Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 435 Diligent Practice of Internal Strength (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Kang Chengxun lost?"

After the Lantern Festival, when Liu Jilong left Chang'an to check on the land distribution situation of the people in the vicinity of Chang'an, he was caught up by Gao Huai on horseback and learned about this matter from him, which made him slightly surprised.

However, his surprise was only momentary before he quickly returned to normal.

Given his familiarity with Huang Chao in history, the fact that Huang Chao was able to defeat the government troops in Huainan and Tianping was truly impressive, but that was all.

As far as he was concerned, as long as the 260,000 troops were trained to a near-complete standard, and the official roads in various places were repaired and widened to ensure that the provisions for future troop deployments could keep up, the world could be easily conquered.

Although the territory under the Han army's rule seemed quite large, as if it could conquer Guandong and unify the world in an instant, Liu Jilong still faced the problem of internal affairs.

Just considering sending troops from Guanzhong to occupy the He and Huai River basins, the supply line alone would be over two thousand li long.

After suffering from war, locust plagues, the Yellow River breaching its banks, and severe drought, production in the He and Huai River basins was almost completely destroyed; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many bandits.

While the laborers need not be a concern as the army marches eastward, the problem of transporting grain is pressing.

Previously, the Han army fought from Longyou towards Guanzhong and Sanchuan. Because Guanzhong and Sanchuan were prosperous, the Han army became richer and richer as they fought.

However, if troops were to march from Guanzhong to the Hehuai region, the supply of provisions for the Han army could not be obtained through capture.

Even with only a thousand-mile supply line, each soldier would require five to ten laborers to support his troops when they set out from Guanzhong.

The number of civilian laborers who feed the people and horses on the road is five to ten times that of the soldiers who go to war.

If problems such as collapses occur on the official roads, it can easily delay the journey by ten days to half a month, and the troops at the front cannot wait that long.

Therefore, given that the internal affairs were not yet resolved, Liu Jilong preferred to wait another year.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong took the initiative to instruct Gao Huai: "This Huang Chao is quite intelligent. Let's see what he plans to do next."

"Yes!" Gao Huai replied, while Liu Jilong looked at Zhao Ying and said, "Let's go."

Zhao Ying nodded, and then rode north with Liu Jilong.

Before long, the two rode their horses to the south bank of the Wei River, only to find that the wide Wei River, fifty or sixty feet wide, blocked their way. However, Zhao Ying had already arranged for a pleasure boat to escort them north to Xianyang.

Half an hour later, more than a hundred elite cavalrymen arrived at the north bank of the Wei River, and Liu Jilong began to survey the "Xianyang Plain".

Xianyang was originally located north of Chang'an. Its original area stretched from the banks of the Qishui River in Wugong in the west to the confluence of the Jing and Wei Rivers in the east, covering an area of ​​more than two million mu. It is the burial place of dozens of emperors and feudal lords from the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties.

For this reason, all the wealthy and powerful people bought houses and land here, and after the Han army captured Chang'an, this place had the most ownerless land.

More than 400,000 people live on the Xianyang Plain. Liu Jilong came today to see how these people are living.

More than a hundred elite cavalry guards, after being unarmored, ascended the Xianyang Plain. Without needing to ask anyone, they could simply stroll around and learn about the current living conditions of the people.

Walking along the official road, one sees cultivated land on both sides, mostly irrigated fields, but very fertile.

Although the Lantern Festival has just passed, farm work has already begun.

The people in the fields undoubtedly had more smiles on their faces than before the Han army entered Guanzhong. They were not afraid when they saw them from afar, and would even wave when they stopped.

Many farmers who had finished their work early in the morning walked along the official road. Although they would walk along one side, the eyes that looked at them were full of curiosity and exploration.

When they looked at each other up close, Liu Jilong could see that their faces had become fuller, and the sallow complexion caused by malnutrition had faded somewhat.

Just one "fair" autumn harvest made the lives of the people in Guanzhong visibly improve.

As life improves and there is less pressure, one's mental outlook naturally changes as well.

From adults to children, they all seemed to have "come alive".

"Send people out to carefully investigate the people in the surrounding villages of Xianyang, to find out how much land each household has been allocated, and whether there are any cases of officials levying excessive taxes."

"Yes!"

Liu Jilong gave an order, and Zhao Ying agreed. He then sent out more than fifty men on horseback to scout the area, while the remaining fifty men stayed with Zhao Ying to protect Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong glanced around the area and couldn't help but say, "Looking around, there are no trees for miles, but this is not the fault of the people."

