My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 14 Offering Advice on Land Reclamation
Taking the opportunity, Liu Feng said, "Father, Xuzhou has just experienced the ravages of war. Cao Yanzhou is bloodthirsty and cruel. Wherever he goes, he slaughters everything in his path. Not even one in ten of the people survives. In my opinion, not counting the two commanderies of Guangling and Langya, Xiapi is in slightly better condition, but Donghai Commandery has lost more than half of its territory. As for Pengcheng Commandery, almost none of the counties under its jurisdiction have been spared."

"Next year, apart from the taxes from Xiapi and half of Donghai County, there will probably be no other income. If there is any disturbance, there will be a famine."

Liu Bei sighed deeply; what Liu Feng said reflected his own worries.

He managed to come up with a solution, which was a good opportunity to ask Liu Feng for his opinion.

"My son, I intend to move the prefecture capital to Xiapi and appoint Cao Bao as the chancellor of Xiapi. What do you think?"

Liu Feng was overjoyed, not because Big Ears' strategy was so good, but because of Big Ears' attitude.

Big Ears Brother actually agreed to discuss such an important matter with me.

"Father, I think this is inappropriate."

Liu Feng had already seen Liu Bei's idea in history.

While this method may not be the best, Liu Bei certainly did his best within this framework.

Not only did it solve the food problem, it also temporarily eased the tension between him and Cao Bao.

If it weren't for Yuan Shu's covetousness of Xuzhou and his northward attack on Liu Bei, and if it weren't for the widow Cao taking the opportunity to use the emperor's edict to force Liu Bei to leave Xiapi and fight Yuan Shu to the death, leaving Zhang Fei to guard Cao Bao, then Liu Bei would have been able to achieve his goal.

If he could have delayed for another year or two, Liu Bei might have been able to suppress the Danyang faction.

This is not just hearsay; historical records clearly show that the Danyang faction had a strength of 20,000 troops when Liu Bei took control.

But when Lü Bu seized the property certificate and the Danyang faction leader surrendered to him, Lü Bu's total force was only about 10,000 men. When he fought Yuan Shu to the death, he managed to gather 5,000 to 6,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.

When they later defeated Big Ears in Pei County, they only deployed 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.

This also includes Lü Bu's old forces from Bingzhou, Zhang Liao's forces, and the gentry and soldiers from Yanzhou who fled with him.

This shows how much Danyang's power had declined at that time.

"Oh, why not?"

Liu Bei felt somewhat embarrassed, but since the person who had repeatedly contradicted him was his beloved son, he decided to let it go.

“Father, Xiapi is the territory of the Chen family. The Chen family has been operating in Xiapi for hundreds of years, and no one, whether scholar or commoner, dares to disobey them. If you move the prefecture and county to Xiapi, the affairs of the prefecture and county will fall into the hands of the Chen family’s aristocratic clan. Even if you appoint Cao Bao as the prime minister of Xiapi, he will only be a figurehead prime minister. How can he be grateful to you?”

"Moreover, if Father leaves Donghai County for Xiapi, then half of Donghai County will definitely be out of control. Father, the governor of Xuzhou, will probably not even be able to govern a single county."

Liu Bei gasped. He had previously thought his plan was acceptable; going to Xiapi would at least provide enough food and supplies to feed the troops, and also allow him to protect the last fertile land in Xuzhou.

He could also use his position as prime minister to win over Cao Bao and diminish Chen Deng's influence.

But after listening to Liu Feng's analysis, he realized that he had lost his mind; the plan was really terrible.

Liu Feng then revealed his thoughts: "Father, it's only the first month of the lunar calendar, and there are still two or three months until spring. As long as we can gather seeds, farming tools, and grain, not to mention Pengcheng Kingdom, we can certainly stockpile a batch of fields in Donghai County."

Liu Bei was somewhat surprised: "Tuntian (military agricultural colonies)?"

"Yes! Military colonization!"

