Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 181 Heart to Longxi
"One hundred and forty thousand rolls of silk, one after the other!"

"That's fine. Although he didn't get the title of Jiedushi of Longyou, he got the title of founding marquis of Longxi County, which makes him superior to the Jiedushi!"

In early May, when Zhang Yitan's letter arrived in Liangzhou, Zhang Huaijian and Zhang Huaiman became indignant.

Although they had worked under Liu Jilian, they had never respected him.

Now that he knew that Liu Jilian had surpassed Zhang Yichao in terms of rank and had received so many rewards from the court, he naturally felt indignant.

Seeing the two of them were indignant, Zhang Huaishen, who was sitting in the main seat, frowned, put the letter paper aside, and after re-irrigating it with sealing wax, he asked:

"Has Suo Xun received the news? What is his reaction?"

Zhang Huaishen knew that Suo Xun looked down on Liu Jilian, so he asked.

Jiu Juyan, who was in charge of Huizhou news, sighed and bowed to explain:

"I heard that when he got the news, he was patrolling the city and caught some innocent people and whipped them."

"Defense Commander, in my opinion, if we continue to let Suo Xun go on like this, the tribes in Huizhou will rebel sooner or later."

Upon learning what Suo Xun had done in Huizhou, Zhang Huaishen frowned, and only after a moment did he relax and continue to ask:
"Then Suo Xun has been sending various gifts to important officials in the court for more than a year. I heard that the court has also opened up many trade routes to Huizhou. Why? Isn't there an influx of population?"

"Of course there are, but Suo Xun has been training troops. I heard that he has already trained fifteen regiments with 3,000 soldiers."

Jiu Juyan explained what happened in Huizhou. Zhang Huaiman frowned after listening: "Huizhou has no external enemies. What does he want to do by training so many soldiers?"

"Are you trying to emulate Liu Jilong?" Zhang Huaijian couldn't help but laugh.
"He doesn't even consider whether he has the talent. Besides, there aren't even any horse thieves in Huizhou. Training so many soldiers will only drag him down."

Everyone was unsure what Suo Xun was trying to do, so they simply stopped talking about him.

Zhang Huaishen picked up the letter and wrote, "Are you trying to tell me to learn from Liu Jilong and take a tougher stance?"

"Defense Envoy, I think we should have done this a long time ago!" Zhang Huaijian bowed and said:
"We now have 20,000 soldiers in Hexi, and our strength is many times that of Liu Jilong."

"If you are determined to expel Zhang Zhifang, then Zhang Zhifang will surely flee."

"When the imperial court sees our strength, they will no longer dare to look down on us!"

"That's right!" Zhang Huaiman also shared Zhang Huaijian's point of view.

Faced with the two people's advice, Zhang Huaishen also hesitated, but in the end he sighed and said: "Let my uncle make the judgment on this matter."

"I believe that after seeing Liu Jilong's situation in Longxi, my uncle will become more open-minded."

Liu Jilian was a role model. He made people in Hexi realize the true face of the Tang court.

Zhang Huaishen is not yet the lord of Hexi. He must seek the attitude of his uncle before deciding whether to expel Zhang Zhifang.

Thinking of this, the letter, which had been resealed with wax, was also sent to Dunhuang by the light cavalry.

At the same time, after the spring plowing was completed, Liu Jilian brought the families of the fallen soldiers to Didao City.

As a result, the population of Didao City increased to more than 7,000 people, and the construction of canals, water wheels, dams and other projects outside the city was completed early.

Eighty thousand acres of arable land were irrigated, and documents on spring plowing from various states and counties came in like snowflakes.

"800,000 acres of arable land, including 240,000 acres of wheat, will be harvested next month."

"In addition, there are 400,000 acres of newly planted corn, 60,000 acres of beans and 100,000 acres of hemp."

"In five months, all these things will be harvested, but why do you want to grow so much hemp, Governor?"

In the inner hall of the government office, Zhang Chang looked puzzled, while Liu Jilian was writing a book in the study room inside the hall.

Facing Zhang Chang's puzzlement, Liu Jilong explained: "Our herds are too small now, and the only thing we can sell as a commodity is linen."

"One hundred thousand mu of hemp can produce about 120,000 pieces of linen cloth, which can be sold for 300 coins and exchanged for 36,000 strings of cash."

"The prices in the capital and the interior are too high. We can sell the linen in the capital, and then recover Cheng and Wu states, and go to Jiannan Road to trade goods."

