Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 183 Zhaoyi
Luohu Mountain.

The Jing River carved through a mountain pass and flowed into Guanzhong.

The emperor and the prime minister's carriages stopped on the banks of the Jing River, about four or five miles south of the mountain pass.

Having already received the news, Marquis Yang Tiao of Guiyi had been waiting there for a long time. After the Emperor of Han and the Prime Minister of Han stepped down from the two carriages, they hurriedly led the tribal elders forward to pay their respects.

The Prime Minister looked around at the tents scattered along the north and south sides of the Zheng Guo Canal, observed for a moment the Qiang people dredging the canal, and finally smiled and asked Yang Tiao:
"Marquis Guiyi, since the issuance of the decree to relocate people to Guanzhong, how many households and how many people have moved from Anding to Guanzhong and been registered?"

The Prime Minister held a great deal of goodwill toward the Qiang King of Anding, who had been corresponding with him for several years, was loyal to the Han Dynasty, and finally took the lead in initiating a righteous uprising in Guanzhong.

After the emperor established the Fubing system and issued an edict to relocate the people of Anding to Guanzhong, Yang Tiao, upon receiving the decree, returned to Anding, summoned the tribal leaders, and began the work of relocating and registering the people.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, of the more than 8,000 households of Qiang people in Anding, about 70 or 80 percent wished to move and settle in Guanzhong after hearing that His Majesty had issued an edict to relocate them there."

"But there are still two months until the autumn harvest, and many clansmen are planning to migrate south after the autumn harvest."

"However, His Majesty's edict also stated that whoever moves into Guanzhong first will be able to obtain more fertile land from the court."

"So there are also three or four thousand households, more than 20,000 people who have come to Guanzhong with their cattle, sheep and horses, and will return to Anding to harvest their crops in the autumn. After all, this place is only about two hundred li away from Linjing, and it will only take a few days to get there."

"Seventy or eighty percent of them?" Liu Shan was slightly surprised. "The Marquis of Guiyi didn't force the people of Anding to relocate, did he?"

These days, migrating is truly an event that carries the risk of family ruin and death.

Especially when the imperial court forces people to relocate, the life and death of the people depend entirely on the conscience of the court, officials, and soldiers.

But these days, conscience is generally nonexistent among the lower-level officials and clerks responsible for the specific affairs of relocating people.

As a result, the officials and soldiers were tyrannical, causing the displaced people to lose their property, wives and daughters, and ultimately their families to be destroyed and their lives to be lost.

Moreover, the government-allocated rations were difficult to transport, and food shortages along the way were common.

Coupled with the long journey, dense crowds, and poor sanitation, epidemics were very likely to break out. In the absence of medical care and medicine, the sick were often abandoned and left to die.

Even if you're not sick, you might go out to find firewood or use the toilet, and suddenly be ordered to set off by officials. After that, there would be all sorts of driving away, chaos, and the elderly, weak, women and children would often be left behind or separated from the group.

In this era without any means of long-distance communication, the chances of finding a lost loved one are extremely slim, tantamount to a death.

This leads to widespread fear among the people when they hear about the need to relocate.

The Han dynasty did not force the migration, but rather allowed the Qiang people under Yang Tiao's command to organize the migration themselves.

With the chieftains of their own tribe maintaining order during migration, the chances of getting separated or being bullied are much smaller.

But the fact that 70-80% of the Qiang people, numbering 20,000 to 30,000, were willing to move from Anding to Guanzhong was something that Liu Shan found hard not to be surprised and suspicious of.

Yang Tiao sensed the emperor's doubts and quickly explained earnestly:

"Your Majesty is unaware of the following."

"Although we Qiang people in Anding also cultivate the land, the land in Anding is barren and prone to drought, so the harvest is meager."

"So after sowing the seeds, they just ignore the crops in the fields and rely on the weather."

"After that, they followed the water and grass, nomadic in all four seasons, and have followed this path for decades."

