Chapter 1160 The civil and military affairs of the entire dynasty are not as good as the affairs of a school
Before the three kingdoms of Han, Wei, and Wu came together, Wei was the only country that established large-scale farming to resume farming.
After the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, Jihan was the only country that devoted all its efforts to repairing and developing irrigation projects left by its predecessors.
As for Wu State, I'm sorry, although there have been some actions, the scale is not too large.
By now, Wei had lost its advantage in farming.
However, Ji Han still retained the tradition of attaching great importance to water conservancy and irrigation projects during his time as prime minister.
After all, when the prime minister took over the Han Dynasty, there was only one state in the southwest, and it was still riddled with holes and precarious.
The war abroad was a disastrous defeat, and powerful enemies were on the lookout.
Wearing filial piety at home makes people's hearts fluctuate.
At that time, Yizhou was really exhausted and disadvantaged.
Faced with the impending moves of the Shu family, the imperial court had to find ways to gain more money and food in order to seize the initiative in the game with local tyrants.
Controlling floods, re-cultivation, and taxation became an inevitable choice.
If Ji Han was forced by the situation, then the Wei State that year actually had many more choices than Ji Han.
It is a pity that after Cao Pi took over the Wei State, he preferred to recruit civilians to dig canals so that dragon boats could go directly from Luoyang to the Huaihe River, so that he could lead the army to parade.
Nor was he willing to properly rectify the Hakka residences left by Cao Cao.
So much so that the Hakka Mansion, which made great contributions to Cao Cao's unification of the north, actually became a burden in the hands of Cao Pi.
When Cao Rui came to the throne, he actually liked to engage in civil engineering.
But the direction is toward the palace, not the water conservancy.
After Ji Han captured Longyou Liangzhou and had a commanding view of Guanzhong, Cao Rui wanted to make amends, but it was already too late.
King Feng Gui, who mastered the art of slaying dragons, accurately saw Wei's inherent potential flaws.
More importantly, he also knows what historical trends this flaw will cause in the future.
What he has to do is to add fuel to this trend and let the evil consequences come earlier and backfire on Wei State.
The alliance between Han and Wu could continuously take turns to attack, leaving Cao Rui unable to take any action at all.
Whenever Cao Rui wanted to integrate the internal affairs, he would find that Han and Wu always sent troops to invade the territory at the right moment.
In particular, Ji Han's tremendous pressure on Wei forced Cao Rui to repeatedly give up his plan to eradicate domestic abuses.
Instead, he was forced to rely more and more on the aristocratic family.
It can be said that the actual division of the Wei State and the division of Luoyang and Xuchang were the result of a combination of internal and external factors.
Today, the situation between Han and Wei has been reversed.
Not to mention that Jihan also has new irrigation tools in addition to water conservancy and irrigation projects.
When we captured Longyou, we encountered a severe drought in Longyou.
At that time, Feng Duhu stayed in Longyou, built many waterwheels, and accumulated a lot of experience in drought prevention.
Over the years, various types of waterwheels have developed from simple high-tube waterwheels.
Human power, animal power, hydraulic power, high tube, low tube, rollover, single group, multiple groups...
The usage of poor is poor, and the usage of rich is rich.
No matter what kind of terrain, there is always one suitable for you.
With the level of farming and the area under cultivation during the Three Kingdoms era, as long as we don’t encounter a severe drought that only happens once in a century.
For example, it's like a situation where there's a scorching drought and there's smoke and the ground is bare for thousands of miles.
In other words, as long as there is water in the river, there is no need to worry too much about not being able to pump water for irrigation.
Ma Jun, who invented the keel waterwheel in history, was building the city wall in Luoyang at this time.
I don’t know if Ma Jun was really moving bricks, but that’s what Taifu Wei said anyway.
But no matter what, the foundation of Wei State is much better than that of Wu State.
Faced with the spring drought that lasted for three years in Yanxi, Xuchang and Luoyang were able to survive even if they exhausted their last remaining resources.
But Wu State is different.
To the east of Yuzhang, Danyang County and Wu County, centered on Jianye, are the main grain-producing areas.
However, Wu County is a place where many Jiangdong families live, and the prime fields, which are convenient for water diversion for irrigation, have long been occupied by local tyrants.
Ordinary people can barely survive in ordinary times. Under this kind of drought, they have no ability to resist natural disasters.
As for Danyang County, it was barely enough to support the imperial government's treasury expenditures. Where could there be excess food for disaster relief?
In Jingzhou, west of Yuzhang, the situation is even more complicated.
Jingzhou was originally the site of the Fourth War, and was almost burned to ashes by the war in the past few years.
It was not until the Battle of Yiling that things became more stable.
Lu Xun was in charge of the farming in Jingzhou. Unexpectedly, after only three years, the farming started to show results and he was transferred to Wuchang.
Then, King Feng Gui took advantage of the situation and vigorously promoted sugar cane cultivation.