"Once coal mining in Weibei, Binning and other places is on track, the people of Guanzhong will be able to buy and sell cheap coal. At that time, trees will be planted on both sides of the official road to provide shade for soldiers, merchants and people traveling."

The Guanzhong Plain has few trees, not just for building houses, but because there are virtually no trees to be seen.

Almost all the grass and trees that could be used as fuel were gathered up by the people.

This tendency to take advantage of others stems from past poverty.

A bundle of firewood weighs no more than ten pounds, but it costs five copper coins, enough for a family for at most two days.

In the past, ordinary people were tenants of powerful families. An acre of irrigated land could only yield 200 catties of grain. After paying 50% rent, ordinary people could only get 100 catties.

If you were to sell 100 catties of grain, you would only earn 700 coins.

For fuel alone, an ordinary family would need the output of one and a half acres of land to supply the fuel for their entire family.

A family of five had to cultivate at least forty acres of land for the landlord just to get enough food for their daily survival. Moreover, they would have to borrow grain from the landlord from time to time due to natural disasters, and the debt would only grow larger and larger, making them slaves for generations.

Now that the Han army has arrived, all past debts have been wiped clean, and with the Han army distributing land to the people, their lives have improved.

However, in terms of income, it seems that it has only increased by 20% to 30%, but the problem is that after the Guanzhong region stabilized, prices of all kinds of goods began to decline.

Previously, a bundle of firewood cost five coins, but now, due to the end of the war, the price has dropped to three coins.

In addition, the prices of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, and cloth have all decreased, and although the price of grain has also decreased, it has not decreased by much.

In addition, the government often recruited people during the off-season, paying them money and grain as wages, giving people more ways to make a living and making their lives easier.

In reality, as long as the Tang Dynasty could ensure clean governance, the lives of the people under its rule would not be much worse than those under the rule of the Han army.

Unfortunately, corruption among Tang Dynasty officials was so deeply ingrained that there was no other option but to start from scratch.

Thinking this, the fast horses that Liu Jilong had sent out returned one after another within half an hour.

Liu Jilong met with them privately and listened to their accounts of the situation of the people on Xianyang Plain.

In general, the land distribution was relatively equal, with each household, regardless of gender, receiving five mu per person.

The number of people in each household varies, ranging from seven or eight to one or two.

From an average perspective, there is no problem, but from a household perspective, there are quite a few issues.

However, this method of land distribution also created the illusion among the people that having more children meant more benefits.

Liu Jilong now needs a large enough population to realize his ambitions.

"Tomorrow, I will have Gao Jinda allocate 100,000 strings of cash to be placed in your residence. If you need it, you may take it yourself."

Liu Jilong looked at Zhao Ying and instructed, "I must know for sure how the people in each county are living; there must be no concealment."

"This subordinate obeys!" Zhao Ying replied without hesitation, knowing that his prince was very suspicious of officialdom.

"Let's go back."

Having seen what he wanted to see, Liu Jilong did not linger in Xianyang any longer, but took advantage of the early hour to hurry back to Chang'an.

Two hours later, as they arrived outside Chang'an City, the market outside the city had undergone considerable changes.

The once bustling and dirty market outside Chang'an has been demolished and rebuilt.

The market outside the city was reduced to ruins. The timber and earth from the buildings were collected and sorted out. Officials from the Ministry of Works replanned the underground water system of the market outside the city, as well as the streets and buildings of the market.

In addition, the rammed earth city walls of Chang'an in the distance are being covered with bricks by craftsmen.

However, this matter was not urgent, so there were not many laborers and craftsmen involved in the construction, only a few thousand.

At their current pace, it would take them at least several years to lay bricks on the entire city wall of Chang'an.

This pace was deliberately set by Liu Jilong, as the treasury was short of funds and grain. Although many houses had been confiscated in the past few days, there were still too many abandoned projects in the Tang Dynasty since the An Lushan Rebellion.

Take the Zheng Guo Canal as an example. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, funds were frequently allocated to clear accumulated silt. The entire irrigation system, branching off from the Zheng Guo Canal as its main trunk, could irrigate millions of acres of farmland.

After the An Lushan Rebellion, due to the siltation of the Jing River, the damming by powerful local magistrates, and the lack of dredging by regional warlords, less than one million mu of arable land could be irrigated.

