When Li Chengzhi attacked Yuanli and Yu Zhong in Guanzhong, he stole more than 60,000 households.
Each household has five to six people, which is close to 400,000 people.
It sounds like a lot, but when placed in the huge Guanxi (west of Tongguan), it is roughly like a sesame seed on a sesame seed cake.
When Yuan Ke came to the throne, he ordered all states to count the Ming households. Only the Ming households in the five prefectures in Guanzhong, that is, Jing, Qi, Yong, Hua, and Luo, all had more than 1.9 million registered households. If counted.
The number of hidden households is at least three million.
There are relatively fewer Qinliang prefectures located outside the pass (outside the four passes in the pass), but they definitely have many more Ding households than Jin and Beizhen.
There were more than 600,000 registered households in the two states, and Li Chengzhi only stole one-tenth of it. If he hadn't been afraid that Hexi would not have enough food to feed too many people, with his ability at the time, this number could have been doubled.
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Add to this the 15,000 households from the year before last and the nearly 10,000 households that were recently robbed from Liangzhou, and this is 90,000.
In addition, Li Chengzhi also took the opportunity to recruit more than 20,000 rebels in Guanzhong. Afterwards, Li Shiliang gave Li Chengzhi permission to organize them into military households. Not only did they allocate fields and rations, lend livestock, and distribute grain,
Farm tools, etc., are also given to my wife and children.
You want to ask where your wife and children come from?
Don't forget that after Li Song exterminated the Du Lun tribe, he not only robbed millions of livestock, but also tens of thousands of Hu people. Among them, there were nearly 5,000 Hu Ding and 30,000 women, old and weak.
Otherwise, with Li Song's five thousand soldiers, it would take the year of the monkey, the horse and the moon to drive so many cattle and sheep to Hexi?
After all, he was a great Confucian who passed down his family through poetry. He had been taught the Confucian doctrine of "ruling the world with benevolence and filial piety" since he was a child. Li Song and the other servants of the Li family were too determined to reach out to women and children.
But how to feed these people has become a big problem.
It doesn't matter to Li Chengzhi, he has no bloodline plot and has always believed in the principle of "when the barbarians enter China, the Chinese will take over, and when the barbarians enter China, the barbarians will take over"!
In addition, Hexi does not need to support too many soldiers in the short term, so a compromise between two aspects resulted in this scene.
Not to mention, once the news was released, the rebels rushed to the front and almost had their heads smashed.
As a result, there are nearly 110,000 households in Xihai, and every family has land, every family has sheep, and everyone has a wife.
However, the living conditions are worse. Nearly 30,000 households live in shacks on the ground, and the remaining 80,000 households can only sleep in tents.
The warm season is natural, but it is a big problem in winter. After all, no matter how thick the felt tent is, it is not as warm as a house.
Trapped in this situation, Li Chengzhi made two preparations: First, before the snow fell, the households were moved to Biansi County, Zhangye County, etc.
At that time, the imperial court and Gao Zhao were in a fierce battle, and they could not care about what was happening in Hexi. And because of the cold weather and the long journey, even if Yuan Zhi got the news, 90% of them would not send troops.
It won’t be too late to move back to Zhenyi and Xihai in the spring of next year.
And this is only the second one. The biggest headache for Li Chengzhi is food.
As the saying goes, if a Taoist has no long-term worries, he must have short-term worries. Although the food in the West Sea is enough for the army and the people to eat for two years. But if one day does not come true, Hexi will not be occupied in two years, and not enough fertile farmland will be cultivated.
Or if the weather is rough for several years, what should we do?
There are a lot of livestock, but the family has a lot of wealth, and it doesn't count. If there are two disasters, more than half of them will die that year. If there is a plague, it will be even more difficult to clear the circle.
Otherwise, why are the nomadic peoples on the grassland changing so quickly, but the Han people have always remained standing?
So Li Chengzhi has already started thinking about where to get more food.
A loud "boom" made Li Chengzhi wake up.
This was the drum order for execution. As soon as the drum beat fell, more than a dozen swordsmen raised their butcher knives. After another roar, more than a dozen heads rose into the sky, blood spurted out, and then fell down like rain, splashing
The hands of those who had the knife were all over their faces.
The head fell to the platform and rolled down like a rubber ball. The people surrounding the execution platform exclaimed and retreated as if avoiding snakes and scorpions.
Although he was shocked, he was not confused, and there was not much sympathy on his face.
Just ten days ago, a notice was posted in the neighborhood, and the villagers were summoned to one place, and the neighborhood chief and the village chief announced the evil deeds of the rebels.
