When he went to sit down in the official office, Chen Yuanpeng said to Zhao Zi: "The lower official has prepared a wine feast to catch the wind for the general, and he is in this back office." ”

Zhao Zi waved his hand: "This matter is not in a hurry. Sit, let's talk about Illinois first. ”

Chen Yuanpeng sat down, and Zhao Zi said: "When Taizong, he sent envoys to Gao Changguo. According to Wang Yande's record, you have been guarding the land of Yizhou since the Kaiyuan period, and you are the lord of the city. At that time, there were all the edicts, but there was such a thing? ”

Chen Yuanpeng said: "Yes, since I was a child, it has been like this. The edict is still in the official office, and I will go and fetch it for the general. ”

Zhao Zi said: "No need, when you go east to the capital, you will take it to the imperial court." Today, let's talk about how many counties are under the rule of Yizhou, how many households are there, and what is the case. Gaochang in the west can no longer manage this, and what is the relationship with Yizhou now. ”

Chen Yuanpeng arched his hand: "Back to General, in addition to the state city under the rule of Yizhou, there are also two counties of Nazhi and Yidu, both of which are not far to the west. Gaochang governed all parts of the Western Regions, and they were all sent to Yue, who was the lord of a place, and there were still city lords below. Gao Chang has fought against the Black Khan King all these years, and has lost consecutive battles, and has lost Qiuzi and retreated to Yanqi. The army is weakened, and Yu Yue has not been sent to Yizhou for many years, and the two countries have nothing to do with each other. ”

Speaking of this, Chen Yuanpeng thought for a while and said: "Now there are more than 5,200 households under the rule of Yizhou, more than 3,000 households in Yizhou, and more than 1,000 households in Yizhou. Of course, this is only the people around the city, as for the people who go deep into the desert, I don't know how much. ”

Zhao Zi said: "I don't know how much, do you mean more or less?" ”

Chen Yuanpeng said: "Of course it's less. The land around here, with the best around the city, has a water source for irrigation. Living in the desert and having little water, of course you can't grow much land. Without land, what can people eat? ”

Zhao Zi nodded, in his mind, it should be less. In the past few decades, Illinois has been relatively peaceful, there is no war, and most of the people should gather around the city. Households that live deep in the desert generally have their own reasons, and it is inconvenient to move out for a while.

asked about the scale of the household registration, Zhao Zi said again: "There are more than 5,200 households, I don't know how many troops there are in Yizhou?" If there are too many, you can't afford to raise them. ”

Chen Yuanpeng said: "There are not many real defenders, and the sum of one state and two counties is only six or seven hundred. Of course, if someone comes to attack, then Ding Zhuang must join the army, otherwise it will not be enough to protect the place. ”

When you enter the city, you can see the shabby appearance of Chen Yuanpeng's honor guard, and you will know that there are not many defenders here. Whether it is Gaochang or the party, they are hundreds of miles away from here, as long as there are scouts and find that the army is coming, it is completely too late to collect from the people.

After asking this, Zhao Zi had a basic understanding of the situation in Yizhou, and said to Chen Yuanpeng: "Before the railway arrives in Yizhou, I would like to ask you to take your subordinates in Yizhou to govern the civil affairs here." I'm a soldier, and I don't care about civil affairs in general, do you understand? ”

Chen Yuanpeng said: "It should be like this. It's already September, and it's snowing in some places, so to be honest, you can't go far. I always have to sell things at home, so I brought money and went to the capital to find Daddy. ”

Zhao Zi couldn't help but smile bitterly, these people can really see it. Chen Ximing's stay in the capital must have been given benefits by the imperial court, which was much better than his life in Yizhou. Chen Yuanpeng must have a reply from Chen Ximing, and he is in a hurry to sell his property and go to the capital to live. Compared with the two places, Yizhou is not even comparable to the town next to Kaifeng, and living there is much stronger than here.

What Kaiyuan has been guarding Yizhou since the beginning of the world, this kind of words can only be listened to, for such a long time, the imperial court has flipped through the records, and it has been found that the Tang Shi Shou General has no surname Chen. This should be a pretext for the Tang Dynasty's withdrawal from the Western Regions and the local guards. However, the city is indeed in the hands of his family, and no one pursues it.

Standing up, Zhao Zi and Chen Yuanpeng went to the back office together to participate in the reception banquet.

