Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 168: Registering the People and Planning Dingxiang

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, slaves have been widely present in society. Slaves are considered property just like cattle and sheep. Apart from being registered as citizens, the majority of people captured in wars were forced to become slaves.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand Zhong Yao's intention. If we want to reward meritorious subordinates, it is not enough to just reward them with land. For soldiers and generals with enough land, we need to reward them with labor, that is, the so-called slaves.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Soldiers and civilians who surrender are not allowed to be enslaved. Soldiers and their families who were captured during the war or committed crimes and abused the people can be confiscated and enslaved. The government will make a deed and give it to the meritorious soldiers."

Zhong Yao stroked his beard and said, "Institutions are institutions, but I am afraid that the number of people who can be confiscated as slaves will not be enough. It is better to set the limit at 2,000 men and women, and then formulate the standard for confiscating slaves."

"Can!"

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Let Xu Huang and Li Le go and select the troops, with a limit of 2,000. If the number of bandits who commit crimes and abuse the people exceeds 2,000, then the limit of 2,000 will not apply."

"promise!"

Punishing the captives as slaves did not mean that Zhang Yu was cruel, but his decision was determined by the nature of the agricultural society!

After all, in an agricultural society, apart from land, houses, money and grain, slaves were the most valuable property. They could continuously create wealth, so much so that in the Bingzhou area, slaves were more expensive than land.

Giving slaves to meritorious subordinates now will greatly inspire the fighting spirit of the soldiers. The scene where the soldiers are happy to hear about the battle may appear under Zhang Yu's command in the near future.

"Your Majesty!"

Guo Tu presented the accounts of grain and fodder expenditure and said, "According to the summary of Tu and Yuan Zhi, our army has captured more than 50,000 people, and the number of our soldiers and horses is close to 60,000. However, there is not much grain available in Shangdang. After you return, you must make plans early!"

"No more food?" Zhang Yu asked, frowning as he browsed through the documents.

"Shangdang is a poor place. There are only 100,000 dan of grain and fodder, more than 500 pieces of silk, and only more than 1.3 million yuan in money left in the county. Now, based on the consumption of 60,000 soldiers and civilians, 100,000 dan of grain is only enough for one month's expenditure. Considering the remaining grain in the hands of the Baibo people, it will only be enough for two or three months." Guo Tu said.

With nearly 60,000 soldiers and civilians in total, their daily consumption is as high as more than 4,000 shi, and 100,000 shi is only enough for 25 days. Obviously, Zhang Yu needs to find a way to accommodate the nearly 50,000 extra people as soon as possible, otherwise those people will riot due to famine.

Zhang Yu looked at Zhong Yao and asked, "Yuan Chang, what strategy do you have for me now?"

Zhong Yao held the wine glass in his hand and said thoughtfully: "According to my in-depth investigation, Shangdang had more than 120,000 hectares of farmland in the Western Han Dynasty, but less than half of the land is cultivated today. If we want to resettle the people, we need to distribute them to each county, register them as households, and give them wasteland. We should seize the time to cultivate the land in March and make the people self-sufficient as soon as possible."

"At present, the capital is in turmoil due to war, and the price of grain is bound to fluctuate and rise. Now we need to buy grain and grass from Ji, You and Guang, and store grain instead of money. When refugees first arrive in the county, they have no land to produce, and their lives must be difficult. It would be better for you to pay grain and hire the people to repair the water conservancy, roads and passes in Shangdang."

"In the autumn, the counties of Shangdang paid their taxes, the government treasury had surplus grain, and the people had harvested from their farming. Shangdang can be said to be at peace!"

Zhang Yu made a calculation and said, "If the fifty thousand people can be organized into ten thousand households, each adult male can be granted fifty mu of land, and each adult female can be granted twenty-five mu of land, and the same number of second-born males. Each family can cultivate a hundred mu of land, and ten thousand households will have ten thousand hectares."