In addition, the Longshou Canal, which has been neglected due to war damage, has seen its water supply capacity decrease by 70%.

There are countless other abandoned weirs and canals, such as Liumen Weir, Shengyuan Canal, Wuquan Canal, Tongling Weir, and Fushui Canal.

These abandoned canals have become stinking ditches, leaving farmers without water to cultivate their land, resulting in large tracts of farmland being abandoned.

Liu Jilong has been sending officials from the Ministry of Works' Water Conservancy Department to investigate these matters for several months, and the answer should be available in the next few days.

Liu Jilong shook the reins and spurred his horse into Chang'an City, where he saw that the city was also filled with many laborers.

The entire city of Chang'an seemed to have become a construction site, and the people complained a lot, but Liu Jilong naturally couldn't listen to all the people's opinions.

If the underground sewage treatment project in Chang'an is not started soon, the halogenation of shallow groundwater will continue to worsen.

Besides, the work of digging deep wells in each neighborhood, which benefits the people, cannot be stopped because of the opinions of a few households.

With a flick of the reins, Liu Jilong rode quickly back to the Prince of Han's residence before dusk. At that time, many officials were already waiting in the main hall of the Prince of Han's residence.

When Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Han Yike and more than ten other officials saw him, they all bowed and paid their respects, but Liu Jilong waved his hand to interrupt them and signaled them to follow.

"Tell me, with so many people here, they're probably not here to enjoy tea with me."

Liu Jilong sat in the main seat and nodded to signal everyone to sit down.

The group sat down one after another. Gao Jinda was the first to bow and introduce a fifty-year-old official in a scarlet robe to Liu Jilong.

"Your Highness, this is Li Pin, who took the imperial examination last year. He was originally a sixth-rank official in the court, and now he is a water affairs officer under the Ministry of Works."

"He has considerable insight into the matters of rivers, canals, and embankments in Guanzhong. The recent return of the water bureau officials after their investigation of various parts of Guanzhong was compiled under his leadership."

After Gao Jinda's introduction, Li Pin also stood up and bowed to Liu Jilong, saying, "Li Pin, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, greets Your Highness."

"It's alright. Let's sit down and talk about the canals and embankments in Guanzhong. The people are still hoping that the canals and embankments will be restored to provide irrigation so that they can cultivate the wasteland again."

Liu Jilong didn't stand on ceremony and spoke directly to Li Pin. Li Pin had also heard about the Prince of Han's personality, so he didn't delay and said directly:
"The imperial court had 120 irrigation canals in Guanzhong. However, after the An Lushan Rebellion, the court's funds and provisions were tied up in the army, so the Ministry of Water Resources received very little money and provisions. As a result, the irrigation canals and embankments in Guanzhong began to fall into disrepair."

"After 127 officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and 454 plainclothes officers traveled through mountains and rivers for several months to investigate, they finally learned about the current state of the rivers, canals, and embankments in Guanzhong."

Li Pin paused, giving Liu Jilong time to think, before continuing:
"At present, 62 weirs and canals in Guanzhong have been abandoned, 38 are silted up and about to be abandoned, and only 20 are still in operation."

"According to the calculations of my colleagues in the Ministry of Water Resources, if these 120 river channels and weirs can be repaired and cleaned, then more than 4 million mu of wasteland in Guanzhong will be irrigated and can be easily reclaimed."

"In addition, after dredging and repair, the yield of the more than 8 million mu of irrigated fields that were originally irrigated can be increased by at least two or three dou."

"Just repairing and cleaning these 120 weirs and canals will cost no less than ten million and require no less than 300,000 people."

Li Pin recounted everything they had discovered, and Liu Jilong couldn't help but curse Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in his heart upon hearing this.

If he had been less involved in minor affairs, the An Lushan Rebellion would have been quelled long ago, and it wouldn't have caused such a huge uproar later.

With over four million mu of land abandoned, Liu Jilong had no idea what the Tang emperors had been doing all these years.

"All rivers, canals, and embankments must be repaired and cleaned, with the most important and densely populated areas being cleaned first."

Liu Jilong offered his suggestion, then looked at Gao Jinda and said, "Hasn't the treasury recently accumulated some money and grain? How much can be allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources?"

Gao Jinda pondered for a moment, then bowed and said, "We can allocate 300,000 strings of cash and 500,000 shi of grain."

"After the summer harvest, we should be able to allocate no less than fifty strings of cash and seven hundred thousand shi of grain."

