In the first year of Taixing, at the end of July, from Qinzhou, there was good news that Beigong Chun led the army to recover Longxi and Nan'an counties!

At this point, the Liaodong Army has gained a firm foothold in Qinzhou, and the Longshan defense line carefully arranged by Fu Hong and Yang Nandi has been declared a failure!

After receiving the good news, Wei Shuo immediately ordered Mao Bao, the governor of Yongzhou, and Liu Yao, the governor of Shuozhou, to each command 30,000 cavalry troops to divide the north and south roads, and cross Longshan to attack Qinzhou.

When the general trend of Qinzhou was settled, Wei Shuo began to shift his focus to restoring the economic development of Guanzhong.

The recovery of Qinzhou meant that Liaodong had completely opened up the land passage between Guanzhong and Hexi, and it also meant that the restoration of the overland Silk Road was feasible.

In the Chang'an Wei Mansion, Wei Shuo sat on the main seat in the middle, and the two sides of the lower head were full of civil and military staff. On one side, Mo Han is the leader, and behind him are You Ziyuan, Feng Yi, Yang Ke, Taisan, Huangfu Zhen and others; On the other side, Wen Qiao is the leader, and behind him are Lu Chang, Han Shou, Yang Hu, etc.

Looking at the abundance of talents below, Wei Shuo was naturally overjoyed.

He smiled slightly, and apologized to Yang Ke first: "Shuo Ben doesn't want to disturb Mr. Qingxiu, but this discussion involves the geography and human feelings of the Northwest, and Mr. is a local indigenous and knows the Northwest very well, so I had to bring Mr. here for consultation." ”

"The lord is polite, since the minister has already come out, he should do his best, why bother him?"

"Hehe, sir is really refreshing, then I'm welcome! Chu Ji, you can first introduce the war in Qinzhou! ”

"No!" Hearing this, Huangfu Zhen took a step forward and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, since General Beigong entered Qinzhou in the west, he has fought a success, first defeated the begging Xianbei to recover Jincheng, and then broke the Qi coalition army in Longxi and Nan'an, and now has occupied the two counties of Longxi and Nan'an, forcing the Fu Hong Department to fully retreat to Luoyang County. At most, after more than a month, the entire territory of Qinzhou can be recovered. ”

After Huangfu Zhen's introduction, Wei Shuo said loudly: "The situation in Qinzhou is generally a foregone conclusion, but what to do after taking Qinzhou, you still have to come up with a plan, you may wish to speak freely, please talk about your high opinions, please listen to them." ”

I saw Mo Han frowning and thinking for a while, and said: "Lord, after the Western Expedition, coupled with the disaster relief and reconstruction of Yongqin and Qin, Liaodong's finances will face great pressure, and the materials previously reserved will be exhausted. Whether it is Zhang Yu in Liangzhou or Li Xiong in Yizhou, they are all benevolent and loving people, and the people in their territory are obedient and have a stable life, and it is not easy to forcibly seize them. ”

"Moreover, after the war in Guanzhong, the people here are extremely war-weary and yearn for a stable and peaceful life."

"Therefore, the minister thought that after taking Qinzhou, the army might as well turn to rest on the spot to calm the hearts of the people."

After Mo Han finished speaking, You Ziyuan also spoke: "What you Changshi said is not bad, the reconstruction of Guanzhong needs a lot of grain, grass and money support!" The minister also thought that after taking Qinzhou, it was really not appropriate to raise any more troops. ”

Seeing Wei Shuo's gaze, Wen Qiao also spoke: "What Mo Changshi and You Thorn Shi said is reasonable, and Qiao also thinks that no more troops should be sent. At present, Qinzhou is about to recover, but the Qiang in its territory is rampant, unruly, uneasy, Qinzhou is unstable, Qinzhou is unstable, Qinzhou is unstable, Guanzhong He An? ”

Wei Shuo bowed his head slightly when he heard this, taking Qinzhou did not mean that he would be able to bring Qinzhou under the rule of Liaodong, and he was unwilling to start a war with the powerful Liangzhou and Yizhou when the foundation of Yongqin's rule was unstable.

"Your words have won my heart! After taking Qinzhou, it is indeed inappropriate for Liaodong to have another dispute. I intend to shift the focus to the restoration of the Guanzhong economy, which is now in ruins, and how to do it, please speak freely! ”

"Lord, now that the four stoppers in Guanzhong are in the hands of Liaodong, the minister thinks that he should immediately make every effort to develop Guanzhong's agriculture. As long as the pastoral government fully supports it, the Yongzhou Thorn History Mansion is sure to make Guanzhong another granary in Liaodong within three years. ”

Yongzhou Thorn Shi Youziyuan was ambitious to revitalize the agriculture of Guanzhong and restore the status of the granary of the Qin and Han dynasties. However, Wei Shuo was not interested in the Assassin's plan to develop agriculture. As a modern person, no one knows better than him how much soil erosion in Guanzhong has affected the world, and in the next hundred and ten years, Guanzhong will decline due to excessive reclamation, and will never return to the glory of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Therefore, from the beginning, Wei Shuo did not think about developing Guanzhong's agriculture as before, on the contrary, he tried to try to restore Guanzhong's land strength. The Chinese ancestors lived on the Guanzhong Plain as early as the year before last, and after hundreds of years of reclamation by the Qin and Han dynasties, even if the land in Guanzhong is fertile, how much land can be retained today?

