Chapter 221 Request enclosed

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Chapter 221 Request enclosed

Late at night, Gu Lugu Shanyu secretly sent soldiers to dig trenches in front of the Han army's camp, but was discovered by the Han army.

Li Guangli took the lead in launching a surprise attack on it at dawn.

The entire Huns army was in chaos, with numerous casualties and casualties. At this time, King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu arrived with 20,000 cavalry.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable to the Xiongnu, King Youxian immediately entered the battlefield and launched a fierce attack on the right flank of the Han army.

The right-wing Han army used chariots to form a vehicle formation and successfully arrived to withstand King Youxian's assault.

However, the Han army itself suffered heavy casualties. Even two captains were injured, and hundreds of soldiers were killed.

The Han and Hungarian sides fought fiercely here for three consecutive days. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but no one could do anything to the other.

On the fourth day, Li Guangli saw that he could not get any advantage, so he led his troops to retreat south.

The Huns saw that there were no flaws in the Han army's formation and that they themselves suffered heavy casualties, so they did not pursue them.

Li Guangli's troops successfully returned to Shuofang.

After the Mangtong tribe swept through Yanran Mountain, they also began to return to the army, and encountered Li Ling's tribe again on the way.

The two sides fought fiercely for half a day, and Li Ling's troops received the order from Gu Lugu Chanyu and led his troops to withdraw north.

At this time, Mangtong also received information that Li Guangli had withdrawn his troops, so he did not dare to pursue him.

In August of the third year of Zhenghe, Li Guangli and the Mangtong tribe returned to Han Dynasty one after another.

Although the Han army did not achieve a great victory this time when they went out of the fortress, they still killed nearly 10,000 Huns.

However, the Han army's own losses were not small, so not many people received rewards.

However, Zhang Yue was quite happy about this battle. After many efforts, he finally changed the course of history for the first time.

Although the Han army did not have a great victory, it was completely different from the original history in which Li Guangli's entire army was wiped out.

After receiving the news, Zhang Yue couldn't help but take the initiative to invite all the officials in Luntai to a banquet for the first time.

"Why is the prince so happy, but the two ladies..." Guo Kai joked.

As Zhang Yue's status increased and his majesty increased, now only Guo Kai dared to make fun of Zhang Yue in the Western Regions.

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "No, I am just congratulating the great man!"

Han Jiang sighed, "Although the Han Dynasty made some gains in this battle, it's a pity that it still failed to shake the foundation of the Xiongnu..."

Geng Shu said, "Now the Xiongnu's foundation is actually on its right side. To shake its foundation, we have to rely on our Western Regions..."

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "You guys have to work harder..."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Zhang Yue looked at the laughing people and silently picked up his wine glass.

This glass of wine is not only a tribute to yourself, but also a tribute to history...

…

Time goes back to half a year ago, in April of the third year of Zhenghe. After a meeting and a letter to the emperor, Luntai began to trial the tingli system.

Because of the special circumstances of Luntai, there are no counties or townships in Luntai.

Instead, it was divided into areas under the jurisdiction of the Seizhanwei, with pavilions set up under the Seizhanwei and wards below the pavilions.

The entire Luntai area is divided into eighteen areas under the jurisdiction of the Barrier Command.

In times of peace, each barrier officer organized his own pavilion to conduct farming and military training.

During wartime, each barrier officer was responsible for mobilizing his personnel to participate in the war as Han army reserve troops.

The establishment of various barriers and pavilions greatly strengthened the Han army's control over the Western Regions, especially the Luntai area.

Due to the enhanced autonomy of each fortress, the economy has also achieved great development. In just over a year, the entire Luntai and Yanqi regions have changed drastically.

Especially in the economy, people's enthusiasm suddenly increased because of the change from the big pot system.

People's lives are getting better and better, and the fiscal revenue of the Luntai region has not decreased but has increased.

"The king is truly a god!"

None of the officials at Luntai expected this, so they admired Zhang Yue even more.

This incident once again strengthened Zhang Yue's prestige in the Western Regions.

