Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 486: Three years of farming, five years of going south

The first year of Tianyuan.

Since Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao of Wei, the north has once again been unified.

Years of war finally subsided, and the impact was almost immediate.

During these years, Zhou and Qi were in confrontation, and the military expenditures of both sides accounted for the vast majority of the entire court expenditures, and both sides invested heavily in each other's important military centers.

The State of Qi continuously transported food and fodder to Jinyang and border garrison areas, using grain from Hebei and even Henan to feed the elite legions in these places. They levied corvee labor year after year, guarded the border, drove away civilians, and supplied the front lines.

As for the Zhou Kingdom, it also constantly opened military offices, built checkpoints and fortifications, and sent grain teams to the front line for storage.

The people were exhausted and had spent a lot of money and food.

In order to feed the warriors who had been released from their jobs, the two countries invested a lot, and in the end, it was the common people who were responsible for providing food and supplies, transporting food and supplies, building camps and cities for them, and even cooking and clearing the way for them.
Liu Taozi never put forward his own ideas on government affairs, and often delegated power to ministers and let them do it themselves.

Liu Taozi was different from Chen Xu. He was not too worried about his subordinates rebelling.

It may also be that the more than 100,000 elite veterans who were scattered all over the place, fought in many battles, and rushed out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood gave him a little insignificant confidence.

Shangshu Ling Gao Yin was the first to propose a national policy on pacifying the people and solving post-war problems.

Zu Ting checked it, revised it, changed his signature, and ordered it to be implemented.

Gao Yin discussed with his ministers and came up with seven policies to appease the various regions after the war.

These seven policies all revolve around one purpose, which is to rest with the people.

The first thing is to suspend civil engineering.

Whether it is the checkpoints that are under construction or the new cities that are about to be built, they must be stopped and no construction will be carried out in the short term.

Although some ministers believed that many buildings and facilities in Guanzhong and Bashu were severely damaged and should be repaired as soon as possible, the court considered it again and again and decided to suspend the work for a while.

Before the unification, they had to do corvée labor to build the city walls. Now after the unification, they have to do corvée labor to build the city walls again. Isn't it a waste of time to unify the country?
The most important thing at the moment is to make the people of the world feel the changes, appease them, let the dead who have fled into the mountains come out, reduce the probability of thieves breeding in various places, avoid civil unrest, etc.

After Gao Yin's persuasive arguments, some ministers stopped arguing.

During this process, Fang Bao, who advocated Huang-Lao school of thought, played a significant role.

After this order was issued, all localities began to implement it immediately.

The second policy, which was to reduce corvée labor due to civil engineering, was to reduce corvée labor.

The imperial court's corvée labor was used for three purposes: either to do civil engineering, such as building cities on the front lines, or to build imperial palaces or imperial mausoleums in the capital. The worst were concentrated to build pagodas and other such wonders.

The second use was for going on an expedition. Whenever a large army went on an expedition, the people had to perform labor service, and most of the time they were responsible for transportation work.

The third use is to guard the border.

Civil engineering has been stopped for the moment, and because the threat from internal enemies is no longer significant, we can concentrate our elite forces to strengthen the border garrisons, and we don't have to rely too much on corvée to guard the border. As for going to the battlefield, there are no major wars at the moment, so it is not very difficult to reduce corvée.

The imperial court was the first to implement these two things.

The emperor came to power in March, the policy was issued in April, and by May of the first year of Tianyuan, the prefectures and counties around Yecheng had begun to implement it.

The largest project in Hebei is in Hengzhou.

The governor Gao Mo gathered more than 34,000 local men to reinforce the Great Wall outside Hengzhou.

It is the busy farming season now, and half of the people have been sent back to farm, but there are still more than 10,000 people left here. Most of them are merchants, craftsmen, sons-in-law, stepfathers, etc. Since they cannot farm, they stay and continue to do corvee labor.

There was no other way. The previous Fourth Battle of Laozhangren was very fierce. The Turkish cavalry once threatened several cities in Hengzhou. In order to protect the cities, Gao Jie naturally had to strengthen the Great Wall to prevent enemy attacks.

