Guanzhong, or Guanzhong Plain. The name of Guanzhong, which began in the Warring States Period, is named after the four passes in the west, Tongguan in the east, Wuguan in the south, and Xiao Pass in the north. The passes of the Quartet, coupled with the two natural barriers of the Northern Shaanxi Plateau and the Qinling Mountains, have made Guanzhong a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. After hundreds of years of operation in the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, Guanzhong was a rich place with developed industry and agriculture and dense population at that time, known as 'Eight Hundred Miles of Qinchuan'.

Because of Han Sui's help, Ma Chao did not take much effort to get the long-coveted Guanzhong, and since then he has Jizhou, Guanzhong and Hetao three grain-producing regions, with a population of seven or eight million, and his strength has become the top in the world. And Dong Zhuo's Jincheng, Anding, Longxi and other places west of Xiaoguan were all included in Han Sui's territory except for Beidi County, which was close to Shangjun.

After the great changes in the past six months, the thirteen states of Dahan have been completely divided. Ma Chao occupies the three auxiliary places of Bingzhou, Jizhou, Hedong and Guanzhong. Dong Zhuo occupied Luoyang, Hongnong, Henan Yihe, and the whole of Jingzhou. Yuan Shao was entrenched in Yuzhou, Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan were in Youzhou, and Qingzhou was occupied by Yellow Turban thieves except for Beihai County. There is Tao Qian in Xuzhou, Zhang Wen in Yangzhou, Tu Muyi in Jiaozhou, Liu Yan in Yizhou, Han Sui in Liangzhou, Liu Dai, Cao Ying, Zhang Miao and others in Yanzhou, and the troubled times are really coming.

Although Ma Chao got Guanzhong as he wished, there is still a lot of work to be done to really get Guanzhong in his pocket. Guanzhong has been poisoned by Dong Zhuo for many years and has long been dilapidated, Chang'an City was burned by Wang Mang once two hundred years ago, Fan Chou and Niu Fu set fire before withdrawing from Wuguan, and now it is a mess. It will take some time to regain the prosperity of the past.

To this end, Ma Chao sent Wang Shuang to lead 20,000 troops to defend Xiao Pass, sent Le Jin to lead 30,000 troops to guard Dasan Pass, the gateway to Hanzhong, and let Zhang Liao lead 30,000 troops to capture Wuguan, the gateway to Jingzhou, and ordered Xianpei and Ma Tie to stay in Chang'an, and let Ma Dai settle in Chencang to prevent Qiang from invading. At the same time, it was announced that the three-point grain system would be implemented in the Guanzhong area that year, and Tianfeng would be stationed in Chang'an to deal with internal affairs, recruit talents, and build a city.

After arranging many matters, Ma Chao left Dian Wei in Chang'an to listen to Tian Feng's dispatch, and he returned to Yecheng with the trial. Nowadays, all the princes need time to stabilize the situation and recuperate, and it is difficult to have a large-scale war in a short time.

Ma Chao also wants to use this time to deal with military reform, education, and science and technology. As for Dong Zhuo, Ma Chao didn't take him to heart, first of all, Dong Zhuo didn't cultivate the law, and he couldn't control the Qiang soldiers under his command, plundering the people for a long time is tantamount to killing chickens and taking eggs, and he will not be able to escape the destruction sooner or later if he loses the hearts of the people. Besides, without Dong Zhuo's scourge, the remnants of the Han family still existed, how could they completely collapse in a short period of time.

As soon as he returned to Yecheng, Ma Chao announced a decree: the surplus grain in the hands of the people of Jizhou, Bingzhou and even Guanzhong could only be sold to the local government, and only gold, silver and five-baht coins were circulated in the three places, boycotting the latest copper coins issued by the imperial court.

In order to accumulate wealth and pleasure, Dong Zhuo wantonly destroyed the original five-baht coin, and melted down all the bronze people, copper horses and other things in Luoyang City to create a copper coin as a common currency. This copper coin weighs only half the weight of a five-baht coin, has no lines around the edges, and is extremely rough in workmanship. As soon as the currency was issued, it caused inflation and prices skyrocketed. The original ploughing ox, which was only 5,000 yuan, rose to 500,000 yuan, and a piece of rice rose from 100 yuan to 10,000 yuan, which made Dong Zhuo make a big fortune.

