For the remaining 15 orders of magnitude, Fallen Dust was all used in exchange for a new skill: "Explosion". Of course, it is not a large-scale explosion, but a small-scale explosion. It can kill a person 100 meters away with one finger, and the power is not bad. With a finger, Luo Chen said, "Explode!" A hole was suddenly blown out in the corner of the wall.

Luochen left Xiahouyuan to lead an army of 60,000 troops to garrison in Hanzhong, eyeing Yizhou, adding Xiahouyuan as a general of Zhonglang. Luochen decided to introduce a system similar to military rank to normalize the army. Of course, there is no absolute relationship between the position of a general and the rank of the army. All generals are dispatched by Hou Luochen, and their power is temporarily dispatched to prevent the generals from monopolizing. The rank is specific from high to low: Colonel, Duwei, Zhonglang General, General, and General. As for charioteer, light cavalry, hussar, Zhengdong, Zhenxi, etc., they are all informal titles, and can be added to the front of the official rank according to the actual position. For example, Xiahou Yuan could be called the general of Zhennan, but if Xiahou Yuan was transferred, he would not be called Zhennan.

The fallen army of 100,000 people spent the night in Xiaoxing and arrived at Chang'an in a few days. News of the northern battlefield spread frequently. It is said that a nine-foot-tall, red-faced and long-bearded general of Cao Jun slashed two generals, Yuan Shao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and shocked the north. Now Yuan and Cao have their own winners and losers, forming a stalemate in Guandu.

After Luochen arrived in Chang'an, the court held a meeting of ministers to celebrate Luochen's success in the Battle of Tongguan and the Battle of Hanzhong. In fact, the court meeting has no effect, the ministers are just decorations, and all the military affairs come from Luochen's prime minister's mansion... There was a villain who advised Luochen to call him the king of Qin or Hanzhong, but Luochen just sneered and ignored it...

Luochen held another meeting at the Prime Minister's Mansion and appointed Zhang Juzheng as Deputy Prime Minister and Situ. Originally, Situ came to be the prime minister, Dong Zhuo added the position of "grand master", and Luo Chen added the position of "prime minister". Both of these positions were above the hundred officials, so Situ became the deputy prime minister. As for Sima, Luochen was given to Yuan Shao as an honorary title. Sikong is normal, but he has no authority, and the actual power falls in the hands of the officials in charge of Prime Minister Luochen's residence. Now that Zhang Juzheng is added as Situ, it is obvious that he is in charge of internal affairs for Luochen. Baiguan did not agree with this person who was dressed in fancy clothes and didn't know anything at all, but Luochen's nomination was always approved by the emperor immediately, and Baiguan did not dare to raise any objection.0

Sure enough, there was turmoil in Xiliang, but the battle in the northern Central Plains was in full swing, and Luochen was about to raise troops to join the war between Yuan and Cao, and he had no energy to control them. Luochen ordered Ma Teng and the general, and asked him to immediately lead the Tongguan defenders to Shicheng. He could choose to defend or attack, as long as the west was temporarily stable, and Luochen would naturally take care of them. Ma Teng immediately led about 50,000 horses (most of them from Xiliang) from Tongguan to Shicheng to be stationed there. As for Tongguan, Luochen Jiaxu Da was the general, leading Ma Chao, Ma Dai and other stalwarts, with 100,000 troops, ready to enter Cao Cao's territory at any time.

Luochen summoned Lin Chong.

Lin Chong first defended Tongguan, and when Luochen expedition to Hanzhong, he led a small number of troops to maintain Chang'an, which was very reliable. However, Lin Chong still had limited abilities after all. The capital guards had grown to more than 50,000. With the addition of military police, the situation was quite complicated and Lin Chong couldn't handle it. He was only the coach of the forbidden army at that time, but a junior officer, and his position was not high...

"What's the master's order?" Lin Chong knelt down on one knee.

"General, please," Luochen said while taking Lin Chong's hand, "Generals have been ordered in danger many times, but they are all tasks with arduous responsibilities and extremely difficult tasks. The general did not refuse, and served his life bravely. I am very grateful to Luochen..."

"This minister's liver and brain are on the ground, and he will never give up." Lin Chong replied simply.

