Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 180 A Timeless and Effective National Policy

When Liu Shan toured the counties of Fengyi this time, he brought back not only local products, but also paper that was suitable for writing and could be mass-produced, which could cut off the lifeblood of academic and aristocratic families.

There are even more precious things for him, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, stored in two other boxes, and also in his flesh and blood memories.

Zhao Guang and Guan Xing received the emperor's order to move the remaining two boxes to a side seat in the main hall, and then opened the boxes.

The two men picked out nearly a hundred scrolls of bamboo slips from the box and piled them on several tables.

Liu Shan picked up a bamboo slip numbered one, handed it to the Prime Minister, and said:

"Your Excellency, these are the results of my inspection tour of the counties of Fengyi over the past month."

Upon hearing Liu Shan's words, the Prime Minister immediately took the bamboo slips from Liu Shan's hands with a serious expression, unfolded them, and began to read them meticulously.

But on the far right of the bamboo slips, it was written:

"A Study on the Livelihood and Powerful Individuals of Zuo Fengyi County".

The prime minister was intimately familiar with the emperor's handwriting, and it was clear from the handwriting that this inspection report on the counties of Fengyi was written by the emperor himself.

The prime minister was somewhat surprised, but then glanced at the Han emperor with great interest, before continuing to read on with a smile on his lips.

If we were to compare the world today to a tree, then the aristocratic families would be the canopy, the powerful and wealthy the trunk, and the common people the foundation.

"The Cao Wei regime governed from top to bottom, with the fundamental principles reversed. It based itself on aristocratic families, controlling and suppressing powerful clans and ordinary people throughout the land."

"However, noble families are like a canopy; without powerful figures to support them and ordinary people to provide for them, drawing sustenance and sustenance, they will inevitably perish."

Therefore, the Han dynasty should govern the country in the opposite way.

"We must start from the bottom up, insisting on prioritizing the common people, supplemented by powerful clans who still harbor loyalty to the royal family, and extracting sustenance from the aristocratic families. Then, the Cao Wei dynasty, based on these aristocratic families, will inevitably perish."

"The ruler is the boat, the people are the water; water can carry the boat, but water can also capsize it."

The bamboo slips begin by clearly stating the emperor's idea of ​​prioritizing the people, and conclude by quoting the ancient teachings of Xunzi's "On Kingship" to illustrate the fundamental principle of governance that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.

After reading the opening passage, the Prime Minister, Dong Yun, Fei Yi, and even the two young men Zhuge Qiao and Huo Yi were all completely absorbed and engrossed in the text.

The Prime Minister solemnly took his seat and carefully placed the bamboo slips in the center of the table.

Dong Yun and Fei Yi stepped forward and bowed their heads. Even Zhuge Qiao and Huo Yi, those two young men, held their breath and focused their attention. Everyone's eyes were like torches.

"On this trip to Fengyi, I conducted an on-site inspection of the conditions in nine counties, including Huayin, Linjin, Chongquan, and Wannian."

From May 25th to June 28th, a total of thirty-three days, he traversed nine counties and twenty-one villages, thoroughly investigating the hardships of farming for the common people and the situation of powerful clans annexing land.

It further records the interplay between the people's hardships and the arrogance of powerful figures.

"The treacherous and cruel acts committed therein are truly unprecedented in my life, neither seen nor heard of."

"I believe this situation is not unique to the nine counties of Fengyi, but rather a common problem in Guanzhong, Longyou, Hanzhong, and Shu."

"The powerful and wealthy are tyrannical, the common people are impoverished, and local officials deceive each other; the accumulated problems are deep-seated."

"..."

After quickly finishing reading the scroll, the Prime Minister meticulously placed it aside and took the scroll marked "two" from Zhao Guang, spreading it out on the table.

After finishing one volume, I started reading another.

In the main hall, candlelight flickered.

By the time Zhuge Qiao and Huo Yi had trimmed the candle wicks three times, more than half an hour had passed, and over thirty scrolls of bamboo slips were piled up on the table.

