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

Yang Hong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, since Ji Province is in turmoil, shouldn't we take this opportunity to head north?"

"No rush," Yuan Shu said, waving his hand confidently.

"It's too cold to start a military campaign right now."

The order was issued: the entire army must prepare for battle and stockpile provisions. We will march north again after next year's spring planting!

At that time, the powerful families of Ji Province will respond from within, while we will launch a fierce attack from the outside. Liu Bei will be attacked from both sides and will surely be defeated!

"These Ji Provinces and these Yan Provinces, aren't they all mine?"

The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became, as if he could already see himself leading his troops into Ye and inheriting Yuan Shao's legacy!

He also fantasized about surpassing Yuan Shao, defeating Liu Bei who had utterly defeated Yuan Shao, and then pacifying the world!

"I am the rightful heir of the Yuan family!"

He raised his chin, his face full of confidence. He was the most suitable heir to the Yuan family!

But Yan Xiang said, "Your Majesty, this is an opportunity not to be missed! If we wait until next year, what if Liu Bei has already quelled the internal rebellion by this winter..."

"Huh?" Yuan Shu immediately retorted, "Who are you to expect me to fight Liu Bei in the dead of winter? Have you forgotten Yuan Shao's defeat in Youzhou?"

"Your Majesty, winter in Ji Province is different from winter in You Province!"

"My mind is made up!" Yuan Shu slammed his hand on the dragon throne.

"Furthermore, in the past two years, we have suffered more or less from the undeserved calamities caused by the evil divine punishment of Yuan Shao, as well as droughts and locust plagues."

In addition, we exchanged a large number of horses for grain in Luoyang, so we are short of grain.

We also need to stockpile food supplies.

"This..." Yan Xiang thought about it and realized that it made sense.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we will make preparations immediately."

The order to prepare for war in Shouchun was quietly relayed to all counties and prefectures.

……

Throughout the winter, the fortified villages in Hebei and Qinghai provinces exuded a hidden restlessness.

Heavy snow blocked the roads, disrupting the postal system and preventing news from reaching the prefectural capital. Consequently, the prefectural government's orders could not reach every remote village.

The powerful and influential families closed their doors.

While preparing provisions, sharpening weapons, and training their private troops, they listened to the steward's report that "the villagers are in a state of panic, all complaining about the heavy taxes," and everyone felt that the people's hearts were with them.

They had anticipated Liu Bei's benevolence and that he would not dare to easily harm the people; they had also anticipated the difficulties of marching when the snow melted in the spring.

If the uprising is launched in the spring, the prefectures and counties will be caught off guard and chaos will surely ensue!

"Once we raise our voices and the people rise up in response, and then join forces with Yuan Gonglu to attack from both the north and south, Liu Bei will surely retreat back to Hanoi."

Inside the largest fortified village of Julu County, the heads of those families were talking amongst themselves.

Everyone present nodded in agreement.

People tend to rely on their own path to success.

In their minds, ordinary people are foolish and always follow whoever is strong and whoever feeds them.

In previous years, whenever they raised their voices, the villagers would follow suit.

No one thought there would be any exceptions.

Everyone was full of confidence:

"This time, there will absolutely be no surprises!"

……

"This time, something unexpected is likely to happen!"

The retired and disabled soldiers resettled in various townships and villages felt something was wrong!

During the winter off-season, they would continue to set up wooden boards as blackboards in the grain drying ground, collecting charcoal sticks to teach the village children and young adults who were willing to learn to read.

They not only knew characters, but also the imperial decrees, tax laws, and old stories of fighting Dong Zhuo, resisting Yuan Shao, opening granaries to distribute grain, and building canals and roads.

"The land tax set by the Prince of Jin has no other exorbitant taxes and levies, and only collects 50%, while those aristocratic families collect at least 70% rent, and there may be other miscellaneous taxes as well!"

How much is missing? You all know!

"The land surveyed by the Prince of Jin was the black field that the aristocratic families had kept hidden for decades. It has nothing to do with the few acres of land that we ordinary people cultivate."

