Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 313 Changing rice into mulberry
Zhu Yi said: "Our Daliang is a peaceful and prosperous country with plenty of food. In the future, everyone can wear silk. This is a great prosperity that has never been seen before in the history!"

Bian Ji looked at Zhu Yi and said, "When it comes to flattery, your brother is the best!"
He looked at the skinny serfs in the fields. He knew that even if the silk was woven, it would not be these serfs' turn to wear it.

But Zhu Yi was able to brag about the prosperous times, which made Xiao Yan burst into laughter.

Xiao Yan was in a good mood. He rewarded the serfs in the fields again before getting on the carriage and returning to his palace.

The carriage Xiao Yan was riding in was very spacious, and precious incense was burning inside the carriage. He looked at Bian Ji and said:

"Buddhists say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If we let the people wear silk, what kind of merit is that?"

Zhu Yi also looked at Bian Ji. The great monk Fayun, who had accompanied Xiao Yan in the past, was considered a Buddhist disciple with relatively good character, so he was far inferior to Bian Ji in flattery. Xiao Yan gradually began to distance himself from Fayun and often summoned Bian Ji to lecture.

If it was Fayun, he would definitely give Xiao Yan some advice, but Bian Ji said:
"Better than a hundred-story pagoda."

Xiao Yan was overjoyed after hearing this, and he quickly asked:
"Why?"

Bian Ji put his hands together and said:

"Amitabha, since ancient times, the king has supreme power. It is easy to save a life, but it is difficult to let the people wear silk."

"Your Majesty, if you can make farmers wear silk, it will be far beyond the achievements of previous emperors. It is like building a Buddhist Pure Land on earth. The merits will certainly exceed the construction of a hundred-story pagoda."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan was overjoyed.

Zhu Yi immediately said at this time:
"Your Majesty, our Daliang is now rich in products and the people are well fed. Can you lift the ban on farming and allow the people near Jiankang to grow mulberry trees instead of rice?"

Zhu Yi did this naturally because he himself was a big landlord in Jiankang area.

The price of land near the capital of Jiankang is very high, but in ordinary years, grain cannot be sold at a high price.

Nowadays, the morals of the upper class in Southern Liang were becoming increasingly corrupt, and Jiankang began to pursue all kinds of luxuries and enjoyments. The prices of various treasures were rising day by day. Even Zhu Yi, who was an important minister of Xiao Yan, could no longer afford Jiankang's extravagant consumption.

If Zhu Yi only relied on his salary and the land around Jiankang, it would be difficult for him to live a luxurious life.

Therefore, converting precious land from growing cheap grain to growing mulberry trees and then weaving silk is the most economically viable option.

This is just like in later generations, where economically developed provinces are often unwilling to abide by the red line of arable land and prefer to convert agricultural land into industrial and residential land. This is because the value of the land for agricultural production is too low and is far less valuable than using it to open factories and build buildings.

Xiao Yan was not completely confused yet. He thought for a moment and said:

"Then we should implement it near Jiankang first, and if the effect is good, we can promote it nationwide."

Zhu Yi immediately said:

"I will do it right away. As soon as possible, all the people in Jiankang can wear Luoqi, so that Your Majesty can gain great merit!"

Xiao Yan laughed loudly, but he did not notice that the silk he had just rewarded had been snatched away by the owner of the manor. The manor overseer whipped the old serf with a whip, tearing the only remaining clothes on his body.

Xiao Yan also did not see that in this prosperous scene, the people living near the cities gradually gave up their land and chose to go into the cities to work.

Those who could read copied scriptures in temples, while those who were a little stronger went into the city to carry sedan chairs for dignitaries. Even if they begged in the city, they could earn more than farming in the countryside.

The upper class nobles of the Southern Liang Dynasty even considered riding in a horse-drawn carriage to be a lowly thing, and they had to use a sedan chair carried by people when traveling.

A number of sons of noble families who were granted military titles had never ridden a horse since they were born.

However, Xiao Yan was completely immersed in the prosperity of health and forgot what the foundation of the country was.

Even facing this good opportunity of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xiao Yan was frightened by the last war in northern Xuzhou and refused Chen Qianzhi's request to lead the troops.
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To some extent, Su Ze saved Xiao Baoyin.

The locust plague in the north was blocked by Su Ze in Xiazhou, and the locust swarms did not fly into Guanzhong, which put even greater pressure on Xiao Baoyin.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, after Po Liu Han Baling was defeated, he led 100,000 soldiers from the Six Garrisons to cross the Yellow River to join the rebel group of Hu Chen and Mozhe Tiansheng, greatly increasing the strength of the Guanzhong rebels.

However, it was also Su Ze who took in the remnants of the Six Garrisons in Xiazhou, preventing these 100,000 rebel forces from entering Qinzhou and Jingzhou.

And because of Su Ze's golden knife plan, Hu Chen of Jingzhou and Mo Zhetian of Qinzhou are now at odds with each other. The two sides are fighting fiercely, giving Xiao Baoyin time to recuperate.

After Li Daoyuan met Xiao Baoyin, he read out the imperial decree, and then heard the news of the locust plague in the north.

Xiao Baoyin immediately said to Li Daoyuan:
"Mr. Li, you are the envoy appointed by the court. Please lead the relief work in Guanzhong."

Li Daoyuan said without hesitation:

"In that case, please ask Duke Danyang to allocate manpower and food supplies."

Xiao Baoyin said:
"Manpower is easy to deal with, but the army is also short of food right now, and we really can't provide food for disaster relief."

Li Daoyuan sighed, he understood what Xiao Baoyin was thinking.