Liu Jilong nodded and looked at Li Pin: "With all this money and grain allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources, how many irrigation canals and dikes can be repaired before the autumn harvest?"

Li Pin seemed to have memorized all the data, so when Liu Jilong asked, he replied without hesitation: "At least the entire Longshou Canal can be restored, ensuring the original irrigation of three million mu of farmland, while also restoring one million mu of abandoned farmland."

"Good!" Liu Jilong was not in a hurry. After praising Li Pin, he gestured for him to sit down.

After Li Pin and Liu Jilong finished discussing the Ministry of Water Affairs, Cui Shu bowed and said, "Your Highness, a letter has arrived from Duokang Shangmoyan requesting a trade of 400,000 shi of grain."

"They prepared two thousand top-quality military horses, five thousand medium-quality riding horses, and more than seventy thousand cattle and one hundred thousand sheep."

As soon as Cui Shu finished speaking, Liu Jilong couldn't help but ask in response to Shang Moyan's plea for help: "We allocated 400,000 shi of grain to them two years ago, and only four months have passed. Why are we short of food again now?"

"Your Highness," Cui Shu said respectfully, "Shang Moyan sent troops to bring Baihai and other places under his control, gaining 200,000 followers. This is probably why there is a shortage of food."

Liu Jilong was not surprised that Shang Moyan was expanding his power, but the speed of his expansion was indeed not slow.

Liu Jilong was not concerned about this, after all, the period of prosperity of the Tubo Plateau would gradually weaken with the climate.

Even if Shangmoyan reunifies the plateau, the upper limit of this new dynasty will only be a plateau version of Dali.

However, as time goes by, it is estimated that the Tibetan Plateau will not be able to form a decent political power in the future, and will only become a horse breeding ground for the Central Plains dynasties, relying on horse trading, tea and grain to maintain the fragile economy on the plateau.

Shang Moyan was self-aware, or perhaps this was a method his son hadn't thought of.

By becoming economically dependent on the Han army, they could not only secure their rule but also put Liu Jilong at ease.

"The army is short of warhorses and riding horses, and Guanzhong and the Three Rivers region are short of beef and mutton. Let's trade with them."

Liu Jilong wasn't worried about losing money in normal grain and meat trade, since meat prices in Sanchuan and Guanzhong weren't cheap.

The Han army would exchange one shi of grain for three sheep, then drive the sheep to the Three Rivers and Guanzhong regions and sell them for the price of three shi of grain. No matter how they traded, they would make a profit.

This small outflow of grain will not cause problems with grain prices within the Han army, as it can be bought and sold.

"Yes……"

Cui Shu nodded in agreement, while Han Zhengke also bowed and said, "Your Highness, the imperial court has dispatched troops to Datong. According to reports from our garrison troops, there are no fewer than 20,000 troops in Yunzhou and Shuozhou. Could it be that the imperial court is about to attack Guannei Road?"

Han Zheng was unaware of what Zhao Ying and his group were doing, so he was naturally wary of the Tang army's movements.

Liu Jilong did not explain this, but simply reassured them, "Shengzhou has three thousand new recruits and five thousand cavalry and infantry. Even if the imperial court attacks, it is enough to hold out and wait for Cao Mao to lead reinforcements to its aid."

As Liu Jilong was speaking, he saw soldiers carefully enter the hall through the door and walk towards Zhao Ying, who was standing in the corner.

He pretended nothing was wrong and continued speaking to the crowd: "What is the current situation regarding the Imperial Academy?"

“Your Highness…” Li Gunshi, who was serving as a Doctor of the Imperial Academy and temporarily acting as the Chancellor, stood up.

As Li Shangyin's eldest son, Li Gunshi was only twenty-three years old, which was considered quite young among the court officials.

However, places like the Imperial Academy needed people who had received modern education, and Li Gunshi was one of them.

"At present, apart from the six prefectures of Longyou and Jiannan in the northwest, where free education is being implemented, the official schools in the remaining Guannei Circuit, Jingji Circuit, Jiannan Circuit, and Shannan West Circuit are all under construction."

"Currently, there is a shortage of teachers and funds. Therefore, one official school will be established in each county. Each school will initially have six teachers and teach 150 students. Each village can recommend one student to study there each year."

“In the county town, each neighborhood was organized into units called ‘fang’ (坊), and the village head could recommend two to three students.”

