Tiger Guards

Chapter 336 Immense Inertia

Thirteen days later, Zhao Ji's envoy leisurely arrived in Luodu, presenting a memorial and a sample of a curved plow.

Zhao Yan and four other attendants, along with the Director of the Secretariat, Tai Chong, and the vice ministers of the six ministries, watched together.

The messenger would then operate the curved plow, setting up an ox and guiding it in the garden area in the northwest of Luoyang City to demonstrate.

Almost all the manors and gardens in the city, suburbs and outskirts were burned down that year.

The larger the garden, the more thoroughly it was destroyed in the fire.

As a result, the garden areas within the city can now be fully cultivated for farming.

Watching the curved plow skillfully turn the soil, Tai Chong couldn't help but exclaim, "The Grand Marshal has rendered outstanding service to the country. He should submit a memorial to the Emperor for further commendation."

The attendants Liu Ai, Zhong Ji, Xu Si, and Wang Kai nodded in agreement, but Wang Kai said, "It's just that the curved plow was made a little late. If it had been sent to the court earlier, we could have drawn it into an illustrated book and distributed it to all the prefectures and counties in the country. It would have been of great benefit to the country."

After saying this, Wang Kai noticed that no one responded. Looking around, he realized that the people around him were looking at him strangely.

After realizing what had happened, Wang Kai hesitated whether to apologize, when Zhao Yan spoke up: "It is indeed a bit late. The curved plow is of great use to the country and should be presented as soon as possible."

Liu Ai chuckled at this point: "Lord Yuanming is indeed putting the Grand Marshal in a difficult position. The soil in Taiyuan is frozen, and this curved-shaft plow was made after the Grand Marshal withdrew his troops. How can one test the effectiveness of plowing on frozen ground? In my opinion, now that the weather is warming up and the ground is thawing, the Grand Marshal should immediately test the plow. Only after seeing its effectiveness should he submit a report to the court. This is already remarkably swift; how can we be so harsh?"

Wang Kai immediately bowed to those around him, saying apologetically, "I have misunderstood the Grand Marshal."

Xu Si comforted him, laughing and saying, "You were just concerned about national affairs and it was a momentary oversight."

Wang Kai turned to look at Zhao Yan, who chuckled and said, "Since everyone agrees that the curved plow has contributed to the country, how should it be rewarded?"

Wang Kai then said, “Lord Yuanming, if the curved plow created by the Grand Marshal can increase production by even five percent, such an achievement can save a million people every year. I believe that his fief should be increased by five thousand households, expanding it to seven counties in Pingyang.”

"Seven counties is too many."

Zhao Yan flatly refused: "Just reward him with a fief of five hundred households; that will show the court's goodwill. If the fief is any more, how will the Grand General conduct himself?"

Lü Bu was granted a fief of 12,000 households, which included six counties surrounding Wen County. It was clear from the beginning that he wanted to suppress Zhao Ji, who was only a marquis with 10,000 households and a fief of five counties surrounding Pingyang.

However, Hanoi was in ruins, and there were no registered households of 12,000 in the entire Hanoi. Even if Lü Bu was given more fiefdoms, he would still have to raise the money himself and issue his own titles and stipends, so it would have no practical reference value.

Lü Bu was not lacking in these titles and stipends; the income from his fiefdom came from the average taxes and rents paid by the people of the cities he ruled over.

In other words, the local area is prosperous, with an average of 80 mu per person; compared with the poor areas, the average is 40 mu per person. The difference in tax and rent income alone accounts for half of the difference.

The corvée labor tax and poll tax were fixed incomes, and on average, the annual income of a thousand households in a fiefdom was 200,000 coins.

Lu Bu is currently so engrossed in digging up graves in the Ruying region that he doesn't care about the income from his fiefdom, nor can he collect it anyway.

Zhao Ji, on the other hand, controlled the fiefdom and used the rescued border people, immigrants, Xiongnu volunteers, as well as his own retainers and servants to populate the Pingyang region.

Tax revenue was only a small part of Zhao Ji's personal income; the real profit lay in future trade.

However, whether it was the tax revenue from the fief or the income from trade, it was all Zhao Ji's legitimate income, reasonable and justifiable, and would not cause any resentment among his comrades in the army.

Zhao Ji prohibited soldiers from engaging in business, but did not prohibit the families or servants of military officers from doing so.

Zhao Yan's offer of a fief of 500 households is not a small amount. For ordinary people, a fief of 500 households is equivalent to an annual income of 100,000 coins.

One hundred thousand coins can be exchanged for an annual salary, which is equivalent to five hundred bushels of grain, enough to support a family of twenty people living off their jobs.

The starting salary for the Hedong Tiger Warriors was the tax revenue from military farmland, which amounted to 600 shi (a unit of dry measure) per year.

The tax and rent equivalent to that of five hundred households in a fiefdom... In this process, the tenants were the ones who were severely exploited.

Upon closer examination, these tenant farmers weren't so bad off; they rented good land, and with careful cultivation, the yield per mu (unit of land area) could exceed four shi (unit of dry measure).

Renting 100 mu of land yields an annual income of 200 shi (a unit of dry measure). After deducting corvée labor, poll tax, and land tax, plus income from odd jobs during the off-season, it is enough to support a family.

As government tenants, they were naturally protected... There were also villages and towns nearby where officials and soldiers lived, which affected the efficiency of the government tenants. This was equivalent to reducing government taxes and the annual salary of the army. These two groups would definitely crack down on the interference and protect the normal efficiency of the government tenants.

