Liu Ju was a man of great imagination. In history, when he rebelled, he had no soldiers. What did he do? He sent people to release the prisoners and distributed weapons to them.
So in fact, the practice of using prisoners was not invented by Liu Tan.
But... at that time, Liu Ju used those prisoners as knives. Who could have thought that he would use the prisoners to do farm work?
It took Liu Ju a while to react: "Then...did those prisoners...do well?"
Liu Che took a deep breath and said, "It seems good."
Liu Ju reluctantly said, "Since that's the case, we have to make an emergency decision. I can't blame my brother. As long as my brother doesn't let them go, it's fine."
Liu Che glanced at Liu Chuan and said, "That's not what you said before."
It was mentioned earlier that King Liu Bo of Changyi once used death row prisoners for entertainment. How did he do it? He would put two death row prisoners in a cage and let them fight. The winner would have a chance to be pardoned.
It sounds a bit ridiculous. How can these criminals be exempted from punishment just because they won the fight?
In fact, not many people can survive.
Injuries were inevitable during the fight, and Liu Bo would occasionally give them some weapons for the sake of viewing pleasure.
Those weapons were generally bronze knives that were almost scrapped. Rust was the most basic problem, and some were even so brittle that they would break with the slightest force.
In this case, the distribution of weapons was not particularly fair, but Liu Bo did not want fairness either. He also found this randomness quite interesting.
Therefore, it is very normal to get wounds during the fight. Liu Bo will definitely not allow these injured death row prisoners to receive medical treatment. In this situation, their hope of survival is already small, and those rusty weapons have come into contact with the wounds.
Haha, do you know about tetanus?
When this matter first reached Chang'an, both Liu Che and Liu Ju were very unhappy.
They didn't feel sorry for the death row prisoners, but they were dissatisfied with Liu Bo's bloody hobby.
Liu Ju even said, "I think he's just too idle. This prince has it so easy. I wonder if he'll have the nerve to do this when the tax revenue of Changyi State is overtaken by the Northern Border State."
That's why Liu Che said that. After all, they were just using prisoners.
Liu Ju argued, "They're different. My brother has no other options. Otherwise, he would never have used those prisoners. Making them do farm work and keeping them under strict supervision is no easy task."
Liu Che said nothing, but asked in surprise: "He actually got a harvester?"
Liu Ju immediately became alert after hearing this: "Where is it?"
What Liu Tan makes may not be very fun, but it will definitely be very useful.
Liu Che turned to Bu Fan and said, "Tan'er said he would send a model. Let's take a look at it first."
It is impossible to carry out the real prototype. The crops have been harvested. Where can we find things to experiment with? So we can only look at the model first.
It must be said that Liu Tan's model is quite well made. It is a whole model plate with a well-planted lawn and a miniature harvester on it.
Liu Tan also explained in the letter that the effect of the lawn cannot represent crops and is just for demonstration.
It was the first time that Liu Che had seen such a miniature model of agricultural tools. He couldn't help but pick it up and look at it carefully from top to bottom.
Liu Ju walked over, squatted beside him, tilted his head and looked at it, and said in surprise: "Why is this disc interlaced?"
Liu Che said, "This disc should be a cutting knife. It's staggered up and down, not really a jagged pattern. However... this plow is quite interesting."
After taking a look at the appearance, Liu Che placed the miniature farm tools on the model plate. Bu Fan on the side immediately reached out to push the harvester.
Liu Che and Liu Ju tilted their heads together and watched the shovel on the harvester move forward while opening and closing reciprocatingly to gather the grass together and send it to the cutter. The gear-shaped cutter was very sharp and cut the grass in almost an instant.
After the trip, Liu Che and Liu Ju looked at the bald patch of grass on the model plate, then at the small bag on the back of the harvester. After reaching out and touching it, Liu Ju said uncertainly, "This seems to be much more convenient."
Liu Che nodded, but he was actually not quite sure.
The annual Xiannong ceremony was to go to the fields and drive the oxen to plow the land. What happened after that had nothing to do with Liu Che. He didn't know how the people harvested the crops, or he had heard of how they harvested but had never seen it.
Liu Che thought for a moment and said, "Go and call the Minister of Agriculture over."
When Sang Hongyang came here, he had already learned about it in advance. Knowing that it was a letter from the King of the Northern Territory, he began to wonder whether His Majesty wanted to help the Northern Territory.
It was no longer a new thing that the emperor agreed to the Northern Border Kingdom's attack on the Cheshi Kingdom. Sang Hongyang paid more attention to the situation in the Northern Border Kingdom than anyone else. After all, his son was still there.
So the top economist at the time did some calculations and found that the Northern Border Country might not have enough food and fodder. Soybeans could be used as food reserves, but it would be a waste to rely solely on soybeans when the actual expedition came.
