Dai County, which belonged to Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period and returned to Zhao during the Warring States Period, was an important place for military strategists due to the dangerous mountains and rivers.
In short, Hedong is the foundation of Li Tang, while Daizhou is the gateway to Hedong, and Dai County is the gateway to Daizhou. Its importance is self-evident.
But the fact is that Li Shan drove around in and out of the city, and even went to a small town not far away, passing five or six villages... A feeling of familiarity grew in his heart.
The conditions on both sides of the official road were slightly better, and most of the crops were about to be harvested. But Li Shan took a side road and glanced forward. The fields beside the road were sparse, and he couldn't even see anyone.
Turning over and dismounting, Li Shan ignored the still wet soil and walked into the field. He squatted down and took a closer look. He even grabbed a handful of soil and couldn't help but sigh.
"What is this for?"
Li Shan threw down the soil, stood up and shook his head: "Although it is not the best farmland, it is still good farmland, but it is so barren."
After hearing this, Ma Zhou was silent for a moment and then said: "Dai County has experienced many wars. Farmers were either coerced into joining the army, some were recruited by government soldiers, some were forced to do corvee labor, and some were fleeing south to avoid disaster..."
During today's trip, Li Shan saw with his own eyes that although the city was dilapidated, it was still a little better. Outside the city, there were hardly many young people in the villages. The majority were old people, women, and children.
Lonely old people, left-behind children, abandoned fertile fields...how could this not make Li Shan feel emotional? In his previous life, he had experienced the complete changes from a young boy in the countryside from the smell of chickens and dogs to the fertile fields covered with weeds.
"This dynasty has set up Zhechong Prefecture. The number of Zhechong Prefectures on Hedong Road is second only to Guannai Road, with a total of 147 prefectures. Dai County accounts for four of them." Ma Zhou explained: "But Dai County has experienced many wars, and there have been many casualties. Heavy, now the total strength of the four prefectures is only two thousand."
Logically speaking, Zhechong Prefecture is divided into three prefectures: upper, middle, and lower. The upper one has a thousand and five people, the middle one has a thousand people, and the lower one has eight hundred people. However, the total number of the four prefectures in the county today is only two thousand, and the average number of people in each prefecture is only five hundred.
Moreover, we must also take into account the frequent wars in Dai County and the replacement of soldiers after they die in battle.
"All the county soldiers are in Yanmen now." Du Xiao reminded him in a low voice.
Ma Zhou glanced at it and said, "That's not all. Today's inquiries revealed that the corvées in Dai County are extremely heavy. The Duke of Jiangxia County conquered the common people half a month ago to prepare for the war with the Turks, and they have not been released yet."
Du Xiao replied, "According to the system, the corvée service lasts for twenty days, plus fifty days for tax exemption."
"The autumn harvest is coming, and the Turks have arrived in Shuozhou. Jiangxia County Council will release the people to prepare for the autumn harvest?"
Listening to the argument between the two people behind him, Li Shan remained silent and walked around in a circle. It was obvious that the biggest problem in Dai County today was the lack of population.
There were frequent wars and frequent Turkic attacks... Last year, Jieli Khan led an army of more than 100,000 to penetrate almost the entire Hedong Road. Yanmen must be conquered first, and Dai County was naturally the hardest hit.
Because of this, farmers fled in large numbers, either fleeing south to avoid disaster, or being captured as slaves by the Turks, and their fields were abandoned... The entire Dai County was like an old man with no rice or porridge to eat, and he was also suffering from serious illnesses. elder.
Li Shan couldn't help but smile bitterly. In Chang'an, he could talk about the general trend of the world, but when it came to specific places, there were thousands of things, and his forehead was blurry... He couldn't spread the beans into an army!
If the population is insufficient, what you can do is very limited.
Not to mention other things, just setting up a brick factory requires a lot of young people to work... Nowadays, farming is busy, and there are not many young people in the fields.
Li Shan could endure the rapidity of the war and the destruction of the county government, but he could not endure the shortage of population.
The group of people slowly drove their horses back to the city. Li Shan had been frowning and thinking hard. He accidentally raised his head and saw the dilapidated county government office. The originally charred but still barely complete door was missing a door. Looking from a distance, he could see the sparse scenery outside the main hall.
Sparse weeds.
In Dai County, not only the county magistrate has been vacant for a long time, but also there are no assistant officers. There are only a few local officials to support the situation. In fact, they are just fooling around... Previously, they had been taking orders from Jiangxia County Duke Li Gaoqian who was stationed in Yanmen.
Thinking of this, Li Shan hesitated and turned around to explain, "Brother Du, I will go to Yanmen tomorrow to find out. I wonder if Jiangxia County Duke has sent troops..."
