Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3292 The Tragedy on the Table

Guangping, Jizhou.

The location of Guangping is very delicate. To the west is Handan, to the southwest is Yecheng, and to the southeast is Qinghe. The land is flat and vast, suitable for farming. As early as ancient times, people had settled there and cultivated fields. In ancient times, Fei Yao said, "The emperor's virtue and prosperity are so great that the people are fair and just", so he took the two words "Guangping" as the name to encourage those who govern here to "broaden their benevolence and wisdom, and level their politics and punishments".

It's just a pity that most wishes are just wishes.

Whether it was Han Fu in the early days, Yuan Shao later, or Cao Cao at the moment, they could not bring Guangping any "broaden their benevolence and wisdom, and level their politics and punishments". On the contrary, for the Guangping gentry, a large agricultural household, they just kept asking for it without much "return".

Because of the drought, the manor owners and gentry in Guangping were very uncomfortable.

Unlike ordinary officials who eat public food, these manor owners rely on these lands for food. In addition, Cao Cao also requisitioned a lot of grain and grass in the early stage, so the smaller landlords did not have much surplus grain.

So the small landlords found the big landlords, the big landlords found the manor owners, and the manor owners gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

The manor owners in Guangyuan were surnamed Ju, Ma, and Wang.

The most famous one nowadays is of course the surname Ju, Ju of Ju Su.

The current situation of Guangping is a microcosm of Jizhou.

Yuzhou and Jizhou are the two most populous states in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

There is strength in numbers, but there are also problems with numbers.

Jizhou has a population of about 5.7 million, which is the largest state after Yuzhou with a population of 6 million. Moreover, Jizhou is more suitable for agriculture than Yuzhou, because Jizhou has vast plains, so agriculture is very developed, which is obviously very important in a society dominated by agriculture like the Han Dynasty.

Guangping is a single large manor tenant economy system with a single production model and production structure.

In a stable environment where no external support is needed, the manor economy is undoubtedly very enjoyable.

The manor is full of tenants and slaves, and the manor owner is the king of the land in the manor!

During the Han Dynasty, the imperial power did not go to the countryside, and at most only reached the county level. Therefore, these local manors were almost separated from the entire society except for paying certain taxes. The development of science and technology and productivity was almost stagnant. Even if there were some breakthroughs, they were only to meet the personal needs of the manor owner. The tenants, slaves, servants and family servants in the manor lived in hopeless pain, day after day, generation after generation.

For example, the Western manor played the right of first night, but it has long been stopped in the development of the Chinese manor.

Because the Chinese manor owners disliked those girls from the untouchables with thick hands and feet, rough skin and rude behavior...

So the Chinese landlords and manor owners all liked to raise them themselves, or purchase others to play with. This habit has continued to the subsequent feudal dynasties. A poor family giving birth to a beautiful child may not be a blessing. Well, this beauty is not divided by gender.

Because of the stability of agriculture, the big landlords and big manor owners have the capital to play this way.

Anyway, generations of lowly serfs are like crops in the fields, harvested one after another.

And now...

The plague, drought, flood and insect plague that lasted from the period of Emperor Huan of Han to the period of Emperor Ling of Han, as well as the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the later Dong Zhuo Rebellion, caused a significant reduction in the population of the original core areas of Heluo, Yanzhou, Guanzhong and other places.

The crisis was clearly at hand, but the relatively closed and isolated manor system, such as the landlord class in Guangping, Jizhou, was not greatly affected.

This can be proved by Cao Cao's rejoicing after he defeated Yuan Shao and got the household registration list of Jizhou. Old Cao, who has always been calm, cautious and silent, couldn't hold back his inner joy and blurted out that if he got Jizhou, he would "get 300,000" soldiers!

So this kind of speech that was obviously intended to cut leeks was naturally taught a lesson by Jizhou guy...

Of course, Cao Cao then admitted his mistake on the surface and apologized to Jizhou guy with a smile, but in fact, he taught Jizhou guy a lesson right after that.

The effect of force is mutual. Cao Cao slapped Jizhou guy's ass hard, so don't blame Jizhou guy for thinking about Lao Cao's chrysanthemum.

