Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 195 The Four Seas Are Broken
At the end of May in the third year of Zhongping.

Liu Hong felt that his situation seemed to be improving...

First, Heishan was successfully recruited, and Hebei gained a large army. Although this army might not be obedient, it could at least serve as a deterrent.

For the emperor, the greatest role of the army was its deterrent power. As long as the Black Mountain Army was nominally under the imperial court, all forces north of the Yellow River and even the entire Guandong region would have to restrain themselves.

Liu Yan used a pretext of bullying men and women to suppress the Yuan brothers, and questioned the "pure stream" in various places for oppressing the people and causing rebellions everywhere. This forced the aristocratic families, including the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong, as well as the pure stream in various places, to prove their abilities and innocence.

The upright officials who were originally only interested in manipulating their reputations volunteered to fight against the rebellion, and various aristocratic families also petitioned to send some truly capable officials to various places to suppress the rebels.

The newly appointed governor of Nanyang, Yang Xu, quelled Zhao Ci's rebellion shortly after taking office, and Nanyang was restored to stability.

Although the Liangzhou rebels have not yet been quelled, they no longer pose a threat to Chang'an.

In other words, at least the capital region and the surrounding areas have stabilized, and Zhang Wen's defeat is not necessarily a bad thing for the emperor—Zhang Wen's army all came from powerful clans, and now that the power of these clans has shrunk again, Liu Hong's control over the court has actually been strengthened.

It was precisely because of this that even though Zhang Wen suffered such a major defeat, Liu Hong did not replace him. Instead, he promoted Zhang Wen to Grand Commandant, allowing him to continue to manage the western war zone in Chang'an.

This is the first time since the Han Dynasty that a Grand Commandant has not served in the imperial court.

Of course, Liu Hong appointed Zhang Wen as Grand Commandant not out of trust, but out of distrust...

They only wanted to promote him to higher positions because he didn't believe them, so they bestowed favors to appease him while simultaneously arranging for people to monitor him.

Since the army had not been paid for a long time, and since these troops were not originally the emperor's troops, in order to prevent Zhang Wen from colluding with the rebels to support his own power, and also to prevent the army from causing trouble, Liu Hong sent Zou Jing as the supervising officer, and also transferred Liu Bei to Chang'an to "reinforce" the army.

This is not just for surveillance; the main purpose is to bring the overall situation into balance.

Liu Hong rewarded Dong Zhuo by granting him a title of nobility, which was actually the highest level of favor and appeasement—no one could offer a higher treatment than this. Regardless of who Dong Zhuo's patron or backer was, at least for now, Dong Zhuo could be regarded as a loyal subject of the emperor.

After all, Dong Zhuo had just been granted a marquisate. Even if it was for the sake of his subordinates and family, Dong Zhuo had to obey the emperor's orders completely in the short term, otherwise he would be a real ingrate.

The same applies to Bao Hong. Huangfu Song had already lost his official position and been demoted, while Bao Hong had received the emperor's favor and could also be regarded as part of the emperor's army.

Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo and Bao Hong won their only victory, and Dong Zhuo's troops were the only ones to escape Liangzhou unscathed. At present, Dong Zhuo has a high prestige in the Western Theater Command and can now rival Zhang Wen.

Liu Bei was certainly not someone who could be easily controlled, but as long as he obeyed orders, that was fine. At least nominally, Liu Bei was part of the central military command—in reality, this order was based on distrust.

Liu Hong did not know how many troops Liu Bei had in Youzhou, but Liu Bei had previously been able to defeat the Xianbei together with Zhang Yan, so his strength was naturally not weak. In addition, Liu Bei and Zhang Yan had a very good relationship, which was a huge danger no matter what.

Therefore, he wanted to transfer Liu Bei away from Youzhou so that Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Zhang Wen and others would restrain each other.

Zhang Yan was indeed untouchable, and Liu Hong dared not transfer the Black Mountain Army, which had only recently been recruited, to Chang'an.

With figures like Dong Zhuo, Bao Hong, Zou Jing, and Liu Bei in Chang'an and Fufeng, the Western Theater Command essentially brought together troops from all factions, creating a system where each force would restrain and monitor the others.

