Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 134 Entering Luoyang

“Damn it!”

Beiji Wu had very few spare men left, so he had no choice but to lead his remaining five hundred cavalry south to Luoyang.

The winter march was extremely difficult, and it took them two and a half days to reach Luoyang.

At this time, ten miles outside Luoyang, the civil and military officials who remained to guard the city lined the road to welcome them.

"Greetings, Your Majesty King Wu! Long live King Wu!"

Looking at the two or three thousand people kneeling before him, Beiji Wu asked helplessly, "Where is the Southern Dynasty army?"

Xue Chonghu raised his head, clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "Your Majesty, the rebel army has been blocked outside Hulao Pass, Yique Pass, and Luyang Pass."

“In Nanyang, Wancheng, Yingchuan, Xuchang, Bianzhou, and Kaifeng, nobles attempted to surrender but were immediately executed. Now, a large number of refugees from Huaibei have fled to Yuzhou. The southern rebels have been burning, killing, and looting all the way, and about 200,000 people have fled to Yuzhou. When the people of Yuzhou learned of this, they were all willing to follow His Majesty King Wu!”

Beijiwu nodded. "Send people to inform all cities that I have arrived in Luoyang. Officials and people in each city should perform their duties. People in each city should remain calm and not cause trouble."

"Order all cities in Yuzhou to open their granaries to relieve the people, distribute cotton-padded clothes from the treasury to the soldiers to keep them warm, and give any surplus to the refugees in the city to keep them warm."

"If there is silver in the treasury, the garrison commander and the chief clerk, a total of seven people, should lead a hundred men into the treasury to collect the silver. Each person guarding the city will be given five taels of silver. If it is not enough, write to me and I will send someone to make up the difference."

"It's freezing cold here, let's go inside first. You handled it very well, everyone did their job and stayed true to their duties."

Beijiwu praised Xue Chonghu, saying, "If you don't have enough for ten thousand households, just make up the difference yourself."

Xue Chonghu said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Beijiwu said to the others, "Rise. Everything in the city will remain the same as before. Those who are dutiful and loyal to their duties will continue to receive their previous treatment. Past matters will not be investigated. Promotion and rank will be based on future performance, and no one will be stingy with it."

Those who remained were all mid- to lower-ranking officials, who then shouted in unison, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Beijiwu entered the bustling city of Luoyang amidst a warm welcome.

Despite his previous skepticism and dislike of this troublesome place, Beijiwu is naturally unwilling to relinquish the well-preserved imperial capital now that he has acquired it so easily.

This magnificent and colossal city was the largest city of its time, bar none.

The city wall is thirteen meters high, twenty meters wide at the base, and nearly fifty li in circumference; it is impossible to knock it down.

The Wen Dynasty had only been established for three years, but Luoyang had not experienced the ravages of war for at least thirty years. Under the rule of the emperors before Wen and Wen himself, the city had just been renovated three years ago.

Passing through the tall outer city wall, the first thing that comes into view is the straight and wide Tianjie Street.

This north-south central avenue is over a hundred paces wide, paved with bluestone, and shaded by locust and willow trees on both sides, stretching all the way to the distant imperial city.

Large numbers of Luoyang soldiers and civilians knelt on both sides of the main street, along with officials in various official robes, and various shops nearby were also open for business as usual.

Beijiwu said with satisfaction: "The people of Luoyang will spread the word that this year and next year, all taxes will be waived for scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants in Yuzhou, allowing them to recuperate for two years."

The onlookers, who hadn't expected such a good thing to happen, immediately knelt down in excitement.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Long live King Xie Wu!"

Beijiwu rode on his horse with a smile on his face, his gaze fixed on the imperial palace to the north.

The vermilion palace walls and the majestic Yingtian Gate of the northern imperial city stand on the high ground of Longshouyuan, their flying eaves and brackets shimmering with golden light under the sun.

Inside the palace, various colossal buildings rise from the ground, and emperors of all dynasties once overlooked the world from here.

Meanwhile, on the Luo River in the south of the city, a sky bridge, like a rainbow, lay across the water, connecting the north and south urban areas. Under the bridge, a dense array of cargo ships awaited the Ming army to stabilize the situation before commencing cargo transport.

The entire city is laid out like a chessboard, with 109 wards divided by crisscrossing streets. Within the ward walls are numerous courtyards, where the bells of Buddhist temples and the smoke from Taoist temples rise in wisps.

The South Market and West Market were bustling with activity, where Persian jewels, fine horses from the Western Regions, and Shu brocade and Wu silk were traded. The sound of pipa music drifted from the taverns of Hu women. Everywhere in this giant city, one could see the magnanimity of a vast and inclusive city.