In fact, Lao Cao's means are still very good. Among them, the most critical threat to Jizhou guy is not to withdraw his manpower, material resources and financial resources, but to cut Jizhou guy's lifeblood.

This cut is Cao Cao's military farming system.

This cut is bloody, and Jizhou guy immediately withered.

Cao Cao "learned" Fei Qian's military farming strategy, and established large-scale military farming institutions on the lands of the gentry who had been killed, driven away, or fled voluntarily, stationed soldiers and civilians, and carried out large-scale military farming. On the surface, it was indeed to solve the problem of military food supply, but fundamentally it was to dig into the corner of the Han gentry's manor economy, so that these landlords could no longer strangle Cao Cao with food and grass...

Cao Cao's general strategy was to use Yuzhou to suppress Jizhou first, and then wait until Jizhou was almost suppressed, and then use Jizhou to restrain Yuzhou in turn. In history, Cao Pi chose the Jizhou Zhen family, which was undoubtedly more in line with Cao Cao's mind than Cao Zhi, who mixed with the gentry children all day long and was even assimilated by the Yuzhou gentry...

It's just a pity that Cao Pi was just a show-off.

But no matter what, Jizhou was still a prefecture with a lot of people, and it even continued to be a prefecture with strong population support until the middle and late Three Kingdoms.

A big forest has all kinds of birds.

When there are many people, some people want to be content with a small fortune, and some people will be dissatisfied.

Some people want to change the world, and some people only want to fight for power.

As for how to deal with the ills of the Han Dynasty itself, it cannot be said that the children of the gentry have never considered it at all...

It cannot be said that the children of the gentry are necessarily bad. On the contrary, because they have no worries and do not need to work, if these children of the gentry concentrate on learning, they can become great scholars, but these scholars cannot represent that the landlord ruling class is good.

The most important thing is to see who the ruling class serves.

Don't listen to how loud the slogans are, but look at the actual effect.

The laws of a country must be fair and just on the surface, but are the judgments consistent for the same incidents? Are the laws and penalties the same regardless of status, nobility, gender, etc.?

Just like the US's attack on South Korea in later generations, it started with women's boxing to undermine the country's legal justice, making the people completely disappointed in the government's credibility, and forcing the South Korean government to rely on the US to maintain its rule, and unable to obtain the real support of the South Korean people.

What other opposition would be larger and more extensive than the opposition between men and women, and more conducive to inciting the masses to fight against the masses?

This is obviously a brilliant move, specifically to restrain foolish men and women.

At the gate of the Ju family's manor in Guangping, carriages and horses were lined up.

The Ma family, Wang family and other landlords gathered here to seek a brilliant move to break the situation.

The Ma family and Wang family in Guangping were obviously not as famous as the Ju family, so it was reasonable for them to gather here at the Ju family.

These people instinctively sensed the approach of some crises, and they naturally huddled together for warmth.

This spontaneous change, or change, actually appeared as early as the Han Fu era.

As early as when Han Fu was the governor of Jizhou, the Jizhou people had already tried to make some improvements, but they also showed the inherent drawbacks faced by the children of the Eastern Han Dynasty's gentry when they were faced with the transformation problem.

The process of love and hatred between the Jizhou gentry and the rulers was actually this problem.

From Han Fu to Yuan Shao, and then to Cao Cao, there were changes, but there was no thorough change.

Han Fu was a beginning.

Han Fu, most people think that this guy is a drunkard, but in fact Han Fu once served as the Chief Censor, this initially small official position, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, has replaced the Chief Censor, and is called the "Three Terraces" together with the Shangshu and the Yezhe. It is not difficult to see that the position of Chief Censor is very offensive, and Han Fu, who is considered to be weak, actually has this experience, which also shows that Han Fu is by no means an incompetent and weak person.

After Dong Zhuo came to power, in order to win over the Central Plains gentry, he selected several prestigious court officials and appointed them to local governors, hoping to expand his influence. Because of this, Han Fu was able to serve as the governor of Jizhou with his background and reputation.

??????????.??????

Although Han Fu was a typical civil servant, he also knew how to develop with the advantages of geographical advantages. On the one hand, he recruited Qu Yi, who was known for his courage and strategy. The latter grew up in Liangzhou and not only learned the Qiang people's tactics, but also had a group of elite soldiers. On the other hand, Han Fu chose to bring a large number of Yingchuan scholars to Jizhou and asked them to give him advice. The ancients paid attention to regional feelings, so Han Fu's fellow countrymen Xun Zhan, Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others all stepped onto the stage of Jizhou.

