Just when Gao Chongnian and others arrived in Hezhou, the craftsmen and immigrants who had set out earlier than them had already arrived in Dunhuang.
This group of people is not large, only a few hundred families, coming from Hedong, and are escorted by hundreds of soldiers - after they arrive in Gaochang, they will be transferred to Anxi town troops.
Dunhuang is now almost a huge meat processing factory.
Cattle and sheep are slaughtered one by one, and then the red meat is taken out and dried repeatedly.
This process is very long, and even if it can be heated, it will still take several months.
Therefore, the dried meat that the workers will process are all cattle and sheep slaughtered last year. After drying for a long time, only a fraction of the weight remains.
I saw many people holding wooden sticks and beating the dried meat repeatedly.
The beaten dried meat is then sent to the next process for grinding.
All kinds of grinding tools were used, including stone grinding, water grinding and even manual grinding, and a large amount of finely chopped dried meat was obtained.
The dried meat was further squeezed until it was no longer compressible and became very solid. Then it was stuffed into sealed jars and transported westward by vehicles or beasts of burden.
Intense material transfer work has been going on for a year. There are not even enough jars here in Dunhuang. Now all the floss-like dried meat is stuffed into the bladders of pigs, cattle and sheep and transported to the front line.
The consumption of the war is real, and this is also the main reason why the imperial court has not been able to immigrate to the Western Regions on a large scale. It finally reduced the number of frontline soldiers and squeezed out some resources, and only managed to relocate less than 10,000 people, including many
Literati, craftsmen, officials and their families.
And these people are not satisfied with immigrating to Gaochang, let alone Yanqi, Tingzhou, Qiuci and other places in the west.
This is reality, cruel and cold.
On March 12, King Shao Siwu of Zhao returned to Dunhuang from the west, preparing to take his family to Gaochang and meet all kinds of people who came to seek refuge with him.
"Your Highness!"
"See Your Highness!"
In the courtyard of a farm outside Dunhuang City, a group of people cheered and saluted.
Shao Siwu took a cursory look and saw that there were probably dozens of them, all of whom were selected and invited by the people below. They varied in age, but most of them were young.
There were a few Tibetan people among them, and Shao Siwu was familiar with them, so he smiled and nodded in greeting.
The Murong family of Tuyuhun in Shazhou and the Luoge family of Uighur medicine in Guazhou have been following Shao Siwu to conquer Gaochang in the past few years, so their relationship is naturally unusual.
"Everyone has traveled a long distance and worked hard all the way." Shao Siwu bowed and saluted, and then said: "We will stay in Dunhuang for a few days first. When everything is ready, we will go west. From now on, we need to work together and be patient for the country. I know
At this moment, everyone still has hesitations in their minds, so it’s useless for me to talk too much, so I just want to mention one thing: if I have something to eat, everyone’s food will be indispensable.”
After saying that, he looked at everyone.
There was silence for a while, and then someone said, "Actually, before I set out, I knew that there was nothing in the Western Regions. Even with the help of the imperial court, the initial days would definitely not be as comfortable as at home. But I have hands and feet, and I have practiced
Ten years of martial arts are with you. As long as His Highness still has great ambitions, this day will be fine."
"Your Highness, there is no need to feel embarrassed. Before leaving Guanzhong, there was even more outrageous news there, saying that there was not enough food and people were eating human flesh. Although I don't believe it, I also know that the west is not rich. So I am here, so why should Your Highness worry?
Take us to grab it, we will have everything."
"I wanted to stay in Guanzhong, but when I thought about spending the rest of my life as a slave, sweeping the courtyard, I couldn't swallow it. I also wanted to be a master, steal his seventeen or eight women, and let the Tibetan thieves sweep them for me.
Horse manure. Your Highness, take us to do it."
"That's right, take us to do it. There's nothing wrong with sleeping on the ice and eating snow. It's so helpless if we can't see hope."
Although he was already thirty years old and had a lot of experience, he would not be easily moved. However, after hearing the words of his sons, Shao Siwu was still excited and said: "Okay! Okay! They are all good sons. My father said something in the past.
, when we are fighting in formation, the sergeant flees, kill the sergeant, the lieutenant flees, beheads the lieutenant, ten generals flee, behead ten generals, I run away, please behead me. As the son of Shao's family, I shall follow my example. From now on,
We are all brothers who live and die together, and whoever dares to escape from battle will be punished together."
When everyone heard this, they cheered loudly: "Thieves robbing Tibetan! Thieves robbing Tibet!"
In the small courtyard, the sound soared into the sky.
