Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 25 Taihang and Big Ears

"Although the Liu family of Zhongshan is a major branch of my clan, we have long since stopped interacting. I don't care whether they have committed misdeeds and ruined their family name; I'm only afraid that the people of Zhongshan will not be able to survive..."

Liu Bei shook his head, not paying any attention to Gongsun Zan's mockery of the Liu family of Zhongshan.

Although the Liu family of Zhuojun was a branch of the Zhongshan clan, they rarely interacted anymore, and Liu Bei had no close relatives in Zhongshan.

"The common people here can't survive, so they'll naturally rely on us officials and scholars. Our achievements and positions are all earned through bloody battles and supported by the brave and loyal warriors under our command, not bestowed by the people of Zhongshan. Since Xuande doesn't care about the Liu family of Zhongshan, why should he care about the lives of ordinary people in other places?"

Gongsun Zan said dismissively.

“…Zhongshan is adjacent to Zhuojun. If things fall into chaos here, Zhuojun will also be affected…”

Knowing that he and Gongsun Zan had different paths, Liu Bei did not dwell on ideological differences, but only expressed concern that his hometown would be affected.

In fact, Liu Bei could understand Gongsun Zan's mentality, because in those days most people regarded people from other counties as 'foreigners,' and their sense of local identity far outweighed their feelings for their country.

Gongsun Zan nodded in agreement when he heard Liu Bei say this: "Therefore... I must make preparations as soon as possible, and Xuande should also make preparations as soon as possible."

"Brother Bogui, what do you mean by preparing early?"

Liu Bei asked the question knowing the answer already.

"Ha... What do you think? Can't you see how the world is?"

Gongsun Zan snorted and ignored Liu Bei.

Liu Bei remained silent.

What is the state of the world like?
The world has actually been rotten for a long time.

Take tax collection as an example. In those days, when taxes were collected, each pavilion would usually be put into service, and the pavilion chief would be responsible for supervision.

That is, each pavilion would send out a few households to be responsible for the specific collection and transportation matters.

Families designated as labor service households often suffered greatly because taxes were rarely collected in full, and even when they were, grain and other goods would be subject to significant losses during transport.

If it were other things, such as horses or other livestock, it would also generate a lot of consumption.

Whether it was not collected in full, was damaged, or was consumed, all of it had to be made up by the servants.

Therefore, being conscripted into labor service usually leads to the ruin of one's family. If it becomes clear that the family cannot make up for the losses, the conscripted household will flee to avoid being convicted and tortured as a slave.

The land left behind by the fleeing people was naturally sold by the government, and the powerful families took the opportunity to buy it.

This was also the most common method used by officials in various prefectures, and local powerful families would usually cooperate in doing so.

Those most likely to be conscripted into service were middle-class households with some land but little background or influence.

This not only complies with the imperial court's policy of "not levying taxes on lower-class households," but also forces them to sell their land and families into poverty.

Wealthy families, while buying land, could even gain a reputation as benevolent households by 'contributing money and grain to make up for the shortfall'.

Powerful clans could acquire land, officials could collect taxes and make a fortune, while those who lost their land would be recruited by powerful clans to become household slaves or tenant farmers.

Those who struggled desperately to rise from the poor to the middle class would be conscripted again and returned to abject poverty...

The methods differ from place to place, but the results are similar: the original landowners become destitute migrants, and then they are forced to rent land that originally belonged to them. If they manage to regain their land through hard work, they will be ruined again... This is the cycle that has remained unchanged on this land for thousands of years.

If the common people don't want to go through this cycle, then they have no choice but to rebel.

Rebellions have occurred in various places over the years, and most of them are actually due to this reason.

Gongsun Zan had served as the head of the finance and tax audit in Liaoxi in his early years. He would report on the finances and taxes of the prefecture to Luoyang every year, so he was very clear about these matters.

However, judging from Gongsun Zan's attitude, he didn't seem to take these things seriously, but rather saw them as opportunities.