"There are nine reasons why the common people are in distress..."

"Firstly, there was a lack of farming tools; secondly, a lack of seeds; thirdly, there was banditry; fourthly, there were many licentious shrines; fifthly..."

Provide the common people with agricultural tools and seeds.

"Suppress mountain bandits and eliminate banditry"

Repair roads and dredge ponds.

"Equip the common people with weapons, train them in courage."

Establish settlements and gather people to cultivate the land on farms.

"Abolish unjust levies, prohibit exorbitant taxes and levies, destroy licentious shrines, and rectify customs."

"..."

The more than 20,000 words contained observations made by the Emperor of Han over the past month.

The common people were extremely lacking in farming tools and seeds, making it difficult to guarantee the basic conditions for agricultural production.

They suffered from banditry, and their lives and property were difficult to protect.

Faced with natural disasters and man-made calamities, they lack basic risk resistance capabilities and self-help and mutual assistance mechanisms.

The seemingly inevitable road disrepair and the silted-up and abandoned ponds have led to difficulties for the people in trading and irrigation.

The proliferation of unofficially recognized temples and shrines, whether for personal gain or to exploit the public, not only drains people's wealth but also poisons their morals, leading them to superstition and ignorance.

Even when they were so poor they couldn't get enough to eat, they still donated grain and other goods to their clans and local powerful families to worship the gods. Some genuinely believed that offering sacrifices to the gods would bring favorable weather and abundant harvests, while others knew full well that this was a way to exploit the people, but since everyone else was donating, they dared not refuse.

When ordinary people bought salt, iron and farm tools, they were exploited by powerful families. When they sold agricultural products and textiles, they were also oppressed by powerful families. When they borrowed ten shi (a unit of dry measure) of food for sustenance and planting, they usually had to repay fourteen or fifteen shi.

In addition, various unjustified levies and exorbitant taxes emerged one after another, making it difficult for the people to breathe.

All of these factors led to a large number of self-cultivating farmers losing their land and becoming tenant farmers, serfs, or simply fleeing into the mountains to become unemployed.

Cao Wei officials either held their positions without performing their duties, turning a blind eye to the suffering of the people, or colluded with powerful clans to fuel the unrest, a situation known as mutual deception among the prefectures and counties.

In response to these persistent problems, the emperor's travelogues, written on external inspections, went beyond simply discovering and exposing them.

Instead, under the constraints of harsh realities and limited national strength, it put forward governance strategies that were highly relevant and feasible, addressing how to alleviate the people's suffering, restore their strength, suppress powerful clans, consolidate the foundation of Guanzhong, and establish order in Guanzhong.

The most important and core element was direct state intervention, gathering people to establish settlements, which were what the emperor referred to as farms.

Only then did the imperial court concentrate its resources to provide them with various forms of assistance.

They equip and train soldiers, utilizing the people's own strength to achieve grassroots defense, and station officials and soldiers to exercise certain constraints.

They established settlements, cast agricultural tools, lent grain seeds, and taught more advanced farming and weaving techniques.

In conclusion, with limited national strength and a limited number of local officials, the imperial court could not make large-scale investments and could only solve the livelihood problems of the common people in Fengyi at the lowest possible cost.

After reading it once, the Prime Minister seemed to still be interested, so he reached out and picked up the scroll labeled "Number One" from the table and read it carefully once more.

He truly couldn't believe that the emperor, during his mere month-long tour of various counties, had actually visited so many places, accomplished so many things, discovered so many detailed and fundamental problems, and ultimately produced such a comprehensive and rigorous travelogue.

Dong Yun and Fei Yi followed behind the Prime Minister and began to read it as well. This time, compared to when they first saw the opening remarks that clearly stated the main points and outlined the main theme, the two important officials of the Han Dynasty were even more moved, impressed, delighted, and even excited.

Although they could not completely agree with all of the emperor's views, the tens of thousands of words of writings that the emperor had compiled from his observations and insights over the past month undoubtedly proved to these two important ministers of the Han Dynasty that he was a monarch who truly knew the foundation of the nation, sought truth from facts, and was diligent in governing.

