Can cotton plantations achieve twice the result with half the effort to cure the stubborn disease of Tuyuhun?

When he returned to Yuwen Weicheng in Chang'an, he asked his father this question. Yuwen Wen was very happy about this and specially called Wulang and Liulang to listen. The answer he gave was:

"The other methods are not easy to use, but this method has a higher success rate."

"Otherwise, the court sent troops to the West Sea again and again, and Tuyuhun ran west again and again. The other party originally lived a nomadic life, it doesn't matter, but what about the official army? If you don't say anything else, how many horses will die if you attack?"

"So, we have to find a different approach so that the court can make obvious profits every time we use troops to the West Sea. We do not seek to recover the money, at least not lose so much."

"If you spend more time and less time on cattle and sheep, you will be different."

Hearing this, Yuwen Weicheng nodded silently, while Yuwen Weiping and Yuwen Weixing seemed to understand but not understand. Yuwen Wen didn't care. His son's "three views" must be "correct", so he had to "brainwash his son whenever he had the chance.

Although there is only one throne, in this era of low medical standards, the person who finally sat on it may not be Yuwen Weicheng, so Yuwen Wen felt that his sons must have basic political qualities and that other sons should not be raised as pigs except the prince.

The problem of Tuyuhun actually existed hundreds of years ago, so in order to make Yuwen Weiping and Yuwen Weixing better understand, Yuwen Wen took the topic a little further...

It goes back to the Later Han Dynasty.

The Qiang Rebellion in the Later Han Dynasty lasted for nearly a hundred years, which led to the bankruptcy of the Later Han Dynasty. In order to raise military expenses, the court kept increasing taxes. The consequence was that the people were overwhelmed, and then everyone sang together:

The sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand, and the year is in Jiazi, and the world is very lucky!

"It is natural for the people to survive, and it is natural for them to rise up. You must remember it and always remember it in your heart!"

Before explaining, Yuwen Wen first set a "reasonable rebellion" tune so that his son would not feel good about himself and think that he was born with a noble seed, and his descendants should eat delicious food and drink spicy food, and be the best.

Then, he briefly explained the situation of the Qiang Rebellion and then asked and answered:

"The Qiang Rebellion has lasted for nearly a hundred years. What is the problem? The problem is that the Western Qiang tribes have a large population. If they want to survive, they must leave their settlements and migrate outward. The relatively wealthy Hexi and Longyou are the attractive new world."

"For the Central Plains court, the Qiangs threatened the frontier and had to be dispersed by force. However, before the troops moved, food and grass took the lead. Every battle was fought, a lot of money and food was consumed, but the Qiangs could not finish it."

"The war only shows a lot of investment and no much reward. Over time, the court naturally cannot hold on. Then the only way is to kill all the Qiang people, but this cannot be done at all."

"People live. If you know that you are not good at coming, then run away. People live a nomadic life. They have no fixed place to live, no fixed city, and run around the mountains and fields. How can you chase after them?"

"The Qiang live in a bitter and cold place, and cultivate the ability to be both civil and military. They set up an ambush on the way to escape. If the pursuers are not careful, they will be wiped out. Then wait for your army to retreat, and they will come back again and again, and waste your finances to go bankrupt."

Speaking of this, Yuwen Wen turned the topic to the present: "That's the case with Tuyuhun. When you run, it will run thousands of miles away. In the ghost place in the West Sea, the conditions are harsh, and it is very hard for the official army to chase after it."

"If you can't eat well, sleep well, and you can't find the water source in a hurry, you can only kill the horse and drink blood. Don't think this is fun. This is a war. If you are not careful, it will be annihilated."

"The opponent has no place to live, and the official army attacks, as if they are wielding a fist to smash the ball in the air. If they cannot break the ball, they can only drive it away."

Yuwen Weicheng had a deep understanding of this, but Yuwen Weiping raised his hand and nodded when he saw his father, he asked, "Then why not build a base? Use the fortress group to occupy all the other party's territory."

Yuwen Wen replied: "This idea is good, but the cost is high and the court cannot afford it."

"What about training a strong army? Just like the Hulin Army."

"Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. A strong army will cause damage to one loss. Practicing more troops will also cost a lot of money and food. The most critical question is, how do you ensure that these armies that have been fighting on the frontier for many years are loyal to the court?"

Yuwen Wen's rebellious question left Yuwen Weiping speechless. With his knowledge, he could not continue to argue with his father on this issue.