“However, in peaceful places, the weather is bitterly cold and there is little rain. Especially in the last ten years or so, every winter season, there is a white disaster, and three or four out of ten cattle and sheep die. Therefore, the profit from raising cattle and sheep is also meager.”

“I, the Qiang people of Anding, know that since the chaos caused by Dong Zhuo, Li Zicheng and Guo Si, almost one in ten households in Guanzhong have been lost. I also know that Guanzhong has abundant water and grass, fertile land, and no more disasters after winter. I have long had the intention to move to Guanzhong.”

"However, firstly, there was no imperial edict to relocate people, and secondly, the Qiang people of Anding and the Han people of Guanzhong were at odds. Even if they were to migrate here, they would not be able to settle down to cultivate the land and graze their livestock. Therefore, they had no choice but to give up."

"Now I hear that His Majesty has issued a decree, allowing the Qiang people of Anding to relocate to Guanzhong, and granting them land with abundant water and grass. The powerful clans in Guanzhong dare not offend the imperial authority or obstruct the process."

"Given all these factors, how many people would still be willing to stay in that barren and cold land of Anding?"

"The reason why two or three out of ten people are willing to stay in Anding is simply because they already occupy some of the fertile land with abundant water and grass."

"And when our tribes left Anding, they gave up some decent pastures and fields for us."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shan was first taken aback, and then suddenly understood.

He traveled north from the warm and humid Sichuan region, and had not yet experienced the harsh winter of the north.

I've really forgotten that the white disaster that was supposed to occur north of the Yinshan and Yanshan Mountains has actually spread all the way to Anding.

It was only at this point that he remembered again that this was the so-called "Little Ice Age".

Natural disasters are frequent; solar eclipses and earthquakes occur almost every two years.

Drought, floods, and locust plagues have plagued the country year after year.

The extreme cold wave caused heavy snow to fall for several years in the Eastern Wu region, which was not protected by the Qinling Mountains.

The water systems north of the Yangtze River, including the Huai River, one of the four major rivers, all freeze over after winter sets in, completely disrupting the agricultural cycle in the north.

Traditional historical records, when describing the rise and fall of dynasties, often focus on the changes in the internal political situation of the dynasty.

However, in reality, the rise and fall of many dynasties were influenced by harsh weather conditions.

For example, the Han Dynasty, which was said to be "a nation that is weak will perish, but the Han Dynasty perished because it was strong," eventually disintegrated. It is hard to say that this was unrelated to the natural disasters caused by the abnormal climate of the Little Ice Age.

The seeds of the Five Barbarian Invasions were sown by the increasingly southward-moving snow line.

The icy and snowy landscape beyond the Great Wall, with its unpredictable winds and frosts, became the most fatal blow to the nomadic tribes such as the Qiang, Di, Xianbei, and Wuhuan.

Therefore, they began to choose to serve the Central Plains dynasty in order to obtain permission to migrate southward.

Just as Yang Tiao said, these Qiang people, who were half farmers and half herders, had long coveted the relatively warm and humid Guanzhong Plain, with its abundant water and grass, and had the desire to migrate inland.

Just never had the chance.

The main reason is that Bingzhou and Hanoi, where foreign ethnic groups such as Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Xiongnu migrated, were all within the territory controlled by Cao Wei.

As for the Guanzhong region, Cao Wei had no time to attend to it at the moment.

The Qiang and Di peoples of Longyou and Anding had never submitted to Cao Wei and remained in a state of treason, never paying taxes or performing military service for Cao Wei.

Therefore, in order to prevent the Qiang and Di peoples of Anding and Longyou from becoming unstable factors after migrating into Guanzhong, Cao Wei could not allow these foreign tribes to migrate inland.

It must be said that, given the lack of actual control over Guanzhong and the isolation of Liangzhou, Cao Wei's decision not to allow the Qiang and Di tribes of Anding to relocate to Guanzhong was undoubtedly correct.

Even the policy of Cao Wei to relocate non-Han peoples such as the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu to Bingzhou and Hanoi in exchange for their service was not wrong at first.

He both used their warhorses and archers to strengthen his own power and kept them in his military-controlled territory, thus preventing them from having the power to rebel.

