Han officials

Chapter 277 Difficult at First, Easy Later
What exactly happened to Tao Gongzu?

After rushing back to Ye City, Wei Zhe had just entered the city gate when he called Xi Zhicai into the carriage and asked:

"Isn't he only sixty-four?"

Unexpectedly, Xi Zhicai gave Wei Zhe a strange look, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Wei Zhe was taken aback at first, but then immediately realized what was happening.

Is he worried about me?

After receiving Xi Zhicai's affirmation, Wei Zhe was both amused and exasperated.

Seeing this, Xi Zhicai immediately smiled bitterly and said helplessly, "Although it is a case of a fool worrying about nothing, Tao Gongzu is not young. He suffered from old illnesses in his early years of fighting. Now, he is being driven by mental illness, and it looks like he is about to die."

Not to mention Wei Zhe, even Xi Zhicai was taken aback when he received the news from Xuzhou.

If Mi Zhu hadn't been such a high-ranking insider, they might not have known so early.

However, it's no wonder that Tao Qian was so worried.

After all, Wei Zhe is much stronger now than Prime Minister Cao was before the Battle of Guandu.

Furthermore, with Qing and Xu provinces separated only by a narrow strip of water, and the Wei navy being particularly powerful, Xu province faced a tremendous crisis from both land and sea routes.

Given this, how could Tao Qian not be under a lot of mental pressure?
But it's too late to say anything now. Tao Qian has worn himself out, and Wei Zhe has no choice but to move now, even if he doesn't want to.

He originally planned to target Yanzhou first, but now it seems he should postpone it.

A short while later, after returning to his residence, Wei Zhe quietly summoned Mi Zhu's younger brother, Mi Fang.

In the study, Mi Fang said impatiently:

"My lord, let's send troops! Tao Gongzu's life hangs in the balance. If we don't act now, it will be too late."

However, Wei Zhe remained unmoved, his gaze steady as he said:
"No rush, please explain the situation in more detail."

Mi Fang was puzzled, but she still told the story again from beginning to end.

During this time, Wei Zhe frequently interrupted him to inquire about the reactions of the high-ranking civil and military officials in Xuzhou.

After a long while, the study finally returned to calm.

To Mi Fang's surprise, after a moment of contemplation, Wei Zhe slowly shook his head and said:
"It would be too hasty to mobilize troops at this time; we haven't reached that point yet."

Xi Zhicai couldn't help but nod upon hearing this.

Mi Fang might not understand, but even as a top strategist, he felt that the time was not yet right.

Now is not the best time for war.

It is important to understand that war is merely a means to achieve a goal, not the goal itself.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but step forward and say:

"My lord, let me go and see Tao Gongzu."

"When a person is about to die, he is probably not so attached to power anymore, and he may be able to subdue the enemy without fighting."

Wei Zhe nodded slightly upon hearing this, but then, after a moment's thought, added:
“Here’s what I’ll do: please pass on a message to Tao Qian for me. Tell him that my son is still missing a study companion and ask if the Tao family has any suitable candidates.”

When a person is about to die, he thinks about his descendants. I guess Tao Qian would have thought things through a lot.

Xi Zhicai thought it made sense, and immediately took Wei Zhe's letter and turned to leave cleanly and decisively.

To shorten his journey, Xi Zhicai took a cargo boat down the Yellow River after leaving Ye City, arriving in Le'an Kingdom of Qingzhou overnight. He then traveled lightly with a small entourage through Beihai Kingdom and entered Xuzhou.

When Xi Zhicai finally arrived at Tancheng, the seat of the Xuzhou governor, only two days had passed.

Of course, the escort and protection of Xuzhou Biejia Mizhu were indispensable in this process.

Without his arrangement of people to meet him along the way, it would have been impossible for Xi Zhicai to reach Tanxian so quickly and smoothly.

Because this act was rather conspicuous, Mi Zhu had actually prepared himself for Tao Qian's wrath and dismissal from office.

To his surprise, Tao Qian, who was in the hospital bed, didn't say anything after learning about it.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, and ordered that Xi Zhicai be brought to the mansion the next day.

Upon hearing this news, Xi Zhicai was immediately relieved.

……

Let's not even talk about what Xi Zhicai was planning in Xuzhou.

In Ye City, Wei Zhe did not let Tao Qian disrupt his rhythm.

Because all he cares about, besides farming, is farming!
Spring plowing marks the beginning of the year.