Liu Feng nodded: "The half of Donghai Commandery bordering Yanzhou has been completely destroyed. Even if the people were lucky enough to survive, they would have left long ago. But people can run away, but the land cannot. As long as we have grain, seeds, and farming tools, we can easily recruit refugees and arrange for them to cultivate the land in the four counties of Xiangben, Lanling, Chengxian, and Yinping." "This... I'm afraid there might be some issues?"

Liu Bei frowned: "Although only one in ten local people are still alive, these fields are owned."

Liu Feng had already thought of this and a solution: "Father can issue a decree as governor, ordering the people of the original hometown to return within a specified time. If they return before the beginning of spring, their land will be returned in full. If they return within the year, they must return it after the autumn harvest. If they return after one year, the state government will collect an additional tax on the cultivated land before returning the land."

"Tax on cultivated land...?"

"Yes, the land tax. These people have abandoned their hometowns, leaving their fields uncultivated. The state government cultivates the land for them and maintains the farmland; they can't work for nothing, can they?"

Land needs both fallowing and cultivation. If a field is left fallow for more than two years without proper maintenance, it will turn from cultivated land into uncultivated land or even wasteland, resulting in a decrease in yield instead of an increase.

Collecting money under this pretext would be a win-win policy, as it could be used to cover the relocation expenses of soldiers and civilians stationed in the area.

Moreover, the four counties Liu Feng mentioned, along with the six counties of Changlu and Hexiang further to the left of the prefecture, truly suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Cao Cao. In Pengcheng County alone, more than 40,000 people were killed, and even the Si River was cut off from its flow.

Even if some people in these places are lucky enough to survive and produce land deeds, they are extremely few, probably less than one percent. There is no need to worry about a large number of people joining forces to cause trouble in the future.

"I suggest that Father recommend Lu Su as the Colonel of Agricultural Settlements to oversee all agricultural settlements, Zhao Yun as the Magistrate of Cheng County, and Tian Yu as the Magistrate of Lanling County. They can be appointed to military settlements in these two counties."

Looking into Liu Feng's burning eyes, Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Feng'er, you are too impatient. Not to mention whether Lu Su or Lu Zijing is willing to be recruited, I have no idea about the money, grain and tools for the military farms."

"Father, have you forgotten the snow salt and frosting sugar that the fairy gave me in my dream?"

Liu Feng laughed heartily: "I am willing to use this as collateral to negotiate a business deal with Prefect Mi, so that I can exchange it for enough money, grain, seeds, and farming tools for my father."

Liu Bei suddenly realized what was going on, but he was somewhat reluctant to part with it.

These two items were gifts from Heaven to his son. If they were transferred, it was uncertain whether it would affect Liu Feng's good fortune.

Upon learning of Liu Bei's thoughts, Liu Feng was deeply moved.

“Father, since the immortal has bestowed these gifts upon me, they are naturally meant for my use. If I cannot tell others, I cannot become a salt worker or a sugar craftsman, can I? Besides, if these two items can help you establish a foothold in Xuzhou, they are well worth the price. How could I possibly be reluctant to part with them?”

Liu Bei was deeply moved after hearing this, and he held Liu Feng's hand, sighing with emotion.

Liu Feng breathed a sigh of relief, finally managing to persuade Liu Bei.

With time running out and the task heavy, if Big Ears Brother drags his feet again, the situation will become even more difficult.

Fortunately, Big Ears is reasonable.

“Father, this is a critical moment to win over General Jianwei. We must not do anything to make him uneasy.”

Liu Feng concluded, "Therefore, I cannot become Chen Gongcao's disciple, at least not at this stage."

Although Liu Bei was very regretful that he could not let Liu Feng become Chen Deng's disciple, he still said reasonably, "It was my oversight. In that case, leave this matter to me. I will take care of Yuanlong."

After hearing Liu Bei's words, Liu Feng was completely relieved.

The foundation of Xuzhou's development has finally made a good start.

(End of this chapter)