Chapter 301: Anti-Tripartite Strategy, Tax Reform In early May of the fourth year of Jian'an, after Liu Bei captured Jiangdong, he immediately made a series of arrangements. In fact, Liu Bei had already discussed the planning for Jiangdong with Qin Zhen. Since Qin Zhen had previously suggested dividing the counties, after the division, the four counties in southeastern Jiang became six counties. They are Yuzhang, Luling, Danyang, Wujun, Nanping and Kuaiji. According to Qin Zhen's original plan, Lu Su was responsible for Yuzhang, Taishi Ci was responsible for Luling, and Zhuge Jin was responsible for Nanping. As for the remaining three counties, Liu Bei appointed Zhao Yun as the prefect of Kuaiji and Yu Fan as the prefect of Danyang. As for the prefect of Wujun, Qin Zhen held the position concurrently. Why did he hold both positions concurrently? Because Qin Zhen was appointed as the Grand Commander of Jiangdong, in charge of the military affairs of the six counties of Jiangdong. Naturally, no one had any objection to Liu Bei's arrangement. On the contrary, everyone thought that this arrangement was very appropriate. After all, if we talk about who is the most capable person under Lao Liu's command, no one dares to be the first except Qin Zhen. Liu Bei's arrangement also made everyone see how much he trusted Qin Zhen.

Because now most of Lao Liu's subordinates are in charge of both military and political affairs, only Jiangdong and Runan have centralized military and political power. If there is no absolute trust, it would be impossible to achieve this level. Therefore, even if some close ministers saw the hidden danger, they did not dare to say a word against Qin Zhen in front of Liu Bei. By the time this series of arrangements were made, it was already mid-May, and Lu Su, Taishi Ci and others went to take up their posts. Liu Bei also prepared to gather his troops and set off back to Shouchun to deal with the battlefield in the Central Plains. However, just before leaving, Liu Bei had another secret discussion with Qin Zhen, who then gave Liu Bei three more suggestions. First, they have been through a war for nearly a year now, and they cannot interfere too much in the Central Plains War. But Yuan Shao's power was so great that they had to stand by and share some of the pressure with Cao. Liu Bei can appoint Zang Ba to supervise the military affairs of Xubei. If there is an opportunity, he can try to launch a surprise attack on Yuan Tan and seize Qingzhou. Second, this war is the best time to welcome the emperor. In the early stage, political means can be used to persuade Cao Cao to move the emperor south. If Cao Cao insisted on not doing it, he could display the imperial edict clearly when the two families were in a stalemate and launch a surprise attack on Cao Cao from behind. They had only one point: even if Cao Cao successfully moved the capital, they would label him a traitor. Only in this way can Cao Cao's ability to control the princes by holding the emperor hostage be greatly reduced. Third, he actively won the support of Zheng Xuan and other old ministers of the Han Dynasty, and put Cao Cao into a vortex of internal and external struggles. At the same time, he secretly contacted Xun Yu. Even if he did not get support, he had to make Cao Cao more wary. In short, no matter who wins between the Cao and Yuan families, they will not let either family have an easy time! Liu Bei was actually a little worried about these three proposals. He was afraid that if they did so, the two families would unite to fight them. But Qin Zhen said that even if they didn't do so, both families might attack them at the same time. The current situation is somewhat similar to the reverse three-legged tripod. If they want to continue to grow, they must maintain a triangular balance.