Before the first month of the lunar calendar had even passed, farmers across Hebei Province were already busy with their work.

However, compared to previous years, the enthusiasm of farmers in Jizhou is obviously much higher this year.

Even while working hard in the fields, his eyes looked very different from before.

It was just a glimmer of hope, but that was enough to satisfy them.

After all, they're all tenant farmers; it doesn't matter who they cultivate the land for.
In comparison, being a farmer in a military settlement is much better than being a recluse of a powerful clan.

So what if it's split 40/60?
The imperial court stipulated that the tax rate was one-thirtieth, but in reality, the various taxes, poll taxes, and miscellaneous taxes added up to an unknown amount.

As a result, registered farmers had no choice but to seek refuge with powerful and influential families and become hidden households in order to survive.

As the number of fleeing households increased, the Han Dynasty gradually crumbled.

Of course, being a recluse of a prestigious family is not easy either.

There's nothing we can do about it; they don't even exist in Han law anymore.

To be precise, they are just a group of unregistered individuals, not even human.

In this way, personal rights become even more out of the question.

Killing a commoner might be a bit troublesome for a member of the aristocratic family, but killing a servant would be much easier.

The more dynastic the system, the more the serfs under the aristocratic families became no different from animals.

This is one of the reasons why Wei Zhe was able to establish large-scale military farms in Ji Province.

Because he doesn't need to worry about the fields being abandoned; as long as he dares to cultivate the land, there will be no shortage of people to farm it.

In fact, it is true.

Just recently, during the New Year's Day celebrations, the people of Jizhou had already erected countless longevity tablets for Wei Zhe.

Even though Wei Zhe had only been in power for a short time, the people of Jizhou already regarded him as their second father.

They addressed him as "General of the Cavalry" and "Marquis of Ye" all the time, and no one cared who Yuan Shao was anymore. When Wei Zhe received the report from the Imperial Censor, he couldn't help but feel ashamed.

If the timing weren't too inappropriate, he would have even considered distributing the land equally in one go, instead of designating them as civilian settlements.

But reality forced him to do this.

In the face of chaos, he had to prioritize military policy, with people's livelihoods taking a backseat for the time being.

Only by becoming the sole winner in this chaotic end of the Han Dynasty can the promises he made be truly fulfilled.

However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

The common people of Jizhou were happy, but the powerful clans and wealthy families of Jizhou suffered heavy losses in this land-division dispute.

Although not many families were destroyed or their entire clans were wiped out, quite a few clans were exiled to border counties such as Wuyuan and Yunzhong.

Even a family with connections like the Zhen family of Zhongshan suffered heavy losses in this turmoil.

Even during the land reclamation process in Jizhou, the Zhen family of Zhongshan was among the first large clans to be dealt with.

This wasn't because the officials of the shogunate were audacious, nor because the Tuntian Division and Empress Zhen Huan of Zhongshan had any old grudges; rather, it was Wei Zhe who specifically instructed them to do so.

It is said that in the fifteenth year of Jianwu, after Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu unified the country, he also carried out a nationwide land survey.

However, the more clever he had been in conquering the land, the more difficult it became for Liu Xiu to survey the fields this time.

After all, who would willingly be a target of revolution?

After transporting ancient and rare books, such as those from the Imperial Archives, back from Luoyang, Wei Zhe saw many secret stories that had not been included in the "Dongguan Hanji".

It wasn't that the compilers, including Cai Yong, doubted the authenticity of the historical materials, but rather that it was inconvenient to make them public.

For example, in the fifteenth year of Jianwu, Grand Minister Han Xin was unjustly executed; in the sixteenth year of Jianwu, his successor, Ouyang Xi, died in prison; and in the twentieth year of Jianwu, Grand Minister Dai She was also convicted and imprisoned, where he died. The root cause of the fact that three consecutive Grand Ministers did not have a good end was the land survey.

Among them, Grand Minister Ouyang Xi was originally a Confucian scholar in retirement, but was eventually executed for corruption.

It may seem like he has nothing to do with Du Tian, ​​but in reality, he is backed by a powerful family from Hebei.

Of course, Ouyang Xi's fate was entirely his own fault, since he was guilty of embezzlement.

However, Dai She's death was rather far-fetched, because the person he recommended had committed a crime, which, according to precedent, was simply a matter of poor judgment in choosing a person.

Unless it involves a heinous rebellion, the worst that can happen is dismissal and exile.

