Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 303 Linjin Farm
When Chen Zhi took office as the magistrate of Linjin last year, it was at the end of May.

This vice minister, who was not yet thirty, was sent to Linjin as magistrate, which caused quite a stir among the emperor's close ministers. However, for this border city located at the confluence of the Yellow River and the Luo River, it was nothing more than the Cao Wei flags on the city walls being replaced by Liu Han flags.

Upon assuming office, this young close advisor to the emperor entered Linjin City with only a few assistants, two carts of bamboo slips, and twenty tiger-riding guards.

A group of high-ranking officials, including the county's chief clerk, thief clerk, and household clerk, along with the county's elders and stewards, greeted the officials at the city gate.

Seeing that the new magistrate was so young, with a fair complexion and a tall figure, and despite the dust of his journey, he still possessed an air of refined nobility that seemed out of place in this border town, the crowd, though respectful on the surface, couldn't hide a hint of disdain and scrutiny in his eyes.

Linjin is located in a remote and desolate area, and its people are known for their fierce and unruly nature. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, there have been many refugees who have fled to the mountains and forests.

Due to the rebellion of the Qiang people in the northwest, Emperor Ling's reign paid relatively much attention to horse administration. Feng Yi also had a special horse-breeding area called Shayuan, which was most suitable for raising horses.

As a result, Liangshan in the north of Fengyi County is still inhabited by thousands of bandits who came from the Shayuan horse breeding industry, making it the most notorious banditry area in Guanzhong.

A few years ago, a certain Fengyi prefect of Cao Wei was on his way to take up his post in Linjin when he was beheaded and robbed of his wealth by a hundred or so bandits in Shayuan. This shocked the court and the public. Cao Pi sent troops to suppress the bandits, but he didn't even see a single one of them and ended in failure.

As a result, banditry persisted, and the people suffered terribly.

After Chen Zhi took office and learned the inside story, the first thing he wanted to do was to deal with the bandits who were entrenched between Huangtuyuan and Liangshan in the north of Fengyi.

Even though they knew that the Han Dynasty had defeated Cao Wei, recovered Guanzhong, and returned the capital to Chang'an, the bandits remained unmoved.

After all, they had already gathered in the mountains and forests and caused havoc in the region during Liu Hong's reign, so they didn't care whether it was Cao Wei or Liu Han.
Furthermore, this group of mountain bandits even exchanged glances with Du Shu, the governor of Hedong, on the other side of the river. It seemed that Wei Chang, the commander of Fengyi who was defending Puban, would lead the garrison soldiers of Puban to the north to suppress the bandits, and then join forces with the Wei army to attack Linjin from the north and the east.

As a result, this band of mountain bandits could neither be appeased nor eradicated.

Fortunately, with Wei Chang's three thousand garrison soldiers there, the bandits dared not cause trouble easily, so Chen Zhi put the matter aside and focused on governing the people.

For hundreds of years during the Han Dynasty, the officialdom was governed by the rule that the three officials appointed by the imperial court—the county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate, and the county commandant—were dispatched by the imperial court.

The officials and soldiers of the other counties were all controlled by local powerful families.

This was a last resort due to a shortage of manpower; even if the Han Dynasty were to recapture Guanzhong, there would be no way to break the rules.

After all, the Han Dynasty had not expected to be able to recapture Guanzhong in one fell swoop, and there was a serious shortage of reserve officials.

Even if there are enough reserve officials, if you don't allow powerful local magnates to participate in governance, you basically won't be able to establish yourself locally.

The locals know the local situation best. Tax collection always requires someone to do it, and the governance of the people also relies on local powerful families. This was the case until the fall of the Qing Dynasty. To think that you could interfere at this time is wishful thinking.

After all, winning people's hearts is not something that can be achieved by simply displaying a Liu Han banner or making empty promises; it requires genuinely offering tangible benefits.

It's impossible to simply decide on a whim to have all the official positions in a county held by outsiders.

This is determined by productivity. This is the reason why the imperial power did not extend to the countryside. It is not that the imperial power did not want to extend to the countryside, but that it was simply impossible for it to do so.

As a result, without suitable officials, Chen Zhi, a young county magistrate who had always served in the inner court, faced even greater difficulties.

Chen Zhi's residence was arranged in a small, independent courtyard behind the county government office. Although it was not spacious, it was kept clean.

