Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 289: Let the common people suffer, and you will bear the infamy.
There is no way to have it all in this world, let alone Liu Bian who hopes to have it all!

However, as a former official of Liu Bian's former residence who was personally promoted and most trusted by Liu Bian, Jia Xu actually came up with a "good solution" that would benefit the emperor in three ways!
Jia Xu remained calm and advised, "The state can issue a decree that all households that employ tenants must pay a huge tax for each tenant. Even powerful families and wealthy farmers would find it difficult to bear such a burden, and the only solution would be to dismiss the tenants."

Jia Xu paused, his gaze sweeping over the assembled officials, especially his colleagues from aristocratic families, before continuing, "Once tenant farmers lose their masters, they become refugees without a livelihood. If people can't even get enough to eat and are on the verge of starvation, how can they care about 'being reluctant to leave their homeland'?"

"In order to survive, these tenant farmers who lost their livelihoods naturally had no choice but to obey the decrees issued by the imperial court and go to Liangzhou, Youzhou, Bingzhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou and other places to reclaim wasteland and strengthen the border."

“At that time,” Jia Xu bowed slightly, observing the emperor’s expression, and slowly said, “then order all localities to send troops from the prefectures and counties to escort and supervise the migration of refugees along the way, and to provide them with rations. Even if the court reduces the preferential treatment for immigrants, they will not hesitate to go to various places to reclaim wasteland and strengthen the borders.”

In short, by depriving tenant farmers of their means of livelihood, they were left with no choice but to follow the path of survival "generously and mercifully" granted by the imperial court.

That makes sense, doesn't it? A wave of layoffs?
Faced with Jia Xu's advice, Liu Bian froze, staring straight at Jia Xu, his lips slightly parted, momentarily at a loss for words.

Aside from risking his life to frame the New Text School for assassination when Lu Zhi was falsely accused of colluding with the Yellow Turbans, Jia Xu under his command did not display the ruthlessness that should belong to this "poisonous strategist".

But at this moment, Liu Bian felt his heart grow colder after hearing Jia Xu's argument.

A chill ran from his feet to the top of his head. Although he was in the warm Yuntai Pavilion with its fire walls, he suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his fingertips were cold.

The man before him, Jia Xu, his trusted strategist with whom he often joked and played, now seemed so unfamiliar. It was as if he was only truly getting to know Jia Xu for the first time today.

Although similar methods have been used throughout history, the Qin Dynasty sent troops to drive people there, and the Han Dynasty also forcibly relocated people to the border regions.

Jia Xu's strategy was implemented through government decrees, a much gentler approach that also considered the livelihoods of the people, a principle that even later generations never failed to uphold... However, on a moral level, if such a thing were done, Liu Bianzhen felt that his son would be born without an anus.

Isn't this practice risky? It might lead to foxes howling along the migration route, or someone slaying a giant python, or even digging out a stone man with one eye.
Perhaps he was ultimately not ruthless enough. He could disregard the interests of powerful and wealthy families, but he couldn't bring himself to cut off the livelihoods of ordinary people and force them to cooperate with the country's development.

However, Jia Xu's suggestion was considered a brilliant idea by the other cabinet ministers!
Guo Tu immediately echoed loudly, saying, "What Jia Wenhe said is truly wise and insightful; I wholeheartedly agree!"

Although he was also a powerful family with many tenants, as Jia Xu mentioned, and this decree would release a large number of tenants, and this decree would also cause heavy losses to the Guo family of Yingchuan, what did these things matter compared to his personal career?
Guo Tu walked a few steps to the center of the hall, his gaze fixed intently on Jia Xu, his eyes filled with envy.

Damn it, such a good idea, why didn't it come from me, the Chief Justice of the Court who always associates with powerful and wealthy families?
"This is not a method that achieves all three goals, but a wonderful method that achieves four goals at once!"

"Besides the three benefits mentioned by Jia Wenhe, after powerful families dismiss their tenants, they lack enough manpower to cultivate the land. As a result, the vast amount of farmland under their names cannot be cultivated normally, and eventually all of this farmland will be sold."

