Chapter 284 August Harvest
For Qiao Yan, this was not the first time she had seen such a bumper harvest, but for the people in Guanzhong, this was the first time in many years.
In August of last year in Chang'an, when Qiao Yan led her troops from Liang Province, her confrontation with Dong Zhuo's army even made people worry that the crops in the fields would be destroyed by the marching troops before they could be harvested.
On the section from Chencang to Meiwu, we even made early harvests.
All we can say is that fortunately at that time Dong Zhuo had a wise man named Duan Wei under his command, and there were officials in the court to mediate, so that the farming matter was not as ridiculous as Dong Zhuo's small money.
This year is different, very different!
That is a real move to improve farming and increase production, so that every household can enjoy the satisfaction of an abundant granary.
Just think about the comparison between different places, which can make the people in Guanzhong experience double the happiness.
Jizhou was worried that soldiers from Bingzhou would choose to cross the Taihang Mountains to attack, so it completed the task of unification within this year. In addition to military dispatches, it also recruited many people from Jizhou to participate in garrison.
Xuzhou was plunged into chaos due to Tao Qian's death, and the autumn harvest had become a secondary matter.
But what about Chang'an? Here, all your energy can be put into harvesting millet and wheat, allowing people to immerse themselves in the joy of the harvest.
Those who talked about this matter were not just the common people who really wanted to engage in farming, but also the people in the Hongwenguan.
As soon as Tian Feng arrived at Hongwenguan in the morning and sat at his seat, he heard the people who came here together talking about the bumper harvest in Guanzhong.
Regardless of whether these people have real talents or not, after the powerful official Qiao Yan showed his preference for pragmatism, they could only try their best to talk more about people's livelihood and less about empty talk in public in order to win the favor of the Grand Marshal.
Tian Feng knew all this very well. On the one hand, he was worried about Yuan Shao because of the current atmosphere in Chang'an. On the other hand, he pricked up his ears to listen to the conversations of these people in order to get more information as soon as possible.
After all, the position of Hongwenguan is not like that of the Grand Minister of Agriculture and his subordinates, which can know the real data of Guanzhong's harvest this year at the fastest speed.
Fortunately, among the people who came here, there were several people who had land in Guanzhong, and Tian Feng heard the news they said.
"The Grand Marshal has had people teach the farming methods of this year since last winter, and distribute good seeds before the arrival of spring. Even the most unruly and difficult to teach tenant farmers in my family have been farming according to the new methods. Unfortunately, this is only the first year of practicing this method, and the situation of Guanzhong being vast and sparsely populated is still there, so there are always some acres of land that cannot be taken care of."
Another person asked: "What is the final yield per acre?"
"About five stones."
That being said, it is still quite a bit less than the rumored three-fold amount.
But as soon as Tian Feng thought of this, he almost wanted to slap himself.
Five shi per mu is not enough. Is he a god who can create food out of thin air?
It takes time for the people of Chang'an to adapt to the new farming methods.
In this first year, the agricultural fertilizers produced in Bingzhou could not be supplied to every household, so a centralized production area for agricultural fertilizers was re-established in Chang'an City, and a mining system for the gypsum mines needed was also established.
In this way, increasing the yield per mu from three stones to five stones is already a remarkable improvement.
At least none of the people in Guanzhong felt dissatisfied.
If this is the case this year, it may rise further next year, which will allow them to have twice as much food reserves as before.
Compared with the magical road built in Chang'an, this makes people feel the true meaning of the Jian'an era more directly.
This is indeed building Chang'an!
Thinking about the situation in Jizhou, Tian Feng had no right to say that the yield of five stones per mu was inconsistent with what he had seen in the Leping Monthly Report before, and it was a manifestation of the goods not being what was advertised.
You have to know that he sent Bingzhou's farming methods to Yuan Shao through Yuan Xi, which happened in May and June this year.
Even if Yuan Shao accepted this information without any doubt, it would certainly not be promoted and put into practice within this year, and a further gap would be formed between the two sides within this year.
I don’t know what the situation in Jizhou is at this time.
Tian Feng was in Guanzhong and was also in charge of the Hongwenguan, which had a supply relationship with the Chang'an court. He knew better than most people that the situation in Chang'an at this time was by no means urgent enough to send troops to attack.
This relatively relaxed atmosphere cannot be explained by the fact that Qiao Hou is invincible.
In other words, Qiao Yan had no intention of officially launching a full-scale attack on Jizhou this year.
