Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 7: The Decline of the Han Dynasty
"It extends from Yiwu in the west to Lingwu in the east, covering an area of more than 4,000 li, with a population of one million households"

This sentence is what Liu Jilian learned about the peak glory of the Guiyi Army from the inscription on the Dunhuang Manuscript when he went to Dunhuang in his previous life.

In his memory, the population of Hexi during the Kaiyuan period was recorded on paper as over 500,000. Therefore, combined with the inscriptions in the Dunhuang Manuscript, Liu Jilian actually thought that there were one million households in Hexi.

Although he personally experienced life in Guazhou for 17 years under the rule of Tubo, he still looked forward to the grand occasion described in the inscription.

It was not until this moment when Zhang Yichao uncovered the true secrets of the three states that Liu Jilong's previous expectations were completely shattered.

After more than 90 years of ravages by Tubo, the Han population in Hexi declined sharply, and some pro-Han ethnic groups also suffered.

In today's Hexi, excluding the three tribes of Ganzhou Huihe, Liangzhou Umu and Hexi Tubo, there are probably not even 500,000 people in the open. Even if they take over Gan and Su states, the number of people under their rule will probably not exceed 100,000.

How many troops and horses can one hundred thousand civilians support them to advance eastward?
Liu Jilong subconsciously looked at Zhang Yichao, whose face was ashen. The expression on his face at this moment was something Liu Jilong had never seen before.

"Zhang Yihuan will lead his troops and the wounded soldiers to stay in Jiuquan, recruit four more regiments, and let the rest of the troops rest for three days. After three days, they will set out to recapture Fulu!"

After Zhang Yichao finished speaking, he stood up and left the main hall with a sullen face without giving the generals a chance to make suggestions.

Seeing Zhang Yichao leaving, the generals looked displeased, but none of them dared to directly criticize Zhang Yichao. They just stood up and left the main hall.

Watching them leave, Liu Jilong wanted to leave as well, but unexpectedly a soldier came towards him and bowed.

"Captain Liu, the governor asked you to go to the backyard and pass something to Captain Zhang."

"Yes." Liu Jilong did not doubt anything. After all, Zhang Yichao was indeed angry just now, so it was normal that he did not have time to explain anything.

He was led by the soldiers to the backyard, and then he saw Zhang Yichao, who was wearing armor inside and a civil and military robe outside.

He is over fifty years old, but his face is no longer as dark as before and has returned to normal.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong had no other thoughts except to secretly sigh that the other party had good skills in cultivating his qi.

"Provincial Governor..."

Liu Jilong bowed to Zhang Yichao. Zhang Yichao looked at him and then at the soldier: "Step back. I have something to tell him."

"Yes!" The soldiers took their leave, and Liu Jilian also straightened up at Zhang Yichao's signal.

"I heard from Huai Shen that your family was the Zhibai of Hexi Dao more than 80 years ago?"

Zhang Yichao motioned Liu Jilong to follow, and then asked questions as they walked.

"Replying to the governor, three generations ago, our family was indeed straightforward in Hexi."

Liu Jilian did not lie. His ancestors were indeed from Hexi and had initially worked in Liangzhou.

Later, when Tubo invaded, they began to migrate westward with the officials, and retreated all the way to Guazhou. However, because they had nowhere to retreat, they became people under the rule of Tubo.

Because Tubo had strict control over the Han people, Liu Jilong's father and grandfather both had to perform labor service, so they naturally did not have much time to study.

By his generation, there were no books of knowledge at home. The so-called miscellaneous books were just Liu Jilian's fabrication to explain his literacy.

"I wonder which department governs Bai Zhi?"

Zhang Yichao had a rhythm of digging into the bottom of things, but Liu Jilong said calmly: "The Ministry of Revenue is straightforward."

This was all Liu Jilong's fabrication. He had no idea which official his ancestors worked for. It was just that he knew some of the population data of the Helong area during the Kaiyuan period because of his "trip to Dunhuang" in his previous life, so he brought up the Sihu Yamen.

"Oh?" Zhang Yichao stopped and looked at Liu Jilong in surprise.

After a moment, he slowly said, "Does your family have any books on the household registration of Hexi Road?"

"No, the bandits burned it down after entering Gua." Liu Jilong shook his head to deny. Zhang Yichao looked disappointed when he heard that. But before Zhang Yichao could ask a new question, Liu Jilong said, "But the family's word of mouth records some of the household registration matters."

"Tell me about it!" Zhang Yichao's eyes lit up, and Liu Jilong also took the opportunity to say:

"According to family tradition, there were 120,000 households and more than 500,000 people in Hexi and Longyou during the Kaiyuan period."

"Jinchang County, where my family lives, used to have more than 470 households and more than 4,900 people, but now there is no one."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Yichao slowly frowned, sighed and said: "Now there are only 454 households and more than 4,200 people in Jinchang."

Over the past eighty years, the world has undergone tremendous changes. The population in Hexi has not increased but decreased, all due to the rampant Tubo.

Whenever he thought of this, Zhang Yichao felt heartbroken.

After a long sigh, Zhang Yichao said, "I have obtained the household registration of Suzhou. Do you remember the number of households in Ganzhou and Liangzhou?"

"I remember!" Liu Jilong nodded without hesitation, and then reported: "It was a long time ago, and I can't remember the details, but Ganzhou should have 6,000 households and more than 20,000 people."

"Then Liangzhou has the largest population, probably 20,000 households and 110,000 people."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Yichao perked up a little: "If we can have 100,000 people in Hankou in these two states, our return to the east will be just around the corner."

At this time, Zhang Yichao didn't know that because of the sudden rise of Shazhou, the entire Hexi Corridor had become a mess, and Shang Bibi and Lun Kongre were almost beating their brains out.

In his opinion, even if Ganzhou and Liangzhou were recovered, more than a dozen states in the Longyou area were still under the control of Tubo, and returning to the east would still be difficult.

Liu Jilong could not explain this, after all, he had no reasonable excuse to explain the source of the information.

"Do you think that after our army has taken over Gansu and the other two states, we should move eastwards and take over Liangzhou?"

Suddenly, Zhang Yichao asked Liu Jilian this question.

Such a question made Liu Jilong bow subconsciously: "I don't know!"

"Don't you know, or are you afraid to say it?" Zhang Yichao looked at him straight.

Having lived for half a century, Zhang Yichao has never made a mistake in judging people. Since the last time he met Liu Jilian, he knew that Liu Jilian was not an ordinary soldier.

Although he was a soldier, he had a scholarly air and was a bit "clean-minded".

Although Liu Jilong's love of cleanliness cannot be compared with the children of the Zhang, Suo and Li families, it also shows that he is not an ordinary soldier.

There was something in his eyes that even Zhang Yichao couldn't see clearly.

"I really don't know..."

Liu Jilong didn't want to be the first to speak out, not to mention that he was in a low position and his words were weak, so even if he said something, no one would take him seriously, so after hesitating, he still gave the original answer.

As he hesitated, a hint of disappointment flashed across Zhang Yichao's face.

"I understand, please step back."

"Yes……"

Liu Jilong took his leave and turned to leave. Looking at his back, Zhang Yichao looked up at the night sky above his head and let out a long sigh.

"Tang Dynasty..."

(End of this chapter)