At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 113 The Yellow Turban Uprising
In four years, a lot has happened.

After the gentry in Anfeng County were slaughtered, Zhou Qi began to carry out drastic reforms without any stumbling blocks.

He first divided the fields, houses, and money to appease the rebels and refugees. However, it was not completely free, but interest-free loans to everyone at a relatively low cost.

Including the follow-up seeds and agricultural tools, they are also distributed to everyone in the form of loans.

Zhou Qi did this because he didn't want these people to get used to the government's handouts and become lazy, and he didn't want to make the original owner farmers and small landlords in the county dissatisfied.

Although they were burdened with a lot of debts, they finally owned the fields and houses again. Instead of complaining, these people began to redouble their efforts to farm the land to make money.

During slack periods, Zhou Qi would also collect corvees to build water conservancy projects, city walls, roads, and bridges.

These things are beneficial to the country and the people, and the people naturally have no complaints. Moreover, the arrears can be deducted from the corvee service, which greatly enhances the enthusiasm of the people.

This is also a disguised form of relief with work.

In order to reduce the burden of these people, Zhou Qi did not even ask them to be naturalized, but secretly made a county household registration, which can exempt them from paying taxes to the court while ensuring the interests of the people.

Zhou Qi knows very well that fighting Mi En is better than Mi Qiu.

He did not completely exempt these people from taxes, but collected half of the official taxes, but there were no exorbitant taxes.

The official tax of the imperial court is not high. As long as there are no exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, these taxes are not a heavy burden even for the people who are owed high debts.

In addition, Zhou Qi also spent a lot of money to recruit many skilled craftsmen.

Under Zhou Qi's guidance and inspiration, improved papermaking, movable type printing, iron smelting technology, wine making technology, and salt making technology were gradually developed and improved.

Of course, with Zhou Qi's current power, every technology will bring him death, so a lot of work is carried out secretly in the Dabie Mountains.

Zhou Qi uses these technologies to earn money on a small scale, as long as he can maintain the development of Anfeng County, he is never greedy.

Considering that the powerful families in the south are extremely powerful, if Zhou Qi wants to control the south in the future, he must cultivate his own grassroots talents, so he starts to set up an academy to teach everyone to study for free.

With papermaking and movable type printing, books are naturally not a problem.

However, in order to keep it secret, Zhou Qi deliberately used poorer quality paper and did not even print too many books.

The folk books in Anfeng County are still extremely valuable.

Over the years, Zhou Qi has produced a small amount of paper as white as snow every month and sent it to Yuan Shao and the Yuan family.

Zhou Qi said that these papers are expensive to make and the output is very low, which is why Yuan Shao and the Yuan family praised and valued them.

When it comes to the Yuan family, one has to talk about Cao Jie.

In the fourth year of Guanghe reign, Cao Jie died of illness, and the era of this powerful eunuch finally passed.

Yuan Shao also sent a letter at the right time, telling Zhou Qi that if the other party was interested, he could persuade his family to help transfer Zhou Qi to Luoyang.

Without Cao Jie's obstruction and the Yuan family's power in the court, if Zhou Qi agrees, Yuan Shao will definitely be able to accomplish this.

Zhou Qi managed to manage Anfeng County well, how could he give up halfway?

He wrote back to Yuan Shao very humbly, telling the other party that he was still inexperienced and needed to settle down in the local area for a few years. After he achieved brilliant political achievements, he would trouble Yuan Shao for help.

Yuan Shao was not suspicious of Zhou Qi's reply.

In this era, it is not uncommon for those who have deeply cultivated the local area to make political achievements and then return to the court.

Zhou Qi's foundation and qualifications are still too shallow at present.

Even if Yuan Shao used the Yuan family's relationship to transfer him to Luoyang, it would be impossible for him to hold any important position. Instead, he might as well continue to look after him in the local area.