This also shows that Han Fu had a very clear understanding of the situation at the end of the Han Dynasty and took a positive approach to deal with it. In contrast, there was the world-famous Confucian scholar Kong Rong. When the latter was appointed as the Prime Minister of Beihai, he did nothing but sing and drink all day long, without making any plans for the future.

But it was not Yuan Shao but Yuan Shu who finally brought Han Fu down...

Because in the Yuan family, Yuan Shu was the one recognized by Yuan Kui and recognized by the secular world as the legitimate heir of the Yuan family.

When Han Fu faced Yuan Shao's aggressive posture, on the one hand, he placed his hopes on Yuan Shu and wrote to Yuan Shu privately, asking Yuan Shu to deal with Yuan Shao. On the other hand, he tried to appease his general Qu Yi and let him be a dog under his family.

But it is obvious that Han Fu's two legs were broken in the end...

Yuan Shao was an overreacter.

Yuan Shao saw Han Fu's mistakes, and he used the people of Jizhou to find a balance between the people of Jizhou and Yuzhou. Obviously, he also failed.

When it came to Cao Cao's stage, the people of Jizhou found that Cao Cao and Han Fu were of the same character. On the surface, they said they were fair, but in fact, they reused the gentry of Yingchuan and adopted a policy of suppression against the local gentry of Jizhou. But the difference between Cao Cao and Han Fu is that Cao Cao added the military farming, which broke one leg of the Jizhou people, and then chose the poor family, which broke the other leg of the Jizhou people.

But unfortunately, the Jizhou people are not human, but centipedes. Although it hurts to break two legs, they will not die. Even if they die, they may not be stiff immediately.

Therefore, the "betrayal" of the Jizhou people is already doomed. This kind of "betrayal" is consistent with Han Fu's stage. It is not that there is at the beginning, nor is it produced in an instant, but it is a process of slowly accumulating dissatisfaction and finally erupting.

The reason why Wei Yan was able to stir up turmoil in Jizhou was not that all the nobles in Jizhou were blind, deaf and stupid, but that some people were waiting to see the joke of Lao Cao, and were even ready to add fuel to the flames. But this kind of "rebellion" is not a complete fall out with Cao Cao, but an attempt to use Wei Yan to undermine Cao Cao's suppression and earn more political benefits.

Therefore, Wei Yan's success is very similar to Taishi Ci's, that is, both of them subconsciously grasped the "rebellion" of the top leaders and the middle and low-level local gentry...

This rebellion is evolving and expanding.

Just like in the Ju family hall, everyone ostensibly came to discuss fighting the drought, but in fact, during the discussion, they didn't say a few words about the drought at all, but naturally shifted to the world in front of them. The situation, especially Feicao's fight.

Jushu died in Youzhou for no apparent reason, and Jushu's son Juhu inherited the family business.

This is indeed a heavy blow to the Ju family, but the Ju family is still very large.

Unlike elites from poor families like Tian Feng, the Ju family was a powerful family in Guangping, occupying a vast area and controlling a large population.

When Yuan Shao arrived in Jizhou, Jushu already had many private soldiers. Jushu was one of Yuan Shao's counselors and was awarded the title of general. He had military power and was ordered to "guard the generals", which gave him a transcendent status.

But good fortune and misfortune depend on each other, and the Ju family is obviously hated for this...

After Jushou's death, Juhu remained silent for a long time.

Juhu does not have the wisdom and strategic insight of his father, so he is not that outstanding and can even be considered a mediocre person. However, Guangping needs a leader at the moment, so he is recommended.

"The Chen family is also an heir to poetry and calligraphy. His grandfather Shi, father Ji, and uncle Chen are all famous. He returned to the prime minister in his early years, but under the prime minister there was the Yingchuan Xun family..." The first person under Juhu stroked his beard and said, "Now his son is on a visit and invites the head of the family to fight against the bandits... He is not here for thieves, but for thieves. For the sake of alliance. 』

A person on the right sneered, "Humph, Chen Changwen is really good at calculating!" If we make an alliance with them, we can strengthen their momentum. Banditry is a trivial matter. Then we can fight against the Xun family in Yingchuan, cut off the north and south, and step into the high hall! 』

"This matter does not depend on Chen Changwen, but on Prime Minister Cao... How do you think this battle will be won?" Juhu asked.

