Today, Dunhuang County is definitely focusing on trade, and Jiuquan County can also get some benefits from it. Wuwei County is focusing on textiles, and Zhangye in the middle seems to be a bit mediocre. What can it do?

Liu Tan held up his chin and said, "I remember there were also large grasslands in Zhangye, right?"

Huo Guang sighed and nodded. "Yes, that's why there isn't much arable land in Zhangye. It's mostly grassland and Gobi desert, so it's not very suitable for farming."

The main reason is that these resources are scarce, so there is less to provide to passing caravans, and there is not even much water.

Liu Tan said, "You're so regretful, aren't you hoping to have Zhangye develop agricultural production?"

Huo Guang didn't say anything. When he heard Liu Tan ask this, he knew that the other party must have some ideas.

Sure enough, I heard Liu Tan say, "I'll send people over to enclose some pastures later."

Huo Guang was slightly taken aback. "Enclose a pasture? Why would Your Highness enclose a pasture?"

There are already enough pastures in the Northern Kingdom now. Raising horses does require good pastures, but they don’t have that many horses to raise.

Liu Tan said, "What else can I do? Raise sheep!"

Huo Guang finally understood. He hesitated and said, "But if I raise sheep myself, I'm afraid it will only increase my expenses."

For the Xiongnu and some countries in the Western Regions, wool is useless. They can sell it to the Han Dynasty at a low price and get some money back. It is a win-win situation. The money the Han Dynasty has spent on purchasing wool recently is basically negligible.

But if you raise sheep yourself, just for the wool, the cost will be much higher.

Mutton can indeed be sold, but when the number of sheep raised increases, the price of mutton will also drop, so the cost will increase.

Liu Tan said, "We can't rely on the Western Regions and the Xiongnu. What if a war breaks out and they can't provide us with wool? We can't just rely on Danyang and Axuan either. If the Han market takes off, Wusun wool won't be enough."

When Huo Guang heard Liu Tan say this, he suddenly became alert and asked, "What are you going to do, Your Highness?"

Liu Tan was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "What do I need to do? Aren't all the things I need to do laid out here?"

Huo Guang said, "Your Highness just said that if a fight breaks out..."

Liu Tan said helplessly, "Aren't you a bit too sensitive? What's the so-called "what if a fight breaks out"? Isn't that just a hypothesis? Besides, even if I don't make the assumption, think about it yourself. Isn't this a matter of time?"

Huo Guang didn't say anything. In fact, he had made predictions himself. Although he didn't know how to march and deploy troops, he did have some experience in predicting national strength and the time of war.

Seeing his expression, Liu Tan asked, "Tell me, what do you think?"

Huo Guang simply said, "I believe that within twenty years, there will be a war between the northern border and the Xiongnu."

Liu Tan swallowed back his words, saying that twenty years was too long.

Young people are full of drive and passion, but the downside is that they tend to be impatient.

When I was with Liu Tan, a year seemed like a long time. I was exposed to more political affairs and settled down a little, but at most I could only endure a five-year plan or something.

If he were really asked to make a 15- or 20-year plan, he would feel very anxious.

However, he also knew that Huo Guang's idea was more prudent, and twenty years was enough time for the Northern Border Kingdom to undergo a drastic change.

He did not comment on this matter, but simply asked, "What about the Western Regions?"

Huo Guang gave Liu Tan a warning look and said, "The Western Regions are now considered the private domain of the Wusun King. If Your Highness does not wish to become an enemy of the Wusun King, then do not interfere with the Western Regions."

Liu Tan raised his eyebrows: "You mean, we can't fight with the Western Regions?"

Huo Guang nodded decisively: "That's right."

Liu Tan did not dare to tell him that he had written a memorial to Liu Che. If Huo Guang thought so, then Liu Che might also think so, and then Liu Che might not agree with this memorial. In that case, there was no need to tell Huo Guang.

He said decisively, "Alright, that's all for the future. We can't rely entirely on other people's resources anyway. We have to have some backup. Besides, if we start raising sheep now, they might not be able to provide wool within a year. It takes time."

Huo Guang didn't say anything. Anyway, even if he failed in whatever he was going to do, it wouldn't be a big deal. It was indeed difficult to do anything else in Zhangye, so he let him try it first.

The prefect of Zhangye County left happily. Although building a ranch is not as good as a wool workshop, a ranch requires much more manpower than a wool workshop.

Now everyone basically knows that His Royal Highness the King of the North has invented a large water-powered spinning wheel. All they need to do is change the spindles or wool spindles at regular times and locations, and then maintain the spinning wheel. During the weaving process, no one else needs to take care of it, so not many people are needed.

Pastures are different. Someone has to graze them, right? This way, at least they can keep the population, which is good.

With the departure of the county governors, the cutting machine was also produced, and this time a complete cutting machine was produced.

Liu Tan even took some time to take people to the fields to conduct some experiments.

In order to adapt to different groups of people, Gongshu Can made the cutting machine so that it could be operated by both human and animal power.