In addition, Cao Wei would also order these foreign princes to send their sons as hostages to learn Han culture, with the intention of sending them back to their tribes to seize power once the princes grew up and became Sinicized.

If the Cao Wei dynasty had lasted for two hundred years, then these foreign tribes that had submitted to the Cao Wei might have eventually been peacefully transformed.

Even if the dynasty lasted only a hundred years, given Cao Wei's strong control over the Hu people, there was a very high probability that the disaster of the Five Barbarian Invasions and the tragedy of the sinking of China would not have occurred.

Who knew that the wheel of fortune would turn, and the Cao Wei dynasty, which had usurped the Han throne, was eventually seized by the Sima family.

The idea that "the emperor is the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses" began to take root in people's minds. An era of prioritizing personal gain and self-interest had begun.

Thus came the War of the Eight Princes, and the once-powerful warriors, who were said to be able to fight five barbarian tribes with one Han, died one after another in the internal strife.

The foreign tribes, who had always been subservient to the Han people, discovered their opportunity and eventually rose up in a series of wars where each side was worse than the last.

Unbeknownst to him, Liu Shan, deep in thought, had followed Yang Tiao to the banks of the Zheng Guo Canal.

Thousands of An Ding Qiang people either wielded hoes to dig out the silt from the Zheng Guo Canal, or carried loads on their shoulders to dump the fertile silt into the fields allocated to them by the imperial court.

These Qiang people, who risked family separation and even death to leave their homes and come to Guanzhong in order to survive, are now rebuilding their homes.

Liu Shan watched silently for a while, but he really couldn't see any difference between these Qiang people in front of him and the common people he had seen in Fengyi over the past month.

Even their body shape and appearance are similar.

Dark-skinned, short, withered, and ragged.

The only difference is that the Qiang people working in front of us seem to have more vitality than the common people in Fengyi and other counties.

Liu Shan looked at the people along the Zheng Guo Canal and said to Yang Tiao, who was standing behind him:

"Marquis Guiyi, the Prime Minister and I have come here not only to see how the Zheng Guo Canal is being dredged and how the resettlement of the people is progressing."

"He also supervised the transport of more than 20,000 shi of millet to reward the relocated people."

Yang Tiao was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly bowed his head.

"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!"

More than 20,000 shi of grain was enough for more than 20,000 displaced people to live frugally for two months.

By then, it will be harvest time, and the more than 20,000 migrants here will return to Anding to harvest the grain again. If they don't encounter any disasters after returning to Guanzhong, they will have survived this winter.

Liu Shan shook his head:

"In the previous battle between the Han Dynasty and Cao Wei in Guanzhong, the people were stabilized and devoted to the affairs of the state. Now, troops have been dispatched to help the Han Dynasty defend the city."

"They also sent manpower and provisions, along with livestock, grain carts, and grain ships, to transport military supplies and provisions for the Han Dynasty."

"A mere 20,000 shi of grain is nothing compared to the contribution of stabilizing the people and providing timely assistance to the Han Dynasty."

This is the truth; the powerful clans of Anding contributed more than 20,000 shi of grain to the Han Dynasty.

However, grain is in high demand everywhere in Guanzhong. Although the Han Dynasty has surplus grain, the transportation of grain is difficult and the losses are huge.

The imperial court could not be too generous, so it could only allocate 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) to help these resettled people overcome their immediate difficulties.

Yang Tiao thanked the emperor again.

Outside the small circle formed by the emperor, the prime minister, and the Qiang king, several elders of the An Ding Qiang, who were listening quietly, looked at each other with a mixture of emotion and excitement.

Yang Tiao walked out of the circle, said a few words to a few elders, and then called over his personal guards and gave them a few instructions.

Several guards quickly dispersed, and soon dozens of Qiang cavalrymen mounted their horses and galloped along the Zheng Guo Canal, shouting loudly.

Liu Shan could not understand the Qiang language and did not know what the Qiang people were shouting.

