Late Han Zhao Tang

November, Wancheng.

The weather was cold, and a cold wind was blowing. Forty thousand armored soldiers lined up outside the city, their dark ranks like a black cloud pressing down on the city.

Zhang Yu, clad in armor, sat upright on the imperial chariot, with civil and military officials riding on either side, armored cavalry flanking him from the outside. Banners fluttered like wings, and the sound of war drums was as powerful as a city wall, presenting an image of an invincible army that inspired awe in all who beheld him.

Zhang Yu didn't set up such a display of force idly; rather, he intended to intimidate the civil and military officials of Chen, making them understand that after surrendering, they should not harbor any ulterior motives, and that submitting to the rule of the Tang Dynasty was the wise course of action.

The grandeur of the Tang army's surrender ceremony terrified many of the Chen Kingdom's civil and military officials.

As the false crown prince Yuan Yao, Minister of Works Yuan Zhong, Deng Xi, Cai Mao, Ji Ling, and other civil and military officials of the Chen state walked out of the gate, their expressions dejected and mostly lonely, they slowly walked towards the imperial carriage.

"Your Majesty, all the officials and nobles of Chen have come out of the city to accept the surrender. Should we now lead our troops into the city to take over its defenses?" Gao Shun asked.

Zhang Yu observed for a moment and said, "Zixun will lead the troops into the city to take over the city's defenses, and Zhongkang will enter the palace to inspect the palace buildings."

"As ordered!"

After receiving their orders, Gao and Xu greeted each other and each led several thousand armored soldiers into the city through a small gate. The soldiers were well-equipped and their ranks were orderly, making them the elite of the Tang army.

When they were about ten paces apart, the civil and military officials of the State of Chen came out and performed the rites of bowing.

"Yao, a disgraced subject of the State of Chen, along with his civil and military officials, pays homage to the King of Tang!"

Yuan Yao removed his long crown and tied his hair up with a jade hairpin. Dressed in plain clothes, he looked dejected and knelt before Zhang Yu on the imperial carriage, saying, "In the past, we did not know the will of Heaven and stubbornly resisted. Today, we dare not disobey and surrender with our civil and military officials. We hope that the Tang King will forgive our great sins."

Zhang Yu rose from the imperial carriage, descended the steps with his hand on his sword, and walked to Yuan Yao's side, supporting him as he said, "It is not too late to surrender now! Your father has already arrived in Chang'an and wishes to reunite with you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yuan Yao bowed and presented the relevant civil and military documents, saying, "I have led my people to surrender. Chen still possesses Nanyang and the five prefectures of Jiangxia, Shang, Nan, Changsha, and Wuling. There are more than 40,000 soldiers, 100,000 bolts of brocade and silk, and 1.26 million shi of grain in the granary..."

After a pause, Yuan Yao said sincerely, "I hope Your Majesty will take into consideration the feelings of the Chen people who have surrendered, sympathize with the hardships of the people, and treat the officials and soldiers of Jing and Han with kindness."

The imperial seal and books that Yuan Mi presented as a sign of surrender were important documents, while the books that Yuan Yao presented were secondary documents, such as maps of Chen State, lists of officials, and detailed accounts of the treasury, so that Zhang Yu could process them quickly after receiving them.

Zhang Yu had his attendants take the document and said solemnly, "You have a heart that loves the people and have also made contributions by surrendering. I hereby temporarily appoint you as Cavalry Commandant and move you to Chang'an to live with the Marquis of Ruyang."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yuan Yao retreated to a corner, and Guo Tu stepped forward and said, "Now that you have surrendered, it may be inconvenient for you to stay in Wancheng. Please take your wife, children, brothers and sisters to Chang'an."

"Now?" Yuan Yao asked in surprise.

"It's still early today, so you can take your family and set off. The sooner you arrive in Chang'an, the sooner you can meet with Marquis Ruyang," Guo Tu said with a smile.

Yuan Yao looked at Yuan Mi and Yuan Yin, his eyes pleading. However, the two hesitated, knowing they couldn't change Zhang Yu's decision, and could only turn their heads away, avoiding his gaze.

