Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

I'm not going to talk about Chapter 17 anymore, let's go farm!

"Jade plate, jade plate, have you ever seen a peaceful year?"

Jade plate, jade plate, do you know when the Yellow Heaven will arrive?
Jade plate, jade plate, have you ever witnessed a hundred years of toil and a thousand years of hardship? Thousands upon thousands of furrows in the fields…

The bright moon shone, and the children's songs drifted from outside the temple. After nearly a month of instruction, even in Zhang Chengfu's absence, the children could maintain basic order on their own. Collective life was like a patient wooden hammer, gradually pounding the children, like sticky rice, into a cohesive dough. And the light of faith, along with the new shoots, was slowly being nurtured and growing.

Inside the temple, the master and disciple sat silently facing each other. The boy's cheerful singing voice floated in the air, contrasting sharply with the solemnity of the hall. The Great Teacher Zhang Jiao tilted his head slightly, listened quietly for a long time, and then sighed softly.

"Can you hold your spirit and embrace oneness without separation? Can you concentrate your vital energy and achieve gentleness like an infant? ... Children are the seeds of the Dao, born from the Qi of Heaven and Earth, receiving the mandate of peace and continuing the transformation of the Three Powers."

"Chengfu, your teaching of these children is excellent. Although I don't know what inspired you, you certainly have your own set of methods. But there's only one flaw: your killing intent is too strong. This might be related to your birth experience. The night I met you, you were a child squatting at the village entrance. At that time, a single celestial body shone in the night sky, its trajectory leaning westward, wandering unruly—a sign of celestial calamity..."

The Tao Te Ching says, "Therefore the sage is square but not cutting, honest but not hurtful, straightforward but not unrestrained, and radiant but not dazzling." The Taiping Jing also says, "Heaven gives birth to all things with harmonious energy, and man transforms the people with virtuous energy." Cultivating the Tao values ​​moderation and harmony, and one should not be angry or irritable...

"What you just said, about destroying the powerful clans to save the common people, may indeed be feasible. But this path is even harder to uphold one's principles on. If one deviates even slightly, one will be more prone to turning good into evil than your fifth senior brother, Xie Chu. The powerful clans are the pillars of the world, the leaders among the gentry. To be an enemy of the powerful clans is to be an enemy of the gentry, and an enemy of the Han Dynasty! The difficulty of succeeding on this path is probably unprecedented, even after reading through all of history..."

Hearing his master's gentle advice, Zhang Chengfu lowered his head, his resolute expression unchanged. After a long while, he finally spoke.

"Teacher, is it better for one noble family to die, or for tens of thousands of common people to die? Which is more important? Who is the foundation of the world? Perhaps the current world has a clear answer. But for me, the answer is different!"

"The common people are simply trying to survive by facing death. You are on the same path as the people, and you are not afraid of death, so why would you be afraid of the heads of noble families? I have already died once, and I am willing to stand with the people... What harm would it do if I died again?"

After these two resolute words were spoken, the hall fell silent once more. Both master and disciple remained silent.

In the late Han Dynasty, when aristocratic families had controlled the land for centuries, the people had not yet experienced the devastation of the Jin and Five Barbarian invasions, nor witnessed the disgraceful behavior of these powerful clans when their cavalry swept south. The authority of these families in the hearts of the people was like a sacred mark of tradition, not easily broken. Furthermore, over 80% of the world's knowledge and culture was monopolized by them, with only a small fraction leaking to the lower classes. After all, paper was still very expensive, and the most primitive form of rubbing had only just been invented…

After a long pause, the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao sighed softly and spoke again.

“Chengfu, if you are determined to be an enemy of the powerful families and clans… then who will be able to govern the world and educate the people?”

"Teacher, of course it is the people themselves who should govern themselves! Among the people, those who believe in my Way of Great Peace and learn my teachings can become people of the Way of Great Peace. They can replace the gentry and educate the people of the world! As long as they have a sense of public duty, even if they are less learned, they are enough to manage the villages and towns... But if they lack a sense of public duty, the more knowledge they have, the more they may harm the common people!"

"Furthermore, a prefecture in Jizhou often has six or seven hundred officials. Even if seventy of them are from powerful families, the six hundred lower-level officials are mostly from humble backgrounds or even commoner families. These are the people we can cooperate with! We must replace the powerful families with our own people, firmly grasp the core power of the prefecture, and then select and reform the lower-level officials who agree with us!"

Zhang Chengfu answered in a deep voice, a certain historical picture already forming in his mind. Zhang Jiao, observing his disciple's resolute expression and listening to the songs outside the temple, pondered silently. Yes, this was a complete system of laws, starting with training young disciples, with followers of the Way of Peace as the backbone, minor officials as assistants, and the people governing themselves…

"Ah! The Way is found in human conduct, and Heaven responds to human actions. The order or chaos of the world, though influenced by celestial phenomena, ultimately stems from human actions. Chengfu, now that you have made your decision, I will say no more. From this day forward, this is your own path, to be walked by you alone!..."