The Han Dynasty's tax rates of one-tenth, one-fifteenth, etc., were always low on paper. The exorbitant taxes and levies were not lacking at all. In some places, people even had to pay a miscellaneous tax to buy shoes.

The troops in Hedong and Taiyuan are now waiting for their annual salaries after the summer and autumn harvests next year. Only when the salaries can be properly calculated and distributed next year can the situation be considered truly stable!
How could Zhao Ji possibly mobilize the army before this revenue was deposited into the treasury and distributed?

Even if Zhao Ji wanted to mobilize troops, Zhao Yan would dissuade him.

Compared to the gains from Taiyuan and Hedong, the meager income from the fiefdom brought by the Quyuan plough was negligible.

The only benefit was that it enhanced Zhao Ji's reputation.

The curved plow and other improved farm implements were not secrets to Zhao Yan.

The widespread adoption of the curved-shaft plow was, in fact, a victory for the reformist ideology. The idea was to discard the old and embrace the new, believing that the new was always better than the old.

Therefore, Zhao Yan sent another envoy with a newly made sample of the curved plow and a memorial to the emperor in Xuchang.

Zhao Ji's messenger was slow enough; even at his slowest pace, he disassembled the curved plow and had the knights carry it separately.

Zhao Yan spent three days replicating the curved plow, then loaded it onto a cart and transported it to Xudu, traveling fifty li a day.

When the curved plow and the memorial arrived in Xuchang, the emperor, Lü Bu, and the officials and ministers of the three departments were starting spring plowing together in Xutian.

The emperor's participation in spring plowing was more symbolic than practical.

However, Zhao Yan's replica of the curved plow was made with heavy and hard elm wood, making it less convenient to use than the original and more tiring for the oxen.

Even so, the emperor, high-ranking officials, and Lü Bu did not see any problem with it, because such a curved plow was lighter than a long, straight plow.

Because plows need to be wear-resistant, they are generally made of heavy and hard wood.

Therefore, it is natural to assume that a curved plow made of elm wood is normal, and that it is also normal that it is more efficient than a long straight plow.

As for how much grain production could be increased... Lü Bu didn't care.

Was it the plow that limited the recovery of agricultural production in the Central Plains?

Absolutely not, it's population and animal power, and climate!
Without sufficient animal power, relying on people to pull the plow is not very effective.

No matter how hard you work, even if you die of exhaustion in the fields, if there's a drought in spring, a drought in summer, and then a sudden flood, or locusts and soldiers just before harvest... if you're just an ordinary person, you won't put your heart and soul into farming.

Just let things slide; there's no need to take it too seriously.

This applies to ordinary people, let alone the retainers and guests under the command of powerful generals and clan leaders!
Lu Bu didn't know much about agriculture, but he understood the hearts of people in chaotic times.

Without a stable base, the officials and soldiers below will be fickle and the common people will just get by and not focus on production.

No matter how much grain is produced, how many mouthfuls of food can the farmers themselves eat?
Therefore, the appearance of the curved plow was simply a matter of Zhao Jihui naming things, and Lü Bu liking the name curved plow, nothing more.

If he had to elaborate, Lü Bu only felt that Zhao Yan was taking the opportunity to give Zhao Ji a reputation, and there was nothing to care about.

As for the 500 households of fiefdom that were increased during the opportunity, Lü Bu didn't care, as long as it wasn't higher than his.

Even if he is slightly taller than Zhao Ji, it doesn't matter. Lu Bu will find a way to increase the size of his fiefdom. As long as he can keep suppressing Zhao Ji by a little bit, that's fine.

It wasn't that Lü Bu was petty; maintaining a lead in the number of fiefs was crucial for the lower and middle-ranking officials.

Lü Bu didn't care much, and the emperor certainly wouldn't care about the significance of the curved plow.

If the common people themselves are unwilling to put in the effort to grow grain, what is the point of the emperor working himself to death in the fields?
The emperor held this attitude, and so did the dukes, ministers, and officials.

Out of politeness, just praise the curved plow; do you really expect these guys to actually hold the plow and till the land themselves?

Currently, the curved plow can only be effective under Zhao Ji's command.

Even with Yuan Shao, no matter how much he valued it, the actual implementation was just so-so.

The counties under Yuan Shao's rule were only slightly better than those under Yuan Shu's rule, with many large families having more than ten thousand servants.

For these large clans, equipping their servants and tenants with curved plows just to improve efficiency by a little bit is quite costly.

After so many years of chaos, the redistribution of land has been optimized.

Good land is all in the hands of large families, and the servants and tenants they have acquired are just enough.

There's really no need to adjust the population-to-land ratio or optimize any structure.

Zhao Ji and Zhao Yan were worried that the curved plow would spread too quickly, so they submitted a memorial to the court on the eve of spring plowing.

In reality, the attitudes of all parties toward this matter are just so-so.

Unlike Zhao Ji, where the government's revenue was linked to the tenant farmers' farming efficiency, the army's annual salary was also linked to the tenant farmers' farming efficiency!

The harvest from the land was divided proportionally, so that they could either live a life of plenty or a life of hardship.

All the managers in Zhao Ji's area, from top to bottom, hoped that the tenants could develop productivity, wishing for a yield of ten shi per mu!
This is a difference in distribution systems.

Other forces have too much ingrained inertia, making them difficult to adjust.

(End of this chapter)