The villagers discovered that most of the people who criticized crimes were "noble people", and many of them were high-ranking officials in the old land.
There are also many common people who were bewitched by him and have been elected as new officials of the party and county.
The common people couldn't understand that it was only natural for the nobles to defect. After all, they were exiled for their rebellion and were no longer members of the gentry. The clan was divided into countless households, and even the head of the family and clan leader had to personally farm, feed cattle, and graze.<
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Compared with before, the situation has plummeted drastically. It is not surprising that he could not bear such suffering and plotted to defect.
But what do these common people, or the poor people and rebels who cannot read a single word, suffer?
If you stay here, you will not only have food at home and clothes on your body, but you will also be given fields, felt tents, cattle and sheep, vehicles, grain seeds, and farm tools. As long as you put in the effort, at least you will have enough food and clothing.
They are criminals and rebels. Their fields and residences in the old land have been confiscated, so even if they follow those criminal officials and nobles to escape, how can they survive?
I didn't quite agree with it at first, and when I heard that all the neighbors and households in the house who rebelled would be punished by being punished, ranging from 30% to 10% of their fields and livestock would be taken back, the audience was suddenly in an uproar and scolded. p>
It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the government, it’s just that when I settled down and divided the land, the officials made it clear: If there are refugees, the neighbors will be together.
Compared with the government in the old days, there were no punishments, and no households were turned into slaves. They only confiscated some fields and livestock, which was the utmost benevolence and justice.
But everyone has selfish motives. Who would be willing to have the meat in their mouths taken away from them?
Therefore, the people involved have become more and more resentful towards these traitors, and are even more prepared to report them and strive to make up for their losses.
This move actually allowed Huangfu Rang and Li Xiaoxian to dig out a lot of Xiaoxiao who had already wanted to escape alive and had even encouraged his neighbors to prepare to defect without much effort.
Most of the Han people and common people were punished according to their crimes, and not many rebels were punished with death. They were imprisoned in the north of the mountain to cultivate fields. But all the common people were severely punished.
It took Li Shiliang nearly a year to behead more than a thousand people. In just one month, the number of death row prisoners who were red-marked by Li Chengzhi and put on the execution platform exceeded this number.
All the nobles who were taken to Hexi but did not plot to defect, or who had not yet had time to plot, thought that they would be driven out and killed. They were all in panic all day long, but they did not dare to have the slightest idea of defecting.
How to escape?
It was written clearly in the notice, and it was clearly preached from door to door: If you report it in advance, your neighbors will not only not be punished, but will also be heavily rewarded.
Just like in later generations, people in Beijing look at everyone as if they were walking around half a million people.
Poor people want to change, and the remaining family members all swore and even wrote a guarantee document saying that they would never defect. Then they asked the Lu family one after another and handed it to Li Shiliang's desk.
Li Shiliang went to look for Li Chengzhi again, but Li Chengzhi only replied with six words: In troubled times, important codes should be used.
He just discussed the matter and judged the crime according to the crime, and did not implicate the family members or clan members according to the existing laws and regulations. This was already an open policy.
If according to the laws of the Yuan and Wei dynasties, defection would be the same as rebellion, which would harm the three clans...
Group after group of condemned prisoners were led onto the execution platform. The blood on the platform formed pools of water and dripped down the gaps in the wooden boards, like a bead curtain.
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly.
If it weren't for Gao Zhao, this scene would never have happened.
After experiencing the Jingzhou Monk Rebellion and seeing the suffering of the poor people, Li Chengzhi was extremely repulsive to the wealthy families of this era.
According to his original plan, all powerful people, commanders, and noble families were not on his list at all.
If there had been enough time at that time, this part could have been excluded with just a little screening. But things did not go as planned, and Gao Zhao happened to be causing trouble, bewitching the Queen Mother, Yuan Ying, Yuan Cheng and others to change their generals before the battle.
Li Chengzhi had no choice but to steal them all back.
Although he opened the net and did not punish them for the crime of rebellion, but those who dared to follow Yuan Huai, Yu Zhong, Yuan Li and Cui Zuji in rebellion, how could they have a fuel-efficient lamp?
Within a few months, some members of the family were shocked to realize that this was not a military town in the North, let alone a place of exile from the imperial court, but rather looked like a place of rebellion.
As the saying goes, it is difficult to move from luxury to frugality, and it is easy to move from frugality to luxury. Now that there is no hope of wealth, and not only are they forced to divide households, but they are also reduced to common people, naturally some people are interested.
As long as you escape back and report the location of this place to the court, wouldn't it be a great achievement?
You can’t discount merit as crime, at least it’s better than cultivating fields and herding sheep here, right?