"If there is truly an injustice, there are government offices in the county and prefectures with governors. Wouldn't that be more effective than seeking help from powerful families in charge?"

These words were not slogans shouted by government officials, but rather the words of veterans who had worked alongside them in farming and building irrigation canals, chatting as they sat in the threshing ground.

The villagers have a scale in their hearts.

When famine struck in the spring, it was the grain carts from the Prince of Jin's mansion that entered the village; when the children learned to read, it was Mr. Bing who taught them for free.

Last year, I won back the land in a lawsuit against the landlord. The county official ruled according to the laws of the imperial court.

Who is good and who is bad, who truly cares for the people and who only wants to exploit them—life reveals all this more clearly over time.

After the steward sent by the powerful family to spread rumors left, the villagers gathered together and chatted for a while, and then they understood the truth.

Winter passed and spring arrived in the blink of an eye; the river thawed and the willow branches sprouted new buds.

On the first night of the third month, rebellions broke out simultaneously in many places in Qingzhou and Jizhou.

More than a dozen ironclad families, leading their private armies and coercing the serfs from their manors, besieged three county towns!

He boasted that he would "expel Liu Bei, restore the Yuan family, and reduce taxes!"

There were also some fence-sitting aristocratic families who closed their gates in their fortified villages and guarded themselves, neither helping the court nor openly rebelling, but watching the outcome unfold.

Even more cunning individuals would turn around and send people to the state capital to report other families for treason, hoping to gain immense wealth by stepping on those few friends.

Overnight, rebellions broke out in Ji and Qing prefectures, with rebellion flags seemingly everywhere, creating a massive uproar!

But the day after the rebellion was raised, the aristocratic families realized something was wrong.

According to their calculations, once they raised their arms and called out, people from all the villages would surely come to join them, young and old, and the ranks would expand several times over in the blink of an eye.

The officials sent to various villages to appeal for help either faced closed doors, were driven out by villagers with hoes, or failed to come out at all!

"Go with you? If we go with you, who will lead us to grow crops? Who will lead us to build irrigation canals?"

"The Prince of Jin only takes 50%, but with you guys, plus all sorts of other things, the rent will be 80%. Do you think we're stupid?"

A manager brought several bags of old grain, hoping to win people's hearts, but the village elders simply took the grain and threw him out!

"The grain relief distributed by the Prince of Jin last year was ten times better than your stale grain. Get out of here!"

Those villages with many disaster victims and scattered residents not only did not respond to the rebellion, but instead closed their doors and ignored them completely.

After visiting more than a dozen villages, they brought back fewer than a hundred people, most of whom were still beggars and vagrants.

The aristocratic families who led the rebellion turned pale upon hearing the report:

"Impossible! In previous years, when didn't everyone respond to our calls?"

Little did he know that in previous years, the people had no choice; whoever was in power, they had to pay rent and risk their lives!

Now that there's a choice, who would still want to live a life of darkness and misery with a powerful family!

What caught the aristocratic family off guard was that the retired veterans in each village were mobilized.

Most of these people were veterans who had fought against Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao; some had injured their legs, and some had lost an eye.

While their combat strength may not be as great as before, their ability to organize defenses and deploy troops is far superior to that of the private army leaders of aristocratic families!

In the winter when signs of rebellion were discovered, the veterans in each village took the lead in providing appropriate training and building camps!

Now, the young and strong have been organized.

"Men guarded the walls, women cooked and delivered water, and the elderly and children moved to the rear."

"Pile up barricades at the gate of the stockade, and prepare rolling stones and logs on the walls. If the rebel soldiers don't come, fine; but if they do, teach them a lesson."

In the army, they were at least platoon leaders; under other warlords, they might even have become garrison commanders!

They are all literate and highly qualified individuals; organizing several hundred villagers to protect themselves is more than enough for them!

Within three to five days, relatively sturdy villages had sprung up in the countryside of the rebellious counties.