Liu Bei and Guan Yu turned their heads in perfect unison.
Their gazes were sharp. Dangerous. The kind that made people reconsider their life choices.
"Yide," Liu Bei said carefully, "could you please not bring up the Battle of Yiling?"
"If I do not die," Guan Yu added, "where does the Battle of Yiling come from?"
Zhang Fei ducked his head, but his mouth was still moving, stubbornly muttering under his breath like a scolded child who refused to admit he had said anything wrong.
"I was not wrong, though. Big Brother only ever lost to the real monsters. Did Cao Cao not also get ambushed by Lü Bu?"
Laughter burst out all around.
Honestly, there was no need to pile on Sun Quan's military resume any further.
Was there anything more absurd than Xiaoyao Ford?
"Retreating without success" at least meant he managed to drag his entire army back in one piece. In the context of Sun Zhongmou, that alone already counted as a noteworthy achievement.
[Lightscreen]
[While Guan Yu was busy fortifying his city and eyeing Cao Cao to the north, another critical factor began to emerge: the internal rebellions within Cao Cao's territory.
Rebellions under Cao Cao were a chronic issue. Based on incomplete statistics, between 200 and 220 AD, there were 51 armed uprisings within Cao Wei.
11 in the core regions, 17 in the east, and 23 in the west.]
Liu Bei's eyes lit up.
"That Wei Feng rebellion must be among them, right?"
Anyone who nearly stabbed Cao Cao in his own backyard immediately earned Liu Bei's deepest respect. The fact that Wei Feng had even raised the banner of the Han? That was a massive boost to his approval rating in Liu Bei's book.
A man willing to risk everything for the dynasty deserved to be remembered.
[Lightscreen]
[This brings up an old debate regarding Cao Wei's tax system.
Modern scholars often say that the taxation systems of the glorious Tang Dynasty were inherited from the Wei and Jin dynasties, which in turn began with Cao Cao's reforms.
The conclusion? That Cao Cao's system was not only more advanced but more humane. They claim the Qin and Han systems, which took 50% to 60% of crops, were evil, and it was all thanks to the great reformer Boss Cao that the foundation for the Tang Golden Age was laid.]
Zhuge Liang's expression turned serious.
"Is that true? Even the Tang Dynasty learned from Cao Cao's tax system?"
As someone currently handling taxation affairs, he knew exactly how complex and difficult such reforms were.
"If that claim is true, then Cao Cao's methods deserve careful study."
Liu Bei, however, was unconvinced. His brow furrowed deeply.
"A 1/30 tax," he frowned. "Where does this 50% or 60% come from?"
Zhang Fei let out a low, knowing chuckle.
The three brothers had made their name fighting the Yellow Turbans, after all. They had seen firsthand what drove ordinary farmers to pick up pitchforks and rebel against the empire.
"If it was truly a 1/30 tax, how could the Yellow Turbans have swept across the world?"
Liu Bei went wordless. Why had the Han dynasty declined? Why had the people suffered?
Because they had been crushed under endless layers of taxes.
[Lightscreen]
[But here is the contradiction.
If Cao Cao's people truly had enough food and clothing, why did the rebellions never stop? Were all 51 rebellions just die-hard Han loyalists?
The answer lies in the fine print.
The so-called Qin and Han 50% tax is clearly documented in Ban Gu's Book of Han, Wang Mang's edicts, and Xun Yue's memorials. The Zizhi Tongjian summarizes it succinctly:
The powerful and wealthy encroach and oppress, dividing the land and forcing tenants. Its name is 1/30 tax, but in reality, it is 1/2 tax.
In other words, on paper, the official land rent was still 1/30.
But in reality, once all the miscellaneous exactions and hidden fees were added, half the harvest was gone.]
Liu Bei lowered his head and covered his face with both hands in deep shame.
Disgraceful! And the shame has traveled all the way to the future, and the future's future!
"The powerful encroaching and dividing the land"... was that not the terminal illness of the Han dynasty? The same sickness that had rotted the empire from within until it could no longer stand?
Zhuge Liang nodded in agreement. "Petty, hidden taxes are the root of the people's misery," he said. "When a 3% tax turns into 50% or 60% through fees, how can the common people possibly survive?"
[Lightscreen]
[Cao Cao changed the system to a fixed field tax of four sheng per mu.
For comparison, in the late Han period, the average yield from one mu of land was only about a quarter of what modern farming produces, roughly 280 catties, which is about 140 kilograms.
Four sheng works out to about 16 catties, which is about 8 kilograms. That means the official tax rate was roughly one part out of eighteen, which is about five and a half percent.
On paper, Boss Cao looks like a living Buddha.]
Mi Fang noticed the atmosphere in the hall shift violently.
Everyone's jaws had dropped to the floor, looking exactly like he had when he first saw the light screen and realized the future held things beyond his wildest imagination.
Even his older brother, Mi Zhu, looked like his soul had temporarily left his body, his usually composed face frozen in pure disbelief.
"Impossible!" Guan Yu shot up from his seat, his hand resting instinctively on the hilt of his sword as if the numbers themselves were an enemy to be challenged. "How could later generations produce four times the yield per mu?"
"Twelve shi per mu!" Zhuge Liang muttered, sheer disbelief written across his face as he did the calculations in his head. "Could this descendant have his numbers wrong?"