In the third year, Zhou Qi's term of filial piety expired, and he fulfilled his original promise and married Shi Huan's sister in Xiao County. The two were newlyweds and treated each other as guests. Shi was now pregnant.

The seventh year of Guanghe, AD 184.

In the spring, Tang Zhou of Jinan, a disciple of Zhang Jiao, wrote a letter to tell him.

The emperor ordered Ma Yuanyi to be taken in, and the chariots were broken in Luoyang. Anyone who had something to do with Sili and Zhangjiao was hunted down, and more than a thousand people were executed.

The imperial court ordered the officers and soldiers of Jizhou to arrest Zhang Jiao and others.

When Zhang Jiao knew that the matter had been revealed, he rushed to all directions in the morning and night, and all of them rose at once, all wearing yellow scarves as a sign, so people at that time called them "Yellow Turban Thieves".

In February, Zhang Jiao called himself General Tiangong, his younger brother Zhang Bao called General Digong, and Zhang Bao's younger brother Zhang Liang called General Rengong. They burned the government buildings, looted Juyi, lost the prefectures and counties, and many officials fled.

Between ten and a month, the whole world responded, and the capital was shaken.

In March, the Son of Heaven appointed Yin Hejin of Henan Province as his general, granted him the Marquis of Shen, and led the left and right Yulin and the five camps to set up the capital pavilion, repair equipment, and suppress the capital.

The imperial court also set up Hangu, Taigu, Guangcheng, Yique, Xuanyuan, Xuanmen, Mengjin, and Xiaopingjin as eight pass captains to defend the capital from bandits.

The Son of Heaven summoned his ministers to discuss how to break the Yellow Turban. Huangfusong, the prefect of the North, wrote a letter requesting that the ban on the party be lifted. He also hoped that the imperial court would use hidden money and stable horses in the West Garden to recruit soldiers.

The Son of Heaven asked Ji Yuzhong, who often served Lu Qiang, and said to him: "The party has been imprisoned for a long time, and human feelings are resentful. If you don't forgive me, you will conspire with Zhang Jiao lightly to make things worse. Regret is hopeless. Now please punish the greedy left and right first. Amnesty to the party members, it is expected that Jian Shi and the two thousand stones can do it, then the robbery will be all right."

The emperor followed it in fear, and pardoned the party members of the world, and returned all the migrants, but Zhangjiao did not forgive him.

The imperial court dispatched the best soldiers from all over the world, left Zhonglang in the north to challenge Zhang Jiao with Lu Zhi, Zhonglang in the left with Huangfusong, and Zhonglang in the right with Zhu Jun against Yingchuan Huangjin.

Zhou Qi knew that the Yellow Turban was rebellious, and the imperial court conscripted the best soldiers from all over the world to fight against it.

Zhou Qi urgently summoned Xi Zhicai, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Xiang Hong, Zhou Zhan, Zhou Jin, Zhou Cheng, Chen Wen and others to come to discuss the matter.

Zhou Qi took the lead in saying: "In recent years, the people have been suffering so much that Taipingdao took advantage of the trend. Fortunately, the people of Anfeng County have farmland and households have surplus food, and there are no Taipingdao believers."

"The Yellow Turban bandits rebelled and ravaged the prefectures and counties. The world is in chaos. The imperial court sent elite soldiers from all over the world to fight against them. How do you think we should deal with them?"

Xu Chu took the lead and said: "This is the opportunity to make great achievements. Please also invite Ming Gong to raise the soldiers of Anfeng and go north to crusade against the Yellow Turban!"

The rest of the people also spoke in agreement.

Zhou Qi ordered: "You guys should train your soldiers more recently, maintain your armor and ordnance, and defend the city, waiting for military orders."

After everyone left, Zhou Qi left Xi Zhicai alone.

Xi Zhicai saw Zhou Qi's frown, and asked, "What worries does Ming Gong have?"

Zhou Qi sighed: "It is true that the crusade against the Yellow Turban Army can make meritorious deeds, but I have been operating in Anfeng County for four years. If I am transferred to another place after my meritorious service, wouldn't I be able to make wedding dresses for others after years of hard work?"

