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

Chapter 384 Everyone's Copying Homework

Actually, the current situation is much better than in the original history. The Han Dynasty did not fall into complete chaos, and not so many people died.

Although the various factions don't seem to obey much, they have at least maintained a "loyal" attitude, which is actually better than during Liu Hong's reign.

At least Liu Bei wasn't held hostage by anyone with money or supplies, and his house and granary weren't burned down.

Because the tenant farmers in Liu Bei's government-run settlements were doing reasonably well and were willing to accept refugees, other forces had to exercise restraint in order to prevent all the tenant farmers or commoners from fleeing to Qingzhou—for example, by collecting less grain rent, so that people could at least survive.

So many real cattle and horses have fallen into Liu Bei's hands, so he has to protect the remaining pure cattle and horses, otherwise who will farm the land...

The various academies have also entered a period of normal operation, with new students graduating and becoming officials. Most of the current graduates are from poor families or are displaced scholars, meaning they were already literate before coming to Qingzhou.

As time goes by, more and more ordinary people will start from elementary school and achieve upward mobility through various academies, examinations, or military service.

The vast majority of these people were loyal to Liu Bei.

The Agricultural Strategy also began to spread beyond Qingzhou. Liu Bei did not keep the agricultural technology to himself, which was beneficial to all Han people.

This also gave Liu Bei a good reputation in the provinces of Yan, Yu, Qing, and Xu. Most of the working class, small landowners, and even scholars from poor families had a good impression of Liu Bei, even though they had never met him.

The powerful and influential families were indeed at odds with Liu Bei in terms of both ideology and interests, and this conflict was irreconcilable.

However, the once-powerful families are now divided into multiple groups.

Moreover, these groups are regrouping towards the "Han Dynasty".

This is the biggest change, and it was indeed influenced by Liu Bei.

By bringing Liu Xie to Qingzhou in the most legal way, the whole world must recognize Liu Xie as the only legitimate emperor. Even if some people call Liu Bei a powerful minister and a traitor to the Han, no one can actually question the legitimacy of Liu Bei's role as regent and supervisor of the country.

As long as Liu Xie is alive, the Han Dynasty will remain intact; it will simply have transformed from factional strife into a struggle for power.

Local gentry families formed different groups, each investing and expanding their influence—many families invested in a decentralized manner, which was no longer a matter of factional strife, but rather 'market competition'.

Moreover, everyone was stockpiling grain and troops, and they were also learning some of Liu Bei's tactics.

……

Those who invested in Dong Zhuo could probably be called the Guanlong Group, although not all of them were from Guanlong.

With Liu Xie gone as his political banner and Dong Bai unable to become empress, Dong Zhuo was unable to discard Empress Dowager Dong as his last bargaining chip, effectively confining him to Guanzhong and making it difficult for him to participate in court affairs.

However, Dong Zhuo also copied some of the methods, mainly the military's control of counties and the comprehensive taxation. Dong Zhuo also began to levy a 20% tax on everyone and abolished the tax system, allowing the army to collect taxes directly from people's homes, regardless of whether they were wealthy or not.

Then Li Ru added his own suggestion: he advised Dong Zhuo to assign tasks to each of his troops, with Dong Zhuo's personal guards acting as tax supervisors, only needing to hand over half of their taxes.

In fact, this kind of comprehensive and mandatory expropriation can actually help poor households survive.

Military taxation was viewed as 'tyranny' throughout history, mainly because the military preferred to tax wealthy and powerful families...

Collecting grain from wealthy families is the only way to complete the task quickly. Poor families are too far apart, and many places in Guanzhong and Guanxi are sparsely populated, making it difficult to travel and yielding little profit.

Of course, most of Dong Zhuo's troops collected more than 20% of taxes, but even the most ruthless thieves like Niu Fu did not cause as much harm to the common people as they did when they were collecting taxes.

However, the wealthy and powerful families in Guanzhong did suffer, especially those who did not submit to Dong Zhuo; most of them were ruined... such as Huangfu Song.

