A Stepping Stone to the Throne (1)
An old proverb says that for the realm to be stable, Liangguang must be prosperous—and indeed, the plains at the lower reaches of the Yangtze have been known as China's greatest rice-producing region even into the modern era.
Soil made fertile by the Yangtze's silt.
Abundant rainfall and river water secured through irrigation works.
Compared to other crops, rice demands an enormous amount of water, and this region possessed the optimal environment for producing it. The south's overwhelming agricultural output, born from these natural advantages, was enough to sustain the Southern Dynasties regimes for centuries after they were routed by nomadic forces and forced to withdraw from the Central Plains.
"If we relocate commoners to Huainan and Huaibei and implement civilian tuntian colonies, we estimate an annual harvest of five million hu of grain. Barring floods or blight, the yield will double. And if we continue relocating people from the Central Plains for several years and encourage civilian colonies, we can stockpile thirty million hu."
Five million hu is roughly eighty thousand tons in modern terms.
Eighty thousand tons of rice can sustain a population of eight hundred seventy thousand for a year.
The Qin dynasty accomplished the unification of the realm on the back of the overwhelming productivity of Guanzhong and Bashu—proof that the success or failure of a powerful, prosperous state and a strong army hinged on dominant agricultural output.
Expanding the army must not mean neglecting agriculture.
On the contrary, this was the moment to pause the fighting and implement military colonies alongside civilian tuntian colonies.
The Tuntian System.
The so-called southern rice-cultivation plan.
Tens of thousands of refugees from the Central Plains were relocated to Huainan and Huaibei.
"They drag us here for no reason and order us to clear this barren wasteland!"
"They mean to tie us up like livestock and work us until we shrivel up and die on this dirt!"
A colonist's status was harsher than that of the lowliest butcher.
You work until you die.
They were treated as living expendables, in effect.
Relocation from the cultivation zone was forbidden until the colony period ended. If anyone fled the fields, a brutal system of collective punishment kicked in—every colonist in their work unit was executed.
The Central Plains refugees forcibly detained under the Tuntian System naturally resisted. They had expected to enjoy an era of peace in a rich, prosperous paradise, but instead they suffered the irrationality of being reduced to serfs overnight.
"Any who refuse will be severely punished!"
"You've been clinging to life on the relief grain graciously bestowed by His Highness the King of Chen—did you think we'd let you laze about for the rest of your lives?!"
We faced fierce resistance.
In response, Liu Chong's army deployed troops to suppress the refugees' defiance.
Some of the rioters who staged an armed demonstration rather than comply with the Tuntian System were executed as a warning to the rest. In the end, the refugees, realizing they could not overturn the injustice, gradually began to accept the yoke, and the Tuntian System was implemented.
"Will this not seem a cruel, draconian law to the refugees of the Central Plains? They are displaced people who abandoned their homeland, reduced to ashes, and fled south. I fear the day they take up their farming tools and rise in revolt."
We arrested refugees who attempted to flee the cultivation zones.
Reports poured in from Huainan and Huaibei in a flood.
King of Chen Liu Chong, witnessing the refugees resist the harsh law, revealed his worry about future trouble. As a vassal king who had experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion years before, his fear of popular uprising was natural.
"My Royal Father's deep concern is entirely reasonable. But coaxing and appeasing alone cannot control hundreds of thousands of people. It is human nature to be selfish and idle. Without wielding draconian laws and sharp spears, we could never maintain the Tuntian System."
Any wise decision entails unavoidable sacrifice.
Comfortable, benevolent rule only invites unrest and chaos.
That was the first lesson I learned from experiencing the horrors of a chaotic age.
"Once the Tuntian System succeeds, I plan to announce moderate measures—reducing the people's taxes, bestowing livestock and fields, and the like. Resistance and violent demonstrations will persist through the first half-year of implementation... but first let us observe the results achieved by Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao, who oversee the system."
"I understand. If it is the worthies of Jiangdong, they will surely make the Tuntian System succeed."
The people's resistance to the Tuntian System did not cease.
Each time, we mobilized troops to suppress the populace's protests.
Through countless trials and errors, the Tuntian System was swiftly advanced. And so, the military colonies and civilian colonies that began in the spring transformed barren wasteland into new farmland over the course of several months.
* * *
Thirty thousand commoners were committed to Huaibei,
and twenty thousand commoners to Huainan.
In the Han Dynasty, which emphasized Agriculturalism, you could count on one hand the number of people ignorant of farming. Naturally, the refugees conscripted into the Tuntian System were peasants whose ancestors had tilled the soil for generations.
But—
Rice.
The problem was the crop.
The water-scarce Central Plains primarily grew coarse grains such as barley and oats.
The refugees who came down from the Central Plains had, of course, no experience cultivating rice. So we had to endure numerous trials—such as sending southern commoners into the fields to teach them the farming methods.
"Oooh!"
"Whenever the wind blows, the gold waves ripple!"
September.
