Zhang Heng's "Nandu Fu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty highly praised the prosperity of Nanyang, and this was indeed the most glorious moment in the history of Nanyang area.
In the farming society of the Middle Ages, if any region wanted to achieve rapid development and become prosperous, the most fundamental thing was that agriculture must be developed. Agriculture is the root of all industries, and only when agriculture is prosperous can all industries prosper.
Nanyang's development naturally benefits from its superior geographical environment and resources, and water conservancy is what can fully develop and utilize environmental resources. In ancient times, in areas with developed farming, there must be excellent water conservancy projects, such as the Zhengbai Canal in Guanzhong,
Dujiangyan in Sichuan, etc.
The prosperity and development of Nanyang are also inseparable from this. Zhao Xinchen, the prefect of Nanyang during the Western Han Dynasty, was the earliest local official to systematically build water conservancy fortifications in Nanyang during his tenure. During his tenure, he built six gate weirs in Nanyang.
Dozens of water conservancy facilities, including Nanyang District, have provided systematic water conservancy and irrigation facilities in the Nanyang area, which can be said to have made great contributions to regional development.
Du Shi, the governor of Nanyang during the Eastern Han Dynasty, greatly repaired the water conservancy facilities in the area based on the previous dynasty, and invented various water conservancy and agricultural machinery such as water drainage, which further promoted the development of productivity.
Nanyang was able to become the prosperous and prosperous southern capital of Han Dynasty because of the contribution of these two good officials. Therefore, Nanyang people praised it as "Zhaofu in the front and Du Mu in the back". The prefecture and county civil officials were called parent officials, which is why they are called "parent officials".
Come.
However, with the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Nanyang no longer had the glory of being the capital city of the South. Except for the emergence of Yuan Shu in the late Southeast Dynasty, it could not be called anything else. By the time of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was only a farmland for the northern power.
One of the districts.
The Northern Wei Dynasty established Jingzhou here after seizing the Miobei land, but it only regarded it as a front town for confrontation with the Southern Dynasty, and did not actively restore and promote the agricultural production in Nanyang area.
The Nanyang area that Li Tai now takes over can be said to be at the lowest point of decline in this area. Taking the most basic population indicator as an example, there are only more than 8,000 registered households in Jingzhou today, totaling more than 40,000 people.
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At first glance, this number does not seem too small, but you must know that Nanyang’s population reached more than 2.4 million during the heyday of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Yuan Shu period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were still more than one million people here. Even in the Southern Dynasty and Song Dynasty,
During the period of great barbarian advance, there were still over 80,000 people.
In other words, the temperament of Jingzhou under the rule of the Western Wei Dynasty was very consistent with the consistent image of the Western Wei regime, with nothing but a poor shell!
On the one hand, there is an extremely glorious past history, and on the other hand, it is an extremely bad and messy reality. Li Tai also knows that it is not easy to reverse the regional decline and pull Nanyang out of this trough. It is destined to be a long and arduous journey.
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Everything is difficult at the beginning, and only by finding a suitable entry point can you achieve twice the result with half the effort. There are many reasons for the decline of the Nanyang area, the most critical of which is the damage caused by the war to productivity and the production environment.
Now Li Taixian shocked the Southern Liang Dynasty with his attack on Xiangyang, but the Eastern Wei Dynasty was still trapped in Hou Jing's rebellion and the Southern Liang Northern Expedition. Even Wang Sizheng of Yingchuan had to be ranked behind and naturally had no time to take care of Jingzhou.
Therefore, Li Tai also secretly set a small goal in his heart, that is, in the next year, the state's resident population must reach at least 100,000, and it must control at least 50,000 hectares of land.
Fertile farmland.
Neither of these two small goals is easy to achieve. Together with the nearly 10,000 soldiers and civilians who moved from Fancheng, the population under the jurisdiction of the prefecture increased to 50,000. However, in just one year, it was expected to double the number.
times, unless it is a war or a relatively thorough expansion of households and land transfer, otherwise it is very slim.
As for the land that the state capital can control now, it is far less than 10,000 hectares, and the gap between it and Li Tai's small goal is even greater.
When they heard that Du Zhaohui suggested that the money should be used to repair Liumenyan, the reaction of the people present was not very enthusiastic. Although a few people spoke in agreement, the vast majority remained silent. Obviously, this was not a plan that everyone expected.
proposal.
Li Tai took in everyone's reaction and was not surprised by this. The reason was very simple, that is, they didn't have much demand for it.
It should be noted that the Nanyang Basin could support a population of more than two million in its heyday, so it needed a developed water conservancy system to promote agricultural development. Even if there are a large number of shaded people in the territory now, and the registered residents are included, it is estimated that there will never be
More than two hundred thousand.
The place is still the same, but the population it carries has shrunk by more than ten times. The demand for water conservancy facilities has naturally been greatly reduced. Natural irrigation by the naturally existing rivers within the territory should be able to meet the current population size.