The next person said: "It's probably not good." 』

Someone next to him said: "Before sending troops, Prime Minister Cao was very powerful... Now, haha, ahha, hehehe..."

"There is news from Yingchuan," someone said, "Cheng Zhongde went to Qingzhou... He must have guarded the place..."

Everyone was talking to each other, chattering very lively.

Most of the time, it's not that these people didn't respond to some of Cao Cao's moves, but that they didn't dare to act rashly due to Cao Cao's previous momentum. Now that Cao Cao has begun to decline, the feeling of dealing with Han Fu and Yuan Shao back then is back. Arriving in front of the Jizhou guy.

"The matter of Chen Changwen..."

After talking for a long time, I went back to the original question.

Do you want to cooperate with Chen Qun?

Juhu thought deeply for a moment and whispered, "There is a saying in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Uncle Yingkao is a pure filial piety. He loves his mother and gives to Duke Zhuang." All three Jiang family members were disappointed, and only Uncle Yingkao got his name. ...Therefore, the Jiang family cannot be chosen, Zhuang Gong cannot be effective, and it is impossible to share Shu Duan... Now that the Ju family has lost its pillar, the only way to save it is to clear its name..."

Everyone listened, some agreed, and some did not completely agree, but they supported Ju Hu's idea of ​​absorbing "fame", so the basic strategy was determined. That is, instigate a three-party fight, and then jump out to ease the relationship when necessary, and be a gentleman who is "humble and peaceful, loyal and filial".

Juhu said: "Don't let the news of this matter leak out and disturb people's hearts." 』

Everyone agreed.

Halfway through the conversation, someone hurried outside the hospital and presented a token, saying that an "old acquaintance" was visiting.

Ju Hu didn't know what was going on, but since he saw the token, he invited him.

After a while, two villagers came in, supporting a man wearing a cloak and covering his head and face.

As soon as the man entered the hall, there was a strong smell of blood and herbs, and he was obviously seriously injured. When he walked into the hall and lifted the hat on his head, Ju Hu was stunned for a moment and then startled.

The visitor turned out to be Cui Hou!

"Brother Cui?" ! Ju Hu slowly stood up, looking nervous, "Why...why do you look like this?" 』

Cui Hou turned pale and sighed dejectedly, "The hussars are full of tricks... I, Mr. Cui, have encountered a great disaster..."

"Hurry and take a seat. Juhu greeted, "Come here, bring some hot drinks!" 』

In the era of the Han Dynasty, being a smuggler was not something anyone could do if they wanted to. If ordinary people want to make a fortune, or want to risk their lives to change their future, they will have no chance. They will be thrown into the abyss of the mountain stream by various gray and black forces and turn into bones.

Cui Hou took a few sips of the hot drink, took a breath, and gained a little more color on his face. Only then did he have the energy to talk about everything from Jinyang in Taiyuan to Fukouxing, from Xiahoudun to Yanrouhuangcheng. .

Cui Jun was the one who received the most attention. He couldn't run away even if he wanted to, but Cui Hou didn't keep a close eye on him. So Cui Hou found an opportunity halfway through and pretended to have fallen off the cliff. In fact, he didn't. He hid in the secret cave where he was smuggled before. He escaped from danger and entered Jizhou to find his old trading partner.

‘This…’ Ju Hu pondered.

He didn’t expect Cui Hou to come and disrupt his original plan.

Ju and Cui Hou did have business dealings and trade friendship, but that didn’t mean they would sacrifice their lives for Cui Hou…

Seeing Ju Hu’s eyes flickering, Cui Hou knew what was going on. He couldn’t help but sigh and revealed his trump card, saying: ‘There’s another bad news, I’m afraid you don’t know yet… Xiahou Yuanrang has been captured alive…’

‘What? ! ’

Everyone was shocked.

Some people couldn’t even control themselves and overturned the table in front of them.

The various cups and bowls placed on the table suddenly became a complete tragedy.