Song Qi was ordered to go to Youzhou a year ago to supervise the construction of a warehouse city near Youzhou City to store food and weapons. At the same time, make preparations for the expansion of Youzhou.
As the name suggests, Cangcheng is a city used to store food.
The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first.
One can imagine the importance attached to grain and grass. As an important town in the north, Youzhou is located at the core of the entire Yanshan Great Wall defense line. Regardless of the Northern Expedition, it is necessary to reserve sufficient strategic materials here.
Such a large project is most likely to breed corruption.
Youzhou was far away from Bianjing and beyond reach, so Luo Youdu was worried and left full power to local officials.
What's more, Youzhou has been occupied by the Khitan for many years, and most young people have received Khitan education and growth. There are inevitably some scum, not to mention some Khitan people who have settled in Youyan.
For the long-term plan, Luo Youdu treated them equally, but in recent years he had often caught them communicating secretly with the Khitan.
As long as you are caught, you will naturally be severely punished.
But even if the Khitans are wiped out by this thing, there will still be two or five others who will appear.
Luo Youdu did not make a fuss about this, and never cleared up the situation, causing people to panic.
After all, when it comes to spying, the Khitan's tricks are far behind those of the Central Plains.
What's more, Luo Youdu was influenced by later generations of spy war dramas and had a certain understanding of the Imperial City Division, Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Xichang, Expert Factory, and Sticky Rod Department.
The Central Plains' infiltration of the Khitan is far more terrifying than the Khitan's. At least in Bianjing, not a single sound of the Khitan can be heard.
But in Khitan, lantern riddles invented by Luo Youdu have become popular during the Chinese New Year.
For this reason, the upper echelons of Khitan had to issue an order to ban the promotion of lantern riddles and ordered ordinary people and merchants not to hold lantern festivals.
But after someone revealed it, the Khitan nobles happily played lantern riddles at a party.
As Khitans who were born in Yi and Di, they looked down on the weak Central Plains, but they also yearned for the life in the Central Plains.
Things that are popular in the Central Plains are easily sought after in Khitan.
This behavior of only allowing state officials to set fires, but not allowing people to light lamps, caused a big crack in the originally harmonious ethnic relations in the Northeast.
Comparing the results of intelligence infiltration from both sides, Luo Youdu was calm and calm.
However, the expansion of Youzhou and the construction of Cangcheng was a long-term plan, and Luo Youdu did not want any surprises, so he specially arranged a working group from Bianjing to go to Youzhou to take full charge of the matter.
Song Qi is the leader. He is originally from Youzhou and is very familiar with Youzhou, which makes it easy to start work.
It took one year to complete the construction of Cangcheng.
"Your Majesty! The Cangcheng was built in two floors, with warehouses built on the upper floor and cellars built on the lower floor. There are a total of 800 warehouses and cellars. Each warehouse is insulated with thick soil to prevent a fire in one warehouse from affecting the entire warehouse. New rice
Put it in the cellar, put the old rice in the warehouse, and the cycle repeats.”
Luo Youdu looked at the Cangcheng drawings handed over by Song Qi, his eyes full of approval and said: "Okay, good job."
He was extremely impressed by the adaptability of the ancients.
This brand-new warehouse city used many of the latest technologies of the imperial court: for example, the old rice originally stored in the cellar required manpower to be transported to the outer warehouse, and then the new rice could be stored in the cellar.
This is not an easy job. Take the cellars in Cangcheng, Youzhou, for example. Each cellar can store five thousand loads of grain. One load is ten buckets, and one bucket is twenty kilograms. Five thousand loads is fifty thousand buckets, which is one bucket.
One million catties of grain.
Of course, each cellar cannot be completely filled, but even if it is reduced by half, it still weighs 500,000 kilograms, and its operation requires a lot of manpower and material resources.
According to Luo Youdu's reminder, the imperial court's research on mechanics became increasingly sophisticated.
As an emperor, Luo Youdu could not participate in everything, but he gave some advice and added the finishing touch from time to time, which promoted the progress of science and technology.
Youzhou Cangcheng used the technology of moving pulleys.
Pulley technology has been used in the Central Plains for many years. There is one name called a pulley, and another form called a windlass, but the operation is not flexible enough.
The movable pulley can greatly reduce manpower. The grain in the cellar can be lifted and lowered with the fixed pulley, and the grain can be transported from the cellar to the granary with very little manpower.
This technology has been developed for less than a year and has been directly applied to practical applications.
The response has been pretty good.
As the ruler of the imperial court, Luo Youdu had already realized that the war was coming. As soon as the Cangcheng was built and the tests were correct, it was put into use immediately, and a large amount of food was already piled in the cellar.
Luo Youdu asked: "How about Youzhou City?"
Song Qi bowed and said: "I am about to report to Your Majesty that Youzhou has always been an important town in the north. The city is strong and difficult to expand. After an on-the-spot investigation, I came up with an idea. It is better to expand a new city in the north of the city to compare with the current Youzhou."
