The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

Li Chang looked at Cheng Yu; the time to report back to him was fast approaching!

"Zilong needs to lead troops, and Shangdang is unguarded. Why don't you, Zhongde, go there?"

Cheng Yu cupped his hands in greeting: "Yes, sir!"

Over the next few days, they began their second New Year celebration!

Batch after batch of prisoners and corpses were transported back to Yanmen, which greatly reduced the labor pressure and also eased the food pressure on the prisoners.

Xiahou Lan will temporarily take charge of this matter voluntarily.

A few days later, at the government treasury.

Li Chang held the account book and read out a number, and Liu Bei's eyelids twitched.

"The grain supply totals 270,000 shi, enough to feed our 10,000 soldiers for more than a year."

"The gold and silver treasures are countless, estimated to be enough to buy 500,000 shi of grain!"

"Over four hundred sets of iron armor, five thousand spears, eight hundred powerful bows, and one hundred thousand arrows! And their quality far surpasses that of the county troops' weapons!"

"There are hundreds of warhorses, but unfortunately the cattle and sheep, especially the oxen, are scattered in the fields of those large clans, and most of them still have owners."

"???"

Liu Bei was stunned when he heard this. Was this something to regret?

That's as if they stole all these things!

Li Chang continued:

"We found an unclaimed land deed, which happened to be unclaimed land, fertile fields in Taiyuan and Shangdang counties, totaling about one million mu."

Unfortunately, these might belong to powerful and influential families.

Liu Bei looked up at Li Chang.

Is that even possible? Isn't it obvious?

He suddenly realized something: "Fourth brother, you don't mean you don't want to return it to them, do you?"

Liu Bei was trembling all over, his lips were quivering, and it took him a long time to utter a single sentence.

In his entire life, he had never seen, much less even dared to dream of, so much money and food! He had never seen so many beautiful clothes! And those dogs!

Now that he suddenly has so much wealth, he feels a little unreal.

Unexpectedly, his fourth brother even wanted the land!

After a long pause, Liu Bei swallowed hard and whispered, "Fourth brother... with so much stuff, how about... we give some back to those aristocratic families?"

"Return it?" Li Chang exclaimed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Brother, why should we return it?"

He thought to himself: Why should we give back what we stole with our own abilities?

Li Chang, with an air of righteous indignation, stood on the moral high ground and pointed fingers at the aristocratic families:

"These things didn't fall from the sky, nor did they earn them themselves. They were the hard-earned money they scraped from the people over hundreds of years!"

"They have seized the land of the common people, forcing countless families to be broken up and people to die. As a result, the rich in the Han Dynasty now own vast tracts of land, while the poor have nowhere to stand!"

Now they've let wolves into the house, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Jinyang residents. These things should be returned to the people!

Li Chang pointed to the account book and said decisively:

"I plan to use a portion of this money and grain to provide relief to the disaster victims in Taiyuan and Shangdang, repair the burned-down houses, and distribute seeds and oxen to every household."

The remaining half will be used to expand the army, establish schools, build bridges and roads, and improve the livelihood of the people in Bingzhou!

"Fertile land can be rented to landless people and demobilized soldiers under the name of government land, about 20 mu per person, with only 60% of the land rent collected, and no other exorbitant taxes!"

This way, fifty thousand people can be saved!

"What is taken from the people should be used for the people. That is where these things should go."

Looking into Li Chang's resolute eyes, Liu Bei thought of the suffering people and the corpses scattered throughout Jinyang City.

The people who suffer the most in Bingzhou are not the medical workers, but the common people!

He took a deep breath and nodded heavily:

"Alright! We'll do it your way! Not a single penny of these things will be returned to those parasites!"

The day after Liu Bei made the decision.

A dozen or so people, still dressed in fine clothes, sneaked out of the gates of Jinyang City.

They were all core or branch members who had narrowly escaped the calamity during the war, while still outside Taiyuan and Shangdang counties.