After settling in, he did not rush to hold court, but instead personally explored the various villages and towns in the county. At that time, he also met the emperor who was on an eastern tour of the capital and entrusted him and Guo Youzhi with the task of establishing a farm.

Upon his return, he discussed the establishment of a farm with Guo Youzhi while ordering the county officials to bring over all the records and maps from the reign of Emperor Ling, especially those concerning the geography, customs, and bandits of the Liangshan area.

In the days that followed, Chen Zhi spent most of his time buried in the mountain of files, apart from dealing with farm affairs.

When he occasionally went out, he would only take a handsome young servant named Chen An with him, and ride out of the city to wander around the countryside surrounding Linjin.

Instead of visiting local powerful families in Linjin, he often chatted and interacted with old farmers in the fields, woodcutters in the mountains, and fishermen by the river.

Sometimes they would even ask a farmer for a bowl of thin porridge and eat it with pickled vegetables without any worries.

This behavior made Wei Jian and other county officials, who had been observing the situation with indifference, even more suspicious. They felt that this young official from Sichuan was either truly ignorant or just trying to make a show of things.

Wei Jian was the head of the Wei clan, the most powerful clan in Linjin. His clan members were spread throughout the county government and controlled the actual power in Linjin.

He met privately with several other powerful figures and concluded that Chen Zhi, with his delicate appearance, would not be able to endure the hardships of the borderlands, where the people were fierce and bandits were rampant. Sooner or later, he would pack his bags and leave to become a sycophant to the Han emperor.

Therefore, he didn't bother to intimidate the young magistrate and simply ignored him with indifference, adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.

However, the Linjin clerk's desire for "out of sight, out of mind" ultimately failed to be achieved.

For two consecutive months, every few days, Chen Zhi would invite Wei Jian to the official temple study, spread out those rather crudely drawn maps, and carefully inquire about the spheres of influence of various mountain bandits in Liangshan, the names of their leaders, their activity patterns, and even the specific details of a certain mountain path or the source of a certain water source.

Wei Jian was initially annoyed, but Chen Zhi was always extremely humble and earnest in his questions, and each time he would offer Wei Jian a pot of the finest wine he had brought from Sichuan.

Wei Jian, who was addicted to alcohol, couldn't lash out directly. He patiently dealt with the situation by picking out some well-known but dubious information.

September arrived in the blink of an eye. Guanzhong gets cold early, and the cold wind, carrying sand and soil from the Loess Plateau to the north, scraped against Chen Zhi's face like a knife, making him quite miserable.

One day, several old clerks from the county government's criminal division pooled their money to buy wine. They set up a small pot in the duty room and stewed beef that they had somehow gotten their hands on. The aroma filled the air throughout the official residence.

Just as they were eating and sweating profusely, they saw Magistrate Chen following the aroma and coming over.

The officials were stunned and at a loss for what to do.

Chen Zhi, however, remained calm and waved his hand, indicating that they did not need to stand on ceremony. He then found a small stool to sit down, picked up a clean bowl and chopsticks, took a piece of beef, tasted it, and nodded in praise, saying that the beef tasted very good.

The officials looked at each other, and seeing that the magistrate seemed to have no intention of punishing them, they relaxed a little.

Chen Zhi ate with a group of clerks and officials, occasionally asking them about trivial matters in the county and gossip in the marketplace, and the atmosphere gradually became lively.

As he was finishing his meal, he asked his page to bring him a piece of Chang'an brocade from his room, saying that if there were such delicacies again, he should definitely call him.

Suddenly, all the clerks who had kept their distance from Magistrate Chen for months were all beaming with joy.

They didn't care whether this Magistrate Chen was a so-called close minister of the emperor or some kind of sycophant, but this gentle and refined Magistrate of Linjin didn't put on airs with them, a group of low-level clerks. He was a truly excellent official!
When the news spread, the local officials and clerks' opinion of Magistrate Chen suddenly improved.

At first, the clerk Wei Jian, along with the prison clerk, the household clerk, and others, watched coldly, waiting to see when Chen Zhi, as a new official, would make his first move by messing with the county's finances and accounts, and when he would overestimate his abilities and go to Liangshan to suppress bandits.

But they waited and waited, month after month, and the young magistrate Chen seemed to have little interest in either of the two matters.