Like the Northern Plow, the cutting machine can be made larger and smaller. The size of the one operated by humans is fixed, and if it is large, it can only be pulled by oxen.

Huo Guang went to take another look and found that the cutter not only had the function of cutting, but also had the function of collecting. After the harvest of this row was completed, all the grains or other crops would be collected into the large sacks at the back. When they reached the end of the field, all the crops in the sacks would be unloaded before continuing to the next row.

This way the harvest requires much less work.

Liu Tan watched as the cutter quickly harvested all the land on his farm. He couldn't help but smile and said, "It looks quite useful, but... the cost is a bit high."

Compared to the Northern Plow, the price of the cutter is higher because of the blade.

If the blade is a smooth blade, the price will be lower, but the smooth blade has a short service life and needs to be sharpened from time to time. Although the gear cuts slower and is more expensive, it can be used for a long time.

However, even if it is replaced with a light blade, not everyone may be willing to buy a cutting machine.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is how those who are willing to buy can buy it in the short term.

Liu Tan turned to look at Huo Guang and said, "You said before that there was a way to promote it in a short period of time. What is that method?"

Huo Guang said calmly, "Lease."

Liu Tan asked in disbelief, "Is this the solution you mentioned?"

They had studied the rental issue a long time ago, and even the Northern Plow had formed a stable rental market, but to be honest, not many people were willing to rent.

Because the rental fee is not particularly cheap, especially when you don’t have any cattle at home. If you rent the land by labor, it means that there is not much land and it is not worth renting.

Those who have so much land that they need to rent it generally tend to buy it, unless they really cannot raise the money and have a large area of ​​land, they will rent it.

Of course, this is not the main problem. Isn’t the most important problem that the cutting machine also needs human operation, whether it is human or animal power, and animal power still needs human control. The current problem is so serious that there are not enough people. Why do we still rent it?

Huo Guang said confidently, "We will rent it out at an extremely low price, and we will also provide people to operate it. In other words, as long as the people rent the cutter, they can just wait to harvest the crops, and they don't have to worry about anything else."

Liu Tan frowned: "Where can you find so many people to do this?"

His first reaction was to unite with the other families to provide slaves, but the problem was, how could they provide them? You only charge for the rent of harvesters, but obviously you don't charge for the labor. Do you expect the national treasury to subsidize each family?

Then he looked at Huo Guang calmly and said, "Yes, and it doesn't cost any money."

Liu Tan was curious: "Where is it? Are you going to mess with the Huns again?"

Huo Guang said, "In the Heavenly Prison."

Liu Tan: ????

Huo Guang sneered and said, "There were so many people involved in the witchcraft case that the prison was almost full. A lot of food was consumed every day. Jiang Chong asked if we should kill a group of them first. I think it would be a good idea to let them go."

Generally, execution is done in the autumn. Now is not the time to make an exception, so we might as well just recycle the waste.

Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang blankly, thinking that this man was simply amazing. He actually introduced the labor reform in later generations in advance.

Oh, no, this is not considered labor reform. The full name of labor reform is labor reform. Anyway, if you do well, you can get a reduced sentence.

But when it comes to Huo Guang, you will still be killed, but you can live longer if you do some work.

Unless one is a particularly stubborn person who is determined to die, he or she will probably choose to use labor to exchange for life time.

Huo Guang turned to look at Liu Tan and asked, "What do you think, Your Highness?"

Liu Tan stroked his chin and said, "These people have never done farm work before, so I don't know if they can do it. Besides, since they know they'll die sooner or later, they might not be motivated to work. Why not do this? Those who work faster and better will be rewarded with better food. For those with less serious crimes, we can even reduce the death penalty to life imprisonment."

Huo Guang frowned and said, "Your Highness, this precedent cannot be set."

Liu Tan waved his hand and said, "There's nothing wrong with opening a case. I've already said these are relatively minor cases. They're for people who weren't actually involved in witchcraft, but were implicated because of their relatives. If these people's sentences are commuted to life imprisonment, they'll become a large number of manpower that can be used repeatedly."

Huo Guang said with a cold expression, "Since these people have been arrested, they are all within the three or nine clans. Your Highness, His Majesty is aware of this matter. If you let them go so easily, His Majesty will probably be unhappy."

Liu Tan: ...

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this.

Liu Tan was still not used to the collective punishment of this time, so he always wanted to change it, but what Huo Guang said made sense.

He thought for a moment and said, "Then let's do this... Apart from these people, the remaining crimes that violated the law, except for murder, will be reduced to life imprisonment if they can be pardoned. Is that okay?"

Huo Guang's expression softened: "Okay."

Liu Tan said, "Is the summary of Jiang Chong's case almost finished? Give me a copy later so I can report to my father."

Although there was Liu Che's embroidered robe envoy here, and Liu Che might have known the situation here for a long time, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

Facts have proved that one cannot talk about people during the day and cannot talk about ghosts at night. When Liu Tan and Huo Guang were talking about Liu Che, Liu Tan received Liu Che's edict.