Seeing Wei Shuo's brows furrowed and silent, the wanderer was far from puzzled: "What? Doesn't the lord approve of vigorously developing agriculture in Guanzhong? ”

As a traditional scholar, how could you not be excited in the face of the thousands of miles of fertile fields in Guanzhong? Right now, his mind is full of ideas on how to turn Guanzhong into a granary.

Seeing that the wanderer asked from afar, Wei Shuo pondered for a moment and explained: "Ladies and gentlemen, there have been ancestors in Guanzhong who have cultivated here since three generations. Among them, the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qiang Qin, and the Western Han Dynasty all swept the world based on Guanzhong. From the Zhou Dynasty to the former Han Dynasty, the land in Guanzhong was reclaimed for nearly a thousand years. In this way, the land in Guanzhong is fertile, but after thousands of years of use, its soil strength is only close to exhaustion today. ”

"Later Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu abandoned Guanzhong and the capital Luoyang, in addition to political considerations, it may not have been worried about the problem of Guanzhong's geographical resources. Now You Thorn History also recommends vigorously reclaiming Guanzhong, Shuo is worried that after a hundred or even decades, the land in Guanzhong will be completely unusable! ”

"Isn't this to leave a legacy for future generations?"

Although the ancients paid attention to the unity of nature and man, Taoism and nature, they could not understand Wei Shuo's imminent concern about the environment in Guanzhong because they had not seen the great damage caused to the environment in the industrial age. It's not that everyone is not thoughtful, but Wei Shuo originally stood on the shoulders of his predecessors.

"In the opinion of the Lord, what can I do? Is it possible to completely abandon the wasteland in Guanzhong? The construction of water conservancy projects has also stopped? ”

You Ziyuan spread his hands and said helplessly: "Lord, at present, in addition to the surplus production of Youyan and Shuofang, the grain production in Bingzhou and Shuofang is limited, and the annual grain production can only maintain self-sufficiency. In recent years, Liaodong has been fighting many wars, and it is busy with disaster relief everywhere, all of which are supported by Nanyang grain. However, Liaodong cannot always hand over the lifeline of grain to the outside world, and the minister's development of Guanzhong agriculture is to completely solve the grain problem in Liaodong. ”

Hearing this, Wen Qiao said regretfully: "It would be good if Yizhou was in hand, Yizhou is fertile for thousands of miles, and there is no excessive reclamation, it can completely replace the role of Guanzhong, but the time to take Yizhou has not yet come!" ”

Just when everyone was helpless, they saw Mo Han's eyes roll and smiled: "Lord, I don't know if I can first vigorously reclaim Guanzhong to meet the current needs, and then find a way to restore the power of Guanzhong after Yizhou is conquered in the future." ”

Wei Shuo pondered for a moment when he heard this, and said: "Although Shirong's proposal is good, it is not suitable to be implemented. When will Liaodong recover Yizhou, and where is it accurate? However, the loss of land resources in Guanzhong is serious and it is not easy to govern. I am afraid that if we reclaim Yizhou for a few more years, before we recover Yizhou, the land power in Guanzhong will collapse long ago, and it will be too late to govern by then. ”

"Therefore, after thinking about it, I feel that the only way to do this is to focus on conservation, supplemented by reclamation!"

"In order to restore the land strength of Guanzhong as soon as possible, the pastoral government must control the population of Guanzhong and migrate the excess population to sparsely populated places in Liaodong, Shuofang and other places as much as possible. In addition, it is necessary to control the number of fields in Guanzhong and strive to reduce the cultivated land in Guanzhong by half. The remaining land should not be wasted, but trees and grasslands should be planted extensively, especially on both sides of the Guanzhong-Wei and Jing rivers. ”

"My lord, if the fertile land is reduced by half, even if Guanzhong vigorously promotes high-yield crops and builds water conservancy facilities, Guanzhong will only be self-sufficient in grain at most. If you count the land of Qinzhou, which is about to be recovered, it is also a place of food shortage, and in the future, both Yongqin and Qin will need to import grain from the outside world, so the food pressure in Liaodong will increase greatly! ”

Worried, You Ziyuan continued: "It seems that for at least ten years, Liaodong will not be able to get rid of its dependence on Nanyang grain!" Once there is a problem in the middle, it will inevitably affect the future development of Liaodong. ”

Wei Shuo saw everyone's worries, but he didn't want to experience the embarrassment of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in his lifetime, so he had to be like a 'beggar' every year, and frequently went to the Central Plains and Hebei to eat. Moreover, once Guanzhong declines, it will inevitably reduce China's control over the northwest. (To be continued.) )