Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 203 Zhen Yi: The Wuji Zhen Clan is so poor that all they have left is money!

Back at Yong'an Palace, Liu Bian rubbed his head, still feeling quite shaken.

Why are mothers like this throughout history? They pressure people to get married before they're even married, and then pressure them to have children after they're married. It's really a headache.

Upon entering the side hall that served as the office area, I found Lu Zhi there, holding a cup of tea and smiling, "Master Lu, what brings you to visit me? Haven't the Ministry of Personnel and the Minister of Agriculture been troubled by the national treasury lately?"

In recent days, the money in the national treasury has been flowing away like water, which has made Cao Song, the Grand Minister of Agriculture, quite choked up.

In addition to the expenses of the two large armies that went to Bingzhou and Liangzhou to quell the rebellion, Liu Bian, inspired by what Cao Cao did in Qingzhou, gradually began to pay attention to water conservancy projects.

Droughts were quite frequent during the Little Ice Age. The fact that there was no drought this summer does not mean that next summer will be peaceful.

Moreover, recently, Liu Bian, along with Liu Tao, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Yang Xu, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Lu Zhi, among others, have been reviewing numerous "Waterways Classics" from the Han Dynasty and records of water conservancy projects in various regions over the past four hundred years. They suddenly discovered a problem that had been neglected for a long time.

While the irrigation canals of the Han Dynasty were frequently constructed and indeed irrigated countless fields, the lack of an effective management and maintenance system led to the gradual abandonment of many of these canals.

During the Han Dynasty, the irrigation canals built in various places were usually entrusted to the local prefectures for maintenance and management.

However, maintenance and management both cost money, and the prefects of each prefecture did not believe that the canal would have problems in their generation, so they used the money for other projects.

While there was no immediate concern, over time these irrigation canals eventually became ineffective due to the accumulated problems of generations of inadequacy and were ultimately abandoned.

Repairing the abandoned canals would cost an astronomical sum for each prefecture, and asking the imperial court for money would inevitably damage their political achievements, so the prefects simply gave up on the repairs.

The next prefect would also have a reason to shift the blame to the previous one. If the court allocates funds, they would be willing to carry out the repairs. After all, the court pays the money, and the achievements and good reputation go to them. Why not?

However, the imperial court's financial situation has not been very good for the past hundred years, so funds have been allocated very rarely. In addition, the sale of official positions in this dynasty has forced local officials to make a lot of money to pay for the positions they bought, and then fill their own pockets with a huge sum of money.

Since the imperial court doesn't allocate funds, they have a reason not to repair it. As for the farmland affected by the abandoned canals, the previous administration always takes the blame, and many unclear accounts can even be settled under this pretext.

The key point is that these former prefects were either promoted or demoted.

From the position of prefect with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measure), the general trend of promotion was that they would rise to become officials in Luoyang with a salary of two thousand shi, or even become ministers with a salary of two thousand shi.

Who dares to hold these former prefects accountable?
As for the former prefect who was demoted, you were given such a good environment, yet you still ended up being demoted. What good would it do for someone like you to take on another big burden? Do you think anyone would stand up for you?
Well, a wild opportunity to shift blame—thank you for nature's gift!

It was for this reason that Liu Bian summoned many officials who were studying the law to participate in the formulation of a set of laws that strictly required local prefects to maintain the water conservancy projects of their respective prefectures on a regular basis.

At the same time, water officials should be established in each prefecture to be specifically responsible for the maintenance of water conservancy projects.

As for Liu Bian's original idea of ​​building new canals, he decisively abandoned it. The amount of money required for these projects was simply too great, and the Han Empire, which was still at war, could not afford such an expense. Therefore, Liu Bian turned his attention to the canals that were gradually being abandoned.

Liu Bian's first target was Baiqu, located in Guanzhong.

The Baiqu Canal was constructed in the second year of the Tai Shi era of Emperor Xiaowu (95 BC). It was named after Bai Gong, a high-ranking official of the Zhao state, who proposed the project. The Baiqu Canal started from the south bank of the Zheng Guo Canal at the mouth of Chiyang Valley, drawing water from the Jing River and flowing southeast. It passed through Chiyang and Liyang, then turned south at Xiabang and flowed into the Wei River. The canal was 200 li long and benefited more than 4,500 hectares of farmland.

Furthermore, because the Jing River contains a lot of silt, the Baiqu Canal also brought fertile sedimentary soil to the farmland of the Guanzhong Plain.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, the people praised it, saying: "A stone of water from the Jing River produces several bushels of mud. It is used for irrigation and fertilization, and it makes our millet and sorghum grow. It provides food and clothing for the capital and feeds millions of people."

However, due to neglect of maintenance and management, the effectiveness of this canal gradually diminished, and it was eventually selectively forgotten by the imperial court. When the Later Han Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, the Bai Canal was completely abandoned.

The Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou is still some time away from being quelled. If the Baiqu Canal could be repaired and dredged, the fertile land that could be irrigated would be more than 4,500 hectares.
The Guanzhong Plain was originally the first "Land of Abundance" in history, but due to the large population accumulated during the Former Han Dynasty and the imperial mausoleum system, the population of Guanzhong exploded. People cut down a large number of trees for living and housing needs, and the royal family also built a large number of palaces, resulting in a shortage of trees, soil erosion, and gradual salinization of the land.

If this Baiqu Canal could be dredged, it would add at least tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land to the current land register in Guanzhong!
Therefore, even if the Qiang rebellion breaks out again in Liangzhou in the future, the grain can be transported and distributed from the Guanzhong and Sanfu regions first, which greatly reduces the loss of grain during transportation.

However, the money required for such a large-scale project still made Liu Bian somewhat reluctant.

Then we'll have to find a few "voluntary" suckers!

Liu Bian's idea was to directly exploit the powerful clans of Guanzhong.

What? I built irrigation canals for you people from Guanzhong, and you just stand by and watch the show?

Those who have manpower, contribute manpower; those who have money, contribute money!
If you don't volunteer, I'll force you to volunteer!

Hey, guess what happened?

There are truly fools who voluntarily offer to pay for the imperial court's project to repair the Baiqu Canal!
"The memorial submitted by the Prince of Zhongshan?"

Liu Bian flipped through the memorial, which stated that the Zhen family of Wuji, who had served as officials of the rank of 2,000 shi for generations in Zhongshan, were progressive in their thinking and hoped to share the burden of His Highness the Crown Prince by donating 500 million coins!

According to Liu Zhi, the Prince of Zhongshan, the Zhen family of Wuji had declined due to Wang Mang's rebellion and was now just a third-rate aristocratic family. They had no family records to pass down, but they had received imperial favor and their families had been able to hold official positions at the level of two thousand shi for generations.

Zhen Yi, the progressive head of the Wuji Zhen clan, is currently serving as the magistrate of Shangcai. He wishes to travel to the capital, Luoyang, to meet with the Crown Prince and request guidance and criticism on his work.

This is what is meant by being able to see the Emperor's face and receive His grace!
As for the five hundred million coins, it was merely a way for Zhen Yi to prove his unwavering loyalty to the Crown Prince.

Zhen Yi even felt that using such money-grubbing things to prove something was an insult to His Highness the Crown Prince's eyes, but the Zhen family of Wuji was suffering!

The Zhen family of Wuji is so poor that all they have left is money!

Of course, if His Highness the Crown Prince feels that the number is not enough, Zhen Yi can further prove his loyalty to His Highness the Crown Prince!

As long as His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't find this money-grubbing nonsense disgusting!

(End of this chapter)