The deployment of troops before the autumn harvest was probably more of a disruption to Jizhou's mentality than a prelude to a battle.
I don't know whether you can realize this as soon as possible with Ju Shou, Shen Pei and others around.
And... when will Lord Ming send a stable person to contact him?
Nowadays, Chang'an City is developing rapidly, and more and more people are settling here. As the news of Guanzhong's autumn harvest spreads, this place is bound to welcome a new batch of settlers. If we can arrange people to move to Guanzhong at this time, the chance of arousing suspicion will be the lowest.
We can't wait until Guanzhong conducts population control and inspection before sending people, right?
When Tian Feng thought of this, he couldn't help but sigh again.
He also listened to the scholars in the Hongwenguan talking somewhat listlessly that the Grand Marshal was not in Chang'an City today, and they probably couldn't, like Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang had done before, bring Qiao Yan here through a debate and get the evaluation of the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix.
It is said that these two young men, Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang, did not know when they would be old enough to officially enter officialdom. They were probably still studying hard in Leping Academy. No one knew why Qiao Yan treated them differently.
However, no matter how much they guessed, they would never have thought that Qiao Yan would actually assign them an extremely special assignment.
At this time, she and Cheng Yu were inspecting the autumn harvest in Guanzhong and discussing the war situation in Xuzhou.
"Although the Huai River serves as the boundary between the north and the south, the alliance between Liu Bei and the scholars of Xuzhou should not be underestimated," said Qiao Yan.
She couldn't fully believe in the so-called historical development. After all, the situation had reached a point where there was no experience to draw on.
Liu Bei might have another dispute over interests with the scholars of Xuzhou until Chen Deng handed over Xuzhou to another person. Or perhaps, they would be in a longer honeymoon period of adjustment because the territory under Xuzhou's control was compressed to only about half of its original size.
In short, it is better to consider Xuzhou's development according to the latter.
In comparison, Zhang Yi's side is at a disadvantage.
Perhaps he only has two advantages over the Xuzhou governor in the north.
One is that he had served as the prefect of Guangling for a period of time in his early years, and was able to adapt to his position faster than Liu Bei.
Second:
The Chang'an court, to which he served, was clearly better than the Yecheng court in its external performance.
After this autumn harvest, this contrast will be brought to Xuzhou by merchants going to do business, just like the rumors of the new road and cocktail party in Chang'an, and will bring some support to Zhang Yi.
It seems like a son's status depends on his mother.
So Qiao Yan thought for a moment and said, "For this autumn harvest in Chang'an, the harvest data of each county must be detailed. After handing it over to Zhao Ji, ask her to draft a first draft for the Leping Monthly Report for me."
She still needs to help Zhang Yi again, otherwise he might not be able to withstand the enemies in the north.
Even with Zhou Yu's support from Yangzhou, Zhang Yi's disadvantage in armed forces was extremely obvious.
The news of Zuo Rong's death had already reached her from Xuzhou.
Fortunately, Zhang Yi used the secret of the Kongming lantern to expose Zuo Rong's Buddhist scam, and he was extremely decisive under Zhou Yu's guidance.
If he had been a little slower, the effect might not be what it is now.
It was because on the night when thousands of lanterns were flying beside the White Horse Lake, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, under the command of Chen Deng, crossed the river from Huaipu and headed straight for Huaiyin, and launched a surprise attack on Zuo Rong's military camp south of the Huai River.
Perhaps the only pity for Liu Bei's side in this sudden river crossing battle was that they did not encounter Zuo Rong in the camp.
It was not until half a day after they retreated to the north bank due to the boundary of the Huai River that news came out that Zuo Rong had died in the suburbs. His head was taken away by someone unknown, but the rest of his body was found by Zhang Yi's troops and sent to Gaoyou.
After identifying all the details, everyone was sure that this was Zuo Rong's body, and it was not some trick to escape.
In the development of the situation in which Zuo Rong died, the person who benefited the most was undoubtedly Zhang Yi.
Zuo Rong died in the suburbs before he could refute Zhang Yi's doubts about the lanterns rising into the sky. As a result, the Buddhists in Guangling County whose faith had collapsed had to either return to normal farming or join Zhang Yi's army and become regular soldiers.
Part of the grain stored in Gaoyou was secretly dispatched by Zhou Yu to Yangzhou as a reward for his assistance, and part of it became the material guarantee for Zhang Yi to recruit these soldiers.
His subsequent cleansing of Buddhist statues and temples in Guangling County also exposed Zuo Rong's wanton money-making practices to everyone.