Upon realizing this, Fei Yi sighed deeply to the Emperor without reservation:

"When I was as young as Your Majesty, even if I had followed Your Majesty's example and personally visited various counties to conduct in-depth research and study, I would probably not have been able to achieve even 11% of what Your Majesty has done."

"Even if I were to tour the four directions on behalf of Your Majesty, I would probably not be as compassionate as Your Majesty is in understanding the people's plight and suffering, let alone be able to compose such a profound and insightful ten-thousand-word essay based on this understanding."

"From this perspective, Your Majesty has deeply grasped the true essence of the ancient sage kings, and is truly a wise ruler of the world. The nation is fortunate, and all the people are fortunate!"

Following Fei Yi, Zhuge Qiao, Huo Yi, and others also showered the emperor with sincere and extravagant praise.

As Fei Yi said, even Fei Yi might not be able to do better than the emperor. Those of them who have never been sent to a prefecture or county to understand the people's sentiments and wishes are probably not even as good as a hair on the emperor's head.

Huo Yi served as a prince's attendant from a young age, living with the emperor in the Hanzhong Prince's Palace and the Chengdu Imperial Palace. He grew up alongside the emperor, being his playmate, study companion, close advisor, and remonstrating minister, and knew the emperor's temperament well.

Therefore, faced with the dramatic changes since the emperor's personal expedition to the north, he was indeed more shocked and moved than Zhuge Qiao, Fei Yi, Dong Yun and others.

So much so that a bizarre and shocking idea would occasionally pop into mind: Had the emperor been switched by Dong Shizhong and Jiang Changshi?

However, the emperor's figure, appearance, speech and behavior, even his subconscious little gestures, as well as the various old stories that only the emperor and his subject knew when they met again in Guanzhong and reminisced about their past friendship, all proved that this person was undoubtedly the emperor.

Huo Yi initially attributed the dramatic change in the emperor's life to the vague idea that the late emperor had appeared to him in a dream, instructing him to change his ways.

Later, seeing that the emperor, who had once both respected and feared the prime minister, suddenly became intimate and affectionate with him after their reunion in Guanzhong, he changed his mind:

It was probably the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops" that the Prime Minister wrote specifically for His Majesty. The Prime Minister's departure made the Emperor suddenly realize that he should grow up, so he worked hard and changed his personality in the past year.

If one should look at a person with new eyes after only three days of separation, how much more so should one look at the ruler of a country?
Although Guo Youzhi and Chen Zhi have begun to work on the farms and settlements in Linjin County, there are still too many details to discuss regarding how to expand the farms and settlements to the entire Fengyi County, and whether it is truly possible to expand them to the entire Fengyi County. These issues cannot be resolved in a short time.

After a brief discussion, the Prime Minister, Fei Yi, Dong Yun, and others decided to personally visit Linjin for an inspection at a later time.

We need to see what difficulties the civilian settlements in Linjin will encounter and how to solve them before deciding whether to promote them further.

"This ledger...is another of His Majesty's innovations?" Fei Yi placed the Emperor's handwritten letter on the table, turned around and took out a scroll of bamboo slips from the last box. After carefully studying it for a while, he asked in surprise.

He was genuinely shocked.

"An account book?" The Prime Minister slowly walked towards Fei Yi, wanting to see what kind of account book could make Fei Yi show such a surprised expression.

Fei Yi immediately handed the account book in his hand to the Prime Minister.

The prime minister took the bamboo slip and glanced at it. After a moment, his expression became just like Fei Yi's, serious.

Before long, Fei Yi finished reading another volume and handed it to the Prime Minister.

The prime minister's gaze swept quickly across the bamboo slips, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

After fully understanding the immense benefits and convenience that his innovative bookkeeping method would bring to the administration and finances of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister looked up excitedly and praised the Emperor:
"Your Majesty's month-long trip to Fengyi has yielded truly remarkable results. The four-column accounting method I possess alone is worthy of being called a timeless and effective method for governing the country."

