Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 629: New Theory of Jingtian
Two days later, there was light snow in Dongxiang.

A spacious military tent was built in the middle of the ice rink.

Sima Zhi, who was repeatedly asked to recommend a secretary, finally couldn't help it and drove to Dongxiang.

Led by the guards, he entered the military tent in the middle of the ice rink and found that the stove in the tent was warm.

There was an ice hole dug in the middle of the tent. Fa Zheng was sitting in a wheelchair, fishing with a rod. His legs were covered with a felt blanket, and his left leg in a plaster cast was stretched forward.

The other person hanging the pole was Taishi Wengong. He sat there with his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. He was more patient than Fa Zheng.

Fa Zheng saw Sima Zhi and forced a smile: "Mr. Zihua."

Sima Zhi just nodded and bowed to Black Bear, who was handling official documents, "Your Majesty."

"Zihua, first warm yourself by the fire to ward off the cold."

Black Bear didn't even look up. He grabbed the pen and started writing quickly. He finished three copies in a row before screwing the pen cap on.

Then he came to the stove, picked up the clay pot and poured Sima Zhi some rich milk tea. Sima Zhi quickly stood up and held the empty bowl with both hands.

Black Bear added half a cup to himself and Fa Zheng, shaking the tea bowl and asking, "Zi Hua, is here because the secretary asked you to select him?"

"Yes, I have recommended twelve people, but they were all rejected by Your Majesty. Please tell me clearly."

"Have you never heard what kind of person I want?"

"Have heard a little bit."

Sima Zhi said calmly: "But I think the people from Guandong are not suitable. It is better to choose people from Xizhou."

"Haha, Zihua is also a scholar from Guandong, why are you so biased?"

"Your Majesty, I am from Henei, a native of Sizhou, not from Kanto or Central Plains."

Sima Zhi corrected the problem of his origin and said: "Your Majesty has raised a three-foot sword to achieve unprecedented achievements. The achievements are difficult and it is not appropriate to select the wrong person."

It’s not that the people of Kanto are non-human, it’s that these people are not the right people.

In the Guanzhong system that adheres to the Jian'an system, in terms of political rights, the Guandong scholars do not have complete rights to serve as officials and their human rights are incomplete.

"Since that is inappropriate, then Zihua will select three people from the twelve and arrange for them to come see me. I want to question them in person."

Black Bear took a sip of milk tea and asked, "Where are you going after the exam?"

"Your Majesty, how are Shuofang and Wuyuan?"

"This is indeed a good place to achieve merit and establish virtue. The weather in the north is very cold and bitter, so Zihua should be mentally prepared."

"I am unable to follow you to fight against the barbarians on the border, which is my greatest regret in my life. Now that the border counties are somewhat at peace, I am willing to contribute my humble efforts."

"Well, I'll take care of that."

Black Bear raised his glass and Sima Zhi also raised his tea bowl. After drinking it, he took the initiative to get the teapot to refill the milk tea for both of them.

As soon as they sat down, Black Bear said, "If there is anything else that is difficult to talk about, please tell me. Nowadays, we are busy with government affairs, and there are fewer and fewer opportunities for us to spend time together in private."

"Just a little thing."

Sima Zhi did not hide it: "When Cao Cao murdered the emperor, Sima Jiangong felt ashamed and angry because he had recommended Cao Cao as the Northern Commander of Luoyang in his early years. He then hanged himself to plead guilty. The next year, his sons finished mourning. People in Henei spread rumors that the county wanted to recommend his eldest son Sima Lang as a filial and honest official."

This year, the number of candidates for nominating filial and honest officials in each county was re-surveyed, and the surplus quota in counties with large populations was cut. Regardless of whether they were large or border counties, there were two quotas per year. Hanei County had two quotas, one for a filial son and one for an honest official.

Sima Zhi raised his head and looked at Black Bear. "I originally intended to reject your proposal. If you can serve in the spring and summer, I won't be embarrassed."

Henei was not only to give face to Sima Zhi, but also because Henei was in ruins. Those who had a better reputation than the Sima family or had more financial resources were basically severely damaged during the confrontation between Yuan and Cao.

The old man Sima Fang committed suicide together with Yang Biao, which indirectly increased his popularity. He and Yang Biao became famous loyal and brave ministers throughout the world.

When the mourning period was over, Henei County did not give the Sima family a place as a filial son. Public opinion in the county was unhappy with this, and they were also afraid of discussions and slanders from other counties.

Therefore, this title of filial and honest official was almost something that the Sima family deserved.

In comparison, Yang Xiu, who joined the army in mourning, did not need any decorations such as filial piety and integrity.

Even Black Bear was cautious in using Yang Xiu, and did not even dare to send Yang Xiu to be a county magistrate.

Yang Xiu had the foundation and qualifications to become a leader of contemporary scholars. If he was sent to a more remote place, he could legally make friends with scholars from all sides and cultivate his own followers, such as his disciples and old officials.