"There are thirteen counties in Shangdang now. The counties in the mountainous areas have fewer people, while the counties in the flat areas have more people. Each county has more than a thousand households, while the least has hundreds of households. The vastness of Shangdang is enough to accommodate the Baibo people."

"What about the taxes paid by the Baibo people?"

Guo Tu took a sip of wine and said, "The people of Baibo were captured by me. It is a benevolent act to register them as equals. This year, they can only survive by farming, but cannot pay taxes. I am afraid that they will also have difficulty paying taxes next year. They will have to wait until the year after to pay taxes."

"Besides, the current situation is turbulent, and the price of grain is bound to rise. If we still collect taxes based on head tax and tax calculation, it may not be enough to cover the expenses. We can't collect more tax calculation!"

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. What Guo Tu said was indeed important. Not to mention the issue of taxation for the Baibo people. In this turbulent period, money is no longer valuable. Only food and grass are considered hard currency. If the old taxation policy is used, it will no longer meet the needs of the war.

"I'm afraid we'll have to use grain as tax in the future!"

Zhong Yao said, "Sir, we need to adjust the tax collection method this year. We cannot collect taxes by the old method. The people of Baibo will be exempted from taxes this year. Next year, the taxes and labor service will be half and half. The year after that, the taxes will be collected in full."

"Can!"

Zhang Yu thought for a long time and said, "The tax adjustment issue can be discussed temporarily in Huguan. It will be promulgated in the summer, and taxes will be collected according to the law in the autumn. Now we need to divide the people as soon as possible, and then let the various tribes move the captured people to the various counties."

"When we go back this time, we must continue recruiting refugees from Henei. See if we can increase the population of Shangdang to over 200,000 by the end of this year. We should find an opportunity to take control of Taiyuan and Yanbei counties, and then subdue the Xiongnu tribe. By then, the population of Bingzhou could reach a million."

"There are constant wars in the world, and Bingzhou has a sparse population. If Shangdang is free from the worries of bandits, refugees will flock to it, and by accumulating small amounts, Shangdang will eventually become prosperous. And you, my lord, will train soldiers and horses, and establish military settlements, and lead the troops of Bingzhou, and you will be able to shock the world." Zhong Yao said with a smile.

"Yuan Chang, Gong Ze, you two and the military clerks should work harder and start compiling the household registration tonight, and allocate the corresponding number of households according to the poverty of the counties." Zhang Yu ordered.

"Yes, sir." The two of them bowed in response.

Defeating the Baibo Army temporarily solved a major problem for Shangdang. The remarkable victory today was a great encouragement to Zhong Yao and Guo Tu who had come to join them. After all, no matter how much Zhang Yu said, the essence still depended on merit. That night, Zhang Yu assigned the tasks. Zhong Yao and Zhang Yu agreed on the population that each county should receive, while Guo Tu, Xu Shu, Sun Zi and others sorted out the village relations of the Baibo people overnight and arranged the people as soon as possible.

On March 1st, after a day and two nights of organization, except for the two thousand people who were carefully selected as slaves, the rest of the Baibo people were roughly organized into 10,300 households. According to the barrenness of the land in various counties of Shangdang, the number of people allocated to each county varied.

However, considering that there were many brave and courageous soldiers who surrendered among the Baibo Army, Zhang Yu selected a thousand strong and capable soldiers and placed them under the command of Xu Huang and Li Le, and his thousand households were moved to the capital Huguan.

On March 2, after Zhang Yu bid farewell to Yu Fuluo, before returning to his army, he divided the thousand households equally and settled them in Lushi County and Guyuan County in the upstream area.

As for Alahai, who was to marry Zhang Yu, she was the daughter of the Chanyu, so she could not go back with Zhang Yu hastily. Instead, she had to wait for Yu Fuluo to return to Pingyang and prepare her dowry. In March, Yu Fuluo would send someone to deliver it to Huguan.

Before the two armies parted, Zhang Yu glanced at Alahai who was accompanying the army. As the daughter of the Chanyu, needless to say, she was outstanding in appearance, but she had a rather impatient temper.