Zhou Qi was not wrong to worry.

Even if the crusade against the Yellow Turban has been made, it is not easy to get promoted.

Think about the history of Sun Jian, who was recruited by Zhu Jun. He must go first in every battle, and even survived from serious injuries.

What kind of official position is Sima in other departments?
To put it bluntly, it is an expedient measure used by the imperial court to appease the meritorious soldiers. This kind of official position does not even have a formal establishment.

If you think about the gap between the police in the future and the official police, you will know how much water this official position has.

Sun Jian, the father of the Lord of Wu, did not reap the benefits of the Yellow Turban Uprising. Look at Liu Bei, the founder of Ji Han, who made great contributions in the process of crusade against the Yellow Turban Uprising, but was only named the county captain of Anxi County in the end.

In terms of rank, Anxi county magistrate is not even as good as Zhou Qi's current Anfeng county magistrate.

Look at Dong Zhuo, the big boss in the early period of the Three Kingdoms. Not only did he not get enough credit for the crusade against the Yellow Turban, but he was dismissed from office and accepted the inspection of the court officer because of the long-term battle.

If he hadn't bribed the eunuch with money, his head would have fallen to the ground.

If Sun Jian and Liu Bei were both from grassroots backgrounds and had little background, that was why they did not gain enough benefits from the Yellow Turban Uprising.

So Dong Zhuo, as a powerful man in Liangzhou and an old official of the Yuan family, ended up like this. It can only be said that the Yellow Turban Army is not easy to crusade, and the credit is not easy to gain.

Even if he really made military exploits, if he didn't have a corresponding family background and a deep background in the court, he might not be able to obtain the political capital he deserved.

Of the princes at the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was probably the only one who really gained enough political capital in the Yellow Turban Uprising.

He came belatedly, but he only assisted Huangfusong and Zhu Jun in defeating the Yellow Turban Army and beheaded tens of thousands of people. He was named the Prime Minister of Jinan for his meritorious service, and became a great official of the two thousand stones.

It can only be said that Cao Cao has a good background, a strong background, and manpower in the court, so that he can serve as the prime minister of a country.

Zhou Qi doesn't have enough soldiers and horses, and he doesn't have Cao Cao's background and background. How much credit can he get if he dies?Even if you have credit, it is impossible to become a great official of the two thousand stones like Cao Cao.

If he can't become the prefect of one party, but instead has to transfer Zhou Qi from Anfeng County, it may even be a bit of a loss for him.

Many time-traveling novels in later generations regard the Yellow Turban Uprising as a copy of credit, and they can easily get high-ranking officials by virtue of their credit, which is a bit of a dream.

They didn't know how stingy the rewards for meritorious people were when Emperor Han Ling was still in power.

The entire Yellow Turban Army of the Great Han Dynasty was almost completely suppressed by Huangfusong, but he was only named Zuocheqi General, Marquis of Huaili, with a total of [-] households in Shiyi.

The funniest thing is that in the year following Huangfu Song's pacification of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the emperor just found an excuse to take his left chariot and riding a general's seal, cut off six thousand households, and made him the capital of Xianghou, and two thousand households of Shiyi. .

Even Huangfusong, who is famous all over the world for his outstanding achievements, is like this. Isn't it whimsical for the rest of them to want to be promoted to Marquis by virtue of their meritorious deeds?
Zhou Qi is familiar with history books and knows this, so he doesn't want to take this muddy water.

What really made Zhou Qi rise was not the Yellow Turban Uprising, but Dong Zhuo's chaos.

At that time, in order to win over those with real power in those places, Dong Zhuo had no regard for the consequences and conferred official positions indiscriminately. As long as he could seize the opportunity, it would not be difficult for Zhou Qi to get the position of prefect of Lujiang.

It's just that it's too far away from Dong Zhuo's chaos now.