He spent his days either reading books and looking at maps, or riding his horse to the countryside, occasionally drinking and chatting with low-level officials, living a life like a leisurely scholar.

The county officials, who had some kinship ties with the Liangshan bandits, gradually felt relieved. They realized that although their colleague was a close advisor to the emperor, he was sensible and knew that they were only there to gain experience. When they met again in the future, they began to exchange pleasantries.

However, this peace was soon broken.

Two families in the county got into a fight over a water source for irrigation. One family was related to several old officials in the county government, while the other family relied on a local strongman surnamed Zhao.

In the past, such disputes were simply resolved by each side finding a powerful backer, with local strongmen like Wei Jianyi mediating behind the scenes, exchanging some benefits, and then the matter was dropped.

However, this time, the old officials in the county who had benefited from Chen Zhi felt more empowered and gathered dozens of county soldiers to help them.

The Zhao family was not to be outdone, and finally invited Du Jie, a famous chivalrous man from Linjin, to help them.

This Du Jie was nearly thirty years old. His real name was not Jie, but he named himself after the famous hero Guo Jie who was once recorded in history books. He was agile, brave and fierce, and had a good reputation among the local thugs and ruffians.

He led seventy or eighty wandering knights, armed with clubs, knives, and spears, swaggering through the city, claiming he would seek justice for the Zhao family.

With a large-scale armed conflict about to break out, the old clerk of the county government began to feel uneasy and sent someone back to the government office to ask for instructions.

In the past, county magistrates would mostly try to smooth things over, assigning equal blame to both sides.

Unexpectedly, after receiving the report, Chen Zhi directly ordered all available soldiers in the county to line up with spears and go to suppress the rebellion. In order to mobilize the county soldiers, he also distributed his monthly salary of three hundred shi of grain for several months to all the county soldiers present.

So, a hundred or so county soldiers and several dozen wandering knights engaged in a direct battle on the main street of the city. How could the local ruffians and knights possibly be a match for the county soldiers? After leaving behind several corpses, the matter was considered closed. Later, Magistrate Chen personally went to mediate the water issue.

After this incident, the people of Linjin finally began to take this young Magistrate Chen seriously. It turned out that this seemingly mild-mannered close advisor to the emperor was not just a soft-hearted person; he was ruthless when necessary and quite shrewd in his methods. At least he knew how to win people's hearts before engaging in battle.

However, a few days later, even more surprising news came out.

Du Jie, the most chivalrous hero in Linjin, was recruited by Magistrate Chen and joined the bandit gang.

Now, the powerful officials and tycoons of Linjin were completely uneasy. This man surnamed Chen was not only capable of using both soft and hard tactics, but now he was also trying to cultivate his own power within the county!
Could it be that he truly intends to take root in Linjin County, just like the willow tree he planted himself in the official temple?

In any case, as the winter gifts approached, more and more people began to visit Chen Zhi's home with gifts, including silks, satins, gold, silver, grains, meat, and local specialties.

Chen Zhi accepted all offers with a smile.

Wei Jian and other powerful officials watched coldly, inwardly sneering.

The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, all the offices in Linjin County had been basically sealed off in preparation for the New Year.

Just at dawn, several dozen cavalrymen quietly entered the city, their horses carrying more than a dozen burly men with their heads covered.

After returning to the official residence, Chen Zhi immediately sent someone to invite all the high-ranking officials in the county to the official residence prison.

As the group entered the prison, they were immediately stunned by the sight before them. More than a dozen burly men were tightly bound to racks, each covered in wounds and blood.

The ones who carried out the torture were none other than Du Jie, the chivalrous hero of Linjin, and a dozen or so newly recruited wandering knights. Their methods were extremely ruthless, and several of them were tortured beyond recognition before finally dying.

Meanwhile, the wails and screams from inside the prison continued unabated, so piercing that they made the clerks, both high and low, feel their bones tremble.

Chen Zhi, however, remained expressionless as he warmed himself by the fire, seemingly oblivious to the shrill screams around him.

One by one, the bandits, unable to withstand the torture, revealed the locations of several bandit hideouts.

However, Du Jie and the other wandering knights did not stop and continued to torture and interrogate. In the end, Magistrate Chen personally took action, picking up a few pieces of red-hot coals from the charcoal fire and performing several branding tortures.

The officials and clerks were all shocked by what they saw.

Where is the gentle and refined Magistrate Chen from before?!
The county official, Wei Jian, watched with trepidation.

