The Han Dynasty under the rule of Liu He can now be said to have used martial arts to its fullest extent.

The implementation of the "equal land system" and the "military merit system" mobilized the enthusiasm of everyone in the Han Dynasty for foreign development to the limit.

Ordinary people, relying on the land allocated under the equalization system, and with the water conservancy facilities built over the years, with today's light corvee and meager taxes, can enable the family to live a life of food and clothing, and they can eat dry food and not drink water.

On porridge days, those who celebrate holidays can also eat a few meals of meat. Some more industrious farmers can raise a few chickens and ducks by the way, and their lives will be better.

However, this is limited to food and clothing. If you want to seek more wealth and honor, or even shine on your family, there are only two ways. One is to enter the official school or Taixue. If you are successful in your studies and do well in the examination, you can become an official. Even if you

His parents and grandparents were farmers or even slaves. As long as they met the standards of the imperial court, they could be officials.

But this one is obviously very difficult. Although the imperial court is now fighting in the south and in the north, and there are more and more cities under its rule. In addition, your Majesty's innovations have caused a huge gap in the number of officials in the imperial court. However, your Majesty has always advocated a shortage rather than an excess. Therefore, every year, the Taixue Middle School

The number of students who can meet the standards is only a few hundred, but the government schools that have just been converted from private schools in various places have to recruit tens of thousands of new students.

Although those who were not recruited by the court could still find a pretty good way out based on their achievements, such as working in chambers of commerce, engineering teams, mining departments, or even major workshops run by the court. Not only could they show off their talents, but they could also

You can also get a lot of remuneration, and those who perform well can also be recommended for promotion. Although they are not official, they still receive a salary from the court, but compared with those who actually wear official uniforms, they are always inferior.

This road is too narrow, so there is another way - joining the army.

Nowadays, the imperial court is deploying troops everywhere. Although the Qiang people in the west have generally surrendered, there are still some tribes that are unwilling to submit to the Han and still often start rebellions.

The capital of Goguryeo in Liaodong suffered from the indiscriminate bombardment day and night by two generals, Ma Chao and Tian Yu, and more than a hundred Thunderbolt Chariots. The tall city wall, which was said to be indestructible, became extremely damaged, and the moat several feet wide was almost

After it was almost filled up, the new ruler, who had just taken office, led all the civil and military officials out of the city to surrender. Now the ruler and the princes and nobles of Goguryeo have come to Luoyang, accepted the canonization of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and become the ministers of the Han Dynasty.

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After the imperial court sent Sinong Qing Zhan Qingyuan to inspect the soil in the fields, he came to the conclusion that the land in this country was extremely fertile, especially the dark soil, which was said to be so fertile that it was several times more fertile than the land in Guanzhong. This made this country extremely fertile.

Si Nongqing was so excited that he took hundreds of Si Nong Ling, Nong Cheng, etc. from the imperial government-run farm and decided to take root here and run it well.

After hearing that Wuhuan, Fuyu, and Sushen further north had more black soil like this, the people of You, Ji, and the three states went completely crazy. They cursed the ignorant barbarians for guarding such fertile fields.

He actually lived like a primitive man and had to be plundered by the Han from time to time to avoid starving to death. It was a waste of natural resources. This sentiment made Mr. Hua Tuo take his disciples, disciples, and people from the Minerals Department of the Ministry of Industry to the nearby mountains.

After walking around and talking about the miraculous herbs and various minerals in the mountains, it became even more intense.

In view of this, Zhao Jin, the governor of Youzhou, and Tian Yu, the governor of Bingzhou, together with Xun Yan, the governor of Bingzhou, and Cui Jun, the governor of Jizhou, reported to the court, requesting to send troops to attack Wuhuan, Fuyu, and Sushen in retaliation for their harassment of the Han border for many years.

And he helped Goguryeo invade Liaodong.

As for the south, there is a fierce battle with the Sun Ce thief. Although they suffered a defeat on the river not long ago, I heard that the losses were not big. After all, it is normal for the northern navy to suffer some losses in its first actual combat. No one

I don't think this is a big problem, or it can be said that everyone's attention is not on the outcome of this war.

The imperial court said that Jingzhou and Yangzhou are both land of plenty, and among the mountains of Lingnan further south, there are also areas in Jiaozhou and even further south, with countless spices, gems, minerals, furs, etc. It is said that there will be another year

Grain that can be ripened three times.