In fact, he also realized that Xiao Baoyin had the intention but not the courage to do so. With his foundation in Guanzhong, he had no way of establishing his own regime.

Li Daoyuan knew how terrible rumors were, so after meeting Xiao Baoyin, he put state affairs first and did not hold Xiao Baoyin's men responsible for assassinating him. Now Xiao Baoyin even pushed the responsibility of disaster relief in Guanzhong onto himself.

Li Daoyuan was speechless. No wonder everyone in the court thought that Xiao Baoyin, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, was incompetent. Now it seemed that he was really not capable of it.

But now the stability of the political situation is more important than anything else, and he can only say:
"Then please ask the Grand Commander to gather the nobles of Guanzhong, and I will collect food and fodder from them for disaster relief."

Li Daoyuan had no choice but to take over this mess and, as the ambassador of consolation in Guanzhong, took over the disaster relief work in Guanzhong.
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Compared with the northern regions, the damage to Guanzhong this time was relatively minor.

In the third month of the second year of Xiaochang, Pingcheng.

After paying homage to the ancestral temples of previous emperors in Pingcheng, Prince Yuan Shen of Guangyang took over the work of comforting and providing disaster relief.

However, Yuan Shen was also a cook who could not cook without rice. The locust plague and drought had dealt a devastating blow to the spring ploughing in the northern states. The imperial court had been at war all year round, and now there was no food for disaster relief in the entire north.

Even the old nobles of the Northern Wei Dynasty living in Pingcheng, such as the family of Gao Huan's wife Lou Zhaojun, the Lou family of Marquis Zhending, had their granaries running out.

Yuan Shen really had no choice but to ask for food from several surrounding prefectures and counties that were less affected by the disaster.

In the end, only Yuan Tianmu, the newly appointed governor of Bingzhou, sent food, which temporarily alleviated the crisis in Pingcheng.

If Hengzhou is like this, what about Ding, Ying and Ji, which have just resettled the remnants of the Six Garrisons?

What about Yan and You states, which were just robbed by the Rouran people this year?

Yuan Shen no longer dared to think about it.

His words that the Northern Wei should also have its own beggar army were actually fierce words expressed after his disappointment with the court.

Now it is about to come true.

Yuan Shen could only pray that the county and state officials who had resettled the remnants of the Six Garrisons would not just sit there doing nothing and come up with some measures to prevent the Six Garrisons from rebelling again.

If all the states in Hedong rebelled, the court would lose its source of financial revenue, and with the current military strength of the court, it would be completely unable to suppress the rebellion.

However, even though there were imperial repairmen like Li Daoyuan and Yuan Shen who tried their best to make up for it, there were too many inhuman officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
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In the second year of Xiaochang, at the end of March, Zuo Rencheng of Dingzhou was built.

Xianyu Xiuli once again led his men to fight for water sources and returned with a great victory, but before he could celebrate, he heard from his confidant that the Gongcao of the Governor's Mansion was leading his troops over in a menacing manner.

Xianyu Xiuli actually did not have much ambition. He gathered people to protect himself and was not prepared to offend the people in the Governor's Office. He quickly ordered people to let the Gongcao of the Governor's Office into the city.

This Gongcao's surname was Sun, and he was from the same branch of the Sun family, a powerful family near Zuoren City. He came here to punish Xianyu Xiuli at the invitation of his fellow clansmen.

Xianyu Xiuli was respectful and submissive, and this Sun Gongcao became aggressive:

"I am here on the orders of Governor Yang to check on the livestock of the shepherds in Zuoren City. Have someone lead the livestock out quickly."

This year there was a locust plague and a drought, and many livestock in Zuoren City died. Xianyu Xiuli wanted to bribe the Gongcao to get away with it, but was rejected with an official attitude.

This Sun Gongcao said righteously:

"Governor Yang has issued an order that if a person raises three heads of cattle, he will be punished with a cane if he is one head short, and corporal punishment if he is two heads short. If all three heads die, the herder will be executed."

Xianyu Xiuli had no choice but to have the animals led to an open space in the city. After Sun Gongcao finished counting, he immediately turned hostile and said:
"Thirty percent of the livestock are missing!"

Xianyu Xiuli was still thinking about begging for mercy at this time, but Sun Gongcao's next words stunned him.

"Since there are fewer livestock, let's kill one out of ten of the shepherds in Zuoren City!"

Looking at the smile of this round-faced official, Xianyu Xiuli felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him, and his only remaining fantasy of living completely disappeared.

Xianyu Xiuli was no fool, as he was able to survive the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons and gain reputation among the survivors of the Six Garrisons.

He said:
"Please ask Sun Gongcao to stay first. There are still some livestock outside the city. We will count them tomorrow and make a decision."

After saying this, Xianyu Xiuli stuffed some gold and silver into the gift, and the Sun Gongcao nodded in agreement.

It seems that this slave chief still has some money. Sun Gongcao plans to squeeze Xianyu Xiuli dry first, and then find a crime to execute him. This can be regarded as fulfilling the request of his fellow tribesmen.

After Sun Gongcao and his group settled down, Xianyu Xiuli directly called everyone to a meeting.

He told everyone about Sun Gongcao's punishment of "killing one out of ten", then gritted his teeth and said:

"We are slaves in Dingzhou just to survive, but Dingzhou won't give us a way to live."

Xianyu Xiuli had also read some books, and he said directly:
"If I don't rebel, I will die. If I make a big plan, I will die. If I wait for death, is it okay for the country to die?!"

"Tonight I will kill that Sun Gongcao with my own hands and raise the banner of the True King to rebel against him!"

(End of this chapter)