Seeing that the two were unable to help, Yuan Yao sighed and said, "Could you grant me two hours to return home and gather my family, books, clothes, and money?"

"How could it not be possible!"

Although Yuan Yao was merely the crown prince, and even lacked authority and could not command anyone, he was still Yuan Shu's son and the nominal heir to the Chen state. His presence in Wancheng would always be a potential threat. Now that Zhang Yu had arrived in Wancheng, it was impossible to leave any danger by his side, even if that threat was small.

As Yuan Yao returned to his residence under the watchful eyes of the armored soldiers, Zhang Yu was calming down the ministers and officials of the State of Chen.

Zhang Yu, seemingly supporting the crowd, said, “Chen has surrendered, and you will all become subjects of Tang. Past transgressions and crimes will not be pursued; you will only be required to pay compensation. However, any future illegal acts will not be tolerated. If you find anyone virtuous or capable, please feel free to recommend them, either yourself or through others; I will promote them all.”

"Thank you, King Tang!" the crowd said in unison.

Zhang Yu returned to the imperial carriage, glanced at everyone, and lingered on Yuan Mi for a moment before saying, "The carriage is spacious; Yongning may ride in and accompany you."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Yuan Mi with a mixture of envy and jealousy. What an honor it was to ride with the Tang Emperor! Even Xun You, Guo Tu, Zhang Liao, and other close civil and military officials had never enjoyed such a privilege. Now, as a newly surrendered subject, Yuan Mi had received the treatment of accompanying the emperor. How could his favor not be high?

Perhaps knowing he had attracted envy, Yuan Mi hesitated for a long time before cupping his hands and saying, "There is a distinction between ruler and subject; I dare not accompany you!"

"It doesn't matter!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "I am new to Nanyang and do not know the situation. I need to consult Yongning."

After Zhang Yu gave the order, Yuan Mi bowed and then dared to board the carriage.

A moment later, the Tang Dynasty flag was raised on the city wall. Zhang Yu, with his hand on the carriage railing, said in a deep voice, "Enter the city!" "Giddy up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Jun cracked his whip, urging the carriage to move forward slowly.

The wheels rolled over the road, the wooden wheels pressing against the stone slabs with a rolling sound. The imperial carriage passed through the spontaneously formed procession of the surrendered people, and Zhang Yu took in the expressions of everyone inside the carriage.

"Yongning!"

"Chen is here!"

"When Yuan Shu was in power, he favored sycophants and indulged in extravagance and debauchery. Now that he has arrived in Wancheng, I wish to govern the prefecture. I wonder what your thoughts are?" Zhang Yu asked calmly.

"Your Majesty!"

Yuan Mi pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, “When Lord Yuan was in office, the people of Nanyang were burdened with heavy corvée labor, repairing palaces, dredging waterways, and transporting military supplies, toiling year after year. Because of the heavy corvée labor, many people fled, and the criminal law became severe. Therefore, Your Majesty wishes to bring peace to the people of Nanyang by reducing corvée labor and taxes, and by treating the people with leniency, thus winning the hearts of the people of Nanyang.”

"That's it?"

Zhang Yu said, "Is there any matter of officials annexing land and recruiting troops extensively?"

"No such thing!"

“Jingzhou itself was rife with clan bandits. When Yuan entered Jingzhou, he appointed many official positions to clan bandits in order to gain their service. As a result, many people went into hiding.”

Yuan Mi gave a wry smile and said, "In addition, since Lord Yuan is fond of learning from Emperor Gaozu and treats his subordinates leniently, many officials have recruited people and consolidated land, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of registered households. For example, when Lord Yuan first took charge of Nanyang, there were more than 300,000 registered households. But now, there are only more than 100,000 registered households. Although there has been an attack by typhoid fever, the number of registered households should not be so small."

The Nanyang of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not the Nanyang of Henan in later times. Because Liu Xiu was from Nanyang, and many of his followers were from Nanyang, and emperors of all dynasties would visit Nanyang to worship and inspect, Nanyang was known as the hometown of emperors from the founding of the dynasty.

