My Little Xinya (3)
Running a household to feed a family takes a fair bit of money. Managing an entire academy takes a fortune. And governing a whole city as its prefect? That demands an astronomical sum. Some days, gold flows out by the chestful. Other times, you have to empty an entire warehouse just to help the common folk.
All of this runs on taxes. But ever since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the people's lives had grown so destitute that taxes often couldn't even be collected properly. Taxes are national strength, and the number of people is the true power of a state. Correction—not a state. The Central Plains are all one nation under Han, but power shifts depending on who's ruling each region. I'd already started thinking of Cao Cao's, Yuan Shao's, Liu Biao's, or Sun Bo's territories as separate "countries" in my mind. The Han empire had long since declined into that mindset.
If Han pulls itself together in some distant future and rebuilds from this chaos into a new Han, historians might sum it up as "the land teemed with brigands." But if Han falls and new nations rise, they'll call it "the fall of Han and the return of the Warring States."
In this age of strife, I resolved to cultivate the land I called home: Xinya. Truth be told, I'd already started. Expanding the academy's grounds bit by bit, settling refugees and wanderers there, reclaiming wasteland, and turning them into Jingzhou residents who paid taxes to us. They paid us for land use, and we—more precisely, the Cai family—bundled it up and sent it to Jingzhou's Inspector, Liu Biao.
But eventually, that started to feel off.
"Why do we send a thousand dan of rice in taxes from Xinya and get back less than three hundred?"
Liu Biao invested nothing in Xinya. After Jang Je's raid, once I realized he saw us as mere sacrificial pawns across the Yangtze to shield Yangyang, I devised plans for Xinya's survival. At first, for myself. Then for the academy and the Cai family. Now, for Xinya's residents.
Cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state. Living through chaos taught me that selfishness—focusing only on my body and family—wasn't enough. Developing and stabilizing this city was the key to protecting my family and myself.
...Of course, I'm no emperor fit to run a whole nation. But I had the power to manage this little city of Xinya. My disciples made it possible: Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Seo Seo, and even Sima Yi, now serving at court.
"What should we do, Master?"
"Whatever you want!"
"Oh...."
With Zhuge Liang leading, the academy disciples set to work developing Xinya. Irrigation projects, road repairs, commercial investments, military grain support, supply logistics—you name it, they tackled endless petitions and poured in every effort.
To boost agriculture, they cleared heavy rocks and reclaimed wasteland. For commerce, they reorganized districts and chased out thugs. For technology, they built massive workshops, hired artisans, and spared no support.
Thanks to this progress, Xinya's population kept growing.
"They say Jingzhou's a good place to live. Should we just settle here?"
"Yeah. It's brutal trying to reach the southern commanderies. Let's stay."
"The people seem nice too."
"And most look like refugees, so less local bias than down south."
"Plus, it's close to the capital where the Emperor is."
"Even if they move back to Luoyang, it's still relatively near."
"Not bad for a backwater."
Jingzhou's reputation as livable land drew crowds to Xinya, the gateway. They started putting down roots.
"They give you land if you reclaim wasteland?"
"Look closely—it's after ten years of work."
"Then we'll live here together forever."
"......What did you just say?"
"Oops."
Xinye's Prefect Mun Bing actively welcomed wanderers and refugees, and the population exploded.
"Ah, aaah! What do we do? The baby's here—we can't go far!"
"...Let's stay. Better than the constant wars in the Central Plains."
"But bandits are rampant here too!"
"Mun Bing the general cut them down in one stroke. At least here, they protect folks like us. Right?"
"...Do what you want. You're in charge now!"
"Since we've got one, might as well make another—"
"Sis!! There you are! I thought you died after we split in Shouchun... Who's this bastard?!"
"Your brother-in-law!"
And so Xinya's people multiplied, one by one.
The problem? Supporting this influx required mountains of money—money, money. The taxes they paid barely scratched the surface, like pissing on a house fire. Maintaining the city and feeding everyone demanded vast sums. Revenue was low, Liu Biao sent peanuts, outflows were huge, and I couldn't touch the academy's funds.
...So I reached for money I could earn myself. Where did I know a fat purse waited? Right there. A big chest of it.
I decided to tap it.
