Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 181 Advancing into Shangluo
Liu Shan couldn't help but feel grateful for his good fortune.

Because of the late emperor's legacy, and because of the prime minister and the group of important officials he organized, who worked tirelessly day and night in the rear, they were able to oversee the overall situation for him, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

This is what enabled him, a successor to the throne caught in a situation of "a young ruler and a suspicious state," to dare to leave the palace and Chengdu and Shu.

First, the emperor personally led the expedition, and only then was there no fear of rebellion or collapse.

Afterwards, he temporarily set aside the important matters of the court and went deep into the very ends of the tentacles of state power, to the roots of governance—counties, towns, and villages—to personally clarify the intricate grassroots network and understand how the gears that keep the state machinery running operate at the bottom.

How many successor emperors throughout history have had such an opportunity?
I'm afraid that as soon as I leave the palace, I'll have to worry about whether the Gaopingling Incident will happen.

Or perhaps they live in constant fear, wondering if they are easily soluble in water.

However, the Prime Minister was stationed in Chang'an, Jiang Wan and Xiang Chong were stationed in Chengdu, and the prefects of each prefecture with a salary of two thousand shi were stationed in the counties.

The city was secured by the protection of many loyal and upright officials.

This successor, confined to the high halls of power and ignorant of grassroots politics, was destined to never truly understand the plight of the people at the grassroots level.

He was given an extremely precious, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try to do something that almost only founding emperors had the chance to do—to sort out the intricacies of the world.

How are taxes collected from the common people?
How are laws and regulations enforced by officials?
How can a pragmatic and honest official establish the authority of the imperial court in the countryside?

How can a two-faced, treacherous person sow the seeds of resentment among the people?
Without investigation, how can one have the right to speak?
If a ruler is completely ignorant of the intricate workings of the state apparatus, then any grand vision or plan is nothing more than a castle in the air without a foundation.

After spending more than a month exploring the counties and townships, I roughly sorted out the operational mechanisms of county and township-level administration.

Liu Shan did indeed have a relatively profound understanding of the cornerstone of national governance and the essence of national administration.

While administration appears to be a top-down process of formulating plans, issuing decrees, appointing officials, allocating tasks, and coordinating resources, its essence is ultimately built from the bottom up.

The understanding, execution ability, and loyalty of officials and clerks in counties, townships, and villages regarding the imperial decrees;
The level of understanding, acceptance, and willingness to cooperate of the imperial decrees among the common people, as well as the actual efficiency and fairness of local resource allocation.

These elements from the lower levels are the key to whether the central government's various administrative decisions can take root and whether the imperial machine can operate smoothly.

If top-level decisions are detached from the complex picture of actual county and county operations, and are made based solely on abstract imagination or momentary likes and dislikes, the result is often that the government's orders are ineffective and go in the opposite direction.

At best, it leads to policy distortion and waste of resources with little effect.

In severe cases, it could incite public resentment and shake the foundations of the regime.

For example, Wang Anshi's Green Sprouts Law and Labor Service Law, and Zhang Juzheng's Single Whip Law, were all distorted and deformed in the process of implementation, becoming new tools of oppressive taxation.
Therefore, only by constantly immersing oneself in the grassroots and grasping the real feedback from practice and the grassroots can the decisions made at the top be meaningful and effective, and can one truly grasp the pulse of the country.

During his recent tour of the grassroots, Liu Shan, amidst the reality that many common people could not even provide for their own production tools, food rations, and seeds, and drawing on the successful experience of 20th-century peasant associations, conceived and solidified his idea of ​​establishing civilian-run farms.

Whether this law is a bad or good policy depends on whether the officials of the Han Dynasty can implement the various systems and how difficult and difficult the implementation will be.

Inside the Prime Minister's residence, the Prime Minister, Fei Yi, and Dong Yun were still roughly browsing through the business accounts of the Chongquan Wei family, scroll after scroll.

Just as he was contemplating how the Four Pillars of Destiny accounting method would greatly improve the efficiency of national administration and finance, the Prime Minister, tireless and slightly invigorated, picked up another scroll, only to find that it was a memorial submitted by Guo You of Zuo Fengyi to the Emperor.

The prime minister slowly unfolded the bamboo slips from right to left, his gaze moving up and down across them.