In this way, no matter what anyone's intentions are, they won't be able to cause trouble.

—This arrangement does indeed seem to imply that internal stability must precede external resistance.

Moreover, in late May, Liu Hong received a report from Zhang Wen that the various rebel armies in Liangzhou had suddenly stopped attacking cities and seizing territories, especially the Xianling Qiang, who almost all of them had ceased their attacks and returned to their respective tribes.

It's understandable that the rebels, having just won a battle and now in the height of summer, would refrain from launching an attack on the city.

But the Qiang people suddenly stopped causing trouble, which is hard to understand...

Liu Hong was unaware of the reason, but it was a good thing nonetheless, so he asked Zhang Wen to try to recruit other rebels, such as Han Sui of Jincheng.

Han Sui's original name was Han Yue. He was initially coerced and manipulated by Bei Gong Boyu. Later, he was regarded as a traitor by Longxi, Jincheng and other places, so he changed his name to Han Sui and became a rebel.

It is indeed worth trying to recruit them.

The emperor has already tasted the benefits of recruiting the Black Mountain Army, and he would like to try recruiting them whenever the opportunity arises.

However, Zhang Wen submitted a memorial stating that Chang'an, Fufeng and other places were ruined due to the looting by the rebels, and the army had not been paid for a long time, with more and more deserters. There was an urgent need for military pay to boost morale.

At the same time, if Han Sui were to be recruited, he would first need to be appeased with a large amount of money and goods, and be asked to provide him with funds.

This is a reasonable request and it must be done, as the army has indeed not received its pay this year.

But Liu Hong really doesn't have the money right now.

Taxes such as poll tax are usually collected in early July (mid-year); grain tax is collected in mid-August, and the money is usually deposited into the treasury in October. May and June are always the time when food is scarce and the court really has no money.

Liu Hong used last year's land tax to repair the Southern Palace, and also cast four bronze figures, four yellow bells, and bronze statues of the Tianlu beast and toads, etc., and has squandered it all...

The casting of these bronze figures was not for pleasure or to whitewash the situation, but because the Liangzhou rebels had disturbed the Western Mausoleum. The rebels did not desecrate the late emperor's tomb, but they took away all the bronze figures, bronze bells, and guardian beasts of the Western Mausoleum. This had to be restored immediately, otherwise it would be a great act of filial impiety.

What to do if there's no money to pay salaries?
Increase taxes?

But the land tax was already increased last year, and it's being increased again this year. I'm afraid the Yellow Turbans will rise again...

Liu Hong still had some sense of right and wrong.

At this time, Liu Yu, Liu Yan, and Cao Song, the Grand Minister of Agriculture, gave Liu Hong a good idea—to abolish the old coins and mint new ones.

This means that the people should hand over their old Wuzhu coins to the court and exchange them for newly minted coins, one for one. This way, the people would not suffer losses, and a large amount of copper coins could be obtained quickly without increasing taxes.

This involves collecting old currency first and then minting more new currency, rather than exchanging it in real time. After all, there are no banks in various places, so people can only hand over the old currency first and wait for the court to allocate new currency in return. There can be a two-month time difference in between.

As long as this time difference is utilized effectively and new coins are continuously minted in large quantities, the imperial court will never lack money.

As for inflation... sorry, none of them knew the term.

To distinguish it from the old coins, the new coins will have a four-pointed star pattern on the reverse side, which means that there is a raised straight line at each of the four corners of the square hole of the coin, which extends radially to the edge of the Wuzhu coin.

If people from various regions do not bring their old currency to exchange, then by July of next year, regardless of other places, at least the capital region will not accept the old currency.

Therefore, the emperor appointed Cao Song to be in charge of replacing the old coins, Liu Yu to be in charge of minting coins in the Western Garden of Luoyang, and Liu Yan to be in charge of copper mining and smelting in Nanyang.

At the same time, an imperial edict was issued to all prefectures and counties, requiring county and county officials to collect old coins and bring them to the capital, and allowing the payment of copper to offset this year's poll tax.

If local officials don't act recklessly, this is actually a pretty good idea...

However, anything involving money is bound to cause problems.