After Dong Zhuo stabilized the situation, he began to indulge in pleasure, he recruited the people to renovate the West Garden, greatly expanded the original Liu Hong's naked swimming pool, and built high walls around it, and the West Garden became a super Wu Fort in less than half a year. Then he brought all the nobles, beauties and most of the beautiful palace maids in the palace to the West Garden, and ordered them to wear open crotch pants, and their arrogance and silver desire were better than Liu Hong's.

Li Ru replaced Yuan Kui as the post of Taifu, recorded Shangshu affairs, and led the government, but the current imperial court is in name only, and the local officials don't buy it at all, and the huge imperial court and civil and military officials have almost become decorations!

While resisting the imperial court controlled by Dong Zhuo, Ma Chao also met with the talents he had recruited for most of the past six months. After the original issue of Dong Weiwen and the recruitment order, Ma Chao set up a recruitment pavilion in Yecheng, the world has undergone such great changes, and dormant talents from all over the world have been looking for a way out in order to achieve a career.

Ma Chao was ecstatic after reading the list, and said with a smile: "With so many heroes coming to help, why worry about big things!" After that, he stroked his palms and smiled: "Hurry up and invite Kong Xi and Ma Jun in southern Anhui, I want to meet these two talents first!" ”

Although he was puzzled, he still sent someone to Zhaoxian Pavilion to invite Kong Xi and Ma Jun over. There are a lot of talents from all over the country in Zhaoxian Pavilion, and everyone has a skill, but Ma Chao was the first to summon the two of them, and the rest were envious and jealous in their hearts.

After a while, the two entered together, bowed down and said, "Grass people Kong Xi (Ma Jun) meet the champion Hou!" ”

Ma Chao fixed his eyes and saw that Kong Xinian was in his early thirties, wearing sackcloth, his face was dark, his hands were rough, but his eyes were shining. Ma Jun is even more unattractive, only in his early twenties, and at first glance he is still a little wooden. Ma Jun was originally from Fufeng County, and moved to Shangjun with Ma Chao's family, and was later discovered and recommended to Yecheng by Shangjun Tailaw-abiding Yan because of the transformation of the silk weaving machine.

"You don't have to be polite, you just returned from the expedition, and you still look at Haihan where you are sluggish!"

The two didn't dare to say that they didn't dare to say it, Ma Chao said: "After Kong Dan, the successor of the Confucian family in southern Anhui, a few years ago, he would have obtained a piece of rice paper in the hands of the Xiliang calligraphy master 'Zhang Youdao'. The rice paper is smooth, absorbent and good, it is suitable for writing and painting, and it will have the intention to carry forward the papermaking technology, so he sent his subordinates to inquire around and look for it, and finally the emperor lived up to his heart! ”

Kong Xi hugged his fists and said: "The champion Hou is famous far and wide, and I have heard of it in the future. A year ago, there was a man named Meng Da, who claimed to be a subordinate officer under the command of the general, and learned from General Meng that Hou Ye had the intention to carry forward the art of papermaking, so he sold his land and house and moved his family to vote, and asked the champion Hou to accept it! ”

"Well said! Say! I can't ask for it! Ma Chao was overjoyed and asked, "Did you bring a sample of rice paper?" ”

Kong Xi said: "I'm about to present it!" With that, he took out a piece of white and immaculate rice paper from his sleeve and presented it. Ma Chao took a look at it and was immediately excited, the texture of this paper is slightly better than the last time I saw it, and it can be used for writing, painting and even printing. He asked, "What is this paper made of?" Can it be mass-produced? ”

Kong Xi said: "The ancestors according to Cai Hou's formula of bark, hemp and cloth, fish nets, etc. as raw materials have been improved, and the green sandalwood trunk, bamboo trunk and other materials are added, the process is extremely complex, if there are a large number of people and raw materials, it can be mass-produced. ”

Ma Chao took a deeper look at it again, and couldn't help frowning, no wonder this paper is good but can not be popularized, it turns out that green sandalwood and bamboo are the main raw materials. The first step in papermaking is to mash these raw materials, then soak and boil them to extract the plant fibers, and finally form pulp. Green sandalwood and bamboo are both hard objects, and the difficulty can be imagined in the absence of machinery and manpower, and it is definitely a time-consuming and laborious high-cost work.

