Chapter 1298: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (One Hundred and Eighty-Eight) 3rd Military Region

Mengchi, the location of the headquarters of the Third Military Region of the Han Kingdom.

This place was originally a deserted place. In order to control the vast northwest area, the Han Kingdom established the Third Military Region here, with He Lanxiong as the commander, and later transferred Zhao Xilie as the deputy commander to manage and develop this vast but interpersonal area. Rare area. Although it is called a military region, in fact, what the Third Military Region does is more of reclamation and land reclamation. Most of the local guards reduced by the Han Dynasty moved to this area with their families.

Different from the mainland, the guards who moved here still had military establishments and naturally received salaries. However, their main job was no longer fighting, but farming. Farms were established here one after another to continue their work. As a unit, these local guards put down their weapons, picked up hoes, and began the development work of the frontier.

Not only these guards, but also the family members who arrived here with them are now incorporated into the army and receive a salary. At the same time, they are also given an errand in the farm. Regardless of gender, they can all work here. Find a job that's right for you.

With Mengchi as the center, the actual area under the jurisdiction of the Third Military Region reaches tens of thousands of square kilometers, but the total population is only a mere 500,000 people. This also includes those children who are underage. What is a vast area? It was sparsely populated, and Zhao Xilie, who had always lived in a big city in the Central Plains, finally felt it when he came here.

It is now the middle of winter, covered with heavy snow, and all farm work has stopped. However, the Third Military Region did not spend the winter indoors because of the heavy snow. Instead, it took advantage of this rare off-farm season to start large-scale construction. For domestic road projects, if you want to get rich, build roads first. This slogan put forward by King Gaoyuan of Han Dynasty is now deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of Han Dynasty. The transportation network in all directions connects various places, bringing goods and people. When people consume, money comes in. Everyone understands this truth.

He Lanxiong is now vigorously building the main road from Mengchi to Jishi County. As long as the two places are connected, Mengchi will no longer be an isolated island hanging outside for more than a year. Most of He Lanxiong's energy is focused on this road. In the direction of Jishi County, County Supervisor Sun Xiao is also building from that end to Mengchong. It is expected that this road will be successfully connected by the middle of next year. Closed.

In Mengchong, the headquarters of the Third Military Region is the tallest and most majestic building. This five-story building, built entirely of reinforced concrete structures, is like a gray monster lying on this endless plain. above. All the yamen of the entire Third Military Region were installed. Around him, those adobe houses covered with thatch stretched out one after another with this building as the center, forming a small town.

The road has not yet been repaired. Aniseed building materials cannot be transported in. Just transporting the steel and cement required to build this building cost He Lanxiong a lot. However, He Lanxiong insisted on building such a building, not just for himself. A comfortable stay. More importantly, he wanted to scare some of the indigenous residents who originally lived on this land.

Most of these indigenous residents are unruly and unruly. In order to let them feel the powerful national power of the Han Dynasty, these facade work must be done.

The fact is just as He Lanxiong expected, the establishment of this building did shock and panic some indigenous peoples. They could not imagine how such a magnificent building could be built so high. Naturally, the panic was followed by admiration. Many local tribes expressed their surrender to He Lanxiong. They were immediately rewarded by He Lanxiong, allowing them to freely enter and exit the areas controlled by the Third Military Region. The huge impact brought by the migration of hundreds of thousands of people The market also brought great benefits to the local aborigines who were the first to lose the city. These newcomers needed to buy everything, and they were worried about how their things would turn into yellow gold and white silver.

In the Third Military Region, the currency issued by the Han Central Bank is still only used internally. The indigenous residents do not recognize these colorful papers. They cannot imagine that they can buy what they need with such a piece of paper. , so gold, silver and copper coins are still used here. He Lanxiong is not in a hurry about this. Assimilation requires a process. Slowly, the indigenous residents here will naturally accept the new things brought by the Han Dynasty.

Of course, not everything goes smoothly. This land is too far away from the Han Dynasty. Even the nearest Jishi County is hundreds of miles away. In this era, this is a long distance. The entry of the Third Military Region, Nature has shaken some of the original vested interests, and confrontation has arisen as the times require.

Most of the Third Military Region is composed of local guards, and their combat effectiveness is not particularly strong. However, as the local guards of the former Han Dynasty, compared with the general army, they still do not lose in battle. What's more, He Lanxiong also brought his subordinates His own three thousand cavalry soldiers. As a Huns who grew up in the blood and fire of that era, he took the simplest way to deal with this situation, kill!

