Chapter 285 The weather has changed
It is both a geographical dividing line and a power dividing line created by them.
When they saw the rushing water, an invisible sense of pride filled their hearts.
When Qiao Rui died in battle and they were almost sent away as gifts, they went north to Bingzhou just to seek a place of refuge.
At that time, they would never have thought that there would be a day when they would rely on fighting in the dark by taking advantage of information asymmetry to change the situation in an entire state.
And now, after successfully achieving this scene, they have a clearer understanding -
They can completely rely on their abilities to become their own protectors!
The prince is also happy to provide them with such a platform to perform.
When they thought that Yandu, where Mi Zhu had transferred the children of the Mi family to be stationed, and Hailing, where Zhang Yang was currently stationing troops, would play their unique roles in the near future, they could see more and more sense of accomplishment in each other's eyes as they looked at each other.
This is their first stop to try out their skills, but it will not be the last.
Next time…
"I'll be more cautious next time." Qiao Lan said.
"But you can be happy for a while now." Qiao Ting smiled at her sister.
Just assume that they are happy because they survived the power struggle in Xuzhou and successfully completed the business journey that they announced to the outside world "from Yizhou to Guanzhong, and from Guanzhong to Xuzhou".
When they returned to Chang'an, both of them looked calm and proper.
The caravan stayed in the Guo district of Chang'an, and one of them went into the city to complete the secret meeting with Qiao Yan.
The city of Chang'an seemed to be constantly changing its weather. When they stepped into the city, they discovered that in just over two months, considerable changes had taken place here.
"Food is our confidence." Qiao Lan said with emotion.
After the two of them went to Xuzhou, they subconsciously collected all kinds of information around them, and this habit did not change after entering Chang'an City.
From the conversations of passers-by, they heard what had happened here before they returned.
According to the current tax collection time, taxes will be collected from every household after the autumn harvest this year.
Although the Wuzhu currency system was used, the grain price in Chang'an remained relatively stable, and the Chang'an court still decided to use grain as hard currency for paying taxes.
This is precisely to facilitate the dispatch of military rations in the future.
So this scene appeared outside the city of Chang'an.
All the taxes collected from all over Guanzhong were sent to the granary in Chang'an City.
How much is the amount?
Take a family of five as an example. With an annual yield of five dan per mu this year, and a tax rate of thirty-one, each household needs to pay about seventeen dan of grain. If the amount of head tax is converted into grain, it is roughly equivalent to the amount of land rent. So we assume that one household pays thirty dan of grain. In the entire Guanzhong area, with a population of more than 100,000 households, the total amount of grain paid is 4.5 million dan.
This is an astonishing amount of grain income that is four times the amount put into storage at the beginning of the year!
People originally thought that the one million dan of grain would probably serve as a backup for them to prevent unexpected events. Unexpectedly, not only was there no backup, but an even more substantial amount of rice flowed in during the autumn.
But that’s not all.
The autumn harvest in Jiangnan is earlier than that in Guanzhong.
The three counties of Jiujiang, Danyang and Wujun in Yangzhou had completed the autumn harvest and tax collection long before Zhang Yang arrived in Hailing, Xuzhou.
Even though the tax collection process inevitably encountered some resistance, Zhou Yu still had the grain promised to Qiao Yan sent to Chang'an, almost at the same time as Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting.
Also arriving were the taxes from Jingzhou that Liu Biao had handed over.
It’s no wonder that Liu Biao behaved like this.
First, Qiao Yan sent a troop stationed in Hailing to come from the upper reaches of the Han River and pass through the territory of Jingzhou, which gave him a scare. Then, Yangzhou escorted a large number of grains across the border, which made Liu Biao, who had a grudge against Yangzhou, almost think that Sun Ce wanted to sue him by taking the opportunity of "paying tribute" to the court in Chang'an.
Before this, there had been no news of these two things from his eldest son Liu Qi, who was working in Chang'an.
So Liu Biao hastily ordered people to count the tax revenue in Jingzhou, and sent all the revenue except the necessary expenses for the operation of the Jingzhou provincial government to the court.