Could this close advisor to the emperor, a mere child magistrate, really do such a ruthless thing?

Magistrate Chen's extremely ruthless actions finally shattered the psychological defenses of the remaining bandits, who screamed and confessed their crimes. Chen then imprisoned the remaining bandits separately.

After they revealed all of the dozen or so bandit hideouts, large and small, and Chen Zhi verified that everything was correct, he ordered Du Jie to remove them from the racks and put them in prison.

Upon seeing this, the clerk Wei Jian came forward to congratulate Chen Zhi, but Chen Zhi showed neither joy nor sorrow, only saying calmly:

"Wei Gongcao, I suspect there must be many spies among the bandits in the city, and perhaps some respected elders and local worthies are also connected with the bandits. Later, these bandits will probably reveal some of their secrets."

"But these are all old stories. What does the mountain bandits' rebellion have to do with the virtuous and respected people of Linjin? The court will not implicate them for this."

"However, today's matter concerns the imperial court's grand plan to suppress bandits, which is a top secret of the court and must not be leaked. I hope that the official in charge will act prudently and work together to ensure the peace of Linjin."

Looking at Chen Zhi's calm and unwavering gaze, and then glancing at the several inhuman corpses inside and outside the brazier, Wei Jian was already drenched in cold sweat. He hurriedly bowed and agreed.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, while the world was celebrating, the depths of Liangshan were still covered in snow. No one expected that Wei Chang, the Fengyi Commandant in charge of controlling Puban Ferry, would launch an attack at this time.

He personally led eight hundred elite garrison soldiers, based on the accurate intelligence provided by Chen Zhi, and divided his troops into eight routes, piercing through the vast mountains like sharp blades.

Among them, the chivalrous Du Jie personally led forty wandering knights, relying on the spies provided by the mountain bandits, to sneak into the core of the two largest mountain strongholds without anyone noticing, and carried out the capture and beheading of the king.

Overnight, the Fengyi Mountain bandits, who had occupied Liangshan for more than 30 years and caused headaches for the governments of both the Later Han and Cao Wei dynasties, collapsed.

When the news reached back, Feng Yi was shocked.

Those powerful figures, both large and small, who had connections with the Liangshan bandits, finally dared not breathe loudly when they realized that the imperial court had a handle on them.

As a result, Linjin was instantly at peace.

The remaining small mountain strongholds of Liangshan that had not yet been wiped out were terrified. Knowing that their hiding places were no longer secret and that the government army was about to crush them, they all sent people out of the mountains to surrender to Chen Zhi, the magistrate of Linjin County.

The banditry that had plagued Zuo Fengyi for over thirty years was completely resolved in the hands of this young magistrate who had only been in office for six months.

Aside from dealing with bandits and navigating the complexities of Linjin with powerful local figures and corrupt officials, Magistrate Chen's main focus was actually on the farm matter that the emperor had instructed him to attend during his eastern tour.

The farm system resembles the military agricultural settlements in form, but its essence is quite different.

Magistrate Chen implemented the emperor's original intention to establish farms, and after some practice, established many rules for this emerging phenomenon.

The practice of military settlements has existed since ancient times, and its drawbacks are well known. The Later Han Dynasty had long since stopped implementing military settlements in the interior. It re-emerged in the Central Plains after Cao Cao acquired a million Yellow Turban rebels in Qingzhou.

Cao Cao settled a million Yellow Turban rebels in Yanzhou.

Initially, it did increase production and allowed the million Yellow Turban rebels to survive. Cao Cao even accumulated millions of bushels of grain in a single year, shocking the Central Plains. This gave him the opportunity to welcome the emperor and command the feudal lords.

However, the heavy taxes, which amounted to 50% or even 60%, eventually forced many of the settlers to flee.

Even worse, many military settlements became the private property of farmers and officers over time, and the government dared not question them, nor could the imperial court manage them. This accumulated problem was so severe that it became a pest to the country.

Dahan Farm only takes 20% of the land tax.

For many impoverished farmers who couldn't even afford hoes and seeds, this was a world of difference compared to the 50-60% rent they used to pay when they depended on powerful figures.

Furthermore, Cao Cao's implementation of the Tuntian (military agricultural colonies) policy was a result of taking advantage of the fact that the refugees were on the verge of death and had no grain or seeds. He used military law to enforce the policy and imposed high taxes on them, a practice that he never changed throughout his life and even for generations to come.

