In the middle of February of the sixth year of Taixing.

General Fei Qian of the Hussars arrived at Yangcheng in Yuzhou with the front line of the Xianlu troops who had won a great victory over the Western Qiang.

Accompanying him were not only a large number of Western Qiang prisoners of war, captured Qiang flags and weapons, but also some exotic artifacts brought from the Western Regions, as well as cloth, paper, green silk, etc. that Fei Qian presented to the emperor Liu Xie...

…

The minister ordered Xun Yu to send personnel to Yangcheng to receive him, and he entered the Chongde Hall to pay homage to the emperor Liu Xie.

"Your Majesty's warning..." Xun Yu said with a serious look on his face and a steady voice, "Spring plowing is busy now, and officials of all prefectures and counties, big and small, are promoting farming and mulberry planting, so we must not relax... Therefore, what the Hussars General said about the Western Qiang offering captives should be taken seriously."

It can be extended..."

Is this a valid reason?

The reason is valid.

Is there anything wrong with this reason?

No problem either.

In the spring season, these months are obviously the busiest time for farming. For the Han Dynasty, which focuses on farming, and areas with more flat land and densely populated areas like Yuzhou and Jizhou, can they do a good job at the moment?

The farming matters will almost determine the income in the next year, and will also affect the subsequent strategic deployment and many other complicated matters.

But the question is, does the celebration require all farmers in Yuzhou to put down their hoes?

Obviously not needed.

At most, farmers from around Xu County came to watch the fun. It may even be that because of the heavy farm work at home, these farmers would not come to join in the fun at all. Most of the people watching the ceremony were children of the gentry.

So do the children of the gentry need to farm?

There may be some who do the farming themselves, but there must also be those who don’t touch the spring water with their fingers.

"Delay?" Liu Xie did not directly rebuke or express any opinions, but asked rhetorically, "It took more than thirty years and 800 million yuan to be pacified during the time of the late emperor... Now it takes a long time for the Hussars to pacify the Jingxi Qiang."

It's quite short... Xun Aiqing, I don't know... is there anything strange in it?"

Xun Yu raised his head and glanced at Liu Xie quickly.

When the emperor grows up, he will ask questions to dig holes.

Xun Yu was obviously not stupid, "Your Majesty... I have not been to the Xiqiang battle in person, so I don't know whether it is true or not. If your Majesty is suspicious, you can ask the hussar to report the incident in detail..."

"Haha..." Liu Xie smiled slightly, "The great victory of the Western Qiang and the restoration of the Western Regions are the immortal achievements of the Han Dynasty, and a grand ceremony should be held to celebrate them... Regardless of other things, he died fighting for the Western Qiang.

The officers and men...should also have some comfort...Xun Aiqing, is it possible that the court has no money to spend?"

This is obviously another trap.

Xun Yu lowered his head and said: "Now the world is not at peace, disasters occur frequently in various places, and local counties and counties do not pay taxes... The imperial government's finances are indeed tight... Not to mention the chaos in Jiangdong and the erosion of Xuzhou, so we should be prepared and apply it once

It's a bit hard to avoid..."

Liu Xie did not pay attention to the topic of specific counties not paying taxes, but brought it back to the celebration, "Now that the victory of Xiqiang is a great opportunity to promote the power of the Han Dynasty! If the border thieves know that the west is peaceful, what will they have the courage to do?"

Competing with the Han Dynasty? If we don't hold a celebration, firstly, the court will think it is not true, and secondly, the border thieves will become more and more rampant, which will definitely consume more money and food, and it will take a long time to suppress the rebellion... Xun Aiqing, the importance of this, I love you smartly, you should know it."

Xun Yu's eyes moved slightly.

This question is very interesting...

"If we take this opportunity to declare to the world that the Han Dynasty is here, and the four directions are pacified, the thieves will definitely be frightened, and the court will be able to breathe. There is no need to conquer from all sides, and the people will be able to have children..." Liu Xie said slowly, "There is a big army.

The general is stationed in Qingxu, and the Jiangdong thieves dare not move rashly... The Western Qiang captives ceremony must be held! Not only must it be held, but it must be grand! Only in this way can the majesty of the Han Dynasty be demonstrated and the rebellion be deterred! If this celebration can shake his mind, even if it is

Even if you still resist, you can still fight and take it. It can be said that you get twice the result with half the effort!"

Xun Yu lowered his head and sighed slightly, "Your Majesty...the imperial court is in a financial straits and is no longer able to organize such a celebration..."

"Huh? The Han Dynasty...is it really that poor?" Liu Xie's face flashed with a trace of anger, "Although I live in the palace, I also know that the supply of 50,000 bottles of immortal wine in the city exceeds the demand! Nowadays, the supply exceeds the demand.

Ai Qing then said that there is no money to hold a celebration?!』

How dare you use lack of money as an excuse!

This made it difficult for Liu Xie to control the anger in his heart, which started to rise.

There have been several times before that Liu Xie wanted to do something, and then a large number of ministers tried to persuade him, saying that the country was in dire straits, the country was in turmoil, the people were in dire straits, and the people had no food to eat. How could you have the nerve to spend money?

This money, that money, you have to spend, you are the emperor of Han Dynasty, how can you ignore the life and death of the people, etc.

At first, Liu Xie thought he was really in such embarrassment.

After all, Liu Xie had gone through a period of hard times before. He knew that hard times were hard to bear, and he also understood what it was like when the embarrassment reached the extreme. Therefore, every time the minister said this, Liu Xie felt that he was going too far.

Yes? The requirements are too high? How about saving a little more?

But after several times in a row, Liu Xie naturally felt that something was wrong.