……

Last year, after Liu Hong increased the land tax, there was not much of a stir in the country, after all, there are always ways to circumvent policies.

Last year's additional tax was twelve qian per mu, of which two qian was accounted for the cost of collection and transportation, and ten qian was sent to Luoyang to be collected according to the land records of each prefecture and county.

According to land deeds, there were approximately 400 million mu of land with deeds in the country at that time, which should have yielded more than 3 billion coins.

Large-scale rebellions broke out in Liangzhou, Nanyang and other places, and remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion remained unquenched in other areas. In places where there was war, the emperor could not expect to collect money.

In reality, the emperor only received slightly over 300 million in land tax last year, and only one-tenth of the grain tax collected in previous years.

The statements from various states and counties are as follows:
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, most families who previously owned land fled. Last year, after the landowners returned, the war and subsequent population loss made it impossible to cultivate so much land, forcing them to abandon their properties and leave them to lie fallow… Now, only one-tenth or one-twelfth of the land has been restored to cultivation; most of it has been abandoned, hence the meager grain and land taxes collected…

This explanation seemed reasonable, and Liu Hong also found it understandable, after all, the country had just experienced great chaos, and the various prefectures and counties were probably in a state of disrepair.

But the reality is...

While many powerful clans did flee during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, most returned to their hometowns last year. It's true that a significant portion of the population was lost due to the war, but upon returning, these clans largely recruited displaced people as slaves, so there were very few cases of "being unable to cultivate so much land."

Upon learning that the imperial court was going to collect a land tax, powerful clans, in order to avoid the tax, cooperated with local officials to claim that the land belonged to local small and medium-sized self-cultivating farmers, and then gave a sum of money to the local officials as "land tax".

The money given to officials certainly didn't require as much taxation. Once the officials got the money, how they operated it or how they reported it to the court was entirely up to them to fabricate whatever they wanted.

Meanwhile, if there were no more small and medium-sized self-cultivating farmers in the area—such as in some counties of Jizhou—the powerful clans would make the tenant farmers bear the additional land tax.

In fact, in practice, most wealthy families were not taxed in the past—not that they didn't have to pay, but that they weren't taxed.

Therefore, tenant farmers were not required to pay taxes, which was the main reason why many people were willing to become tenant farmers in wealthy families. Many wealthy families would collect more than 60% of the rent from their tenants, but since they did not have to pay taxes, the tenant farmers were actually able to survive.

However, the additional land tax is now being levied on tenant farmers. Although a dozen or so coins per mu may not seem like much, and ten mu of land is equivalent to the head tax of an adult, many tenant farmers still cannot afford to pay it.

They either had to sell their children or flee with their entire family.

Local powerful families were not worried about their tenants fleeing, because there was no shortage of tenants last year—there were displaced people everywhere due to war and famine, and tenants could be found everywhere. This caused many small and medium-sized self-cultivating farmers who had just settled down, as well as some tenants, to become displaced people again, fleeing their homeland.

The collusion between local powerful families and officials has been going on for a long time; it's common practice. So much so that the additional land tax levied by the emperor last year wasn't even enough to cover the palace's expenses.

Of course, Liu Hong couldn't do anything about it. Although he had decreed that only those without land were exempt from paying land taxes, most wealthy families had now reduced their landholdings to "only a few acres of meager land"... and they all symbolically paid a few dozen coins.

Even if each state and county were required to re-establish land deeds based on the amount of land tax paid, it would be useless. The local population was under the actual control of powerful clans. Even without land deeds, the local powerful clans still had the final say in each place.

The actual effect of the land tax was to turn many small and medium-sized self-cultivating farmers and tenant farmers into tax-evading vagrants... but in fact, people all over the world got used to it.

This year, the policy of exchanging old coins for new ones was implemented. When the officials of various prefectures and counties received the news, their first reaction was: "If the emperor can mint new coins, why can't we?"

In the past, most prefectures could not mint coins, mainly because of a lack of copper, not because they dared not...

But now, the imperial court is ordering the prefectures and counties to collect old coins... wouldn't that mean there would be copper?
The minting of coins by the imperial court involved many people and departments, and the process was complex.

