Chapter 7140 Ancient Tales of the Former Han Dynasty

Chapter 7140 Ancient Tales of the Former Han Dynasty
Sima Lang's decision to go to Xinzhou was his own choice. Before going to Xinzhou, Sima Lang, like Zhong Yao, was stationed in Chang'an. Although his rank was not as high as Zhong Yao's, Sima Lang was only thirty years old at the time and could be said to have a bright future.

Furthermore, Chen Xi was not one to avoid appointing people based on personal relationships. If Sima Lang had been able to stay in Chang'an, given his abilities, he would have at least risen to the position of one of the Nine Ministers, if not a meteoric rise, and in terms of real power, he would have been able to serve as Zhuge Liang's deputy.

It can be said that the future is extremely promising. However, in the second year of Yuanfeng, Sima Lang, who had such a promising future, chose to be transferred to a post outside the capital. Chen Xi actually knew the reason, but he was still somewhat unhappy. Moreover, the post outside the capital was a very sensitive position at the time.

At that time, the Han aristocratic families had not completely migrated out of the region. As the governor of Xinzhou, Sima Lang knew that every aristocratic family that migrated out of the region had to pass through Xinzhou. Under these circumstances, Sima Lang could actually obtain very great benefits.

So when Sima Lang volunteered to be transferred to Xinzhou, Chen Xi was actually a little annoyed. But people who are meant to leave will leave, and you can't keep them by force. It's best to part ways amicably. So Chen Xi made it clear to Sima Lang that once he went to Xinzhou, he would never be able to come back.

Sima Lang showed some regret at the time, but in the end he still went to Xinzhou. After all, you can't just enjoy the benefits brought by your family and remember the good things about your family, and then curse your family as a shackle on your life when your family needs your dedication and sacrifice.

Sima Lang understood this, so he made a point of seeing Chen Xi before leaving. By then, Chen Xi had calmed down. After all, it was just Sima Lang. Even without Sima Lang, there were other people. It didn't matter. To Chen Xi, Sima Lang was just a cog in the machine. There was no need to show too much anger.

So when Sima Lang left, Chen Xi saw him off, and Sima Lang has stayed in Xinzhou ever since.

Then today I heard something that Sima Lang found unbelievable: what does "come back" mean? So what he said to me back then can be taken back?
"Never mind, that's not important. Anyone can take over Xinzhou. If I can go back to Chang'an, I still hope to go back to Chang'an." After asking the first question, Sima Lang quickly realized that it was pointless to ask these questions. Whether there was an answer or not, it was meaningless.

"You still want to go back to Chang'an?" Chen Xi looked at Sima Lang with a hint of speechlessness, then nodded. "Alright, in the twelfth year of Yuanfeng, I will go to Xinzhou. At that time, I will give you a formal reply. Going back to Chang'an is also possible, but you need to do what you are supposed to do."

Chen Xi spoke very seriously. Now that Sima Jun is no longer manipulating things behind the scenes, Sima Fang, as the head of the Sima family, is just living a life of idleness. Under these circumstances, Sima Lang can actually make his own decisions. However, due to the constraints imposed by the family over the years, Sima Lang has not yet realized this.

"I see." Sima Lang lowered his head and thought for a moment. He knew what Chen Xi wanted to see in Xinzhou. He wasn't stupid; he was just annoyed by the environment in Xinzhou.

"Is it difficult?" Chen Xi asked Sima Lang.

“It’s difficult. Chang’an is aware of the situation in New South Wales at this stage, and I’ve reported it to them several times. With the resources I have now, it’s not easy to handle. Should we treat it as our own? If we do, should we spread our technology? And if we do spread our technology, should we educate the locals in depth? These questions all have a directional answer.” After Chen Xi gave a clear answer, Sima Lang began his struggle. This was his last chance.

After all, they were all intelligent people. Sima Lang knew very well what he had done in Xinzhou and why he hadn't been captured yet. But with Chen Xi coming to Xinzhou in person, everything had to come to a conclusion. Under these circumstances, Sima Lang had to give an answer.