At first, the Yellow Turban people thought that it was just because they had no grain seeds, land, or oxen, so paying high taxes in the first few years was no big deal.

Later, he realized that he had become a serf in Cao Wei.

Chen Zhi, acting on the emperor's orders, implemented a policy of allowing the people to recuperate and storing wealth among them.

He separated grain seeds from land tax. If farmers borrowed grain seeds from the government, they only needed to repay them according to the contract after the harvest, and the land tax would still be 20%.

If a family has the capacity to produce its own grain seeds, it only needs to pay 20% of the grain tax.

With this method in place, the farmers became even more enthusiastic about tending their fields.

Everyone hopes to save up enough food and seeds for themselves next year.

As a result, the burden on the people's shoulders was lightened a little.

The most fundamental difference between military settlements and farms lies in the ownership of the land.

Under Cao Wei's policy of military agricultural settlements, the land cultivated by the settlers was government-owned land. The farmers were like tenants, and their descendants would remain tenants for generations, with no hope of ever rising above their circumstances and becoming slaves for generations.

Although the sale of land under the names of the people in the Great Han Farm was restricted by the imperial court to prevent land consolidation, the land register clearly showed that it belonged to the people who had joined the farm.

This is permanent property; only those with permanent property can have a stable mind.

In terms of management, the strict military laws of the military settlements were not adopted.

Each farm elected several respected elders as field officials to manage agricultural affairs and taxes within the farm, and to directly liaise with the agricultural officials appointed by the imperial court.

This move not only alleviated the severe shortage of officials in the Han Dynasty, but also borrowed from the ancient practice of local self-governance, reducing the gap between the people and officials.

The cumbersome bureaucrats that were originally scattered throughout villages, pavilions, hamlets, and even hamlets were reduced because the farmers lived together in one place.

The agricultural official was thus able to communicate most directly and effectively with the elders of the farm, and all exchanges were based on agricultural production.

Chen Zhi then devised a plan to reward diligence.

Farms that paid more land tax and performed well were given priority by the government in receiving newly repaired iron farm tools and even precious draft oxen.

If a farmer in the village is conscripted for corvée labor, the land official will coordinate with neighbors to provide priority assistance to ensure that the land is not abandoned.

This instilled in the farmers the idea that everyone prospers or suffers together.

In order to obtain more iron tools and oxen, and to ensure that their own land would not be abandoned due to corvée labor in the future, farmers had to urge each other to work diligently, while the lazy would naturally find it difficult to gain a foothold.

At the same time, Chen Zhi did not forget to leave an exit.

Farmers were allowed to leave the farm with their own land under the supervision of the government, but once they left, they could not re-enter for ten years.

This strategy has two objectives.

According to the emperor, the first purpose was to strengthen the farmers' sense of ownership over their land, making them believe that the land allocated to them truly belonged to them, thereby stimulating their enthusiasm for farming.

Secondly, it is to prevent the fostering of laziness.

In a collective farm, some people work hard to cultivate the land, while others slack off and take advantage of the situation.

If there are too many lazy people, the collective efficiency will decrease. Farmers with high productivity can withdraw on their own, which is a kind of implicit supervision mechanism for lazy people.

Because of the mutual assistance policy during corvée labor in collective farms, farmers generally do not choose to withdraw unless they reach a point where they can no longer endure it.

If there are indeed lazy people who repeatedly refuse to change their ways and cause public outrage, then a village-wide referendum will be held.

If more than 50% of the farmers agree, the government will confiscate their land, expel them from the farm, and never register them again.

Farms were mostly located near the prefectural or county seat, so that they could be easily taken care of by the government.

By implementing a series of policies that benefit the people, Linjin County has almost completely absorbed the remaining scattered self-cultivating farmers within its borders, thus greatly increasing the farmers' ability to withstand risks.

After the bandit suppression ended, the entire Zuo Fengyi followed the example of Linjin and established collective farms, absorbing more than 30,000 people and dividing them into thirty large farms.

However, in March, when the wheat was growing, experienced farmers in Linjin Farm discovered signs that locusts might break out this summer and reported it to the government.

Chen Zhi was on high alert and reported the matter to Chang'an, which prompted the Prime Minister to rush from Chang'an to the border town of Linjin.

(End of this chapter)