"In large counties such as Chang'an and Wannian, the number of official schools will be increased to four to ten as appropriate, ensuring that each ward has no fewer than fifteen students."

"The Imperial College plans to open 470 official schools, recruit 3,000 official school instructors, and expect to enroll 75,000 students in the first year after its opening..."

As soon as Li Gunshi finished speaking, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, and others frowned.

They did not oppose these commoners' children studying; the problem was whether the Han army had enough money and supplies to support so many students.

Li Gunshi did not stop because of the strange expressions on everyone's faces. Instead, he continued, "The construction of the official school will cost about 170,000 strings of cash. The annual salary of the 3,000 teachers in the official school will be about 60,000 strings of cash."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Shu took the initiative to say, "The bulk of the annual expenditure for official schools goes to students' food, paper, pens, inkstones, and other necessities. The smallest expenditure is actually on building official schools and paying teachers' salaries." "Your Highness, I believe that your ability to help so many commoners' children enter school is already a great achievement."

"The situation in the other regions is different from that in Longyou. Therefore, should the students in the other regions be responsible for their own paper, brushes, inkstones, and other necessities?"

As soon as Cui Shu finished speaking, everyone in the hall began to speak as well.

"Paper, brushes, inkstones and ink are indeed not cheap, and the annual consumption is no less than four strings of cash."

"Five strings of cash are just for paper, brushes, inkstones, and ink; have you forgotten about books?"

"Although the government office has movable type printing, each book is worth seven hundred coins, and if a student owns six books, that's more than four strings of cash."

"If you include the food provided by the school, you would eat at least two shi of grain a year, plus vegetables, which would cost you a guan in cash."

The group discussed it animatedly and quickly calculated the expenses for an average student to study for a year.

This was because the Han Prince's Palace possessed movable type printing technology and had gunpowder to quickly mine materials.

An ordinary student, under normal circumstances, would consume at least ten strings of cash per year, which would amount to twenty shi of grain, almost the income after taxes on twenty mu of land.

It was precisely because of the excessive expenditure that the practice of "passing down the family tradition of farming and studying" emerged, concentrating the family's resources to support the most intelligent member of the family.

However, if the students supported by this family pass the imperial examination and become Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), this commoner family will become a rising local luminary and gradually develop into a powerful local force.

If a family has produced officials in every generation after three to five generations, it can be called a prestigious family.

Now that Liu Jilong wants to train a large number of scholars, he naturally has to bear this cost.

However, what everyone said is true; the support from more than 70,000 students is indeed tremendous.

“What you all say makes sense. Supporting more than 70,000 students is indeed a huge pressure.”

"Especially since this is only the first batch, and it takes five years for students to graduate."

“If we continue to recruit students in this way for the next few years, there will be 370,000 students, and the annual expenses alone will amount to 3.7 million guan, which we really cannot afford.”

Liu Jilong did not deny the current situation. After all, productivity was what it was, and the external situation was also very dangerous, so it was impossible to proceed according to the ideas of the Imperial Academy.

Liu Jilong pondered for a moment, then looked at Li Gunshi and said, "What if we limit it to each village and ward, and only recommend one or two people each year, and each official school has 25 students per class, with only two classes? What would that be like?"

Upon hearing this, Li Gunshi frowned and said, "If that's the case, six instructors are far too many, and..."

"Let's not discuss the teaching staff yet; let's discuss the number of students first," Liu Jilong interrupted.

Seeing this, Li Gunshi could only say, "If that's the case, then it would be fifty students per year, and four hundred and seventy schools would be... less than twenty-four thousand people."

After Li Gunshi finished speaking, Liu Jilong nodded and said, "If that's the case, then even if we take into account the number of teachers and students in Longyou, the expenditure in the first year will only be 500,000 guan, and will increase by 300,000 guan every year thereafter, up to 1.7 million guan."

After speaking, Liu Jilong looked at Gao Jinda and the others: "What do you think?"

Faced with Liu Jilong's words, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Seeing that no one spoke, Gao Jinda spoke first: "One million seven hundred thousand strings of cash is something for five years from now. If we can pacify the world within five years, it's not too much."

"Even if new universities are established later, the annual expenditure will not exceed two million guan."

"However, after our army pacifies the world, there will be ten more circuits. Will we still continue with this rule then?"

"If that's the case, even if it only quadruples, that would still be eight million strings of cash."

"During the Kaiyuan era, the total value of all taxes paid was only over 17 million strings of cash. Even if our army's taxes were higher than during the Kaiyuan era, we would only collect a maximum of 25 million strings of cash."

