"promise!"

October 37, the th year of the First Emperor's reign.

Tens of thousands of scholars crowded here at the Chenjun School Ground, each one carefully looking at the names on the list.

Those who saw that they were on the list were either ecstatic or laughing, and many young masters who passed the exam shouted: "Everyone is going to Fuqing Tower. Mr. Nai is very happy. All the drinks are included. We will not come back until we are drunk." "

After speaking, a group of people supported the young master and left.

There are also many scholars who have been searching for a long time but have not seen their names. They are either disappointed or crying, disappointed that they have failed the exam and have not had the opportunity to leap over the dragon's gate.

The competition this year is much greater than last year. Last year, only those who could read and write could pass the exam. But this year, the admission ratio is ten to one, and 90% of the candidates can only return disappointed.

At this time, Tian Yan, a boy from a farm family, shouted: "The imperial examination is not the only way, coming to our farm is also a good way out."

"Shang Nong, the eldest disciple of my farm family, is the governor of Chen County. This year, the King of Han has recruited thousands of Han officials in my farm. As long as you join my farm, learn farming in one year and become proficient in agriculture in three years, you can be recruited by the King of Han as a Han official. What's more, Being able to gain the attention of the King of Han Dynasty is higher than the admission rate of the imperial examination. My farm family only has 1500 scholars. If you want to join, come and sign up."

Lou Jing, a scholar from Linzi, couldn't believe it and said, "Isn't this brother teasing me? We can only take the imperial examination for a thousand places, but your farm has more than a thousand Han officials?"

Others couldn't believe that the peasant family was just a small sect among hundreds of schools of thought, how could it have such great influence on the King of Han.

Tian Yan said: "How dare I talk nonsense about this kind of thing? If it hadn't been for the fact that the King of Han had transferred too many senior brothers this time, the senior brother would not have come here to recruit disciples when he saw the lack of farmers' children. He said that scholars There are so many things on one’s mind that I can’t go to work in the fields with peace of mind, but farmers are still willing to work hard.”

Immediately a scholar said: "Lan Sheng also comes from a farmer's family. He has been doing farm work for more than 20 years. He is the most steadfast and willing to do it."

"Wan Sheng also comes from a farmer's family and has raised dolphins. He can be regarded as a child of a farmer, but he has never been taught by a famous farmer. Seeing my senior brother today is like seeing a relative."

This scholar said such disgusting words, and many people distanced themselves from him.

Tian Yan said: "It's useless to talk about this. My farmer's family values ​​hard work. You must plant grain for one season first. After you pass the test, you will be my official son."

Although farmers set strict standards, it is nothing to a scholar who fails the exam. As long as he can become a Han official, farming for a year is nothing.

Soon there was a long queue here.

"Our Mo family has also recruited disciples. Anyone who is interested can come here!" Chen Lei shouted: "Do you know who made the blast furnace and who made the stone cannon that destroyed Xingyang City? They were all made by the giant of our Moh family. The King of Han also recruited thousands of disciples in my Mo family. With such an opportunity, I will not miss the opportunity again."

Compared with the small peasant families, the Mohist family has been a powerful scholar for hundreds of years. Immediately, many scholars wanted to join the Mohist family and become their disciples.

Qin Bo burned half of Xingyang City in the first battle, which made everyone in the world know that he was a Mohist giant.

The behavior of the Mohist family and the peasant family in robbing people soon aroused the vigilance of hundreds of other families, and they also joined in this battle to snatch people. For a time, these failed candidates fell into a difficult choice. They chose the practical Mohist family. , it is better to choose the schools of famous writers and novelists.

In the end, even Shusun Tong joined in. Although Confucianism has no shortage of disciples, it can even be said that Confucianism has the most disciples among hundreds of schools of thought. After all, Confucianism is an education background.

But now in this situation, hundreds of schools of thought are trying to steal people. If Confucianism doesn’t steal talents, other sects will steal them.

So Shusun Tong also shouted in the school: "Kong Yu, one of the nine ministers of the family, can become one of the masters of the Han Dynasty by joining our Confucian school. In addition to teaching, he can also improve his knowledge and have many opportunities to become a Han official."

(End of this chapter)