Years of war and turmoil have left these local tycoons with no need to expand production scale. After all, not everyone is as rebellious as a time traveler like Li Tai, who always wants to start his own business and subvert the regime. Most people in troubled times
All he wants is peace of mind.
These powerful men were satisfied with the status quo, but Li Tai was not satisfied, especially because he knew that the Southern Dynasties would be in chaos, and a large number of refugees would be displaced in the Jianghan area to avoid the war.
If the supporting facilities in the Miobei area can be adequately prepared, they will definitely be able to accommodate a large number of displaced people, greatly replenishing the vitality of the area, and also providing a shelter for these poor Jiangnan people.
He waited for a while, and seeing that no one made any further comments, he waved his hand to stop Du Zhaohui, who was still waiting to persuade him, and immediately said with a smile: "What Du Mingfu said is indeed a deep feeling of nostalgia. Water can benefit all things without fighting, and if the countryside is virtuous,
If this is the case, what can be said about it? But breaking the ground for construction will inevitably lead to heavy labor. If it goes too far, it will be an abuse of the people."
After everyone heard this, they all nodded in agreement, with a more positive attitude than before.
After all, they themselves do not have much demand for water conservancy, and they are well aware that the state capital is short of personnel. Even if the new ambassador provides funds, the specific personnel must be shared by various families in the territory. Of course, they are not very willing to find trouble.
If we put it more clearly, it is that they are relatively satisfied with the current order of the countryside and are not very willing to have the government intervene in adjustments and changes. Even on the good side, they are wary.
"It is easy for the people to be abused, but it is difficult for the heaven to deceive you! Even if you adjust the earth's temperament, but it loses harmony, it is not called benevolent government. You are all heroes on earth and examples of local justice. You are not ordinary and mediocre people. I don't know how to have two
Teach me the complete method?"
Li Tai looked at the crowd and said with laughter. After hearing this, everyone shook their heads and waved their hands, not daring to accept the compliment, lest they get into trouble just for the sake of vanity.
Seeing their tacit reaction, Li Tai sighed to himself. No matter whether the nostalgia between them was good or bad, but when he came, this tacit atmosphere would be gone. From then on, Jingzhou only had
He may have his own rules.
He learned from Da Xingtai that no matter how powerful an individual is, the best way to fight is never to fight against the masses, but to let them involute.
"You are too humble. When it comes to defeating the enemy and declaring government and enforcing the law, you may not be able to catch up with me. But when it comes to understanding the local situation and caring for the people, I am not as good as you. Today, Du Ming Mansion said that the good deeds of repairing the canal weir are very good.
Although he is willing to carry out the work, he has the resources and resources to do so, but his intelligence is limited and he does not know how to sympathize with the people. This matter requires the wisdom of the crowd."
At this point, Li Tai stood up, walked slowly to the door of the hall, pointed to the pile of property outside the hall, and said: "Whether you are an official or a citizen, who here can help me rebuild Liumenyan without causing trouble.
The people’s complaints are caused by everything inside and outside the hall!”
"Do you mean what you say is true?"
Before Li Tai finished speaking, the crowd in the hall suddenly started buzzing with discussion, and many people rushed forward excitedly to ask for confirmation.
Seeing the excited and excited expressions of these people, Li Tai couldn't help but secretly sigh that Guo Zhenzhen died for money. No one was doing the business of losing money, and there was a rush to do the business of beheading. On the pile of property outside, the blood of the three families had not yet been exposed.
As he was doing it, he suddenly became the target of competition for others.
"I would like to ask the envoy, is the repair of the six gate weirs mentioned only limited to the pond weirs in the east of the city, or does it include the canals and ponds that run through the three counties?"
Someone else asked, please confirm the specific size of the project. If it is the latter, the amount of the project is really too large. Some of the canals and ponds covering hundreds of miles have been completely damaged, and the consumption of labor and materials is very alarming.
But if it is the former, then this business is very promising. It should be noted that there are not only the nearly 30,000 bolts of silk and the 30 kilograms of gold in the state capital, but also the wealth accumulated by three local tycoons over several generations and decades.
The wealth!
Naturally, Li Tai would not be responsible for explaining the specific project. Seeing that they all showed great interest in it, when even he decided to form an official bidding agency, Chief Shi Cui Qian, Wan County Magistrate Du Zhaohui and others were the first to propose.
Anyone who is interested can propose their own plan, and the government will ultimately select the best plan for construction.
This method of government-civilian cooperation immediately aroused everyone's interest, especially those who were already interested in this fortification. They frequently asked questions to learn about the details, and Li Tai patiently explained them one by one.
If you want the fish to take the bait, you have to lay out enough bait. Not all powerful people can handle such a large amount of work. Seeing those who are small but interested in it are worried, Li
Tai also enthusiastically suggested that they could jointly bid with several companies.