The so-called Nanzhong refers to the four border counties in the south of Yizhou, namely Yuexun County, Zangda County, Yizhou County and Yongchang County.

These four counties belong to the old, young and border areas of the Han Dynasty, with a small number of Han people, a large number of old people, and dozens of barbarian kings, large and small.

It is said that he is a 'king', but in essence, he is just a tribal leader and powerful family among the barbarians. His power is not much different from that of a county magistrate. He has soldiers and private soldiers that can be mobilized, but the number is not large.

There are few, and the quality of the personnel is also uneven.

But there is no doubt that when it comes to fighting wars, the warlords in the Han and Wei dynasties still preferred to use the common people as their armies.

The current economic situation and agricultural development in South China are very different from those in the Central Plains.

According to what Liu Qi knew, there are many branches of various ethnic groups under the Nanzhong order. Among them, the old people of Yuexi belong to Yuexi Qiang, and their ancestors belong to Xiyi, that is, the Qiang people in the north are their ancestors, and further south,

There are also the Pu ethnic group and the Kun ethnic group, which belong to the Di and Qiang ethnic groups.

In addition, the Bo people are the most benevolent. The so-called benevolence refers to those with the best economic and agricultural levels. They use irrigation to farm.

But for many other barbarian tribes, they do not irrigate farmland like the Bo people, but use slash-and-burn farming to grow food, which is an agricultural management method passed down from the Neolithic Age.

To put it bluntly, the barbarians do not have fixed farmland. The barbarians who cultivate the land first cut down all the trees on the ground. For the big trees that cannot be cut down, they first cut off a ring of bark and let them die. Then they burn them with fire and clear the trees in the woods.

A piece of land is created, and then holes are dug and seeds are planted on the land without watering or fertilizing. The amount of food grown is purely a matter of chance...how much the food grows is what it takes.

There are also many backward barbarians who still live in caves, without even planting fields or building houses. They just rely on the mountains and water to survive, purely relying on nature.

In addition, there are Banman, Ji, and Liao tribes from the Baiyue tribe...there are many, but they are all backward.

The four southern counties have a large population. In the past fifty years, the population reached a peak of nearly four million. Later, due to rebellion and war, the population was affected to a certain extent, but it still remained at more than three million. And because they were barbarians from the border counties,

Many tribes are still under investigation, but this number is much higher.

But it is a pity that such a huge population base cannot form an effective productivity and tax-paying group... because it is too backward!

Three days before Liu Qi's wedding, several of the most famous vassal kings in Nanzhong arrived in Chengdu.

Their leader is Meng Zhou from Yizhou County, who belongs to the Kun tribe, one of the Di and Qiang tribes. He is the patriarch of one of the eight major surnames in Nanzhong.

This group has the largest number of people and the greatest influence in Nanzhong. As the largest clan leader among the Kunsu tribe, the Meng family is like the fourth generation and three nobles among the Central Plains people. Their intimidation and cohesion among the barbarians is astonishing.

In addition, there are the Iron Elephant King of Banatong and Wu Mufu of Ugo Kingdom. One of them is from the Pu tribe. They are both Pu and Liao tribes in the Baiyue tribe. They also have extremely high reputation in the local area.

prestige.

In fact, there are still many barbarian kings from Nanzhong who want to come to Chengdu, but their power and prestige are too low to get on the stage. In the end, they can only invite three barbarian kings to come to Chengdu to meet Liu Qi on their behalf and offer Liu Qi's favor.

I send them my sincere blessings on the wedding.

Meng Zhou was a rough-looking man. His head was wrapped in a turban with eagle feathers on it. His body was wrapped in clothes sewn from colorful rags, and even a tiger skin skirt was wrapped on the outside.

At first glance, Liu Qi thought this was Sun Wukong descending to earth.

Compared to Meng Zhou who dressed up like he was singing a big opera, the Iron Elephant King in Banatong was even more unusual.

His clothes were not much different from Meng Zhou's, except that he did not have the tiger skin skirt, but he had more decorations on his body.

She has big hoop earrings and a nose ring, and she also wears rings around her neck and wrists, and they even make a jingling sound when she walks.

Compared to Gan Ning who had a bell on his waist, the Iron Elephant King's outfit was much cooler. The Jin Sail Thief was immediately overshadowed by him.

The last one, Wu Mufu from the Ugo Kingdom, had his face smeared with blue paint so that his true appearance could not be seen clearly. He was also covered with a layer of rattan plate armor outside his coarse cloth clothes.

If he opened his mouth and said, "Oh Papa, it's time to fight," Liu Qi would really easily regard him as a savage.

Although their clothes are a little weird, it is not difficult to see that they are all dressed up carefully.

This is enough to show their respect for Liu Qi.

Meng Zhou stepped forward, raised something like a picture with both hands, presented it in front of Liu Qi, and said: "Dear General Zhenxi, please forgive us for being late. This is our congratulations on the general's wedding.