Zhang Jiao lowered his eyes, and when he opened them again, the sigh from before was gone, replaced by a deep, calm gaze. He looked at his youngest disciple and gave him his final advice.

"Of all things under heaven, the most difficult is farming! Only by farming can we sustain the people. Only by farming well can we then discuss killing and conquest, thus achieving a balance between yin and yang. If one lacks the ability to sustain life and yet recklessly engages in the natural way of killing and conquest, one will only suffer moral failings, and the Way cannot last long."

"So, Chengfu, take your scouts and go farm the land in Julu County! Don't make the same boastful remarks you made tonight. Keep your talents hidden and wait for the right time to act. Only by embracing simplicity and humility can you go far and achieve steady progress..."

"But this knowledge of land management isn't enough for you to just know it. You have to teach it to the young disciples you train. If you want to surpass the aristocratic families, the classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections are no match; you can only succeed by farming!..."

Zhang Jiao patiently finished giving his instructions. He paused, looked at Zhang Chengfu's hesitant expression, and said gently.

"Your fifth senior brother, Xie Chu, has a wide circle of friends and is skilled in shamanism and rituals. I will have him take some disciples to Taiyuan Prefecture to spread the teachings, making some preparations in advance. As for your sixth senior brother, Wu Deng, he was born in Zhao State and is already acquainted with the Black Mountain Clan. I will also have him go to Shangdang Prefecture to deliver a letter to Zhang Niujiao..."

"As for your master... after the busy farming season and the autumn harvest, I will travel south to Yuzhou to meet with the leaders and lords of various regions. If you are successful in farming at your estate in Julu, I will also take you with me to see what's happening south of the Yellow River..."

"Go! Go! Your teacher needs to go to sleep early."

"Yes, Master!"

Zhang Cheng paused for a moment, then prostrated himself on the mat, bowed solemnly, and kowtowed three times. Afterward, he backed out of the hall and saw Zhang Jiao's back again. The figure was dressed in coarse linen, looking up at the Yellow Heaven Divine Tablet, his posture somewhat hunched.

"Three years of severe drought, the cycle of sixty years... thirty-six places rise in rebellion, when will the Yellow Heaven descend?... When will the spark of peace ignite a prairie fire?..."

Night falls silently, and a new day dawns in the blink of an eye. The cicadas that sing in May become loud and clear by June, when the summer heat is intense.

The eldest disciple, Ma Yuanyi, led several hundred followers, driving an oxcart, and escorting Zhang Chengfu and his attendants, to the manor in Julu. This manor was affiliated with the Taiping Dao (Way of Great Peace), and was cultivated by over a hundred Taiping Dao believers; it was of moderate size.

With the protection of the Great Virtuous Teacher, the government tax collectors only collected one-tenth of the land rent for this estate, and the total amount was only one hundred and twenty coins. This was the same treatment as the wealthy landowners in the village. For ordinary people, the actual land rent levied by the government had increased to three-tenths, and the total amount was at least doubled. Combined with the corvée labor imposed, the peak tax rate on ordinary farmers at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty almost reached 50%!

As for the so-called "one-thirtieth tax" in Han law, was that for the common people? It was for powerful families and wealthy clans! The common people had never even heard of it, let alone dared to do something so outrageous!

"Junior brother, you stay here at the manor and diligently lead the servants in farming! Don't wander off, and don't provoke the Ju family..."

"By the way! The wheat harvest is over, and the summer grain has been delivered. The remaining grain is enough for you five hundred boys to eat until the autumn harvest. As for this empty land, it's up to you whether to plant millet or beans!"

"May Heaven protect us! Senior brother is heading south to Luoyang to enjoy a life of luxury!"

The eldest disciple, Ma Yuanyi, wearing a yellow turban, smiled dashingly, waved goodbye to Zhang Chengfu, and then, leading hundreds of disciples, drove an oxcart and slowly disappeared down the southern official road. Zhang Chengfu watched his eldest disciple's departing figure, his eyes inexplicably moist. After a long while, he shook his head, took a deep breath, and smiled at the boys.

"Heaven above! From today onwards, I will teach you how to farm! Yes, farming, also known as agronomy, is the most fundamental knowledge in the world. Yes, farming is a science, and it is extremely important! Only by cultivating the land well can the people have enough to eat, and only then can peace come!..."

"Let's go! Let's check the seeds in the warehouse first. Wheat, millet, sorghum, beans, and rice are the five grains of the world today. But rice is not suitable for cultivation in the north, and millet's yield is not as high as millet's. Usually, the people only grow wheat, millet, and beans in their fields..."