The matters were roughly the accounting of money and grain, urgent matters of the autumn harvest, and the resettlement of farmers and villagers. These were likely tasks that the emperor specifically instructed Guo Youzhi to handle after arriving in Linjin. Otherwise, Guo Youzhi, as the prefect of a prefecture, would not have needed to report these general affairs to the emperor.

However, before the bamboo slips could be fully unfurled and the Prime Minister was pondering, his gaze was instantly drawn to a bright red that suddenly appeared before him.

This is His Majesty's reply to Guo Youzhi's memorial.

The reply was concise and clear, expressing the emperor's opinion on the matters submitted by Guo Youzhi, whether he agreed or disagreed, and if not, what specific instructions the emperor would give.

Fei Yi had just moved closer to the Prime Minister, wanting to see what was written on this scroll of bamboo slips.

However, the gaze that should have been moving from right to left across the bamboo slips was almost instantly drawn to the bright red imperial reply.

After reading the reply and gaining a general understanding of the contents of the bamboo slips, Fei Yi began to quickly peruse the documents presented by Guo Youzhi, as if he were reading a question with the answer in mind.

The prime minister handed the bamboo slip to Fei Yi, and then picked up another one from the table. This time, he spread it out completely and quickly found the emperor's reply written in cinnabar.

Fei Yi and Dong Yun also discovered the vermilion ink marks on the documents, and for a moment, like the prime minister, they began to peruse the scrolls one by one the emperor's replies to Guo Youzhi on the bamboo slips.

However, not long after, a new discovery was made.

Guo Youzhi's blue annotations appeared in the documents submitted to him by the magistrates and county heads of Zuo Fengyi and the officials of Fengyi Prefecture.

Seeing this, the Prime Minister, Fei Yi, Dong Yun, and others immediately understood the Emperor's intention in bringing these bamboo slips back.

Guo Youzhi presented the document to the emperor in black ink, and the emperor replied in red ink.

The county magistrates presented documents to Prefect Guo Youzhi in black ink, and Guo Youzhi responded in blue ink.

Simply adding one item to the previous three-column accounting method to make it a four-column accounting method can significantly improve the efficiency of national administration and finance.

Replacing the original black ink comments with red and blue ink comments was a seemingly insignificant change, but it could greatly improve the administrative efficiency of the imperial court.

Because this splash of red and blue is too eye-catching.

A very small number of people might be able to skim through a document and quickly find the key points. But for the vast majority of officials, imperial edicts and written comments would greatly reduce their workload and increase their administrative efficiency.

Liu Shan picked up a scroll of bamboo slips and said:
"I didn't have many documents to deal with before."

"However, after more than a month of eastern tour, he visited all the counties, checking the people's registers, land, accounts, and case files every day, and also reading the documents of the prefects approving the county magistrates and the documents of the county magistrates approving their subordinates, accumulating hundreds of volumes every day."

"However, all documents were written in ink, and the memorials and replies were all written in the same color."

"Moreover, in order to save on the cost of bamboo slips, officials left almost no gap between their reports and replies."

"When I read it, I found it difficult to distinguish the key points, which was exhausting and strained my eyes."

"The key to official document approval lies in the fact that I and the Prime Minister clearly convey our imperial decrees to the high-ranking officials of the court, the high-ranking officials to the governors and prefects, and the governors and prefects to the officials of the prefectures, counties, and districts in order to guide the administration of the government."

"The ink is now mixed up and the characters are densely packed."

"Even though I study diligently day and night, I still find it difficult to review and judge."

"Moreover, there are the lower-level officials and clerks who implement the specific administration based on the approval of the imperial court and their superiors."

"In my opinion, the method of ink entering and ink exiting is a major drawback that hinders the implementation of government orders."

"Therefore, I have been thinking for a month about whether there is a way to distinguish between the petition and the reply."

"Finally, it was decided that from now on, the Prime Minister and I would use vermilion annotations to reply to all documents submitted by officials."

"Even though the imperial court's approvals and the approvals of officials differ in form and severity, they still demonstrate the authority and prestige of the imperial court."

"Whenever the imperial edicts of the emperor and the prime minister arrive, all officials and clerks of the court must immediately comply. Those who delay will be punished for violating the regulations."

"From the prime minister down to the prefect with a salary of two thousand piculs, all documents submitted by his subordinates and clerks were approved with blue ink."