After completing the county appointment process, Yang Xiu will become the next Chen Fan and Li Ying. Even if Yang Xiu does not want to take this path, the inertia of the thinking of scholars from all sides will push Yang Xiu to take this path.

Only by keeping Yang Xiu by his side could he be allowed to develop abnormally and make it difficult for him to build a strong party.

It is equivalent to gaining experience for free. Although your level will be increased, you will not have the opportunity to learn any skills.

In the end, he's just a super soldier.

The help that the Sima clan provided to Sima Zhi was very limited, almost non-existent.

If Sima Lang was selected as a filial and incorrupt official and passed the assessment, he would have to be recruited into the government office according to convention, which would make it difficult for Sima Zhi.

Even if he was given an unimportant position, Sima Zhi knew Fu Gan of Dongcao well, and as long as Fu Gan seized the opportunity, he would focus on promoting Sima Lang.

Therefore, Sima Zhi just hoped to take up his post in a border county as soon as possible to avoid this trouble.

Black Bear also remembered it, and said: "Shuofang and Hexi have abundant coal. After Zihua takes office, in addition to promoting agriculture and animal husbandry, he must also focus on coal mining. The border counties are very cold in winter, and with sufficient coal, the officials and people can live and work in peace. As for tea, I will increase the sales of Shuofang tea so that you can govern the herdsmen."

"Thank you for your understanding, sir."

Sima Zhi saluted solemnly. The farmers and herdsmen in the border counties could not tell the difference between good tea and bad tea, but as long as the Guanzhong army had conquered a place, the herdsmen would like to drink tea, because the Guanzhong army all liked to drink tea, especially milk tea.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

The taste is one way to tell whether something is good or not. Another way to tell whether something is good is through physical sensation.

The current restriction on tea is still the slow growth in production.

In two years, we will see the first wave of skyrocketing prices... Even if the price drops, as it is a daily consumable for officials and civilians, the profits will still be huge.

There is not enough to go around in the inner counties, and the profit from tea is greater in the border counties.

The tea distributed to Sima Zhi would immediately give him the capital to win over the surrounding farmers and herdsmen.

If used well, tea can serve as hard currency and drive a point-to-point trade route between Shuofang and Guanzhong.

After sending Sima Zhi away, Black Bear took out a scroll of silk from his sleeve and handed it to Fa Zheng: "Sir, look, this person hasn't arrived yet, but the voice came first. Isn't it a preemptive move?"

Fa Zheng reached out to take it, and seeing that the title was "New Theory of Well-Field", he squinted his eyes and read the content.

This was made by Sima Lang when he was in mourning in his hometown, and was brought to Chang'an University by fellow villagers.

It is named after the ancient well-field system, but it actually talks about the necessity and suitability of equal distribution of land.

The core content is that when the population leaves home, all abandoned land in counties and prefectures will be taken over by the government and then redistributed to the refugees to ensure property rights.

This was the most painful thing for the refugees in the turbulent times. Many local nobles had to abandon their land due to the exile of their followers and tenants.

Even such land has an owner; even if the wealthy and powerful families flee far away, they will still return home one day.

The refugees developed such fields, and when the wealthy families returned, they would not only not thank them but would punish them.

The county government and the surrounding powerful people will definitely not support the refugees.

Sima Lang's core method was to reconfirm the rights of the refugees in order to reassure them and allow them to settle down and farm in peace and actively produce.

This kind of thing would naturally irritate the local powerful people and scholars.

Every family has ancestral land that has to be temporarily abandoned after experiencing troubled times. If Sima Lang were to do this, wouldn't all the efforts of our ancestors have been in vain?

The integration of land in Guanzhong relied on violence. The land occupied by the hundred households in various places was nominally snatched by Black Bear from the generals in Guanzhong. It was Black Bear's land, which was distributed to the hundred households and garrison households who were his followers and slaves for use.

There were still powerful families in the county lands outside the hundred-household units, but those that were slightly larger were either cleared out by Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, or by the generals in Guanzhong during the chicken-eating competition.

Later, Black Bear also cleaned out a batch of them, and there was basically no such economic entity as independent manors.

Also because the Hundred Households were stationed around, the counties also gradually completed the land inspection and internal redistribution of land.

Therefore, Sima Lang's "New Theory of Well-Field" was of no help to Guanzhong, and Black Bear did not need to use the name of well-field to implement the equal distribution of land.

They registered the land under their own names...and the land under their names were the fertile land in each county. The hundred-household offices and the counties were in opposition to each other and monitored each other.

Whenever he thought about it, Black Bear wanted to have one more drink.

The two states of Yan and Yu actually needed the "New Theory of Well-Field". With this step, they could reduce their size more gracefully and slip through the sieve of Guanzhong.

Otherwise, if you try to resist, the sieve in Guanzhong will smash you from head to soles of feet and basically grind you into minced meat.

(End of this chapter)