Du Xiao responded and saw Ma Zhou roll his eyes.
"The horses must be prepared." Ma Zhou said to Wang Junhao on the side: "I can't believe that I will flee all the way south this time."
Li Shan ignored Ma Zhou's ridicule and turned around to look around. Logically speaking, the area near the county government should be the most prosperous area in the county. After all, towns in the early Tang Dynasty could only be centered on political institutions and aristocratic families, not those in the Song Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, an economic core may emerge.
However, there are no well-known aristocratic families in Dai County today, not even the wealthy families that are famous throughout Hedong and even dominate the county.
Nowadays, the area near the county government office is in a state of dilapidation, and there are not many buildings that are noticeable.
Li Shan was really not in the mood to watch anymore, so he went back to the inn... Although there was no famous family in Dai County, it meant that there was little obstruction to the powers and responsibilities of the county magistrate, and Baili Hou could truly control Baili.
But the population was insufficient, and the few young people were snatched away by Li Gaoqian!
After washing up casually, Li Shan and Ma Zhou sat opposite each other, with only two or three plates of side dishes on the table.
Trying to stretch out his hand to smooth the unconscious frown, Li Shanqiang smiled and said: "Before leaving, Brother Siyi mentioned that there is a huge shortfall in county taxes. If it is calculated as corvee..."
Ma Zhou interrupted with a wry smile: "If you add twenty-five days to the year, you can reduce it by half, and if you add fifty days, you can avoid it... I have already asked, but this year's corvee has not yet reached fifty days."
Li Shan's cheek moved. Yes, last year the Turks penetrated Hedong Road. In the first half of this year, the Turks basically did not move. In July, Gao Manzheng suddenly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Once Ma Yi was lost, the Turks did not dare to invade rashly.
The change in the situation has meant that the Turks have not yet invaded Hedong, so the corvee this year is not heavy.
Ma Zhou glanced at Li Shan, who was given the nickname Huairen by Ling Jing, but his eyes were vicious.
Ma Zhou had long noticed that what Li Shan was most worried about now was that the young men might be stationed at Yanmen for the government troops or go out to do corvée work, which would lead to a shortage of young men and make it difficult to harvest in the autumn.
But this is a dead knot that no one can untie.
Turks often attack in summer and autumn, and these two seasons are also the harvest seasons for farmers. Winter wheat is harvested in summer, and hemp, corn, etc. can be harvested in summer and autumn, and these are the main targets of Turkic soldiers.
Ma Zhou's thoughts wandered further and further, wondering what the person across from him had experienced... He was good at writing and poetry, had good plans, had a long-term vision, and had superb medical skills. These were all. He was holding soil in his hands today, and he obviously had no interest in farming.
Not unfamiliar.
"Take your time." Ma Zhou advised: "Since the Daye period of the former Sui Dynasty, there have been frequent wars in Dai County...it was still Yanmen County at that time."
Li Shan nodded and said, "I heard that Emperor Yang was besieged at Yanmen."
Ma Zhou sneered and said: "Emperor Yang wanted to frighten the Turks by killing Hu Xi of Shu. Unexpectedly, Khan led his troops to make a surprise attack. Yanmen County had forty-one towns, and only Yanmen remained. Guo County had not been conquered. If it had not been for Yicheng
The princess has been defeated and died long ago."
"Later Hedong Chen Xiaoyi was appointed as the Prime Minister of Yanmen County. He was a clean and self-sufficient man and had the appearance of a famous minister. However, he was outnumbered and was defeated by Liu Wuzhou, the captain of Yingyang School in Mayi."
Li Shan laughed bitterly. He started to make troubles before Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty went south to Jiangdu, and it hasn't stopped yet... It's no wonder that Dai County is like this now.
What a mess!
"However, Chen Xiaoyi's tactics were vicious. On that day, Yanmenqian County Magistrate Yang Changren and acting county magistrate Wang Zhen wanted to welcome Liu Wuzhou to Daizhou, but Chen Xiaoyi found out. More than a thousand heads of the two tribes fell to the ground. The whole county was frightened, and no one dared to resist."
This matter was mentioned by Li Shan when he came to bid farewell to Wei Zheng before leaving. The Yang family and the Wang family were both wealthy families in Daizhou, and Chen Xiaoyi killed his entire family... This is also a major reason why there are so few wealthy families in Daizhou today.
One disadvantage is that the whole clan will be in bad luck. Who wants to try it?
There is no aristocratic family in Dai County to intervene, but they only dominate by force... Li Shan thought in his heart, can he find a new path?