Compared to this ancient capital that can hold millions of people, 1,500 people seem insignificant, like toothpicks stirring a water tank.

But the 1,500 men led by Beijiwu are enough to overwhelm it!

He led the remaining people into the palace, and entered the Daye Hall, where the emperor summoned his officials, amidst the kneeling obeisance of tens of thousands of Luoyang imperial guards.

It wasn't called this before; Wanye renamed it himself after ascending the throne.

Beijiwu has no immediate plans to change his name and sat on the dragon throne amidst everyone's anticipation.

"How many people are left in Yuzhou? How many soldiers and civilians are left in Luoyang?"

The Ministry of Revenue official stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, when the country was first established, the statistics showed 1.7 million households and 6 million people in Yuzhou."

"Last year, Yuzhou suffered from floods, and this year it is plagued by a major epidemic and war. Most prefectures and counties were looted by the rebels, and every household suffered losses. In addition, three million people were relocated to Youzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou last year, and after the capital was moved, a large number of officials and military families went south. The number of people has increased and decreased, and it is difficult to count them specifically."

"Two years ago, when Yuzhou was at its peak, wealthy families from Jiangnan were constantly being relocated here, and talented people from all over the country gathered together. At its peak, there were more than eight million people. Now, I roughly estimate that there are still four million people."

"Luoyang City and the eighteen surrounding counties have a total population of 2.2 million."

Beijiwu nodded. "What's your name?"

Li Chengren immediately replied, "I am Li Chengren. My father was Li Luyang, the former Minister of Revenue. He was executed by King Wen for remonstrating with the emperor. Four days ago, he was introduced by officials in the city and entered the Ministry of Revenue as a commoner, waiting for His Majesty King Wu to take over the capital. He is currently serving as an Assistant Minister of Revenue."

Beijiwu saw that this person could at least get things done, so he decided to give him a try.

"So all the high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Revenue have fled?"

Li Chengren bowed and said, "Yes, the former ministers of the six ministries have all gone to Jiangnan, and some others have followed the Crown Prince to Sichuan. Most of those who stayed behind are minor officials."

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Everyone starts as a minor official. Since someone has given up this responsibility, they naturally gave up this generous salary as well!"

"Announce to all citizens of the city! The mountain farmers will not harm the people, seize their property, or insult their wives and daughters. Officials and soldiers in the city will perform their duties as usual, receive their rations and salaries as usual, and perform their duties faithfully. Merchants in the city will operate normally, and citizens outside the city will be exempt from taxes for one year!"

"All officials, nobles, and merchants in the city who defect or submit to the Jiangnan court shall have their fields, houses, and all land within their territory confiscated, and their family property seized!"

“Wan Shi is my elder brother. He can continue to serve as a former member of the Eastern Palace. He must not touch any items in the palace, and he must not harm his brother’s family.”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Chengren said cautiously. "Your Majesty's cousin, Bei Jiyong, has been taken to Jiangnan and is not in the city."

Beiji Wu had long forgotten about his elder brother and casually said, "I will handle this matter myself. Do you know how many people there are in the North and South now?"

Arctic Martial completely ignored Arctic Courage's affairs and was even surprised that the guy was still alive.

The Wen Dynasty killed so many people, so why were they so lenient as not to kill the Northern Warrior?
Li Chengren ignored the matter of Beiji Yong. Beiji Yong seemed to be a fake. He didn't know the language of the Shan Nong tribe, nor did he know the martial arts of the Shan Nong people. Even his hair wasn't the short hair of the Shan Nong tribe.

What's worse is that he's gone mad, constantly saying he doesn't know anything about the Mountain Farmers and that there are no Mountain Farmers.

Everyone just thought he was faking madness and trying to distance himself from Arctic martial arts.

"Your Majesty, there should be eight million households in the country, corresponding to forty million people. However, due to the constant wars, plagues, floods and droughts in the north and the Central Plains, the actual number is less, with about seventy percent in the Jiangnan region."

"More than 11 million people live in the north, of which about 4 million live in the Luoyang-Huaihe region. They have all migrated from the south in recent years."

"It is said that there are a million people in the Nine Provinces behind the mountains, less than a million in the Northwest, more than four million in the Yan, Zhao, Qi and Lu regions, a million in Sichuan, and many others have fled to Tibet and the Western Regions."

Arctic Wu calculated that the area he ruled had fewer than ten million people.

Moreover, most of the land is infertile, with such harsh conditions that only spring wheat can be grown, making it impossible to cultivate high-yield spring wheat in high-altitude, cold regions.

