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

Liu Bei immediately nodded: "Fourth brother, go and return quickly. I will lead the army north slowly and wait for you in Taiyuan."

At this point, Guan Yu began to question the meaning of life!

He actually knows someone who wields a big axe!

But how did the fourth brother know?

Is this reasonable?

Guan Yu mustered his troops, parted ways with Li Chang, and headed east of the river.

Li Chang, accompanied by his personal guards, rode swiftly towards Yingchuan.

Several days later, when he came out of Yingchuan again, Xun Chen was with him.

I did see Xun Yu during my visit to the Xun family, but Xun Yu was only 22 years old and had not yet fully developed, so he was unwilling to start working so early.

Xi Zhicai was too young to take up a post, and Guo Jia was even younger.

Fortunately, Xun Chen arrived. Although he was not as dazzling as Xun Yu or Guo Jia, he was a highly skilled practical talent, proficient in domestic affairs, diplomacy, and planning. He was exactly the kind of talent that Bingzhou needed most!

Xun Chen was suddenly startled by Li Chang's smile. "Mingdao, what are you thinking?"

Li Chang smiled even more kindly!

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about how to make you feel our enthusiasm and trust!"

Gudong!

Xun Chen swallowed hard, suddenly having a bad feeling!

But there's nothing we can do now, we're already here!

The Xun family has its own judgment on the current Han Dynasty, and Xun Chen is the one who took the first step in this process.

Li Chang withdrew his smile and continued northward.

I wanted to find someone else, but I had an appointment to keep and couldn't go too far.

Left with no other choice, he could only leave a few of his personal guards behind to take his handwritten letter to Nanyang to find Huang Zhong, while he himself, along with Xun Chen, rode at full speed to catch up with Liu Bei's army.

Half a month later, the group met in Jinyang City, Taiyuan Prefecture.

Guan Yu also returned, accompanied by a tall, burly man, Xu Huang.

"This humble general, Xu Huang, greets Prefect Liu and Governor Li." Xu Huang knelt on one knee, his voice booming.

Liu Bei quickly helped him up: "Gongming, please rise! Yunchang often spoke of you to me! With your help, we are like tigers with wings!"

Liu Bei has gained two more talented men under his command, much to everyone's delight!

After a day of rest, the army continued its northward march.

The further north you go, the more desolate the scenery becomes.

When I set off from Luoyang, the roads were still crisscrossed with fields and the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard everywhere.

After passing Taiyuan, the number of villages along the road decreased, and large tracts of farmland became barren and overgrown with weeds.

Occasionally, you can see a few refugees, pale and emaciated, dressed in rags, who are so frightened by the sight of the army that they hide in the mountains!

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping rode their horses, looking at the scenery along the way, their brows furrowed.

They were big businessmen from Zhongshan who had traveled all over the country and seen many poor places, but they had never seen anything so dilapidated.

"Shiping, what do you think we'll do here in this godforsaken place with Magistrate Liu?" Su Shuang whispered.

"There's not a soul in sight here. Forget about doing business, even getting food is a problem."

Zhang Shiping sighed, "Who knows? Back in Zhuojun, Prefect Liu was kind to us, and we can't just stand by and watch him suffer. Let's take it one step at a time."

After another ten days of travel, they finally arrived at Yinguan City, the capital of Yanmen County.

Everyone was stunned when they saw Yinguan City.

This is no longer a county town; it's a dilapidated county town!

The city wall was mostly collapsed, with gaps everywhere and overgrown with weeds.

The city gate was made of a few broken wooden planks nailed together, and it creaked when the wind blew.

The streets are full of holes of all sizes.

There were very few pedestrians, mostly elderly people and children who were pale and thin.

Upon entering the prefect's residence, one finds it in a state of utter disrepair.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, the roof leaked, and the walls were covered with cracks.

There were only a few dilapidated tables and chairs in the lobby, not even a decent screen.

The former governor had long since packed his bags and fled, leaving behind only a few old officials who waited anxiously for the new governor to take office.

"This is the seat of Yanmen Commandery?" Zhang Fei's eyes widened. "It's not even as good as a single county in our Zhuo Commandery!"

Liu Bei frowned, his heart heavy.

He knew that Bingzhou was bitterly cold, but he never imagined it would be this bad.

Unfortunately, he arrived too late! The people here suffered too much!

"Prefect Liu, Magistrate Li." An old clerk stepped forward, trembling, and handed over an account book:

"These are the county's financial and grain ledgers. Please take a look."

Li Chang opened the account book, already having anticipated this.

It's written clearly in the ledger:

Grain reserves: 15,000 shi

Deposit: 600 strings of cash

Registered population: 31,800 households, 249,000 people

Combatant troops: 3,000 county soldiers

"What?!" Zhang Fei snatched the ledger, and almost tore it up after reading it!

"Fifteen thousand shi of grain? In wartime, that wouldn't even feed ten thousand soldiers for a month! How are we supposed to defend Yanmen Pass with that!"

Everyone looked grim.

With such meager funds and provisions, let alone resisting the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the army will have to disband in a few days!

Thinking of this, they suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. They had brought a lot of grain from Ji County, paid tribute with money, and the rest, plus what Li Chang had found a way to let Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping earn.

If we save our money and supplies now, we can last for another two years.

At this moment, Liu Bei and the others looked at Li Chang.

"Fourth brother, thank goodness you were prepared in advance!!"

Then, looking at the empty treasury, Liu Bei sighed deeply:

"I just didn't expect Yanmen to be this poor. This is troublesome."

Just when everyone was at a loss, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping exchanged a glance and stepped forward.

"Lord Liu, Prefect Li," Su Shuang said, bowing slightly, "we two still have some savings and are willing to offer five million coins and fifty thousand bushels of grain to alleviate our immediate crisis!"

"What?" Liu Bei was both surprised and delighted. "You two are truly offering help in a time of need! I am deeply grateful!"

"Your Excellency need not be so polite," Zhang Shiping said.

"If it weren't for you, my brother and I would have died at the hands of bandits long ago. What is this little bit of money? But this is not a long-term solution."

"You two are right," Li Chang nodded. "We can earn money and grain ourselves. Although Yanmen is desolate, there are plenty of ways to make money."

He walked to the center of the hall, looked at everyone, and presented the policy he had already devised:

"Next, I have a few suggestions for you to consider:"

Yanmen implemented a comprehensive land reclamation program. All wasteland belonged to whoever cultivated it; all miscellaneous taxes, including the poll tax, were abolished, and only a 50% land tax was levied!

Four thousand soldiers were allocated to military farmland, and forty percent of the land rent was collected!

We will open border markets, allowing trade between Han and non-Han peoples, and we will collect commercial taxes.

Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping were responsible for overseeing the trade market and managing all commercial affairs.

Xun Youruo was in charge of internal affairs, land reclamation, and household registration.

Xu Gongming was responsible for training new recruits and reinforcing the city's defenses.

Generals Zhao Yun and Pang De, each leading one thousand cavalry, patrolled the border, cracked down on bandits, and protected trade routes.

After he finished speaking, he looked out the window at the desolate land:

"Bitter cold is not an excuse, and poverty is not fate."

Within a year, we will ensure that the people of Yanmen have enough to eat!

Within three years, I will make the Yanmen army strong and powerful, so that we will no longer be afraid of the Hu cavalry invading the south!

With just one sentence, "We will not allow the barbarian horses to cross the Yin Mountains!"

As everyone looked at Li Chang, their previously low morale instantly soared, and they were all stirred up by Li Chang's words!

Even some crucial little details were temporarily forgotten!

For example: Who the hell gave you permission to abolish the poll tax?