Luochen was quite moved: "General Lin, now 4.1 has another extremely important task, which is a top-secret national plan. I hope you can take the lead."

"Oh?" Lin Chong was quite curious.

"It was common for the Song Dynasty to use artillery, does the general remember?" Luo Chen asked. Lin Chong was thoughtful, as if he could recall some scenes. "Now I will set up the National Technology Agency, and you will be the leader." Luo Chen said decisively. "Two mechanics, come out." Luo Chen said to them. The two previous skilled workers walked out of the small room behind him. "Now the first task of the National Technology Agency is to develop explosive gunpowder. The two technicians are responsible for it. The general manages the administration and is responsible for the top-secret nature of this task. If there is a risk of technology leakage, the general will be killed without mercy."

Lin Chong faintly felt that this task was extremely important...

Chapter 16 Pre-War Preparations

It was said that Lin Chong was in charge of the National Technical Agency, appointed Lin Chong as the general, equipped with thousands of pro-militaries, and selected a location on the outskirts of Chang'an to start developing gunpowder. Dozens of workers such as royal blacksmiths, carpenters, and ceramics have all participated in the research and development team. Of course, this work is unprecedented, and the two leaders can only lead them across the river by feeling the stones.

As for the defense of Chang'an and its surrounding areas, Luo Chen appointed Lu Bu as the commander of the Chang'an garrison, plus the generals, commanding more than 50,000 troops. The other generals, Ma Chao and Yan Qing, were all Zhonglang generals, while Ma Dai and Pang De were commanders.

Zhang Ju is restoring farming in the Guanzhong area. Large tracts of land in Guanzhong were deserted due to the war, and the people were displaced. Coupled with natural disasters, the population dropped sharply. Many disaster victims gathered around Chang'an. After Zhang Juzheng served as Situ, he immediately published the list, and the common people could go to the local government to receive the land deed for free. Every adult young man, 18-60 years old, can receive 20 mu of permanent land and 80 mu of temporary land; the rest of the elderly and widows can also receive half of it. land. Land is subject to land tax at a certain percentage. Refugees around Chang'an were immediately relieved, and many barren fields were planted with crops.

Luochen has been watching "The Evolution of Cavalry" crazily these days, and one of the chapters aroused his interest, that is, the part about stirrups. In the previous generation, such as the Qin Dynasty, the cavalry did not have stirrups, and could only barely stick 10 on the horse's back during combat, so the combat effectiveness was naturally very poor. Nomads are okay. They have been on horseback since childhood, and their balance ability is very good. They can easily squat on horses. And the farming people can't do it. Without stirrups, it is difficult for the Central Plains cavalry to fight against the northern nomadic cavalry. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, stirrups have appeared. For example, several generals under Luochen's command all rode horses with stirrups to fight. However, stirrups are not widely used now; also, many cavalrymen are equipped with single stirrups, only one stirrup on one side, which is used for mounting, not for maintaining balance during combat, what is the use! Falling Dust plans to equip all cavalry with stirrups, which can significantly improve the combat effectiveness of the cavalry. He summoned Lin Chong.

"My lord... It's been a few days now, and I'm afraid that gunpowder manufacturing will not be able to produce results..." Lin Chong was a little panicked.

"No no, General Lin, I'm not looking for you this time about gunpowder." Luo Chen said with a smile. "I need stirrups now, tens of thousands of stirrups. I'm leaving in a week or two, and I want to get as many troops as possible. Do you know stirrups?"

"I know." Lin Chong nodded, "But time is short, and we don't have that many manpower..."

"In this way, I will immediately convene blacksmiths in and around Chang'an. Set up manufacturing points in various blacksmith shops. Be sure to fully mobilize and work overtime. You are in charge of this matter. I will order Lu Bu to lead tens of thousands of capital guards to assist you. work."

"Yes." This matter was obviously very difficult, but Lin Chong still did not refuse.

"By the way, this is a drawing." Luo Chen pointed to the drawing on "The Evolution of Cavalry", "I will ask the painter to make multiple copies, and then I will hand it over to you."

Luochen called Yan Qing again and told him to lead thousands of pro-armies to summon blacksmiths in Chang'an City, and all participating workers were given generous remuneration. In addition, the larger surrounding cities have also established stirrup manufacturing points, summoned blacksmiths, and Yan Qing is responsible for the contact.