There are less than 500 households in the city of Yizhou, the population is sparse, and the old squires are all excuses, but in fact, they are a few rich families. In addition to the few senior officials who followed Chen Ximing into Beijing at that time, a total of twenty or thirty people sat in the back office. According to custom, there is a carpet in the middle, with melons, fruits, wine and dishes, and the host and guest sit on both sides. Zhao Zi, Chen Xizhi, and Chen Yuanpeng took their seats, and the rest of the people sat below.

At this time, it was already cold, and the charcoal fire was lit around, and it was warm. Zhao Zi drank and ate meat with everyone, but he was also happy.

In Shengzhou City, Du Zhongxiao sat in the official office, looked at the documents handed over by Zhao Zi, and said to Fu Bi on the side: "The total population of Yizhou is only more than 5,000 households, and the population is indeed not much. This is still a few decades of peace, there is no fighting, and it seems that there are fewer people in the Western Regions than expected. ”

Fu Bi said: "That's the case. I heard that the Western Regions are full of yellow sand, and only where the mountains and rivers pass through can there be water sources. With the water source, the land can be cultivated, and it is in a continuous cluster in the desert, which is called the green state. These green states are the places where the trade routes pass. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Western Regions are vast, and there are still places where there is no shortage of water, and the population should not be so small. Looking at Yizhou, how many people are there in the entire Western Regions? Can there be 200,000 households? I think there aren't so many. ”

Fu Bi said: "There should be none." I don't know what happened to Black Khan, just looking at Gaochang, there are tens of thousands of households. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Only talented people can have soldiers." With such a population, how many soldiers can they have? Zhao Zi's department of 50,000 people, if the railway leads to Yizhou, wouldn't it be invincible? I originally thought that when the railway was opened, I would lead a large army to go, but now it seems that there is no need to say anything. ”

Fu Bi said: "Before the army arrives, the forces there will definitely not disappear. The place is too vast, and it still needs to be garrisoned by a large army. Anyway, the railway is opened, and there is not much difference between the 50,000 army and the 100,000 army, as long as it does not leave the railway too far. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, and said: "This year, I instructed Zhao Zi to find out the situation in Gao Changguo." If possible, his army did not have to be stationed in Juyan, but could be stationed along the road to help the troops who were building the railroad to repair the road. If this railway is built too quickly, there will inevitably be many hidden dangers, so let's revise it slowly in the future. ”

Fu Bi said yes, called the scribe, and wrote a reply letter to Zhao Zi. has arrived in Yizhou, and one of the important things is to find out what Gao Chang is thinking, whether he is friend or foe. The two places are six or seven hundred miles apart, although the distance is not close, it is much stronger than Shengzhou.

Du Zhongxiao handed over the official document to Fu Bi, stood up, and said: "The Western Regions are thousands of miles wide, but the population is only a large state, which is indeed very different from the Central Plains. It is Hequ Road, where the population is not large, but because the place is not developed, it is not that it cannot be inhabited. It is not a simple matter for the imperial court to enter the Western Regions. A railway, connecting the inside and outside, but this railway is not easy to repair. ”

Fu Bi said: "That's true. The interior is built for a thousand miles, and the population on both sides of the road is millions, but there may only be tens of thousands of households in the Western Regions, or even less than 10,000 households. If there were no business travelers on the road, the railway to the Western Regions would be a loss now. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The loss also has to be repaired." Only by connecting the railway can it be connected to the Central Plains. Just like the city lord of Yizhou, why is he willing to sacrifice Yizhou and live in the capital after entering the capital? He took the railway on the road, knowing that this road was going to be built to Yizhou, and he couldn't stop it. In the Western Regions in the future, the most important thing was to build railways and use railways to connect several important places. ”

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao shook his head with a smile: "Now it seems that in the future, the army stationed in the Western Regions should be mainly based on the battalion Tianxiang army, and it is useless to have too many soldiers." The DPRK and China really did the right thing to set up an army to build railways. ”

Fu Bi nodded: "Yes, as long as there is a railway, a place like Yizhou will be effortless." As long as the Western Regions is connected to the railway, many cities can be taken down without a fight. The future of the Western Regions still depends on the progress of railway construction. However, Jieshuai, the current railway takes the northern line, and there is no population along the way, which is not a long-term solution. In the future, if you get several counties in Hexi, you still have to build a southern line to get it. ”

(There is only one watch today, I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!) ）