……

The investor in Cao Cao was, of course, the Yingchuan Group.

Cao Cao returned the seal of General Who Conquers the East, but accepted the sword sent by Liu Bei, which actually meant that he would not 'conquer the east'.

This was not an act of hostility; on the contrary, it was Cao Cao telling Liu Bei that he did not regard Liu Bei as an enemy and still believed in Liu Bei's character and friendship.

But Cao Cao's investors certainly wouldn't think that way; most of the gentry in the Yingchuan group would be opposed to Liu Bei.

Cao Cao still needed to rely on the powerful families of Yingchuan to establish himself, so it was already quite good that he could secretly express that he would not be an enemy.

After all, the two men had different bases of support. Liu Bei's foundation was in the poor and common people, while Cao Cao had already accepted investment from the powerful clans of Yingchuan.

Since the Yingchuan group lacked a political banner, they would most likely try to seize power from Liu Xie. Therefore, Liu Bei arranged for Zhang Liao and others to be on high alert—this was a matter of stance, not personal hatred.

Cao Cao's purge of powerful clans in Yan and Yu provinces was essentially copying someone else's work, but Cao Cao clearly knew why he was copying it in this way.

Like Liu Bei, Cao Cao was also expanding his own power base, weakening the local powerful clans, and freeing up land, but in a different way.

……

The Jingxiang Group invested in Liu Biao, and the Shuzhong Group invested in Liu Yan; these were actually ways to support the Liu clan.

These two sides are copying another assignment... studying agricultural policies, implementing salt and iron monopolies, and at the same time, seizing large numbers of cattle.

Liu Biao and Liu Yan's choices were based on their environment; both lived in an area south of the Yangtze River with a dense network of waterways, which was the most suitable place to grow rice.

Rice yields are much higher than millet and wheat, and the climate in the south is better, but there is a severe shortage of cattle.

At present, Liu Biao and Liu Yan are both "buying cattle" everywhere, because the cattle are all in the hands of local tyrants, bandits, and landlords.

Those who refuse to sell will definitely get beaten up...

Liu Yan also manufactured a large number of pedal plows for mountain farming—he sold them to wealthy households in Sichuan at a rather high price.

……

The Huaiyang Group, represented by Yuan Shu, is not currently supporting any member of the imperial clan—in fact, Yuan Shu had previously supported one, namely Liu Yao.

After arriving in Yangzhou, Liu Yao did not stay in Shouchun, but was sent to Qu'a County in Danyang Prefecture by Wu Jing and Sun Ben.

Wu Jing was Sun Jian's brother-in-law, and Sun Ben was Sun Jian's cousin; both were currently considered subordinates of Yuan Shu.

To put it simply, Liu Yao was a puppet under the surveillance of Wu Jing and Sun Ben. Yuan Shu only wanted to use Liu Yao's position as governor of Yangzhou to control Yangzhou.

There were just as many powerful clans and local tyrants in Jiangdong as in Jingxiang, making it difficult for the Yuan family to get involved. Investing in Liu Yao would have been a good choice.

However, Liu Yao was killed by Cao Cao at Mount Tai.

This means that Yuan Shu was still investing in himself, a rich second-generation entrepreneur, and his core business was quite vague.

Like most bosses with a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), they have plenty of capital and talent, but their business focus is always shifting.

They frequently make demands like "a colorful black," their management style is rather casual, yet they keep talking about going public...

But Yuan Shu copied his homework; he created a "Leader's Order".

That's right, it's a mock bidding process, with the leader of the Green Forest Alliance issuing the task and the reward clearly stated.

It worked quite well; Zhang Kai killed Liu Chong under the orders of the alliance leader...

……

Each faction has its own methods and plans, but in any case, all factions are currently showing the appearance of "loyal subjects," or at least taking Liu Bei seriously.

This may seem like a situation of fragmentation among warlords, but it is actually different.