Tsk tsk tsk, who said Lingnan is a barren land? It is clearly a treasure land given by God. Of course, it is given to the hard-working and intelligent Han people, not those who guard the treasures but will still pay for an iron pot and a few taels of coarse salt.

Stupid barbarians who engage in tribal wars.

Under the military merit system, soldiers who perform meritorious services will be rewarded with money, silk, land, real estate, etc., depending on their merits. Although this reward is large, it is not huge. However, for undeveloped areas, this reward

, will be increased to three times its original value, which will become extremely tempting.

And this is not the most important thing. What drives the soldiers crazy even more is the specialties in these new lands. A complete mink fur only requires more than a hundred Yuanxing Tongbao in Liaodong, but when it comes to the shops in Luoyang City

, will be marked with at least five thousand yuan. This is the price now when the place is stable and the official channels are smooth. If it were six or seven years ago, the price would have more than doubled. Damn it, no wonder those businessmen are selling it for dozens of dollars.

When there was such chaos a year ago, I would rather run here than take the risk of being robbed and killed by bandits or barbarians.

Although the imperial court has strict orders not to engage in trade in the army, the soldiers themselves have just captured a new land and bought some local specialties. Even the imperial censors and officials in the court can't pick them out. These specialties will be sold in the future.

Taking it back to your hometown, for ordinary people, it is a treasure that can be passed down to future generations.

Therefore, in today's Han Dynasty, those who are not excellent in academic studies and have difficulty enrolling in Imperial College, and even if they go, they will probably be at the bottom of the list, so they simply give up the hope of studying and becoming an official, and find a way to join the army and obey orders. This is the right way.

, if there are more than two sons in the family, the parents' idea will become stronger.

A seven-foot tall man cannot serve the imperial court, nor can he seek wealth and honor for his children and grandchildren. What is the use of living? When my father was young, the imperial court was mediocre, civil strife continued, and the people could not even hope to have enough to eat. Now that you have caught up with the good times,

If you have a good life, how can you just sit at home and live in vain?

These parents will use this sentence to teach their sons.

In this way, for the sake of their own achievements, the merchants for the rich specialties outside the customs, the soldiers for their own glory and wealth, and the common people for the sake of honoring their ancestors and protecting their descendants, they all worked together, and everyone became red-eyed, and everyone rubbed their hands and prepared to take it.

The neighboring countries and barbarian tribes that had been very unfriendly to the Han in the past hundred years took action.

Of course, on the surface, it must be said that this is for revenge. Well, the hatred of the country and the family must be avenged, and it has nothing to do with interests or anything like that.

Well, that's it, that's what everyone says anyway, there's nothing wrong with it.

As the initiator and ultimate controller of all this - Liu He, this is really the most wonderful thing.

The essence of the land equalization system is to nationalize the land, achieve a relatively fair distribution, avoid and slow down the speed of land annexation as much as possible, so that the vast majority of people can cultivate their own land. In this way, naturally no one will

Rebellion. A court that can get the support of the vast majority of farmers will naturally have a much lower probability of being overthrown. This is the best choice for the emperor himself and the people.

The biggest enemy of the equal land system is the overly powerful clans. Their family has hundreds of people, and they can be allocated a lot of land. If they monopolize the opportunity to serve as officials and achieve meritorious service, then what will happen?

Within a hundred years, at least 70% to 80% of the country's land will fall into their hands.

It's best to do this now. Opportunities to study, be an official, and join the army and make meritorious deeds are all given to the common people. Although most of the children of ordinary people's families, whether they study or join the army and make meritorious deeds, are not as good as those with strong family backgrounds, they have been able to make contributions since childhood.

He could get better education from a wealthy family, but he still had a chance.

The common people have the largest population. Even if the chance of becoming a talented person is one percent or one thousandth of that of a child from a wealthy family, a considerable proportion of the officials in the court and those who have made meritorious service in the military will be occupied by them.

As the population increases day by day, there will always be a day when the land is not enough. Therefore, it is really a good way to turn the subjects' attention outward. The Han Dynasty is so rich that it is almost unique in the entire Asia.

, is far ahead, and Liu He, who is a postgraduate student in history, understands this point very well.

Therefore, the surrounding Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Goguryeo, Fuyu, Wuhuan, Shanyue, and Nanman all had the idea of ​​​​coming to take a bite. Even when the Han Dynasty was weak, even the small countries in the Western Regions also wanted to take refuge with the Xiongnu.

No less came to participate in the bullying.

