Chapter 103 The chaotic situation in Yangzhou and the political confrontation among various parties!
April of the second year of Xingping, that is, 191 AD.

The capital has been filled with a festive atmosphere recently. In addition to the birth of the prince and princess, which is celebrated by the whole country, there is also a bumper spring harvest.

With the blessing of Emperor Liu Bian's fortune-telling technique, the territories controlled by the imperial court enjoyed good weather, abundant harvests, peace and prosperity.

This climate also results in good grain harvests.

After two or three years of promotion and cultivation, sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn have shown explosive growth.

Half of the sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn harvested today need to be used as seeds, and the other half can be put to use.

Although there would be no more starving people in the capital, at least the people would not go hungry and famine would not break out.

The food crisis has been temporarily alleviated!
Of course, Liu Bian also knew that this was because the imperial court did not launch a war.

Since suppressing Yuan Shao's rebellion in Jizhou last winter and recovering this fertile land, the imperial court's troops have entered a period of recuperation.

The investment in food and supplies was reduced by more than half, so naturally there was surplus food.

and.

After suppressing Yuan Shao's rebellion and eliminating Yuan Shao's followers, the imperial court controlled Jizhou, which not only gained the fertile land of the North China Plain, but also obtained huge tax revenues.

Because Liu Bian implemented the policy of "equalizing the land tax"!
This reduced the tax payments made by common people who had no land or little land, or even made them pay almost no taxes.

And those big landlords with many pieces of land are in trouble!

The tax distribution based on land area can be said to be "robbing the rich to help the poor."

This made the aristocratic families complain bitterly, and they hoped that the court could reduce taxes.

These people cited classics and their reasons were very sufficient - Jizhou had just experienced a great war, and since ancient times, after a war, wise rulers should reduce taxes, recuperate, and appease the people.

Liu Bian did not comment!

After investigation and statistics by Jinyiwei and his officials——

After Jizhou's land tax system was implemented,

Landless peasants no longer had to pay the poll tax.

The burden on people who own less than 30 mu of land has been significantly reduced after the tax burden was shared.

For those who occupy more than 60 mu of land, the burden increases significantly, probably by more than 20%.

If the land area exceeds 100 mu, the burden will increase by more than 200%.

The more land it takes up, the more burden it adds.

But the population...

Farmers who own less than 30 mu of land, small-land farmers and landless farmers account for more than 80% of Jizhou’s total population.

These 80% of the population were the beneficiaries. They sang praises to the imperial court and hailed Liu Bian as a wise ruler of all ages!
Liu Bian won the praise and cheers of most people!

As for a few...

Yuan Shao of Jizhou was just defeated, and the imperial court’s troops suppressed Jizhou, so they couldn’t make any waves!
Of course, the court still gave verbal appeasement.

As for the actual reductions, it can only be said that it is like a carrot hanging in front of a donkey, which you can see but cannot eat.

This is not only the current situation of Jizhou, but also the current situation of the six states controlled by Liu Bian, namely Sili, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Jizhou, Youzhou and Bingzhou!
Relying on these six prefectures in Hebei is enough to support the operation of the imperial court and alleviate the impact of the food crisis.

This shows how serious the taxation problem was in the Han Dynasty!

The policy of "equalizing the land tax and levy on each acre" could solve the problems that the Han Dynasty had faced in the past. Those carnivores were greedy and dragged the country into the abyss of destruction.

These carnivores exploited the local people, seized land by trickery and plunder, and destroyed people's families. Some of them became slaves and sought shelter from wealthy families, while others became refugees, affecting social stability.

However, the state's tax revenue also decreased due to the decrease in registered population. It also had to deal with the unrest caused by refugees, and had to either provide relief to the victims or recruit soldiers to fight the war.

If a war breaks out at this time, or if barbarians from outside the Great Wall take advantage of the situation and invade, the country's tax revenue will be reduced, making it difficult to develop the military and improve people's livelihood. In the end, the country will fall into a vicious cycle and be dragged towards national destruction.

