At the end of the fifteenth year of Jian'an, after Liu Bei obtained Yizhou and Jingzhou, he began a series of internal adjustments.

The first is to carry out military rectification.

After pacifying Yizhou, Liu Bei received a large number of Yizhou soldiers.

Among them were Zhang Lu's surrendered troops and generals, as well as a large number of Liu Zhang's soldiers and horses who surrendered because Liu Zhang chose to hand over Yizhou.

Especially in history, Yang Huai, Gao Pei, Deng Xian, Leng Bao, Zhang Ren, Liu Quan, Fu Jin, Xiang Cun and other generals who were unwilling to submit to Liu Bei, because Liu Zhang abandoned the city and fled, abandoned them, so that he was heartbroken.

They all defected to Liu Bei.

In this way, the total number of Zhang Lu's and Liu Zhang's armies was about 70,000 to 80,000, plus the remaining garrisons scattered in the rear areas and the soldiers led by fleeing generals such as Pang Xi and others, the number was nearly 100,000.

These people need to be reorganized, eliminate the old and weak, and train elite soldiers.

Now Guan Yu, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others are doing these things. From the time they arrived in Yizhou in August last year to the end of this year, it took more than a year.

By the time of the fifteenth year of Jian'an (AD 210), Liu Bei's 50,000 troops had been eliminated, and about two-thirds had been eliminated.

There were about 150,000 people in Yizhou, and in the end only about 50,000 elite people were left.

These elite men can be said to be the best of the best. Almost 90% of them are young men between the ages of 20 and 30. They are also veterans of hundreds of battles. They are rich in experience and are first-class soldiers.

About half of the eliminated soldiers are older or younger, and they are all soldiers under the age of twenty or over thirty-five.

These people gave them fields so that they could reunite with their families and become tax payers.

The other half are of the right age, but the situation is not suitable. They are either new recruits with insufficient experience, or they are tired of fighting, no longer want to participate in the war, and want to disarm and return home.

For this group of people, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others who were in charge of the administration also made arrangements.

Some stayed and were placed in Shu County, Qianwei County, Ba County and other places to become county soldiers, some went to local places to serve as county government servants, and some were given fields to return to their hometowns for farming.

After more than a year of restructuring, the original approximately 150,000 troops were reduced to approximately 50,000, becoming the main force of Yizhou's fighting force.

The remaining more than 50,000 people returned to the countryside, and more than 30,000 people were scattered in various counties to become second-line county soldiers or county government officials.

In this way, the number of troops that Yizhou can mobilize is about 50,000 main troops plus 30,000 county troops, for a total of 80,000.

But it's actually more.

Because Liu Bei obtained Jingzhou and Yizhou, his treasury was extremely rich, and the rewards for his soldiers were also very high, so many elite men from the Jin and Ba people also enthusiastically joined the army.

After Zhuge Liang arrived in Bashu, he conducted field inspections and believed that the barbarians who were willing to submit were available, and the barbarians who were unwilling to submit needed to be conquered, so he planned to build a barbarian army and selected 10,000 elite Xi and Ba people to become the main fighting force.

As a result, in addition to the 50,000 main elite warriors and 30,000 county soldiers, there were 10,000 ethnic minority troops who could climb mountains and ridges as well as walking on flat ground.

In this way, the total number of soldiers and horses that Yizhou can mobilize reaches 90,000.

certainly.

The current situation is that this ethnic minority unit is still under preparation and needs time to be selected and trained.

Nowadays, a large number of Ji and Ba people who are living in difficulty have been moved to the plains, and have been given land to cultivate with the Han people, and have integrated into the Han people.

Liu Bei also fulfilled his promise and made the leaders of the seven surnamed Yi kings officials in various places. If they really did not have the ability to govern, they would be given corresponding status and wealth.

And according to the policy, if you perform meritorious service in battle, you will not only be promoted, but also receive a large amount of coins, silk, land and other rewards.

In this way, when the leaders were won over and the lower class people got land and benefits, the enthusiasm of the people to join the army was very high, and many people signed up to join the army.

There are countless lower-class people and Han people who want to join the army and leapfrog their class. Recruitment offices everywhere are full.

The situation is excellent.

But Zhuge Liang also knew that the reason why Liu Bei dared to throw away money now was because he had obtained the treasury accumulated by Liu Biao and Liu Zhang over the years.