The Great Wall stands tall above the endless plains, and on the inside of the Great Wall, one can see many wooden frames extending all the way. On the frames, one can see laborers working. They made a simple pulley, but even with the help of the pulley, the laborers had to use all their strength to get the stones up.

The laborers on the wooden frames were doing the inlay work. Not far away, some people were making mud, while others were transporting materials on wheelbarrows, which was quite strenuous.

Banging sounds, gasping, and even wailing could be heard everywhere.

With so many participants and the activity being dangerous, accidents are inevitable.

Even a simple falling stone is enough to kill several members of a family and destroy their pillars.

While everyone was busy, a knight came from a distance.

The knights jumped off their horses, and the local officials hurried to greet them. The two sides talked for a while.

The official in charge of the construction here was surprised, and then nodded.

Soon, officials were running along the road shouting.

"Stop work! Stop work!!"

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to stop all construction work in all directions, and all officials should take their servants home!!"

Many clerks told this along the way, and the busy people looked up and looked at the clerk in surprise.

Then they started talking to each other.

"Can you go home?"

"Can I go home now?"

After confirming it again and again, they finally believed the good news. A moment later, they saw these people gathering under the city. Smiles finally appeared on their dull and depressed faces. I don’t know who took the lead, but they all began to shout "Long live the city" and kowtowed towards the direction of Yecheng.

Afterwards, the officials began to prepare for repatriation, and many laborers here left one after another.

Of course, the defensive issues are now very different. Now that the internal enemies are gone, elite forces can be transferred to the defense areas. Now, it is hard to say who will guard against whom's attacks.

The imperial edict was gradually spread to other places, spreading from Hebei, and more and more laborers were able to return home.

When these people who had not been home for a long time returned to their loved ones, ate happily and reunited with their families, they might have understood the meaning of great unification in their hearts.

By the end of the first year of Tianyuan, many projects in Hebei and Henan came to a halt, and many plans in Guanzhong, Bashu and other places had to be delayed.

The results of the first two strategies were not outstanding, but they were still implemented quickly.

The third strategy is to restore agricultural production.

The cultivated land in various places was recounted and measured, and then the land was distributed. The scale of the land distribution was much larger than that in the State of Qi.

In fact, the people in the newly recovered areas were not unfamiliar with the land grants, and some even had some resistance. After all, the previous land grants were still vivid in their minds. But there was no way. After the war, a large amount of arable land had lost its owners, and a large number of people had no arable land. If the government did not grant them in time, the harm would be too great.

The only thing we can do is to slowly make those people believe that Han is not Zhou.

While granting land, there are other things to support agriculture, including the official promotion of agricultural books. Gao Yin had been doing this before, and now the scope of promotion is even wider. The next step is to promote new agricultural tools, new irrigation techniques, new farming techniques, etc.

There is only so much that can be done. Large-scale reclamation and the like are obviously not suitable for the current situation. Agricultural policies are also tend to be light, with the government only responsible for granting land and not interfering too much in other matters.

The fourth is the issue of taxation.

There is no need to say much about agricultural taxes. Guanzhong, Bashu and other places have been destroyed to this extent. If we still collect large agricultural taxes from them, I am afraid that the people will have to flee to the mountains.

The areas most seriously damaged in the war will be exempt from tax, and some areas may even be exempt from tax for more than ten years. The speed of post-war recovery is not that fast.

For other areas where the situation is not so serious, there are also corresponding tax-free periods.

In addition, corresponding adjustments have also been made to commercial taxes and vehicle and vessel taxes.

Article 5 is about the law.

The laws of the previous Han Dynasty were heavy and strict, and the scope of the laws was huge, even wider than that of the Qi Dynasty, so it was often criticized.

After all, the north was unsettled at that time, with demons everywhere, and it was difficult to govern without strict law enforcement. But now the environment has changed.