Now the whole Jingzhou is cultivating sugar cane in exchange for brown sugar to earn money, and then use the money to buy grain from Shu.
In the past, if we were really desperate and had no food to eat, it would not be impossible to cut down the sugar cane and plant food again.
Anyway, when the time comes when the Jingzhou officials look to the west and even rise up, it is definitely not because they are bored or like eating brown sugar.
It must be because Sun Wu was unpopular and everyone wanted to resist the tyranny of a single man.
As for now, the sugar cane in Jingzhou is even more immobile.
Because the State of Wu still owes Ji Han a large debt.
Part of the mortgage for this debt was Jingzhou's jaggery production.
Ji Han just shipped the first batch of weapons and armor this year. On your side, Wu State, suddenly said that the collateral could not be delivered on time?
No matter how generous and generous Feng Duhu is, he will still be in a difficult situation when encountering this kind of thing.
Things belonging to a big man didn’t fall from the sky, so why should they be so wasted?
Therefore, benevolent government and caring for the people are not a vague slogan.
Perhaps there is no benefit to the ruler in daily life, and it may even make the ruler feel too constrained and unable to do whatever he wants.
But when encountering natural or man-made disasters, it can help people have a greater chance of overcoming difficulties.
At the same time, it also allows the rulers to continue to sing and dance and enjoy peace for a longer period of time.
There won’t be people under the rule who always want to light fires in the temple and then imitate the barking of a fox.
Just like Emperor Wu, who had spent many years making big money to plunder private wealth, when he suddenly encountered this situation, he was dumbfounded.
At this time, let alone send people to sea.
Whether the cavalry army can be established on time next year is still a question.
In less than a month, official documents from the local government flew in like snowflakes, all of which were urgent.
Sun Quan asked the ministers in the court how to deal with the situation, but all the ministers were at a loss. No one in the civil and military dynasty could find a way to deal with the situation.
After all, this is God's arrangement. Besides praying to God for rain and mercy, what else can you do?
Finally, Prime Minister Gu Yong, who was mature and prudent, proposed a solution that was not a solution:
Let Taishi Ling calculate the auspicious day and send important ministers of the court to various places to preside over the rain.
Besides, Sun Quan had no better way, so he naturally agreed.
After all, the treasury has no money!
Asking for rain is already a cheap way.
It's just that there is a drought all over the country now. There are so many counties and counties, so we can't send everyone out of the court, right?
While Sun Quan was discussing with his ministers how to arrange manpower, the prince Sun Deng, who had just recently been ill, volunteered to go out to various places to pray for rain.
Seeing that the prince was so considerate of him, Emperor Wu couldn't help but be moved.
But he seemed hesitant about this matter and looked at General Wei Quan Cong:
"General Wei, what do you think of the prince's invitation?"
Sun Quan didn't ask anyone else, he only asked Quan Cong, all because of one thing:
After he proclaimed himself emperor, he sent the prince to lead an army on an expedition, but none of his ministers dared to persuade him.
Only Quan Cong came forward and said that since ancient times, princes have always been responsible for supporting the army and supervising the country, and there is no one who leads the army on expeditions and gets into danger.
This dissuaded Sun Quan and asked people to chase Sun Deng back from the expedition.
But Quan Cong stood up and answered:
"The prince understands His Majesty's concerns and sympathizes with the sufferings of the people. This is a great kindness."
Seeing this, Sun Quan nodded and agreed to Sun Deng's request.
After returning to the harem after the end of the dynasty, Sun Quan looked worried and couldn't help but sigh:
Asking for rain is just an act of desperation. Who knows whether it will succeed in the end?
And even if God is merciful and it rains, I'm afraid this year's farming will be delayed.
"Your Majesty, another document has been sent from the place."
Lu Yi, who was responsible for supervising the clerical affairs of the central government and local states and counties, saw that His Majesty was not in a good mood, but he still had to bite the bullet and report it.
When Sun Quan heard this, he was even more displeased:
"About the drought again?"
"Exactly."
"Don't look! It's the same thing, the same rhetoric. Do they know nothing else but this?"
Facing Lu Yi, who was a kind retainer, Sun Quan had no need to restrain his temper like he did in the court.
But seeing him say slightly annoyed:
"I sent them to work on behalf of the emperor's herdsmen! Let them solve problems for me! It's not just for them to just send out urgent messages all day long."
Lu Yi, who would always try his best to avoid situations like this, naturally came up to him at this time, not to cause trouble for Emperor Wu.
After Sun Quan got angry, Lu Yi said softly:
"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, the only plan for a year is spring. Now that there is a drought in spring, it is better to make plans for winter as early as possible."
Sun Quan was righteous and became even more irritable when he heard this:
"Don't I know? But what can I do? If I personally ask for rain and get it, not just once, but ten or eight times, I can do it."
Lu Yi continued to remind:
"Your Majesty, if you ask for rain at this time, even if you can ask for rain, I'm afraid it's already too late!"