Is it worth taking eight million strings of cash to benefit hundreds of thousands of students?

Gao Jinda was not refuting Liu Jilong's proposal, but rather expressing his concerns.

If he could, he would also like all the children in the world to have access to education, but after a little calculation, he knew that this was impossible.

This world simply cannot support millions of scholars; even a few hundred thousand could overwhelm the world.

In response, Liu Jilong pondered and said, "If that time comes, there will certainly be other arrangements, but for now, we should stick to the rules we just established."

"In addition, students are selected from those aged thirteen and above."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, and the others knew what their prince meant.

Nowadays, four to five thousand primary school students graduate every year in Longyou, but they are all thirteen or fourteen years old, which is too young.

The university graduates only about two thousand students a year. If we calculate based on twelve officials per county, they can only take care of a maximum of one hundred and sixty counties, and their subordinates are all white-collar workers placed in by local powerful families.

Although as the chief officials, they could control the operation of the entire county, they still had to cooperate with local powerful families in order to govern the county well.

If the focus is on massacring powerful and influential families, there won't be enough scholars to serve as honest officials, assisting local officials in governing counties and collecting taxes.

For this reason, Liu Jilong had to plan ahead.

Arranging for a large number of older teenagers, who are still in the process of accepting new things, to study will ensure that when they grow up in five years, they will be around eighteen or nineteen years old and can serve as officials to assist in governing the country. That will certainly not be a problem.

Therefore, the students of these four paths are not preparing for the present, but rather preparing to eliminate the malignant tumors after unifying the world in the future.

What Liu Jilong is going to do is something that no one has ever dared to do before: sweep all the powerful and influential families into the dustbin of history!

Even if new classes rise in the future, judging from the course of history, the democratization of officials has brought not only corruption, but also progress in the system and class structure.

Just like in the late Ming Dynasty, although officials were greedy, at least most of them knew that they could not arbitrarily kill the people.

Even if reporting to the authorities failed, people in the late Ming Dynasty knew they could report to the authorities in other prefectures and counties, or even seek out the censors to file complaints. Officials and commoners alike dared to openly criticize the emperor.

All of this is because people's human rights are increasing, the cost of education is decreasing, and many people are gaining wisdom through reading.

However, the enlightenment of the people is a double-edged sword. For example, in the late Ming Dynasty, the idea of ​​a nominal monarch rose, and the people and scholars began to reflect on the role of the monarch, fundamentally denying the idea of ​​the divine right of kings.

The more enlightened and reflective the people became, the more unstable the rule of the feudal dynasty became, but Liu Jilong did not care about this.

There is no dynasty that lasts forever. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the establishment of community schools in all counties of the country, but it still took the people more than two hundred years to develop the idea of ​​a figurehead emperor until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

He would profit as long as the dynasty he founded lasted more than two hundred years. As for what would happen to his descendants after the dynasty's demise, that was none of his business.

The Manchus chased after the Zhu family to kill them, but the Zhu family still managed to pass on their lineage peacefully to their descendants. He didn't believe that his Liu family could be so unlucky.

As for whether the policy of recommending students for education in each village would cultivate powerful and influential figures, Liu Jilong was even less concerned.

The problem he faced was that nine out of ten scholars came from powerful or commoner families, and they were all arrogant and looked down on ordinary people as livestock to be bullied at will.

First, support a group of commoners and deal with these arrogant aristocratic families and commoners. Then, use internal power struggles to suppress these officials from commoner backgrounds.

Once the official schools are systematically established, Liu Jilong can also follow the example of a certain predecessor and exchange quantity for quality.

Even if an official produced on an assembly line is arrested for corruption within a year or two of taking office, there are still tens of thousands of reserve officials to replace him. The main point is that if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Liu Jilong scanned the crowd: "Is there anything else?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, until finally Gao Jinda led them in rising and bowing, saying, "We, your humble servants, take our leave..."

They referred to themselves as subjects, clearly trying to subtly influence Liu Jilong to accept this relationship between ruler and subject.

Although Liu Jilong has not yet declared himself emperor, he has already made preparations, so he did not correct the crowd.

Seeing that he did not correct them, everyone's faces lit up with joy, and they then respectfully withdrew from the main hall.