Gao Yu thought that now we could relax a little, for example, the crime of loitering should be eliminated and the punishment should be reduced. At the same time, he once again ordered the abolition of cruel corporal punishments in various parts of the country, such as digging out knees, cutting off noses, etc. Article 6 was about Zhaoxuan Temple.

Zhaoxuan Temple was an institution established by the State of Wei to manage monastic temples, and was continued by the State of Qi.

Like Liu Taozi, Yuwen Yong was opposed to temples occupying large amounts of arable land and recruiting tenants. Gao Yin believed that the Zhaoxuan Temple should be restructured to make it an institution for the court to handle all Taoist and Buddhist affairs. Whether it was Liu Taozi or Yuwen Yong's destruction of Buddhism, it did not mean killing all the monks. What they destroyed was not Buddha or monks, but those parasites who hollowed out the country and lined their pockets.

Gao Yun believes that proper management and strict rules are more effective than blindly beating and killing.

Otherwise, this force is bound to rise again, and it is necessary to establish a corresponding system.

Article 7 is about currency.

Unify the currency, issue applicable and easy-to-use currency, and at the same time carefully handle the original different currencies, especially pay attention to the quality of the new currency, so as to avoid a direct collapse.

After these decrees were issued, officials from all over the country probably knew what the court was thinking.

Rest with the people and govern by doing nothing.

A minister submitted a memorial, saying that since the State of Chen had not yet perished, wasn't it too early to start doing this?
Zu Ting summoned this man, reprimanded him severely, and demoted him.

After that, no one dared to question it. Everyone followed the ideas of the government. When it was still the Han Dynasty, the court was extremely busy and the expenditure was huge. After taking over so many areas, the court suddenly stopped. Although the things to do could not be said to be few, they were obviously not as urgent as before, and the court's expenses were also decreasing.

The Han State promoted the improvement of people's livelihood in the country, and in its strategy towards the Chen State, it also chose to retreat.

When the State of Chen learned that Liu Taozi had ascended the throne, the whole country was shocked and began to prepare for war. However, after waiting day after day, there was no sign of the invading Northern Cavalry.

Instead, the enemy's navy began to retreat and no longer came out easily, and all places became calm.

Later, they learned about the process implemented by the Han State to rest with the people.

The people of the Southern Country heaved a sigh of relief.

Let the people have a good rest!

Without taxes and food, there will be no energy to wage war!
Huang Fachi's strategies had just been recognized by some people, but were then quickly counterattacked, leaving him completely hopeless.

Since the Han Kingdom will not invade, why should we cut our flesh?

On the contrary, Chen Xu was a little shaken at this moment. He didn't dare to carry out reforms in the country before, because he was afraid of causing chaos and giving Liu Taozi the opportunity to seize the opportunity. But now Liu Taozi obviously puts his focus on the country. So, can we carry out appropriate reforms to enhance our national strength?

Also at the end of the first year of Tianyuan, Chen Xu summoned his ministers and began his first attempt at reform to strengthen the country.

He tried the earth-breaking method.

The so-called Tuduan method was actually to sort out the household registration. All residents, regardless of whether they were immigrants or old, were included in the formal household registration in the county where they lived.

It is the same principle as the thorough investigation of household registration in the north to identify hidden households, that is, to turn the hidden household registration into the state's household registration, mainly to deal with the powerful and wealthy families.

There have been many land divisions in the south, from the Jin Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty, and Chen Dynasty.

The Chen State was rather special. The only local rule in the Chen State was carried out during the reign of Chen Qian. It was a violent rule and no one dared to disobey.

Chen Xu felt that he could also give it a try.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he encountered tremendous pressure. Almost no ministers agreed with him. There was even a trend of intimidation in public opinion, saying that it was not as good as the Northern Law, as if they would surrender if the emperor forced his way.

Chen Xu was not a little emperor, nor was he a puppet emperor. As an adult emperor with military power, he rarely got angry, but that did not mean he had no temper.

Originally, he just wanted to test the waters and create division, but he ended up being insulted in the face. How could he tolerate this?
Chen Xu was furious and immediately beat to death the minister who strongly opposed him, and also imprisoned the rest of his accomplices.