This made Liu Bian somewhat alert!

The taxation issue of a country is particularly important. Even if it is just "distributing the tax on each piece of land", it cannot be solved once and for all.

To distribute the tax according to the acreage of land, the prerequisite was to "measure the acreage of land", and the subsequent requirements were "the gentry paying taxes together" and "no additional taxes will be imposed on the increase of population".

But even so, it can't be a permanent solution!
Because the dragon slayer will eventually become a dragon!

It remains to be seen whether the descendants of the heroic martyrs who followed Liu Bian’s reforms will continue in this way!
Even now, Liu Bian can suppress disobedience, but can his descendants do the same? !

Everything is still unknown!

but!

Liu Bian looked at the upper limit of his life span [life span: 20/81 years], at least he didn’t have to worry about this problem for the time being!

and.

Now Liu Bian only has complete control over the six states in Hebei, but the Han Dynasty has thirteen states. The remaining seven states can at least increase Liu Bian's life expectancy by forty to fifty years.

Living a hundred years is no problem!

If nothing unexpected happened, Liu Bian could live until at least 290 AD!
even!

Who can guarantee that he won't be able to draw the true "immortality" method in the future? !
This also made Liu Bian very open-minded, and he was not so impatient and worried. In these days, in addition to working on state affairs, he was playing with his children.

Each of these princes and princesses was extraordinary. Their births were accompanied by strange auspicious signs, and some were even born with the ability to speak, which was unprecedented in history.

Even Liu Bian couldn't help but sigh that his genetic quality was so high!
"Report——"

But there were always people who didn't want Liu Bian to have peace. At the end of April, a military intelligence report was urgently sent to the palace over a distance of 800 miles.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report came from Yangzhou: Sun Ce's army was defeated wherever he went, and no one dared to confront him. Under his fierce attack, Liu Yao was defeated and retreated to Yuzhang and Pengze."

Afterwards, military intelligence reports about Yangzhou were sent to the palace one after another, and all of them were bad news.

Liu Bian summoned civil and military officials to discuss matters.

The six counties of Yangzhou include Jiujiang County, Lujiang County, Danyang County, Wu County, Kuaiji County, and Yuzhang County, which are also called the "Six Counties of Jiangdong" by the Eastern Wu.

among them.

Lujiang and Jiujiang counties north of the Yangtze River are now under the control of Yuan Shu in Huainan. Shouchun in Huainan is in Jiujiang county.

The areas south of the Yangtze River, or the Jiangdong region - Danyang County and Wu County, are now responding to Sun Ce's troops.

The governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yao, fled to Yuzhang County.

As for the coastal Kuaiji County, the prefect of Kuaiji is now Wang Lang, the same Wang Lang who was scolded to death by Zhuge Liang, and he is in control of it.

Wang Lang is now loyal to the imperial court. He cooperates with Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, to fight against Yuan Shu's military forces and Sun Ce.

In the original history, Wang Lang was loyal to the Han Dynasty at the beginning, but due to changes in the environment, Wang Lang gradually became loyal to the Cao Wei regime.

Many loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty gradually changed their political stance due to the general trend.

Except for a few diehard loyalists like Xun Yu, they would rather die than surrender!
of course.

Liu Bian could understand this and did not confuse cause and effect and thus dislike Wang Lang.

He who can judge the situation and understand current affairs is a hero. In history, the Han Dynasty was in decline and the splendid building was about to collapse. Everyone was in danger, but he would not blame anyone for this.

What matters is now!

current!

After Liu Bian saved the country from collapse, who were the loyal officials of the Han Dynasty? These were the talents that Liu Bian could win over and use! Who were the traitors and rebels? These were the targets that Liu Bian must attack!
And now——

The governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yao, was appointed as an official on behalf of the imperial court, and the prefect of Kuaiji, Wang Lang, was summoned to fight against the rebels. These were loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty and were people that the imperial court needed to trust and use.