After they left, Zhao Ying stepped forward, bowed to Liu Jilong, and said, "Brothers from Dongdu have sent word that the court has allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and grain to reward the army, reorganized the troops of Shannan East Circuit, and dispatched troops from Lulong, Yichang, Yiwu, Zhaoyi, Hedong and other towns to Datong."

"Your Highness, it seems the court believes the intelligence we provided. In that case, perhaps we should..."

Liu Jilong shook his head, interrupting Zhao Ying's suggestion, and reminded her, "It can't be too frequent. We need to make them feel that intelligence is not easy to send out so that they will be more likely to believe it."

"Furthermore, has Gao Pian made any moves in the south?"

"No," Zhao Ying replied.

"Then you can step down."

"Your subject takes his leave..."

At Liu Jilong's suggestion, Zhao Ying followed the example of Gao Jinda and others, referring to himself as a subject and leaving the hall.

After they left, Liu Jilong buried himself in handling government affairs.

However, while he was handling government affairs, Xizhou, three thousand miles away, was bustling with activity.

"Make sure you tamp it down firmly. This is your own yard. If you don't put in the effort, don't blame us if the walls collapse and you die!"

In the western part of Xizhou (Turpan), the once-abandoned Tianshan City has been revitalized.

Five days ago, tens of thousands of people poured into the city to repair and reinforce the damaged city walls, level hundreds of dilapidated courtyards, and set up tents.

Now, they are using the clay from leveling the courtyard to rebuild and solidify their future yard.

"Damn it, I still have nine years before I can go home..."

"Let's get to work. I estimate that after we finish compacting the yard, we'll head south to reclaim the wasteland."

"Once summer comes and it gets hot, there probably won't be any work to do."

"Sanlang, how far are we from our hometown now?"

"How far? At least five thousand li..."

In front of the city gate tower, Zhang Huaishen surveyed the bustling scene before him with satisfaction, while Zhang Huairong and Li Mingzhen stood behind him.

Zhang Huairong couldn't hide his smile as he said, "For the first time in all these years, I feel that too many people are a bad thing."

"More than 70,000 people, almost filling Tingzhou and Xizhou!"

Upon hearing this, Li Mingzhen chuckled and said, "Not to mention Xizhou and Tingzhou, even Yizhou and Suzhou have crammed in quite a few people."

His words made Zhang Huairong laugh heartily: "If we have enough food, perhaps His Highness the Prince of Han can send a lot of people this time."

“That’s for sure.” Li Mingzhen replied without hesitation, adding, “The Prince of Han sent a letter earlier, stating that if needed, there are still tens of thousands of men in Chang’an who can be stationed in the Western Regions.”

“Tens of thousands of people…” Zhang Huairong gasped, his face filled with regret and reluctance, but after a moment he reacted and looked at Zhang Huairong, saying:
"General, His Highness the Prince of Han has sent a letter; surely it mentions more than just the matter of defending the border?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mingzhen fell silent, and Zhang Huaishen nodded and said, "Liu Muzhi wants to form a marriage alliance with me, so that his eldest daughter Liu Zhi can be engaged to the eldest son, and his son can be engaged to Miaoyin."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Zhang Huairong's face was full of smiles, after all, the current situation couldn't be clearer.

As long as Liu Jilong still has ambition, after lying low for a year or two, he can move east to occupy the Central Plains, and even the Jiangnan region, and then annex Hedong and Hebei, unifying the world.

Liu Jilong's eldest son will inevitably become the future crown prince, and if Zhang Huaishen marries his daughter to Liu Jilong's son, Zhang will become a maternal relative, and her position will be more secure.

"certain……"

Zhang Huaishen didn't know how to put it. He was happy to be related to Liu Jilong by marriage, but he also felt that being too involved with the future royal family was not good for the Zhang family.

Standing beside him, Li Mingzhen knew that his military commander was traumatized by the Tang court's divisive tactics back then.

Now that Zhang Huairong has taken the initiative to bring it up, he has the opportunity to offer guidance.

Thinking of this, Li Mingzhen took the initiative to say, "General, His Highness the Prince of Han is magnanimous, as you should know."

"Moreover, he was physically strong. Throughout history, there have been few people like him who could slay generals, seize flags, and charge into battle first, apart from Liu Ji and Xiang Yu."

“You are older than Liu Jilong, so what is there to worry about?”

Li Mingzhen's words carried considerable weight. He first pointed out Liu Jilong's physical condition, then brought up Zhang Huaishen's advanced age. In short, Zhang Huaishen was older and posed no threat to Liu Jilong, so Liu Jilong naturally had no reason to scheme against him.