With more people involved, the process became more complicated, and Qian Fan naturally couldn't hold onto the money—in fact, even if he had, it wouldn't have made much difference, as Liu Hong's new coins were simply too simple, just four stripes added.

As a result, exchanging old coins for new ones became a lucrative business for officials in various prefectures and counties. Almost every prefecture and county with the capacity to smelt iron and copper was privately minting coins.

The recycled old coins contained nearly 80% copper. Liu Yu and Liu Yan were quite particular, and the new coins they made together also contained about 80% copper. The quality of the coins was no worse than that of the old coins, and they could be described as exquisite.

But the privately manufactured ones in various prefectures and counties were a different story; those containing 50% copper were considered relatively conscientious...

At the same time, the bigger problem is that having county officials collect old money is actually tantamount to legal robbery!
The imperial court set the expiration date for the old currency as October of the following year. However, in the local areas, the local officials and clerks said that the old currency had to expire immediately and forced people to pay the poll tax in the new currency!
Old money won't be accepted; it'll only be recycled as scrap metal. No new money to pay taxes? That's perfect; the masters are just looking for servants and laborers...

Once you become a servant, you don't have to pay taxes, and you don't have to worry about money anymore.

Who can accept their money becoming worthless overnight?
Those with guts and no ties would rebel, those with ties and burdens would run away, and the rest would all become servants of the wealthy.

Moreover, the Wuzhu coin began to depreciate rapidly, and the new coin with the four-pointed pattern was even regarded as an omen of national ruin, signifying "money flowing through four roads, the whole world is destroyed".

……

It was at this time that the White Waves and Yellow Turbans rose up again.

June of the third year of Zhongping.

Guo Daxian, the leader of the White Wave rebels, launched an attack on Hanoi under the banner of "Taiping" (Peace), with the stated purpose of "purging the court of corrupt officials and restoring peace."

Yang Feng, Lei Gong, and other bandits from Shangdang responded to Guo Daxian's call to arms, captured Shanyang and Heyang, and besieged Huai County.

Guo Daxian carries on the legacy of the Way of Peace. He is Zhang Jiao's last disciple and son-in-law. All the educated young people in the Yellow Turban Rebellion are under his command. This is the true torch that can be passed on.

In the past two years, Bai Bogu has stopped using deceptive tactics and has instead been genuinely spreading the Way of Peace. This is actually the most effective way to gain steadfast believers, especially in Black Mountain.

Although Guo Daxian only had a little over four thousand soldiers, there were quite a few people willing to help him.

Yang Feng was originally a powerful family in Yang County, Hedong. When Zhang Jiao raised his army, he was already a staunch believer in the Way of Peace—there were many believers in the Way of Peace in Hedong.

Lei Gong was a bandit from Shangdang Mountain, a major bandit in western Heishan.

There are still many remnants of the Taiping Dao in Heishan. Although they are now considered "imperial troops," they have all come out to help in anonymity.

The total number of people was nearly 100,000, which was an astonishing number.

Huai County was the political and economic center of Hanoi County, as well as the northern gateway to Luoyang and a transportation hub on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Heyang—this place is on the north bank of Mengjin Ferry, and Luoyang is on the other side of the river.

The attack by the White Wave Yellow Turbans came too suddenly and in too large numbers. Most of the soldiers in Hanoi Commandery had been taken to Youfufeng by Zhang Wen, and the entire Hanoi Commandery offered little resistance and dared not confront them.

At this time, Guo Daxian's troops were only separated from Luoyang by the Yellow River, or rather, only by Mengjin Ferry!

The White Wave Yellow Turbans advanced on Luoyang, shaking the entire world.

Subsequently, large numbers of rebels rose up in Qingzhou, Xuzhou and other places, all calling themselves the Yellow Turbans.

For a time, the world seemed to have returned to the chaos of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Liu Hong was so anxious and frustrated in the West Garden that his lips were covered in blisters. He roughly guessed the reason for the resurgence of the White Wave Yellow Turbans—it was probably because something went wrong with the exchange of old currency for new currency…

He guessed wrong.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qing and Xu prefectures did indeed begin because of the issue of exchanging old coins for new ones, but Guo Daxian didn't care about old or new coins at all. For the past two years, Baibo Valley had been bartering.