Eight months after the Tuntian System had been in effect,
the rice, at the peak of its ripening stage, took on a rich, golden hue.
In direct contrast to the severe drought afflicting the Central Plains, the south—with its humid, sweltering climate—enjoyed continued abundant rainfall. Each time a cool westerly gust blew, the sumptuous spectacle of golden bounty rippling like waves was enough to captivate the eye.
"It's really pretty..."
Dusk had fallen.
Arriving at the western ridge, the sun cast a dim, orange glow.
The abundant gold that caught the westerly wind was stained by the twilight's orange, creating a magnificent scene. Gazing upon it, the young platinum-blonde girl let slip an innocent, artless exclamation.
"It's thanks to you. I hear you've been diligently assisting the elders."
"Ahem! As a disciple of the Two Zhangs of Jiangdong, that is only to be expected!"
Was it because of the orange sunlight?
Lu Xun's slender face was tinged faint red.
Together with the genius girl radiating intelligence, I gazed out at the golden spectacle born of the Tuntian System.
"The Tuntian System is definitely not easy. Plenty of counties met with poor harvests. Fortunately, most of the counties where the system was implemented succeeded beyond expectations, though."
"It can't be helped. You can't get full on the first spoonful. I think we just need to keep trying, slowly, and fix the causes of the failures as we go."
She's right.
You can't achieve great success from the very start.
But I had driven tens of thousands of refugees into the pit of forced labor. The harsh Tuntian System caused many refugees to perish from overwork and endemic disease.
We achieved a bumper crop, so it counts as a grand success.
If I fall into that kind of complacent thinking, we'll undoubtedly face a poor harvest next year.
I ordered all the officials who managed the Tuntian System to find ways to remedy its problems. And I added a command to devise appeasement measures for the refugees we were absorbing as new subjects.
"Why?"
"I was just thinking, this is exactly the kind of man who will be my husband."
I asked the question while looking into the pair of green eyes staring at me blankly.
At that, the girl with the long platinum-blonde hair smiled softly and spoke.
"I'm not really into little brats."
"Hrk! A l-little brat, you say...! In just five more years I'll have grown into a peerless young beauty, I'll have you know! To dismiss an elegant sprout destined to blossom into a woman of devastating beauty as a little brat—you're definitely going to regret this someday!"
Yeah, we'll see.
Dropping that suggestive remark, I prodded Lu Xun into an even fiercer reaction.
"Once the harvest season ends and winter arrives, I'll have to raise a great army to conquer Xu Province."
"Tao Qian's forces are surely thinking the exact same thing."
Tao Qian was the hegemon of Donghai, commanding massive forces centered on the Danyang Troops, famed as warriors each worth a hundred men. If it came to an all-out war with Tao Qian's army, we would be facing a grand pitched battle with nearly a hundred thousand men combined.
Furthermore, Tao Qian counted Gongsun Zan's army and Chen Wen's army among his allies.
Even setting aside Chen Wen's army, which had taken a massive blow at the Battle of Dongcheng County, Gongsun Zan's army was bound to send reinforcements to support Tao Qian's army.
* * *
Winter.
The moment the First Lunar Month arrives, we strike the rebel army.
Tao Qian's army requested reinforcements from the Governor of Beiping, Gongsun Zan, to suppress the rebellion of Liu Chong and Liu Seong-hwi. In response, Gongsun Zan dispatched the Inspector of Qing Province, Tian Kai, to aid Tao Qian's army.
"It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I do owe quite a debt to the Crown Prince, my elder brother... Well, still, you have to separate public from private. They did use the Imperial Jade Seal to raise a rebellion, didn't they?"
The northern cavalry, which had suppressed the lawless territories teeming with Yellow Turban remnants, was committed as reinforcements for Tao Qian's army. The one leading those horsemen was Liu Bei, Major of a Separate Command, serving as a guest general under Gongsun Zan's army.
Snow-white hair like drifting snowflakes.
Brilliantly shining crimson eyes.
Lush breasts and full hips radiating a bewitching allure.
And a slender waist evocative of a thoroughbred mare.
Even after campaigning on the bleak northern front, she still possessed a beautiful complexion. Neither the desolate climate nor the environment could wear away a countenance that gleamed like glass.
"Elder Sister, are you all right? There was no need for you to volunteer to lead the reinforcements for Xu Province yourself."
"I'm fine. As Yide says, public and private must be kept separate."
Staying the night together. Sharing a bed.
Her elder sister had a relationship with the Southern Heir, having once shared his bed.
The black-haired beauty looked at the elder sister she revered with eyes full of worry. She could not help feeling concern, knowing her sister was about to face the storm of turning against a lover with whom she had once kindled a single night's passion.
'Why did Elder Sister volunteer for the reinforcements...? Gongsun Zan's army has plenty of outstanding commanders.'
Was it a declaration of resolve to sever ties with the Southern Heir, who had turned traitor overnight?
No,
that explanation felt somehow incomplete.
Whenever she probed her elder sister's mind, all that came back were inscrutable replies.