In contrast, the Jiangnan region, which had originally fled from the development of the Hu people's regime for a hundred years, has now become a prosperous land, with rice yielding two or three bushels per mu and three harvests every two years.

Compared to the land in the south, the overdeveloped north has long lost its soil fertility, especially the northwest region, which is now a wasteland.

Ten million people!

The Kyushu region of Yamago could never support so many people.

The Arctic region is so poor that it doesn't even have wheat seeds to plant next year. If disaster relief isn't provided, chaos will surely break out in the Central Plains again.

How many people are in the city?

Arctic militants need to solve their food problem; if all else fails, they can raid the south.

Anyway, the starving disaster victims will definitely agree.

If they don't want to, then forget it.

Arctic Wu himself won't go hungry anyway.

Li Chengren had done a lot of work these past few days, and immediately said:
"Luoyang City originally had 1.1 million people. Although some people went south this year, and more than 100,000 nobles and officials left to seek refuge in the month of war, many people from nearby cities have flocked to seek refuge. Now there are 1.5 million people in the city and 1.2 million people outside the city."

"In order to prevent spies from infiltrating, I only allowed nearby artisans, soldiers and their families to take refuge in the city. The rest of the refugees were provided with food sheds in the suburbs. I also opened a granary without permission to provide relief and comfort to the disaster victims. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "That's how it should be. What's wrong with doing our duty? Is there enough food in this city? If not, I'll lead my men to kill the rebels and take the food for our own people."

Hundreds of people inside and outside the hall bowed their heads, feeling much warmer.

King Wu is indeed King Wu, worthy of being called King Wu! Li Chengren replied, "The granaries of Luoyang, one city and eighteen counties, have a total of 200,000 tons of millet, 60,000 tons of old rice, more than 700,000 tons of wheat, and another 40,000 tons of wheat seeds."

Li Chengren used the counting units of the Shan Nong tribe, and the Arctic Wu is easy to understand.

Beijiwu asked, puzzled, "How come there's so much grain?"

The total annual rice and wheat production of Kyushu, including the Yamagoku region, is less than 400,000 tons, and there's also the wheat seed that's most in need.

Li Chengren replied, "In early spring this year, we prepared a lot of grain to cope with the war. We also prepared a lot of disaster relief grain due to floods and droughts. In the year I established my dynasty, I distributed 600,000 shi of grain from the granaries to relieve disaster victims. We also prepared a lot of grain seeds in the granaries to encourage the reclamation of wasteland in various places. Therefore, we have transferred a lot of grain and fodder from various places to cope with the war and disasters."

"Last year, the imperial court recovered the stored grain and silver from many places in Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Huaibei. The actual grain reserves were more than enough. Because the relocation of the capital was too hasty, they had not yet been taken away, so they were all well preserved. Your Majesty's arrival by divine mandate is a blessing for the people of Luoyang and for our dynasty!"

Beijiwu then remembered that the Wen Dynasty had always encouraged land reclamation and cultivation, distributing seeds and grain to border troops and immigrants for land reclamation.

Regions prone to disasters will certainly have a sense of reserve, and Emperor Wen has always been thinking about fighting against the north, so he will definitely stockpile more food and fodder.

Furthermore, because the emperor had been given time to prepare when the territory was ceded last year, he himself sent people to collect all the gold and silver from the various states.

As the capital of this era, it certainly had ample grain reserves.

Beijiwu sighed, "With so much food, yet unable to defend such a treasure trove, it's truly a waste of resources."

Li Chengren continued, “Your Majesty, the treasury contains 800,000 taels of gold, 7.3 million taels of silver, and 100 million strings of copper coins, which are piled up in more than ten treasuries.”

"The imperial treasury has millions of bolts of silk piled up like mountains. The Treasure Pavilion, the Library, the Secret Treasure Pavilion, the Mingtang, the Wanxiang Golden Buddha Palace, the Guanyin Hall, the Bird Garden, and all kinds of rare treasures, antiques, and ritual objects are all well preserved and in perfect condition. The library contains more than 200,000 books and is also in perfect condition."

Because it was a well-preserved city that was given up by a spendthrift son, it contained a complete set of palace ritual objects and countless gold and silver artifacts.

Beijiwu casually said, "Gold and silver are just scrap metal to me. The mountain farmers don't keep their hair long because it gets in the way when they work or fight. Long hair is hard to manage. It's not because they admire Buddhism."

Li Chengren was clearly prepared and immediately said, "There are 200,000 households of blacksmiths, scribes and other craftsmen in the city, all of whom are well hidden in the city. There are more than 5,000 brocade weavers alone."