"Whether it is the Western Qiang of the Later Han Dynasty or the Tuyuhun today, the reason why it is difficult to solve is that the court's input and output are extremely unbalanced. Each time it uses huge military service, but the harvest is small. If this continues, the finance will inevitably be unbearable..."

"Sending troops to station in the Xihai area is useless at least, and it is impossible to afford it if it is too much. Therefore, first of all, you have to control Hehuang and block the passage of Tuyuhun East Invasion."

"Follow Xiping as the center, supplemented by several fortresses, each fortress is equipped with artillery, which prevents Tuyuhun from breaking through the defense line, and then organizes the people to settle down and farm in the Hehuang Valley. The land there is fertile, which is indeed a good place."

Yuwen Wen took the sketch of the Xihai area and gave his sons a strategy class. Of course, the prince had already attended it and was now reviewing it.

"We must make self-production and self-sufficiency of grain in the Hehuang Valley, feed the garrison and family members, and at the same time select appropriate locations, build fortresses around the Xihai Sea, and move the defense line outward, so that Tuyuhun can't enter Hehuang to be unable to approach the Xihai."

"Next, we will continue to move the defense line outward, build fortresses in lakes with abundant water and grass and major water sources, and turn the West Sea and its surrounding major lake areas into pastoral areas under the control of the court."

"The garrison can shepherd sheep and supplement food on weekdays, or ask trading companies to recruit herdsmen to grazle in various pastoral areas. Since the Tuyuhun tribes can rely on the West Sea to be self-sufficient, there is no reason why the official army cannot do it."

When Yuwen Weiping saw this, he raised his hand in a hurry and asked, "But isn't building a building very expensive and food? The imperial court built a building in the West Sea. Even if she raises sheep and grazing, it's always a loss, right?"

"Yes, this is a cost that must be paid. Just like opening a textile factory, you must first purchase a textile machine. This is an investment in advance. If you don't invest, you can't get a deal."

Speaking of this, Yuwen Wen pointed to the sketch of Longyou area: "The cotton planting area in Longyou area is getting larger and larger, and the cotton cloth made of textiles is in short supply, so cotton planting and textiles require a large number of people."

"Picking cotton is a physical job. Because it is very hard, you have to pay high wages to get people. Similarly, separating cotton wool and cotton seeds requires a lot of manpower to deal with it, and the wages cannot be reduced..."

"In order to reduce costs and increase profits, for planters and textile factory owners, it is better to use raw mouth than to hire workers. If you don't use them, you can't compete with each other."

"So, the desolate Xihai area has an important resource, that is, people."

Yuwen Wen was very good at inducing his sons to enlighten him: "During the Later Han Dynasty, for the Central Plains court, the Western Qiang was in debt, poor, and difficult to manage. He fought against the Qiang, captured prisoners, and was registered. It was all full of food. Besides, the Central Plains was not short of people. If they were killed, they would only accumulate more hatred and never stop until they died."

"But now it is different. We can treat military force in the Xihai area as 'mining'. The mineral we want to collect is human, that is, we use military force in the Xihai area to catch the vengeance."

"Although the reputation of the raw mouth business is not good, it is a real benefit. Don't just pretend to be fat for the sake of false reputation, because it is stable in the Xihai area and Longyou are peaceful. This is the most important thing. What does a little stigma count as?"

"There are two ways to deal with the slaughter. One is to organize a slave arrest team to capture it. The second is to do business with each other and buy the slaughter from the other party. Then these tribes will naturally attack each other and exchange their tribes for various handicraft products from the Central Plains."

"In this way, it is also a good thing to make the Xihai tribes invisibly enemies of each other and not be able to form a rope, right?"

Yuwen Wen gave a long speech, and the sons could understand it, but Yuwen Weicheng thought of another thing, hesitated for a moment, and asked;

"Father, then... did the imperial court and Tuyuhun have a good relationship and opened a border market, and they also wanted to win over the other party to do a business together?"

"That's right, Tuyuhun can cooperate with the imperial court to attack the Qiang in the west, and add wool and cheese products to exchange for various specialties and handicraft products from the Central Plains. This is a win-win situation and it is easy to figure it out."

"The nobles of Tuyuhun tribes, that is, those 'nationals', can rely on the border market to live a good life steadily. If they develop well, then they will expand Fuqi City into a big city, with bricks and tiles, and live in cold weather, and have a hot kang to lie down, that's great!"

Yuwen Wen was a little annoyed as he spoke: "But the nobles of Tuyuhun tribes don't think so. They think it's too much to do business with the dynasty, so it's better to grab it directly!"

"This is shameless!"
Chapter completed!