Everyone in the hall was in an uproar. Everyone was shocked by the two suggestions that the Queen suddenly threw out, and they all looked at her in confusion.
Lu Pheasant raised his chin slightly, as if he was used to these reactions.
In her dark hair at the temples, there was a phoenix phoenix hanging on each side. The golden wings of the phoenix hung down with tassel pendants. As she raised her head to speak, they trembled slightly, making her face shine with splendor. , shining brightly.
Lu Pheasant looked around at everyone, his eyes full of confidence.
“Everyone probably raised chickens, ducks, or herded sheep in their respective hometowns.
You know, when raising these small livestock, they are most afraid of sneak attacks by wolves or foxes.
Let me make an inappropriate analogy. The current border of our big men is like raising a circle of fat sheep at the border with the territory of wolves.
Those wolves usually hide in the mountains and forests without a trace and can never be found, but every night when the moon is dark and the wind is high, a few of the sheep, chickens and ducks in the pen will be quietly eaten.
If you are a farmer who has settled here all year round and is reluctant to leave your homeland, how do you protect your sheepfold and chicken coop? "
In just a moment, Zhang Liang had already made up his mind about Lu Pheasant's plan. While he secretly admired the Queen's intelligence, he was happy to play the role of singing and supporting others.
"Well, although I have never herded sheep, I still want to try to answer."
"Oh? Master, please tell me. I would like to hear the details."
When Lu Pheasant saw Zhang Liang narrowing his old eyes in tacit understanding, he knew that his proposal had received his approval and support.
Zhang Liang stroked his beard, smiled and said to everyone,
"If I were that farmer, the simplest and easiest way would be to build a high and strong fence around the sheepfold and chicken coop, and light up lamps and make noise day and night, so as to scare away the jackals with the strength of the crowd. Don’t dare to enter the village.”
"What Taifu said is true. Build a strong fence and light a lamp. This is what immigration means."
Liu Ji glanced sideways at Lu Pheasant in surprise, and just let out a sigh.
"The Queen's idea of sharing the country's worries is not a good intention?
It's just that our court complied with the Qin system and had already implemented the method of garrisoning every year. The fence of the sheepfold you mentioned is already very strong, but it still cannot guard against the wolf. "
In the early Han Dynasty, all matters, large and small, generally followed the Qin system, including the policy of recruiting and guarding the border. Han law stipulated that adult males had to guard the border for one year every year, which was called corvee garrison.
The soldiers guarding the border were all civilians randomly recruited from various counties in the interior and had no combat experience. For example, Liu Jing, a soldier in sheep's clothing, temporarily turned into Luoyang on his way from Qilu to Longxi to serve as a garrison. Nangong offered advice.
"Your Majesty, let's take Liu Jing as an example."
Lu Pheasant ignored the contempt in Liu Ji's words and slowly raised his hand to point at Liu Jing.
Liu Jing's name was suddenly called, and he nodded blankly, not knowing what to say.
"Liu Jing, let me ask you, how was your health when you were in your hometown? Did you practice martial arts, and could you ride and shoot?" Lu Pheasant asked with a smile.
"Ah, I'm ashamed. In this life, I can't carry my shoulders, I can't lift my hands, I can't ride a horse, let alone draw a bow and shoot an arrow."
"That's it." Lu Pheasant nodded,
"Nine out of ten of our current northwest border garrison soldiers are like Liu Jing. They traveled thousands of miles to the border areas, but they were unable to adapt to the water, soil and climate. When they arrived at the garrison, half of them fell ill first.
As for the remaining half, if you want to become a warrior who can mount a horse and fight without months of training, it is just a dream - "
***
"——It's a pity that after they can form an army, the one-year garrison period has expired, and it's time to go home.
Next, a new batch of Liu Jing rushed to the border areas and started practicing from scratch. "
Zhang Cang couldn't help but interrupt, ignoring Liu Jing's silent roll of eyes at him.
"Such a soldier neither understands the enemy's situation nor can he defend with peace of mind. Even if he wants to fight when he encounters the Huns' cavalry on the border, he is inexperienced and his legs will be weak first, so he will naturally not be able to defeat them.