As a result, the grain reserves in the Chang'an treasury reached almost eight million shi.
Qiao Lan's comment was not wrong.
Food is our confidence!
And these eight million shi of grain are the confidence of the people of Chang'an!
However, when they stopped briefly on the streets of Chang'an, they heard another piece of news, which was not good news.
As early as soon as they set out for Xuzhou, the position of Grand Historian was about to change.
According to the opinion of the previous Grand Historian Ma Lun, this position could be handed over to Ren Hong.
Ever since she came to Chang'an in October last year to supervise the construction of Lingtai and Mingtang Biyong and assisted in the emperor's enthronement ceremony, and then in the first year of Jian'an, she took over Ma Lun's duties in Lingtai, and there had been no mistakes during this period. Therefore, her identity, gender and age were not reasons for her to be restricted.
There was no written rule that stated that someone like her, who had served as a court lady in the Han court, could not become the Grand Historian, just as no one stipulated that only children from aristocratic families could hold official positions in the court.
But there are still many people who think that Ren Hong’s qualifications are too shallow.
The salary of the position of Grand Historian is not high, but its significance is very important. It is not the time to hand this matter over to her yet.
Qiao Yan said that she would not give Ren Hong direct help, but would only provide her with a relatively fair competitive environment, and she was not wrong.
She did not use her overwhelming power to completely suppress these criticisms.
Therefore, when Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting returned to Chang'an, the thing that was frequently discussed in Chang'an City, besides the granary, was this matter.
The discussion will be a test for Ren Hong.
Actually, the two sisters did not have a close relationship with Ren Hong, but perhaps out of the instinct to support each other, after reporting their trip to Xuzhou to Qiao Yan, they still asked about this matter.
"In fact, there is no need to worry too much about this. It is not just the objects that appear in our lives that are advancing with the times. There are also some things whose significance is hard to realize, which are also undergoing updates." Qiao Yan replied, "For example, the eclipse cycle."
"Thirteen years ago, Mr. Yuan Zhuo used his unfinished Qianxiang calendar to predict a solar eclipse. Unfortunately, the prediction failed. But this does not mean that the algorithm of the Qianxiang calendar is even worse than the Sifen calendar. On the contrary, it is the only way to develop a new algorithm. During the years that Madam Ma and Mr. Yuan Zhuo studied in Leping, the Qianxiang calendar has been further improved, and the time difference between solar and lunar eclipses has been calculated in more detail."
Qiao Yan replied with relief: "Just wait and see. One of the data was calculated with the help of our Grand Historian. She is more daring than you think."
In the calculation of the Qianxiang calendar presided over by Liu Yuanzhuo, the data of the perigee was only 000021 days different from the modern data, and the tropical year of solar and lunar eclipses and the intersection angle of the ecliptic also had more detailed definitions.
This means that the timing of a solar eclipse can be calculated more accurately.
After arriving in Chang'an, Ren Hong never gave up calculating the time of the next solar eclipse based on Liu Yuanzhuo's theory.
She would never miss this opportunity to prove her strength.
Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting would not have heard it wrong. The "our Grand Historian" that Qiao Yan mentioned was of course Ren Hong.
In September of the first year of Jian'an, carrying Qiao Yan's trust and with the name that means flying high in the sky, Ren Hong stood in front of everyone.
She walked forward and said in a loud voice, "I want to make a bet with you all. If I win, please use a fair enough eye to make a new judgment on whether I am worthy of the position of Grand Historian."
When Ren Hong said this, no one would focus on her overly beautiful face, only the determination between her eyebrows and these powerful words.
This determined look and posture makes people feel that he is somewhat similar to Qiao Yan.
At this moment, the Grand Marshal was watching the other party's performance with a calm gaze, and there was no lack of approval in his eyes.
Someone in the crowd said, "You have to tell me what you want to bet on first, and then we can talk about whether it is feasible, right?"
Ren Hong replied calmly: "Let's bet on whether the Central Plains can see a solar eclipse on the first day of the first lunar month next year. If not, I will immediately resign and investigate the Five Punishments. If it is, then as I said, I will decide who will be the Grand Historian again!"