However, Liu Xiu did not show leniency towards Dai She and instead ordered his execution.

The most wronged one was Han Xin, because he repeatedly offered advice and spoke frankly, which made Liu Xiu very unhappy.

As a result, Liu Xiu actually ordered the execution of him and his son, and even demoted Bao Yong, who tried to dissuade him.

Such tyrannical and extreme actions are a far cry from the wise and powerful Liu Xiu of the past.

It wasn't that Liu Xiu suddenly changed his temperament or became complacent; rather, he was trying to intimidate the local powerful families with his killings.

Unfortunately, this method was ineffective. As soon as the land survey began, local powerful families and forces immediately used bribery and coercion to force local officials to collude with them and to conceal the fact that the land survey was merely a formality.

The memorials Liu Xiu saw in Luoyang were all very impressive, but in reality, they were surprisingly bloated.

As a result of "inaccurate land surveys," Liu Xiu killed more than a dozen local governors.

But as soon as he killed the incompetent officials, a large number of "thieves" appeared in the area.

In an instant, powerful figures across the country were mobilized, as if the scene of the end of the new dynasty was about to reappear!

Faced with the increasingly out-of-control situation, Liu Xiu finally compromised.

It wasn't that Liu Xiu was too weak, but rather that he discovered he had absolutely no way to cultivate the land.

Because the very foundation of his power, the imperial power of the Han Dynasty, had been infiltrated by these poisons that threaten the stability of the state.

If we continue to expand the fields, the reconstruction of the Han Dynasty will become nothing but empty talk.

To give a simple example, Liu Xiu's beloved, the Yin family of Nanyang, owned 70,000 mu of land.

Liu Xiu's maternal uncle, Fan Hong, had ancestors who were merchants, but also owned 30,000 mu of land.

Most importantly, Fan Hong was the most cautious and self-disciplined among Liu Xiu's relatives.

Most of the meritorious generals among the "Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai" had more assets than Fan Hong.

In fact, not long after the land survey was implemented, under pressure from Liu Xiu, the local governors had no choice but to report: In the capital city of Nanyang, the powerful and influential families have acted arbitrarily, and their power and influence are greater than that of the government. Local officials dare not and are unable to implement the land survey.

Some unscrupulous individuals even falsely report farmers' houses as farmland to inflate the numbers.

The imperial court's land survey documents also sometimes included secret notes stating, "You can inquire about Yingchuan and Hongnong, but not about Henan and Nanyang."

In this situation, how could you expect Liu Xiu to manage the fields?

If he insists on surveying the land, then he will first have to cripple himself.

It can be said that at this time, Liu Xiu's new regime was facing a life-or-death crisis.

His current situation is even more dangerous than when he faced Wang Mang, Emperor Gengshi, and others.

After all, this time, his former confidants, allies, and even relatives and friends may stand on the opposite side.

Forced into a corner, Liu Xiu had no choice but to act prudently. He killed many of the so-called "thieves" on the front lines, but turned a blind eye to the local powerful figures behind the scenes.

Otherwise, by the end, before he could even successfully cross the fields, Liu Xiu would have already committed suicide.

Therefore, it is best to do things like field surveying as early as possible.

It's always better to start with the difficult and then move to the easy than to start with the easy and then move to the difficult.

At least in this land reclamation turmoil in Jizhou, apart from Wei Zhe of the Zhen family in Zhongshan, no other close confidants were involved.

Of course, Wei Zhe had no intention of abandoning those who had helped him.

Although the Zhen family of Zhongshan suffered a loss in terms of land, they were compensated in other ways.

Following the Guan family, Wei Zhe also granted the Zhen family official maritime trade qualifications.

Although the overseas islands south of Zhuyai are wild and undeveloped, they are rich in rare treasures such as hawksbill turtles and pearls, and have gradually become a major source of wealth for the powerful and wealthy families along the coast of Jiangdong.

The Youzhou navy has been making quite a few cameos there in recent years, playing the role of One Piece characters.

This is why, nowadays, the rare and precious seafood from the South China Sea, besides those from Jiangdong, has gradually become a high-end commodity in Youzhou.

The reason Wei Zhe granted Zhen this qualification was not because Zhen Rong was particularly alluring or charming.

He simply wanted his subordinates to know that as long as they followed him, Wei Gongwei, they would never suffer losses.

Clear rewards and punishments are essential for maintaining authority!
(End of this chapter)