Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 80 The success or failure of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yingchuan rests solely on the decision of the powerful clans!
The river and fields are clear, and the journey is long. The fields are connected by paths, and the Chen family's estate is nearby, which is also where the Taiping Dao members stop to rest. A few years ago, when the Great Teacher of Virtue last came, this was still a village where the Taiping Dao society was located, but now it has completely changed.

"Wow."

Farmers toiled in the fields of withered wheat, laboriously carrying water to irrigate and sustain the wheat's life. The best time to water was at dawn and dusk, but to fetch water, it was best to get up in the middle of the night and be busy by the third or fourth watch of the night. This arduous work, however, was not for their own fields. Every plot of land, every harvest in the estate, belonged to the Chen family. Ironically, though, having become tenant farmers of the Chen family, and with the protection of this powerful clan, the able-bodied men, after their hard labor, were able to catch their breath a little longer. The noose around their necks loosened, perhaps allowing them to live a little longer.

"Ah Chen, is it something to be happy about being a tenant farmer and slave for the Chen family? Even if sixty percent of the annual harvest is taken away?"

"Ah? Master Fu, everyone... there's nothing we can do. Even if we believed in the Way of Peace, we couldn't survive on our own. We still have to pay taxes, and the miscellaneous taxes aren't much less, not to mention the deadly corvée labor and military service. When there's a famine, there's no surplus food, no money to buy food, all the money is taken away by the government. My father and mother starved to death like this, wrapped in straw mats and buried. Only the kind-hearted Master Chen gave us a bite to eat!"

Zhang Chengfu pursed his lips and looked over. The young and strong man, Ah Chen, rubbed his eyes and revealed a smile that was even uglier than crying.

"Thank Heaven for its grace! As long as we submit to the Chen family, the government tax collectors will no longer come knocking on our door, and the deadly corvée labor and military service will no longer fall on our shoulders. As for collecting 60% rent, that is also the magistrate's kindness, it is only right, it is only right! We villagers are just happy as long as we have a bite to eat and can survive."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengfu remained silent, unable to utter a single word. Yingchuan Commandery bordered the Commandant of the Capital Region, adjacent to the heart of the Han Dynasty's rule. Just a few dozen miles north of Xuanyuan Pass lay the imperial capital, Luoyang. From Xuchang County to Luoyang, it was less than two hundred li. In other words, this was the very core of the imperial court's rule, where tax collectors were extremely strict, demanding payment from the court and the emperor, as well as enriching themselves. "Exorbitant taxes are more ferocious than tigers"—this was always a realistic depiction, not some exaggerated exaggeration!

The self-cultivating farmers, who formed the basis of the Han Dynasty's tax revenue, were thus lost, becoming appendages of powerful clans. Tax officials were then forced to further exploit the remaining small self-cultivating farmers to ensure tax revenue, thereby accelerating land consolidation and the development of manors in the region. After a series of natural disasters, man-made calamities, and epidemics, even the Taiping Dao, a rural association in Yingchuan, lacked the capacity for relief and self-help. Therefore, when powerful clans opened up their manors and devoured the able-bodied young people, evolving from large clans into powerful families, the villagers' reaction was not resistance or struggle, but rather grateful submission!
"The mighty tide surges ever onward. Our Taiping Dao, by forming associations among the people and protecting the self-sufficient farmers, is essentially safeguarding the imperial tax base. No wonder the prefects in various regions are lenient. It is the annexation by powerful clans that is truly draining the foundation of this great Han Dynasty, hollowing out this towering tree! Ultimately, the Taiping Dao believers' resistance to taxes is simply a plea for fair taxation, a request for the imperial court to give the people a way to survive. But what the powerful clans are doing is demanding 'one-thirtieth of the tax,' or even refusing to pay any tax at all!"

Zhang Chengfu gazed intently at Ah Chen's former village, now the Chen Family Farm. Before they submitted to the Chen family, the farm couldn't even fetch irrigation water, let alone the nearby river, for farming. Water was owned by certain families; water was scarce everywhere. Even the estates of the powerful lords didn't have enough water, so why should commoners like them have it? Now that it's become the estate of the powerful lords, then the lords can discuss and decide how to allocate it.

"Moo! Moo!"

As the sun rose higher, the oxen bellowed throughout the village, parched with thirst, just like everyone else. Large livestock are very water-sensitive, and ordinary rural villages couldn't raise many cattle, partly due to poverty and partly because severe droughts could kill them. Right now, many tenant farmers' boys were carefully feeding the early-harvested grass, tending to the village's dozen or so oxen. These oxen were vital assets to the Chen family, far more valuable than people! If anything happened to the oxen, these boys would be whipped to death by the foreman!
"Ah Chen, were the iron farm tools in your village provided by the Chen family's steward?"

