I

  Chapter 511 508【Eliminate middlemen】

   There were only a few sips left of that big bowl of wine.

  Zhang Shihe felt drunk, but not completely drunk. The body began to lose control, and the tongue was a bit loud when speaking, but the ability to think still remained in the brain.

   "Brother...Brother," Zhang Shihe and Lu Ahuan hooked their shoulders together, and said drunkenly, "Shuixi chieftain, this time it's...it's over, don't help...help them fight the war."

However, Lu Ahuan became more and more sober after drinking, and immediately complained: "I'm not a chieftain, but a native of Wumeng Mountain. How can I be willing to fight? It's no good to win. At most, I can grab a few slaves and get dozens of catties. Grain. If you **** more food, you must donate it to those Mu Kui. If you are found hiding it, you will be punished. But when the young and strong in the village die, there is a shortage of manpower for farming and grazing. Although I am not as smart as the Han people, I can count This account. Not worth it, not worth it."

Zhang Shihe picked up the bowl and took another sip, put down the wine bowl without knowing how heavy it was, and made a bang bang sound, and continued: "Over there in Guiyang, the army of Tu... Tusi is probably... probably surrounded, and only Shuixi City is left. There are also...some chieftain soldiers. Brother, don't... be afraid...of the chieftains, we just...make decisions for the Yi people..."

boom!

   He fell headfirst on the table and fell asleep directly.

  God is pitiful, the distilled wine brewed by Wumengbu is definitely above 50 degrees, maybe even 60 degrees.

   No wonder Lu Ahuan said that this is his treasured wine.

   Someone dragged Zhang Shihe to rest, and Lu Tiande came over: "Ada, do you really want to help the Han people fight?"

  Lu Ahuan was noncommittal: "Let's talk."

  Lu Tianxiang said: "Ada, I think this Han is very good, and that Han emperor is also very good. The An family can't even defeat the Han soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. These Datong troops are even stronger than the Han soldiers of the Ming Dynasty."

Lu Ahuan drank the rest of the wine and sighed: "Of course the Han soldiers are powerful. As long as they don't kill all the Yi men and women, we don't have to fight the Han soldiers. An Bangyan was so powerful back then. , rebelled with She Chongming, and was beheaded by the Ming army. The current An Rupan can't be compared with An Bangyan."

  The rebellion in She'an caused a lot of trouble. The governor of Guizhou and the general soldier of Guizhou all died. It was Zhu Xieyuan and Qin Liangyu who led the troops to quell it.

  The leader of the rebellion, An Bangyan, is not a chieftain at all, but a Tu Tongzhi after the reform of the land, and can be regarded as Mu Kui of "Duoyou Zexi"—the Ming court did not recognize it, because it had set up prefectures and counties at that time.

  An Rupan, who was captured this time, is also not a chieftain, but also a Tu Tongzhi after reforming the land.

  Anyway, most of Zexi Mukui in the Shuixi boundary are surnamed An, and they were entrusted by an ancestor. Even in Wusa Mansion on the southern border of Sichuan, the chieftain there has the surname An.

  The leader of the Wumeng tribe is surnamed Lu, and there is no benefit to be gained. Why do you want to fight for the surname An?

Lu Tiande said: "Ada, the clansman sent to borrow food came back and said that the Han soldiers at the foot of the mountain are very powerful. They are all wearing armor. We don't even have enough leather armor. We will definitely not be able to fight. Ada said that it is as safe as a pan." If we can’t beat them, then let’s join the Han soldiers as soon as possible. All the good horses in the ranch were taken away by An Rupan, but there are still a few vigorous stallions left, and one can be selected and dedicated to the Han emperor. When the foal grows Da, and present some good horses to make the Han emperor happy, and maybe let Ada be the chieftain."

  Lu Ahuan nodded and said, "I definitely want to take refuge with the Han emperor, but the tribe is still serving as a soldier in Shuixi City, so I have to find a way to bring them back safely."