"In addition, there are 100,000 eunuchs, palace maids, female officials, female censors, Buddhist and Taoist monks, dancers and beautiful maids in the palace. Only the officials of various government offices have left, and the workers are still there. As long as a person in charge is assigned, everything will run smoothly. In the days since His Majesty King Wu came, the city has been calm and settled down because everyone knows that His Majesty is coming. There have been no further disturbances."

These gold, silver, jewels, and talent reserves were all acquired through the conquest of various regions by the Wen Dynasty.

The Wen Dynasty's army fought continuously in the south and north, killing many people and abducting beautiful women and gold and silver treasures from the homes of princes, nobles and ministers.

The spoils of war obtained, in particular, from several southern regimes were extremely abundant!

Furthermore, the nobles and princes of the Wen Dynasty in Luoyang City also possessed considerable wealth.

There were countless mansions and estates inside and outside the city. Many officials and nobles went to the south, leaving only a few people to guard the houses.

There are also Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries, which are treasure troves, and they must contain a lot of money and food.

Arctic Martial Arts will definitely kill some people, but certainly not now.

I only have two thousand men now. The main army isn't here, and I have to eat, drink, and relieve myself here, so I should keep a low profile.

Who has money and who doesn't, who has ability and who doesn't, time will tell.

"Very well, you have not let me down, and I will certainly not let you down either."

Beijiwu nodded. "You will be the Minister of Revenue from now on. The city is in dire need of reconstruction. You can recommend some virtuous people to serve in the court. You don't need to report to me. Just do the work first, and you will be promoted later. You will receive the salary corresponding to the level of work you do."

"You can use the grain, gold, and silver in the government treasury as you see fit. You can do things first and then submit reports. When the expenditure exceeds one million, report to me once, and write down the information, hometown, position, and ability of each recommending official."

Li Chengren knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty! I will certainly devote myself to the cause until my dying breath!"

Arctic Martial needs to win over some people as soon as possible, otherwise he won't even feel at ease eating a meal.

Who is in charge of the palace maids and eunuchs in the city?

As soon as Bei Jiwu finished speaking, a eunuch standing near the steps of the Dragon Court quickly went down and knelt down in front of Bei Jiwu.

"Your Majesty, it is this servant who is in charge. The former chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department went to the south, and many eunuchs followed the Emperor to Sichuan. This servant, Gu Mifu, has been in the palace for more than 30 years, and therefore was recommended by the remaining eunuchs to be the chief eunuch."

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Alright, you can continue to serve as the head of the Imperial Household Department. Let the eunuchs and palace maids perform their duties. If there are any vacancies, select people from below to fill them."

"Yes! This servant obeys the decree!" The eunuch immediately kowtowed and thanked him.

Beijiwu then said, "Take one million taels of silver to reward the soldiers, palace maids and eunuchs, soldiers guarding the city outside the palace, officials in the court, and staff at post stations along the way. Each of them shall receive five strings of cash as a reward. Order the grain merchants in the city to unify the price before sunset. The price shall not exceed twice the normal price of grain, and no one shall raise the price privately."

"The Ministry of War led people to the grain depot to move out the old grain and sell it. They sold the grain from the three earliest warehouses at a price of five coins per pound."

"Now that the New Year is approaching, I will spend another ten million strings of cash to buy some pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks from the people to reward the army, so that everyone in the court and outside the court can have a good New Year."

"I order all the dukes, princes, and officials of the fifth rank and above to set up soup kitchens in front of their gates to provide relief to the people. I will give them a year's salary and will not hold their past actions against them. If they are unwilling to show even the slightest kindness and do nothing to ensure that everyone has a good New Year, I will send their entire families to spend the New Year with the King of Hell!"

The crowd shouted in unison, "Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!"

At this moment, a short-haired soldier wearing a cotton-padded coat entered the main hall.

"Your Majesty!" The soldier knelt on one knee and saluted, saying, "A report of victory has arrived from Chenzhou. The Southern Dynasty army has taken the refugees and fled back south of the Huai River."

Arctic Wu didn't feel anything; world peace is such a simple thing.

In the past, the people of Beiyuan were always bullied by this and that. After Beiji Wu bullied others, the Mongols, Khitans, and Jizhou people who had come to rob them all wisely put aside their centuries-old grudges.

Minister of Personnel Chen Fa immediately replied, “Your Majesty, upon hearing of His Majesty King Wu’s arrival, I immediately sent a letter to the officials of Chenzhou, 500 li away, to prepare for his arrival. The officials of Chenzhou and other places in Kaifeng Prefecture had previously been forced to join the Southern Dynasty’s rebel army due to the circumstances. Now that His Majesty King Wu has arrived, I have immediately contacted all the officials in the Ministry of Personnel to pledge their loyalty to His Majesty King Wu!”