"Therefore, I think that instead of asking for rain, Your Majesty should find ways to ask for food and stock up on food to prevent hunger at the end of the year. This is the right time!"
Sun Quan, who had been in a state of irritability and anxiety these days, was immediately excited when he heard what Lu Yi said:
"If you miss the spring plowing, where will the food come from?"
Everyone knows that the root cause of this matter is food.
But now there is drought in the south and north of the Yangtze River. Who will have enough food?
What Lu Yi was waiting for was Sun Quan’s sentence.
He smiled slightly and moved closer:
"The school affairs office supervises the documents, so I have already known about your Majesty's concerns. If Your Majesty is worried, it is an insult to me."
"Don't dare to forget it if it's an insult. I've asked about it. Over there in Shu, food prices have only increased slightly. I heard that this year's drought will have little impact on the west."
When Sun Quan heard Lu Yi's words, he couldn't help being surprised:
"Are you serious about this?"
Lu Yi quickly said:
"How dare I make false claims about such a major matter? The school affairs office has already inquired about the transportation and supplies from the Han Dynasty."
After the Emperor of Han Dynasty moved the capital to Chang'an, Nanxiang Exchange also moved to Chang'an.
But the Han Wu Yi City established in Yong'an finally came into play at this time.
Yong'an Yishi, modeled after Nanxiang Exchange, lists bulk material prices every day and also accepts material delivery contracts.
But it was limited to the transactions between Shu and Wu.
But this is enough.
Some of the caravan stewards who came from Wudi finally no longer had to travel the wrong way to Nanxiang to inquire about business news.
Lu Yi's surprise for Sun Quan didn't stop there.
"Moreover, I have already contacted the Han State and said that they will buy more grain this year. They are already making preparations."
When Sun Quan heard this, his eyes widened suddenly:
"really?"
"Your Majesty, the contract has been prepared and we are just waiting for your Majesty's agreement."
"Okay, okay! This is a great thing, why do you need to wait for me to agree? Just agree!"
Although I don't know how much grain Lu Yi can buy from Shu for emergency relief, one more load of grain is one more guarantee.
What's more, the food in Han Dynasty has always been abundant.
I'm afraid the number of those who have signed the contract will not be small...
Thinking of this, Sun Quan remembered another thing:
"Where did you get the money to buy food?"
"Your Majesty, this is exactly why Your Majesty needs to agree."
Lu Yi said, "Actually, this batch of food was not paid for by the treasury, but came from a wealthy family in Jingzhou. They sympathized with Your Majesty and were willing to share your worries."
"Them?" Sun Quan was startled, "Are they so kind?"
Of course it's not because they have good intentions.
It's because the school office is in Jingzhou and there are many sugarcane plantation workers!
"Your Majesty, of course they will not be so kind. Of course they have something to ask for."
Lu Yi explained:
"Now there is rebellion by barbarians in Jiaozhou, and then there is rebellion by traitors. Those rebellious ministers and traitors attacked Lingling and Guiyang, and the chaos spread to Jingnan."
"Many Jiaozhou lords and even military officers are involved."
"For example, the rebel generals Liao Shi and Liao Qian brothers not only have a lot of fertile land at home, but they also led the soldiers to build a lot of land in Jingzhou in the past few years."
"Logically speaking, these properties of theirs will be lost to the government. Now the families in Jingzhou want to buy them all."
When Sun Quan heard this, a sneer appeared on his face:
"Buy it? I think they want to protect the relatives of the two thieves of the Liao family, right?"
Lu Yi did not deny it, but followed Sun Quan's words and said:
"Your Majesty, the Liao family is considered a wealthy family in Jingzhou. The relatives of the two thieves of the Liao family will definitely be convicted. They dare not protect them."
"But for the rest of the people, their sins are not punishable by death. It is only human nature that Mr. Liao is willing to pay and provide food to atone for their sins."
Since the Han Dynasty, it has been normal not only to pay for one's sins but also to buy an official position.
If Sun Quan really wanted to blame the Jingzhou Liao family for this incident, he would not do so.
What's more important is that Dawu is now in urgent need of food.
If nothing else is done, there may be a famine at the end of the year.
At this time, Emperor Wu was naturally happy to go with the flow.
But he was still angry:
"It's okay to pay for food, but the price..."
He glanced at Lu Yi.
Lu Yi understood and quickly smiled:
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I know what to do."
"You always do what I want." Seeing this, Sun Quan finally felt a little relaxed on his face, "It's just that this matter is of great importance."
"Since they are willing to provide money and food, then don't be polite. This is not the time for friendship."
Emperor Wu would definitely not be stingy if someone took advantage of him to be slaughtered.
Looking at Lu Yi again, Sun Quan is both sad and happy:
The civil and military affairs of the entire dynasty are not as good as a school administration office that can share my worries. What use do you have?