Chapter 702: Traveling Through Mountains and Rivers
Canals irrigate and seedlings grow strong.
Farmers carry water from the diversion channels of the canal and return it to the farmland for irrigation.
In the past twenty or thirty years since the construction of the Zhengguo Canal, Guanzhong has been rich in food, supporting Qin's eastward expansion and domination of the world. Yu Lin is on the side, guarding the left and right.
Zhao Shuang looked at the endless fertile fields, but felt worried in his heart.
The Zhengguo Canal was still playing a huge role at this time, irrigating large fields on the north bank of the Wei River. These 40,000 hectares of land can harvest millions of dan of grain every year.
However, since Qin unified the world, Guanzhong has become the capital of the empire. The empire moved a large number of wealthy households from the land of Guandong and settled in Guanzhong. In addition, it supported hundreds of thousands of troops to drive out the Xiongnu, open up the border areas, and migrate to the frontier of Guizhou. As a result, the food balance in Guanzhong was actually negative.
To this end, the empire opened water transportation, and every year the grain and grass collected from the Kanto region were transported by water to Xianyang, so that the grain balance could be maintained.
The empire lost most of the counties in Guandong, and water transportation naturally lost its effectiveness.
The empire's water transportation was paralyzed, and millions of water workers in Guandong joined the anti-Qin forces in Shandong when the world was in chaos. This is also one of the reasons why Zhang Chujun was able to grow big quickly.
Although there is no chaos in Guanzhong, food in Guanzhong is very tight, and there is a shortage of millions of stones every year.
The cost of maintaining the imperial capital is different from the cost of maintaining the royal capital.
After the empire unified the world, it designed the system based on the potential risk of rebellion in Shandong. When establishing a water transportation system across the country, it focused on areas such as Guanzhong and Bashu that were part of the empire's basic territory.
Granaries in the imperial capital such as Xianyangcang are of the level of 100,000 stone per hectare, and Guanzhong granaries such as Bashangcang and Yueyangcang also reserve huge amounts of grain all year round.
It didn't take long for the world to be in chaos. Although water transportation was cut off, the shortcomings had not yet become too serious.
At this time, Guanzhong could still rely on the food and wealth accumulated in the past to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops for the eastern expedition.
Xiao He stood next to Zhao Shuang. As the chief clerk of the Prime Minister's Mansion, he knew very well the tax revenue of the counties controlled by the empire.
"Your Majesty, this year looks like a good year. Chengdu and Nanzheng are reporting that Bashu and Hanzhong can also provide two to three million shi of food this year."
It's not autumn yet, so we can only have a rough estimate of the grain and grass harvest. However, the land of Bashu has always been the granary of the empire. After the empire has been operating for a hundred years and unified the world, the transportation from Guanzhong to Bashu has been further improved.
However, it is more convenient to transport the grain from Bashu and Hanzhong eastward to Nanyang and Nanjun.
"In addition, Chengdu and Jiangzhou have established two armies according to your Majesty's wishes. The land and water armies total 30,000 people, and they have worked together to build 500 large and small ships. Half of them are now completed."
"It seems that Li Shang and Yu Ziqi did a good job."
Xiao He followed Zhao Shuang and smiled slightly after listening to his words.
The situation in Guanzhong is good now. They just defeated Zhang Chujun who invaded Sanchuan not long ago. Now Li Xin and Li You are joining forces and are fighting fiercely with the main force of Zhang Chu's army. It seems that victory will come sooner or later.
However, Zhao Shuang suppressed the call of the generals to go east to quell the rebellion, and now still adopts a defensive strategy.
Many people were puzzled, but Xiao He saw the clues.
Even though this year is a good year, Guanzhong's grain and grass revenue and expenditure are still unbalanced, with a big gap. Although balance can be maintained by relying on past reserves, this drawback will appear over time.
After Zhao Shuang took control of Guanzhong, he has been making adjustments.
"Zhang Chu's army is nothing to worry about, but the old tribes of the Six Nations behind it are troublesome."
Many of Zhang Chu's troops were reckless, and the leaders of each faction only knew how to attack cities and seize territory, rob people and wealth, and did not know how to govern. But among the old tribes of the Six Kingdoms, there are many capable people who know how to manage the place, appease the people, and maintain production.
"Your Majesty, are you worried that once the empire's army falls into the quagmire of fighting with Zhang Chu's army, the old clans of the Six Kingdoms will take advantage of it?"
"No, maybe the old clans of the Six Nations are expecting us to be in a stalemate with Zhang Chujun. Even if Zhang Chujun is gone, they will come on their own."
Xiao He seemed to understand this somewhat.
If the imperial army marches eastward, even if Zhang Chu's rebellion is finally suppressed, what will be gained will be an even more damaged area than before, and the cost of suppressing the rebellion will not be recouped in a short period of time.
Even if Zhang Chu's army is gone, there are still Qi and Chu troops to the east, and Zhao and Yan to the north. Even if the armies of the Six Nations are no match for the Imperial Army, as long as there is a problem in one of the links and cannot be resolved quickly, the Empire and the Six Nations will fall into a stalemate.
With the current situation in Guanzhong, it is difficult to withstand hundreds of thousands of troops extending the front line, fighting in all directions, and conducting long-term and high-intensity wars. It would be fine if the battle can be resolved quickly, but if a stalemate occurs, the end result will be a situation where military supplies will be difficult to maintain and the entire line will collapse.
"But if your Majesty doesn't care about it, I'm afraid that after Zhang Chu's army is defeated, the princes will soon become bigger."
"The princes in the world are just mediocre. There is no one in the land of Guandong who can compete with our elite army. What we really need to worry about is the food and grass in the rear."
No matter how elite the army is, it is useless without the support of food and grass.
Zhao Shuang glanced at Xiao He and said.
"From now on, the tax collection and management of Bashu, Guan and other places will be handed over to you."
Xiao He was stunned and bowed his hands, feeling the weight of it.
"I will live up to your Majesty's trust."
…
The flames of war are spreading, and sparks are flying.
Tian Hu looked around in confusion. No one listened to his command anymore, all they could think about was escaping.
More than ten years is a long enough time for people to forget many things.
Since the day of the Daze Mountain uprising, they have won consecutive battles. They have watched the imperial officials and county soldiers who used to dominate them be defeated, begged for mercy, surrendered, and died, so that they have forgotten the sweeping army that year. The armies of the world once brought the deepest fear in their hearts.
But now, when that army came again, Tian Hu suddenly discovered that the experience they accumulated in the past was so useless.
It turns out that that army will not be like those county soldiers, because they will surrender if there are more people on the opposite side.
It turns out that that army will not be like them. If the war goes well, their morale will be high and they will advance together; if the war goes wrong, their morale will be low and they will scatter in all directions.
It turns out that there are really people in this world who are not afraid of death and dare to countercharge against the enemy's army formation which has an absolute advantage in numbers.
The roar of a tiger woke Tian Hu up from his confusion.
In the night, a giant beast appeared in Tian Hu's field of vision. The appearance of the Mohist organization White Tiger was like the last straw, completely destroying Zhang Chujun's determination to resist.
In the moonlit night, the gigantic beast, with its frightening power, seemed to be patrolling in its own mountains, looking at Zhang Chu's troops as if they were nothing.
The huge palm stepped on the ground, like a landslide.
Then, there is the second head, the third head...
Tian Hu pulled out the Tiger Soul Sword and pointed at the trap white tiger that was looking at him. He wanted to resist, but when the words came to his lips, they became a sentence.
"Quickly retreat!"