"It is distinct from the imperial court, yet it demonstrates the power of the ministers."

"Whenever the blue edict arrives, the prefectures, counties, and districts must immediately comply, following the instructions slightly later than the red edict."

"As for the military, this method of red and blue annotation should also be used."

"In addition, the ink for vermilion and blue must be exclusively made by the Imperial Workshop of the court, and mixed with secret ingredients to prevent counterfeiting."

"In this way, the phenomena of lower-level officials tampering with and imitating the imperial documents, and higher-level officials concealing and manipulating documents will be greatly reduced. "In this way, the distinction between official documents from top to bottom will be clear, and the review, judgment, and implementation of government orders will be as easy as using one's own arm."

"That's not all."

"I believe that the principle of 'ink entering and vermilion exiting' can also be applied to the method of clearing accounts using the four pillars."

“Income entries are recorded in ink, and expenditure entries are recorded in red ink.”

"It can also greatly increase efficiency."

The fact that Liu Shan discovered papermaking and the four-pillar accounting method during his eastern tour was not purely coincidental, but rather stemmed from a strong purpose in his meetings with officials, clerks, and powerful clans during his travels through the counties and villages.
Based on his investigation of various livelihood and administrative issues, and the solutions he devised for these issues, it was clear that the number and quality of officials in the Han Dynasty were insufficient to support the court's governance.

He must find a solution.

However, it is difficult to increase the number and quality of officials in a short period of time.

The most practical and effective solution is to accelerate the administrative efficiency of officials.

Since he realized that administrative efficiency needed to be improved, Liu Shan naturally thought of some "laws for a hundred generations" that could truly be passed down for one or two thousand years.

For example, the accounting equation, which is still in use today, makes accounting and auditing work traceable while greatly reducing the workload and difficulty of the work.

For example, the specific format of official documents, and the standard for official document approvals, such as ink entering in red and ink exiting in blue.

Furthermore, documents with red or blue annotations were given official authority, such as the later "red-headed documents." All recipients of these documents were required to handle them with the utmost care and swift action.

Most of these items were reforms that Su Chuo, during the Western Wei period, presented to Yuwen Tai to significantly improve administrative efficiency.

These reforms, which were used in later generations, certainly had their merits.

According to Liu Shan, after Su Chuo's reforms, the administrative efficiency of the Western Wei court can be said to have made a qualitative leap.

At that time, the financial affairs of the Western Wei Dynasty were complicated, and all the documents added up to five or six hundred thousand pages.

After Su Chuo's reforms, the monthly paper consumption of the Grand Secretariat was reduced by more than half.

The workload of officials and bureaucrats has been significantly reduced, and efficiency has greatly improved.

In the main hall of the Prime Minister's residence, the candlelight flickered on and off.

Huo Yi and Zhuge Qiao took scissors and trimmed the candle wick once more.

The Prime Minister and other important officials, including Fei Yi and Dong Yun, looked at the bamboo slips in their hands under the lamplight.

I am truly astonished and impressed that the Emperor was able to find and conceive of so many comprehensive and practical methods of governing the country among the common people during his one-month eastern tour. I am at a loss for words to praise His Majesty further.

Fei Yi and Dong Yun exchanged glances: Have we been holding our ground for too long, to the point that we've become all talk and no action?

Otherwise, why have they failed to accomplish anything significant over the years, while His Majesty has achieved so many and such great results on this eastern tour?

...

...

Southeast of Chang'an.

The walls of Yaoguan Pass were now covered with Han army flags.

Half a month ago, two barbarian generals, Meng Yan and Cuan Xi, led four thousand Wudang Flying Army soldiers, clearing the way through the mountains and finally bypassing the Yao Pass guarded by the Wei army, and directly reaching Lantian Valley in the heart of Yao Mountain.

The already demoralized Wei troops guarding the pass were terrified when they discovered that the Han army had suddenly appeared behind Yaoguan Pass, and they lost all will to fight.

At this very moment, the Han army, which had been holding back its troops at Yaoguan Pass for more than two weeks, under the command of Han General Wei Yan, with Wang Ping and Ju Fu as the vanguard, set up various siege weapons and began a probing attack on the city.

The two barbarian generals, Meng Yan and Cuan Xi, led four thousand Wudang Flying Army soldiers, but instead of attacking the city, they built a pass and set up checkpoints behind Yaoguan to guard the key passage.