The gifts prepared by the various ethnic groups show our southerners’ affection for the general. Please accept it with your approval!"

He had a strong accent, which made it difficult for Liu Qi to hear him clearly, but at least he could understand him clearly.

Liu Qi stretched out his hand to take Meng Zhou's share of skin pictures, nodded to him gratefully, and said: "Thank you for the three barbarian kings who came all the way from Nanzhong to attend Liu's wedding. Liu Qi is very grateful! Not only did the three barbarians

People came to Chengdu and brought me gifts, and Liu Qi was extremely grateful."

Meng Zhou smiled and said: "We in Nanzhong are not as wealthy as those in the middle of the Han Dynasty, so we can only provide a few gifts. Please accept it. This time we brought ten pieces of gold, fifty stones of silver, twenty carts of pills, and two pieces of lacquer."

Ten large carts, two hundred pack horses, and thirty elephants..."

"Elephant?" Liu Qi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then said in disbelief: "Can you tame an elephant?"

Meng Zhou shook his head and said: "Elephants are the sacred objects of Nanzhong. Not every tribe can tame them, but the Iron Elephant King of Bana Cave is an expert in elephant taming. These thirty elephants are all made of eight

Trained by the cave master."

Liu Qi turned his head and looked at the Bana Cave Master who was covered in metal objects and looked cool.

He touched his chest with one hand, bowed slightly and saluted Liu Qi: "A small gift is not respectful."

Liu Qi smiled when he saw this: "Liu Qi is very grateful to the three kings for their kindness. I have prepared some wine to welcome the three kings. Let's go into the city together and have a full stomach first. How about that?"

The three kings came all the way from the south. Although after entering Yuexun County, they were entertained by the locals along the way. In order to save time, they spent most of the time sleeping in the open air, which was quite hard. They did not dare to drink for fear of delaying things.

Now that we have arrived in Chengdu, it is really time to relax and have a big meal.

…

The three of them accompanied Liu Qi to the pastoral office. Liu Qi arranged for a group of military generals and a few close friends and officials to accompany him to the banquet. As for the usual scholars and subordinates, none of them were used.

When dealing with these barbarian kings, it is better to use less Confucian scholars who are accustomed to citing scriptures.

The wine of the Han people has always been the most attractive thing to the barbarians. The barbarians did not have much food and did not dare to make wine. They usually only drank fruit wine brewed from wild fruits in the southern forests.

But in comparison, grain and wine are the most delicious.

After a banquet, the three barbarian kings drank a full jar.

When the wine was half full, Liu Qi asked: "Three kings, it has been several months since Liu came to Yizhou. Now Bajun, Guanghan, and Shujun have all implemented the policy of restraining the tyrants, which is quite effective. Liu

Unlike others, I regard all Souqiang people as brothers. Now that I have received Yizhou Mu, I can no longer be just a Yizhou Mu for the Han people. For the Sou people, I am also a Yizhou Mu, and I cannot favor one over the other...

I want to pass on the farming methods of our Han people, as well as the techniques of weaving, building houses, and metallurgy, to all the ethnic groups in Nanzhong, so that the people of all ethnic groups will no longer suffer from hunger and cold... It’s just that I sent people to Nanzhong before.

, but none of you responded to me, which made Liu very embarrassed."

Meng Zhou burped from wine, stood up hurriedly, and said to Liu Qi: "Meng Zhou can really feel the general's benevolence and enthusiasm for our tribes, but the four counties of Nanzhong are vast and the tribes are very diverse.

Many, the former governors and county governors were not very friendly to our various ethnic groups in Nanzhong, and most of them rejected them... Therefore, many people in Nanzhong still have lingering fears about the general's good intentions."

Liu Qi laughed loudly and said: "I want to teach you techniques so that you can have enough to eat, but you have so many doubts. What do you doubt?"

Wu Mu helped him stand up and said: "Liu Shijun, please forgive me, if Liu Jun wants to teach us how to cultivate land, weave cloth and build houses, is he planning to take the opportunity to garrison troops and horses in various counties in the south? Why?

To spy on us?"

Liu Qi shook his head and said: "Don't worry, except for the current standard number of border guards in the four counties, I will not leave any more soldiers. Besides setting up supervisors in each county, I will handle all the specific matters of governing each ethnic group."

Leave it to you southerners yourselves."

Wu Mufu seemed a little unconvinced: "The general is lying to us, right?"

Liu Qi smiled and spread his hands and said: "Why should I lie to you? If I keep an official with you, it will not be good for your tribe or for me. First, if I keep people, I will keep them as soldiers, and if I keep soldiers, I will keep them."

I have nothing to eat, I wasted my food and wages, and I will never gain your trust after all. As time goes by, we will still blame each other. I wasted manpower and food, but in the end it was thankless... so why bother?
Chapter completed!