But for Zhang Yu, it didn't matter. If she had a bad temper, he could just try to discipline her. If that didn't work, the worst that could happen was that she would be used as a vase, a political marriage.

In the afternoon, Zhang Yu led most of his troops back.

After walking for two days, they arrived at Tunliu. Apart from leaving behind a thousand households and Tunliu, Zhang Yu ordered his subordinates to escort the people from each county to their respective destinations according to the situation of the people in each county, so as to avoid any accidents on the way.

On March 5, Zhang Yu returned to Huguan and began to deal with various matters.

First of all, Zhang Yu wrote two letters and asked Shi Yi to return to the northern border and hand the letters to Wang Ji and Li Song.

Shi Yi put the two letters into his arms and asked, "My Lord, why don't you let me take my wife to Huguan now?"

Zhang Yu sighed slightly, stood up from the couch, put his hands behind his waist, and said, "It's not that I don't want to take Madam to Huguan, but we still need to keep people at the border. And if Madam leads her family south, I'm afraid that Taiyuan County Governor Li Jun will intercept them, and then our army may be controlled by Li Jun."

Even though Zhang Yu has solved the Baibo bandits, it does not mean that Shangdang is stable, and there is still a risk of unrest. At the beginning of the uprising, he brought his family to Huguan. Having his family around may become a burden.

In addition, Feng Bo, the prefect who had previously cooperated with Zhang Yu, was transferred to other areas after his meritorious service. Zhang Yu was still unaware of the attitude of Li Jun, the prefect of Taiyuan. It can even be said that because Zhang Yu had a strategy to annex Taiyuan, there was a conflict between him and Li Jun.

If the old and young were taken with them, it would be bad if Li Jun took Zhang Yu's wife and children hostage when they passed through Taiyuan. Therefore, it was a good choice to let the family stay in the northern border.

Shi Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, if Madam asks you about your marriage with the princess of the Xiongnu, how should I answer?"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I have already explained the situation in the letter, and when Madam sees you delivering the letter, she will know what I mean!"

"promise!"

Shi Yi seemed to be thinking about something and replied.

"By the way, you have done a great job in killing Guo Tai today. I wonder what reward you would like?" Zhang Yu stopped Shi Yi who was leaving and asked.

Shi Yi thought for a while and said, "Everything is up to you, my Lord!"

"it is good!"

Zhang Yu paced for a while and said, "There were three tribes in Chanhewu in the past. You led one tribe in the past. Now you will lead the other two tribes. From now on, you will manage the three tribes for me, more than 150 tribes, which will be a great reward for your years of following me. I will also appoint you as the captain of the Eagle Strike Force and let you temporarily lead the cavalry for me."

"Thank you for your reward, my lord!"

Shi Yi knelt on one knee to express his loyalty to Zhang Yu.

"Get up!"

Zhang Yu helped Shi Yi up, patted his shoulder, and said with relief: "Among all the people around, I only trust you. Remember to hand the letter to Li Changshi, lead the cavalry to stay by his side, and help him capture Dingxiang County!"

"Yes, sir!" Shi Yi said in a deep voice.

In addition to Shangdang, Bingzhou now has four counties: Xihe, Taiyuan, Yanmen, and Dingxiang. Needless to say, Xihe County is only the size of one county, while Taiyuan and Yanmen have large populations, so it is not easy for Zhang Yu to make plans.

Dingxiang County had a sparse population, and its rule depended on the sons of powerful people in border counties. After Lü Bu went to Luoyang, most of Wei Xu and Lü Bu's clansmen fled to Chanhewu, which made Chanhewu powerful. In addition, Li Song, the governor of the two Huns, had been protecting the two tribes for a long time, so the power of the Zhang family in Dingxiang County was already terrifying.

Now Zhang Yu wrote to Li Song, asking Li Song to plan to take control of Dingxiang County. After success, Zhang Yu would recommend Li Song as the governor of Dingxiang in order to put pressure on Taiyuan from the north and south.

(End of this chapter)