The Xinya Development Fund. A fancy name, but it was my private coffers in the end.
"Hello, my overflowing granary."
To develop Xinya, I set aside selfishness and dipped into Cao Cao's warm "advisory fees."
"Stop! I get it, just stop. You haven't even done it."
"...Who says I won't?"
"Yes, yes, Master. So you used the gold chest from Cao Cao's fees for the Xinya Development Fund?"
"Exactly. In short... I developed Xinya with my money!"
I stood tall. No great scholar would empty their pockets for Xinya like this. A near-civilian doing a prefect's job—what self-sacrifice! What altruism!
"The reclamation and development zones are on your land, right, Master?"
"......."
"Reorganizing commerce is whatever, but chasing out thugs? That was because they messed with Sima Yi, wasn't it?"
"Ah, those thugs were asking for it. How could I stand by when they touched my wife?"
"So you sicced General Mun on them and nearly beat them to death."
"No regrets. Nothing shameful there."
I'd just removed obstacles to Xinya's growth. Whether they later joined Yeonam's bandits to spearhead attacks on us— no regrets.
"What about the workshops? I saw it sorting Xinya Castle's ledgers—huge funds pouring in."
"Of course! The more you invest, the fewer people die!"
"Rumor has it Zhuge Liang's playing with toys there."
"Toys? It's developing symbols of peace for the world's tranquility. Who dares call it a playroom? I can take insults to myself, but not to Liang's workshop."
Those technologies make life easier, richer, safer from enemies. How dare anyone dismiss it as child's play?
"Pang Tong?"
"I didn't name names."
"She asked for her own workshop too?"
"Something about a Tactics Office and Stratagems Division. To research tactics with her subordinates."
If Zhuge Liang had her tech forge, Pang Tong needed a staff HQ. Fair enough.
"Hmph. Over-relying on human tactics is a big mistake. Someday, wooden and iron puppets might rule the world. One puppet matching a thousand men."
"Not today."
"True. But it's not impossible. With Liang's weapons..."
Ultimately.
"Our side wins without dying, enemies fall."
Lots of enemies would die, sure. But overwhelming weapons and forces would deter war altogether. Say Yuan Shao conquers Cao Cao, unites the Plains, marches a million on Xinya. Fight with weapons, strategy, schemes?
Run if it's a million.
Some things are possible, others not. Like turning Xinya into Heodo with my savings.
Cao Cao, how do you do it?
I'm struggling with this tiny plot, yet she feeds an emperor, pays officials' salaries.
That's why she wanted Xuzhou? For the taxes?
Nah. Filial piety drove her mad. Couldn't contain her rage at her parents' deaths, pretending to smile. That's my guess.
Whatever her motives, she propped up Han with the Cao fortune. And I milked her advisory fees like flea livers to build Xinya.
Money. For Xinya, I needed money.
"Seo Seo. You know hardship from lack of it. How vital money is."
"That's why I'm asking—why use it on Xinya's fund instead of yourself?"
"Ah, that's what angers you?"
"Not anger. Just... you've changed."
"I've changed?"
"Yes. You're different from when we met."
"......."
Changed. I knew it too, like she said.
"True, not the boy I was. But some things don't change."
The core remains.
"This steadfast heart. I live for myself."
"That 'self' doesn't just mean you anymore, Master."
"......."
First time. Seo Seo bested me in a war of words.
"You leave me speechless."
"Yes. Wait a sec?"
She went to her room, returned with something.
"What's this?"
"Marriage funds my mother told me to save."
"Ah...."
She hadn't worked for free. Early on, room and board covered it. But once I learned of her widowed mother, I paid proper wages.
"Thanks to your generosity, I've saved enough for a fine manor in any city."
"...Impressive."
Truly, she'd scrimped every coin.
"Yes. Putting it into the Xinya Development Fund."
"What? Your marriage?"
"No marriage won't kill me."
She slid the chest over with a bright smile.
"Make your dreams reality, Master. And take responsibility for me too."
"...I already have two wives."
"Oh, that's fine. Mother and I agreed."
She cupped hands over her belly, grinning.
"She just wants grandkids."
"......Your mother's quite open-minded."
"I'm of age now."
I couldn't respond.
"Granddaughters count too, she said."