This answer must satisfy Chen Xi; otherwise, he will still return to Chang'an, but possibly be taken back in a prison cart. Similarly, he will go to Chen Xi to see the results of this period, which will determine the outcome of Sima Lang's return to Chang'an.

"It seems you've already thought this through." Chen Xi nodded to Sima Lang. Talking to these intelligent people was indeed easy.

“I need the authority to mobilize troops.” Sima Lang took a deep breath and stated his request directly. “Only in this way can the problems mentioned above be resolved.”

Even though the power of the governors has been greatly expanded at this stage, they still do not have the power to mobilize troops. Sima Lang's situation can only be resolved with military power.

"I can give you the authority to mobilize 500 people at a time without approval from your superiors. Can you solve the problem in Xinzhou?" Chen Xi asked Sima Lang directly. Liu Bei and Chen Xi had already gained some understanding of the situation in Xinzhou through the veterans who had traveled to and from Central Asia. In summary, it was true that Sima Lang had problems, but he had also made efforts. It was just that the problem was now being blocked from both sides.

“It can be resolved.” Sima Lang gave a direct answer. Chen Xi raised an eyebrow, assessing whether this was a choice Sima Lang had no other option to make, or whether he was truly confident.

However, he then tossed that aside and nodded to Sima Lang.

"That's good. I'll go to New Jersey next year. Be prepared. You'd better change everything you've mentioned before. This is the most time I can buy for you as your cousin," Chen Xi said to Sima Lang as a final reminder.

"May I ask who will take over in Xinzhou after I return to Chang'an?" Several names had already appeared in Sima Lang's mind, but he felt that none of them were quite suitable.

"You don't need to worry about that. Even if you, Sima Boda, are gone, there are others," Chen Xi said with a smile, without telling Sima Lang who would replace him in Xinzhou.

After saying that, Chen Xi nodded to Sima Lang and left.

In peacetime, being able to mobilize 500 people without approval from superiors at any time is frankly an absurd situation. With these 500 people, Sima Lang could destroy almost everything he disliked. Xinzhou would never allow any dynamic group to retain enough strength to fight against an army of 500!
Chen Xi felt slightly better after leaving Sima Lang's side. Without those old guys, these people could finally make their own choices.

When Chen Xi had a chance encounter with Sima Lang, he had already realized this from Xun You. When those old guys were alive, even geniuses like Xun You and Sima Lang had to obey their families' commands. But those people were dead, and these people had essentially broken free from their constraints.

Without the older generation, the people of the same generation as these people, as well as those from the previous generation who were not outstanding enough, cannot control this group.

The support from the family, and the constraints imposed by the family, were only possible because there were people who could suppress these people. But now those people who could suppress these people are long gone. It is only natural that they would jump over the wrecked ship opposite Chen Xi and follow him if he extended an olive branch. Who wants to sink with a wrecked ship, right?

"Zichuan, you seem to be in a good mood." Although Chen Xi's expression didn't show any obvious change, Liu Bei, who was carrying a gift box, realized that Chen Xi was in a good mood when he saw him, so he asked with a smile.

"Yes, I realized some things I hadn't realized before, and after trying them out, I found the results to be quite good," Chen Xi said with a smile, not denying that she was in a good mood.

"Here, this is to be presented to the princess later. I've noticed that she keeps glancing at you. I guess she's getting impatient for her New Year's money. Is this how you're going to fool the princess this year?" Liu Bei stroked his beard and handed the gift box to Chen Xi with a smile, then said in a teasing tone.

“We can’t keep giving the princess money, she already has a lot of money.” Chen Xi said with a hint of helplessness. To be honest, with the current economic strength of the Han Dynasty, its resilience is much stronger than before, which means that Liu Tong could receive more New Year’s money. But after thinking about it, Chen Xi decided to give up. It’s better not to give Liu Tong too much money, given her way of saving.

