No matter how open the policies and effective measures Liu Xu had in Anton, they were all based on two foundations.
First, it is the recognition and support of the imperial court. Without this premise, no matter how many ideas Liu Xu had, he would not be able to use them with confidence.
Let’s not mention anything else for the moment, let’s just say that the most powerful, basic and powerful guarantee in the Anton region, the eighteen thousand garrison soldiers, is firmly in the hands of the imperial court, and the cost of raising the army is also from the central government. Finance is provided, and military supplies and logistics are also dispatched by the Ministry of War.
The second is to maintain a relatively stable environment and situation. If the Anton region is always in a state of turmoil, then no matter how good the policy is, it will become a castle in the air.
In fact, in the past five years, the Andong region has been far from peaceful. The source of the unrest lies in the local indigenous and remaining forces scattered among the mountains and lush forests. From armed immigrants to armed caravans, without a certain basis of force, it is impossible to engage in normal agricultural and commercial activities in Anton. This can also prove the local situation.
Of course, this was not unexpected, and was even within the expectations of the Governor's Office. In response to this, Liu Xu discussed with Gao Huaide and formulated a basic, long-term public security policy.
A basic goal is to ensure the security of the main towns under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Mansion, the stability of the armed immigrants, and the safety and smooth flow of business roads. Obviously, this is complementary to Liu Xu's Anton development plan.
It took the Andong garrison nearly two years to barely manage to clear out the indigenous barbarians around the main transportation lines.
Of course, under the strong attack of the Han army, the indigenous people had to choose to retreat and hide in the mountains and forests, which turned into a complete attack and harassment.
There were basically no forces that could directly resist the Han army, and those who dared to resist directly were almost destroyed when the Han army advanced into Anton.
In fact, there was such a brief period of stability in Anton, and a fragile tacit understanding was reached between the Han people and the indigenous people, that is, the Han people occupied the towns and plains, and the indigenous people occupied the mountains, forests and swamps.
But this fragile balance was quickly broken as the scope of Han activities continued to expand. The most fundamental contradiction between Han and Yi is the conflict over living space. With the large influx of Han troops, Han people, and Han merchants, the impact on the original state of the local area is significant, and it also fundamentally invades them. Soil for survival.
The large and small indigenous tribes in the Andong region have not been conquered by outsiders. For thousands of years, they have been in a state of rise and decline, annexation and being annexed, conquering and being conquered.
The most recent one was the Khitan Liao Kingdom, but under the rule of the Khitans, they still had great autonomy. The white mountains, black waters, mountains and dense forests were still their territory and their clan.
But these Han people are obviously different. They open their gluttonous mouths and brandish steel knives and fangs, but they want to completely eliminate them. They not only invade their land and destroy their homes, but also enslave their tribesmen.
There is no doubt that the slave-catching behavior in the Andong region is a practice that breeds hatred and intensifies conflicts. However, the expansion of a nation cannot be accompanied by peace and harmony. It must be supplemented by iron-blooded means. What it brings to other nations will also It is often disaster and destruction. Even the "gentle, courteous and thrifty" Han people have become greedy and cruel when they arrived in Anton. This is a battle between survival and destruction.
Either for revenge or resistance, the intrusion from the local barbarians never stopped. If the Han army did not dare to provoke them, they would have to deal with the Han people and Han merchants.
In fact, even if there are no other reasons, the barbarian intrusion on the Han people will still continue as usual. After all, these Han people have too many good things, such as grain, cloth, salt and iron, tea and wine, these are all those who are struggling in the mountains and wilderness. The barbarians in this world have always scarce survival resources. In order to survive, it is normal to burn, kill and loot.
In the 16th year of Kaibao's reign, due to the increasingly frequent barbarian and indigenous attacks and the increasing losses suffered by Han merchants and Han people, the Anton Governorate once again organized a large-scale military clearing operation.
This time the campaign was not only larger in scale and more brutal in its methods, but also more in-depth. According to the plan of the Governor's Office, it was to go deep into the mountains and forests to resolutely and completely eliminate the troubled barbarian indigenous people in order to restore Anton's power. Maintain normal order and ensure the safety of life and property of officials and citizens.
Of course, as the main force in the suppression, the lives of the Han soldiers were precious, and the governor's office (mainly Gao Huaide) was reluctant to let the Han's sons go deep into the mountains and forests where the situation was complex and dangerous, and fight with the barbarians on their home ground.
Therefore, the cannon fodder minions came in handy again. The law of things is always like this. Those who resist the rule of the Han Dynasty must obey. Whether it is Liaodong or Andong, there are a large number of tribes under their jurisdiction that depend on the imperial court for survival, such as Wanyan and Dalu. In ancient times, they represented the Jurchen tribes.
Conquest warfare was also a way for these tribes to survive on the strength of the Han Dynasty. Regarding the large-scale raids and suppressions in the 16th year of Kaibao, the Anton Governor's Office directly promised that all the spoils would belong to the attacking tribes and set up some in the towns behind. The temporary trading market was specially used for them to trade with Han merchants to digest war spoils.
At the same time, the cannon fodder soldiers who participated in the mopping up operations could also receive battle rewards from the Dudu Mansion as well as the supply of weapons and military supplies. For many soldiers, fighting for the Han army at least allowed them to have a full meal and have new supplies. New clothes, new shoes and new weapons to use. Tribes that are talented people can also get benefits from the Governor's Mansion, especially the trading concessions for various materials.
Lure them with benefits and use barbarians to control barbarians. Liu Xu was very skilled in this strategy in Anton. There is no doubt that this was also influenced by the emperor Liu.
Therefore, in the Andong Great Suppression of Bandits in the 16th year of Kaibao, the development of the war was like this. The servants were responsible for exploring roads and attacking. They were all servants of the army, doing dirty, hard, tiring and dangerous work. The Han army, on the other hand, moved in from behind to support, protect the base, and do some finishing work. They didn't even do the finishing work, they just held the formation, almost watching a show.
In the rear of the campaign, the temporary settlements were showing a state of war prosperity. Whenever a combat mission was over, the servants would take the spoils they captured and trade with the gathered Han merchants in exchange for salt, tea, wine, cloth and other materials, and even copper coins commonly used by the Han people.
The most valuable among them are obviously the captives. Whether they are young barbarians, women or children, they are all hot commodities. The Han nobles, merchants and even ordinary Han people were very interested and willing to spend money to purchase supplies.
After several years of development, not only the noble sons or merchants who came to Anton were buying people, but also the armed Han people were also involved, and they were also expanding the scope and scale of their own farming. It was too hard to just farm the land by yourself. , the harvest is too slow and too little, so increasing labor is the most effective way.
Morality still exists in the land of Anton, but it is only targeted at the Han people of the same race.
In fact, by the seventeenth year of Kaibao, it could no longer be said that Anton was short of people. Compared with young and strong labor, women were more scarce. In the market, the price of a woman of the right age was even higher than that of young and strong labor. The labor force is still high.
