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

Chapter 348 Agricultural Strategy

Guan Yu's decrees were indeed teaching the powerful clans how to be conscientious landowners...

Meanwhile, Xiu Niang arranged for medical students to purchase houses and open clinics in counties such as Nanpi and Lecheng in Bohai.

Those who were seriously injured were sent to a clinic. The clinic did not charge a consultation fee, but it charged for meals and hospitalization, and the hospitalization fee was particularly expensive.

Those injured in such brawls are all sprained bones. After being put in splints and sent home, the bumpy ride can easily cause bone dislocation. However, the sons of wealthy families can afford to be hospitalized.

Disputes and fights are common, anyway, they weren't wearing military uniforms, they were just chivalrous outlaws...

Once the tenants discovered that the imperial court had indeed promulgated such a benevolent policy, their minds naturally changed.

If the wealthy family's sons are beaten and the land rent is demanded, the wealthy family's private soldiers will naturally come out to 'quell the rebellion'.

But this "suppression of the rebellion" goes against the interests of the tenant farmers...

At this point, the brothers regrouped and blocked the private soldiers, "to help the tenants."

The tenants, emboldened by the presence of numerous wandering knights, began to surround powerful families, demanding exorbitant rents from the tenants.

This is helping the tenants collect the extra rent they owe. In this situation, the serfs and tenants will naturally turn to support the chivalrous 'wandering knight' and will no longer become an obstacle.

At the same time, they would return the excess rent collected by the powerful clans to the tenants, directly take grain from the powerful clans' fortified villages for distribution, and incidentally invite the tenants to join the army...

This wasn't about redistributing land; it was about leveraging public opinion, and it was relatively mild.

These things were done by Zhang Rao and Bai Yao, who were very experienced in manipulating the masses. They might not be very good at fighting, but they were really good at this kind of thing.

If the powerful clans accept this and return the land rent, then that's fine.

If they can return the land rent, they won't care about making up for the tax arrears or obeying the imperial court's orders...

However, if any powerful clan's private soldiers dared to kill, Guan Yu and Zhang He would lead elite armored soldiers and a large number of packhorses to arrive quickly. Whether it was a murder or the discovery of controlled weapons, they could take action immediately!

As long as the tenant farmers do not support the powerful clans, Guan Yu has nothing to worry about; he fears no one in a direct battle.

There are not many fools who would take such a risk at this juncture. Guan Yu only fought a small-scale battle outside Leling and wiped out the local powerful clan, the Wu family.

Subsequently, several prominent families from Bohai hosted a banquet for Guan Yu in Nanpi, expressing their willingness to obey Guan Yu's orders. However, they hoped that Guan Yu could protect the interests of the families in Hebei and believed that land rent was a private matter. They also hoped that Guan Yu would submit a memorial to the court to withdraw the land rent decree.

Moreover, they attempted to bribe Guan Yu, sending him a great deal of wealth and beautiful women.

But Guan Yu didn't like their approach. Coming from a poor background, Guan Yu naturally harbored hostility towards wealthy families. He threw down the bribe and firmly refused, almost drawing his sword to kill them.

After that, most of the powerful clans that had closed their cities or fortified their strongholds disappeared, and many began to migrate to Changshan, Zhongshan and other states in western Jizhou. Among them were military leaders such as Yan Liang and Wen Chou.

The Gao Huan family and others moved to Yanzhou.

Many powerful families left, and Guan Yu did not stop them; he was more than happy for these guys to get lost.

Taking advantage of the vacant prime farmland, Guan Yu established official settlements in Bohai and Hejian to take over the tenant farmers and serfs who were stranded there.

Liu Bei's power extended to eastern Hebei, but the local powerful clans in Hebei were clearly opposed to him.

Shortly after Guan Yu took up his post in Bohai, turmoil broke out in Liaodong.

Guan Hai sent back news from the sea that unrest had broken out in the Liaodong vassal state, with various ethnic groups killing county officials and launching a large-scale rebellion.

Gongsun Du of Xuantu somehow acquired a large number of troops and manpower, defeated the Xianbei in the east, and took over as the governor of Liaodong.

……

By the end of October, Liu Bei had ceased all military operations.