And Sun Ce and others who crossed the river to fight were traitors!
Liu Bian understood this point very clearly!
Even though I have some respect and admiration for the Little Overlord Sun Ce and the Grand Commander Zhou Gongjin in the original history, it will not change my opinion because of this!

We admire him, but anyone who stands in Liu Bian's way is a traitor and needs to be conquered by the royal army!

Civil and military officials worked together and pooled their wisdom.

At last.

Xun Yu said: "Your Majesty, it is said that Liu Biao of Jingzhou seems to have two minds. You can order him to rush to Liu Yao's aid to verify Liu Biao's loyalty and also block Sun Ce's forces."

Liu Biao of Jingzhou had two minds, but that didn't mean he wanted to be like Yuan Shu and attempt to establish himself as king or emperor.

Compared with Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Liu Yan of Yizhou seemed to have ambitions to become emperor. Liu Biao even impeached Liu Yan for privately making an imperial carriage, which frightened Liu Yan into submitting an explanation.

Moreover, Liu Biao was a defensive person by nature and had no ambition to expand his territory, nor did he seem to be someone who had ambitions to ascend the throne and become emperor.

But it was precisely because of Liu Biao's character that he was bewitched by the aristocratic families in Jingzhou, and doted on his second wife, Lady Cai, allowing his wife's family members such as Cai Mao to gain power.

This made Liu Biao somewhat indecisive and unable to advance or retreat on the court's tax reform of "equalizing the land tax and the capitation tax".

This is actually double-mindedness!

"Accurate."

Liu Bian nodded, thinking that this was a strategy that killed two birds with one stone.

The imperial court immediately issued an edict to Liu Biao of Jingzhou, ordering him to send troops to help Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou. However, before the edict was issued, a military report from Yangzhou was sent to the palace at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

Liu Bian scanned the entire article at a glance, and was a little surprised.

[After Yuzhang prefect Zhou Shu passed away, the post of prefect remained vacant. Liu Biao recommended Zhuge Xuan as the prefect, with his seat in Nanchang County.

However, the imperial court was sending troops to attack Yangzhou, and at the recommendation of Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao, Zhu Jun's son Zhu Hao was appointed as the prefect.

This created a contradiction, with Zhu Hao and Zhuge Xuan competing against each other.

Just as Liu Yao was defeated by Sun Ce and fled to Yuzhang County, Liu Yao gathered the defeated soldiers and joined forces with Zhu Hao to attack Zhuge Xuan.

Zhuge Xuan retreated to Xicheng, and Zhu Hao entered Nanchang. 】

...

Zhuge Xuan is not very famous in history.

But he is from the Zhuge family of Langya County, a descendant of Zhuge Feng, the Inspector of the Western Han Dynasty, and the uncle of Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin!

Zhuge Liang!!!
Judging from the time, Zhuge Liang is only about ten years old now, still just a little boy!

In the original history.

Zhuge Liang's father, Zhuge Gui, served as the magistrate of Taishan County in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

When Zhuge Liang was 3 years old, his mother Zhang died of illness. When Zhuge Liang was 8 years old, his father died. Together with his younger brother Zhuge Jun, he followed his uncle Zhuge Xuan to Yuzhang to take up his post.

The Eastern Han court sent Zhu Hao to replace Zhuge Xuan, and Zhuge Xuan went to seek refuge with Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

Considering that Zhuge Liang would "stay in Nanyang and live in seclusion in Jingzhou" in the future, Zhuge Xuan and Liu Biao should have had a good relationship.

just.

Why did Liu Biao interfere in the appointment of officials in Yuzhang County of Yangzhou? !
Liu Yao took action against the officials appointed by Liu Biao. Was this intentional or unintentional?
Liu Bian asked:

"When did Liu Biao recommend Zhuge Xuan as the governor of Yuzhang? Did he submit the proposal to the court? Or did he make the proposal on his own initiative? Why did he conflict with Zhu Jun's son Zhu Hao? Did Liu Yao know about this?"

Civil officials and military generals were also puzzled.

Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, appointed Zhuge Xuan as the governor of Yuzhang?

Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, appointed Zhu Hao as the governor of Yuzhang?
Isn't this a conflict?!

The appointment of officials in the imperial court needs to be issued by the Secretariat and other institutions. It cannot be appointed just by your decision.

What's more, he is the governor of a county!
This is something that Emperor Liu Bian of Han needs to intervene in!

However, Liu Bian was very busy, so his memory of this was a little vague. But all government affairs were recorded in official documents.

After investigation, we finally got the final result -

“Your Majesty, the Governor of Yangzhou Liu Yao recommended Zhu Hao to serve as the Governor of Yuzhang. This was a legal appointment issued by the imperial court.

"Liu Biao recommended Zhuge Xuan to serve as the governor of Yuzhang, and there was indeed a written memorial. And according to the time sequence in the memorial, Liu Biao was recommended first and Liu Yao was recommended later.

"However, because of the war in Nanyang County, Liu Biao's report was delayed. But Liu Biao asked Zhuge Xuan to take up the post first to stabilize the situation in Yuzhang.

"Instead, it was Liu Yao from Yangzhou who reported to the capital first.

"The court took into consideration the mobilization of troops in Yangzhou, Liu Yao's recommendation, and Zhu Hao's sincerity and the fact that he was the son of General Zhu Jun, so they appointed him as the governor of Yuzhang.

"When Liu Biao's report arrived late, errors had already occurred. This led to the dispute between Zhuge Xuan and Zhu Hao for the post of governor of Yuzhang."

...

Liu Bian raised his eyebrows. The Jinyiwei commander Zhuque's statement was so roundabout. Then there must be a time lag in the transmission of the report in reality.

After all, road transportation was inconvenient, and the fighting between Nanyang and Yuan Shu had hindered the transmission of messages.

however!
Liu Bian's internal affairs have now reached the maximum level of 100+. He could hear the flavor of political struggle in the twisting words!

The Han Dynasty now has a system of recommendation. Liu Biao first recommended Zhuge Xuan as the prefect of Yuzhang. It is neither moral nor logical for the court to reject Liu Biao's recommendation.

At this time, Liu Biao asked Zhuge Xuan to go to Yuzhang to stabilize the situation. This was not a decision he made after reporting to the emperor, but a consideration he made after assessing the situation and taking appropriate measures.

This is understandable!
But the problem is!

After Zhuge Xuan took office as the prefect of Yuzhang, why did Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, recommend Zhu Hao as the prefect, and why did they fight for him later?
Since Liu Yao knew that it was Liu Biao who reported Zhuge Xuan, he should have waited for the court's decision instead of engaging in private warfare!
At least in this matter, Liu Yao has bigger problems!

Could it be that Liu Yao also had second thoughts? !
"I want to know the specific situation of the position of Yuzhang Taishou!" Liu Bian said in a deep voice, obviously not satisfied with the Jinyiwei's investigation.

"I obey my orders!!!"

All his civil and military officials, including ministers such as Xun Yu, participated in the investigation of official documents and memorials in Yuzhang County.

After summarizing and sorting out the final results, Xun Yu said:
"Your Majesty, I venture to guess that -

"When Yuan Shu was entrenched in Nanyang, he had disputes with Liu Biao, and the two were irreconcilable. But as Yuan Shu fled to Huainan, the hatred between the two had dissipated and there was no direct conflict of interest.

"However, Yuan Shu seized control of Huainan, declared himself governor of Yangzhou, and sent troops to seize the six counties of Yangzhou. Since Yuzhang County of Yangzhou was adjacent to Jiangxia County of Jingzhou, Yuan Shu and Liu Biao had a direct conflict of interest.

"But at this time, Yuan Shu appointed his subordinate Liu Xun as the governor of Lujiang. Liu Xun had a good relationship with Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, and Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia.

"This is actually a signal sent by Yuan Shu that he needs a stable rear and will not attack Jingzhou.

"Liu Biao of Jingzhou took this opportunity to appoint his former subordinate Zhuge Xuan as the governor of Yuzhang. This was also a test, trying to use Yuzhang County as a buffer zone between Jingzhou and Yangzhou to avoid hostility with Yuan Shu.

