gnovel Chapter 56: The Crown Prince personally instructs you on the most advanced political tactics!
Chapter 56: The Crown Prince personally instructs you on the most advanced political tactics!
"Your Highness."
"You want to bring these 150,000 refugees from Guandong into Weibei and disrupt the established pattern of Lingyi."
"North of the Wei River, the Lingyi area alone has a population of no less than 500,000, plus 150,000 refugees from Guandong, enough to establish a prefecture."
After pondering for a moment, Tian Qianqiu couldn't help but ask.
"good."
Liu Ju praised, "I knew I hadn't misjudged you."
"Qin divided the country into forty-nine prefectures and established counties to govern the people."
"To this day, our great Han Dynasty has expanded into Hexi and pacified the southwestern barbarians, making our territory even larger."
"The prefecture-county system can no longer guarantee the absolute control of the imperial central government over local areas."
"Therefore, it is imperative to establish a new administrative system above the prefectures."
"The Censorate has always dispatched inspectors to supervise the affairs of various prefectures and counties."
"If the division is based on the areas controlled by the Censorate, it effectively creates a higher level of control over the local prefectures and counties."
"Guanzhong and the Three Rivers (Hedong Commandery, Henan Commandery, and Hongnong Commandery) were directly under the jurisdiction of the central government of the empire."
"To be precise, only Guanzhong lacked a complete prefecture and county system."
"The emergence of the Three Auxiliary Regions provided the basis for dividing Guanzhong into three prefectures; what is lacking now is population division."
"The population of the five mausoleum towns is as high as 600,000, which already accounts for a quarter of the entire population of Guanzhong."
"Moreover, the wealthy and powerful families who moved into these mausoleum towns control the most wealth in the land."
"The influx of more than 500,000 refugees from Northeast China was precisely to further disrupt the established power structure in Guanzhong."
"Dongfang Qing governs only one town, Baling, with a population of over 100,000."
"You are different. You have four mausoleum towns under your rule, with a population of 500,000."
"I...."
Tian Qianqiu didn't have the strong background of Dongfang Qing or Zhang Mian to begin with, and now he had to take on the hottest potato, leaving him completely numb.
"Fifteen agricultural inspectors and agricultural assistants."
"These are the vacancies for thirty officials with a salary of 800 shi (a unit of grain), half of whom are civil officials and half are military officials."
"The wealthy and powerful families living in Lingyi might not be interested, but what about their descendants?"
Liu Ju stroked his chin, looking amused.
"boom!!!"
These words came like a meteorite falling from the sky, breaking Tian Qianqiu's predicament.
The wealthy and powerful families who moved to Lingyi lost their deep-rooted networks of connections in the area and were under the strict surveillance of the Lingyi magistrate. They could not even move around freely, let alone become officials. The emergence of the Five Mausoleums Rascals was a protest against this situation.
If they could be given official positions to govern and command the army, it would be like giving them hope for advancement. How could they not be willing to do so?
"Your Highness."
Thinking of this, Tian Qianqiu's eyes sparkled.
"To feed 150,000 refugees, at least 550,000 shi of grain are needed."
"In the Guanzhong region, the soil is fertile, and millet is usually planted in spring and soybeans in autumn, with a two-season rotation."
"Based on the average yield of 1.5 shi of millet and 2 shi of beans per mu, even without paying taxes, 1,500 qing (150,000 mu) of land should be cultivated."
"Do you think these powerful and wealthy families in Lingyi would let you cultivate the land so easily?"
Liu reminded him with a forced smile.
"Won't."
Tian Qianqiu's expression was unusually solemn. He knew that the 1,500 hectares mentioned by the Crown Prince was only the best-case scenario. To support 150,000 refugees, at least 3,000 hectares of land would be needed. The entire Weibei region only had 12,000 hectares of land, which also included the four imperial mausoleums and their surrounding towns.
The people of Lingyi were only exempted from poll tax for three years, after which they had to pay half the tax—sixty coins per person per year—and their corvée labor was even heavier.
This means that at least half of the 500,000 people in Lingyi need to support themselves, and reclaiming wasteland for farming is the most direct way.
