Chapter 415 Actively Investing
In Luocheng, Zhang Su, Wang Fu, Huang Quan and others returned first.

Behind them was Li Feng, the new governor of Yizhou, who was rushing to Chengdu to take up his post.

If Luocheng agrees, they can go out of the city to greet Li Feng when he passes by; if they insist on resisting, when Li Feng enters Chengdu, it will be time for the two sides to go to war.

The most troublesome part of fighting a war is mobilizing troops in the early stages and hunting down the remaining troops in the later stages.

The most efficient way to wage war would be for both sides to join forces and have a decisive battle to decide the outcome, as they did in the Spring and Autumn Period.

In Luo City, Zhang Song sat in the main seat, holding a scroll of silk. Although the golden calligraphy on it really made his eyes light up, the handwriting requirements made him feel heavy.

I thought that according to tradition or common sense, many surrendered ministers would be promoted to the Grand Marshal's Office.

Even if you start from a low point, you can still accumulate experience, be transferred to become a county magistrate, and rise step by step.

However, the treatment of the surrendered ministers of the Kingdom of Liang seemed somewhat rough, and almost no one was selected and promoted to the Grand Marshal's office.

Only a list was given, and a group of famous families, famous representatives, and outstanding young scholars in Shu were to be moved to Chang'an University.

Zhang Song didn't want to leave Shuzhong, nor did he want to go to Chang'an University.

He had also heard of Chang'an University and naturally knew that Wang Can and Cai Xue regarded Chang'an University as a forbidden delicacy; the arrival of this group of big names and celebrities in Shu, whether they had that intention or not, would definitely provoke a counterattack from Wang Can and others.

Chang'an University will be disrupted. Wang Can and Cai Xue care about the long-term interests in the future; but now Shuzhong already has huge interests, so why bother to compete with those people for future benefits?
But the conditions given by Black Bear were very harsh. In addition to the plan of "enriching Chang'an University" which was like a hostage, there was also a land inspection order that seemed to force the big families in Shu to rebel.

Although it does not involve the most profitable Shu brocade industry, land is the foundation of everything.

The land inspection order did not involve population or land tax, but was simply to count the land properties in each county.

But controlling the land means indirectly controlling the local population data and tax potential.

Zhang Song handed the silk book to Wang Shang and asked unhappily, "Guoshan, does the Grand Marshal really want to inspect the land?"

"Yes."

Wang Fu sat down and said: "The troops stationed in Mianzhu are fierce and fierce. Although the Grand Marshal can control them, it is difficult to keep them in check just by strict orders and punishments. Therefore, we need to carry out land inspections. Those who disobey or conceal the truth will become food for the wolves and tigers."

Wang Shang put down the silk book and handed it to a man named Gao beside him, saying with a gloomy face: "Today we can inspect the land, tomorrow we can audit the assets of each family, and the day after tomorrow we can set heavy taxes."

The Gao family handed the silk book to the next person, and said with a smile: "Now the Grand Marshal has gathered the people of Hanzhong and won the hearts of the soldiers in Dongzhou. There are no less than 100,000 soldiers and horses under his command. These are all detailed and verifiable things. Please be cautious. It is not easy for my Gao family to pass on the family. We can inspect the land and impose heavy taxes."

When the silk book was passed back and forth and reached Wang Lei, he said: "Yizhou was originally a remote corner of the world, with little culture. Now the Central Plains are in a war and morality has been lost, and etiquette has been scattered, but our province is not retreating but advancing. If we do as the Grand Marshal ordered and send great Confucian scholars and classicists to Chang'an University, I am afraid that our province will have no successors."

As Wang Lei worried, many people did not have much resistance to the migration of great Confucian scholars and celebrities to Guanzhong; by moving these opinion leaders away, their influence would fade, which would mean that the influence of others among the local scholar group would increase.

But the consequences are also serious, as the future generations will lose a good education.

If you have a poor education, you are easily deceived; if you are educated by outsiders, you will speak in a way that agrees with outsiders in the future, which will cause even greater trouble.

Some people in the hall began to whisper to each other, becoming impatient as they could not find a practical solution, and the discussion became noisier.

Zhang Song, who was sitting alone at the head, naturally knew that there was no resistance in Shu.

The Jianshan plank road was breached. Even though Shu had the military strength and morale to resist and fight against the enemy, most people were wealthy and prosperous, so they were afraid of fighting, avoided fighting, and surrendered, which meant they had half their lives lost.

When the cost of war rises, the risks increase dramatically, and death affects oneself, few people are willing to support all-out war.

This loss is not just a simple reduction of assets. The three clans of Wang Yun and the large number of scholars in Hedong and Taiyuan whose property was confiscated are a lesson for us.

The prosperity of Yizhou made these people want to rebel and they hated it so much, but they were reluctant to fight because of many concerns.

Besides, Yizhou is so small; when there are no external enemies, the internal struggle is also very fierce. In such an occasion, whoever dares to make extreme remarks... may really be recorded in the little notebook by the enemy and then forwarded to the Grand Marshal's Office.