Only Gongsun Du of Liaodong and Han Sui and Ma Teng of Liangzhou truly achieved separatist rule; other forces were at least nominally under the banner of the Han Dynasty.

Of course, because Liu Bei was eradicating the roots of powerful clans, each family was trying to support a new banner of the Han dynasty for their own benefit. But in any case, the intensity of the struggle was relatively small.

This is the situation Liu Bei hoped to see—it requires struggle and bloodshed, but the intensity must be controlled to a certain extent, ideally killing more powerful clans and fewer commoners.

Ideally, everyone would copy each other's homework... anything is fine.

Copying everyone's homework is the fastest and most suitable way to solve the root cause of the Han people's problems.

Because most of Liu Bei's policies were aimed at eradicating the roots of powerful families.

Even if half of them were killed but the other half were fattened up, it would still be equivalent to reducing Liu Bei's enemies by half.

Moreover, copying Liu Bei's methods would allow most commoners to survive—if they couldn't, they would go to Qingzhou. The various factions aren't stupid; to have cattle and horses to work for them, they need to have some humanity...

Only through full competition among various forces can the wages and livelihoods of cattle and horses be guaranteed, and only then can consumers enjoy convenience.

Only when the intensity of competition is relatively low can large-scale massacres be avoided.

Even though the various forces were not under Liu Bei's command, they were still "helping" Liu Bei govern the world.

Headaches cannot be treated by just treating the head; the liver, kidneys, intestines, and stomach must first be treated to the point where they can function normally. Otherwise, the patient's body will not be able to absorb the medication, leading to either repeated attacks or even death.

If the country relies entirely on powerful families to gain power, the root cause of land annexation will remain unchanged—even if the country is unified, it will be fundamentally ill from the very beginning, with nothing changing except for the flags on the city walls.

Just like the Jin Dynasty in history, it was initially a state of power dominated by aristocratic families. It achieved a superficial 'unification' by relying on the power of these families, but soon after unification, chaos returned. Furthermore, the selfishness of the major aristocratic families led to the invasion of foreign tribes into the heartland, dragging the entire Chinese nation into an abyss.

Without addressing the issue of land annexation, things will remain the same. Powerful families can threaten the emperor at any time, and it's quite normal for the dynasty to perish after only two generations.

The saying goes, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it"... but this "water" doesn't refer to ordinary people.

If land annexation is resolved through frequent and fierce civil wars, that is, killing each other, the common people, self-cultivating farmers, and small landlords will be the first to die, while the powerful families will still survive, and the structure of interests will remain unchanged.

Not only would it fail to solve the problem, but the constant civil war and bloodshed would also weaken the Han people. Various powerful families or traitors would invite foreign tribes to grow stronger for their own interests, eventually leading to the fall of China and widespread bloodshed.

When powerful clans and aristocratic families decline and perish at the hands of foreign tribes due to their own misdeeds, and everything is shattered, the Han people will rise again from the ruins, expel the foreign tribes, rebuild China, and then a new era of peace and prosperity will begin.

But the price is too heavy; ruins and stench often linger for hundreds of years.

After the Han dynasty, the country was devastated by war, the Han people fled south, the Five Barbarian Tribes invaded China, and the Han people were reduced to being "two-legged sheep" (a derogatory term for people with disabilities).

After the Tang Dynasty, the country was devastated by war. The Khitan established the Liao Dynasty, and the Xianbei, Jie, Di, and Qiang peoples rose up again, still living like sheep.

After the Song Dynasty, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty invaded, and the Han people became the lowest-class slaves.

After the Ming Dynasty, the Manchus invaded, and the Han people no longer even had the right to be slaves.

It's always the same.

Once you know the root cause of the problem, you need to treat it at its source...

Only by addressing the root cause can Liu Bei win.

The more poor, common people, and ordinary citizens who survived, the more supporters Liu Bei would have.