"If Her Highness the Princess knew what you were saying, she'd give you a couple of punches," Liu Bei said, shaking his head with a hint of helplessness. "By the way, I heard Wenhe say that you're going to restart the army's literacy campaign from back then?"

“Yes, although conscription was reinstated before, literacy education for the army was not carried out. At present, thanks to the collusion with aristocratic families, it has taken nearly twenty years to finally raise the overall literacy rate to 10%, which is barely enough to carry out literacy education for the army.” Chen Xi nodded and said.

It wasn't that Chen Xi didn't want to educate the army on literacy earlier, but rather that there weren't many literate soldiers in the army. In fact, before the first year of Yuanfeng, almost all the soldiers were illiterate. After the first year of Yuanfeng, thanks to the fact that centurions married illegitimate daughters of Han noble families, centurions gradually began to learn to read. However, it wasn't until around the fifth year of Yuanfeng that they were truly literate.

Even so, it was only because Chen Xi forcibly required all the elite veterans who had married to learn to read and write from their wives that those who were now sitting in Weiyang Palace listening to the lecture were able to read, write, and do arithmetic.

Wei Shuang's previous complaint was actually correct: "Don't just glance at the Epang Palace Rhapsody and say it's nothing special; that would only expose our illiteracy." However, the fact that Zhang Ping and the others could understand the Epang Palace Rhapsody already speaks volumes. This group of people can read, write, and do arithmetic, which is a huge improvement.

You should know that ten years ago, these people were all illiterate, or at best semi-literate.

The literacy rate in the Han Dynasty was just this reality. Chen Xi didn't really have any good solutions. To eradicate illiteracy, you need teachers, but the number of teachers was limited. Chen Xi couldn't conjure up any, so he could only drag it out until this year. After nearly twenty years of waiting, the Han Dynasty finally achieved a literacy rate of about 10%.

Therefore, providing literacy education to the military is an imperative plan.

Literacy and basic knowledge are important for everyone, and equally important for the future of the country. Therefore, at this stage, launching a large-scale literacy campaign is imperative.

“That’s true. Since we’ve chosen conscription, we do need to educate the military about basic military skills.” Liu Bei was silent for a moment after hearing this, but then, considering that it was Chen Xi who had suggested it, he nodded in agreement.

Unlike other dynasties in later times, the Han Dynasty underwent a large-scale literacy campaign, but the results were not very good.

During the early Han Dynasty, the Han court implemented a conscription system, which meant that the entire population was mobilized to fight in order to deal with the invasion of the Xiongnu. After the conscription system was implemented, in order to further improve its own combat effectiveness, around the time of Emperor Jing, the Han court began to educate the army on literacy.

Literacy, arithmetic, and all sorts of other miscellaneous skills were passed down orally to the soldiers as much as possible.

The military officers discovered an absurd phenomenon: once soldiers became literate, their mastery of ranks and formations increased dramatically, leading to a significant boost in combat effectiveness.

This is the basis for literacy education in the early Han Dynasty. The purpose of this group of people to educate the army on literacy was not to teach soldiers more knowledge or more common sense about life, but rather to improve their combat effectiveness in a simpler and more direct way. After all, they had to fight the Xiongnu, and everything had to be geared towards improving combat effectiveness.

After two hundred years of effort, the Han dynasty finally achieved a literacy rate of about 30% in the army composed of men from good families. That is, three out of every ten people could read. This figure is actually quite exaggerated, but at least it is recorded in the unearthed Han bamboo slips.

Furthermore, in the later period of the Former Han Dynasty, the squad leaders and other officers in the Former Han army would take the initiative to teach literacy, enabling new soldiers to learn to read and write, and having the army's accountants teach them arithmetic.

In short, this is an effective solution.

Then it collapsed because of the great chaos at the end of the Western Han Dynasty!
The abolition of conscription was also due to this.

Unlike the late periods of other dynasties where it was a battle between refugees, the late Western Han Dynasty was a battle between regular armies against regular armies. Whether it was the Green Forest Army or the Red Eyebrow Army, they were all regular armies that could understand tactical intentions and fight in accordance with military-level operations.