****
"Your Highness, is there any plan to seal the country?" Liu Mian asked in a low voice on the road leading to Yinzhou.
"I have told my father everything about my plan," Shao Siwu said.
He was riding a black horse, and his wife and children were sitting in a carriage.
The motorcade was very long, stretching for several miles. In addition to his family, there were also some members of Hexi's big families, such as the Li family, the Yin family, the Suo family, the Zhang family, the Cao family, etc. There were still hundreds of people.
He even invited his close friends from Chang'an and Luoyang to go west together. After the founding of the feudal state in the future, helpers would be indispensable. Just the shortage of supporting officials from the six central ministries to the local prefectures and counties would be enough to give him a headache.
——It’s always good to get one more person to follow you.
"What did the sage say?" Liu Mian asked.
"The saint supports everything I do." Shao Siwu lowered his head and sighed.
In this world, the only people who can truly care for you are your parents.
Liu Mian pondered silently for a moment, and then said: "Actually, it depends on how the war will go this year. If it goes well, there will be no worries. If it doesn't, things will be very difficult."
"In the middle of February, Taichang Prime Minister Li Shouxin left Gaochang and went to Shule. He was accompanied by hundreds of people, a huge crowd." Shao Siwu smiled and said: "This is a dead end, and it will be difficult for the uncle and nephew to deal with it.
.”
Since the Uighur envoy Altai arrived in Gaochang in November last year, he has been urging the court to send people to Shule for consultation. The saint delayed it until early February on the grounds that the year was approaching, and then he agreed to the matter and sent people to Shule for "inspection."
.
This procrastination is also to buy time for myself.
Fighting in the Western Regions is like fighting with someone who is seriously ill. After fighting for a while, you will be out of breath and need to take a breath. After you regain your strength, you can proceed to the next step.
What's more, now that there is a good opportunity to divide and disintegrate the enemy, it is natural to take full advantage of it. So I delay it a little to give the Uighurs time to ferment internally. At the same time, I seize the time to stock up on supplies, reorganize the troops, and prepare for war.
.
After Li Shouxin arrived in Shule, he would naturally stir up troubles and further intensify the internal conflicts among the Uighurs because of his mission. We can wait and see what will happen.
"Some situations are indeed difficult to solve." Liu Mian said with a smile: "Your Highness's first priority is to cooperate with the saints to fight this battle well. If possible, be honest with the warriors, win over them as much as possible, and let as many people as possible
People stay.”
The "martial men" mentioned in Liu Mian's words, of course, refer to the tens of thousands of men handed over by the saint.
The army is entrusted to you, but whether they are willing to stay is another matter. After all, not everyone is willing to eat sand in the Western Regions.
"This is indeed the first priority." Shao Siwu sighed.
The saint now allows him to control the army and even encourages him to cultivate a private army, but this is not a simple matter.
Veterans are needed, newcomers are also needed, and the children of the wealthy families who have followed him are also needed. How to integrate these people into a whole will test his level. Moreover, this will take time, and it will not happen overnight.
"Having traveled a hundred miles, it's half a mile. Now that things have come to this point, there is no turning back." Liu Mian said, "Win people's hearts, cultivate party members, make more military exploits, and increase your prestige. Your Highness will remember this."
Shao Siwu nodded.
"You must go to the saint more often and say hello more often. You are a son, and it is only natural for a son to be filial to his father. When the saint is old, he attaches great importance to family ties. Moving around more will only be good, not bad." Liu Mian added.
warned.
"Thank you sir for your help, we will be able to help you." Shao Siwu turned around on horseback and bowed respectfully.
Liu Mian turned aside and sighed slightly.
King Zhao's behavior reminded him of Zhu Youyu back then. Things are unpredictable and the world is changing. This time he can't fail again...
****
Outside Gaochang City, the first craftsmen to arrive had already set up a stove, making a clanging sound.
"Northern History" mentioned that Gaochang had magnets, so the iron knives produced were of high quality.
Regardless of whether iron knives are closely related to magnets, it is a fact that the iron smelting industry in Gaochang is relatively prosperous. After the first batch of Central Plains craftsmen arrived, they immediately gave them land, and it was all good land close to wells and canals——
Gaochang has never been short of land, only water. Land with wells and canals for irrigation has always been valuable.
Subsequently, the imperial court recruited servants to build houses for them, set up stoves, and began to forge various iron tools.
The fuel required for iron smelting is still charcoal for the time being, the same as that of local blacksmiths in Gaochang.
Considering the arid natural environment here, logging needs to go to the mountains in the north. The journey is relatively long and the cost is high. If there is a chance in the future, it will still be replaced by coal.