"Or is this... another manifestation of that technological power?!"
"Kongming!" Liu Bei, who had also tilled the soil in his youth, felt his mind racing at a thousand miles an hour.
His hands trembled slightly at the implications.
"If refining Marquis Cai's paper can lead to Zuo Bo paper, then with that Tiangong Kaiwu book, could we not also raise the yields to ten shi per mu or more?"
If they could do that... if they could feed their people that well... there would be no more rebellions. No more starving farmers. No more families abandoning their homes. The Han would rise again stronger than ever.
Zhuge Liang opened his mouth, then closed it, and finally shook his head with a faint, weary smile.
"My lord, you are thinking way too much."
By his own conservative estimates, achieving three and a third shi per mu for rice this year in Jingzhou would already be a miraculous success.
Twelve shi was the stuff of legends, of fairy tales told to children to make them believe in a better world.
[Lightscreen]
[But in reality, only the gentry and landlords enjoyed that low tax.
For the common folk, Cao Cao introduced the Tuntian system, which was basically state-run farming colonies.
According to the Book of Jin, specifically Feng Yu's memorial, the rules were simple but brutal.
If a household used oxen provided by the government, they had to hand over 60% of their harvest as tax.
If they used their own oxen, they still had to pay 50%.
Either way, the common people were left with barely enough to survive.]
"Kongming, what is our current tax rate?" Liu Bei asked, his voice steady but firm.
Fanning himself slowly, Zhuge Liang replied in a low voice, "Combining all levies, we are currently between 30% and 40%."
Liu Bei nodded slowly. In these chaotic times, a 1/30 tax was a pipe dream, but at least being lower than Cao Cao made his conscience feel a little lighter. At least his people were not being squeezed to the bone like wheat between millstones.
[Lightscreen]
[Where did the people for these agricultural colonies come from? Forced conscription.
The Records of the Three Kingdoms is full of entries detailing Cao Cao constantly relocating populations to the areas around Xuchang and Yecheng.
For example, in 205, he forcibly moved households after pacifying Ji Province. In 209, he forced a relocation in Huainan that caused 100,000 people to flee to Eastern Wu.
And what happened to those who refused to be relocated, or tried to run away?
The Biography of He Kui states: Those who do not follow instructions must be executed.]
Liu Bei shook his head slowly, his eyes dark with old grief and anger.
He knew Cao Cao's ruthlessness all too well.
The people knew it too.
Hearing Cao's troops were coming was like hearing demons had arrived at their doorstep. They packed up their families and fled, often choosing to follow Liu Bei even when it meant certain danger, even when it meant slow retreat and hunger.
It was precisely because he had brought the people with him during the crossing of the river that his retreat slowed down, allowing Cao Cao's cavalry to catch up. That led to the disaster at Changban Slope and the tragic death of Lady Mi.
He felt no regret for taking the people with him. Not once. Not even for a heartbeat.
His only regret now was not having enough troops to strike down the Cao traitor in open battle, to end his tyranny once and for all.
[Lightscreen]
[Still, it cannot be denied:
Cao Cao's tax reform was a systemic advancement, though it remains far from the post-liberation Household Responsibility System.
The Tang Dynasty did reference this system, pushing the Great Tang into a world-famous golden age.
But who would have guessed that Cao Cao's original reform was merely a compromise with the powerful clans?
Because the powerful clans paid less tax, those conscripted into the Tuntian system were squeezed even harder.]
The hall fell into deep thought.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang exchanged a single glance.
No words were needed. Everything was understood.
Zhuge Liang noted down another unfamiliar term in his scroll, his brush moving quickly.
"Could that Household Responsibility System be the secret behind those twelve shi yields?" he murmured. "Unfortunately, I cannot deduce much from the name alone. But I will remember it. I will study it. If there is a way to give our people that kind of prosperity, I will find it."
Liu Bei, meanwhile, was thinking much further ahead, his gaze distant as he stared through the walls of the hall into the future.
"The great clans and powerful families have always been a deep-rooted, terminal illness of the empire," Liu Bei said, his voice heavy. "They grow fat while the people starve. They grow strong while the dynasty weakens."
He turned to Zhuge Liang. "How did the future generations solve it? How did they break the cycle?"
[Lightscreen]
[On top of taxes, the people were burdened with forced labor.
If they dared to refuse or desert, the end was death. Under such crushing oppression, public resentment boiled over. By 219 AD, the entire realm was pushed to a breaking point.
In the first month of the 23rd year of Jian'an, Ji Ben, the Imperial Physician, along with Geng Ji, the Lesser Treasurer, and Wei Huang, the Director of Retainers, rebelled. They attacked Xuchang and burned the camp of Wang Bi, the Chancellor's Chief Clerk.
Later that year, Zhang Gu, the Magistrate of Luhun, was ordered to conscript men for the Hanzhong campaign.
The people, terrified of the long distance and the grueling hardship, were thrown into turmoil. A man named Sun Lang led a revolt, killing the county registrar and taking up arms.
By the winter of the 23rd year, in the tenth month, the garrison general Hou Yin and others rebelled in Wan. They seized the Prefect of Nanyang, abducted officials and citizens, and fortified the city.]