"Yes, Master Fu. These farm tools also belong to the masters; they're just lending them to us. We have to pay for even one missing item! If two are missing, we can't afford to pay, and the foreman will beat us half to death. But the masters are kind-hearted! By handing over the farm tools and oxen to the estate, the deeper the plowing and the more frequently the weeding, the harvest will definitely be more than before! Even if the foreman takes ten percent, it's still better than before! Maybe it will even allow the cowherd, Awa, to have a decent meal."

Looking at the simple hope on Ah Chen's face, and at his slightly reddened eyes, Zhang Chengfu remained silent for a long time, unwilling to shatter the poor man's hopes. The villagers toiled from winter to spring, and from spring to autumn, sweating and exhausting themselves in the fields. Then, of all their harvest, seventy percent was taken: sixty percent went to Chen's family, and the remaining ten percent was kept by the steward. Even so, they remained deeply grateful to the officials, pinning their hopes on this temporary means of survival!

To ensure a good harvest for their estates, the lords would improve production tools and send out estate managers to strictly supervise the tenant farmers' work. The tenant farmers, on the other hand, didn't have to worry about much; they just needed to work hard, cultivate the land, and deliver grain.
However, being a tenant farmer for a wealthy family meant selling one's youthful strength; there was no way to store up food. When the toil in the fields bent their backs, their bodies broke, or when a major disaster or drought struck and they were driven from the estate by their master, they had only one path left: to wait for death, like an old dog starving to death by the roadside. The future never belonged to the villagers; even merely surviving temporarily was a tremendous effort.

To some extent, the situation in Yingchuan County, with its ever-growing and even developed manor economy, already showed the rudiments of the aristocratic clans of the Wei and Jin dynasties. This manor-style economy concentrated large amounts of land, fostered strong personal dependence relationships, and exploited tenant farmers like serfs to support the extravagant lifestyles of the gentry and high-ranking families. No matter how the Wei and Jin literati embellished or softened it with sentimentality, it had nothing to do with fairness and benevolence!
However, Zhang Chengfu also understood that although the manor economy of these aristocratic families was brutally exploitative, it did not reverse the progress of productivity. The productivity of aristocratic manors was constantly improving, and various agricultural production techniques were all conceived and passed down within these manors.

Currently, powerful clans control cultural knowledge and the discourse of public opinion. They also control land, cattle, and water resources, and command tens of thousands of serfs. More importantly, they possess tax-exempt privileges, ensuring the stable inheritance of all this! Without breaking these barriers, especially their monopoly on cultural knowledge, it is impossible to eliminate the foundation upon which this cruel exploitation rests.
In short, although the powerful families at the end of the Han Dynasty were "living a life of luxury and extravagance," they had not yet become the completely reactionary gentry and landlords of the Ming and Qing Dynasties! They did not actively drive social productivity forward, not even to satisfy their luxurious and extravagant aristocratic lifestyle, with hundreds or thousands of people supporting one person!
"Grain Rain is approaching, but there is no rain."

Zhang Chengfu stood by the edge of the fields in the village, slowly squatted down, and grasped a handful of dry soil. He squeezed it tightly, but the soil had no shape, slipping through his fingers like gravel. The rainfall was insufficient, and the signs of drought were becoming apparent. This dry soil, like the farmers he saw in the village, like Ah Chen beside him, had long been drained of all vitality, its last remaining spirit shattered.

Will these able-bodied men, who have been taken in as followers by powerful families and were once believers in the Way of Peace in Yingchuan, be able to rise up in the Yellow Turban Rebellion next year and raise hoes and bamboo spears against the powerful families and the owners of the manors? Or will they be influenced by the powerful families and the invisible hand of the lords, becoming cannon fodder in the struggle between the powerful families and the emperor, becoming pawns destined to die?
Zhang Chengfu had no answer to such a question. He didn't have the ability to predict the future; he could only move forward with unwavering determination. He lowered his head, looking at the dry soil in his hands, and after a long while, he spoke to Ah Chen, who was standing beside him with expectation.

"Ah Chen, there might be a drought this year, so let's prepare early!"

"Ah! A talisman master? This...this year there really will be a drought? Really? Is it true?"

"Hmm. Maybe."

"How could this be? How could this be? Master Chen clearly showed kindness, and Heaven clearly gave us a way to survive. How could there be such a severe drought? Master Fu, are you mistaken? The masters clearly said, 'Plant the land well, and Heaven will reward you with a bountiful harvest.'"

