Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 45 Great Talent? Great Wealth.

Zou Jing left Zhuojun.

Before leaving, Liu Bei recommended Qian Zhao to him. Zou Jing appointed Qian Zhao as an Attendant Gentleman, responsible for the affairs of the Wuhuan Commandant's headquarters.

The position of "Lang Zhang Qi Shi Yin Shou" (a high-ranking official in charge of flags and seals) was equivalent to an assistant, and this was a senior subordinate position that Zou Jingneng appointed himself.

Qian Zhao's act of avenging his father is a great act of filial piety. He is also the most outstanding scholar under the Yueyin School and comes from a good family. It would be a disservice to recruit him as an Attendant Gentleman, since subordinate officials are not considered regular government officials.

This was Liu Bei recommending a talented person to Zou Jing for help, and Zou Jing should actually be grateful for Qian Zhao's assistance.

Of course, for Qian Zhao, this was an opportunity for revenge given to him by his elder brother Xuande, as well as a suitable stepping stone for advancement.

During this period, with Liu Bei's 'sponsorship', Qian Zhao began to 'fill the vacancies' in the regular troops of the Protector of Wuhuan Commandery.

When Zou Jing left, he said he would send some money and provisions to Liu Bei, but it would take him time to leave, and for now, Liu Bei was the only one who could support them in recruiting soldiers and buying horses.

But Liu Bei had little money or supplies.

Jian Yong took his horses to find Zhang Shiping for help, but hasn't returned yet.

There was absolutely no food available, and they had to eat at the canteen in Taiping Road.

So Liu Bei went to see Prefect Liu Wei.

When Liu Wei met Liu Bei, he already realized that Gongsun Zan wanted to seize military power, but the appointment of the separate commander had already been given, and Gongsun Zan and he were both from Liu Kuan's faction, so it was not appropriate for Liu Wei to say anything more.

In addition, many refugees from Zhongshan did enter Zhuojun. Liu Wei was worried about the riots and the potential for chaos caused by Zhang Chun, so he allowed Gongsun Zan to recruit soldiers in Beixin City.

However, he did not provide Gongsun Zan with much money and grain, since it was not yet harvest time and there was not much stock in the warehouse.

“My lord, I need to stay at home to care for my mother and await the imperial summons. Therefore, I have to resign from the post of Marquis of Daiqu that you have granted me. Please forgive me.”

When Liu Bei arrived at the prefect's residence, he wisely declined the title of Marquis of Daiqu: "Now that Gongsun Bogui has taken command of a separate division, why not incorporate the executioners of that Ququ into Bogui's command, so that they will not be left unsupervised?"

"Well... that's fine too. Xuande has rendered meritorious service to this prefecture, and now that he has been awarded a title, I am also honored."

Liu Wei's words were not just polite talk. Liu Bei's military achievements were recognized by the imperial court, so Liu Wei naturally deserved credit as well.

"However, although I have forgiven my past sins, my reputation is not prominent. In order to facilitate my future duties, I would like to cultivate some good reputation in the prefecture. I wonder if Your Excellency would be willing to help me?"

In fact, Liu Bei's name was quite well-known in Zhuo County, but no one in the surrounding counties knew about him.

Unlike Jian Yong, whose reputation for filial piety had spread throughout the two provinces of You and Ji.

With Liu Bei's meritorious service already in hand, he was bound to be recruited as an official. According to the logic of the gentry at that time, Liu Bei should indeed acquire a title such as "great philanthropist" to make it easier for him to serve as an official in other counties in the future.

For Liu Wei, this was a situation where he should naturally do a favor: "I wonder how Xuande intends to perform this act of kindness and filial piety?"

"There is a piece of wasteland that no one is cultivating. There are many refugees from Zhongshan. We plan to recruit them to cultivate the land."

Liu Bei did indeed seem to want to do good deeds: "But at this time I have no food to feed the refugees. I would like to ask you, Lord, to lend me some millet on credit. I will repay you with interest when there is a harvest next year."

“This is indeed a good deed, and I should help it. However, the county's rice granary is currently out of grain... Alas, if only all the wealthy families had Xuande's heart…”

The number of refugees coming from Zhongshan is in the tens of thousands, posing a great security threat. Liu Wei certainly wanted to resolve this issue, but the county treasury was indeed out of grain.