This is also why the wars at the end of the Western Han Dynasty were so uninteresting. Because the lower and middle-ranking officers were literate and had a certain ability to make judgments on the battlefield, it was impossible for them to be famous generals. No matter how famous a general was, one person could not outmaneuver a group of people.

Three cobblers with their wits combined are better than one Zhuge Liang, and what's more, there are more than three of them!
The result was that the war at the end of the Western Han Dynasty had some merits in strategy, but little in terms of tactics, because both sides knew almost everything and couldn't counter each other's moves.

After unifying the country, Liu Xiu learned from the lessons of the previous Han dynasty and decisively abolished the conscription system. As a result, the literacy and education of the army brought about by the conscription system collapsed.

It wasn't until Chen Xi revived the conscription system from the past and then brazenly expanded and strengthened it again that Chen Xi's previous conscription system did not include large-scale military literacy campaigns.

At the time, Liu Bei thought Chen Xi was worried about what happened at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, but he didn't expect Chen Xi to bring this up again now.

Liu Bei was actually somewhat worried about this, but after thinking it over, he realized that Chen Xi was Chen Xi after all, surpassing all those people before him. Even if it was the same move, Chen Xi would definitely be stronger than those guys before him. So he might as well continue to trust Chen Xi, and maybe he could create a new glory.

“I understand Lord Xuande’s concerns, given the history of the Former Han Dynasty,” Chen Xi said with a hint of helplessness. “However, literacy education in the army is imperative. We can’t let the army continue to be so illiterate. There were other reasons why literacy education wasn’t implemented before, but now we have gathered a group of educators who have inherited our ideas. If we don’t start literacy education now…”

Regarding the issue of literacy education in the army, Liu Bei's high-ranking officers had different opinions. Liu Ye did not quite agree with it, and although the others did not directly oppose it, the historical precedent of the Han Dynasty was there. It was just that Chen Xi's success after success made it difficult for them to refute him.

"Then let's push it forward. You're sure to do a better job than anyone before you," Liu Bei said after a moment's thought.

Chen Xi nodded. He knew he couldn't avoid the events of the late Western Han Dynasty, but he knew he could do better than anyone before him because he had the events of later generations to refer to. But to be honest, Chen Xi also understood that the events of the late Western Han Dynasty were unavoidable at the end of this dynasty.

Chen Xi, however, understood even better that what happened was not because the soldiers in the army were literate, but because, more realistically, the country had lost its protection for its people and had become a tool for a certain class to rule.

“However, I still have to say something. The reason why the Han Dynasty was able to have two or three out of ten literate people in its army was because most of the soldiers in the Han Dynasty came from good families,” Chen Xi said to Liu Bei very seriously. “That’s why they were able to achieve this level.”

"And then what? Aren't our soldiers all from good families?" Liu Bei said with a light laugh. "Our soldiers are all from good families too!"

Perhaps in the past, the main force of Liu Bei's army was basically rogues. In this era, the so-called rogues refer to people who have no formal jobs and no houses to live in. Before Yuan Feng, these rogues were the main force in the Han army, but now they are all from good families!

Even if Chen Xi makes arrangements for the common people later, he will make arrangements for the soldiers first. All the soldiers, as long as they are still alive, now have houses and land, and are considered to have permanent property.

“That’s true. Our soldiers are all from good families, so they should indeed study.” Chen Xi smiled upon hearing this. This reason was very appropriate, even enough to silence any dissent. After all, the lessons of the Han Dynasty were still there. But it was only natural for children from good families to study and learn to read!

The information about literacy among soldiers in the pre-Han Dynasty comes from the Juyan Han bamboo slips. It states that roughly two or three out of ten soldiers could read. While the Western Han Dynasty did have a military literacy program, it primarily involved soldiers from good families. After the collapse of the Western Han Dynasty, this program ceased to be effective.