This is often the case with powerful and influential families; they have multiple burrows, so they will never be completely wiped out, at most they will just be demoted a few ranks.

Now that they heard that the Han army had recaptured Jinyang and that the Xiongnu had been destroyed, they immediately ran out, wanting to reclaim their property!

"Open the door! We are from the Feng family of Taiyuan! Let us in!"

"I am the eldest son of the Guo family! Where is my family's fortified village? Take us back quickly!"

The guards glanced at them and went straight in to report.

A moment later, Li Chang slowly walked out.

With a kind smile on his face, he cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd: "Gentlemen, how have you been? Have you been well?"

After introducing themselves to each other...

The head of the Feng family branch immediately stepped forward and asked anxiously:

"Prefect Li! Where are my family's funds and provisions? And my fortified village, are they still there?"

Li Chang sighed, his face full of regret:

"Oh dear gentlemen, you've finally returned. Too bad, you're a step too late."

"After the Xiongnu entered the city, the first thing they seized was your fortified village."

Gold, silver, money, and grain were looted, most of the grain was burned, and the fortified village was almost demolished.

When we arrived, there was almost nothing left!

"Impossible!" the eldest son of the Guo family screamed.

"I have 100,000 taels of gold hidden in my cellar! How could the Xiongnu possibly find it!"

"It's really gone." Li Chang shrugged, his face sincere.

"If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourselves. We even helped you bury the bodies of your people; we've done our best."

Oh, by the way, we gave chase at the very end, and at a great cost, we finally rescued hundreds of women, possibly the wives and daughters of various families.

The crowd was skeptical, but they still thanked Li Chang first.

When they arrived at their fortified village, they found only ruins and broken walls. The cellars had been dug up, and there wasn't a single copper coin left, let alone money or food.

Undeterred, they returned to the prefect's residence and took the women of the clan back with them.

"It's fine if the money and grain are gone! But what about our people? Our maids, servants, craftsmen, and tenant farmers—surely they're still here?"

This time, it was Jia Xu who came out.

"People? What people? When we arrived, the city was full of corpses. We've gathered all the surviving people and put them in a safe place. We didn't see any maids or servants."

"They're probably either killed by the Xiongnu, or they ran away with the Xiongnu, or they scattered."

"You're talking nonsense!" the eldest son of the Zhao family roared. "My family has over three hundred craftsmen! How could there not be a single one left!"

"If you don't believe me, go find it yourself," Jia Xu said calmly. "The entire city of Jinyang is here. If you can find it, I'll personally deliver it back to you."

"Besides, we only have a few thousand people. We rushed here from Yanmen. It would be good enough if we could save the ladies, legitimate daughters, and illegitimate daughters of your clan!"

A little later...hehe!

Jia Xu didn't say what came next, but they never imagined the consequences!

Why are there almost no male heirs left in the city?

After searching for a long time, everyone found nothing and looked dejected.

There was no other way but to prepare to leave Jinyang and go to the county town to become their clan chief!

But just as they were about to leave, Li Chang stopped them.

"Gentlemen, please don't be in such a hurry to leave." Li Chang put on a "friendly" smile:

"Bingzhou has suffered this calamity, which is precisely when it needs capable men. You are all from distinguished families, well-versed in literature and poetry; how can you simply leave?"

"Your ancestors were all loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, and they made great contributions to the Han Dynasty. Now is the time for you to restore the glory of your ancestors."

"General Liu and I have discussed this and are willing to give you all an opportunity. Those who wish to join the army will be granted military ranks; those who wish to enter politics will begin as county magistrates."

"It's better than you being stranded in a foreign land, isn't it?"

The crowd looked at each other, their faces alternating between pale and flushed.

Li Chang continued pointing to the houses in the city, "These are all your clan's lands! Although there were many casualties in the chaos of war, they are still... vast!"

He couldn't think of a good adjective for a moment and almost blurted out that the evening was still lively and the whole family was together!

"Now that the people in the city are gone, it is up to you to take responsibility and rewrite the family genealogy! You are the new patriarchs!"