Sang Hongyang thought at the time that if the King of the Northern Territory went on an expedition, he would definitely ask for help, so he had previously counted the granaries closest to the Northern Territory, and was only waiting for the Emperor's order to transfer grain to the Northern Territory.
Sang Hongyang was actually a little worried about this matter. He was worried that if the King of the Northern Territory found out that he had the Han Dynasty as his backing, would he start to wage wars endlessly.
Although he looks gentle, he is Liu Che's son after all. The economic situation of the Han Dynasty has been bad in recent years, so their emperor has begun to adopt a conciliatory policy.
When the Emperor was Liu Tan's age, he would also start fighting at the slightest disagreement.
Sang Hongyang wanted to make suggestions but was hesitant to do so. In the end, he could only reluctantly comfort himself that the reason for this expedition was that the geographical location of Cheshi State was too important.
However, what he didn't expect was that after arriving at the Weiyang Palace, he saw the emperor waving at him in a very good mood and saying, "Grand Minister of Agriculture, come quickly. The King of the Northern Territory has come up with a new thing that looks very useful."
Sang Hongyang was stunned. New thing?
He walked over and took a look. Before he could ask any questions, Liu Che glanced at him and Bu Fan on the side immediately asked the young eunuch to start introducing the harvester.
Sang Hongyang looked at the harvester with curiosity and even reached out to push it. He had to say that this model looked very useful.
But he was a pragmatic man after all, so even so, he said, "I wonder if the Northern Territory has put it into use yet? The model is useful, but it's not certain how it will perform once it's actually made and put into use."
Liu Che said, "You're worrying for nothing. This isn't the first time Tan'er has made something like this, so how could he not understand this? It's already being used in the Northern Border, but because the autumn harvest arrives early south of the Northern Border, he came up with it because the Northern Border lacks manpower, so he didn't rush to send it over."
While listening, Sang Hongyang took the document handed to him by Bu Fan, which recorded the service life of the harvester in great detail, as well as various parameters and drawings.
I have to say that most people of this era may not be accustomed to Liu Tan's way of recording every detail, but I have to say that this method is really useful.
In later generations, whether archaeologists or historians, when examining materials, they would first set a tone of speculation, and then prove what the sentence meant from different directions.
Not for any other reason, but because people these days speak so damn concisely!
In ancient times, there were not as many characters as there are now, so many of them were homophones. Sometimes one meaning was correct, and sometimes that meaning was also correct.
Of course, Liu Tan knew that this might be related to the fact that in ancient times, bamboo slips were used at the beginning, and it was inconvenient for people to use carving knives.
Although pens and ink became available later, not everyone could afford them, let alone white paper. A piece of white paper was so expensive, so of course one had to be frugal with words when writing and try to write as many words as possible.
This means that it cannot be used on both sides. If it could be used on both sides, there would definitely be people who would use it that way.
But Liu Tan has no shortage of these things, so he would rather spend money to have people record them in more and more detail than let future generations guess. After all, he has really suffered this hardship.
As for whether historical materials would be lost, Liu Tan could not guarantee it. Who could predict natural disasters and man-made disasters?
It has to be said that his method has not yet benefited future generations, and people in this world have experienced its benefits first.
Basically, as long as the document is followed, the subordinates don't have to waste much effort, and it also saves Sang Hongyang a lot of worries.
You have to know that in the past, when we followed the Mohist drawings, any changes to the drawings had to be reported layer by layer, and no one dared to change them easily.
Sang Hongyang couldn't help but sigh, "Your Highness the King of the Northern Territory's drawings are truly detailed. If all drawings were like this, I would feel much more at ease."
Liu Che curled his lips slightly: "He is just too careful."
Sang Hongyang looked at Liu Che's pride, which he could hardly conceal, and the prince's arrogance, which he did not hide at all. After thinking for a while, he still said nothing.
The things sent by the King of the North are really good. Sang Hongyang even thinks that it is a good time to send them. After a year of preparation, most areas will be able to use them during the autumn harvest next year.
There is plenty of time for production. If it is delivered before the autumn harvest, we should arrange it immediately. If there is not enough time, it will be very frustrating if we don’t arrange it and have nothing to use.
Sang Hongyang understood Liu Che's situation and began to speak nice words to him without asking for any money.
Anyway, if it was any other prince, Sang Hongyang might not be able to praise it, but it is not a bad thing to praise the King of the Northern Territory!
Liu Che's smile widened a bit, and after a moment of thought, he said, "If I go there early next year, I might be able to see the current farming situation in the Northern Border."
Sang Hongyang was stunned for a moment: "But... Your Majesty, didn't you say you would tour the East next year?"
Liu Che was slightly stunned: "Hmm? Did I say that?"
Sang Hongyang: ...
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