Liu Bei is not a stingy person, he can use all the coins in the treasury for rewards.

But Zhuge Liang knew that if he really gave away all the things in the treasury, the government would not have a large amount of inventory to protect him. In the event of an emergency, it would easily lead to financial difficulties and the people would be impoverished and the country would be weak.

Therefore, during this false prosperity, Zhuge Liang wrote to Shen Chen many times to exchange opinions and adopt a series of economic measures and internal affairs reforms.

For example, we vigorously developed Shu brocade, set up brocade officials under Shen Chen's suggestion, improved looms, and introduced various types of mulberry and hemp.

Then he took aim at Hanjia Gold and Zhu Tiyin, and sent people to Hanjia County and Zhuti County to set up Jin Guan, Yin Guan and Tong Guan to explore undeveloped minerals and mine developed gold, silver and copper mines to fill the treasury. Loss.

At the same time, the salt and iron monopoly was established, and Mi Zhu and Zhou Lin were ordered to establish government-run salt merchants and grain merchants. The grains from Jingzhou, which was rich in grain, were transported to Yizhou, and the well salt from Yizhou, which was rich in salt, was transported to Jingzhou to promote the economy and trade between the two places.

Although the implementation of a series of policies has not yet yielded immediate results, in two or three years, it will surely make Yizhou and Jingzhou rich, the treasury will be full, and the poverty of the people will be greatly improved.

We must know that in this era, the economy in the north under Cao Cao's rule and Jiangdong under Sun Quan's rule has almost collapsed, the people are stuck in the barter period, and business is close to stagnant.

Only Jingzhou and Yizhou are in a much better situation because they were not seriously affected by the war in the north. There is still trade on the Yangtze River and there is no need to exchange things for things.

Now that the Nanyang Basin continues to produce grain, coupled with Shen Chen’s introduction of Champa rice, Jingzhou’s grain income has been very large in the past two years, allowing almost 95% of the people in Jingzhou to have enough to eat, unlike in the north where people starve to death. .

Therefore, through the complementarity of grain and salt between Jingzhou and Yizhou, and the addition of Shu brocade, gold, silver, copper and other valuables as national credibility guarantees, the private sector will maintain commercial prosperity without worrying about financial collapse.

When the government has money, it can hire people to build water conservancy projects, pay salaries to officials, and pay soldiers to stabilize social order and ensure the foundation of rule.

Therefore, even if Zhuge Liang's reforms have no effect now, they will be of great help to Liu Bei Group in the future.

In this way, the current military situation in Yizhou is that there are 50,000 elite soldiers, 35,000 of which are commanded by the bandit general Guan Yu, assisted by the military advisor Zhonglang General Xu Shu, guarding Hanzhong, and another 15,000, of which 5,000 are stationed in Hanzhong. Chengdu, 10,000 garrisoned in Jiangzhou.

Then there are 30,000 soldiers from various counties, each with a garrison. Finally, there are 10,000 soldiers who are still under preparation, and thousands of cavalry currently led by Zhang Fei. This is the current military situation in Yizhou.

The situation in Jingzhou is similar.

During Liu Biao's time, he had more than 200,000 people, but that was because he obtained the Nanyang Basin and a large population with Shen Chen's help, and became rich overnight through farming, and became a big fat man in one bite.

After the pacification of Jingzhou, after two years of weight loss, the number of more than 200,000 was reduced to about 100,000.

Among them, Shen Chen led 50,000 people, under the jurisdiction of the Wenpin and Ganning tribes, stationed in Nanyang and Xiangyang respectively to guard against Cao Cao.

Liu Pan had about 20,000 men stationed in Changsha, and 30,000 Jiangxia naval troops and thousands of elite infantry, led by Huang She, were stationed in Jiangxia County and Xunyang County in Lujiang County.

Moreover, Jingzhou's foundation is much stronger than that of Yizhou. In addition to the 100,000 main soldiers, there are about 50,000 county soldiers and thousands of embroidered cavalry. In addition, the Wuxi barbarians who surrendered also selected 10,000 elite men. To form a legion, Jingzhou can use 170,000 soldiers and horses.

In this way, the entire Liu Bei Group can mobilize 260,000 soldiers and horses, including 150,000 main combat troops, 80,000 second-line county troops, about 20,000 ethnic minorities, and 7,000 to 8,000 cavalry.