"Hmm, perhaps they're wrong!" "They can't be wrong! If they are, how can we live? My child, your mother just died."

"."

Zhang Chengfu lowered his head and sighed softly. Then, unwilling to look at Ah Chen's reddened eyes, he gazed for a while at the green wheat fields that the villagers had painstakingly cultivated from dawn till dusk. After a long while, he finally stood up, patted Ah Chen on the shoulder,

“Ah Chen, if you can’t survive, remember, there’s food on the lords’ estate! No matter what, you are all followers of the Way of Peace. If you really can’t survive, go to the Way of Peace in Changshe in the north and find a way to live even in the face of death!”

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, the man, Ah Chen, trembled as if he had heard something terrifying, and involuntarily took several steps back. Zhang Chengfu gave the honest man a deep look, then turned around and went into the Great Teacher's thatched hut.

"teacher!"

The thatched hut was dimly lit; even in an ordinary villager's home, there would be no luxurious candlelight. The Great Teacher Zhang Jiao, sitting cross-legged in meditation, slowly opened his eyes upon hearing his disciple's soft call. He looked deeply at Zhang Chengfu, at the young disciple's lowered eyes, and calmly spoke.

"So? What did you see in the village?"

"Teacher, I saw what we would look like if we failed after we started the uprising."

Inside the thatched hut, Zhang Chengfu knelt down, concealing all his sharpness. He lowered his eyes, his voice soft and low.

"The hearts of the people in Yingchuan County are probably not with my Taiping Dao. The power of the aristocratic families is too great. Their estates often cover tens or hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and their members number in the thousands. The number of gentry is too large. From the county towns to the countryside, their voices are everywhere! The common people, the fields, and the water sources here are quite different from those in Ji and Yan provinces. They have probably already been divided up by the aristocratic families and powerful clans. Even their thoughts are filled with the benevolence and kindness preached by the gentry."

"In Yingchuan County, small farmers who cultivate their own land are almost all struggling to survive, and their numbers are dwindling. Meanwhile, the powerful and influential families of the county and prefecture are numerous, more than ten can count on one hand, and their numbers are still growing. Take the Chen family of Xu County, for example. Chen Shi, also known as Chen Taiqiu, is famous throughout the land and is now eighty years old. The Chen family of Xu County was originally just an ordinary, humble aristocratic family, but it rose to prominence because of this Lord Chen. In fifty years, through three generations of hard work, they have flourished into the powerful family they are today. The Chen family has grown rapidly, with its direct descendants branching out, collateral branches returning to their ancestral line, and servants who have changed their surnames to serve them, especially after the disasters and plagues of the last ten years."

"In fifty years, across three generations, the Chen family of Xu County transformed from a humble aristocratic family into a large clan with tens of thousands of acres of land, becoming a prominent family in the prefecture! Although they cannot compare to the Yuan family of Runan, they can still be described as having deep roots and flourishing branches. These 'farming and studying' families not only have many offspring but are also skilled at cultivating their children, many of whom are talented. For example, Chen Qun, the eldest grandson of Chen Taiqiu, who had just received his courtesy name at the age of eighteen, is said to possess extraordinary talent and a photographic memory."

Zhang Chengfu paused. This Chen Qun, Chen Changwen, was the founder of the Nine-Rank System of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. His background and position undoubtedly placed him within a powerful and influential family, far surpassing Cheng Li's status. He lowered his eyes and continued.

"Teacher, the common people are very simple and honest. They don't know that behind this suffering, the powerful families are the root of all injustice. They only remember the 'kindness' of the powerful families and regard being a tenant farmer or farmhand of the powerful families as a way to make a living. Of course, they hate the government, but this hatred is only directed at a specific person, at a certain tax collector. They are also easily influenced by powerful families, especially the Chen and Xun families, such 'pure and honest' families, 'benevolent gentry'."

"In some respects, these powerful families in Yingchuan were far better than the official families, and they were indeed not as 'fierce and greedy' as they appeared on the surface. In the estates of these powerful families, many people could actually survive without the exploitation of the government, and they could barely make a living. Even if it meant living like dogs, kneeling at the feet of the powerful family's stewards!"

Upon hearing this, the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao stroked his short beard, pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice.

"Chengfu, according to you, the Taiping Dao uprising in Yingchuan next year won't be very large?"

Zhang Chengfu shook his head, his gaze sharp, and answered in a resounding voice.

"No! Teacher, quite the opposite! The Taiping Dao uprising in Yingchuan will be a great success! But the success or failure of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yingchuan is not something we can control, but only depends on the decision of the local powerful families!"

(End of this chapter)