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

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room was filled with fervor!

Everyone was ignited by Li Chang's resounding oath. Even the usually listless Jian Yong and Xiahou Lan clenched their fists, eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work!

Just then, Jia Xu, who was in the corner of the hall, seemed to be hiding behind a curtain all along, inconspicuous and often overlooked.

Only then did he slowly stroke his beard, bow deeply to Li Chang, and say with utmost respect:

"Prefect Li is truly a man of great talent and vision! He was able to abolish the poll tax that had plagued the Han Dynasty for four hundred years without hesitation. I, Jia, admire his courage!"

The lobby fell silent instantly.

The crowd, who had just been fired up by Li Chang's words, felt as if they had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

Zhang Fei scratched his head, looking bewildered: "Poll tax? What's wrong? Wouldn't it be better to abolish it?"

"That's good." Xun Chen shook his head, being the first to react:

"But this is an ancestral system of the Han Dynasty, unchanged since the time of Emperor Gaozu. To abolish the poll tax privately, if this were to reach Luoyang, would be a serious crime of treason. The punishment would be dismissal from office and stripping of titles, or even execution!"

Liu Bei's expression changed, and his previous joy vanished completely.

Let alone his position as General Who Crosses the Liao River and Governor of Bingzhou, even the Three Dukes and the Emperor could not easily rescind it!

"Fourth brother, this..." Liu Bei looked at Li Chang.

"I understand." Li Chang thought for a moment. Sometimes it's really good to have an old man like Jia Xu, who can remind you when you come up with ideas that are too advanced.

The poll tax might be a bit difficult now, but it must be abolished! The poll tax must be integrated into the land tax system! Otherwise, as the territory expands, it will become just another old Han dynasty!

Suddenly, I remembered the methods used in later generations to evade taxes and keep two sets of books.

Li Chang smiled again.

"Then we can keep it nominally to the court! But in reality, we can only collect 50% of the land rent from the people. We can keep two sets of accounts, one for the public and one for the private!"

As long as there are enough of these two sets of ledgers, there will be no problem!

The people of Yanmen, freed from the pressure of this poll tax, will only strive to produce more people and cultivate the land!

Everyone was taken aback.

Jia Xu and Xun Chen fell into deep thought.

Generals like Zhang Fei and Xu Rong were still scratching their heads.

"In name only, the poll tax is still collected, not a penny less," Li Chang continued to explain.

"But in reality, the poll tax, the tax on the population, the poll tax, and all sorts of other miscellaneous taxes were all merged into the land rent."

The common people no longer need to pay a separate poll tax; they only need to pay 50% of the land rent.

"When reporting to the imperial court, a portion of the 50% land rent was deducted to pay the poll tax."

The imperial court is far away in Luoyang; no one will come to Yanmen to audit the accounts. Even if someone does come, the accounts are spotless, and no one can find fault with them.

Everyone suddenly realized!

This is tax evasion!

Xun Chen's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands, saying:

"Brilliant! This plan is brilliant! It nominally abides by the laws of the court, but in reality it reduces the burden on the people."

Moreover, without a poll tax, people will dare to have more children, and within ten years, the population of Yanmen will double!

"So that's how it is!" Zhang Fei slapped his thigh. "I knew Fourth Brother wouldn't do anything foolish!"

Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Fourth brother has considered everything thoroughly; I was overthinking it."

Jia Xu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said nothing more, but a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

He originally thought Li Chang was just a strategist who knew how to fight, but he didn't expect him to be so knowledgeable about these things!

only……

Jia Xu glanced at the young Xun Chen out of the corner of his eye. Xun Chen was the only member of a prominent family present. Did he really not see the impact this would have on the powerful clans? Or was he confident that this was only a measure taken by the Yanmen Commandery?

Li Chang then took out another map he had drawn himself.

After Liu Bei married Cai Yan, Cai Yan truly became a healer.

During those months, Li Chang, along with Jia Xu, Jian Yong, and several other scholars, spent several months at the Cai family library, where they gained a considerable amount of knowledge.

Pointing to the map, he drew a line at the location of Yanmen Commandery, which is almost the northernmost part of the Han Dynasty.

"Next, I'll tell you about the situation in Yanmen."