During the New Year, didn't Liu Xie send Xiao Huangmen out of the palace to buy some supplies and give them to everyone in the palace? So Liu Xie naturally took this opportunity to learn about the current situation in Xu County.

some situations.

It’s amazing, I really dare to say it!

Liu Xie's hair was blown, and new and old hatreds surged up in his heart.

"..." Xun Yu lowered his head slightly, "Your Majesty... may have misunderstood... This year's plan has many shortcomings..."

"'Lack'? What does this mean?" Liu Xie's cheeks turned red and he asked loudly, "Last year, there were many disasters. Didn't last year's autumn harvest bring a lot of harvest? How can you talk about lack?"

?』

Although Liu Xie did not manage matters related to the plan, at the end of the year, the memorials of Jiu Qing, Taichang, and Da Sinong all mentioned some related matters more or less, although they were not

There are no specific values ​​involved, and there will be no specific values, but at least they all mention the same thing, that is, last year's harvest was generally good, and it should be considered a bumper year.

Since the weather can be considered smooth everywhere, how come there is a "lack" in the wealth harvest?

In this year of disaster, there was a financial shortage, but now that there is a good harvest, it is also "short". You really can't think too much about this kind of thing. If you think about it too much, it will inevitably make people feel a little shuddering.

Xun Yu lowered his head and said, "Since your Majesty moved eastward, the government has been peaceful and peaceful. The generals have conquered the east and west, and fought in the south and north. They have also been able to expand the territory and control the seven states. The wealth of each place has also increased year by year."

A slight increase, good news frequently, the Han Dynasty was prosperous in the past..."

Liu Xie reached out and patted the table, interrupting Xun Yu's words, "I asked Aiqing, what exactly is the "lack"?!"

"Your Majesty..." Xun Yu still lowered his head, "In a disaster year... Mr. Gu, but in this good year, the grain is cheap..."

"Grain...grain is cheap?" Liu Xie tilted his head with an incredulous expression, "This...the price of grain is low, isn't it a good thing?"

Liu Xie stared at Xun Yu in disbelief, "Xun Aiqing, back then Dong thieves burned Luoyang, and there was no human habitation for hundreds of miles. I and the officials huddled under the ruins, looking for food in the wilderness and forests, and a bushel of grain was worth a thousand coins."

So there is still a price but no market! As a last resort, the three ministers and the nine ministers all collected firewood in the wild, and ate it in stone cauldrons, eating wild vegetable roots!"

"Since moving to Xu County, I have made repeated orders to reduce or reduce land taxes, provide relief to the victims, open canals and reclaim land, encourage mulberry farming, and personally help plows... There are also generals who have set up farm stations and recruited refugees to work in them... and so on.

"In order not to repeat the old mistakes again, and to save Jiuqing from the suffering of eating! And also to save me...I...the humiliation of the cow bones..." Liu Xie gritted his teeth and said, "Now...now it is a good harvest. On the contrary,

What is "deficient"? Where is it lacking? And how is it lacking? Xun Aiqing, you might as well explain it in detail!"

Since Xun Yu mentioned the reason for "lack", he naturally thought about how to answer, and said calmly: "Your Majesty does not know something... The price of grain is too low, which is also hurting farmers..."

』

Xun Yu sighed slightly, "Wei Chen came to the palace to see His Majesty for this reason..."

In Liu Xie's view, whether it was what Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty told him before, or what these ministers talked about every day, they all said that the foundation of this dynasty to build a strong country is farming!

Farming is everything!

Farming above all else!

If the farmers are seriously injured, the country will be in chaos.

Therefore, as soon as he heard that the low price of grain had seriously harmed farmers, Liu Xie's expression immediately became extremely solemn.

Xun Yu raised his head slightly, looked at Liu Xie, then lowered his head again, and explained softly. "In the past, Duke Chao once said, "In a family of five farmers, there are no less than two servants, and the number of people who can cultivate no more than a hundred acres.

The harvest from a hundred acres is only a hundred stones... "Nowadays, we use the method of water conservancy to irrigate the fields. Once the canals are irrigated, the salt brine is used to moisten it, and the silt is filled and fertilizer is added. Therefore, the high fields can be harvested five times and the lower fields ten times..."

According to the understanding of most people in the Han Dynasty, generally speaking, the harvest from one acre of land is about two to three shi. The average number of people in a household is about five. If one cultivates 100 acres of land, excluding other additional income, the annual harvest is about

Harvesting grain costs two to three hundred dan.

With the new composting and irrigation methods, production can be increased, especially the fields that originally suffered from poor harvests due to lack of water can achieve high yields, from two to three stones to nine to ten stones, which is what Xun Yu said later.

High fields are five times as high as lower fields are ten times as high. Of course, Xun Yu’s high fields are calculated as two stones and lower fields are calculated as one stone.

Among these harvests, due to the lack of fat in the food system of the Han Dynasty, carbohydrates became the most important consumables, causing everyone to eat a lot, especially military commanders...

Therefore, farmers not only have to feed their own families, but also use these crops to pay farm rent and calculate taxes, and hire people to do labor. There are many types of labor in various counties and counties, and some farmers are short of manpower. In order not to

If you don't farm by mistake, you have to hire people to do the work for you at a certain price per person.

As a result, farmers will have little or even no surplus left in their annual harvest.

Then, the more critical point comes. Except for the crops in the fields, all other commodities, including but not limited to seeds, farm animals, farm tools, clothes, salt and iron, etc., belong to the manor owner, or

They are controlled by other nobles and local powerful people, and these projects sometimes cannot be saved even by farmers and women.

In addition, Cao Cao has been fighting in the past few years...
To be continued...