Nothing much could be discussed in public, and instead this chaotic atmosphere made some people who wanted to resist and defend their own interests to the death choose to shut up.

It would be a real loss if it was exposed so early on, with no benefit at all.

After the noisy meeting, Zhang Song was extremely tired, so he returned to the side hall with his brother Zhang Su to drink tea.

Without outsiders, Zhang Su said, "The Grand Marshal can station his troops in Mianzhu, which is his prestige. Our state should really accept his kindness. Now the morale of the army is boiling like hot oil. If there is a spark, it will be a prairie fire. In my humble opinion, the inspection order is a means to appease the morale of the army, so as to stir up our state and make me destroy myself. The Grand Marshal can also get my resources to reward the officials and soldiers."

Zhang Song nodded slowly. "The land inspection order is just a superficial matter. I don't care about it. Even the fact that I was recruited to teach at Chang'an University made me happy. My only concern is that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and Shu has no power to protect itself. If the sky changes, I am afraid that Shu will become a ruin and wilderness like the Middle Earth."

Zhang Su remained silent after hearing this. At present, the essence of Yizhou lies in the two places of Bashu, and in Shu, Guanghan and Shujun are in the center of Shu.

The Qiang and Di tribes had been coveting Yizhou for hundreds of years. To be more precise, the Qiang people had been coveting Yizhou for hundreds or even thousands of years.

The Qiang people who were heading south were blocked by mountains and defeated by the Ba people. With no hope of moving south, the Qiang people had no choice but to move eastward and formed the Eastern Qiang Alliance.

During the previous migration to the south, the Di tribe was differentiated. The Di people evolved from the Shu Qiang and can be regarded as the Sinicized Shu Qiang, or Han Qiang.

The Di people mixed among the Qiang and Ba people and became a buffer.

Yizhou not only conscripted and hired the Ba people as vassal troops and mercenaries, it also used tribes in the surrounding mountainous areas. These tribes used military service instead of taxes as the cost of getting along with the officials and people of Yizhou.

Therefore, the various barbarians were organized into nearby guard troops and hunting troops to serve as a law enforcement force. They were also responsible for isolating the more barbaric mountain people in the deeper parts of the mountains to ensure the safety of the core area of ​​Yizhou.

It was precisely driven by such stable economic interests that although the vast Yizhou was occasionally disrupted by rebellions by foreign soldiers, they were all quickly quelled.

Even though wars were frequent during the reigns of Liu Yan and his son Liu Zhang, they were all resolved quickly and did not lead to any protracted wars.

Because the war is all in the core area, there is no strategic location to defend and the only option is a decisive battle.

The superior geographical location and the tradition of guarding and hunting armies formed by the long-term development of economic interests resulted in almost no border pressure in Yizhou, so the military tradition in the core area declined quickly.

The people of Shu have so many ways to make a living. At worst, they can escape to the mountains and become mountain dwellers, where they can eat tree bark and survive. Why bother to join the army?
The military atmosphere among the people is not strong, and this special geography and the barbarians' tradition of guarding the border... Once the northern soldiers become violent, how can the barbarians who follow the traditional border defense sit idly by and watch the northern soldiers plunder and commit violence?

With this kind of combined internal and external suppression, how many men and women in Shu can survive?
Zhang Song did not think that he would lose his opportunity if he went to Chang'an University. What he was worried about was that the northern troops would get out of control and trigger a joint suppression by the barbarians from all sides.

By then, how could a famous person like him have a chance to survive?
Just as Zhang Su said, the northern troops were in a state of being out of control at any time.

It's not that the northern soldiers are crazy, but that this generation has had enough of poverty and disaster, and can't stand the Shu people's wealthy but weak military power.

From the perspective of a Yanyu person, or a Guanlong person, unwarranted anger will breed... Why can the people of Shu live such a good life?

And there is definitely no shortage of people in Shu who value money over their lives.

Zhang Song's expression was exceptionally calm at this moment. He really didn't want to see the prosperity of Shu being destroyed. The loss of control of the northern soldiers was the first source of disaster.

There is another source, which is that the Da Sima, who was in charge of controlling the army, encountered an accident.

When this disaster broke out, the northern soldiers might have cried and lamented while frantically looting, killing, and committing violence against Shu men and women.

After thinking deeply, Zhang Song said firmly: "I am afraid that the treasury of Chengdu is not enough to provide the Grand Marshal with rewards for the entire army. I want to sell my mulberry fields to buy cloth and donate it to the Grand Marshal to show my gratitude."

Seeing his brother's hesitation and reluctance to leave, Zhang Song advised: "The foundation of the Grand Marshal is solid, and you and I hold important positions. Why worry about the inheritance? With the power of the Grand Marshal, if we encounter the trouble of King Chen, the whole country will be in turmoil. How can our relatives be spared?"

(End of this chapter)