Zhang Yue was inspired by the success in the Luntai area, and soon with Zhang Yue's support, the pavilion and barrier systems were fully rolled out throughout the Han army's farming areas in the Western Regions.

In July of the fourth year of Zhenghe, a total of forty-two barrier districts were set up in the Western Regions.

Each barrier officer has several pavilions under his jurisdiction.

When fully implementing the barrier system, Zhang Yue also made some reforms to it.

The biggest change is that the standing army of two villages has been added to the area under the jurisdiction of each barrier commander.

When mobilizing in wartime, these standing soldiers can serve as commanders to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army.

The countries in the Western Regions, who saw this in their eyes, also began to think about whether the Han system was suitable for their own country's situation.

In particular, Qiuci and Gumo, the two countries with the deepest degree of sinicization, have also begun to try to implement the tingli system in their own countries.

With the progress of reform, the economic and military strength of the two countries have also been greatly improved.

King Yarkand also wanted to implement the tingli system in the country for a time, but was blocked by the domestic nobles.

…

After the Western Regions completed the local system reform, it happened to be the cotton harvest season.

After more than ten years of seed selection, breeding and promotion, cotton cultivation has now begun in various parts of the Western Regions

Especially in the Luntai area, under Zhang Yue's strong intervention, the cotton planting area this year has reached 200,000 acres.

Zhang Yue, Guo Kai, Han Jiang... the entire Western Region is very concerned about this year's cotton harvest.

The quality of the cotton harvest will even determine the strategy of the Han army in the Western Regions in the next year.

On the day of the official harvest, not only Zhang Yue arrived in person, but also the agricultural officials from Luntai.

Under the supervision of a large group of officials, large and small, the autumn harvest of the fourth year of Zhenghe began in the cotton fields!

"Junhou, can we start?"

Beside a cotton field, a farm official was asking Zhang Yue for instructions.

Zhang Yue heard this and said, "Let's start!"

Zhang Yue gave an order, and the young men, who were reclassified as farmers, carried wicker baskets on their backs and began to harvest.

Blossoms of snow-white cotton were picked and put into the back basket.

People's faces couldn't help but smiles of joy.

Although weighing calculations have not yet been carried out, people have already judged the approximate harvest early based on their perception.

"It's going to be a bumper harvest this year!" two agricultural officials discussed after observing carefully.

"It shouldn't be less. With so much cotton, the Western Regions will not be afraid of severe cold from now on..."

Zhang Yue stood in the field with a sword hanging on his waist, looking very excited.

In his eyes, these thousand acres of fertile land seemed to have turned into a battlefield, and the dense cotton seemed to be the enemy's soldiers.

It turns out that farming can also make people's blood pumping.

Zhang Yue watched people collecting frames of cotton with a smile on his face, and was filled with emotion in his heart.

No wonder our ancestors kept talking about it all day long, plowing and war, plowing and war. It turns out that plowing and war have something in common. The ancients were honest and did not deceive me.

Sure enough, there is strength in numbers, and by the time the sun sets, nearly a thousand acres of cotton fields have been harvested.

Zhang Yue felt that the cotton harvest this time seemed to be more than he estimated, and couldn't help but ask an agricultural officer next to him: "In your opinion, how much cotton can be harvested this year?"

The agricultural officer couldn't express the joy in his heart, and said with a smile on his face

"The exact number can only be weighed after it has been dried and de-seeded. But my subordinate just checked it carefully.

According to my rough estimate, the yield of this cotton field is equivalent to one stone and six bushels per mu."

"One stone six buckets, so much?"

Although Zhang Yue has never farmed his own land, he still knows how much cotton can be produced from one acre of cotton field. He said that the output of long-staple cotton in later generations is 400-500 kilograms per acre.

This yield was not achieved from the beginning, it was achieved after decades of continuous breeding and improvement.

In fact, when it was first introduced, the output was actually only 50-60 kilograms, not much more than the current output of the cotton field.

If there is such an output, it is already comparable to that of the 1950s.

The peasant official stroked his beard and said: "If it hadn't been for the strong promotion of the monarch, the subordinates would not have known that such a cold protection thing existed in the world... Everyone in the world should thank the monarch for his kindness..."
To be continued...