Now, in the name of revenge, they conquered their land inch by inch, strengthened the national power, inspired the military morale, comforted the ancestors, and at the same time included those vast and sparsely populated places into the territory of the Han Dynasty, so that the Han Dynasty could

While the population is growing, land is also being developed continuously. Isn’t it possible to kill multiple birds with one stone?

Zhao Kui, who is proficient in animal husbandry, is discussing with people from the Ministry of Industry how to better utilize wool and combine grazing with animal husbandry. Many merchants have also shown strong interest in this and have established many workshops of their own.

Assisting the imperial court in such experiments, their keen sense of smell told them that if wool could be woven into cloth on a large scale, it would not be a simple and crude wool felt like the Hu people, but a real cloth that could be made into beautiful clothes.

The benefits would be enough for them to spend several lifetimes.

Tong Jian, who is good at water conservancy, is also racking his brains to build water conservancy facilities on the vast grassland. As long as there is a stable water source, building more cities on the grassland is not a dream. The herdsmen on the grassland, whether they were originally Xiongnu

People, even Xianbei people, are now eagerly looking forward to this as Han people. If they can live in a solid city and warm houses, no one wants to live in tents.

If these two things can be done, the problem of grassland nomads that has plagued the Central Plains for thousands of years will become a thing of the past. Instead of being a disaster, it will become wealth, huge wealth. All foreign herdsmen will rush to the territory of the Han Dynasty.

, fighting for the status of a Han people, they will be proud to pay taxes to the Han people.

After all, this tax is definitely much less than the share they have to pay to the leader and nobles of their tribe, but the protection and living environment provided by the Han are much better. Even those herders are illiterate and cannot read clearly.

Calculate this account.

Thousands of miles of land, including cultivated land, pastures, and forests, can feed tens of millions of people. These tens of millions of people can provide the Han with at least hundreds of thousands of horses, hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep, and tens of thousands of livestock every year.

There are millions of stones of grain, not to mention the many minerals on the grassland. The Mining Department has discovered more than ten iron ore and copper mines near Yunhai and Shuofang counties, and this is not even a drop in the bucket for the entire grassland.

Not really.

It’s just that Liu He was thinking that he might never see the day when the prairie is completely surrendered in this life. This is not something that one or two generations can do. But if he starts this, someone will naturally finish it.

You don't have to worry about future generations.

Another person who also discovered the value of these seemingly barbarian lands was Sima Yi.

Although he was not as clear-eyed as Liu He, he could still see the wealth hidden in the mountains of Lingnan. There was nothing barren here, it was so rich, otherwise he would not be so impatient to kill this guy Shi Xie.

Kill him and take complete control of Jiaozhou.

Sima Fu, who had just completed the crowning ceremony a few months ago, walked in with a pile of account books and saw his second brother staring blankly at the model map of Lingnan and Jiaozhou areas, with a smile appearing on his lips from time to time.

Ever since he was sent by his lord to assist his second brother not long ago, he has often seen scenes like this.

"General, my subordinates have sent us information about the several Shanyue villages that have just been pacified, as well as the account books of supplies that will be sent to Jingzhou in the next few days. Please take a look at them."

Sima Yi was very caring towards his younger brothers and sisters at home, but in this official residence, he was extremely strict. On the first day he came here, Sima Fu was treated unfairly because he called his second brother in the army.

For the crime of respect, he was dragged down and beaten with twenty military sticks, and he was beaten on the school grounds in front of many soldiers.

Although Sima Fu was a little resentful about this, when he learned that some of the newly surrendered Shanyue generals and newly recruited soldiers had witnessed the commander's own brother being punished in public for violating some minor military rules, everyone seemed to be happy.

Sima Fu became much more honest. He understood his second brother's intention and no longer felt angry about it.

Sima Yi turned around and glanced at his younger brother, waved his hand, motioning for him to put down the documents and account books, then ignored them and continued to look at the model by himself.

Sima Fu walked forward, looked at it for a long time, opened his mouth several times, but still did not speak.

"You can say whatever you want. There is no rule in the army that subordinates cannot ask questions to resolve their doubts."

Sima Yi did not raise his head, but seemed to see all the changes in his brother's expression.

Sima Fu received permission and immediately spoke: "General, although this land in Lingnan is not as barren as expected in the past, it is still not as barren as Jing and Yang, let alone Yuzhou and Xuzhou. How come you are so happy?

?”
To be continued...