With the four dukes in the lead, and the Wan family members fighting amongst themselves, there were actually quite a few who were willing to surrender to the mountain farmers.

Many people never imagined that conquering the world could be so easy.

After conquering the entire north in two years, if we really fight to the death now, we can easily conquer Sichuan and the south.

"Alright, order all localities to first stabilize the order, appease the disaster victims, and centrally resettle those who have lost their land, waiting for the spring to distribute seeds for cultivation."

"Once order is restored in the area, officials at all levels will come to Luoyang in an orderly manner to report on their work. We must make sure that all land and population within our jurisdiction are thoroughly investigated and verified!"

"In these extraordinary times, if an official goes south, the next-level official can be promoted on his own. We must not let the group be leaderless and lose our composure."

"The Wan family members are not my enemies. As long as they don't commit murder, arson, or other crimes, I will ignore them."

"Those who voluntarily surrender to the south, including nobles, imperial relatives, high-ranking officials, gentry, and garrison soldiers in the city, and those who bring the southern bandits to burn, kill, and plunder, will not be counted. Those who surrender to the bandits and cause the city to suffer from their crimes will not be counted, except for those who redeem themselves through meritorious service. As for the rest, those who are stubborn and do not know what is good and who flee when things get bad, their property will be confiscated!"

They always need to kill some people to establish their authority, and incidentally recoup some funds and land.

In Luoyang, every household returned to a peaceful life. The city gates were wide open, and shops put up Spring Festival couplets in preparation for the New Year.

The Southern Dynasty army retreated quickly, and most of them had looted money and were already thinking about going home for the New Year. Just then, the invincible Arctic Warrior arrived, which made them even less willing to fight.

Because more than ten prefectures and counties were wealthy, and the Southern Dynasty believed that these things would surely benefit the Hu people in the future, they began to squander the women, treasures and grain in the cities.

With the tacit approval of the two kings and three dukes, fifteen or sixteen out of ten people in the city died. The remaining people were treated like slaves, carrying away the spoils of war of the Wen Dynasty, watching their surrendered wives and daughters ride on donkeys and chat and laugh with the Wen Dynasty people.

Because they were eager to go home for the New Year and because of lax supervision, many men escaped and told the people of Luoyang Prefecture, which was now at peace, about what the Southern Dynasty literati had done.

Two hundred thousand rabble returned laden with riches from more than ten cities, but also eroded the confidence of the Central Plains in the Wen Dynasty, causing the Han people who had been plundered and most of the northerners to lose faith in the dynasty.

Even people in the south may have lost faith in this regime.

The entire Yuzhou and the entire Qin region were exempted from taxes for a whole year, and a large amount of relief grain was distributed. The disaster victims were resettled in and around the city and became people in the vicinity of the county.

They distributed money, grain, and land, and exempted people from taxes and levies. Although they conscripted laborers to build houses, they also paid wages and provided food, and even gave children hot porridge to drink for free.

Heavy snow has fallen in the mountainous areas of Yuzhou in the past few days.

In the past, this would have been a disaster, but now that there are no people in the mountains, let it go.

The people of Yuzhou were concentrated near several large cities at high altitudes, so they naturally did not worry about flooding or snow cover.

The plan to fight the Xiongnu and Khitan was completely shelved, and it took six or seven days for news of Beiji Wu's entry into Luoyang to reach his hometown of Wuzhou.

This January, everyone cut their hair short, becoming part of the long-established mountain farming community.

Beijiwu also encountered the biggest problem of the second year of the Wu Dynasty.

The historian Sima Zhen stood bowing three or four meters away from Beiji Wu.

"Your Majesty, I request to be commissioned to compile a history of the Mountain Farmers, but I am not very knowledgeable and do not know much about the origins of the Mountain Farmers. I do not know where to begin in compiling this history."

This problem really stumped Arctic Martial. He frowned and tried hard to think of a solution to this terrible situation.

"The mountain farmers and the Han people share the same origin. They only went to the mountains to avoid disaster and learned farming and hunting skills. You should first finish the history of the Wen Dynasty. The history of the mountain farmers will be a separate volume later."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Sima Zhen was still unclear about the history of the Shan Nong people, but King Wu himself said that the Shan Nong people and the Han people shared the same origin, which meant they were from the same ancestor and were not outsiders.

This is a good thing for the Han people in the Central Plains, as it is easier to accept legally.

(End of this chapter)