When a company in the Third Military Region was attacked by local forces, killed and robbed, He Lanxiong personally took action and uprooted the largest local force with thunderous sweeps, killing heads and blood. , It was true that no one was left behind. This battle greatly shocked the remaining forces. After He Lanxiong showed his iron-blooded side in front of the local indigenous people, these people finally became honest.

The farm, with the company as its basic unit, blossomed all over the land, burned wasteland, and cultivated land. Within a year, they finally stabilized.

This year's harvest is not good, and it is not enough to satisfy the self-sufficiency of hundreds of thousands of people. However, everyone who arrived here with He Lanxiong is full of confidence. It always takes one or two years to cultivate a piece of land well. As far as the harvest is concerned, they are already very satisfied.

Now this vast area is showing a rare peaceful state. The local forces have bowed their heads. However, the horse thieves who used to roam this area have suffered catastrophe, and every farm has been destroyed. The construction directly compressed their living space, and the sweep of the Han army's cavalry left them with no way to go to the sky and no way to the earth. As a result, they either stubbornly resisted and were killed, or they put down their swords and guns and honestly Become a human being.

It only took He Lanxiong a year to make Northwest Pu fall at his feet. By the time Zhao Xilie took office, this area was already under the absolute control of the Third Military Region.

Zhao Xilie did not come to office alone. He went to the northwest with him, as well as tens of thousands of the original Zhao troops who had been reorganized and dismissed. Although Western Zhao was in poverty at the time, they still had nearly 20 troops due to the military confrontation with Eastern Zhao. After the surrender of tens of thousands of soldiers to the Han Dynasty, these soldiers were carefully selected, leaving only more than 20,000 people to form an army led by Li Mingjun. The rest were given two ways out, one was to retire, and the local generals assigned them to Their land and all treatment were the same as those of the original people of Han. Another way is to retain the military loan, but you need to follow Zhao Xilie to the Northwest Third Military Region.

The last tens of thousands of people chose to go to the northwest border area with Zhao Xilie. Although their future was uncertain, they still had a military pay, at least they had enough food and clothing.

The arrival of Zhao Xilie greatly enriched the personnel of the Third Military Region and allowed more farms to be built on this land. It was also a good destination for these eliminated Zhao soldiers. Before joining the army, they were basically farmers. Now they just pick up their old trade, put down their weapons, and pick up the hoe again. Although it feels a little weird to farm the land with military pay, it is better than going to the battlefield and working hard.

Outside the building, white snow is falling and the temperature is extremely low. There is a joke that if you go to pee in the middle of the night, the urine has turned into ice cubes before it hits the ground. It makes a tinkling sound when it hits the ground. This shows how low the temperature is here, but inside the building , but as warm as spring. Iron pipes are scattered all over the building, and the ends are connected to small square boxes. The end of the iron pipes is a bungalow behind the building. Inside, there is a huge steam furnace. But it was boiling water. A large amount of steaming water vapor flowed along these iron pipes all the way to the top of the building, bringing warmth to each room, and then flowed back to the pot along another pipe. On the open space outside the bungalow, there are mountains of coal. In the northwest, there may not be many other things, but this thing is really everywhere.

The people outside the house were wrapped up like bears, but the people inside the house were only wearing thin jackets.

Holding a cup of steaming tea, Zhao Xilie leaned contentedly in front of the window, looking at the flying snowflakes outside through the glass, and sighed to He Lanxiong behind him: "Brother He, I think I did enough when I came to the northwest. I have prepared all kinds of things to cope with the severe winter. I have prepared a large car. I never thought that it would be like this, but all these good things were in vain. "

He Lanxiong leaned over the desk and stared at the map in front of him. Hearing Zhao Xilie's sigh, he couldn't help laughing, "I didn't expect this steam heating technology. Currently, there is no way to promote it in the Han Dynasty. It costs too much. Most people really can't afford it, but for our place, it's really practical. Speaking of which, I have to thank Brother Zhao. I only heard my roommate mention this glass in the letter, and you actually paid for it out of your own pocket. I brought these here so that we can enjoy the snow and the scenery in this way, and the field of vision is bright and wide. It's nothing more than climbing up and looking far. "

"This glass is indeed good. It is warmer than window paper. Commander, I suggest that we install glass on all the windows in this building next year."

"I do think so, but this thing is a bit too expensive. It's very delicate. After being transported for thousands of miles, it might end up being a pile of debris."

"The road will be repaired next year. It will be installed just in time for winter. As for the price, I heard that the Mingbo Company is the property of the king. The commander will talk to Princess Helan and the price will come down. "?" Zhao Xilie smiled slyly. (To be continued...)