What Guo Daxian cared about was the opportunity Liu Bei had given him...

"Our lord sent He to tell Brother Guo... If Zhang Yan can become a general, why can't Brother Guo?"

"Now Hanoi is empty, and Luoyang has no strong army. Zhang Yan can be the governor of Taihang, and Brother Guo can be the governor of Baibo. The court needs someone to check Zhang Yan... If Brother Guo cannot do it, then the Taiping Dao lineage will be passed on to someone who can."

This is what Liu Bei asked Zhang He to convey; it's just these few sentences.

Guo Daxian certainly wanted to seize this opportunity.

However, Liu Bei did not expect that Liu Hong would come up with a policy of exchanging old money for new money. As a result, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out all over the country, and this matter seemed to have become a big problem.

……

Seeing that the Yellow Turban Rebellion had resurfaced and Guo Daxian had even reached their doorstep, Liu Hong originally wanted to send Zhang Yan to quell the unrest.

However, the simultaneous attack on three important towns in Hanoi meant that the area north of the Yellow River was essentially cut off from the capital region, and the imperial envoys could not reach Heishan at all—Zhang Yan's Dapi Mountain was located between the three prefectures of Hanoi, Shangdang, and Weijun.

The troops in Chang'an haven't received their full pay yet, and besides, it's too late to transfer them back...

Luoyang still has the Tiger Guard and the newly formed Western Garden Army, as well as the Feathered Forest Army under He Jin, but the total number is only five thousand, which is obviously not enough.

Even if we can fight, we still need to cross the Yellow River first... The north bank of Mengjin Ferry has already been controlled by Guo Daxian!
"Your Majesty, Cavalry Commandant Liu Xuande has been ordered to reinforce Chang'an and has just reached Ji County in Henan. The roads are currently blocked by the Yellow Turbans. Xuande has sent his subordinate Zhang He, disguised as a Yellow Turban, to cross the river and deliver a message, asking if the Black Mountain Army should be mobilized to quell the rebellion..."

Just as Liu Hong was in a state of panic, Liu Yu brought him good news: "Xuande also said that the White Wave Yellow Turbans have split into several groups, and perhaps we can divide them and recruit them into the government."

"Liu Bei is in Hanoi? That's great... Quick, have Liu Bei request reinforcements from Zhang Yan..."

Liu Hong finally saw a lifeline, but after thinking for a moment, he changed his mind: "Wait, let Liu Bei take the imperial insignia and negotiate with the White Wave Yellow Turbans first. If the White Wave Army is worth recruiting, then don't mobilize the Black Mountain Army..."

"Is Your Majesty worried that the Black Mountain and White Waves will join forces in chaos?"

Liu Yu generally understood Liu Hong, after all, Zhang Yan was originally a rebel.

Liu Hong sighed: "If the Yellow Turbans rise again, it's hard to guarantee that Zhang Yan won't change his mind... There might be people from the Black Mountain in the White Wave Army."

This emperor is indeed very intelligent; he can think of most things. However, being able to think of a problem doesn't necessarily mean he can solve it...

If you go astray, the faster you run, the further you will stray from your goal.

……

That evening, Liu Hong pondered for a long time in the West Garden, then summoned Zhang Rang: "Father, where is Zhu Jun?"

"Zhu Gongwei is currently in mourning in Kuaiji."

Zhang replied.

"I intend to dismiss Zhu Jun from his posthumous position and appoint him as the governor of Hanoi..."

Liu Hong spoke hesitantly.

"His Majesty has already ordered Liu Bei to pacify the White Wave Army. Given Zhu Gongwei's temperament, if he goes to Hanoi, the pacification effort will surely be difficult to achieve..."

Zhang Rang was somewhat puzzled.

"If Liu Bei can quell this rebellion, then Zhu Jun will need to keep an eye on Black Mountain... If Liu Bei cannot quell the rebellion, then Zhu Jun will need to attack White Wave..."

Liu Hong closed his eyes briefly: "If Liu Bei quells the rebellion too quickly, then Zhu Jun will need to keep an eye on him!"

(End of this chapter)