Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 446 Slave

Slaves were being sent from Liangzhou in an endless stream.

The area was populated by Xiongnu, Xianbei, and other non-Han peoples, as well as many Jin people and monks, all working in the military settlements north of the Wei River.

Liu Yixing's move this time was quite ambitious, wiping out the Northern Liang royal family, the Xiongnu powerful clans, and Buddhist temples in one fell swoop, exterminating the Juqu clan, and severing the foundation of the Xiongnu people.

Terrified, the various tribes of the Hu and Xianbei peoples voluntarily tied their hair up and wore their robes fastened on the right, claiming to be descendants of the Han Dynasty...

"With a son like this, I have no worries." Liu Daogui was completely at ease with Liu Yixing.

These days, it's not easy to cultivate a suitable successor.

Before the expedition, Liu Daogui was worried that he might be too compassionate and try to emulate the Confucian scholars by practicing benevolent governance.

Now it seems that his decisiveness in killing is no less than mine.

This is the most basic quality of a monarch.

The Xia, Western Qin, and Northern Liang dynasties were successively destroyed, Southern Liang surrendered, and Western Liang and Qiuchi submitted, thus pacifying the Northwest.

"The next step is to merge Xiliang and Qiuchi, unify Guanzhong, concentrate our efforts on the Northern Expedition against Wei, and unify the world." Liu Muzhi's eyes shone.

Liu Daogui said, "I have other important uses for the kingdoms of Xiliang and Qiuchi, so there's no need to rush."

Yang Sheng and Li Gao voluntarily sent hostages to Chang'an, requesting Liu Daogui to dispatch officials to supervise state affairs.

Liu Muzhi asked in surprise, "Oh? Does Your Majesty have other plans?"

“The world is vast, not just China. Li Gao of Xiliang is a descendant of Li Guang of the Han Dynasty, and is of the same kind as me. The Yang family of Qiuchi has long been Sinicized. I want to make these two countries the vanguard, one to advance into the Western Regions and the other to conquer the Qiang lands in the southwest.”

The vastness of the Western Regions goes without saying, but the Qiang region in the southwest is also very large, almost the same size as the Central Plains.

Under normal circumstances, after unifying the world, the Han state needed to recuperate for one or two decades before it had the strength to conquer these places.

But the threats surrounding the Han state were not limited to these. After the Wei state, there was the increasingly powerful Rouran, the Liaodong region, and the Goguryeo state, which was advancing into the Korean Peninsula and annexing the Yecheng River and Han River basins, and had already risen to power.

Even the Lin-yi Kingdom to the south has been busy in recent years, conquering and destroying the kingdoms of Daqi, Xiaoqi, Shipu, Xulang, Qudu, Qianlu, and Fudan, becoming the hegemon of the south and making moves against Jiaozhou.

Restoring China is not a simple matter; it requires generations of people to sacrifice their lives.

However, sending Xiliang and Qiuchi ahead to scout the way would save Liu Daogui a lot of effort.

After establishing his capital in Chang'an and founding the Han state, Liu Daogui's ambitions were no longer limited to the Chinese territory.

Wherever the sun and moon shine, that is Han territory!

If a dynasty is to be named after the Han dynasty, it must possess the grandeur and ambition of the Han dynasty.

The height a dynasty can reach depends on the military prowess of its first two rulers.

It's not that Liu Daogui is being reckless and militaristic, but rather that these forces, once they grow stronger, will inevitably march into the Central Plains. The reason they aren't coming now is because you are powerful; once your descendants weaken, they will certainly come.

The cruelty between nations far exceeds that of the dark jungle.

As the King of Han and the ruler of China, Liu Daogui had to consider the future of his descendants.

The War of the Eight Princes, orchestrated by the Sima family, led to the chaos among the Five Barbarian tribes. One after another, barbarian kingdoms were established on the ancestral lands of the Han people, setting an example for all surrounding ethnic groups. This demonstrated that the Chinese nation was not invincible.

"Your Majesty's talent and strategic vision are unparalleled throughout history..." Liu Muzhi exclaimed in admiration.

Liu Daogui said, "I will give you two years to accumulate grain and supplies. After two years, I will lead the entire army of the country to conquer and destroy the Wei Kingdom in one fell swoop!"

Liu Muzhi frowned, "Two years... Your subject will do his utmost!"

Liu Daogui comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, two years is enough. The more than 600,000 head of livestock and more than 500,000 shi of grain and money captured by Hu, Xia, Xi, Qin and Liang are enough to fight a national war."

The State of Wei suffered a heavy blow at the Battle of Fangtou, losing 60% of its elite troops. Generals such as Changsun Fei and Daxi Jin were killed in action, leaving the state on the verge of collapse.

Although Tuoba Si worked diligently to rebuild the nation and make up for the losses in the south, the nation's fate was lost in a war that could not be recovered in a short time.

Just like when Yao Xing lost the Battle of Chaibi, he could only lie down and wait to die.