Seeing that Old Liu was still a little worried, Qin Zhen suggested that he should ask Liu Ye, Yuan Huan, Zhang Hong and others if he had any questions. That’s right, don’t ask Zhuge Liang, because Zhuge Liang is still young and cannot bear such a big responsibility. After Sun Ce died in battle, Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao also joined them. To put it bluntly, Zhang Zhao is good at domestic affairs, but too weak in foreign affairs. Zhang Hong, however, was a typical person who could judge the general situation, and he had been with the army for many years, making him more suitable to be a staff officer. These three combined, plus Zhuge Liang, are not much worse than Cao Cao's group of advisers, even if they are not as good as Cao Cao's group of advisers. If necessary, they could write to Chen Deng and him again to ensure that they would not suffer any loss. Speaking of Chen Deng, Qin Zhen reminded Lao Liu: "I have seen that Chen Yuanlong likes to eat raw fish. I have seen his forehead turn black before. I am afraid he will not live long." "When you go, you can ask Hua Tuo to treat him and give him good advice, so as not to make our army lose a great talent!" When Liu Bei heard Qin Zhen's judgment, he was shocked and immediately agreed. If it were someone else, it would be fine, but Chen Deng was his best friend and an important official under his command. If Qin Zhen's judgment was correct and Chen Deng died young, he would have no place to cry. He naturally became concerned at the moment, and immediately expressed his intention to ask Hua Tuo to go and take a look when he returned. After the two men had this conversation, Liu Bei also made a judgment on the situation in the Central Plains, and then led his troops back to Shouchun. With Liu Bei's victorious return, everyone in Shouchun was excited. At this time, Liu Bei received another good news. Before he returned to the army, Mi gave birth to a son. When Liu Bei heard this, he was even more delighted and named it "Jie" to celebrate the triumphant return. The double happiness that came one after another naturally plunged Shouchun into a sea of ​​joy. If we were to say who among them was secretly sad, it would only be Cai Yan, Cai Yao, Daxiaoqiao and other women. My husband worked away from home for nearly a year and stayed at home for less than two months before being sent away again. It was okay for Cai Yan because she had children and a sister like Cai Yao, but Daxiaoqiao became a widow as soon as she entered the boudoir. So the four girls made a plan and decided to go south from the big and small bridges to look for Qin Zhen, so that Qin Zhen would not be alone in the south. At this time, Cai Yan naturally wrote a letter to inform Qin Zhen, and Qin Zhen naturally had no objection after receiving the letter. In fact, he felt quite guilty towards his wives at home, and it was just right that the two sisters came to keep them company. To embrace the two Qiao sisters in the southeast and enjoy their company day and night is the ultimate dream of every man. However, before Erqiao arrived, Qin Zhen had already begun to govern Jiangdong. In order to find out the current situation in Jiangdong as soon as possible, he summoned Lu Dai, Bu Zhi and Wu Can to form a staff group with Gu Yong. The first order he issued was to register all citizens and check the registered population. Because under the current laws of the Eastern Han Dynasty, military recruitment and tax collection were based on household registration.

It is no exaggeration to say that without a complete household register, it is basically impossible to implement policies. The biggest problem facing Jiangdong right now is that the household registration has changed so much that the original data is no longer accurate. This is certainly not Sun Ce's fault. The root cause is the population movement caused by the war. As we all know, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion began, the entire Han Dynasty has fallen into chaos. Although the number of the Yellow Turban Army was only a few hundred thousand, they brought with them a large number of civilians, numbering tens of millions. This led to a rapid loss of population in the Central Plains, and also caused the rapid growth of the gentry. This was also the reason why Sun Ce frantically suppressed the local gentry in Jiangdong after he captured Jiangdong. The reason why Zhang Zhao brought up this matter was that he wanted to stop it as soon as possible. If the household registration system is not completed, a large number of people will become slaves, servants or tenant farmers of the wealthy families! Once these people are occupied by aristocratic families, they will not be included in the household registration. In the original history, the reason why Jiangdong adopted the military system was because there were too many hidden populations. Without adopting the military system, Sun Quan would not even be able to recruit many soldiers. This policy of relying on the gentry to maintain rule is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. If you want to develop your power and expand your territory, you must make use of the nobles. However, if the gentry are given important positions, they will abuse their power for personal gain and strengthen themselves. The situation of mergers will become more and more serious as the times change. In the original history, there were less than 8 million registered citizens in the three countries in the late Three Kingdoms period. But when the Three Kingdoms were united under the Jin Dynasty, the population had reached more than 16 million. Of course, three of these have the effect of encouraging childbirth, but most of them come from hidden population. More than half of the people were hidden by the nobles, which is simply appalling. Therefore, the first thing Qin Zhen did when governing Jiangdong was to find out how many registered people there were in Jiangdong. Of course, he didn't expect to be able to find out how many hidden accounts there were with just one check. The most important thing is that he wanted to find out the bottom line first and see what the major aristocratic families in Jiangdong are like. Apart from that, what he wants to do most is actually tax reform! People who are familiar with Marxism-Leninism should be familiar with a saying: the economic base determines the superstructure. What is the economic base? For society, the economic base is actually the sum of production relations determined by productivity. But for the government, the tax system determines how much resources the government can mobilize. Coincidentally, the taxation system during the Han Dynasty was no longer able to support the country's governance. The taxation system implemented during the Qin and Han dynasties was a combination of land tax, population tax, and calculation tax. This set of measures laid the economic foundation for Qin Shihuang to unify the six kingdoms and also created the glory of the early Han Dynasty. But after hundreds of years of evolution, it gradually became no longer suitable for national affairs.