After thinking about it, it seems that no one used soft materials to make paper until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in history, and said: "There are few green sandalwood in the north, but things such as reeds, straw and wheat straw are inexhaustible." You can study and transform and innovate, and strive to make better paper from reeds, straw and other materials, and the manpower, material and financial resources required are all borne by you, can you be confident? ”

Kong Xi hugged his fists and said: "I have a preliminary idea for the environment in the north, if I can get strong support, I believe it will not be long before I can succeed!" ”

Ma Chao nodded, and told Kong Xi some of the paper-making methods he knew in later generations. All he knows is theoretical knowledge, if he is asked to make paper, he will definitely not be able to make it, but this theoretical knowledge is undoubtedly a boulder cast on the calm lake in Kong Xi's ears, which has benefited a lot, and he is full of confidence in making paper with better quality and lower cost.

The two talked in detail for half an hour before Ma Chao handed him over to Fu Zhu, and ordered to do a good job of secrecy, and the required manpower was selected from the Xianbei and Wuheng slave camps in Yanmen, and was managed by a special person who knew the Xianbei language.

Sending Kong Xi away, Ma Chao took care of Ma Jun, and said: "Deheng is not only a native of Fufeng County, but also a fellow villager with this candidate, you transform the new weaving machine is not only more exquisite, simpler and applicable, but also the production efficiency has increased more than five times than the original, the jacquard silk brocade weaved, the pattern is peculiar, the pattern is varied, and the end is wonderful!" Deserve a great reward! ”

Ma Jun was flattered, shook his head and said, "It's just an occasional whim, it's really not worth mentioning!" ”

Ma Chao smiled in his heart, this Ma Jun actually had a stuttering problem, and said: "This is the principle of accumulation!" If there is no accumulation of the past, how can there be achievements today? Ben will immediately show you as Wei Hou, reward 100 gold, give Ye City a mansion, and at the same time serve as the general under the command of the government, responsible for the development of ordnance and the research of civilian facilities! ”

Ma Jun was stunned for a moment, and he couldn't believe what he heard, Wei Hou was not an ordinary townsman or pavilion marquis, as far as he knew, no one under Ma Chao's command had been sealed, even Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, and Ma Dai. And he was not only the first marquis, but also a county marquis, this honor is unparalleled, and immediately bowed down and said: "Thank you, lord!" Ma Jun is willing to serve the work of dogs and horses, but the Lord of Weihou will never dare to be! Please take it back! ”

Ma Chao picked up Ma Jun, shook his head and said, "Why don't you dare to be?" As far as the weaving machine is concerned, the work of five people in a day in the past can now be completed by only one person in one day, and tens of thousands of laborers have been liberated under the rule of Ben Hou, Hebei and even Guanzhong. Later generations have also benefited immensely, this merit can be called the ancient and the present, can be forever recorded in the annals of history, and even comparable to the ancient Shennong Emperor and the ancestors, and the county is really insignificant! ”

Ma Jun was moved when he heard this, there is no intellectual property right in this era, and inventors and creators are never valued, how can he love talents like Ma Chao.

Ma Chao paused and said: "Deheng's talent is far more than that, there are still important tasks that you can't accomplish!" ”

Ma Jun said: "The lord asks for words, and I will do my best!" ”

Ma Chao thought for a while and said: "I want to transform the trebuchet into a Xiangyang cannon in the Spring and Autumn Period, which can not only throw the boulder farther, but also launch multiple stone projectiles at one time" (to be continued.) )