He decided to forcefully advance the Tuduan and strengthen the country's power.

After he showed his violent side, the decree was finally issued, but the execution process was not smooth.

Huang Fachi rode a war horse and brought many soldiers all the way to the outside of Jiankang. He asked the soldiers to guard outside the city first, while he entered the city alone.

When he arrived at the palace, Chen Xu was overjoyed and treated him with extraordinary enthusiasm. He asked him to sit in the front row, even closer than Yuan Xian.

Chen Xu chatted with him for a long time and asked about things on the front line.

Huang Fate also answered truthfully: "Wang Lin deliberately showed weakness. They are also doing the same in their country. They are reducing taxes and levies in order to restore people's livelihood. Once they have recovered a little, I am afraid they will come to attack immediately. I found that many people secretly sold warships to the enemy and betrayed their master. We are currently investigating them strictly."

Chen Xu frowned as he listened.

Yuan Xian also had a sad look on his face and was sitting not far away.

Chen Xu said seriously: "Selling warships to the Han Kingdom is a crime of treason. General Huang, just investigate. No matter who is involved, I will punish them severely!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Chen Xu sighed again.

"The reason I urgently summoned you here this time is actually because of something else."

"I issued an order to enforce the Tuduan before, and many people opposed it. I dealt with them all. Unexpectedly, although the order was issued, it had no effect. I sent people to urge them many times, but these people were unwilling to cooperate. Therefore, I asked the general to come here to deter the scoundrels. After our discussion today, I brought out General Huang's previous proposal, and they dared not oppose the Tuduan anymore."

Chen Xu said unhappily: "They are afraid of Liu Taozi but not me?"

"Liu Taozi can kill people in the north and force them to obey, so why can't I do the same?"

"We have to complete these tasks before Liu Taozi recovers."

Huang Fachi hesitated for a moment, seeming to want to say something but stopped himself.

Chen Xu noticed the change in his expression and said, "General Huang, if you have anything to say, just speak up and don't hesitate."

"Your Majesty, I believe that Liu Taozi was able to accomplish so many reforms not just because his knife was sharp enough."

"Oh?"

"I have had contact with the generals of the Han Kingdom and have also checked the situation in the Han Kingdom."

"Their strongest troops are not soldiers, but officials."

"Official??"

"Liu Taozi was born as a clerk, so he has always been concerned about clerkship. Their school and clerkship examination system is very complete. From the state, county, township, to the village, the clerks have clear responsibilities, not too many or too few, and most of them are talented. They support each other and cooperate well. Even the military clerks are more complete than ours."

"Whether it's checking household registration or measuring land, officials just issue orders, and in the end it's still these clerks who do the work at the local level."

"Han officials have the protection of the school. Although officials have the power to promote and recruit people, they cannot treat them like private slaves, and they dare not let them do something illegal in public. They are also afraid that these officials will impeach them through the school."

"But here, the so-called officials are just slaves of officials. When one group dies, another group is replaced. They are killed or employed at will. They do whatever the officials tell them to do. There is no one to protect them, so I'm afraid they won't even think of impeaching their superiors and serving the king."

Chen Xu understood this time, and he hurriedly asked: "If that's the case, can we follow their example and abolish the official system first?"

“We can build study rooms and learn their configurations.”

Huang Fate pursed his lips and said, "Your Majesty, it can be done, but... First of all, this method will take time. Although Liu Han was founded a short time ago, Liu Taozi has been based in Hengshuo for a long time, more than ten years, and his official system has also developed over so many years to achieve the current results. Secondly, many officials under Liu Taozi started from humble backgrounds, which..."

"No problem! If he can do it, so may we be able to do it!"

"First dismiss the officials, then cut off the land!"

"We will do our best to protect Jiangnan from falling into the hands of the Hu chieftains."

"General Huang! Tell me the truth. How long do we have to prepare for the enemy?"

“Three years at the shortest and five years at the longest.”

ps: Normal updates will resume tomorrow, and the content of these three days will be made up later.

(End of this chapter)