"With more farmland entering the market, the price of farmland will naturally decrease. At that time, whether it is purchased at low prices in the name of the Imperial Household Department or by local governments, the number of official and public farmlands can be greatly increased at extremely low prices!"

As a member of a powerful and influential family, Guo Tu was all too aware of the destructive power of this decree on such families. Driven by his desire to advance his career, Guo Tu even raised his hand to the emperor and declared loudly, "Your Majesty, I am willing to take the example of the Guo family of Yingchuan and call upon our clansmen to voluntarily dismiss their tenants, sell their land, and actively respond to the decree issued by the court!"

Zhong Yao, who also came from a prominent family, frowned slightly. After a brief hesitation, he, who was always composed, spoke up: "What Guo Gongze and Jia Wenhe said... is indeed reasonable."

Zhong Yao could tell that the benevolent emperor was somewhat resistant to Jia Xu's suggestion, but he still tried to persuade him: "This is indeed a wonderful way to eliminate tenants. If the number of tenants in a family gradually increases, it will inevitably reduce the overall treatment of the tenants. Once a natural disaster or man-made calamity occurs, the tenants will be forced to leave their master's house in years of famine."

"If the tenants were hastily dismissed at that time, the number of people who died of cold and hunger would probably far exceed the number of people who died during the migration. If someone took the opportunity to incite the tenants who had lost their livelihoods, the Taiping Dao Moth Rebellion during the reign of the retired emperor would be repeated."

"absurd!"

As a traditional Confucian scholar, Xu Jing naturally despised this seemingly benevolent but actually no different from the "tyrannical Qin" approach. It was just that the tyrannical Qin forced them to use weapons, while the Han forced them to use their livelihoods. Xu Jing pointed at Jia Xu and Zhong Yao and sternly refuted them, slamming his fist on the table and saying, "You are treating the people like livestock. How can you act like this!"

Guo Tu was a Legalist scholar, but were you Jia Xu and Zhong Yao also Legalists?

Liu Bian sat silently on the throne, offering no opinion, but simply watching the assembled officials argue with his deep gaze.

In fact, Liu Bian was also filled with inner conflict, and he didn't know what to do.

As a believer in pragmatism, under normal circumstances, he would naturally appreciate Jia Xu's "wise strategy" that benefits the country.

However, behind this "benefit to the country" may lie the corpses of millions of tenant farmers who have lost their homes and families.

You want to make the common people suffer, and then you'll bear the blame, right?
Liu Bian refused to profit from the suffering of others.

However, many cabinet ministers believed that sacrificing millions of people to bring happiness to the remaining 40 million people and future generations was more beneficial than harmful, so why wouldn't it be worth doing?

Among the dissenting officials, Zhang Zhao had the loudest voice. He practically yelled at Jia Xu, calling him a beast. His hair and beard stood on end, and he even rolled up his sleeves, as if he were about to stage an unrestricted fighting match at Yuntai Pavilion. He angrily said, "Jia Wenhe, aren't you afraid of being cursed by the people and being infamous for ten thousand years?"

Jia Xu merely glanced at him indifferently; he had no intention of arguing with this young man, and those personal attacks meant nothing to him. However, when Zhang Zhao's next sharp question rang out, Jia Xu's expression instantly changed.

"You, Jia Wenhe, are so selfless and have the world at heart, so why don't you relocate your three precious sons to Youzhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou respectively? Do you dare?!"

Zhang Zhao was about to continue speaking when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively looked at Jia Xu and met Jia Xu's gaze.

His gaze was cold and sharp, carrying a silent, chilling sense of oppression, as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake poised to strike.

Zhang Zhao immediately shut down, his throat tightened, and the words he was about to say were swallowed back down.