Outside the granary in the village, Zhang Chengfu once again took out a large wooden board and wrote the three characters "wheat, millet, and beans," explaining the characteristics of these crops in the easiest way to understand. The children sat on the ground, forming a large circle, attracting the attention of the villagers. But as this "talisman master" spoke, the villagers could no longer understand him, and none of them could recognize the characters he wrote. After all, how could the villagers read? They had nowhere to learn!

"Heaven above! Crops cannot grow without water and fertilizer. Water is easy to understand, but what is fertilizer? It's the nutrients in the soil, the fertility that allows crops to grow. As for specific fertilizers... well, we'll teach you how to compost later! Don't worry, you'll all get to practice it yourself!..."

"Among the three crops of wheat, millet, and beans, wheat consumes the most water and fertilizer, which can be recorded as 'water 2, fertilizer 2'. With sufficient irrigation, its average yield per mu is three hu (180 jin), which can be recorded as 'yield 3'. Water 2, fertilizer 2, yield 3..."

"Millet consumes about half the water of wheat and doesn't require much fertile soil, so it can be recorded as 'water 1:fertilizer 1'. If there is sufficient water and fertilizer, its yield per mu is two hu (120 jin), which can be recorded as 'yield 2'. Water 1:fertilizer 1:yield 2..."

"As for beans, their water consumption is similar to that of millet, so let's call it 'Water 1'. However, their fertilizer requirements are very low, and they can even replenish the nutrients in the soil, so let's call it 'Fertilizer -1'! The yield of beans is one and a half bushels (90 catties). Water 1 Fertilizer -1 yields 1.5..."

"These three crops, on average, should have these characteristics. But remember, crops are living things, not dead ones. They may increase or decrease in yield, they may be affected by insects or birds, or they may experience drought and water shortages, like we are now. Therefore, what we think and calculate in our minds often differs greatly from the actual results of farming! But knowledge is always knowledge; it's the fundamental principle behind the phenomena, and it will be useful sooner or later..."

Although Zhang Chengfu had tried his best to simplify things, his agricultural education was still a bit difficult for the children. Fortunately, these children had all helped with farming at home and knew about the five grains. They also had a general understanding of the characteristics of these crops, but they had never quantified them.

"Alright, let me ask you a question. If we have enough water and the land is fertile enough, what crops should we plant?"

"Grow wheat! Wheat produces the most grain!"

“Very good! Wheat does indeed have the highest yield per acre. And those powerful families occupy the best fields and have the most abundant water sources. The main crop they grow on their estates is wheat!”

Zhang Chengfu smiled, but his expression turned serious once again. He pointed to the withered yellow wheat stalks left in the field and asked solemnly.

"But if we plant wheat and it grows well for the first few months, but then suffers a drought before it ripens... will all the water we used, the soil nutrients we consumed, and the hard work we put in during those months still yield any harvest or reward?"

The children discussed among themselves, and after a moment, Zhang Shoucun, the most clever of them all, raised his hand and stood up to answer.

"Master Zhang, the drought has caused a complete crop failure! All the effort we put into planting and watering the plants has been wasted!"

"That's right! If a drought occurs before the grains are ripe, there will often be no harvest at all! Even if there is a harvest, many of the grains will be hollow!"

Zhang Chengfu nodded, his expression hardening, and said in a deep voice.

"Farming must proceed smoothly and without any mistakes from sowing to harvest. This is the first thing we must remember when farming! Farming is related to food, and food is related to human lives, so it must be done steadily!"

"Farming is not a one-to-one return. It requires ten parts of effort for the crops to grow and give you ten parts of return. If you only give nine parts, you will often only get a meager return, or even none at all!"

"Therefore, if the requirements for water and fertilizer are doubled, the difficulty of planting will increase by more than double, but by two times! Although wheat has a high yield, it is the riskiest crop for ordinary people! Once a drought occurs, powerful families and wealthy households in the countryside will seize the only water sources... and the wheat planted by ordinary people will be doomed to a complete crop failure!"

"Only millet and beans are suitable crops for ordinary people to grow during years of famine and turmoil. They are also more suited to barren soil, especially beans, which are the easiest to grow and can be planted on hills and mountains. Fields that have just harvested a season of wheat are no longer fertile enough, so it is necessary to plant beans to replenish their nutrients..."

After speaking, Zhang Chengfu raised the corners of his mouth, looked at the group of "disciples" who were some of them who understood and some of them who were confused, and then said.

"So, everyone get ready, get a good night's sleep, and be well-rested!"

"Starting tomorrow, we'll get up early and plant beans!..."

(End of this chapter)