Soon after Liu Jilong finished speaking, a voice rang out from outside the door: "Governor, Chen Ying, the commander of the second brigade of the third regiment of Didao, wants to see you!"

"Come in!" Liu Jilong responded, and then looked at Zhang Chang: "Look, he came when I mentioned the goods."

After saying that, Liu Jilong put down his brush, stood up and washed the ink off his hands, and then saw Chen Ying walk into the study.

"Chen Ying, sit down and talk."

Liu Jilong gave instructions and sat back in his seat, then said:

"I summoned you here mainly because I want you to go to Jingji to sell linen for Longxi after the autumn harvest."

"But before that, I have to test you first."

There were no people in the army who were good at business, so Liu Jilian could only set his sights on Chen Ying, a young man who had stayed in Chang'an for more than half a year and made the acquaintance of many businessmen.

"Please give the questions, Governor." Chen Ying was not stage-frightened, which made Liu Jilong very happy.

After sorting out his feelings, he spoke:

"You have seen the situation in Linwei and Weizhou these days. If I give you 100,000 pieces of linen now, what do you think you should do to solve the problems in the two states?"

Liu Jilong's topic is very broad, involving not only the buying and selling of goods, but also local governance.

After hearing this, Chen Ying thought for a moment and said, "If 100,000 pieces of cloth are shipped to Guannei Road for sale, at least 40,000 strings of cash can be sold."

"Take these 40,000 strings of cash and buy a herd of cattle. Drive them south and sell them to Gyeonggi Province, where you can get 50,000 strings of cash."

"If you take 50,000 strings of cash to Shuzhou, Yizhou, and Mianzhou in Jiannan Road, you can buy yarn, brocade, and silk and sell them to the Western Regions, making a profit of nearly 100,000 strings of cash."

"But there are exploiters everywhere, so I'm afraid that the final amount of the 100,000 strings of cash you can get will not exceed 60,000 strings of cash."

"If these 60,000 strings of cash are used properly, they can be used to purchase thousands of slaves, thousands of pigs, donkeys, and thousands of poultry in batches."

Chen Ying answered truthfully. Zhang Chang glared at her and said, "These exploiters are really cutting people's flesh and blood!"

Zhang Chang only thought that exploiters were hateful, but Liu Jilian heard the hidden meaning.

"Why don't you sell the linen and take the money to Jiannan Road directly, and then go to the Western Regions to do business?"

Hearing this, Chen Ying explained: "Longxi cannot go to Jiannan Road, it can only go through Jingji Road or Fengxiang, Qinzhou and other directions."

"Since we are going to pass by, we might as well do some business while we are here."

However, Chen Ying did not want to miss out on even the slightest profit, and this kind of temperament was what Liu Jilong valued.

Moreover, since he thought of buying slaves and livestock, it shows that he also knew that Longxi lacked not only people, but also livestock and poultry.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said:

"After the autumn harvest, you take the linen and soldiers to Fengzhou to sell. When you come back, I will make arrangements for you. You don't have to go to Gyeonggi Province."

"Yes!" Chen Ying did not ask why, but did whatever Liu Jilong told him to do.

Seeing him like this, Liu Jilong was even happier and encouraged him, "If you can open up the trade route, I will promote you to the rank of lieutenant."

"Thank you, Governor!" Chen Ying smiled. Liu Jilong smiled and said, "Okay, go down."

"Yes!" Chen Ying bowed happily and left. Liu Jilong then looked at Zhang Chang:
"You still have a lot to learn."

"I'm really not good at business." Zhang Chang simply admitted that he was not cut out for it.

Seeing him reveal his cards, Liu Jilong could only shake his head, then pushed the paper and pen to him and instructed:
"I'm going to tell you something now, and you write it down for me."

Zhang Chang picked up the brush and the document, opened it and began to write down the date, then waited for Liu Jilian to speak.

Liu Jilong stood up and walked back and forth for a few steps before he slowly spoke:

"Our army has now taken root in Longxi, and agricultural production has also been put on track. All 800,000 mu of land has been reclaimed and sown successfully, but this year the water level has dropped, and officials in various states and counties have to take precautions."

"Water conservancy projects such as water wheels, canals, weirs and dams must continue. We cannot be satisfied with the present. In the future, we will have a larger population, so we must plan ahead and build these facilities that may be used in the future."

“Also, literacy campaigns in the military can be restarted.”

"The literacy requirement is that before the autumn harvest, all new soldiers must know no less than 300 characters. This will facilitate our propaganda and organizational work after we enter Longnan."