"Four pillars of accounting?" Huo Yi, who was the secretary of the Prime Minister's office, came over curiously when he heard the Prime Minister say this.

Liu Shan smiled and took out a roll of account books from the box and handed it to Huo Yi.

After reading it, Huo Yi could see that the so-called "four-column accounting method" was indeed an innovation compared to the "three-column accounting method," but the innovation was not significant.

The so-called three-column accounting method, which has been used since the Zhou Dynasty, is the simplest, most practical, and most universal accounting equation:

Income - Expenses = Surplus.

The account books that the emperor presented included an additional item called "old account book," which was the beginning balance of the period.

Old revenue + new income - expenditure = present.

Huo Yi couldn't understand why Fei Shizhong and the Prime Minister reacted so strongly to the mere addition of an "old management" item.
Liu Shan smiled and said, "Prime Minister, this four-pillar accounting method was also obtained from the papermaking family of the Wei family in Chongquan."

The prime minister was surprised, because the account book in his hand did not record the expenditure of paper, but the expenditure of grain, so it could not be seen that it was the account book of the Wei family.

Fei Yi held the book and sighed, "I never imagined that the Wei family of Chongquan, who were relatively unknown, were so skilled in both papermaking and financial management. Your Majesty's inspection tour of Fengyi has truly unearthed a hidden gem!"

At this moment, Dong Yun also picked up a volume of Wei's account books and began to read them, nodding repeatedly.

Seeing this situation, Huo Yi and Zhuge Qiao were even more confused.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhuge Qiao looked at the Prime Minister and asked, "Father, I am dull-witted. I only have one more 'old management' in my name. Why do you and the two Attendants seem so delighted with this method?"

The Prime Minister, Fei Yi, and Dong Yun all smiled when they saw the bewildered look on Zhuge Qiao's face.

Fei Yi smiled and brought over the account books, explaining them to Zhuge Qiao and Huo Yi, two mid-to-lower-level officials who frequently handled account books.

Upon hearing this, Huo Yi and Zhuge Qiao suddenly understood and finally praised it as well.

The four-column accounting method places the finances of each period in a continuous chain.

"Old Management" clearly continues the results of the previous period, while "Present" marks the end of this period and the starting point of the next period, clearly outlining the complete trajectory of asset changes.

The most crucial aspect is that the physical management of the "old management" and the "new acquisition" was handled by a single clerk.

The 'dismissal' and 'presence' were handled by another accounting clerk.

This decentralized mechanism, which separates "management of goods" from "management of accounts," can be extremely effective in preventing accounting errors and fraud.

When superiors need to verify the accounts.

It is only necessary to confirm the amount of "old management" and "new receipt" handled by the clerk in charge of the inflow and outflow of funds.

Then confirm the total amount of "expenditure" plus "current account" held by the clerk in charge of bookkeeping.

Finally, by comparing the two figures to see if they are equal, we can determine whether there were any errors in the accounting or whether anyone engaged in favoritism or fraud.

The core of accounting is no longer the tedious process of checking every single income and expenditure record, but rather directly verifying whether a simple equation holds true.

If the equation holds true, it means that the total flow of funds during the entire period is balanced and the accounts are basically consistent with the actual situation.

If any internal errors or fraud exist, the equation will not be balanced, and superiors will immediately discover the problem.

This is equivalent to transforming a complex, detailed verification process that requires massive manual comparisons into a highly efficient, simple check based on overall balance.

This greatly reduces the difficulty, time, and manpower costs of verification.

This will also greatly reduce the losses caused by corruption and negligence.

The immense power of a nation is built up bit by bit.

Once this bookkeeping method is popularized, who can say it won't be a timeless and effective method for governing the country?

"Your Majesty's eastern tour lasted thirty-three days. Your achievements will surely be recorded in history and last for generations!" Huo Yi exclaimed in final praise.

(End of this chapter)