Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

After the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and proclaiming himself king, at the suggestion of Li Ji, Liu Bei did not adopt the customary general amnesty and pardoned a number of prisoners including the Xun family.

Instead, in addition to directly reducing some taxes for the people under their jurisdiction, local governments also donated grain and oil to the orphans, the elderly and the young, to celebrate with the people.

The new edition of the newspaper, in addition to a detailed account of Liu Bei's enthronement as king and the appointment of Li Ji, a national hero, as prime minister and governor, also listed in detail the titles and rewards bestowed on other officials.

The three dukes and nine ministers are all included in it.

Among them, the post of Situ was originally established after the prime minister was dismissed. Now that Liu Bei re-established the post of prime minister, the post of Situ was naturally no longer established.

The three highest officials along with Prime Minister Li Ji were Grand Commandant Lu Zhi and Minister of Works Cai Yong.

Of course, anyone with a discerning eye could see that although the three officials seemed to be in office, in reality, Taiwei Lu Zhi and Sikong Cai Yong were just titles, and all power in the government belonged to Li Ji.

Those who were promoted to the Nine Ministers were: Taichang Gu Yong, Guanglu Xun Xiahou Bo, Weiwei Chen Dao, Taipu Chen Gui, Tingwei Kuai Liang, Dahonglu Sun Qian, Zongzheng Liu Yu, Da Si Nong Mi Zhu, and Shaofu Jian Yong.

Of course, Li Ji also intended to reform the government system.

The system of three dukes and nine ministers undoubtedly seemed a bit bloated, and there were many systems in later generations for Li Ji to learn from.

However, after careful consideration, Li Ji knew that now was not a suitable time.

Don't take too big a step at a time.

The reform of the tax system has caused quite a stir under his rule, but all the voices of opposition have been suppressed.

The essence of Liu Bei's promotion to the throne of king was to completely inherit the legacy of the Han Dynasty and establish his righteous status.

To carry out drastic reforms to the bureaucracy at this moment would undoubtedly be cutting off one's own arms.

The real time for reform is more suitable for unifying the world...

In addition to the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, the military generals who followed Liu Bei were naturally also given titles and promoted.

Among them, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun were promoted to the three great generals, namely General of Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and General of Guards, which were second only to the general.

General Guan Yu was equal to the Three Dukes and was the leader of all military generals.

In addition, in order to show the importance of generals from other backgrounds, Sun Ce and Huang Zhong, who had equally outstanding military achievements, were promoted to the positions of front general and rear general, and were listed as the "Five Tiger Generals" together with Guan, Zhang and Zhao.

The name of these Five Tiger Generals greatly boosted the fame of these five men, and they were regarded as pillars of the army by the common people who spontaneously spread the word among the people.

Especially in the past, ordinary people could not participate in discussions on political affairs, and even knew very few about changes in the political situation.

Nowadays, with the popularization of "newspapers", it has greatly aroused people's interest in participating in discussions, and has also invisibly greatly enhanced cohesion and sense of identity.

……

And all this news soon spread beyond Liu Bei's rule to the State of Zhao and the State of Wei.

Today, King Lu Bu of Zhao has sat on the throne of the imperial palace in broad daylight. He listened to Chen Gong's report and only made a contemptuous comment.

"What are the Five Tiger Generals? Guan, Zhang, and Zhao were just defeated generals. Sun Ce and Huang Zhong were just a child and an old man respectively. They are not worth mentioning."

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong could not help but emphasize again the intelligence he had gathered, about Li Ji being the prime minister and governor-general in charge of all military and political affairs, and that after Liu Bei's major tax changes, the people seemed to be rejuvenated with new vitality... However, Lu Bu did not hear Chen Gong's remarks at all, and could not help but waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Alright, alright, that so-called prosperity is just a temporary illusion. In the end, the swords and guns on the battlefield will always decide the outcome!"

"As long as we win on the battlefield, isn't that enough? By then, no matter how prosperous Liu Bei's rule is, it will belong to me."

After hearing this, Chen Gong swallowed back the words he wanted to use to persuade Lu Bu to follow Liu Bei's example and reform the taxes under his rule.

Due to their different positions, Chen Gong had to be on guard against Li Ji at all times, but he never doubted Li Ji's ability.

What's more, the "tax-based land tax" policy implemented in the four states of Henan, Xu, Yang and Jing has begun to show results. The people have been rejuvenated at a speed almost visible to the naked eye, and the problems of insufficient arable land or labor in the past have been quickly solved.

Lu Bu's attitude made Chen Gong feel somewhat disheartened.

Even Lu Bu did not take it seriously, so how could they use Lu Bu's threat to force a number of powerful families, including the Chen family, to cede their interests and instead support the "taxation system"?
……

In fact, it was not only Chen Gong who noticed the superiority of the system of "equalizing the land tax" in strengthening national strength and stabilizing people's livelihood, but Cao Cao and his advisers and officials also noticed this.

Cao Cao was very excited about this and secretly summoned his trusted advisors from humble backgrounds, such as Xi Zhicai, to discuss the matter many times.

But the conclusion reached after discussion was undoubtedly a pity and regret for Cao Cao.

The conclusion is: Cao Cao had no possibility to implement the "taxation per acre" policy at that time.

Cao Cao, who now controls Qing, Ji and half of Bingzhou, seems to have the power to compete with Liu Bei. However, in fact, Cao Cao is still extremely dependent on the support of powerful families.

Apart from anything else, even after Xun Yu committed suicide, the civil service system under Cao Cao's rule was still dominated by the Xun family.

Especially in order to assist Cao Cao, the Xun family who stayed in Yingchuan were liquidated by Liu Bei, and Xun Yu even committed suicide.

Right now, if Cao Cao showed any intention of suppressing the Xun family, the entire civil service system would collapse instantly.

What's more, even Cao Cao was from the Cao family, and the Xiahou family and others who were relied upon by Cao Cao to control the army were all powerful families.

Once Cao Cao tried to implement the policy of "equalizing the land tax and capitation" to reduce the interests of the aristocratic families and powerful people, not only would the civil service group rebel, but even the military generals group would have different thoughts.

"So, Liu Da'er, who was born into a straw sandal selling family and relied on by mostly peasants as civil and military officials, actually has an advantage?" Cao Cao said in a depressed tone.

"Your Majesty, if you say so... ahem, it's not wrong."

Xi Zhicai answered while coughing.

"Moreover, many noble families and powerful people under your rule have supported you and provided you with money and food supplies. They are afraid of the policy of 'taxation per acre'. If you are determined to implement it, it will make your rule unstable. You must not rush it."

Cao Cao was naturally aware of this, otherwise he would not have discussed it secretly with Xi Zhicai, who came from a humble family, and would not have dared to leak any news.

The implementation of the "taxation system based on land area" obviously harmed the interests of too many aristocratic families.

Li Ji's ability to smoothly implement this policy not only amazed Cao Cao, but also made the aristocratic families outside Liu Bei's rule like frightened birds.

If not, it would have been difficult for Cao Cao to quickly seize control of Ji and Bing provinces, and there was undoubtedly strong support from local aristocratic families behind him. (End of this chapter)