The fewer powerful families there were, the fewer enemies Liu Bei would have—even if the surviving powerful families grew stronger and each had tens of thousands of tenants and servants, it was uncertain who these tenants and servants would be loyal to…

Besides, Liu Bei's surname was Liu.

If the dignity of the Han Dynasty were to crumble, then Liu Bei would lose his greatest asset.

Liu Bei didn't have much appeal to powerful families. If he destroyed the Han Dynasty, all that would remain would be powerful families, thus destroying the Han imperial family's influence. That would be like crippling himself.

How can you possibly win by comparing your weaknesses with others' strengths?
By obeying the emperor's orders and upholding the dignity of the Han Dynasty, the powerful families were replaced by commoners, ensuring that all factions treated the common people with a "protective" attitude, thus rebuilding new upward mobility channels and social structures...

This may look like a patched-up road, but it's actually the only option.

Emperor Liu Xie was the only legitimate ruler. If he lost this banner, Liu Bei's policies would immediately change from "national policies" to "family rules".

The resistance was already great; if it became a family rule, it would be impossible to push through.

Only national policies can make everyone copy others' homework.

Regardless of their faction or ideology, at least for now, they have to copy carefully for their own benefit.

……

……

The winter solstice that year was extremely cold.

In Qingzhou, the ice in all counties was three feet thick, and the Yellow River and Ji River were completely frozen. Carriages and horses could travel on the river, and there was also a large amount of ice at the mouth of the Bohai Bay.

Taishi Ci sent a message from Huainan saying that the Huai River was also completely frozen, making it impossible for boats to sail, and the ice in wells was so thick that it was difficult to break.

Mi Zhu also reported that Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, had fallen ill, and Chen Deng also suffered from gout.

The weather is getting colder year by year, and the sunlight is not as warm as before. The sun looks somewhat hazy and its color is reddish.

Chen Feng also meticulously recorded the scene of "dusk during the day, and the sun as red as blood".

However, Chen Feng simply recorded the facts without delving into the extended meaning of the unity of man and nature.

This phenomenon of a red sun also occurred in the fourth year of the Guanghe era (181). For several days, the daytime was overcast and the sun remained red for several days. This happened around the time of Liu Xie's birth and was regarded as a symbol of destiny.

But Liu Bei knew that this actually meant that there was something like volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere blocking the sunlight, causing a scattering effect.

This was caused by geological activity, most likely by massive volcanic eruptions and earthquakes between the Eurasian and Eurasian plates.

Such a harsh winter is certainly not a good thing.

Reduced solar radiation and lower temperatures, leading to widespread and severe cold, can trigger a series of vicious cycles.

Extremely cold weather makes it difficult for winter crops to survive, which is equivalent to reducing the available time for arable land.

A complete freeze means that the thawing period next spring will be significantly delayed, temperatures will not be high enough for sowing, and spring planting will be postponed.

This will result in insufficient growing season for crops next year, with late planting and early harvesting, leading to a significant drop in yield, and many areas may experience no harvest at all.

As the climate continues to cool, prolonged freezing will lead to large-scale water retention, reduced cloud cover, and disrupted precipitation patterns, weakening the monsoon effect and causing widespread drought in inland areas.

During the spring snowmelt season, excessive melting ice can lead to a surge in water volume in mountainous and water-rich areas, causing large-scale floods and landslides.

It is foreseeable that large-scale natural disasters will occur next year, and it is also foreseeable that the entire Han Dynasty will experience a comprehensive reduction in grain production.

The official settlements in Qingzhou and southern Jizhou developed quite well this autumn, but the large-scale sale of grain and the dispatch of troops to Yanzhou consumed a large amount of stored grain.

To ensure adequate supplies and to prepare for extreme weather conditions in the coming year and even the next few years, Liu Bei planned to prioritize expansion to the south.

With a growing population, Qingzhou needs more arable land.

Liu Bei planned to bring Xuzhou under his actual control, and since Tao Qian had fallen ill, it was time for him to retire.

(End of this chapter)