Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 235 Dividing the Generals of Liangzhou (Bonus Chapter! Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

"Officials in the capital with a rank of 600 shi or above are all given one jin of roasted tea, and local officials with a rank of 1,000 shi or above are also given one jin of tea."

Liu Bian was never stingy with his rewards for tea-making.

The officials were all grateful and bowed to thank His Highness the Crown Prince for the tea.

Of course, Liu Bian wasn't being kind; he was just using the opportunity to promote his tea-making skills.

Who controls the largest user traffic in the Han Dynasty?

It was him, the regent prince, the future emperor who was about to ascend the throne!
When the ruler has a certain preference, the people will follow suit. Liu Hong once liked donkey carts and even drove them himself. The officials took this as fashionable and rushed to imitate him, to the point that the price of donkeys suddenly exceeded that of warhorses!

This crown prince is fond of tea making, and all the officials should vie to follow suit.

Moreover, while a pound of fried tea may seem like a free gift, it actually uses these officials as mobile advertisements to promote the tea and gain traffic.

One jin in the Han Dynasty was less than half a jin in later times, which was about a month's worth of tea. Faced with this novel beverage, one might finish one jin of roasted tea in less than half a month.

Since you like this drink, where can you buy it after you finish it?

The government-run shops under the Shaofu government would stock the novel product of fried tea, and sell it as a luxury item.

In the early days of tea frying, even the lowest grade tea was priced at 500 coins per kilogram.

The monthly salary of an official with a salary of 600 shi (a unit of dry measure) is 3,500 coins and 21 hu (another unit of dry measure) of rice. He should be able to afford to buy one jin (another unit of dry measure) of roasted tea at 500 coins per jin per month, but that salary is barely enough to meet the needs of an official with a salary of 600 shi for one month.

You always have to socialize and socialize, right? To avoid looking tacky when giving birthday gifts, you can give higher-grade roasted tea. Then you won't have to worry about selling the roasted tea.

Liu Bian even privately named the tea-frying sales plan the "salary recovery plan," which could also become a new luxury item, replacing items such as silk, cloth, gold, jade, and pearls as rewards at a low cost price.

As for the claim that the crown prince is competing with the people for profit?
He doesn't target the common people with his tea-making business; he preys on the wealthy and powerful.

And a prestigious family developed a tea-frying technique?
It will take them a long time to realize that the key to frying tea is the cooking utensils rather than the skill of frying tea, and it will take an unknown amount of time to try to forge a thin iron pot with good heat conductivity suitable for frying tea.

Even the master craftsmen of the Imperial Workshop have an extremely low success rate. How much iron ore do you have to waste? Can your output compare to that of the Imperial Household Department?
With increased production, costs naturally decrease. Once they start selling their roasted tea on the market, and the Shaofu family lowers the price to below the cost of the established families, what will they have to compete with?

This is a de facto monopoly!
Moreover, the quality of tea is also divided into high and low grades and tea varieties. With a wide variety of tea varieties and grades, coupled with the fact that the Shaofu, which relies on the state, is an official government, it has a natural advantage in terms of credibility and reputation.

If that doesn't work, then go for a brand strategy.

The same type of fried tea favored by the "divine" Zheng Xuan, the same type of fried tea that Chen Lin always drank before composing poems, the same type of fried tea that the current emperor was inseparable from, and so on. Furthermore, certain types of fried tea under the name of the Shaofu were designated as special supplies to the government, and certain types of fried tea were designated as royal certified premiums and designated as the same type of tea used in the palace. By simply taking the route of the upper class and idols, it was enough for the Shaofu's fried tea to firmly control the market.

If you really anger him, then like with salt and iron, the actual monopoly will be changed to a policy monopoly, allowing only government-run businesses and a very small number of merchant families with official permission to sell.

If all these problems are overcome, who knows how many centuries will have passed, and it's still uncertain whether the Han Dynasty will still exist, let alone the great flood.

As for annual sales, one or two billion yuan should be achievable.

Of course, all the profits from the operation of the Imperial Household Department went into the Imperial Treasury, so this money was actually in the hands of the Emperor.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Liu Bian came to his senses and resumed the agenda of the court meeting. However, as far as he could see, there were still many people who would have the eunuchs standing by their side come forward to add water and change the tea leaves.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Bian walked down the steps with a black wooden staff in his hand and came to the center of the main hall of Jiade Hall.

A huge map was laid out on the ground, clearly depicting the mountains, rivers and roads of Bingzhou, as well as the distribution of each county. It also marked the number of troops stationed in each county. Liu Bian pointed to the Shuofang County, Wuyuan County, Yunzhong County and Yanmen County in the north with his wooden staff.

The Duliao Camp was stationed on the north bank of the Liao River, which was within the jurisdiction of Wuyuan County.

"My idea is to abolish the position of General of the Xiongnu, and in the northern part of Bingzhou, in addition to the Duliao Camp, to set up three more battalions of troops, each with two thousand soldiers, to guard against the Xianbei." Liu Bian raised his head and shifted his gaze from the map to the court officials, especially Lu Zhi and other military experts, and said, "The Xiongnu no longer exist, and the Xianbei are powerful. In the past, the Han Dynasty was at a disadvantage against the Xianbei in many ways."

"Seven years ago (177 AD), Xia Yu, the former Protector of the Wuhuan, Tian Yan, the former General Who Destroyed the Xianbei, and Zang Min, the former General Who Sent Envoys to the Xiongnu, each led more than 10,000 cavalrymen out of the pass from Gaoliu, Yunzhong, and Yanmen, attacking the Xianbei in three routes. As a result, after traveling more than 2,000 li beyond the pass, they were defeated by the leaders of the Eastern, Central, and Western tribes before they even saw Tan Shihuai. Their army was almost completely wiped out!" "Three years ago (181 AD), Tan Shihuai died of illness, and his son Helian succeeded him. Although the Xianbei were formally divided into four tribes, they became increasingly rampant due to this great defeat, and frequently plundered the people of our Han border counties."