That’s why today’s scene happened.
In addition to hating Gao Zhao, Li Chengzhi suddenly woke up: This is class struggle. Either you die or I live, so I can't relax at all.
Listening to the roars and pleadings on the stage, Li Chengzhi's eyes became even more disgusted.
Isn’t it too late to regret now?
"Lang Jun, Master Li is here!"
Li Liang?
Li Chengzhi turned around and looked back, and saw Li Liang looking around behind the formation.
Nowadays, Li Chengzhi can't show his face, so he wears a robe and mixes among a group of soldiers. Not to mention Li Liang, even Li Shiliang on the stage only knows that he is in the audience, but doesn't know where he is.
Li Chengzhi hummed softly, and then Li Cong took out his flag and waved it towards Li Xiaoxian in the formation.
Li Xiao first understood, and with a few orders, a gap opened in the rear formation and Li Liang was let in.
Li Chengzhi had already clarified his official ranks a month ago, and all the old ministers had positions. For example, Li Xiaoxian is now the commander of the Guards and the deputy director of the Supervision Department.
Li Liang is the director of the Ministry of Industry and the deputy director of the Ministry of War.
Military power cannot be left aside at any time, so the person in charge is naturally Li Chengzhi...
After just a few breaths, Li Liang entered the formation, leaned into Li Chengzhi's ear and said, "Lang Jun, it's done!"
Li Chengzhi was overjoyed when he heard this: "Has the barrel been cast?"
"Ah?" Li Liang was stunned, "I just created a model!"
Li Chengzhi seemed to be frozen, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Fortunately, Li Liang couldn't see it because of the mask.
He concealed it very well, and still had a smile in his tone: "It's already very fast. As long as the cast film is cast, it can be cast at any time. I am too impatient..."
After a pause, Li Chengzhi waved his hand again, "Let's go, take me to see you!"
Li Liang responded repeatedly and followed Li Chengzhi out of the military formation.
In fact, Li Chengzhi had wanted to cast cannons for a long time, but he knew better what artillery meant to this era. So he didn't take action until he arrived in Hexi.
Now that the emperor is no longer far away, he is personally in charge. Li Chengzhi is not afraid that some people will have different intentions, so there are more people participating in cannon casting this time.
In addition to Li Liang, who controls the secret recipe of gunpowder, there are also Li Zhang, the owner of the firearms camp, Li Liang, the head of the Ministry of Industry, Li's hometown craftsman, and a bunch of his disciples and grandchildren.
Professional matters should naturally be left to professionals. After Li Chengzhi decided to build a cannon, he naturally found Li Liang.
It seems difficult to imagine, but as long as you use the right method, it is actually very simple.
The first step is to cast a mold, which is very familiar to Li Chengzhi.
It's just a pipe. No matter how difficult it is, it's much easier than when he secretly smelted a bronze statue in Kongtong Mountain and replaced it with an iron Buddha.
The lost wax method that existed during the Shang and Zhou dynasties was used. To put it more specifically, the cannon barrel was cast with wax, then the wax barrel was surrounded, and the inner mold and the outer frame were made of crucible filled with graphite.
Then the crucible mud is dried, and the wax naturally turns into water. What is left is the model of the cannon barrel, which can be formed by pouring molten steel into it.
Li Chengzhi didn't need much guidance. He just asked for the cannon barrel, and Li Liang slapped his chest and issued a military order: He could make a sample of this thing in just half a month.
In fact, it only took ten days. Li Chengzhi was busy with too many things and forgot the time.
When he arrived at the steel field, Li Chengzhi realized that not only had the mold been burned, but Li Liang had also made the molten steel, and Li Liang came to repay him.
Looking at the red crucibles, Li Chengzhi finally realized: What was cast in this way was a steel cannon, not an iron cannon?
An idea flashed in my mind, and I suddenly remembered some memories about steel cannons: early Krupp seemed to use crucibles for casting.
Isn’t it difficult to blow up the barrels of these guns?
Li Chengzhi was overjoyed and quickly ordered Li Liang to water the water.
He has been making steel and forging steel in Hexi for three years. He needs mines and people, and Li Liang's skills have already reached a higher level. Compared with him, Li Chengzhi is only half-assed.
Therefore, Li Chengzhi was very self-aware and was afraid of affecting Li Liang, so he just stood aside and watched without saying a word.
In just over half an hour, a seven-cup-long barrel with a thickness of nearly three inches was freshly baked.
Looking at the dark cannon body and the dazzling cold light, Li Chengzhi felt as if he was drunk and felt indescribably comfortable.
Once this thing comes out, will it be more than just a dimensionality reduction attack?