Chapter 309 Qing'an Xin County

The delivery of prisoners of war between Anxi and Dashi was carried out by the Aman River at the Outer Alaya Pass north of the Kunmi. It is a medium river that winds for more than 300 miles. The river is slow and uniform in speed. You can cross the river directly by taking a flat-bottomed boat. This river flowed silently for tens of millions of years, but today, it has become the southern dividing line between the Tang Empire and the Dashi Empire.

In early summer, a grand delivery ceremony was held here. More than 300 flat-bottomed boats lined up on the river surface about six meters wide, stretching for more than ten miles. There was no one driving such flat-bottomed boats. Iron chains were tied to the strings of each side. Each ship was five in the north and south, about dozens of meters long. It was driven by manpower to pull the boat across the other shore.

On the south side of the river, 100,000 people from the Sindh area unloaded countless bags of grain from carriages and elephant chariots. These people were all local civilians in Sindh, all of whom were black, thin and short, like an ant colony. The people carried the food on the large flat-bottomed ships. When the flat-bottomed ships were filled with food, the civilians on the north shore shouted, and tens of thousands of people pulled the iron chains. The big ship swayed and slowly moved to the other shore.

On the north bank of the river, tens of thousands of Han immigrants who came from the Sake Leaf were ready. As soon as the flatbed boats landed, they rushed onto the boat, moved the piles of grain off the boat, loaded them with ox carts and horse carriages, and then left, heading towards Pingyang City, which was built a hundred miles away to the east of Bosishan Mountain. There were three huge castles built by the Tang army. They were built by Li Qing'an to protect the Bosishan Silver Mine and prepare to seize Tochar. They are now temporarily used as transfer grain.

The grain is temporarily stored in Pingyang City, and then transported to Ju Zhanti, where it boards the ship, goes west along the Zhenzhu River, and finally transports it to Shuye through a tributary. This is a complex and turbulent project, including the exchange of grain for prisoners of war, which both sides will take at least several months.

Twenty thousand Tang troops were deployed on the north bank of the Aman River. This was the first batch of grain exchange prisoners of war, a total of 500,000 stones of grain exchange for 5,000 prisoners of war, and 5,000 prisoners of war had been brought there. They stood in line at the end, waiting excitedly to cross the river.

Hundreds of civilian officials of the Tang army were busy counting the food. The banks of the river were very quiet, and only the neat clamors were heard from time to time by the civilians.

Li Qing'an stood on a hill beside the river. He looked at the other side of the river with complicated eyes. The other party actually dispatched thousands of elephants to transport food. Each elephant had three elephant cavalry. Li Qing'an saw it very clearly. One was driving an elephant and the other two were archers, with oil paint on his face. This was the indigenous soldier of Xinde.

These thousands of elephant cavalry were unexpected. When he attacked Sindh in the future, he would definitely encounter this army. He could use gunpowder to deal with this army, but he thought of another method, which was not only effective, but also very interesting. At this moment, Li Qing'an's heart suddenly became hot, and he wanted to try it tomorrow.

At this time, a civilian official rushed over and reported: "Empress, the first batch of 100,000 stones of grain has been counted!"

Although Li Qing'an and Mansour reached a principled agreement on the exchange of grain for prisoners of war, various details were negotiated by their respective staff, including the exchange of prisoners of war, batches and specific numbers. Each detail was repeatedly finalized. The two sides drafted a specific process, and they exchanged them in an orderly manner according to this process.

According to the process, when the Dashi side delivered 100,000 stones of grain, the Tang Dynasty side needed to release 1,000 prisoners of war. Li Qing'an nodded and said, "You can implement it as agreed and you don't have to report it to me again."

The civilian official rushed back immediately and shouted loudly: "Release the first batch!"

