I

There was only a few sips left in the large bowl of wine.

Zhang Shihe felt that he was drunk, but not completely drunk. My body started to lose control, and I became a bit tongue-tied when speaking, but my brain still retained the ability to think.

"Brother...brother," Zhang Shihe and Lu Ahuan said arm-in-arm with drunken eyes, "Shuixi Chieftain, this time it's going to be...finished. Don't help...help them fight the war."

However, the more Lu Huan drank, the more sober he became. He immediately complained: "I am not a chieftain, I am just a native of Wumeng Mountain. How can I be willing to fight? There is no benefit in winning. At most, I can rob a few slaves and get dozens of kilograms." Grain. If you grab any more grain, you will have to give it to those Mu Kui. If you are found hiding it, you will be punished. But the young men in the village have died, and there is a shortage of people for farming and grazing. Although I am not as smart as the Han people, I can also count. This account. It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it.”

Zhang Shihe picked up the bowl and took another sip, put down the wine bowl without knowing the importance of it, smashed it with a clang sound, and continued: "Over there in Guiyang, the Tu... Tusi army has probably... probably been surrounded, and only those in Shuixicheng are left. On the other side, there are... some chieftain soldiers. Brother, don't... be... afraid of the chieftains, we just... make the decision for the Yi people..."

boom!

He threw himself on the table and fell asleep directly.

Unfortunately, the distilled liquor brewed by the Wumeng tribe is definitely above 50 degrees, and may even be 60 degrees.

No wonder Lu Ahuan said that this is the wine he treasures.

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

Lu Ah Huan was noncommittal: "Let's talk about it later."

But Lu Tianxiang said: "Ada, I think this Han is very good, and that Han emperor is also very good. Anjia can't even defeat the Han soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. These Datong troops are more powerful 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 rob all the Yi women, we don't have to fight the Han soldiers. An Bangyan was so powerful back then. , rebelled with She Chongming, and were beheaded by the Ming army. The current An Rupan can't compare with An Bangyan."

The chaos in She'an was very big, and the governor of Guizhou and the general of the army were all killed. It was Zhu Xieyuan and Qin Liangyu who led the troops to put it down.

The leader of the rebellion, An Bangyan, was not a chieftain at all, but a Tutongzhi who had been converted to Tujiuliu. He could be regarded as the Mu Kui of "Duo Ni Ze Xi" - the Ming court did not recognize him because he had already established a state and a county at that time.

An Rupan, who was captured this time, was also not a chieftain, but a local fellow who had returned to his native land.

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

The leader of the Wumeng tribe is named Lu and has no benefits to gain. Why would he risk his life to fight for the leader named An?

Lu Tiande said: "Ada, the tribesmen who were 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 defeat them. Ada said that they are safe as a rock. If we can't defeat them, then we should surrender to the Han soldiers as soon as possible. All the good horses in the pasture have been taken away by An Rupan, but there are still a few strong stallions left. One can be selected and presented to the Han emperor. When the foal grows, Da, if you offer some good horses, you can make the Han emperor happy, and maybe you can make Ada the toast."

Lu Ahuan nodded and said: "I must surrender to the Han emperor, but my tribe is still serving as soldiers in Shuixi City, so I have to find a way to get my tribe back safely."

…

Zhang Shihe really didn't drink to the point of being drunk, but he felt that he couldn't hold it anymore. He was afraid that he would talk nonsense when he was drunk, so he simply pretended to be drunk and fell asleep.

He was helped to a room to rest. After lying there for a while, no one was in the room, he opened his eyes to observe the situation.

The rooms used to entertain guests are naturally in good condition. But they still couldn't keep up with the rich country people of the Han family. Zhang Shihe increasingly believed what the Yi guide said that every one of these Shuixi natives was very poor.

In the recruitment and surrender mission, there are basically no surprises.

So Zhang Shihe fell asleep peacefully. He had really drunk too much. He slept until the next morning, when a Yi man invited him to have a meal. 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.

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

After another small talk, Zhang Shihe finally found out that Lu Ahuan's eldest son was currently stationed in Shuixi City, with a thousand Wumeng soldiers under his command.

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

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

Zhang Shihe said: "Bottoms and sweet potatoes are imported from overseas countries, and they can be grown in mountainous areas regardless of land. Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi are mountainous. His Majesty the Emperor ordered officials to plant sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes in the mountains. It feeds many people. Children in Guangxi and Miao people in Hunan also depend on it. As long as the Datong Army takes Guizhou, officials will bring sweet potato and corn seeds. They don’t need you to do anything, and they will also teach you. How do you plant it.”

"Can we harvest a lot of grain?" Lu Ahuan asked.

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

Lu Ahuan was a little longing for it, and even began to imagine what sweet potatoes and corn would look like.

Zhang Shihe added: "Brother, we are already a family, and we still need to explain some things clearly."