Although the cabinet ministers who opposed the move could not agree with this cruel approach, they had to admit that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

But human lives cannot be measured by cold numbers. Unless the minority group sacrifices itself for the benefit of the majority, who has the right to think that the sacrifice of the minority group is necessary?
Those were all living, breathing Han Chinese citizens!
He could ignore Empress He's execution of a minor eunuch who failed to deliver a message to Zhao Zhong on Zhao Zhong's orders in order to maintain harmony between mother and son, but that was because of his incompetence, which only exacerbated the seriousness of the matter and was his own fault.

But he cannot ignore those innocent civilians, especially the millions of them!

What have these millions of people done wrong? Why should they bear the cost of the happiness of the remaining 40 million people?
They are living, breathing people, not seven-digit numbers that can be manipulated at will in a game!
The inherited empire is ultimately not as capable as the one that was built by one's own hands, which can completely destroy and rebuild, eliminate accumulated problems, and establish new rules.

Liu Bian sighed heavily, wearily waved his hand, and stopped the increasingly heated debate among the officials.

He didn't look at anyone else, got up alone, and walked heavily up the steps to the second floor of Yuntai Pavilion, not wanting the officials to disturb him.

The cabinet ministers and former officials from the young emperor's former residence watched as he ascended the steps and disappeared from their sight. Only then did they belatedly realize that their arguments and Jia Xu's ruthless strategy had plunged the young monarch into an unprecedented predicament.

However, the courtiers did not think that the emperor was weak or pedantic, much less indecisive.

The emperor has always possessed the vigor of a young man, and when governing, he always displays a spirit of ambition and progress. Many of his decrees are actually his own ideas, proposed through his trusted confidants.

Therefore, how could the emperor be a pedantic person?

He simply loved the people.

Everyone has a scale in their heart. When faced with the choice between interests and benevolence, those who are unwilling to sacrifice "small benevolence" for the sake of so-called "great benevolence" may be considered somewhat pedantic, but they will never be ridiculed.

Even though Duke Xiang of Song was pedantic, later generations would still lament that he fought the last righteous war of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Faced with a loyal minister of an enemy state who vowed to die rather than surrender, though annoyed by his foolish loyalty, he also respected his integrity and buried him with great ceremony.

A cold-blooded and ruthless politician may become a "wise ruler" who leads the country to prosperity.

But if given a choice, who wouldn't want to follow a king who is willing to give up his country and his young son without reservation, and even say, "If he is not capable, you may take the throne yourself"?
A profound silence fell over the pavilion.

After a long while, Jia Xu stretched out his hand, bent his knuckles, and tapped the table in front of him a few times, neither too hard nor too soft.

The crisp sound of knocking broke the silence, pulling everyone back from their chaotic thoughts. Jia Xu's gaze swept over everyone, and his tone returned to its usual calm as he said, "Let's discuss how to minimize the casualties among the people during the migration."

"Immigration is imperative. Since the nation is not satisfied with this strategy, then we should formulate a strategy that satisfies the nation. Isn't this the duty of the Attendant-in-Ordinary as the emperor's advisors?"

Zhang Zhao looked at Jia Xu, who now appeared unusually mature and shrewd, a stark contrast to his earlier sinister and venomous demeanor.

Although he still harbored deep resentment towards the ruthless strategy, he had to admit that endless debate was pointless.

As the emperor's advisors and strategists, the duties of the Attendant-in-Ordinary were never to simply present the emperor with a plan, leave him to decide whether to do it or not, argue endlessly about the strategy, and wait for the emperor's final decision.

“Wenhe is absolutely right! You lot have turned Yuntai Pavilion into a marketplace. Where is the dignity of an imperial advisor?” Dong Zhao rubbed his stiff neck, his bones making a slight cracking sound, and continued, “The nation is ruled by an unparalleled sage, benevolent, and trustworthy ruler! Since we are paid by the Han, we should help the nation solve its problems, not add to its troubles.”

"only!"

The ministers in the pavilion straightened up and turned around in unison, bowing respectfully in the direction of the steps where the emperor had left.

(End of this chapter)