Seeing this situation, Xiahou Mao and Qin Lang, two generals from the imperial clan, quickly summoned Zhou Tai, Hao Zhao, Wei Ping, and other defeated generals, preparing to abandon the pass and flee.

Because the morale of the troops was really low and unstable, the eight thousand soldiers guarding the pass were all filled with fear and worried that they would not be able to wait for reinforcements to arrive at Wuguan.

Moreover, Wuguan is 400 li away from Yaoguan, and the mountain roads are narrow and difficult to travel, making the transportation of grain and fodder extremely difficult.

Cao Wei was unable to send additional troops to Yaoguan Pass, and they might not have enough food and laborers to support more reinforcements coming from the west.

Once Wei Yan's Han army launches a fierce attack on Yaoguan, with a powerful enemy in front and fierce troops behind, it will be too late to escape if Yaoguan falls.

However, Zhou Tai and Hao Zhao firmly opposed it.

The Emperor of Great Wei has issued an edict ordering them to strictly guard Yaoguan Pass, or face punishment under national and military law.

If they abandon the pass and flee, at most Xiahou Mao and Qin Lang, members of the imperial clan, will be demoted or dismissed from their posts. For these generals, losing their future is a minor matter; the real issue is endangering their families' lives.

Moreover, the emperor's edict has been issued, and Marquis of Yicheng, General Jianwu Wang Ling, is already on his way to Yaoguan.

Xiahou Mao and Qin Lang, two members of the royal family who knew nothing about military affairs and had never won a battle, were afraid that the emperor would punish them if they abandoned the pass and fled. So they could only hold the pass and wait for Wang Ling to arrive.

However… General Jianwu Wang Ling, just one day after Generals Meng Yan and Cuan Xi entered Lantian Valley, led more than twenty personal guards from Shangluo into the heart of Yaoshan.

The Wudang Flying Army, which had been lying in ambush in the mountains and forests, discovered that the Wei army had only sent about twenty men and immediately charged out of the mountains and forests.

If the Wudang Flying Army hadn't been unaware that one of the twenty men was a general of Cao Wei, and if Marquis Wang Ling of Yicheng hadn't run away so quickly, Cao Wei would probably have had one more prisoner to exchange.

Wang Ling's guards all died, but he escaped alone on horseback.

Still shaken, he returned to Shangluo and immediately sent envoys to Wuguan to gather reinforcements.

Jia Kui, the garrison commander of Wuguan and governor of Yuzhou, originally intended to go south to Xiangyang after Wang Ling rushed to Yaoguan to discuss with Cao Xiu how to defeat Sun Quan.

Before he could finish arranging the defenses of Wuguan, Wang Lingyu's proclamation suddenly arrived.

Upon learning that the Han army had actually broken through the Yaoguan defense line and that Wang Ling had almost been captured, Jia Kui was immediately alarmed.

While sending urgent messages to the emperor, he quickly prepared armor, weapons, and provisions, and organized 4,000 troops from Wuguan to rush to Shangluo.

However, just as the four thousand reinforcements arrived in Shang County after six days, bad news came from Shangluo, which was eighty miles away.

Wei Yan issued bounties for generals Xiahou Mao, Qin Lang, Zhou Tai, and Hao Zhao, and then led the Han army in an unprecedentedly fierce attack on Yaoguan. Thousands of Han troops behind Yaoguan also marched into Yaoguan.

The garrison at Yaoguan, terrified of internal strife, abandoned the pass and fled. Xiahou Mao, Qin Lang, Hao Zhao, and others were unable to stop them, and in the end, they were swept away by the chaotic army.

Yaoguan Pass fell.

Han flags were planted all over the pass.

For Wei Yan, capturing this pass was nothing to be proud of.

The only thing that made him feel comfortable and happy was that the emperor and the prime minister did not come in person this time, and for the first time, Wei Yan had complete command authority.

However, after gaining command, his mindset changed significantly compared to the past.

He no longer launched reckless attacks and assaults that disregarded the lives of his soldiers, but instead employed tactics and courage, becoming much more composed.

After capturing Yaoguan, he first sent a report of victory to Chang'an, and then ordered Wang Ping, Ju Fu, Meng Yan, and Cuan Xizhu to continue eastward, determined to push the battle line to Shangluo.

(End of this chapter)