The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 515: Preparations before the War
"it is good."

"In this case, we should send a formal letter to Shule, inform the Western Regions and tell them that the Han Dynasty is about to attack us!"

The Battle of Shule will be the first step for the Han Dynasty to return to the Western Regions!
This step must be taken in an upright manner, and one battle will make the countries in the Western Regions fearful!

But strangely, the emperor did not delve into this issue.

The topic of establishing states and nations was not discussed in depth as everyone had imagined.

But Liu Biao’s previous words undoubtedly proved that the emperor really wanted to wipe Shule off the map, destroy its country, and kill its descendants!
The attitude has been made clear, but he is just lingering outside... It's really frustrating!
"The emperor is really too suspenseful!"

All officials are eagerly waiting to see who will be the first feudal lord of the Han Dynasty! Where will he be? This will give everyone a direction to work towards!

However, Liu Xie ignored these anxious officials and instead leisurely went into the kitchen of the Weiyang Palace.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat Jia Xu, the Minister of the Chancellery Xun Yu, the Palace Attendant Sima Yi, the Palace Attendant Yang Xiu, the Minister of Works Zhuge Liang, and the Queen Dong Bai, who came uninvited and hurriedly chased after the emperor as soon as she heard he had entered the kitchen, were all accompanying the emperor in the kitchen, which was truly shameful.

Liu Xie was wearing a short shirt and holding an iron pan, stirring things continuously, and finally brought out a plate of fragrant fried flour.

"It smells so good!"

Dong Bai twitched his nose, then glanced at the emperor secretly, and then stretched out his finger...

"The Queen cannot do that!"

Jia, who was always calm, was the most anxious at this moment! He obviously remembered the scene when Dong Bai ate saltpeter as candy!
Dong Bai withdrew his fingers aggrievedly and looked at Liu Xie eagerly.

Liu Xie smiled slightly: "It's edible."

Dong Bai was so happy that she wanted to stretch out her finger again, but Liu Xie ruthlessly slapped her claw away.

"what!"

"It's unhygienic! Use a spoon!"

Liu Xie took a few spoons and handed them to them: "Try it all."

Everyone put it in their mouths together.

Jia Xu and others put the fried flour into their mouths and chewed it. They immediately smelled the fragrance, and a strong wheat aroma quickly entangled their taste buds.

Dong Bai ate a lot, and his eyes bulged out. He asked Liu Xie for help with difficulty: "Water! Water!"

Liu Xie felt both amused and helpless, but he still gave Dong Bai a bowl of water and asked her to drink the fried flour in her mouth.

"Cough cough!"

Dong Bai obviously didn't get to experience the taste of fried flour when he ate it this way. Instead, he stuck out his tongue and said, "This thing tastes so bad!"

It was obvious from his words that he suspected that the emperor's cooking standards had declined significantly!
"It's not for you to eat!"

Liu Xie took the spoon from Dong Bai's hand, scooped a little and put it into his mouth to chew carefully.

"Can you guess what I plan to use this fried noodles for?"

Except for Dong Bai, everyone present was not stupid. Yang Xiu, who had always been eager to perform well in front of the emperor, immediately asked, "But Your Majesty wants to use this as military rations?"

"Dezu is indeed smart."

Liu Xie ate another spoonful of fried noodles and said, "The imperial court is about to go on an expedition to the Western Regions, but the Western Regions are different from other places after all. The supply alone is a huge expense."

When fighting in the interior, you can basically get food wherever you go, and the army will never lack supplies.

Moreover, the roads in the interior are unobstructed, and transporting grain... as long as the grain is not transported from Shu to Hanzhong and Guanzhong, the consumption is actually not that great.

Even in remote Liaodong, there was enough food to feed the army.

But the Western Regions are different.

It is thousands of miles away, and the Western Regions are small and narrow, which cannot meet the needs of the Han expeditionary force.

If you want to attack the Western Regions, you must open up a long and costly supply line.

However, even with the current strength of the Han Dynasty, it is difficult to afford such a supply line.

Therefore, we need to focus on the weight and lightness of the supplies.

"Chow mein is actually more filling than millet."

"With the same amount, fried noodles can feed ten soldiers, but millet may only feed five soldiers."

Liu Xie had long been considering an expedition to the Western Regions, so he was also planning to replace the existing military rations with fried noodles.

"In addition, it is not easy for soldiers to go on a long expedition. I want to put some meat jerky from the grassland, sugar from Shu, and vinegar cloth from Hedong in the general's rations..."

Seeing that Xun Yu, who was in charge of finance, wanted to say something, Liu Xie stopped him first.

"I know it costs a lot, even more than the rations of ordinary people, but these expedition soldiers are different from others."

"Wen Ruo should know that once these soldiers go to the Western Regions, they may never have the chance to return to the Han area!"

What Liu Xie meant was certainly not that the Han expeditionary force would be completely wiped out.

Instead, there is a high probability that these troops will remain in the Western Regions forever and become the people of the future Han state.

"And everything will be produced only when there is demand."

"The imperial court will purchase these, and the merchants and craftsmen in the Han Dynasty will also try their best to increase production. In the end, the people of the Han Dynasty will benefit."