The states and cities are connected. It not only retains the strength of Youzhou City, but also adds a line of defense to Youzhou City."
Luo Youdu's eyes lit up and he said: "This is a good idea. I have a deep understanding of the strength of the Youzhou city wall. Building a new city to connect it is indeed more practical than expanding outwards."
Song Qi stopped talking, and then said: "Your Majesty, I understand that the geographical location of Youzhou is extremely important, but the population of Youzhou has been unable to increase, which is extremely detrimental to the development of Youzhou."
Luo Youdu pointed at Song Qi and said: "Prime Minister Song has spoken what is in my heart. So for the long-term plan, I plan to fill the north with people from the Central Plains in the south of the Yangtze River, and fill Longyou with people from the middle of Shu."
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Youzhou is actually still good, although it was the main battlefield of the Khitan in the early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Yelu Abaoji and Yelu Deguang invaded many times, causing serious population loss.
But at any rate, under the rule of the Khitan, there was peace for more than 20 years.
The worst place is Hedong, where the emperors of the Five Dynasties and Five Dynasties came out of Hedong three times.
Each of them led the troops from Hedong to conquer the world, and the Northern Han Dynasty had a long-term confrontation with the Hou Zhou Dynasty. After Luo Youdu captured the Northern Han Dynasty, he discovered that their country's population was only more than 200,000, and the unit of calculation was not households, but people...
Hedong is also of great strategic significance, rich in resources, and has a developed salt and iron industry.
Luo Youdu called on the people to migrate many times, but few responded.
Luo Youdu could only focus on beggars. When he found one, he went to Youzhou and Taiyuan and asked local officials to arrange for them to work.
So much so that there were no beggars in Bianjing.
All the real beggars have been arranged to go out, and the fake beggars who want to eat for nothing and wait to die do not dare to go out on the streets at all.
Luo Youdu could understand the people's reluctance to leave their homes. Who would be willing to leave their homes unless they had no choice?
What's more, the place they are in is the most prosperous place in the world, at the feet of the Emperor.
Or Splendid Jiangnan?
But for long-term considerations, immigration is imperative.
Song Qi's face changed slightly and she said, "I'm afraid there will be considerable resistance to this matter."
Luo Youdu smiled fearlessly: "So we need to make a careful plan with Prime Minister Song, and the immigration matter must be implemented no matter how difficult it is. In any case, at least we have someone on hand, right?"
When he said this, he was confident.
People asked themselves, Luo Youdu felt that he, the founding emperor, was very lucky.
Taking advantage of the demographic dividend of this era...
All the founding emperors before him faced serious population shortages.
Whether it is the Han Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty, they were all dynasties born in blood and fire after turmoil, and the people's livelihood was exhausted.
But when Luo Youdu came to the throne, the population of the Later Zhou Dynasty was 10 million. At the same time, the population of the Southern Tang Dynasty was 3.8 million, the population of the Southern Han Dynasty was 1 million, Wuyue and Bashu were all around 3 million, and even Zhangquan and Jingnan had a population of 10 million.
There are 700,000 to 800,000 people, plus Longyou, Liangzhou, and Yunjiuzhou...
Luo Youdu's campaigns in the north and south brought these populations together. Today, the imperial court records a total population of more than 28 million...
You must know that in order to stimulate the population, Li Shimin took advantage of widows and issued the "Timely Edict to Encourage Common People to Marry and Engage" to force widows to remarry and promote population growth. By the 13th year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, the population was only 1,235
Just ten thousand.
It was also with such generous population benefits that many of Luo Youdu's decrees and systems were implemented, and the vitality and economy of the imperial court were restored in a short period of time.
Song Qi was right. At least the imperial court now had someone to move to, which was much better than the Tang Dynasty when no one was available.
Luo Youdu discussed with Song Qi the issue of people's migration.
He was making preparations for Song Qi. Such a big move that would affect the world would inevitably involve getting several prime ministers to take the lead.
After sending Song Qi away, Luo Youdu met with Dou Yi, Zhao Pu and others. They discussed people's livelihood and studied national development. There was no feeling that a storm was coming.
Compared with the calmness of Luo Youdu in the Central Plains, Yelu Bishe, who was far away in Shangjing, had a solemn face, as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
Yelv Bishe has been holding military meetings with his confidants for three days in a row.
Just because their hostage in Yue Yelu said something: "I estimate that when Goryeo is destroyed, the traitors of the Southern Dynasty will send out troops."
Just this simple sentence cast a dark cloud over the Khitans going to Beijing.
If Brother Yelu Xiu and Han Kuangsi are the two great men of the Khitan in civil and military affairs, then Yelu Wuzhi is the Khitan’s Dinghai Shenzhen. After Yelu Abaoji, Yelu Deguang, Yelu Ruan, Yelu Jing and now Yelu Bishe in the Five Dynasties, they have been in the Khitan royal family for two years.
He played a decisive role in every struggle for the throne. Historically, Yelu Jing was so absurd that he was still able to control the Khitan's territory of thousands of miles, which was closely related to the existence of Yelu Wuzhi, the second-ranking figure.