But judging from the strange expressions on the faces of the Qiang people, it was probably a message conveying the imperial court's relief of grain and fodder, or a praise of the emperor's benevolence.

Liu Shan did not investigate further and summoned Chen Zhen, the Chamberlain.

Liu Shan received an imperial edict written on silk from Chen Zhen and personally handed it to Yang Tiao.

Yang Tiao paused for a moment.

He knew a little about the rules of the Han Dynasty. Generally speaking, imperial edicts were delivered by the emperor's close attendants and important officials of the inner court. In order to show the emperor's authority, there were also some related ceremonies.

Now that the emperor has personally handed him the imperial edict so casually, it is clear that he trusts him greatly.

However… he was momentarily unsure whether to accept the imperial edict directly or to step back, perform a deep bow, and then accept it.

Just as he was at a loss, the emperor took his hand and placed the imperial edict in his hand.

"Lord Guiyi, according to the rules, this matter should have been handled by the Grand Master of Ceremonies who issued the imperial decree."

"But the Grand Master of Ceremonies has not yet arrived in Guanzhong, and I have come here today. So I thought I would give you this decree in person if I could. When the Grand Master of Ceremonies arrives, I will have him act according to the proper procedures."

Yang Tiao held the imperial edict in his hand, completely bewildered, not knowing what it was about that required the Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Han Dynasty to issue an edict to him according to proper etiquette.

"Open it and take a look," Liu Shan gestured.

Yang Tiao, a burly man nearly nine feet tall, remained bowed and hunched over. He took two steps back after receiving the imperial edict before straightening up and opening it.

As soon as the words on the imperial edict came into view, his pupils widened in disbelief, and he trembled all over.

Almost instantly, the man knelt down and presented the imperial edict above his head with both hands. After hesitating for a moment, he trembled and said, "Your subject... Your subject Yang Tiao... Your subject Yang Tiao dares not accept such a great favor!"

On the periphery, several Qiang elders were all astonished, looking at each other in bewilderment, not understanding what was written in this imperial edict that could make the usually boorish Qiang king act in such a way.

Liu Shan frowned and said, "Does the Marquis of Guiyi not wish to marry his daughter to me as a Zhaoyi?"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty dares not!" Yang Tiao felt a sense of trepidation, as if he were walking on thin ice.

Upon hearing this and seeing this scene, the Qiang elders who were standing quietly on the periphery were all shocked, their pupils dilated and they were terrified!
This...this...I've never heard of the Han emperor taking a Qiang woman into the palace as a concubine!
And... Zhaoyi?!

A Zhaoyi, a rank higher than a Jieyu and only one rank lower than a Guiren?!
Just as the group was in shock, the burly Han emperor, dressed in black military attire, solemnly said:
"Marquis Guiyi, I have spoken of this before."

"Before Emperors Huan and Ling, what were the causes of the so-called century-long Qiang rebellion, and what exactly happened? The previous emperors of the Han Dynasty did not know, did not care, and were indifferent."

"But I know, I care, and I think it matters.

"Therefore, I swear an oath with you by the Wei River that as long as I am the Emperor of the Great Han, I will never let such a thing happen again. I will ensure that in the future, the people of Han and Qiang will be intertwined and all be subjects of my Great Han."

"But how can we fulfill this vow?"

"I believe that only when blood ties are compatible and cultural customs are mutually reinforcing can this be achieved."

"How can we integrate bloodlines and cultural customs?"

"Only by starting with me can we truly eliminate the contradictions and discrimination between the Han and the Qiang people."

"As I said that day, a hundred years from now, I will let future generations see which of those who are Han and which are Qiang, living in peace in Guanzhong and herding horses and sheep in the Hehuang and Lianglong regions."

Upon hearing this, Yang Tiao blushed deeply and almost burst into tears. After a moment, he repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "Your subject... Your subject Yang Tiao kowtows to express his gratitude!"

Upon hearing the commotion and seeing the scene, several Qiang elders on the outskirts were overcome with emotion, tears streaming down their faces. After a short silence, they all prostrated themselves on the ground in worship.

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)