xymnovel Chapter 19 Displaced People
Chapter 19 Displaced People
The "seeking a way to survive" mentioned by Liu Lu refers to the behavior of self-cultivating farmers who, after going bankrupt, voluntarily give up their land assets and flee to become refugees in order to survive.
The problem of displaced people was not new to the Eastern Han Dynasty, but it reached an unprecedented scale during this period and eventually became one of the core factors that shook the foundations of the empire.
The root of this problem lies in a structural contradiction at the beginning of the Eastern Han regime: a regime established by powerful clans was unable to solve the problems brought about by their development.
Economically, the economy of powerful manors has a strong tendency to expand exclusively.
This means that powerful landlords, relying on their political privileges, annexed the land of self-cultivating farmers. Their large-scale and fully-equipped manor economy absorbed a large number of people as "attached" or "hidden households," forming a solid and self-sufficient economic fortress. This not only seriously eroded the country's tax base and military resources, but also forced the farmers who lost their land to either become tenant farmers or be forced to leave their homes and become vagrants.
Politically, powerful clans who served as officials in the imperial court also allowed the number of displaced people to expand.
Local governments conceal disasters and falsify household registrations to meet performance targets, and even when insightful people in the central government point out the problems, their suggestions often go unanswered.
Faced with an ever-growing population of displaced people, even though the Eastern Han court repeatedly issued edicts to encourage them to register in prefectures and counties by granting them titles, this was nothing more than empty promises and had no effect on the displaced people.
Even in the later period, the number of refugees increased, reaching hundreds of thousands of households in the first year of Emperor Huan's Yongxing reign (153).
In the first year of the Guanghe era (178), Emperor Ling opened the Western Palace to openly sell official positions. Officials with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain) cost 20 million, and officials with a salary of 400 shi cost 4 million. County magistrates and chiefs set prices according to the fertility of the land in their counties. The wealthy paid in advance, while the poor paid double after taking office. Emperor Ling also privately sold official positions such as dukes and ministers, with dukes costing 10 million and ministers 5 million. In many prefectures and counties, wolves and jackals held sway.
The money officials spend on buying their positions will ultimately be recouped from the people many times over. This increases the tax burden on farmers, prompting more farmers to flee to other places.
Exiled peasants revolted everywhere.
A bold folk song even circulated among the farmers: "The common people's hair is like chives, cut it and it grows back; their heads are like chickens, cut them and they crow again. Officials are not necessarily to be feared, nor are the people necessarily to be looked down upon!"
Li Sheng silently processed the news Liu Lu brought, his heart filled with compassion.
He had heard before that some people criticized various peasant uprisings and rebellions on the grounds that "even the worst order is better than no order," including the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
They said that the Yellow Turban Rebellion caused great destruction, and the people who died because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion were piled up like mountains of corpses!
But Li Sheng wanted to say: That's bullshit!
Peasant uprisings do cause many deaths, but should we just let the people starve to death?
The feudal ruling class was most adept at using seemingly benevolent means to ruthlessly exploit and devour the fruits of the people's labor, and even their flesh and blood!
Li Sheng recalled his memories. In his village alone, the number of people who lived past sixty could be counted on one hand. Most of them died in their thirties or forties, but the powerful and aristocratic lords often lived to seventy or eighty without any problem.
Do ordinary people not want to live longer?
They were driven to their deaths by poverty, taxes, and this damned world, and were forced to live to only thirty or forty years old!
The average life expectancy in the world is only twenty or thirty years. How many people die from overwork in their prime!
In such a world filled with "cannibalism," the corpses of those who died from peasant uprisings and riots littered the countryside; but the people who died from feudal exploitation and oppression could not be contained by the entire world!
Therefore, peasant uprisings are inherently just! The key is to prevent them from quickly degenerating into banditry involving burning, killing, and looting.
The setting sun, like blood, cast its light upon the dilapidated wooden gate of Li Sheng's house.
He remained outwardly calm, but a raging storm was brewing within him!
Seeing Li Sheng's stunned expression, Liu Lu said half-jokingly, "What's wrong, Brother Sheng? You're not thinking of helping them out, are you?"
Seeing that Li Sheng did not answer, he continued, "Brother Sheng, I know you are kind-hearted, but we don't have much food left."
Li Sheng snapped out of his daze and glanced at Liu Lu.
This kid is usually all smiles and laughter, but when it comes to serious matters, he gets right to the point.
Of course he knew about the grain storage.
Liu Wu had mentioned this to him and suggested reducing the training of the local militia to save on rations, which he agreed to.
"What about the government?"
Li Sheng asked.
"What has the county said about those families in the north who have run out of food?"
Liu Lu chuckled.
"Brother Sheng, are you really unaware or pretending? It's those officials who are driving the villagers into vagrant status! How could they possibly care!"
He lowered his voice and moved closer.
"I've also heard that many families' land has been bought up by people sent by the Chen family in the county. Calling it a buy is a bit of an exaggeration; it's practically robbery. They offer three to five hundred coins and some food for a good acre of land. Don't sell? You'll just starve to death."
Li Sheng remained silent.
He leaned against the wooden gate, his gaze fixed on the horizon that was gradually darkening in the distance.
The Chen family.
The powerful and influential families of Xiapi County had served as officials for generations, and their landholdings were spread throughout the surrounding countryside. From top to bottom, the county officials were either protégés or former subordinates of the Chen family, or related to them in some way.
Such powerful families are not unique to the Chen family in Xuzhou, nor are they found only in Xuzhou throughout the entire country.
He thought to himself: Yes.
How can a local government controlled by powerful figures possibly save the people?
They would love for more bankrupt independent farmers.
When self-sufficient farmers go bankrupt, they only have two paths to take.
They either had to join the powerful and wealthy, selling themselves into slavery and becoming dependent subjects. From then on, generation after generation, their descendants would be slaves and servants, with no possibility of ever rising above their circumstances.
They either had to leave their homes and families and embark on a journey of exile.
If you're lucky, you can re-register in some unfamiliar place and start over; if you're unlucky, you'll starve to death, die of illness, or be robbed and killed by bandits along the way.
Regardless of which path they followed, their land inevitably fell into the hands of powerful landlords.
One mu, two mu, ten qing, one hundred qing.
The landholdings of powerful families grew like a snowball, while the nation's tax base dwindled, the number of displaced people increased, and the very foundation of the nation was gradually eroded.
This great man was ruined by these powerful and influential families!
Li Sheng took a deep breath and suppressed these thoughts.
He knew Liu Lu was right.
With their current strength and the meager amount of food they have, they are not qualified to help those families who have run out of food.
Let alone helping others, it would be a miracle if our own group of about a hundred people could even make it to the summer harvest.
He could only sigh inwardly.
"Liu Lu".
"I'm here, Sheng-ge."
"Thank you for your hard work on this trip."
Liu Lu grinned and waved his hand.
"Hey, it's nothing hard. It's just running errands and talking. I'll definitely get things done for you, Sheng-ge."
Li Sheng looked at him, seemingly lost in thought.
He suddenly realized that Liu Lu had a rare skill.
By gathering information, you can not only find out what happened, but also understand the ins and outs behind it.
The story of the Chen family buying land at a low price isn't something you can just hear by squatting at the village entrance; you have to dig deep and find someone willing to tell you.
Having someone like that around to run errands is a waste of their talent.
If we really want to do something big in the future, we need people specifically responsible for gathering information and spying on the enemy.
Liu Lu, perhaps we can cultivate him in this direction.