The first batch of 1,000 prisoners of war began to board the ship, and soon filled the ferry with the chains tightened. The civilians on the opposite side pulled the ship back to the south shore. As soon as the ship was docked, a thousand prisoners of war finally couldn't help but rush to the ashore with cheers. Some ran with their arms spread out, hugged the Great Food soldiers on the south shore, and some crawled on the ground, thanking Allah for giving them freedom.

The last one to land was Qi Yade, the general of the food industry. According to the agreement between the two sides, he was released in the first batch. His six-year career as a prisoner of war and high-intensity mining labor made Qi Yade lose a lot, but he was in good spirits and had a two-inch beard on his face.

The ship was slowly advancing to the other side and getting closer to freedom, but Qiyad no longer had the joy of regaining freedom. He felt that everything had become unreal. The scene of waving the iron pestle while mining in the silver mine seemed to still swaying in front of his eyes, the sound of mining, the sweaty arms, the broken wooden house filled with sour smell, and the work of ice and snow.

All of this will become distant memories, where will Chiade go in the future?

At this time, two soldiers came over and said to him: "General Ziyad, His Highness Mansour invites you here."

"Mansour!"

Ziyad was shocked. Is the Caliph's heir here? He followed the soldiers' fingers and saw Mansur standing not far from the river.

Like Li Qing'an, Mansour also inspected the first batch of grain exchange prisoners of war on the south bank of Aman River. When the first batch of prisoners of war landed ashore, his heart finally let go.

In fact, he also understood that there would be no ups and downs in this exchange. After all, he had signed a ceasefire and settlement agreement with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty in Chang'an, and he also heard that the Tang Dynasty would launch the Tubo battle. The Tang Dynasty had no time to look west for the time being, and this Dashi would also launch the Spanish battle to completely wipe out the remnants of the Umayyad Dynasty. He also had no time to look east for the time being. In this situation, neither side would cause trouble. As long as the exchange began, it would be completed smoothly in the end.

After Mansour watched the first batch of prisoners of war exchanges, he was about to rush back to Damascus. He received news in Sindh that His Majesty Abbas Caliph's old injury relapsed a few years ago, and the situation was very serious. As the Grand Crown Prince, he must rush back immediately, otherwise once the power falls into the hands of the ambitious old Ali, he is likely to lose the Caliph's inheritance rights.

At this time, two soldiers brought Ziyad up, and Ziyad crawled at Mansour's feet and cried: "It is the gift of your highness that Qiyad can gain freedom, and I am very grateful in my heart!"

Mansour smiled and held his shoulder and comforted him, "The clouds have dissipated, you will return to the battlefield. I will give you the opportunity to build merits and wash away the shame of your capture."

Chiaed is the largest general under the Muslim. Although he was captured this time, his outstanding military achievements in the past still made Mansur look at him differently. He was determined to buy this person's heart and let him turn to serve him.

At this moment, Ziyad was full of gratitude for Mansour. He kissed Mansour's boots and said, "I have only the great prophet in my heart, only His Majesty the Caliph, and then His Highness Mansour. If His Highness does not dislike him, I am willing to be His Highness's slave!"

This obviously means valid loyalty. Chiyad knew in his heart that the battle of Talas severely damaged the Khorasan forces. Muslims lost the Hezhong area, and it was not too long that Chiyad had to consider where he went. Today he seized Mansur's opportunity.

Mansour helped him up and smiled, "Follow me to Damascus! I will give you new opportunities."

Mansour looked back at Li Qing'an on the hills on the other side. It happened that Li Qing'an was also looking at him. Although he was hundreds of steps apart, both of them saw each other. They knew in their hearts that the peace agreement was only temporary. When they solved their respective domestic problems, the war between them would still break out.

After April, Shuye has been immigrating continuously every day. The road to the west is long and arduous. Many elderly people cannot bear the long journey, hunger and illness, and die halfway. However, more people are full of hope for a better life and desire for the land. After months of arduous journeys, they pass through the Hexi Corridor, walk out of Yumen Pass, cross the vast Gobi Desert, climb over the snow-capped mountains, and come to Shuye thousands of miles away.