"In addition, each county must open a school. After more than half a year of study, the more than 200 brothers who were injured and disabled before will be able to teach those children independently."

"Of course, we can't rely on them alone. The number of teachers is far from enough."

"At times like this, let the veterans from each army take turns to teach these kids. They are the future of Longxi."

"As for the land policy, don't be too bothered to not publicize it. We should communicate more with the people and tell them about our land policy. Don't let the people think that we are the same as the foreign bandits in the past." "Finally, the craftsman workshops in each county should also be established. Although we have enough armor, our army will grow stronger in the future. We can't always rely on captured goods."

"The iron ore, gold mine, copper mine, coal mine and limestone mine in Hezhou, Linzhou and Weizhou should keep up with the progress and increase mining."

"Even if we don't use the smelted iron, we can sell it to Guannei Road in exchange for enough food and horses."

"In addition, we will mobilize the people of Wuquan and Didao to repair and open up the abandoned and blocked Linlan official road, and then move the herds from the four states to Linzhou for grazing."

Liu Jilong talked a lot and Zhang Chang wrote down all of it.

After he had written it down, Liu Jilong took it and looked at it. After making sure there was no problem, he signaled him to send light cavalry to various states and counties.

Longxi has no shortage of plants and trees for papermaking, and Weizhou's limestone solves the chalk problem.

Movable type printing enables the printing of books in large quantities, so Liu Jilian gathered all the books from the four states in one place.

Although there were less than a hundred books of various types, he still set up a printing shop and had people print these books in batches to ensure that every school had at least one rubbing copy.

These books are collected in a separate classroom and used as a library for the children to read during their breaks.

Of course, given their literacy level, they still have a long way to go before they can understand these books.

The main task of the printing house is still to print the original five textbooks.

Liu Jilong set a time to stockpile enough teaching materials and prepare enough wooden boards and chalk made of limestone after the autumn harvest.

With chalk, the most difficult inks can be solved.

In the following days, Liu Jilong was perfecting his official education system.

All children under his rule must go to school at the age of ten. If they fail to do so, their parents will be fined two shi of grain, with an exception if the parents are disabled.

After entering school, all children must study for three years, during which time books, meals, and writing materials are all free.

Three years later, the first examination was held. Those who passed the examination were allowed to study for another two years as candidates for official positions. They were exempt from writing materials, books, and meals, and received an annual salary of three stones, one summer coat, and one winter coat.

Two years later, the candidate officials took the official examination. Those who passed the examination were granted the status of Zhibai, with an annual salary of 12 dan, one summer coat, one winter coat, and ten acres of official land.

When it comes to being straightforward, there is no need to take paper tests anymore, but rather the candidates will be assessed based on their on-the-job behavior and achievements.

The performance appraisal is conducted once a year. If an A is rated, the employee will be promoted one level; if a B is rated, the employee will be retained; if a C is rated, the employee will be demoted or have his salary cut by half; and if a D is rated, the employee will be dismissed.

From the ninth rank to the first rank, there are a total of thirty levels.

That is to say, a boy would enter school at the age of ten, take the preliminary examination at the age of thirteen, and take the civil service examination at the age of fifteen.

Even if he was rated A every year in the future, he would still need to work hard until he was 45 years old to reach the rank of a third official of the first rank.

Of course, it was impossible not to change these rules, so Liu Jilong really had no intention of seeing who could be rated as A every year and be promoted to the position of one of the Three Dukes.

With his current official position, he could at most request the imperial court for an official position below the third rank.

But even if you want to reach the third level, it will take more than twenty years of hard work.

Twenty years later, my position will not be the same as it is now, so it won’t be a problem to make changes then.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilian began to promulgate the "official school system" and "official administration performance evaluation system."

In just over half a month, these two systems had an impact.

Some of the brothers who were transferred from the army to Zhibai were no longer angry, and the people became more respectful to the government office.

The printing shops in Didao moved in and out every day, and the teams working to open up new land outside the city became more and more motivated.

At the end of May, Liu Jilong led people to harvest wheat in Sanzhou.

Due to the late planting, only 180,000 shi of grain were harvested, with an output of only 7.5 dou per mu.

Even so, this batch of food solved the urgent problem.

In the past, it would have been impossible for Longxi to grow so much wheat, but after Liu Jilian developed the ancient agricultural tools that had been researched during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the processing of wheat became less complicated.

After the bran is sifted out of the flour, although the taste is not as good as the flour processed by machines in later generations, it is much better than the flour that was once a bottleneck.

Noodles began to become popular in Longxi, and many people ate more refined steamed buns and noodles.