"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 territory and return to their homeland. Then all the river systems were changed to the state and county system, and the court would send civilian officials to govern. For example, the Tumu of the Wumeng tribe could be retained, but the Tumu was renamed Mayor, from now on, my brother will be the mayor of the Datong Imperial Court."

"Tumu, mayor, whatever." Lu Ahuan was very happy to be able to keep his position.

Changing the status quo to the local level and moving it to the prefecture and county level is considered the ultimate in Shuixi.

Town-level units still have to allow the Yi people to govern themselves.

This is a summary of the missionary experience over the past few years. Many indigenous tribes are still stuck in a slave society, and some are even primitive societies. It is easy for them to lose their temper if they take big steps.

Zhang Shihe added: "But brother, you must know that His Majesty the Emperor is not allowed to keep slaves. The slaves in Han people's homes have been changed to hired workers, and no more serfs are allowed here in Shuixi."

Lu Ah Huan responded with silence, he was not willing to release the serfs.

Serfs are like livestock, they are the property of the family, why can't the emperor say that they have them?

Zhang Shihe asked: "How many serfs are there in my brother's family?"

Lu Ahuan replied: "I have 12 in my family."

The 12 serfs were jointly owned by Lu Ahuan and his sons, and some of them would be divided up in the future. In addition to farming, digging, carrying water, and helping to herd cattle, serfs also helped. Among them, farming is very labor-intensive, their farm tools are not advanced, and they all belong to mountainous areas, so they rely on the weather to survive with extensive planting but poor harvest.

Zhang Shihe began to calculate the accounts: "How much should 12 serfs eat every day? How much work can they help with? From now on, under the rule of Emperor Datong, you will not be required to perform corvee service, nor will you be levied heavy taxes. When you become the mayor, you will be paid every month. There will also be salary and salary. There will only be more food and more money 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 state The county civil servant will also send missionaries to help you form a farmers' association, and everyone will dig aqueducts together. If you can't dig aqueducts, dig wells. Then you won't have to walk far to fetch water. Isn't this more cost-effective than serfs?"

"Is this land owned by the government or ours?" Lu Ahuan asked.

Zhang Shihe said with a smile: "The land will be divided and everyone will have it. Your Majesty has stipulated that each person will be given four acres of paddy field. You are all in mountainous areas, and each person can be given a lot of land. You can also grow tobacco leaves, which are more valuable than grain. If you sell them, you will get money. If I buy more salt, wouldn’t my life be better than now?”

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

Zhang Shihe laughed loudly: "There is a large salt farm in Fushun. Shuixi surrenders to the imperial court, so the salt from Fushun can be transported here, and the goods from the mountains can be transported out. Without toast, the price of salt will definitely be cheaper than before."

The reason why Shuixi Tusi often causes trouble is because they monopolize the sales routes of Sichuan Salt and Shuixima. Whether Sichuan salt is transported in or Shuixi horses are sold, it is Shuixi An's toast who has the final say. With the huge profits from salt and horses, the army will naturally become strong.

It only hurts the lower-class Yi people in Shuixi. They are exploited by toast everywhere, and many of them can't even afford salt.

Even people like Lu Ahuan are reluctant to eat too much salt, so it makes sense to sprinkle a little with every meal.

Zhang Shihe began to talk to Lu Ahuan about the benefits of losing toast, saying that they could raise the price of selling horses, and that they could lower the price of buying salt. After talking about it, Lu Ahuan felt that it was great. If we could buy salt at a low price, what would freeing the serfs mean?

Anyway, there are not many serfs in the Wumeng tribe. The ones who really have a large number of serfs are at least Mu Kui from Luzexi.

Even the land of the Wumeng tribe was nominally owned by the chieftain.

Huang Yao's strategy for recruiting Shuixi to surrender was to bypass the two chieftains, Xuanweishu and Mu Kui, and talk directly to the lower-level chieftains. In the future, the only way to change Tumu to return to Liuzhou is to cancel the Xuanwei envoy and Mu Kui, and rename Tumu the mayor.

Don’t let middlemen make the difference, and they are still two-level middlemen!

The specific situations of ethnic minorities in the southwestern provinces are diverse. When facing different ethnic groups, different strategies must be adopted. Anyway, it is getting easier and easier now, unlike in the first two years when Jiangxi policies were copied completely according to the script, but when implemented, they always encountered messy problems.

After several days of exchanges, Lu Ahuan agreed to release the serfs and also agreed to the land distribution policy. The premise is that as the mayor, he can sell horses freely and buy salt at low prices.

Zhang Shihe promised to apply for the right to operate a salt store for Lu Ahuan. He was the only one in this town who could buy salt and sell it. However, the retail price of salt must be within the range set by the government. If salt is sold to the people if it exceeds the official price, the salt store's franchise will be revoked.

Can you sell salt yourself?

In the past, at least that was the power that only Mu Kui had!

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

When they arrived at Shuixi City, many Tumu children went outside the city to shout for the tribesmen who were defending the city to surrender to the Datong Army.