"The leader of the thieves in the Southern Dynasties is a man who knows how to use soldiers. I have studied him for many years. The more I study him, the more I feel frightened. This man has extensive knowledge and great skills, but he has no arrogance. Instead, he is calm and cautious. From the time when the thieves took me to Youzhou, he became more and more frightened.
It can be seen that he arranged for Song Xiong to gain Xiao Siwen's appreciation in advance, thereby paving the way for Xiao Siwen's defeat. He is good at planning first, just like his sentence, worry about the world before it is worried, in other words, he is good at planning first.
He plans things according to his plans. He can always make plans in advance and think of things that others cannot."
"Our attack on Goryeo must not be hidden from him. Why don't we send troops to intervene? Isn't it right to force our country to have no regard for each other? The veteran believes that there are three reasons: first, they really need to rest, and second, they don't want Goryeo to take advantage in vain. If
When he goes to war, the main force of our army will be transferred to the west. Goryeo has the prince of Bohai in his hands, and it is very likely that he will take the land of Bohai. Third, he may not have the intention of killing with a borrowed knife. The Southern Dynasty has never effectively ruled Haidong for thousands of years."
"The ambitions of the thieves in the Southern Dynasty are no less than those of Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty. I estimate that the Southern Dynasty is interested in taking Haidong as their territory. It is impossible for them to sit back and watch us capture Goryeo, win over the people, put aside their worries, and then fight with us again.
"
"The greater possibility is that after we capture Goryeo, we will start the war directly. This will leave us no time to clean up the rebels from all sides in the east who are unwilling to surrender. At that time, the rebels from the Southern Dynasty, who claim to be righteous, will come west and take these rebels as their own.
By using it, not only can we easily stabilize the situation in Goryeo, but we can also capture all the land east of the sea."
The analysis of the quality of Yelu's house came to Yelu Bishe's mind.
This analysis is so thorough that I have no choice but to believe it.
A trace of unwillingness flashed in Yelu Bishe's eyes. He asked himself that he was better than his stupid brother, and he asked himself that he had reached the limit, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, the strength of the Southern Dynasty was getting further and further away from him.
Yelu Wuzhi looked at Guo Xi who proposed to continue the consumption and said: "We cannot continue to consume. Although we do not capture Goryeo, the Central Plains will not go to war. But the Central Plains has been recharging its energy, but we have to consume a lot of baggage in the past.
This method will not easily quench thirst by drinking poison, and will ruin the chance of the imperial court winning."
"The longer the war in Goryeo drags on, the greater the impact on morale will be. If something unexpected happens, it will be even more detrimental to us. It is true that the Central Plains does not want to take advantage of Goryeo, but if it can easily defeat us, it will not miss the opportunity."
He bowed deeply to Yelu Bishe and said: "Your Majesty, the top priority is to make all preparations against the attack of the traitors from the Southern Dynasty. According to the advance route estimated in the past few days, strengthen the defenses and prepare for the attack."
Yelu Bishe closed his eyes and meditated for a long time.
Thinking about every detail of the three-day meeting, according to their analysis: the Northern Expedition in the Central Plains will at least be divided into two routes: land and water, starting from Gubeikou to attack Dadingfu in Zhongjing, and attacking Liaodong by sea. As for whether they will send partial divisions to attack Goryeo or
It is doubtful that they would disturb their grain-producing areas.
But it is inevitable that the troops will be divided into two groups...
Yelv Bishe opened his eyes and said: "Pass on my decree, order the Prime Minister of Nanfu Yelusa to take charge of the military affairs of Beijing, and order the Ningjiang Army Commander Yelv Xian to lead the Liaodong Military and Horse Command and fortify the Lulong Coast..."
He dispatched troops and generals one by one, and transferred capable soldiers and wise and brave generals to Zhongjing and Liaodong.
But the real core, Yelu Xiuge, Yelu Xiezhen, and Yelu Bishou, are used as surprise soldiers.
After three days of deliberations, they finally came to a conclusion.
If you want to defeat the Central Plains, you still have to start with the grain road.
Let the veteran Yelüsha and the steady Yelüxian defend, and let the energetic Yelvxiu and Yelv Xiezhen take charge of the attack.
As for the direction of Goryeo, the Southern Dynasty really relied on the strength and marched troops in three directions. At least in the short term, it could be handed over to the Japanese country.
The Khitan, which has always been known for its offensive approach, faced the traitors of the Southern Dynasty. After thinking for three days, it finally made a defensive counterattack. This was the trick the Southern Dynasty was best at.
Everyone in the meeting hall felt aggrieved and had fire in their hearts, but had nowhere to vent.
The mobilization of Khitan troops and horses could not be concealed from Luo Youdu in Bianjing.
When he learned that the Khitan had set up defenses on the banks of the Lulong River in Zhongjing and further strengthened the original defense facilities, he just smiled indifferently and did not make any reaction.