"You all sit in the imperial court, how can you tolerate the barbarians' rampage?"

Upon hearing the Crown Prince's speech, Qiao Xuan, who had served as the General of the Liao Dynasty and had defeated the Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu, and Goguryeo in the north, rose shakily, holding his tablet.

Qiao Xuan went to court despite his illness. His health had been poor since autumn, and he had fallen ill several times. Qiao Xuan felt that he might not make it through the year.

However, upon hearing that the court was going to discuss the deployment of additional troops in northern Bingzhou to defend against the Xianbei, he still dragged his frail body into his official robes and participated in the Crown Prince's Palace meetings several times, and even forced himself to attend today's grand court assembly despite his illness.

However, Qiao Xuan's health was inconsistent. He only participated in the first two meetings of the Crown Prince's Palace, and missed the later ones due to his health. He was unaware of the final outcome and advised, "Does Your Highness intend to launch a northern expedition against the Xianbei? The national treasury is currently insufficient to support such an expedition. I urge Your Highness to be extremely cautious!"

Liu Bian personally helped Qiao Xuan up from his kneeling position and said gently, "Grandfather, there is no need to worry. I am not so eager to wage war, but not launching a northern expedition does not mean that we should sit idly by and watch the barbarians plunder without taking any preventative measures."

Qiao Xuan nodded and, with the help of several colleagues, sat back down in his seat.

He wasn't worried about the Crown Prince's decision to add four battalions of troops, but he was concerned that the Crown Prince might be blinded by the three military victories in recent years and follow Emperor Xiaowu's example by choosing to launch a forced northern expedition against the Xianbei without regard for the national treasury's reserves.

Since the Crown Prince has indicated that he will not engage in excessive military campaigns, he has little to worry about.

In recent days, he has been dictating his experiences of leading troops in the north to his son, Qiao Yu, who is writing them down on his behalf. This book, which is about to be completed, will be his contribution to the country.

Seeing that no one objected, Liu Bian continued, "I intend to establish the Linrong Camp in Shuofang Commandery, stationed outside the former Shuofang Commandery seat, Linrong County; the Duliao Camp in Wuyuan Commandery will cross the Yellow River to the north and be stationed outside Wuyuan County, renamed the Duhe Camp; the Yunzhong Camp will be established in Yunzhong Commandery, stationed outside the commandery seat, Yunzhong County; and the Baideng Camp will be established in Yanmen Commandery, stationed outside Qiangyin County, the northernmost part of Yanmen."

"The four camps are each commanded by a general with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain), and are not subject to the control of the prefects of the counties where they are located or the governor of Bingzhou. The necessary provisions, weapons, armor, and warhorses are all provided directly by the imperial court. As for the soldiers, each county contributes 1,000 men, rotating every three years. The other counties of Bingzhou also contribute 1,000 men, rotating every three years. The soldiers in the camps are exempt from taxes for three years, and their wives and children are exempt from taxes for one year."

Liu Bian's idea did not encounter much opposition from the beginning, except for a few people who raised questions, concerns and suggestions regarding some of the details.

After all, Bingzhou already had two battalions of troops, namely the General Who Sends the Xiongnu and the Liaodong Camp. With the national strength of the court, it could still support the addition of two more battalions.

However, Liu Bian removed the existence of convict soldiers. These convicts, who had committed capital crimes, were not many who were truly willing to fight to the death even after becoming convict soldiers. Perhaps they could muster some courage in order to be pardoned when they were actually in battle, but they could hardly exert any effort in daily training.

They were already death row inmates, and no matter how much they were whipped or threatened, they would still die. In fact, these convict soldiers often had disciplinary problems and committed many thefts and robberies against the local people.

As for whether these rules can be passed in court, the details of these rules were actually discussed and decided by the officials of the Crown Prince's Office and important ministers such as Lu Zhi. Although they are not perfect, there should not be any major problems in their implementation. However, many of the details need to be implemented before any drawbacks can be discovered, and then they can be revised.

Liu Bian had even already decided on the candidates for the generals of these four battalions.

It's time for the generals and officers under Dong Zhuo's command in Liangzhou to be dispersed and sent out to other regions.

It was ultimately inappropriate to always have generals from Liangzhou such as Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Niu Fu around Dong Zhuo, as it could easily lead to the formation of factions.

Moreover, there was really no place for these generals from Liangzhou in Luoyang to control the various gates of Luoyang under Dong Zhuo, who was the city gate captain.

Will he be able to get a good night's sleep then?
The military positions in the capital are not suitable for these generals from Liangzhou. It is also unrealistic for them to be appointed as county magistrates or even prefects. Therefore, the best option is to appoint them as generals in the border regions.

The generals Linrong, Duhe, Yunzhong, and Baideng are all generals, with a rank of 2,000 shi, a silver seal and a blue ribbon. In addition, each camp has one military supervisor and two colonels, all with a rank of 2,000 shi. There is also one chief clerk, one registrar, and one military advisor, all with a rank of 600 shi, who are directly appointed by the court.

These general and colonel positions were a tremendous boon to the generals of Liangzhou, enough to satisfy their appetites, and the most appropriate way to settle them at this stage.

Moreover, the allocation of these generals, military supervisors, colonels, chief clerks, registrars, and military advisors, and who would work with whom, were the checks and balances that Liu Bian needed to prepare.

(3169 words)
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P.S.: I had a super delicious egg fried rice for dinner, so I'm adding a 1000-word update. I'm begging you readers to shower me with monthly tickets since I've added 2000 words today!

(End of this chapter)