The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 174 Chapter 174
The emperor's secret letter did not break the peace in Zhang Yan's heart.

Since the beginning of winter, there has been a rare short-term peace in the sphere of influence under his jurisdiction, and he just wants to take advantage of this time to do something he should do.

Zhang Yan successively occupied large tracts of land in Qingzhou, Yanzhou and part of Yuzhou in this year. However, due to successive years of wars in the territory, the fields were barren and the population flow was also very severe.

In addition, Zhang Yan's military expenditure and food and fodder consumption are extremely serious this year, and it is imminent to implement farming. Otherwise, once there is a famine year, famine is likely to break out, which is extremely unfavorable to the area he rules.

In such a feudal society, land was the most important thing, and only with land could food be grown.And this era is precisely the era of farming economy. The development of agriculture directly determines the fate of the country.

The Eastern Han Dynasty followed the Western Han system, and the same was true for the land system. It stipulated that six feet was one step, and one hundred steps was one mu.Compared with modern rulers, the Han ruler is slightly shorter, so one mu of land in the Han Dynasty was much smaller than the current one mu of land.

One foot at this time is only equivalent to about 23 centimeters today, which is much shorter than the modern one foot. Therefore, in ancient records, there are often descriptions of eight feet in length. If converted according to the unit at that time, that is, It's only about 1.8 meters tall.

Zhang Yan really wanted to spread the modern large ruler to the places under his jurisdiction, but he didn't have an accurate scale, so he could only give up and continue to use the ancient small ruler.

Therefore, Zhang Yan issued an order to let the counties and counties re-measure the fields in the territory, and re-count the population in the territory, and then distribute the land to them for cultivation according to the population.

In addition, the taxes levied in the Han Dynasty were also a bit too heavy. Both the land mu tax and the population tax were collected, which undoubtedly increased the taxes on the people.

Zhang Yan decided to formulate different types of taxation according to different classes such as scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants in the territory under his jurisdiction. Among them, only the population tax was collected for the gentry and craftsmen, and each person was 5.00 yuan per year; Farmers are only charged one-twentieth of the annual field harvest; business people are levied a business tax of [-]% of their turnover every month.

In addition, for those aristocratic families who own a lot of land and have a large number of servants and servants in their families, population tax and land mu tax are levied at the same time. If their families are still engaged in commercial activities, business tax is also levied.

This decree has not yet been promulgated, and Zhang Yan also considered that once the decree is promulgated, it is likely to hit many aristocratic families.

This era is an era when land annexation is relatively serious. There are often private soldiers in the aristocratic families. Taking advantage of social turmoil, they plunder and plunder, occupy a large amount of land, and let those people who have no land to cultivate become their tenants. , worked desperately for it, and became a slave of the aristocratic family.

Moreover, in order to evade taxes, the aristocratic families try to avoid taxes. In this way, the government cannot collect taxes, and the people become slaves. If this vicious cycle continues, the aristocratic families will become even more rampant.

For this reason, Zhang Yan also specially asked the counties and counties to re-count the population and re-compile the household registration, so that those people will no longer be slaves of the aristocratic family, so that they can be liberated, return to the land, and work hard for themselves while providing for the ruler. More taxes.

Before the promulgation of this decree, Zhang Yan also specially invited Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Qun and others to discuss and see their reactions before deciding whether to promulgate this decree.

After all, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Qun and others are all scholars and belong to the gentry, and many officials below Zhang Yan are from the gentry. Zhang Yan also hopes to hear whether this decree will affect interests. , Zhang Hong, Chen Qun et al.

Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Qun and others came to the hall one after another, and when they learned that Zhang Yan wanted to promulgate a new decree, they all unexpectedly expressed their strong support.

For this news, Zhang Yan was a little overjoyed. He did not expect that Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Chen Qun and others would support it so much.

Chen Qun said: "My lord, we only represent the level of scholars, but whether the decree can be promulgated smoothly requires more opinions. Moreover, this decree seems to be aimed at those local wealthy families who own a lot of land, servants, servants, and tenants. I am worried that once this decree is promulgated, it will offend the interests of those local wealthy families. Taishou Mi is the richest man in Xuzhou, and he is a typical representative of local wealthy families. There are too many to count. My lord should invite Taishou Mi to come to Pengcheng to discuss this decree in detail, if he can accept this decree, then others will naturally be no problem!"

After listening to Chen Qun's words, Zhang Yan felt very reasonable.So he sent someone to Tancheng in Donghai County to invite his brother-in-law Mi Zhu to come to Pengcheng.However, the re-measurement of the land and the re-counting of the population were officially promulgated today, and the counties and counties were strictly ordered to follow the facts. For this reason, Zhang Yan also specially sent Zhang Zhao, Chen Qun, and Zhang Hong as special envoys. Go to various places to supervise the completion of this matter.

Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Chen Qun gladly accepted the order, braved the wind and snow, each with a team of followers, and officially set out on the road.