By the mid-period, with the rise of eunuchs to the political stage of the Eastern Han Dynasty, taking advantage of the fact that "people from the same hometown share similar language and habits," eunuchs born in Nanyang accounted for more than half of them. From then on, Nanyang was not only active in politics by nobles and scholars, but also had three political groups.

The active political groups ensured Nanyang's high status and favorable economic policies, resulting in Nanyang having more than ten iron smelting workshops and exporting ironware to more than ten surrounding counties. Furthermore, taking advantage of Jingzhou's lack of salt production, Nanyang handled the transshipment and sale of salt from Hedong.

Furthermore, Nanyang, located at the crossroads of north and south, had a well-developed rice and wheat cultivation system, and was one of the earliest places to practice rice-wheat rotation. Unlike the three harvests every two years in the north, Nanyang's agriculture produced two harvests a year, resulting in four harvests every two years. Even without considering farmland output, Nanyang's agriculture matured one more season than the north, naturally leading to higher yields.

Due to factors related to economy, politics, geography, and agriculture, Nanyang became the prefecture with the most registered households in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At its peak, Nanyang had as many as 530,000 registered households and a population of about 2.5 million, comparable to the population of a small prefecture. Even Jizhou, a prefecture with a large population, could not compare with it.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the population of Nanyang decreased sharply from 530,000 households to 300,000 households. However, under Yuan Shu's rule, the population decreased from 300,000 households to 100,000 households. This rate of decline was truly terrifying.

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes and asked, "Given the serious problem of land annexation, do you have any insightful opinions?"

Yuan Mi paused for a moment, then said, "It was difficult in the past, but now, with Your Majesty's prestige and methods, all the annexed land can be given to you!"

"Where did the plan come from?"

“Using the pretext of the decline of Henan and Guanzhong, we should relocate all the high-ranking officials and powerful families. Although the powerful families may be dissatisfied, they dare not disobey Your Majesty.” Yuan Mi suggested, “Nanyang has thousands of high-ranking officials and powerful families. If we relocate them to the capital region, there will be at least tens of thousands of families and hundreds of thousands of people.”

Although Yuan Mi was the former Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of the former Chen state, it did not mean that he sided with the Chen state's officials. After all, it had been said before that Zhang Yu would relocate the entire Yuan family to Guanzhong, so for Yuan Mi, it would be better for everyone to be relocated to the capital region to replenish the population of Henan and Guanzhong.

Of course, more importantly, Yuan Mi wanted to leverage his influence in the united front to secure an official position for himself in the new dynasty. He dared not dream of becoming the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, but he coveted a lower-ranking position, so he had no choice but to sacrifice his colleague to seek an official post for him.

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said with satisfaction, "This is a fundamental solution. Relocating large clans to unclaimed lands will allow us to verify the population, thoroughly investigate the land, and distribute land to the poor."

Although relocating powerful clans to Sili would create new powerful clans in Guanzhong, Zhang Yu valued land and population more. When these clans migrated, they would receive subsidies based on their original land holdings, thus requiring them to truthfully report their land area. As for population, it goes without saying that once they were on their way, various methods would be used to investigate.

Population and land holdings were difficult to conceal. Except for the first few years when taxes were waived, large clans would have to pay taxes according to their household registration. After the large clans left, the vacated land would be taken over by the government to be allocated to displaced people or newly adult males.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Yu said, "You must first help me appease the former people of Chen, and you must not reveal the matter of relocating the clan. Once Jingzhou is at peace and the other prefectures are relatively stable, I will then follow your grand plan."

"promise!"

As the carriage swayed, Zhang Yu arrived at the magnificent palace that Yuan Shu had built.

Thinking of the impoverished people and abandoned fields he had seen along the way, Zhang Yu sighed and said, "In times of chaos, the people's strength is wasted on building palaces and buildings. How could the State of Chen not perish?"

Yuan Mi said, "Because the old palace was too small, Lord Yuan ordered Liu Biao to spend 100,000 people to build a new Southern Palace."

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment, then instructed, "Do not reside in the new palace; move to the old palace instead."

"Yes, sir!" (End of Chapter)