In return, his reputation in Guangling soared, and he obtained gold and copper coins from melting Buddha statues.
But his opponent also used this battle across the river to send a clear signal to Xuzhou:
The governor of Xuzhou in the north came from a military background and was tough enough and capable of repelling the enemy.
No one could predict when he would advance towards the southern part of Xuzhou and recover another piece of land south of the Huai River.
Also because of this swift military expedition, Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others who were entrenched in Kaiyang County of Langya and almost separated Langya County from the territory of Xuzhou also softened their attitude towards the scholars of Xuzhou.
Unlike before, they only showed an arrogant attitude of self-promotion.
Having said that, Liu Bei still had a long way to go before he could get along with Zang Ba to the same level of cooperation as he did with the scholars of Xuzhou, which also limited his ability to fight across the Huai River.
During this period of stalemate between the north and the south in Xuzhou, it was also an opportunity for Qiao Yan to build the navigation base in Hailing.
She said that only two ships could be dispatched, but if the system could obtain the props to accurately locate the route, the confrontation in Xuzhou could be maintained for a longer period of time. She did not mind building two more ships and setting off together.
With fewer ships, it might be difficult to attract a thief to set off together.
As for why the assignment given to Leping College was two ships and five hundred people?
Is there anything wrong with making students' assignments a little more difficult to take into account extreme situations?
Qiao Yan thought righteously.
After all, they were Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi and Lu Yi...
Hearing her mention the arrangement for Xuzhou Hailing, Cheng Yu couldn't help but ask: "Speaking of which person do you plan to use as the military advisor for this place?"
Just as Qiao Yan said in the court, sending only Zhang Yang was actually a stopgap measure under the current circumstances.
While showing her support for Xuzhou, she should not be too arrogant towards Yangzhou.
In fact, Zhang Yang's personality makes him totally unsuitable to be the main commander.
So Qiao Yan had to arrange some other people to go there.
She replied, "Mr. Zhongde, don't you think that using Xuzhou as a training ground for young people is really an interesting thing?"
To give young people experience?
Although her tone was teasing, Cheng Yu intuitively felt that with Qiao Yan's temperament, what she would say at this moment was definitely what was in her heart.
The situation in Xuzhou was pushed into this pattern, which was a test she put forward for the Qiao sisters.
Then the subsequent support for Zhang Yi and crossing the sea to Liaodong...it seems that it can indeed be used as a test for young people?
By the time she really planned to change the situation again, the oldest potential stocks in Leping Academy would be sixteen years old.
In today's era, this is certainly an age where you can come out and do things!
Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao also held important responsibilities under Qiao Yan at this age.
Every ten years, it is time for the next generation to take the stage.
Thinking of this, Cheng Yu belatedly realized that he was already over fifty years old.
But as he followed Qiao Yan and continued forward without stopping, he seemed to have difficulty realizing the passage of time.
Perhaps it was only when I heard her mention these young juniors that I felt a little moved.
"Yeah, it's time to let the young people take the stage."
Qiao Yan heard the emotion in his words and said with a smile, "They still have a lot to learn. When it comes to experience and calmness, they should look to you, sir."
With Cheng Yu in charge, she could plan for the whole situation with peace of mind.
This bond cannot be replaced by those up-and-coming players.
Cheng Yu didn't say much, just smiled at her and continued walking towards the next ridge of the field.
This is the tacit understanding between the king and his subjects. There is no need to express any sentimental feelings.
Anyway, he is in good health now, so he just needs to continue to work hard for you.
How many people in the world can be treated like him?
Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting, who were in Xuzhou, received Qiao Yan's handwritten letter a few days later.
The letter said that she was extremely satisfied with their performance in Xuzhou, but staying longer and doing more could easily lead to more mistakes, so she asked them to ensure the stability of the outpost and then return as soon as possible to prevent others from discovering their role in the Xuzhou incident.
Without hesitation, they immediately examined each other's actions to see if there was anything inappropriate.
After confirming that everything was fine, he set off with the caravan.
For Xuzhou, there were only two merchants from Yizhou who completed their sales here and then left.
Or perhaps it was because of the possible unrest in Xuzhou that "they" left in a hurry to avoid being dragged into the war.
But in fact, what they did in Xuzhou was much more than just business.
When the caravan passed through Xia Pi, Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting looked back while riding on their horses.
As the red sun rises in the east, the sparkling Huai River divides Xuzhou into two halves, north and south.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