In Liu Daogui's view, two years was a long time. If it weren't for the need to recover Guanzhong and digest Longyou and Hexi, Liu Daogui would have already led his troops there.

Liu Muzhi suddenly changed the subject, "Your Majesty's victory in the battle annihilated the four kingdoms of Qin, Liang, Hu, and Xia, a glorious achievement. You should be granted the throne in accordance with the will of Heaven and the people, so as to appease the hearts of the people and scholars." After the capital was moved to Chang'an, the last breath of the Jin dynasty was extinguished.

After the powerful families of Wang, Xie, Yu, and Xi were exiled to the south, their last obstacle disappeared.

The time has come for him to declare himself emperor.

There was no need for pretense with Liu Muzhi; Liu Daogui simply nodded and said, "You handle this matter."

The sooner we ascend the throne and establish our status, the sooner we can wash away the filth of the Sima family.

A new dynasty brings a new atmosphere.

Liu Muzhi acted immediately, uniting the civil and military officials of the court to urge Liu Daogui to abdicate. Sima Dewen also cooperated fully, tearfully begging Liu Daogui to accept the abdication.

However, everything must be done according to procedure, and the three refusals and three concessions are indispensable.

When the capital was moved to Chang'an, he had already abdicated once, but this was interrupted when Helian Bobo captured Yunyang.

So this is the second time.

Liu Daogui reassured Sima Dewen, instructing him to take good care of Emperor Sima Dezong.

After the pacification of Liangzhou, Liu Yixing continued to guard Guzang, eliminating other minor forces and incidentally managing the Shandan Horse Ranch.

Liu Daogui focused his attention on the construction of the Weinan Canal.

Located south of the Wei River, this canal runs from Chang'an to Tongguan, connecting eight rivers flowing down from the Qinling Mountains. In addition to transporting grain and money from Guandong, its greater function is to irrigate the fields south of the Wei River.

This will enable Weinan to have vast tracts of fertile land, just like Weibei, further increasing the potential of Guanzhong.

We didn't have this many people and resources before, but now that the war has ended and we've captured so many prisoners, we can't just keep them around for nothing.

With a single decree from the Ministry of Personnel, the entire Guanzhong region was mobilized, with 130,000 people divided into two groups: one digging from west to east, and the other from east to west.

Eat two full meals a day and have bone broth every three days.

After destroying the Xia, Western Qin, and Liang states, the Han state's strength was greatly enhanced.

In the Western Qin alone, Wang Zhen'e counted as many as 137,000 households.

During the Former Liang period, Liangzhou was said to have two million households and ten million people, which must have been an exaggeration. However, Liu Yixing's preliminary statistics showed that the population was around 1.4 million, including 950,000 Jin people and 170,000 Xiongnu people.

Even the weakest of the Southern Liang states had a population of over 300,000. The Hehuang region benefited from the Han Dynasty's land reclamation and the Cao Wei Dynasty's management, and the local Jin people also made up the majority of the population.

Although Hu Xia captured only 40,000 to 50,000 people, he had a great many cattle, sheep, warhorses, and other livestock.

Henan is such a vast region that many animals still escaped capture. When Wei Qing launched the Henan campaign, he captured a million head of livestock in one fell swoop.

Liu Daogui used it as a pasture, planning to have the Tiger Guard Army raid it in the north after the autumn harvest. This would not only train the cavalry's combat capabilities but also capture able-bodied men and plunder cattle and sheep, allowing the soldiers to make a fortune and maintain their desire to attack.

Apart from the Jin people, all the defeated Xiongnu, Xianbei, and other Hu peoples from the Hehuang, Longyou, and Hexi regions were sent to the banks of the Wei River, reduced to slaves and lowly households, and under the supervision of the Tiger Guard Army, they built the Grand Canal.

Rebellions and desertions were frequent, and more than two hundred heads were chopped off every day.

Liu Daogui had plenty of ways to deal with them. He immediately issued a law of collective punishment, which scattered these barbarians, mixed them up with other ethnic groups, and reorganized them into groups of five households forming a squad, two squads forming a team, five teams forming a platoon, and two platoons forming a garrison...

If one person makes a mistake, the entire squad will be punished; if one squad rebels or runs away, the entire squad will be executed.

Letting them supervise each other is more effective than anything else.

The law of collective punishment was promulgated, and bloodshed ensued for the first half of the month, but after a month, the barbarians gradually adapted.

Human nature is the same everywhere. As long as there is food to eat, everyone wants to live, especially since there is meat soup every three days, which is even better than the days in the tribe.

People at the bottom of society never have an easy time, no matter what power they are in.

After those unruly troublemakers were eliminated, the remaining people became more and more obedient and worked harder and harder.

Every month, Liu Daogui would also treat them to a meal of rice and steamed salted fish transported from the Jianghuai region, the rice being far superior in taste to millet.

Some of the barbarians actually began to sing praises of Liu Daogui...

(End of this chapter)