Zhuoye did not disappoint them. The local government had already divided 100,000 hectares of fertile land, and each piece of land was given according to the number of people in each household, ranging from 80 acres to 200 acres. Eight immigrant settlements were drawn out, which would become the prototype of the eight counties of Zhuoye Prefecture.

Immigrants established a baojia system, with ten households and one academy, and five A is the one academy. Two immigration officials were set up for each ten guarantees. Immigrants helped each other, cultivated land and built houses. There was a vibrant scene everywhere on the broken leaf land.

The grain exchange of prisoners of war by the Aman River continued, while Li Qing'an returned to Saiye. His wives and concubines were already living in Saiye's new house. That morning, Li Qing'an took his wife Dugu Mingyue in a carriage to a newly built town in the north of Saiye.

They rode in a large carriage, and along the way, there were large lush forests everywhere. Most of the forest flowers had faded. The road was filled with the fragrant fragrance of apple flowers. There was still white snow on the mountains. In the sun, it was as magnificent as sapphires. The snow water melted, forming clear streams that meandered and flowed into a big river. On the hillside was a velvet-like grass, soft and tender.

Li Qing'an sat in the carriage and looked carefully at the battle report written by Cui Qianyou. Cui Qian's strategy was implemented very well, suppressing the Uighurs without fighting, strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, and eroding the Uighurs' territory step by step. This was the decision made by Li Qing'an after repeated consideration. He needed war, and a constant war was the best way for him to control Anxi.

This is actually An Lushan's strategy, which is to fight and suppress the Khitan at the same time. In this way, he can firmly take up the position of Jiedushi Fanyang. If Wang Zhongsi also launched the Battle of Shibao City in the sixth year of Tianbao, he would not be unable to firmly take up the position of Jiedushi.

Li Qingan closed the battle report and pondered for a long time. The carriage shook for a while and woke him up from his thoughts. He looked down at his wife. Seeing Mingyue staring at the view outside the window with intoxicated eyes, he kissed her forehead and smiled: "Do you like this?"

Mingyue snuggled in her husband's arms, nodded gently, and whispered: "The scenery here is completely different from the Central Plains, and it is also different from the half-prairie and semi-desert in Anxi. I like it very much."

"If you like it, we will also build a house here, built with wood, with fruit trees behind it. The stream surrounds the house. When the fruits are ripe in autumn, you will take your children to the orchard to pick fruits."

Li Qing'an's words made Mingyue's eyes lit up. I took her children to pick fruits. What a longing thing. She hugged Li Qing'an's arm and said in a silly manner: "Husband, then when will we have children?"

Li Qingan gently hugged her waist and smiled ambiguously: "Well! I will work hard. I will work harder tonight and realize your wish as soon as possible."

Mingyue's pretty face was flushed. She pinched Li Qing'an's arm, sat upright from his arms, and took care of her hair scattered on her forehead. At this time, she pointed to a tent area in the distance and asked curiously: "Husband, where is that?"

Li Qing'an looked at it and smiled and said, "It is the destination we are here today, and it is also one of the settlements of Han people. It is named Qing'an Town."

"Qing'an Town? Isn't this your name?" Mingyue asked curiously.

Li Qing'an smiled angrily and said, "This is the name Li Siye flattered me, and this place will be called Qing'an County in the future."

Mingyue smiled and said, "Actually, the name Qing'an County is very good, and it is auspicious and peaceful, which is in line with the expectations of migrating Han people."

"Maybe!"

The carriage slowly entered the settlement area. Li Qing'an gave an order. The carriage stopped. Li Qing'an got off the carriage and carried Mingyue off the carriage. At this time, a middle-aged official rushed over and bowed to Li Qing'an and said, "Han Yue, the envoy of the humble resettlement branch, please see the general of the Jiedushi."

Seeing that he looked familiar, Li Qingan seemed to have seen him somewhere, he asked with a smile: "Have I seen you? Why do you look familiar?"