Although Longxi was still in the midst of drought and the water of the Yellow River was becoming clearer, the people of Longxi had escaped the crisis of hunger.

The summer harvest wind is not only confined to Longxi, but also exists in the vast north and northwest.

It’s a pity that for the people in these places, their stomachs have long been filled and what they are pursuing has changed.

In early June, Zhang Yichao, who was in Dunhuang, received a letter from Zhang Huaishen.

The content of the letter did not shake him except for making him more disappointed with the court.

"Uncle, why don't we follow Liu Jilong's example!"

"That's right!"

"Jiedushi, we don't have to be so abiding by the rules. Envoy Liu has already paved a way for us. If we follow this path, Hexi will prosper again!"

In the inner hall of the Dunhuang government office, Zhang Huairong still called Liu Jilong by his name, while Wang Jingzhi and Gao Jinda were very respectful to Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilian's reputation in Hexi not only did not decline because of his departure, but instead reached a higher level.

In Hexi, the court's "Dazhen Music" and Liu Jilian's "Congjun Song" are songs that almost everyone can sing.

Whenever common people sang songs, they would choose these two pieces of music, and Liu Jilian's reputation grew.

Even children know that there was a commoner of humble origins in Hexi named Liu Jilong. He assisted Zhang the Defense Envoy in recovering the four states of Gan, Liang, Lan and Hui, and led troops alone to recover the three states of He, Lin and Wei.

The civilian benchmark that Zhang Yichao once wanted to support was now established, and it was so solid that even he could not damage it.

"I shouldn't have let him leave for Hexi..."

Zhang Yichao felt a little regretful, but it was no use regretting.

He looked up at the people in front of him. Zhang Huaishen, Gao Jinda, Wang Jingyi and Wang Jingzhi were all waiting for his reply.

This so-called reply was to allow Zhang Huaishen to expel Zhang Zhifang and annex the Chishui Army.

Facing their expectant eyes, Zhang Yichao sighed:
"The court was able to take out 140,000 pieces of silk to reward Liu Jilong, which shows that the treasury is full, but the Supreme Emperor is benevolent and does not want to start a war."

"If we expel Zhang Zhifang and annex the Chishui Army, and the imperial court closes the trade route and supports the Uighurs and Umot to be our enemies, then our situation will be bad..."

Because Zhang Yitan was under constant surveillance, he rarely had access to core court affairs.

Zhang Yitan, like many envoys from the vassal states who stayed in Chang'an, felt that the imperial court was still powerful and that the Shence Army, although somewhat corrupt, was still brave.

They did not know as much about the Tang Dynasty as Liu Jilian did, and they did not know that the Tang Dynasty had entered the countdown to its demise.

Because of this, most of the vassal states were very honest. Even the three states in Heshuo would not think of rebellion as long as the interests of the guards were not harmed.

The prestige of the court left by Emperor Wuzong Li Yan and Prime Minister Li Deyu had not yet dissipated, and Zhang Yichao did not want to bear the charge of treason.

"Uncle! This trade route has brought us nothing since it was opened!"

Seeing his uncle like this, Zhang Huairong couldn't help but said anxiously: "We have sent so many fine horses and sea eagles to Chang'an in the past three years, but what have we got in return? Nothing more than a few worthless compliments!"

Zhang Huairong pointed outward with his hand, saying, "Liu Jilong has less than 20% of our troops, yet he dared to ask the court to appoint him as the governor of Longyou. Now he has been awarded the title of founding marquis of Longxi County and 140,000 pieces of silk. What about us?"

"We got nothing, nothing!"

Zhang Huairong was venting his grievances. It was obvious that they owned Hexi and could be completely self-sufficient.

But why were they separated in less than three years, and his uncle had to live in Shazhou, while his cousin had to endure Zhang Zhifang's lawlessness?
If this continues, what will become of Hexi?
Facing Zhang Huairong's venting, Zhang Yichao looked at him with complicated eyes.

Everyone was waiting for him to nod, but he stood up and sighed:
"As long as I am alive, you are not allowed to have these rebellious thoughts."

"If the ruler wants his subject to die, the subject must die; if the country wants his subject to perish, the subject must perish."

"If you can't stand it, go find Huai Shen..."

Zhang Yichao walked out with a hunched back figure, stepping deep and shallow.

Seeing this, Gao Jinda was one step faster. He stopped in front of Zhang Yichao, knelt down and kowtowed, saying:
"Jiedushi...I want to go to Longxi!"

(End of this chapter)