  …

  Zhang Shihe really didn't drink to the point of passing out, but he felt that he could not hold on any longer. He was afraid of talking nonsense after being drunk, so he just pretended to be drunk and fell asleep.

  He was helped to a room to rest, and lay down for a while, and there was no one in the room, so he opened his eyes to observe the situation.

   The rooms used to entertain guests are naturally in good condition. But he still couldn't keep up with the Han family's rich rural landowners. Zhang Shihe believed more and more what the Yi guide said, that all these Shuixi natives were poor.

   There will be basically no accidents in the mission of recruiting and surrendering.

   So Zhang Shihe fell asleep peacefully. He really drank too much. After sleeping until the next morning, a Yi person invited him to dinner. When Zhang Shihe arrived at the restaurant, Lu Ahuan's family had been waiting for a long time.

  The rice is buckwheat rice. Rice is not grown here, and sweet potatoes and corn are not introduced.

   In order to entertain distinguished guests, wild boar meat is placed on the table. Their cooking level is not high, they are simply roasted, then cut into slices with a knife, dipped in some salt and mountain seasoning.

   After chatting again, Zhang Shihe finally found out that Lu Ahuan's eldest son was stationed in Shuixi City at the moment, and he also had a thousand Umeng soldiers under his command.

  Zhang Shihe asked casually: "Brother, do you know corn and sweet potatoes?"

  Lu Ahuan shook his head: "I haven't heard of it."

Zhang Shihe said: "Both corn and sweet potatoes come from overseas countries, and they can be planted in mountainous areas. Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi are mountainous. His Majesty the Emperor ordered officials to plant sweet potatoes and corn in the mountains. It has fed many people. The Tong people in Guangxi and the Miao people in Hunan also depend on it for a living. As long as the Datong army occupies Guizhou, the officials will bring the seeds of sweet potatoes and corn. I don’t want you to do anything, and you will teach How do you plant it."

   "Can you harvest a lot of food?" Lu Ahuan asked.

  Zhang Shihe said: "The harvest is better than that of buckwheat and sorghum."

  Lu Ahuan had some longing, and even began to fantasize about what sweet potatoes and corn looked like.

  Zhang Shihe said again: "Brother, we are already a family, and we still need to make some things clear."

   "Brother, tell me." Lu Ahuan nodded.

Zhang Shihe said: "The Datong army occupied Guizhou, and the chieftains from all over the country had to change their land to return. The Zexi system was all changed to the prefecture and county system, and the imperial court would send civil officials to manage it. The Tumu of the Wumeng tribe can be retained, but the Tumu is renamed. Mayor, from now on my elder brother will be the mayor of the Datong court."

   "Tumu, the mayor, whatever." Lu Ahuan was very happy that he could keep his position.

  Returning the soil to the flow, and changing it to the state and county level, is already considered the ultimate in Shuixi.

  The town-level units still have to allow the Yi people to self-govern.

  This is a summary of missionary experience over the past few years. Many indigenous tribes are still in a slave society, and some are even primitive societies.

  Zhang Shihe said: "But brother, you should know that His Majesty the Emperor is not allowed to keep slaves. The slaves in Han people's homes are all converted into hired workers, and there are no more serfs on the west side of Shui."

  Lu Ahuan was silent, he was not happy to release the serfs.

  Serfs are like livestock. They are the property of the family. Why can the emperor not allow them?

  Zhang Shihe asked: "Just say how many serfs are there in my elder brother's family?"

  Lu Ahuan replied: "There are 12 in my family."

  The 12 serfs are jointly owned by Lu Ahuan and several sons, and some will be distributed in the future. In addition to farming and carrying water, serfs also helped herd herds. Among them, farming is very labor-intensive. Their farm tools are not advanced, and they all belong to mountainous areas.