The official smiled and said, "General, we have actually seen him. That year, the general took office as the Henan Road Observer. I was the county magistrate of Xuchang County. At that time, the general went to our bean fields to inspect."

During the drought season in Li Qing'an's mind, the green bean seedlings on the roadside, the county magistrate who invented the method of irrigation at the roots, suddenly remembered him and smiled happily: "It turns out that it is the county magistrate Han. No wonder he looks so familiar. How could you come to Anxi?"

County Magistrate Han smiled bitterly and said, "The superiors asked Xuzhou to draw two officials to Anxi to support him. The prefect was not happy with me, so he pulled me here."

Li Qing'an knew that he was actually excluded from Anxi, but this person was very pragmatic and dared to innovate. It was Li Qing'an's luck that such an official came to Anxi to become an official. Li Qing'an smiled and patted him on the shoulder and said, "I know the ability of County Magistrate Han. I want to build Qing'an County here, and you are the first county magistrate. If you can successfully establish this county, I will promote you to the Chief Shi Shaoye."

Suiye Prefecture is the governor of the governor, Duan Xiushi, the governor is mainly responsible for military affairs, and the government affairs are under the supervision of the Chief Shi. Moreover, Suiye is already the core area of ​​Anxi, in charge of government affairs in the core area. This is equivalent to joining the senior management of Anxi. Han Yue knew that Li Qing'an was giving him a chance, so he happily said: "General, please rest assured, humble ranks, will definitely build Qing'an County."

"Okay! Take me to see the immigration situation."

Li Qingan looked back at Mingyue and smiled and said, "Are you waiting for me in the car?"

Mingyue shook her head, she wanted to accompany her husband to inspect the immigration. Li Qingan smiled and said to Han Yue: "Let's lead the way!"

"Yes! General, please follow me."

Under Han Yue's guidance, dozens of personal soldiers guarded Li Qing'an and his wife and walked into the immigration settlement area. From a distance, most of them were tents, but after entering the middle, they found that there were already wooden buildings, including wine shops, various shops, selling daily groceries, clothing, etc. The tallest wooden building in the middle was the official office of the resettlement envoy, mainly allocating land, preparing for the construction of cities, fabricating household registration, and mediating conflicts among immigrants. There were a total of six officials, and Han Yue was their head.

"General, there are now 1,800 households and more than 10,000 people here. The immigration mainly comes from Hedong. The land has been allocated and a cow has been distributed in each household. Now everyone has started to help build houses, but it is too late to sow wheat now, and most of the land has sowed beans and millet."

"Sow seeds?" Li Qingan asked in surprise: "Can you sow the newly reclaimed land?"

“The land here can be sown.”

At this time, Li Qing'an saw an old man squatting on the ground to study the soil, so he quickly walked up and squatted down and asked with a smile: "Brother-in-law, how do you feel about the soil here?"

The old man looked back and saw Li Qing'an with a large group of soldiers guarding him. He knew that the big man had come. He immediately replied respectfully: "The old man is from Puzhou, Hedong. The land there is very fertile, mostly in the fields, but it only takes thousands of years of cultivation to get good land. But the soil here is even more fertile than the land in my hometown, and the water and sunshine are abundant. If it is wheat, one acre of land can collect at least 500 kilograms of wheat, and there is no need to see God for dinner. This is a treasure land!"

Li Qingan was happy when he heard this, and then asked again with a smile: "How much land does the old man have to divide his family?"