The reason for this is actually closely related to the rise of the gentry. Because during the Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty, there were a large number of refugee people. After the people were registered, there were a large number of registered people. Thanks to these registered citizens, the land tax was able to be reduced to one-thirty in the early Han Dynasty. The country can be maintained through population taxes and various miscellaneous taxes. However, as the scholar class rose to replace the old aristocratic forces, these people not only annexed land, but also absorbed a large number of people. The people who became tenants still had to pay part of the tax, but the people who became domestic slaves became the private property of the nobles. This group of people do not have a household registration and do not need to pay population tax. As a result, over time, the power of the gentry grew, and national tax revenues became lower and lower. In order to maintain the operation of the country, the emperor's only option was to increase population tax. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there were three types of population taxes. Among them, the Suanfu stipulated that each person between the ages of fifteen and fifty-six should pay one hundred and twenty coins per year. The oral tax stipulated that from the age of three to fourteen, each person had to pay twenty coins per year. What’s even more terrifying is that if you don’t want to perform labor service, you have to pay 3,600 coins every year! By the end of the Han Dynasty, the oral tax was changed to 40 coins per person per year, and the donation fee was increased by dozens of coins. But even so, the tax money was still not enough to cover expenses, so Emperor Ling of Han began to sell official positions at a price. In the later Three Kingdoms period, the people under the rule of each country all looked pale, which was also due to this. The greatest destructive effect of this tax system on a country is that it suppresses population growth. Because people could not pay taxes, their children had to be drowned, and the population stagnated. Therefore, in Qin Zhen's view, the first step to govern Jiangdong is to check the population, measure the land, and then reform the tax system. Only in this way can it be implemented from Jiangdong and gradually extended to the entire Han territory. "So you came to me just to talk about this?" In Wu County, in the county magistrate's mansion, Zhou Yu was sitting opposite Qin Zhen, looking at him expressionlessly. Qin Zhen was also talking until his mouth was dry. He didn't care about Zhou Yu's strange look at all. He picked up the water jar beside him and poured a cup of water. "That's right. The trouble with the Han Dynasty is not from outside, but from within!" “If the tax system is not innovated, the world will sooner or later return to chaos.” "The emperor can't do this, and Cao Mengde can't do it either." "Only by gathering a group of people with lofty ideals and carrying out reforms with determination can we lay the foundation for eternity!" Having said this, he picked up the water bowl and took a sip, then frowned and said: "Where did you find this water, Gongjin? Why is it so raw?" Seeing his impolite look, Zhou Yu looked at him unhappily and said:

"This is a spring outside the city. I picked it myself this morning." "I guess you are used to drinking purified water, and you are not used to my mountain spring water!" As he spoke, he picked up the water jar again and prepared to put it on the table in the distance, as if he was very reluctant to let Qin Zhen drink the fruits of his labor again. "So that's how it is. Although mountain spring water is good, Gongjin still needs to heat it up before drinking it!" "Otherwise, it's easy to get sick at the turn of spring and summer, which is not good for your health!" Qin Zhen simply grinned nonchalantly, then leaned over and said: "Let's not talk about these trivial matters. What do you think of my proposal?" "If you think it's feasible, why don't you come out and lend me a hand?" But Zhou Yu paused as he listened, then turned around and frowned: "The troubles of the Han Dynasty are yours to deal with. What does it have to do with me, Zhou Gongjin?" (End of this chapter)