It doesn't seem like much, because the total military strength of Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu and Cao Cao before the Battle of Chibi must have exceeded this number.

Yuan Shao's total troops at that time may have been more than 250,000, and Cao Cao had more, probably more than 300,000. Otherwise, if there was no large defense force in the rear, they would not have been able to dispatch more than 100,000 troops to launch two major battles.

But Liu Bei is different from Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

The Liu Bei Group at this time was the total number of troops after reducing elites and reorganizing the army.

If we only consider the quantity and not the combat effectiveness of the army, with the current population of tens of millions in Jingzhou and Yizhou, there is no problem at all in recruiting an army of 400,000 to 500,000.

Therefore, these armies are the armies that maintain the current peaceful situation. They not only ensure that Yizhou and Jingzhou will not be invaded, but also allow Jingyi to become richer, more populous, and have more food and grass after completing a series of internal reform policies to strengthen the state. Expand the army and start foreign wars.

The military rectification process lasted for one to two years. Hanzhong was garrisoned by General Guan Yu, with 35,000 soldiers, plus 5,000 county soldiers, and 3,000 cavalry from Zhang Fei's department, which is the current military strength of Hanzhong.

On the Nanyang side, there are 50,000 Jingzhou regiments led by Shen Chen, plus Zhang Xiu's thousands of cavalry, plus Huang She's Jiangxia Navy, and this is the overall external situation of the Liu Bei Group.

After military reform comes internal affairs and diplomacy.

Liu Bei left the internal affairs of Yizhou to Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong. Zhuge Liang was in charge of Jiangzhou. He was not only responsible for handling affairs in Yizhou, but also handling official documents from Jingzhou.

Pang Tong was in Chengdu, responsible for the actual management of Yizhou's affairs, and he also had to travel around to inspect local conditions.

The internal affairs of Jingzhou were handled by Fazheng Zhang Song and Jia Xu.

Following the suggestions of Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen, Liu Bei won over the eight major aristocratic families in Jingzhou and gave their juniors official positions, allowing them to formulate laws, manage people's livelihood, and have a high political status.

The major aristocratic families reciprocated by handing over a large amount of land and population, and compiled the existing population into a register to pay taxes uniformly.

It seems like a win-win situation, but in fact the family is losing blood.

Because what Liu Bei can give them is only part of the power.

But what they lost was the ultimate goal they had obtained by using power.

The Chinese people's obsession and nostalgia for the land will always be something that even Westerners cannot understand.

Throughout the dynasties, the first thing most businessmen did after making money was to buy land for themselves and return to their hometowns to become big landowners.

Many scholars have studied hard for decades. Once they become officials, the first thing they do is to use their power for personal gain and obtain land.

Kuang Heng, the protagonist who cut through walls to steal money, stole money when he was a child, stole land when he grew up, and owned more than 300,000 acres of land.

Xu Jie, who overthrew the corrupt official Yan Song of the Ming Dynasty, was portrayed as an upright official in many TV dramas of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. In fact, Xu Jie was more corrupt than Yan Song and owned more than 400,000 acres of land.

Where did the wealthy family come from?

When any of our ancestors became a high-ranking official with two thousand dan, he started to develop land and property, and his family prospered. Then he concealed his population, hid his land, embezzled national property, and became rich.

Therefore, being an official in this era is to acquire land. What the aristocratic families want is land and power at the same time. Just like Cao Cao was forced to compromise with the Yingchuan family and the Yanzhou family, they got official positions, family land and population.

It won't be investigated, it's that simple.

Under Liu Bei's rule, although he received official positions and power, the family's land and population were cleared away. This was unacceptable to the wealthy family and could easily lead to civil strife.

Fortunately, in this era, there are not only a large number of corrupt officials, but also great sages and hermits like Pang Degong, Sima Hui, and Huang Chengyan.

They don't attach much importance to fame and fortune. To a certain extent, they can be regarded as betrayers of the class. With their help, the Pang family and the Huang family took the lead in handing over a large amount of land and population. The rest of the Kuai family and Cai family because of Cai Mao and

The relationship between Kuai and Yue is also like cutting flesh and bleeding.

Afterwards, the four families, Ma, Xiang, Yang, and Xi, also followed suit and paid land and population. Almost half of the land and population were taken away, and the remaining land and population were also registered and began to pay taxes.

A series of actions, it seems that as much as the Pang family and the Huang family pay, the other six major families must also follow suit.
To be continued...