Not long after they left, the scouts sent news from Peiguo that Xu Chu and his brother Xu Ding, working together inside and outside, repelled Guo Gong, the governor of Yuzhou.Guo Gong fled and went to Chen State. Xu Chu pursued Guo Gong to the territory of Chen State. Liu Chong, the king of Chen, led his troops to kill Guo Gong and dedicated his head to Xu Chu. Get along well with Zhang Yan.

Xu Chu and Luo Jun were still on their way, but the news arrived first, so Zhang Yan appointed Chen Gui as Prime Minister of Peiguo, temporarily acted as governor of Yuzhou, and appointed Xu Chu's brother Xu Ding as magistrate of Qiao County.

Two days later, when Mi Zhu arrived in Pengcheng, Zhang Yan greeted him warmly and entertained him graciously, and ordered someone to make a pot of good tea to respect his brother-in-law respectfully.

"My lord, you didn't invite me here just to drink tea, did you?" Mi Zhu asked straight to the point.

Zhang Yan put down the teacup in his hand, laughed and said: "Brother is smart, I really can't hide it from you. However, these words are a bit difficult to say, I don't know how to explain to brother."

Mi Zhu said: "Your Majesty, you can say whatever you want. We are all one family, so why should we divide each other?"

Zhang Yan cleared his throat, and then said to Mi Zhu, "Brother, I must know the situation of our army well. This year, our army has been fighting continuously, and the army has expanded to [-] people, and the consumption of food and fodder is also extremely serious. I think that under the jurisdiction of the In the territory of the Qing Dynasty, the government implemented farming and resting for several years to save food and fodder for future preparations. However, most of the land is now in the hands of local tyrants, and the people are also reduced to their slaves. In addition, the collection of taxes is unfavorable, and there are various reasons. Together, it is even more urgent to rectify and change the status quo. For this reason, I have formulated a series of decrees, and I would like to ask my brother to read them to see if there is anything wrong with these decrees!"

After speaking, Zhang Yan handed the official document he had written to Mi Zhu.

Mi Zhu took the official document and read it carefully, raised his eyebrows inadvertently, and a hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.

"Brother, these decrees are just sketches and have not yet been formalized. If you think there is anything inappropriate, please bring it up and we can discuss it." Seeing this, Zhang Yan said hastily and tactfully.

Unexpectedly, when Mi Zhu put down the official document, his frowning brows relaxed immediately, and he said immediately: "There is no need to discuss any more, I think these decrees are very well formulated, my lord, let's issue them like this!"

Zhang Yan couldn't believe his ears. There were many disadvantages to Mi Zhu in this decree, but Mi Zhu could still agree to it?

Before Zhang Yan could open his mouth, Mi Zhu said: "My lord, it is a wise move to rectify at this time. Not to mention other lands, there are countless rich families who bully men and women and occupy fields by force. When Tao Shijun was there, Most of them rely on these powerful families. Now it is different from the past. Our army has gradually become stronger, and these wealthy families have become a cancer. If we don’t try to get rid of them, they will definitely cause harm in the future. If these laws are promulgated, there will be an uproar It is possible that some local tyrants will rebel against the lord because of this matter. The lord must be prepared before he can issue this decree. But after all, the local tyrants are only a very small part, and even if they rebel, they will soon calm down. As The richest man in Xuzhou, and also very close to the lord, should be the first to set an example, I have accepted these decrees, and I believe others will also be able to accept it."

"Am I killing relatives righteously?" Zhang Yan asked himself.

But the answer he gave in his heart was not like this. Although these decrees will affect the interests of some people, they are undoubtedly a long-term solution. As long as those local tyrants abide by the law and pay taxes, population taxes, or commercial taxes on time, the government will Naturally, they will not go to trouble with them.

This decree is aimed at those tyrants and bullies who do not obey the law. If they are not severely punished, the government will lose a lot.

Seeing that Mi Zhu accepted it calmly, Zhang Yan couldn't help admiring the brother-in-law's heart, and at the same time felt happy and proud that he had such a brother-in-law.

Afterwards, Mi Zhu even suggested that Zhang Yan promulgate this decree immediately, so that money and food can flow into the treasury continuously.

In terms of business and business, and officials and officials, Mi Zhu is no longer in business, and he himself is the prefect of Donghai County. If he doesn't set an example, how can he be convincing?

Zhang Yan and Mi Zhu had a very happy conversation, and Mi Zhu suddenly said: "I heard from my third sister that my lord has been worrying about buying horses recently, I wonder if it's true?"

Zhang Yandao: "To tell you the truth, there is a fact. Although our army has [-] soldiers, all the cavalry added up is less than [-]. It is really pitifully small. The cavalry left by Mr. Tao, Almost all of them died out in the war. And war is inseparable from cavalry. Without horses, there would be no cavalry. Liangzhou, Bingzhou, and Youzhou are all places rich in horses, but Liangzhou is too far away and the roads are impassable, so it is not suitable to go there. And Bingzhou is blocked by Guanshan, and Youzhou is blocked by Yuan Shao, so it is really not easy to buy horses."

Mi Zhu said: "My lord, why don't you go by sea, take a boat from the sea to Youzhou, and then use the boat to transport the horses back to Xuzhou?"

(End of this chapter)