"This is actually a powerful method."

If it was just exploitation and brutal plunder, it would definitely cause a stir among the people, and it would be like the Han people using their own flesh and blood to nourish the Western Regions, just like the pattern of Emperor Wu of Han. Liu Xie did not want to be forced to issue a self-criticism edict in his later years. So what Liu Xie said was "court procurement", using money to encourage Han people and merchants to expand production in disguise, and try every means to increase output.

Once the output increases, it will inevitably radiate to the Han people first, forming a virtuous circle.

Xun Yu thought about it carefully and it seemed to be true.

But Xun Yu became more and more worried: "Your Majesty is right, but where does the court get so much money to purchase those food?"

"Wen Ruo has reached a dead end again, hasn't he?"

Liu Xie shook his head.

"Once people's livelihood improves, the population will inevitably increase dramatically. By then, even if the court does not increase taxes, it will still be able to obtain a steadily increasing head tax every year."

"And as roads continue to be opened and trade continues to prosper, the commercial taxes collected by the imperial court will surely increase in the future."

At the same time, maybe we can sell the land in the future! After all, the land under heaven belongs to the king!
Liu Xie added this secretly in his heart.

I have never heard that the richer the people are, the poorer the court will be.

Different from aristocratic families.

The imperial court was not competing with the people for food, but rather had a symbiotic relationship with them.

The richer the people are, the richer the court will inevitably be.

If negative feedback occurs, and one party's wealth is insufficient to cover its expenditure, then there must be something strange secretly sucking the blood of both parties.

Of course, that was a matter for the future. At least for now, with Liu Xie's restoration of the Han Dynasty and the elimination of the rats and blood-sucking worms that had been lurking in the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years, such a problem would not arise in the short term.

"Besides, once Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing's model is successful, I will open other schools in Chang'an, such as iron smelting, fertilizer, and farming... So Wen Ruo must not worry."

When Xun Yu heard the emperor's explanation, his mind turned a little, and he got over his own stubborn problem and kept nodding to the emperor.

"In addition to this method of stir-frying noodles, I have also prepared some maltose. I will select suitable people from among the officials to do these two techniques, so as to facilitate the court's future purchases?"

Liu Xie turned around and looked at the empty food box.

"Where's my candy?"

Slip!

Dong Bai, who had already reached the door, ran even faster, his cheeks puffed up, like a discovered hamster!
"..."

Liu Xie scratched his head awkwardly: "I'll make another pot later, it's actually not difficult."

When everyone saw this scene, they smiled knowingly.

They had no idea how many anecdotes they had heard about Dong Bai, the Empress of the Han Dynasty, and naturally did not pursue the matter.

Seeing the emperor showing an expression of disappointment towards his wife, Jia Xu comforted him: "If the Grand Tutor knew that the Queen was still as lively as before, she would be very pleased."

"Ah."

Liu Xie smiled without saying anything and nodded slightly.

Because Dong Bai was the person Dong Zhuo entrusted to him to take care of, there was no reason for Dong Bai to make any sacrifices.

Whether it was for the position of queen, for the Han Dynasty, or for the emperor, there was no need for Dong Bai to make sacrifices.

Her grandfather Dong Zhuo has already sacrificed too much for the Han Dynasty, so Dong Bai should just maintain this well without any worries.

"If Bai really becomes like Lady Cai or Concubine Fu one day, I'm afraid I won't be able to rest in peace."

Liu Xie glanced at Dong Bai's departing back and didn't say much. Instead, he continued to make maltose.

"Yes, I have decided."

Liu Xie remembered something.

"I remember that there was also a member of your Xun clan who bought a scattered official last time. I will just give this technology to him."

Xun Yu quickly declined: "I am a high-ranking official in the imperial court. How can I allow my disciples to engage in business?"

"Nothing, could it be that Xun Lingjun would abuse his power for personal gain?"

Xun Yu immediately said seriously: "That's impossible!"

"Isn't that okay?"

Liu Xie pounded his back and said, "Some changes cannot be decided by me alone."

"It's right under your nose, you should be able to notice something."

The expansion of demand will inevitably cause huge damage to the small peasant economy that has been passed down in China for thousands of years!
This destruction may take a long time.

But once it is completely destroyed, that will be the moment when the entire man breaks out of his cocoon and soars into the sky.

Although there is the Beiting Protectorate and the newly established Liaozhou providing a steady supply of foreign trade demand, Liu Xie knows that if he really wants to expand this demand to the point where it will destroy the small peasant economy based on families and clans, the best way is to expand domestic demand!

And this Western Region Expeditionary Force, these fried noodles and maltose, are the first step in expanding domestic demand!
When the people of the Han Dynasty have enough meat and sweet maltose to eat, no one will want to eat bitter food again.

However, the small peasant economy has a production ceiling, so it is impossible to meet such huge domestic demand.

If we continue on this path, the collapse of the small peasant economy that has been passed down in China for thousands of years will come sooner or later.

Therefore, Liu Xie’s wish for the Western Regions was far more than just establishing a state!
"Speaking of establishing a state...what happened to Fengxian? He hasn't come back yet? Could something have happened?"

(End of this chapter)