On the land on the west bank of the Chihe River, thousands of Tang soldiers lined up, waving their hoe heads to plow the land deeply. Behind them were followed closely by yaks pulling curved shaft plows for a second deep plowing.
The Quyuan plow had already appeared during this period, and was called the Jiangdong plow, but it had not spread to the north, let alone to the far west of Qi. However, Li Siye was once again at the forefront of the times, accelerating its popularity.
To this extent, all the straight-column plows used by the Tang Army for autumn plowing were replaced by curved-column plows.
He personally held the plow with his bare back and hands, while Yan Xiaosi led the ox in front and walked slowly forward. This was regarded as setting an example and mobilizing the enthusiasm of the soldiers. Those brigade commanders and lieutenants who always stood by the fields with their hands behind their hands to supervise and command,
They had already grabbed farm tools and joined the procession of digging and plowing the ground.
The soldiers were probably a little happy at this time, and it was better for the garrison to come in person, otherwise there would be 500 of the more than 2,000 people in the entire field army gesticulating with their arms akimbo.
The generals have gone to the fields themselves, how dare you still give orders with your hands behind your back?
The reclamation has reached the final stage, and most people are idle. Li Siye ordered Duan Xiushi to lead half of the people to dig irrigation canals by the Chi River to prepare for the soil moisture conservation in the coming spring. The Shule Town area, which is close to the west of the desert, has an arid climate. If only relying on the weather
When it comes to eating, the grain produced by farming is not even as good as the meat produced by nomads.
A Tang army team of more than 20 people approached the reclamation area. The soldiers plowing the fields raised their heads and continued to dig the ground.
Feng Changqing was riding a thin horse, followed by a drum cart and accompanying soldiers pulled by two horses. He stopped on the ridge road in the middle of two fields, put up an awning with his hands and looked around. The entire wilderness was covered with helmets.
Where can I find crimson official uniforms for a shirtless military man with his forehead wiped?
He raised his hands to the nearest man and shouted, "May I ask my brother, where is Ambassador Li Zhen?"
The soldier was so tired that he didn't want to speak. He just turned around and pointed at the row of farm cattle in the distance.
"Thanks!"
Feng Changqing shook his horse's reins and ran into the distance, followed closely by the carriage and soldiers, sending up a trail of smoke and dust on the field roads.
"Huh!" He tightened the reins and turned over to dismount. The soldier behind him untied the wooden tube from his back and handed it to him. He held it under his arm and staggered on the soft soil to run towards the cattle.
"General Li! General Li!" The shout spread far and wide in the empty floodplain.
Yan Xiaosi shouted to stop the cattle, and Li Siye put on the midfielder tied around his waist and walked in the direction where Feng Changqing was running.
"Fortunately, I did not disgrace my life." Feng Changqing stood in the field, bowed and crossed his hands.
"Come on, let's go to the ridge to talk."
Li Siye stroked his back and followed him to the edge of the field. Feng Changqing untied the two bamboo tubes and spread out two scrolls of the same size from inside.
He spread the two maps on the ground at the same time and pressed them down with stones. They were exactly the same. The only difference was the labels on the maps. The Shule defense map showed changes in terrain, rivers, mountains and rivers, every settlement, and every position of the Tang army.
Strongholds, every market town, and even abandoned villages in the desert are marked on it. The upper left corner of the map has also been completed. It reaches the Bahanna territory of Xiuxun Prefecture to the west, and reaches the Zhenzhu River of Suiye River to the north. The only
What is vacant is the topographic map of the Congling area in the southwest corner. If this corner is filled in, the boundary should extend from Bolechuan Lianyun Fort to Tanju Ridge, which is the main attack direction of the Tang Army in the future.
The Shule grassland distribution map marks key locations, focusing on drawing all the grasslands distributed around Shule. Feng Changqing even marked the lushness of the grasslands with dense or sparse ink dots.
Li Siye patted Feng Changqing on the shoulder and praised: "Chang Qing, you are really a talent."
Feng Changqing had obviously never encountered such ridiculous praise. His face turned a little red, and he crossed his hands and said, "Compared with the general's talent, what does this mean to me? These carts, equipment, and paintings for surveying are nothing.
The methods of mountain cultivation were all taught by the general. I benefited a lot from my humble position as a general and learned a lot."
"Ha, cough," Li Siye coughed twice, put his fist on his chin, pointed at the drawing and asked, "Okay, then tell me what you saw and realized during the drawing process."
Feng Changqing pointed at the map and said: "As I traveled along the way, I discovered that the closer we were to the settlements, prefecture cities, and Shule City, the cleaner the grasslands were being eaten away. On the contrary, those remote grassy slopes with high terrain were almost untouched.
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Li Siye understood that this may be related to the half-farming and half-grazing lifestyle of several states in Shule Town. Their utilization of grassland was not the same as that of real nomads.
The Turks are the real experts in this regard. During their hundreds or even thousands of years of nomadic life, the ten surnamed tribes have already engraved the rules of nomadic transition into their bones. Each tribe has designated pastures, and they have several pastures every year.
Ten transfers can ensure that the turf that has been chewed will never be eaten this year, and it can be recycled in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
But as the group gradually expands and the number of livestock increases, no matter how good the plan is, it will collapse, and wars will break out between tribes over the pasture, but there will always be a winner who can unify the entire grassland.
However, the rulers of the grasslands could not solve the survival problems caused by population expansion, just like the rulers of the Central Plains could not solve the problem of land annexation. The only way they could think of was to engage in foreign war and go south to plunder.
Feng Changqing's finger drew a virtual circle on the map: "Here, this large area is the grazing area for our Tang Army and Shule Town herdsmen. In fact, this area can be expanded further, going north over the pass of the southern range of the Tianshan Mountains. Zhenzhu
There are three such pastures on the south bank of the river. It is difficult to cross the Geluo Ridge heading west to Congling. There are also pastures there, but they have already entered the territory of Xiuxun Prefecture."
Li Siye counted the squares on the map and said, "But it's too far, more than three hundred miles away."
"It is indeed far away, and this place may overlap with the pastures of Tuqishi. The herdsmen in Shule probably don't dare to go there."
He returned his sight to the mountains on three sides, stretched out his hand and pressed the map and said: "The dozen or so large and small pastures directly west and northwest of Shule City. If we plan, we can distinguish military and pastoral areas from civilian pastoral areas, and then go down to detail.
Divide, plan the order of transition, and circle two pastures for autumn and winter hay storage. Make sure that every piece of grass can be fully utilized, we should be able to sort out more pastures, and I believe we can also expand horse equipment next year.
Shule Army."
This matter is easy to say, but it is still difficult to plan in practice. They don't know how many yaks and sheep the herdsmen in more than ten states in Shule Town have, and how much pasture they need to consume. The Tang Army's plan was easier to put aside, as long as the garrison guards
The locations and pastures were combined to encircle the horse herding land in four seasons, and the cavalry moved from place to place to graze in a mobile nomadic way. The battalions garrisoned in various states also set up special teams for horse herding, and strictly enforced them by law, prohibiting them.
After crossing the border for grazing, the horse administration in Shule Town is truly on the right track.
Li Siye ordered Feng Changqing to roll up the map, looked at the river not far away and said to himself: "I have found something to do this winter. It will take three or four months to plan the grassland. It is best to find some experience."
The rich nomadic tribe chiefs should learn some experience from them."
Feng Changqing took the initiative to ask for help and said: "I am willing to take people to Talas and Bahanna to find a leader of the Tuqi Shihei tribe and invite him to serve as a consultant."
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