Shao Shude heard rumors from locals in Gaochang that fires often broke out in some mountains and thick smoke came out of caves. After sending someone to investigate, it was determined that coal spontaneously ignited.
This shows that there are coal mines of a certain scale locally, which solves the source problem.
Of course, currently in Daxia, only Xiuwu uses coal to smelt iron to make weapons, while other places still use charcoal to ensure quality.
To this day, under Shao Shude's repeated teachings, although the craftsmen cannot prove it, they have gradually come to believe that it is the impurities contained in the coal that affect iron-making. Moreover, there is not no side evidence, such as yellow smoke, etc., but there is no
Just decisive evidence.
Shao Shude did not want to say more on this matter because he had no evidence.
For many years, he has been advocating a pragmatic style, requiring people to look at things with a rigorous attitude and use logical thinking as much as possible. Things without evidence cannot be fully accepted, even if they seem to be true.
At that time, the blacksmiths of the Wei family proposed the "hypothesis" that impurities in coal affect the quality of ironware, but because they could not prove it, they never received the "Prince of Xia".
However, as more and more peripheral evidence became available, craftsmen began to gradually recognize this hypothesis and tried to find ways to remove impurities from coal, including but not limited to baking, smoldering, etc.
This kind of treated "coal" has been used to some extent last year. How can I put it, a batch of iron tools were made, and the quality was much better than using untreated coal to smelt it, but it was not as good as using charcoal.
As for the reason, we have to continue to look for it. Maybe it is the quality of the coal itself, maybe it is the process, maybe there is something wrong with the design of this "controlled experiment" itself.
Shao Shude didn't think much of it when he first heard about it, but later he learned that Wei's Blacksmith Shop had spent money on a controlled experiment, and he was very happy.
Whether you can coke or not is nothing, even a trivial matter. But this kind of logical thinking ability is the most precious. Extend it to the dimension of the entire history, promote this kind of logical thinking as much as possible, and let more people
People use logic to think about various things in daily life, which has a much stronger role in promoting the progress of the entire country and nation than any invention.
After learning that these craftsmen trained by the Wei family had all learned rudimentary mathematics, Shao Shude became more convinced: there is no better way to train logical thinking skills than mathematics.
Returning to the original topic, the arrival of the Central Plains blacksmiths is bound to slowly increase the production capacity of the logistics base in Gaochang. Not only weapons, but also agricultural tools.
On the sixth day of March, Shao Shude, who was out on inspection in the city, looked at the plowshares cast in the newly opened blacksmith shop, and at the wells and canals dug after the autumn harvest last year, and said: "Since the attack on Huangchao, I started my career in farming.
.I have been going around for thirty years and I am still using this strategy. It is really a technique that is not afraid of aging, as long as it is easy to use.”
"With so many blacksmiths coming, the Tibetan people in Gaochang are probably smiling crookedly." Xu Hao, the deputy privy envoy who followed closely behind him, said.
"The people of Gaochang are also my sons, why should we treat them differently?" Shao Shude said: "Starting from next month, Zhenbing family members will gradually move here, and they can also use these iron tools."
Xu Hao will be fully responsible for the formation of the Anxi Town Army. The sergeants will not be a problem, 6,000 people are basically in place, and the next work will mainly be the resettlement of family members.
Houses, land, and water canals are all necessary, otherwise the warriors' families would be unable to farm and survive.
Six thousand sergeants are basically 6,000 households. After increasing the population by this much, Xizhou's household registration will exceed 80,000, reaching the stage limit.
Next, the imperial court will not specifically immigrate to Xizhou. Yinzhou (Hami) may resettle a group of normal people to improve its supply and reception capacity, but the focus will shift to Tingzhou and Yanqi Prefecture.
The foundation of the Western Region is weak and the imperial court's projection capability is limited. If these two areas can be managed well, the initial goal has been achieved.
Some things, to put it simply and crudely, actually snowball.
Why is it relatively easy to immigrate to Liaodong? Because Hebei, which the people pass through, is the richest region in Daxia. At the same time, there are survivors from the Bohai Sea in Liaodong. Their cities are facing each other and they have a household registration of one million, which can squeeze out a lot of surplus resources to help the new immigrants.
And when the immigrants can be self-sufficient, the taxes they pay can feed back more immigrants, snowballing and developing continuously, causing profound changes in Liaodong every year.
But the foundation of the Western Region is too poor. What we need to do now is to improve the base, and only then can we produce pleasant exponential changes and transform into a kingdom step by step.
You have to eat one bite at a time, and haste makes waste in some things.