Cai Yan also married into Liu Bei's family at this time.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei began distributing the "Agricultural Strategies" in Qingzhou. Initially, it was only distributed in Qingzhou because the quantity was insufficient.

This 'book', drawn entirely from flowcharts, has been in print for ten months, and the number of copies printed so far is still small, only tens of thousands.

Unlike the previous biographies of treacherous officials, this one is only about twenty pages long, short in length, and doesn't care about errors, as long as the names are correct...

The agricultural strategy was over two hundred pages long and allowed no room for error, making it extremely time-consuming and laborious.

Promoting agricultural policies in Qingzhou was relatively easy because Liu Bei's retainers would take on the responsibility of explaining them—they were the administrators of the military settlements.

They may not actually understand, but when someone asks them for help, they usually force themselves to figure it out.

It's not difficult to look at the pictures, since they are realistic.

The most direct derivative value of this "Agricultural Strategy" was that it improved the eloquence and basic personnel management skills of Liu Bei's direct subordinates...

The long-term value, however, can only be realized through subsequent dissemination and application.

To this end, Liu Bei also ordered Jian Yong to add agricultural officials in various counties, with a provisional stipend of 200 shi (a unit of dry measure).

These agricultural officials were the first graduates of the Agricultural and Irrigation College.

Jian Yong was usually carefree and disrespectful, often lying down and playing around in front of Liu Bei. However, he was very strict in supervising studies. Only about a hundred students in the first class graduated, most of whom came from military farms and self-cultivating farmers.

They will be assigned to various counties as agricultural and water conservancy technical advisors, and incidentally supervise officials and prepare for disasters.

If county officials are unreliable, agricultural officials have the right to impeach them directly to the prefecture or state—agricultural officials hold a very high position, after all, agricultural production is the most important government function, without exception.

Cai Yan married into Liu Bei's family at the same time as the publication of "Agricultural Strategies," which was certainly also to enhance the influence of the publication of "Agricultural Strategies."

Although it was a concubine-taking ceremony, Liu Bei and Zuo Yuan held a ceremony that resembled a wedding. There was no wedding procession, but there was a ceremony where Liu Bei and Zuo Yuan went to invite Cai Yan to the door and led her into the house hand in hand.

This is to show respect.

It was also to use the ceremony to give Cai Yong a special aura for the "Agricultural Policy".

Because Cai Yong reciprocated the respect in another way—he wrote a poem for the "Agricultural Policy".

Agricultural Strategy Ode

Only the virtue of earth can sustain all things, distinguishing the hundred grains to nourish the people. In the past, Hou Ji taught the people to sow the seeds in due season, and Fan Shi arranged the granaries.

However, secret techniques may be hidden in government treasuries, while good methods are often lost in the wilderness.

Only a virtuous person can inherit the grand plan and compile agricultural books, opening up the Milky Way to illuminate the lives of the common people.

Its outline is arranged with the three celestial bodies, its details are divided into nine regions, its soil veins are analyzed according to the standard, and its timing is revealed to the fingertips.

The rules for dredging and weaving, the exquisite imagery of plows and hoes, the techniques for driving away locusts and insects, and the masterful control of frost and dew.

For example, when Yu cast the tripod, calamities could not be hidden; when Xihe held the compass, time was never wasted.

Therefore, jade tablets were issued to the four fields, and imperial edicts were sent to the villages. The best methods of heaven and earth were combined, and simple diagrams were used to communicate with the people.

Schools taught the plow and hoe, and field foremen taught the method of soaking seeds. They dispelled the confusion of old farmers about beans and opened the door for young children to learn about farming.

If only there were no barren lands in Qing and Xu, and abundant markets in You and Ji, then the ears of grain would hang down like clouds, and the granaries would rise high to reach the sky.

Alas! The Zhou palace recorded the story of the rice farmer, and the Han palace collected the discussion on the succession of crops. How can this collection, which encompasses all the land and benefits the ages, compare?

Seeing the old man standing on his plow reciting poetry, and the silkworm-raising woman leaning against the wall reading, one realizes that the virtuous deeds of the wise men shine upon the people, standing as eternally as the rivers and mountains.

……

(End of this chapter)