He must have gotten used to it long ago.

Liu Bei had read about similar things in books before and had a general idea of ​​what they were like, but the words he read in books and the refugees he saw in front of him were completely different things.

Liu Bei couldn't get used to it.

……

They traveled in silence until they reached the southern part of Zhongshan, bordering Changshan County, at the Zishui River.

It was nearing the flood season, and although the Zi River wasn't a large river, it was still difficult to cross, so they had to find a boat to get across. But strangely, after searching the area for half a day, they couldn't find a boat at all.

There wasn't even a small raft to be found.

There is actually a ferry crossing here, and there is also a pavilion near the ferry crossing. There are dozens of houses, and these houses do not look dilapidated.

But there was no one in the pavilion, not a single person.

It was broad daylight, yet it felt eerie.

Most of the refugees who fled along the official road went north, probably because it was impossible to travel to the south.

Unable to cross the river, we had no choice but to set up camp here. Fortunately, the houses were still habitable, so it wasn't too bad.

The next day, Gongsun Zan took his subordinates to Wuji County, which governed the area, to inquire about the situation, while the others went off to find boats.

Liu Bei led his men upstream along the Zi River to search for them.

After searching for most of the day, the boat was indeed found, but it was still unusable.

Because all those boats had been sunk and sank together in a river bend.

Moreover, Liu Bei did not see a single person along the way.

Actually, we passed three pavilions along the way, but each one was just like the one at Zishui Ferry – the houses were all empty, and we couldn’t even see a dog.

Having seen many refugees before, Liu Bei felt it was understandable, assuming they had all become refugees.

But Jiu Chi sensed something was wrong: "My lord, the people here are probably not refugees..."

"how?"

Liu Bei gave Jiu Chi an inquiring look.

“If they were refugees, there would be many who stayed in their homeland and didn’t go anywhere. But this place is completely deserted… I’ve seen this kind of situation before.”

Nine Feet paused, a dark look in his eyes: "They were murdered like this, and those ships were deliberately sunk to cut off all communication."

"You mean...killing innocent people and claiming credit for it?"

Liu Bei frowned: "But this place is in Hebei, not on the border of Youzhou. There are no Hu people in this area, so how can we claim credit?"

"There are no barbarians in this area, but there is the Taihang Mountains... Have you ever heard of the Taihang bandits, sir?"

Jiu Chi explained, “The Taihang bandits have always only robbed wealthy families and would also send grain to the surrounding common people in exchange for information… Since Zhongshan could not wipe out the Taihang bandits, they used villagers to fill the ranks, and they were no different from the Shanggu County soldiers.”

Taihang bandits?
Liu Bei suddenly realized.

I walked upstream along the Zishui River, and I was not far from the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

The Taihang Mountain bandits were actually the predecessors of the Black Mountain Army, and they had existed for many years.

The Zhongshan Kingdom was located near the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains, an area frequently frequented by bandits from the Taihang Mountains, so there must have been a task to suppress bandits.

Considering the refugees we saw before, it's likely that the Zhongshan Kingdom provided another batch of new recruits to the Taihang Mountain bandits.

"Nine feet, in the Taihang Mountains... is there anyone you know?"

Liu Bei suddenly realized that Jiu Chi probably had friends in the Taihang Mountains, since Jiu Chi's hometown was in the southern part of Shanggu, which is the northern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

“I have a fellow villager who became a bandit in Taihang, but I cannot reveal his name. I beg you, sir, to forgive me.”

Jiuchi bowed his head to Liu Bei in apology.

"It's alright, I know the rules of the game. Since you have a fellow townsman in the Taihang Mountains, could you contact him..."

While pondering, Liu Bei said, "Send some gifts over for me, and tell them that Zhuojun Da'er wants to make friends with the heroes of Taihang, so that we can exchange things."

"Big ears?"

Jiu Chi subconsciously glanced at Liu Bei's ears.

(End of this chapter)