Zhang Shihe began to settle accounts: "How much should the 12 serfs eat every day? How much work can they help? From now on, under the rule of Emperor Datong, you will not be required to serve corvee, nor will you be taxed heavily. You became the mayor of the town, and every month There is also salary, food will only be more than before, and money will be more than before. The Wumeng horses you raise can be sold to the government or to businessmen. Horses are so valuable, what are a few serfs? The county civil servant will also send missionaries to help you form a peasant association, and everyone will dig aqueducts together, and if they can’t dig aqueducts, they will dig wells. At that time, you won’t have to travel far to fetch water, isn’t it more cost-effective than serfs?”

   "Is this land the government's, or our own?" Lu Ahuan asked.

Zhang Shihe said with a smile: "The land will be distributed, and everyone will have it. Your Majesty stipulates that each paddy field will be divided into four acres. You are all mountainous land, and each person can be allocated a lot of land. You can also grow tobacco leaves, which are more valuable than grain, and you can sell them for money." Wouldn’t life be better if we bought more salt?”

   "Salt is very expensive and hard to buy. If you vote for the emperor, can salt be cheaper?" Lu Ahuan asked.

  Zhang Shihe laughed loudly: "There is a large salt field in Fushun, and the west of Shui belongs to the imperial court. The salt from Fushun can be shipped in, and the goods from the mountains can be shipped out. Without the toast, the price of salt will definitely be cheaper than before."

  The reason why Shuixi chieftains often make trouble is because they have monopolized the sales routes of Sichuan Salt and Shuixima. The Sichuan salt was to be brought in, and the Shuixi horse was to be sold. It was the chieftain of the Shui'an family who had the final say. With the huge profits from salt and horses, the army would naturally become stronger.

   It’s just that the Yi people at the bottom of Shuixi suffered a lot. They are exploited everywhere by chieftains, and many of them can’t even afford to eat salt.

  Even a native like Lu Ahuan is reluctant to eat too much salt, so it makes sense to sprinkle a little on every meal.

  Zhang Shihe began to talk to Lu Ahuan about the benefits of losing the chieftain, that they could increase the price when they sold horses, and that they could reduce the price when they bought salt. After talking about it, Lu Ahuan felt that it was great, if he could buy salt at a low price, what would it matter if he freed the serfs?

  Anyway, there are not many serfs in the Wumeng tribe. The one who really has a large number of serfs is at least Mu Kui from Zexi.

  Even the land of the Wumeng tribe is owned by the chieftain in name.

  Huang Yao’s strategy for recruiting Shuixi was to bypass the two-level chieftains Xuanweishi and Mu Kui, and directly talk to the lower-level Tumu. In the future, to reform the land and return it to the local people is just to cancel the Xuanwei envoy and Mu Kui, and change the name of Tumu to the mayor.

   Don't let the middleman earn the price difference, and it's still a two-level middleman!

  The ethnic minorities in the southwestern provinces have various situations. Facing different nationalities, we must choose different strategies. Anyway, it is becoming more and more handy now, unlike the first two years, when Jiangxi policies were copied completely according to the script, and as a result, there were always messy problems when it was implemented.

   After another few days of communication, Lu Ahuan agreed to release the serfs and also agreed to the policy of dividing the land. The premise is that if he is the mayor, he can sell horses freely, and he can buy salt at a low price.

  Zhang Shihe promised that he would apply for the right to operate a salt store for Lu Ahuan, and only he could buy salt in this town and sell it. However, the retail price of salt must be within the range set by the government. If the salt is sold to the common people if it exceeds the official price, the franchise right of the salt store will be withdrawn.

  Can you sell salt yourself?

  In the past, at least Mu Kui had the power!

  Lu Ahuan was overjoyed. He asked his son and daughter, with dozens of young men, to fight with the Datong Army. He also agreed to go out in person to help persuade the surrounding Tumu.

  When they arrived at Shuixi City, many children of Tumu went outside the city and shouted, so that the clansmen who defended the city would submit to the Datong Army.

  (end of this chapter)