However, Liu Wei actually had a lot of money and supplies. He had several hundred servants and several hundred private soldiers. He also built a villa in Zhuojun and kept more than a dozen concubines...

"If Your Excellency wishes to encourage all clans within the prefecture to do good deeds, I have a suggestion."

Liu Bei began offering help again without expecting anything in return: "Your Excellency might as well set an example by contributing some money and grain yourself, and call on all families to donate grain to save the people. This year's tax grain can be doubled to offset the cost. The families that donate can also have a memorial arch erected in their honor to commemorate their good deeds. They will surely receive a lot of money and grain in return."

“This… double the amount to offset the tax grain…” Liu Wei began to hesitate.

"My lord, these words are meant to be heard only by you..."

Liu Bei said softly, "If each family donates 10,000, the Prefect can deduct 30,000 from the tax revenue. As for the extra... well, it's all going to be distributed to the refugees anyway, so who knows how much is actually consumed?"

"Ok?"

Liu Wei's eyes lit up.

"Moreover, the erection of the memorial archway for good deeds is enough to prove that the Prefect has used the grain for relief purposes. This matter will surely be praised by all the clans in the prefecture. After all, they did not lose out by paying double tax, but also gained prestige..."

Liu Bei continued, "However, I own very little land and cannot settle too many refugees. I need to lead most of the refugees to the Shanggu area, where there has been much unclaimed land due to the war."

"Dredging the migrants to Shanggu?"

Liu Wei's eyes lit up again, and he could already picture the five-zhu coin.

"Yes, Your Majesty could appoint a prefect to conscript laborers to repair the border, under the guise of supporting Shanggu's defense, and have Shanggu and Juyang accept refugees to repair the border walls. Shanggu currently has no governor and cannot refuse the laborers sent by Your Majesty to provide support..."

Liu Bei smiled at Liu Wei: "In this way, I only need to give the refugees some dry rations once for their journey, and I won't have to continuously give them away and waste too much food... So the extra food will be..."

"Yes! Xuande is very wealthy! The barbarian threat in Shanggu is severe, and our county should provide support... Let's do it this way!"

Liu Wei felt that Liu Bei's plan was very well thought out.

It not only allows large households to contribute grain, but also saves them the trouble and losses of collecting grain during the autumn harvest. Most importantly, it also allows them to earn money into their own pockets.

With the memorial archway standing there, when the imperial court assesses his performance, all the powerful families will speak up for him, and he can even forge good relations with the wealthy households.

……

Liu Bei resigned from his post as Marquis of Daiqu and ceased to lead the imperial guards.

At this time, the executioners were no longer criminals, but county soldiers. However, they were unwilling to follow Gongsun Zan. Upon hearing that Liu Bei had resigned, they all requested to return to their hometowns to farm.

They were a temporary addition to the organization, and defeating the Xianbei was considered the end of their mission, so the county could not force them to stay.

Gongsun Zan promised the reward standards for his private troops, but the executioners still refused, so he had to give up.

However, when these guys returned to their hometown, they all became tenant farmers in Shiliting, and more than a hundred of them rented only two acres of land in total...

Liu Wei used the tax grain that had not yet been collected this year to offset the tax, and asked the wealthy households in the county to raise grain.

However, when Liu Wei made the accounting, he allocated 300,000 hu (a unit of dry measure) – he allocated all of Zhuojun's grain tax quota for this year.

Then, Liu Wei instructed Liu Bei to recruit displaced people under the pretext of "recruiting laborers to support the construction of the border wall in Shanggu County".

It would take some time for the wealthy households to transport the grain, so Liu Wei took the lead and quickly transported some grain to Liu Bei... supposedly five thousand bushels.

But in reality, only 1,000 hu of grain were transported to Shiliting—there were certainly losses along the way…

However, Liu Wei's villa, which was also the location of his private granary, was not far southeast of Zhuo County, only thirty miles away from Shili Pavilion... It was quite remarkable that it could be damaged to this extent in just thirty miles.

If nothing unexpected happens, the wealthy families will raise tens of thousands of bushels of grain for Liu Wei, but this grain will probably not end up in Liu Bei's hands, and in fact, so much grain was not originally needed.

But it doesn't matter, at least Liu Bei has grain in his hands now.

That thousand bushels were all old millet, but at least they were edible.

(End of this chapter)