Yan Qing was a little worried about Luo Chen's safety, after all, he and his pro-military had left. Luochen waved his hand: "I'm in Chang'an now, and my army is everywhere around me. Why should I be afraid? Besides, I also have self-defense techniques."

Because of this, Luochen urgently established the Iron and Steel Bureau, which was under the jurisdiction of the National Technical Administration, and the Gunpowder Bureau was established for the original gunpowder manufacturer. Of course, the Iron and Steel Bureau is huge, but the Gunpowder Bureau has very few personnel, and it is extremely secretive.

The battle of Guandu fell into a tug of war. The two sides built a fortress and attacked each other with arrows and thunderbolts. Coinciding with the famine in the north, both Cao and Yuan's armies were unable to launch a large-scale attack. The famine also spread to the areas under the control of Luochen. Due to Zhang Juzheng's good mobilization and maintenance, the situation of the fallen troops was still good, and there was no large-scale starvation in this area as in the previous few times.

Luochen wrote to Yuan Shao many times, suggesting that after the famine, he should divide his troops into two groups, confront Cao Cao's army all the way in Guandu, and go straight to Xuchang to deal a fatal blow to Cao Cao, anyway, Cao Cao's army is small. But Yuan Shao seemed to be hesitant. Judging from his reply, he readily agreed for a while, and then he talked a lot about difficulties and risks. Luo Chen is extremely annoyed, so indecisive and indecisive, how can he be a general! Moreover, Luochen knew that Xu You would definitely advise Cao Cao to attack Yuan Shao's grain farm in Wuchao, so Luochen repeatedly wrote to Yuan Shao to guard Wuchao with heavy troops, and advised him not to get angry with his advisors casually... Luochen didn't dare to say too much. , if he directly persuaded him to be careful about Xu You, he might be suspected of provoking discord, and Luo Chen knew so much, it would be surprising...

Luochen is extremely busy now, and his main energy is to prepare for the war. Once the famine in the north is over, Yuan Cao's decisive battle will start immediately. At this time, Luochen planned to lead the army into Cao Cao's territory, attacking the city and targeting Xuchang. In this way, under the attack of both sides, Cao Cao will inevitably collapse. Then Luo Chen freed up his hands to deal with Yuan Shao and unify the north. The most urgent is to guide the manufacture of a large number of stirrups and equip the cavalry. At the same time, he should also care about the research and development of high technology such as gunpowder. In terms of internal affairs and economics, fortunately he still has Zhang Juzheng to help, otherwise Luo Chen would definitely not be able to handle it.

On this day, Luochen was listening to Xu Da's report on the confrontation between Yuan and Cao, and 857 discussed the strategy of advancing.

"Yuan and Cao are all trying to win over Jingzhou Liu Biao, but Liu Biao doesn't seem to want to get involved in this matter, and his response is indifferent." Xu Da said.

"Liu Biao has no ambitions and no future. He won't join the Central Plains now, and wait for the victorious side to unify the north. Whether it's Cao, Yuan, or me Luochen, they will all go south and eat Jingzhou..." Luochen sneered. "By the way, Zhuge Liang, Jingzhou Nanyang, should be farming at home now. I might as well meet him and hear what he thinks about national affairs..."

"See you at Zhang Situ." A sergeant walked in.

Zhang Juzheng followed behind and entered the room: "My lord...I want to talk to you about the land system, you are now..."

"Oh, General Xu Da can listen here, you can talk." Luo Chen said quickly. "Your recent measures have been very good, helping Guanzhong survive the famine."

"I think a system in my impression is very consistent with the current situation... It seems to be called the land-equalization system." Zhang Juzheng said.

"That's right, Zhang Situ and I thought the same as the land-equalization system in the Tang Dynasty!" Luo Chen said happily.

"Tang Dynasty?" Zhang Juzheng looked blank. Luochen was quite strange. He looked at Xu Da, but he didn't seem to know either. Could it be that the dynasties these people should have known were blocked? .