In fact, Zhang Huaishen did not think that Liu Jilong would scheme against him, but he was still a little worried.

In response, Li Mingzhen advised again, "If you disagree, that would only make His Highness the Prince of Han suspicious of you."

"Don't forget, you have more than 10,000 soldiers under your command. If you include the soldiers under the command of the Wine Envoy, you have nearly 20,000 soldiers and more than 300,000 civilians."

"If you wanted to carve out a territory in Hexi and the Western Regions, it would be as easy as turning your hand..."

"Absurd! How could I possibly think that?!" Zhang Huaishen interrupted Li Mingzhen sharply. Seeing his anger, Li Mingzhen, far from being upset, was actually pleased and said:

"If that's the case, you should show your attitude and send the eldest son to Chang'an. Maybe he can learn some skills from His Highness the Prince of Han."

"Hmph!" Zhang Huai snorted coldly, slightly proudly saying, "When it comes to military campaigns, Liu Muzhi is no match for me. Why should I send my eldest son to learn from him?"

"Now that 20,000 people have been brought to Xizhou, 15,000 of them are able-bodied men."

"If this year's harvest is bountiful, our army can invade Yanqi next year and recover the lost territory of Yanqi."

"This battle will allow my eldest son to learn about military strategy and warfare from me."

Li Mingzhen did not expose him, but instead flattered him, saying, "If that's the case, that would be best. When the eldest son goes to Chang'an, he can also gain the appreciation of His Highness the Prince of Han based on this experience."

Zhang Huaishen nodded slightly, then looked at the Tang soldiers who had surrendered and were whispering among themselves inside the city.

"We need to find some women for these people. If we can get them to settle down in Anxi's home, it will save us a lot of trouble."

“Indeed!” Zhang Huairong nodded in strong agreement.

Zhang Huaishen pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhang Huairong: "Are the remnants of the Uyghurs in Huangcaobo still fighting with the Karluks?"

“Yes!” Zhang Huairong nodded without hesitation, simply because Beiting was responsible for intelligence on the vast northern frontier north of Tianshan.

Zhang Huaishen nodded upon hearing this, his gaze sweeping westward across the city: "Let them run rampant for a while. Once I have recovered Yanqi and Kucha, and subdued Shule, Khotan, and other places into my vassal states, I will lead my troops westward. I will not only recover Huangcaobo, but also Suyab!"

Seeing Liu Jilong vying for power in the Central Plains, Zhang Huaishen's heart was also burning with excitement.

If he could recover the entire territory of Anxi and Beiting, he would be able to wash away the humiliation suffered by the Han people in the Western Regions for nearly a century.

He clenched his fists involuntarily, and after a few breaths, he turned to look at Li Mingzhen.

"Jiu Nie, go to the city tower to prepare writing materials. I will personally write a reply to Liu Muzhi."

"Yes!" Li Mingzhen agreed without hesitation, while Zhang Huaishen added, "It's fine for his daughter to marry the eldest son, but whether his son is worthy of my beautiful daughter is another matter."

Upon hearing this, Li Mingzhen and Zhang Huairong exchanged glances, both displaying expressions of bewilderment.

Seeing their reaction, Zhang Huaishen couldn't help but sneer, "People say a tiger father has a dog son, but who knows how capable his eldest son is?"

“A son of a military family is more than a match for the woman in his family, but if his husband is not up to the task, then it would be better to find another husband as soon as possible.”

Helpless, Li Mingzhen could only go to the city tower to prepare writing materials, while Zhang Huaishen led Zhang Huairong toward the city tower. However, he asked, "Are those powerful and wealthy families who were exiled here still behaving themselves?"

Zhang Huairong shook his head: "They're a bit dishonest, but with them, Anxi and Beiting will be more stable."

“That’s right!” Zhang Huaishen nodded in agreement with his statement.

"Although these powerful families are arrogant, Anxi and Beiting are mostly foreign ethnic groups with few Han people. With their help in governing, Anxi and Beiting can be completely controlled by our Han people after they are recovered."

"After next year, I will have my eldest son take the news of the victory in recapturing Yanqi to Chang'an, so that Liu Muzhi will know how valuable the eldest son's betrothal gifts are."

The two figures gradually walked away and finally entered the city gate tower.

Before long, fast horses galloped out of Tianshan City, heading east...

(End of this chapter)