Xi Zhicai heard Zhou Qi's words, pondered for a while, and then said seriously: "Duke Ming's words are wrong. Although Anfeng County has been in business for a long time, it is only a county after all."

"Dian Wei and Xu Chu are both powerful generals of the time. They accompanied the Duke of Ming Dynasty at the end of his life. Although it was because of their loyalty, they did not have the heart to make contributions."

"This time the yellow turban rebellion, everyone is gearing up, if Minggong does not do something, will it not make Bu Qu feel cold?"

Zhou Qi was shocked when he heard this.

Before that, he only cared about his development, and wanted to wait until the princes came together to make a big splash, but he ignored the feelings of Xu Chu and others.

No matter how Anfeng County develops, it is only a small county after all, and Xu Chu and others can only be small and medium-sized officials in a county following Zhou Qi.

For those with great ambitions, this kind of life will only kill people's fighting spirit.

Xi Zhicai continued to persuade: "And Ming Gong's crusade against the Yellow Turban is not only for gaining military exploits, but also for fame."

"This Yellow Turban rebellion has attracted the attention of the world. If Duke Ming can emerge, he will be known to the world even if he can't be promoted to a title."

"How can such a good opportunity be missed?"

"The only person Ming Gong is worried about is Anfeng County."

"If Duke Ming is unwilling to give up this foundation, he can ask the Zhou family of Peiguo to clear up the relationship and spend money to buy the post of Anfeng county magistrate for Zhou Ziqing."

"Zhou Ziqing is calm and wise, with extraordinary knowledge, and it is easy to rule a land of hundreds of miles."

"Even if Duke Ming is transferred to another place by the imperial court, Anfeng County can also support Duke Ming, wouldn't it be beautiful?"

Zhou Qi felt enlightened upon hearing this, then took Xi Zhicai's hand and said, "If you hadn't reminded me, sir, I would have made a big mistake."

A smile appeared on Xi Zhicai's face.

In four years, he was able to fully recognize Zhou Qi as a person, and knew that the young man he had defected to was definitely like a hidden dragon.

The most important thing is that Zhou Qi not only has a heart for all people, but also attaches great importance to drama talents and is good at accepting advice.

Xi Zhicai's advice, as long as it is reasonable, even if it conflicts with Zhou Qi's original ideas, the other party can readily accept it.

For a strategist like Xi Zhicai, the master's ability is second.

They pay more attention to their mind and whether they can accept advice.

People with a broad mind can accommodate all rivers and rivers, which determines the upper limit of this power.

A monarch who is good at accepting advice will not be self-willed, and can also make his advisers have a sense of presence. Such people are the most popular among advisers.

The most important thing is that Zhou Qi really cares about Xi Zhicai.

Only then can Xi Zhi feel that the other party is not just for show, but genuine care from the heart, not only generously rewarding all kinds of money, fields, houses, and maidservants, but even spending a huge price to invite famous doctors to find good medicine for him. Take care of your body.

A scholar dies for a confidant.

Xi Zhicai came from a humble background and had no reputation, yet he was able to receive such great love from Zhou Qi, even though he would die a hundred times but could not repay this kindness, naturally he had to do his best to plan for it.

Zhou Qi continued: "I intend to select the elite from the five hundred counties to respond to the imperial court's call and go north to Yingchuan to crusade against the Yellow Turban. What do you think, sir?"

But Xi Zhicai shook his head and said: "Although the imperial court called on the whole country to raise rebel troops to crusade against the Yellow Turban, but as the magistrate of Anfeng County, Duke Ming rashly leads troops across counties to attack the bandits, after all, something is wrong."

"Ming Gong should first write a letter to Yuan Benchu, but that's it, and then wait for the Zhonglang general to recruit him."

Zhou Qi was overjoyed when he heard this, so he accepted the advice of the playwright Zhicai, wrote a letter, and sent someone to Luoyang on a starry night journey.

(End of this chapter)