"Yanmen Commandery is 700 li long from east to west and 400 li wide from north to south. To the north are the Xiongnu and Xianbei, to the west is Xihe Commandery, to the east is Dai Commandery, and to the south is Taiyuan Commandery."

Historically, Yanmen Pass has been a strategically vital location, the northern gateway to Bingzhou. If it falls, the Xiongnu cavalry could easily advance and strike Taiyuan, leaving the entire Bingzhou defenseless.

Xun Chen stepped forward and marked a few spots on the map:

"Mingdao is right. Moreover, Bingzhou today is no longer the Bingzhou of the past."

For decades, the Xiongnu and Xianbei have invaded southward year after year, and the four prefectures of Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Wuyuan and Shuofang in northern Bingzhou have long been defunct in name only.

Most of the county towns were occupied by the Hu people, and the prefects sent by the imperial court dared not even enter the city gates, and could only "remotely command" from Taiyuan.

Li Chang nodded: "The Xihe Commandery is similar, half of it is in the hands of the Han people and half in the hands of the Xiongnu."

Only the southern commanderies of Taiyuan and Shangdang remain intact. In other words, our Bingzhou now only comprises three commanderies: Taiyuan, Shangdang, and Yanmen!

Yanmen was the last line of defense for these three prefectures.

The crowd looked at the large areas on the map marked as "occupied by the Hu people" with grave expressions.

Jia Xu remained seated in the corner, head bowed, as if continuing to hide behind a curtain.

Li Chang continued:

"However, things aren't all that bad. His Majesty has appointed my elder brother as General Who Pacifies the Liao and Governor of Bingzhou, overseeing military affairs in Bingzhou."

They've bestowed so many military titles upon us, yet they haven't given my second and third brothers any actual local official positions. The meaning is quite clear.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Fei leaned closer.

"It means that whoever conquers Bingzhou becomes its...prefect!"

Li Chang was even more passionate, expanding territory and recovering lost lands—that was the romance of a man!

Who could refuse!

"The imperial court is neither capable nor willing to manage it. As long as we take these places back! Take back the entire Bingzhou from back then! His Majesty will only praise us for doing a good job!"

The imperial court won't send anyone to compete with us, nor will anyone interfere.

If we capture Yunzhong, Yunzhong will be ours; if we capture Dingxiang, Dingxiang will be ours.

"However much we conquer, however much we occupy, that's how much territory we can expand and recover for the Han Dynasty!!"

Although the words were rather blunt, they instantly caused an uproar in the room!

The passion that had just subsided is now boiling again!

Guan Yu suddenly opened his phoenix eyes, his gaze flashing with sharp light.

Zhang Fei's eyes widened!

Zhao Yun, Pang De, Xu Huang—everyone's eyes lit up!

Expanding territory and recovering lost lands!

This is more tempting than any reward!

"good!"

Zhang Fei roared, causing dust to fall from the roof:

"Fourth brother! Tell me! Where should we attack first!"

I, Old Zhang, will be the first to step up!

"What Xiongnu and Xianbei? I'll take them all down with one spear each!"

With Zhang Fei leading the charge, the generals were in an uproar and all volunteered to fight!

Xu Huang and Pang De exchanged a glance, both seeing excitement in each other's eyes. They had joined the army later and desperately needed battle merits to prove themselves!

Zhang Fei continued, "Big brother! Fourth brother! Where should we attack first? I, old Zhang, will be the first! Let's take Yunzhong County first! Then we'll take Wuyuan too! Let's drive those barbarians back to their homeland!"

"What's the rush?" Li Chang pulled him back. "You have to eat one bite at a time, and fight one battle at a time. Now is not the time to attack the Hu people's city."

"Why?" Zhang Fei asked, puzzled. "The barbarians are so weak; I could take on ten of them with a single spear!"

"The Hu people are not weak," Li Chang shook his head. "They are just scattered. A single Hu cavalryman may not be your match, but if thousands of Hu cavalrymen charge at once, our small force simply cannot stop them."

"Moreover, we have just arrived at Yanmen and our foundation is not yet secure. The people do not trust us, the city has not been fortified, and the new recruits have not been trained. If we rashly send troops at this time, we will lose everything if we are defeated."

"Then what should we do first?" Zhang Fei asked anxiously.

Li Chang picked up his pen and wrote a few words:

Build high walls and store up plenty of grain!