The Han Dynasty implemented the mausoleum city system for nearly a century, and most of the land north of the Wei River had already been cultivated. How could it be possible to easily reclaim 3,000 hectares of wasteland?
"Tian Qianqiu."
"I'm going to teach you a lesson now."
"The most important thing for an official is to know how to maximize his or her own interests."
"Are the positions of Dian Nong Sima and Dian Nong Cheng merely official posts with a salary of 800 shi (a unit of grain measure)?"
"For those powerful and wealthy families in Lingyi, this is the only way to leave Lingyi and develop their families."
"You're suggesting they exchange 100 hectares of land for it? Is that too expensive?"
Liu Ju said meaningfully.
"I see!"
Tian Qianqiu seemed to have his meridians opened up instantly, and his eyes were filled with ambition.
"Besides food and land, what else do the 150,000 displaced people lack?"
"They lacked everything: seeds, farm tools, livestock..."
"These things can all be obtained in Lingyi, do you understand?"
"I understand!"
Tian Qianqiu responded excitedly.
"You need to learn to distinguish which wealthy and powerful individuals are usable and which are not."
"Fifteen agricultural inspectors and fifteen agricultural assistants are not for you to sell off casually."
"With the support of powerful and wealthy families, you can go all out and introduce and settle the refugees from Guandong even faster than Dongfang Qing and Zhang Mian."
"While the houses and irrigation ditches are completed before winter arrives, we must hurry up and train the peasant soldiers."
"By next spring, everything can proceed smoothly."
"These 150,000 people are just the beginning. How far you can go, from a prefectural governor to the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, and Five Supervisors, depends on your efforts."
Liu Ju injected him with a powerful stimulant, a potent temptation.
"promise."
Tian Qianqiu had already figured out what he should do: utilize the powerful and wealthy families, appoint capable assistants, and resettle 150,000 refugees from Guandong. Everything was clear, and all he needed to do was carry it out personally.
"You may leave now."
Seeing that he understood, Liu Ju ordered him to leave.
"Your subject takes his leave."
Filled with anticipation and brimming with energy, Tian Qianqiu left the Crown Prince's Palace.
The imperial landscape will change from this moment forward!
As he watched his departing figure, Liu Ju felt a surge of emotions.
The two-tiered system of prefectures and counties was outdated, and the empire's control over local areas was weakening. Otherwise, there would not have been so many uprisings in Emperor Wu of Han's later years. Therefore, it was imperative to implement a three-tiered system of provinces, prefectures, and counties.
However, the establishment of the state level must learn from the lessons of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty. There must be checks and balances between the states, and they must not be allowed to grow too powerful.
Moreover, the imperial central government must directly control the most elite prefectures and counties to ensure it has the absolute power to suppress the other states.
During the Western Han Dynasty, the most elite Han army (Yulin and Qimen) was formed by selecting good men from six commanderies: Longxi, Tianshui, Anding, Beidi, Shangjun, and Xihe.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the best men selected from the three commanderies of Hedong, Henan, and Henan formed the most elite cavalry of the Han army, sweeping across the land.
These are all areas that the empire needs to directly control in order to ensure that the central imperial guards have a continuous supply of elite reserve soldiers.
Only when 550,000 refugees from Guandong were fully integrated into Guanzhong could Guanzhong's position as the core of the world be firmly established. After that, the Three Auxiliary Regions evolved into the Three Prefectures, and through the establishment of Yongzhou and Sizhou, all thirteen prefectures were gradually converted into prefectures.
What concerned him most was the 16500 peasant soldiers under the command of Tian Qianqiu, Dongfang Qing, and Zhang Mian. These peasant soldiers, recruited from refugees in Guandong, were an elite army after undergoing rigorous military training, and they were also directly under his control in the capital region.
With these peasant soldiers, the Three Auxiliary Regions will surely be firmly in the hands of the Crown Prince; this is his greatest ambition.
PS: The thirteen prefectures are Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, Yizhou, Youzhou, Bingzhou, Shuofang, and Jiaozhi.