Chapter Seventeen

The sky is like a dome, and the land is like a chess game. The world is divided into black and white, and exchanges strive for honor and disgrace. Those who are honored will be at peace, those who have been dishonored will be mediocre. There are seclusion in Nanyang, and high sleep is not enough!

--"Three Kingdoms"

However, Luo Chen and Zhang Juzheng talked about the land-equalization system in the Tang Dynasty, but Zhang Juzheng was very at a loss for the word "Tang". The system may have blocked the dynasty knowledge of the summoned characters, otherwise there will be chaos...

Luo Chen didn't go into details: "I agree with your opinion on the land-equalization system. Your experiment of dividing fields in Guanzhong is very good, and it can be extended to Hanzhong."

Zhang Juzheng was very happy to see Luo Chen's approval: "Then, regarding the taxation...I have a plan, a whip law, to convert all the land taxes into silver at the market price, and only collect silver when collecting taxes, so as to avoid double taxation... "Zhang Juzheng is quite proud of the whipping method he created, and can't wait to promote it to Luochen.

"Hehehe..." Luochen expected him to be like this. "It's not the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Now there are many places and few people, and the government agencies are simple. There is no need for this method at present."

"Yes, yes." Zhang Juzheng was a little disappointed.

The most serious problem of this era is not the bureaucracy of the government, but the clan. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, the clan powers rose greatly, and Luo Chen clearly felt that the government was insufficient, and the administration could not extend to the townships at all. The big family is very powerful, and it often influences local affairs. Like Yuan Shao, his family had three princes, and he belonged to a bureaucratic family. Now Yuan Shao is still one of the Three Dukes, and Luo Chen named him the Great Sima for the sake of the alliance. Relying on the power of the clan, Yuan Shao rose rapidly and firmly controlled a large area of ​​Hebei. Like Soochow, they are also cooperating with aristocratic families, not to mention Liu Zhang and Liu Biao. Liu Bei is a poor man, and he still calls himself Uncle Huang. And Cao Cao and Luo Chen were a little unhappy with the aristocratic clan. Cao Cao was the adopted son of an eunuch, and he didn't eat much of the aristocratic clan. And Luo Chen hoped to realize the Han Wudi style of strengthening the centralization and attacking local forces. At present, Luo Chendao has not started a full-scale war against the clan. Once his regime is consolidated, he will use the army to deal with these guys. Luochen was thinking about these things, so why not take advantage of this land reform to tidy up the local tyrants?

"The land-equalization system should be complemented by some systems," Luo Chen ordered. "First, a strict household registration statistics system must be established, and each household must be strictly registered. Second, it is necessary to find out the land and mu, and sort out the control areas. How much arable land is there, and whose land is it? Is it peasants? Or powerful? Or royal? A detailed map needs to be drawn. Third, in the army, I plan to implement the Tang Dynasty's government military system, which consists of soldiers. For farmers, this requires the control of state administrative agencies to be implemented down to the village level.”

Zhang Juzheng pondered: "These measures can greatly strengthen the centralization of power and improve the country's ability to mobilize. It's just... these measures will inevitably be resisted by local tyrants. The lord is wise and powerful, with extraordinary courage, but it is indeed very difficult to advance this matter. of……"

"We have an army!" Xu Da spoke from the side, "I am willing to lead the army to ensure the implementation of this measure."

Luochen frowned and thought, there is no doubt that these measures will encounter great resistance. However, only when these measures are implemented can the country be reborn and its national strength doubled. Institutional innovation and technological innovation are the twin engines of a country's development in this era. As long as Luo Chen is firmly advanced on these two points, it will surely be able to unify China and push the Chinese civilization up several levels.

"If there is resistance, push forward." Luo Chen said firmly. "You first implement it in the control area. If there is a situation or someone who dares to resist, I will send a large army to destroy them immediately. It is unknown when I move these people to Xiliang or the northern desert..."

With the final decision, a series of bold reforms were launched.

Luochen dispatched Ma Dai to lead 20,000 troops to patrol in Wugong, Xianyang, Lantian and other places to supervise the implementation of the land division and household registration system. In some places, pure militarized villages have also been formed, and the government military system has been implemented.

Luochen was supposed to supervise the execution of the matter on the front line, but he went to Nanyang in secret. He wanted to see Zhuge Liang.