The land allocation standard in Anxi is mainly based on per capita distribution and is divided by region. There are four types, mainly based on the distance from the Central Plains. For example, Yizhou, the closest to the Central Plains, is 15 acres per person, but it is increased to 20 acres per person when it arrives in the Bahuancheng area of ​​Kucha, with 25 acres per person, and then to the west, with 30 acres per person. In addition, there is an upper limit. For example, the upper limit of broken leaves is 20 acres per household. In this way, families with more than eight people will choose to separate their families in order to seek more land. The land is of Yongye land and can be inherited, but it is not allowed to be bought or sold. If the household registration disappears, the land will automatically return to the government. If it is not planted for five years, it will be deemed to give up the land. Taxes are subject to rent and rent, and if someone joins the army, taxes will be reduced and exempted. This is one step further than the equal-field system in the early Tang Dynasty. The equal-field system in the early Tang Dynasty allowed to buy and sell, leaving a hole for land annexation.

The old man hurriedly said, "I have six people in my family, who belong to the upper middle-level household, and have been assigned 150 acres of land."

"How many acres of land does the father-in-law have in his house?" Mingyue asked with great interest.

When the old man saw Mingyue’s beautiful and dignified appearance, he whispered to him and really had a good impression of her. He smiled bitterly: “To be honest, my sister said, our family of six did not have a single piece of land. Our family was all slaves from Xu Dahu’s family. He fled to Guanzhong due to the drought in Hedong and followed the crowd to Anxi, but he didn’t expect to get the land. He heard that this was General Li’s gift, but unfortunately I couldn’t see him, otherwise the old man would have kowtowed him three times.”

Han Yue pointed at Li Qing'an and smiled and said, "This is our General Li!"

'thump!'

The old man knelt down and kowtowed to Li Qing'an repeatedly, tears came out of excitement, "General, you are the reborn parents of our family. Without you, most of our family will starve to death. Please be bowed by the old man."

Li Qingan hurriedly supported him and smiled, "Just beg for a while, don't be so polite."

At this time, Mingyue gently pulled Li Qing'an and said, "Husband, look!"

Li Qingan raised his head and was stunned. He saw that there were so many immigrants around him at some time, with as many as a thousand people. He heard that he was General Li, and they all knelt down for him.

Li Qing'an was moved, and he quickly whispered: "Dear fellow villagers, please get up!"

No one was willing to stand up, and several old men took the lead and shouted loudly: "Thank you for giving us land, thank you for abolishing the slaves!"

Han Yue next to him also sighed: "The general's equal-field system is certainly gratifying, but the abolition order is truly admirable. This law will definitely completely change Anxi."

The abolition order is a major change in Anxi. In Anxi, slaves are not allowed to be owned, slave markets are abolished, and slave trading is strictly prohibited. Considering the actual situation, there can be hired workers, but personal freedom is absolutely free. Both parties of the employer use a contract to clarify the employment relationship, which states the employment period, wages and other conditions. After the expiration of the period, both parties can voluntarily negotiate whether to renew the employment.

This is a completely different local law from the mainland. It starts with migration. Within one year, all the Anxi people must implement it, including officials, such as Li Qing'an, who took the initiative to release his slaves. More than 30 servants in his mansion were free. Now Li Qing'an hired them with a minimum of four jin of money per month, rested for one day every ten days, and had half a month off every year, and would not deduct wages, and at the end of the year, the rewards were added for more than two months.

This is the wage labor relationship in later generations. Although it is a bit ahead of the times, this abolition order has received the support of most officials. Everyone knows that slavery and land annexation complement each other are the root cause of the social crisis in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, Anxi urgently needs to increase the number of households, so abolition can ensure this. Li Qing'an implemented abolition of slavery in the new place of Anxi. It can be said that this local law conforms to the trend of reality.

Of course, there are many detailed regulations to plug loopholes. For example, some wealthy families will use the method of taking concubines and taking adopted sons to turn female slaves into concubines, male slaves into adopted sons, and disguisedly avoiding abolition of slavery. These have corresponding regulations to plug the loopholes. Secondly, the punishment is extremely severe. Those who refuse to abolition slaves, sell slaves privately, and store slaves in disguise will be poached 100 times and are ordered to correct the problem. Those who refuse to correct the problem will confiscate their property and drive them out of Anxi.
Chapter completed!