"Zhuge Xuan fled south from Langya County in Xuzhou to avoid disaster and was able to reach Jiangdong smoothly, which is enough to show that the Zhuge family and the Yuan family had some friendship.

"This was also a signal sent by Liu Biao. He appointed Zhuge Xuan, who had some friendship with the Yuan family, as the governor of Yuzhang, which was also a gesture of goodwill.

“It’s like Yuan Shu appointed Liu Xun, who had a good relationship with Liu Biao and Huang Zu, as the governor of Lujiang.

"The mouth of Xunyang River in Lujiang County and the mouth of Chaisang River in Yuzhang County are important transportation routes between Dabie Mountain and Luoxiao Mountain Range, and are places that must be fought for by military strategists.

“Yuan Shu and Liu Biao each appointed officials they trusted and were close to, and who had good relations with the enemy, and took control of them.

"This is an expression of goodwill, a secret reconciliation, turning hostility into friendship!"

...

Xun Yu is indeed worthy of being called “a talent who can assist the king”!
Even though the capital Luoyang was 18,000 miles away from Yangzhou, he made the final inference based on documents, reports, local transportation geography, and the personalities of the relevant personnel.

Moreover, this inference was so logical and reasonable that none of the civil and military officials present could find fault with it.

After hearing this, Liu Bian looked a little ugly!

The imperial court issued a document to attack the Yuan family, and Liu Biao also submitted a memorial to receive the order.

Finally?

On the surface, he denounced Yuan Shu, but secretly had nothing to do with him, dividing the country by the river. He put on a show for the court!

Considering Liu Biao's intention to defend himself and not have the ambition to expand to the other sides, it is really possible.

Moreover, the noble families of Jingzhou probably don't want to fall out with Yuan Shu.

Jingzhou and Yangzhou maintain an "ambiguous" relationship!

However, the imperial court appointed Liu Yao as the governor of Yangzhou. This was the intervention of a "third party" that made it impossible for Liu Biao and Yuan Shu to continue their ambiguous relationship!

really.

Xun Yu paused and continued:

"Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao should have guessed it. But Jingzhou Liu Biao is a relative of the Han Dynasty and an official appointed by the court. Liu Yao cannot take action against him for the time being, and he needs to deal with Yuan Shu's troops, so he has not taken action against Yuzhang County.

"However, as Sun Ce crossed the river to fight, Liu Yao was defeated in battle after battle and lost territory one after another. He had no other options left. He only had Kuaiji and Yuzhang counties to go to.

"Kuaiji Governor Wang Lang has been very helpful to Liu Yao and is loyal to the Han Dynasty. There is no point in attacking or relying on him. But if we move to Yuzhang County——

"On the one hand, we can drag Liu Biao into the water, make him express his position, and destroy his ambiguous relationship with Yuan Shu.

“Secondly, Yuzhang County has convenient transportation. It is connected to Yuzhou in the north, borders Jingzhou in the west, and forms a horn with Wang Lang of Kuaiji in the east.

"We can receive imperial edicts, gather officials and civilians here, and build up momentum to fight back against the imperial court. If Liu Biao has second thoughts, we can even attack Jingzhou directly."

...

After Xun Yu's explanation, Liu Bian understood Liu Yao's political intentions and why he took action against Yuzhang County.

This "Yuzhang prefecture governor dispute" seemed like a child's play, because of the time difference, there was a deviation in the appointment.

But in fact it was a manifestation of the open and covert struggles among the three forces of Liu Biao, Yuan Shu and Liu Yao.

really.

War is bloody politics, and politics is bloodless war!
Xun Yu concluded: "Your Majesty, no matter what, we can test their attitude by ordering Liu Biao to rush to Liu Yao's aid! This time, Liu Biao will not be perfunctory!"

"Send the imperial edict to Jingzhou immediately!" Liu Bian gave the order directly.

"promise!!!"

(End of this chapter)