Moreover, it will cost a lot of public funds to transport them continuously from various places to the border. "
Lu Pheasant turned to Liu Ji and followed his instructions.
"So, what do you mean?"
“Immigration to the border, as the name suggests, is to protect our borderland with our border people.
At the key points of the frontier fortresses bordering the Xiongnu, large and small cities were built and people were recruited to live there.
For immigrants who are willing to move to the border areas, they will be rewarded with land, given high titles, and their families restored. "
"Your proposal...isn't it a way to integrate soldiers with farmers and unite soldiers and civilians?"
Liu Ji was deep in thought and tapped the table with the knuckle of his right index finger, making a constant clanging sound.
"Your Majesty was wise enough to say what I said next."
The emperor's face had to be given, so Lu Pheasant twitched the corner of his mouth and simply gave in.
“Moving people to the border and replenishing the border fortresses is just one of them.
Next, we need to teach them how to deal with the enemy. The Xiongnu can make soldiers of all ages, and the people under my fortress must not lose to them in order to protect their homeland. "
Fan Kuai slapped his thigh, his excitement was palpable, and he shouted,
“In this way, the northwest border will no longer be empty, with one pavilion every five steps and one county every ten steps.
During the off-farm time, the men from each household were organized into formations and taught archery and defensive skills. We also learned from the Huns and barbarians, and all the people became soldiers. "
"In this way, every household can defend themselves on the spot, camp step by step, and watch and help each other. It will probably not be a problem to prevent a small group of Huns with more than a dozen riders from plundering."
Liu Ji nodded, and instead of scolding Fan Kuai, he continued what he wanted.
"We have 600,000 soldiers on hand who need to be resettled. Let's do this. If any of them are willing to move their families to the border areas, we will be given double the land on the original basis and an additional level of nobility.
Chen Ping, please remember, if you meet a slave who is willing to go, no matter whether he is an official slave or a slave, you will be freed from slavery and released as a commoner.
In addition, every household recruited from the border areas will be exempted from taxes and corvee for ten years. "
Chen Ping responded and recorded something. When the emperor said something, he quickly wrote something on the bamboo slips with his pen.
***
"I'm afraid this ten-year tax exemption is not possible."
Seeing the emperor blurting out more and more reductions and exemptions to benefit the people, Xiao He, the prime minister and chief accountant, had already been calculating and adding up item by item in his mind, and he became more and more frightened.
He couldn't help turning his face to look at Zhang Cang, only to see Zhang Cang shaking his head at him seriously, meaning that he could no longer make ends meet, so he finally couldn't help but interjected,
"Your Majesty, I still need to carefully calculate the large amounts discussed today, and then please make a decision.
Don't forget, you also need to provide resettlement allowance and land to the army. With such lavish spending, the national treasury may be stretched thin. "
"Then let's exempt them from the land tax for two years and the oral tax for three years, and then decide as appropriate. Do you think you can do it?"
Liu Ji turned around and looked at Xiao He expectantly.
Xiao He's face was filled with helplessness and reluctance.
"If there is a large food supply in the past few years and there are no disasters or harms, the Huns in the northwest and the South Vietnam in the south will not cause trouble, and they can almost do their best."
"What if the fortifications of Chang'an City are further reduced?" Lu Pheasant also discussed with him.
"According to the construction plans submitted by the Prime Minister, we will first build the Changle and Weiyang Palaces to give us a place to live. The rest can be planned slowly in the future."
When Xiao He heard this, he pinched his fingers and silently settled the accounts, whispered to Zhang Cang for a while, and finally nodded to the emperor.
Liu Ji was overjoyed when he saw this, and suddenly said casually,
"Zhang Ao, Zhang Ao, you have seen it. Zhang Cang, the governor of Changshan County, is proficient in arithmetic and is a rare talent.
I asked him to return to Zhao Kingdom with you and become the prime minister. Isn’t it a loss to you? "
"It's not a loss, it's not a loss. It's really my luck."
Zhang Ao seemed to still be immersed in the shock of the marriage just discussed, and answered somewhat distractedly.
Liu Ji gave him a cold look, ignored him, and continued,
"Queen, besides the two strategies you mentioned just now, apart from immigration, what is the other one?"