Will there be a solar eclipse on the first day of January next year?
Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.
Even if there really is one, people who calculate solar and lunar eclipses will often avoid those on such dates to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.
However, Ren Hong did not seem to shy away from this matter at all. Instead, she stubbornly reported the calculation result, which was reasonable and well-founded for her, in front of everyone at this time.
What a bold way to tell everyone that she has the courage to hold that position!
On the first day of the first lunar month in the first year of Jian'an, there was a solar eclipse, which could be observed in the areas of Yanzhou and Yuzhou in the central part of the Central Plains. 1
To quite a number of people, this seemed to mean that the year of Jian'an was not so peaceful.
But perhaps it was because Ren Hong, who was acting as the Grand Historian in October of last year, had already warned of this, and Qiao Yan had always insisted that a general amnesty would not only fail to show the emperor's tolerance, but would make some prisoners fearless. Therefore, Chang'an did not take any other action except continuing to carry out various trainings before spring plowing and explaining in the monthly journal that the solar eclipse was a normal phenomenon.
Anyway, last year's bumper harvest meant that every household in the three states had surplus food. Rather than an amnesty, a further reduction in corresponding taxes might make them feel more at ease.
However, the Yecheng court announced an amnesty decree on the 14th day of the first lunar month.
The scope of implementation included the areas north of the Huai River in Youzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou Peiguo and Xuzhou.
This is just the beginning of the year.
In late May of the same year, there were several thunderstorms in Sili without any clouds. In June, there were strong winds in Youfufeng and even hail. A corner of Mount Hua, the Western Peak in Huayin, collapsed.
On October 11, an earthquake occurred in Chang'an.
On November 13, Chang'an was hit by another earthquake.
Even with the popularization of the Leping Monthly Report, phenomena such as cloudless thunder and summer hail have been explained by the climatic causes of such weather events over the years. However, situations such as earthquakes cannot be accurately explained to the public when the causes of crustal movement are far from being observable by human power.
Since October, a rumor has been circulating from somewhere, saying that -
At the beginning of this year, the Chang'an court did not issue a general amnesty to appease the anger of heaven, so there have been frequent disasters from heaven to intimidate this false dynasty.
Or maybe, a place like Chang'an, where the royal aura is concentrated, cannot allow people who are unworthy of their position to live here, so a place like Huashan, a pillar of heaven, also issued a warning.
"Unworthy of the position? Who is he talking about?" Qiao Yan flipped through the pieces of information he had collected and sneered, "But Yuan Shao has made a lot of progress."
Yes, I have made progress.
More than three years have passed since Liu Bian was enthroned as the throne in Yecheng. Yuan Shao cannot always be at a disadvantage and take the beating.
He has now also learned to use public opinion to attack.
Yuan Shao did not have the same conditions as Qiao Yan, so he directly founded a Yecheng Monthly Newspaper to compete with her, but he also realized the importance of controlling the public's opinions.
So, following the advice of his advisers, he directly seized on the various natural disasters that had occurred in Sili during that year and made a big fuss about it.
Yuan Shao really tasted the sweetness of this action.
Ever since Bingzhou pretended to attack Jizhou last year, Qiao Yan has not made any move to send troops.
According to Yuan Shao's understanding, she had to continue to assist Liu Yu in adjusting the policies of the three states in order to ensure that the opinions spread among the people would not lead to civil unrest.
This left her with no spare time to consider sending troops.
The internal troubles alone were enough to overwhelm her.
At the same time, in the autumn of the first year of Jian'an, Lu Zhi was old after all. After being diagnosed with poor health by Chiyang Medical College, he temporarily retired from the position of Taiwei.
In Yuan Shao's view, this meant that Qiao Yan had lost another person in the court who firmly supported her actions.
Even though Huangfu Song took over the position of Grand Marshal, and Lu Zhi's son Lu Yu transferred to Leping Academy after studying with Chen Qun for a year, it still could not change the weakening of Qiao Yan's power in the court.
After receiving the news, Yuan Shao slept soundly for several nights in a row.
But what is the reality?
Qiao Yan didn't think these situations were fatal to her.
Although the common people are easily led by others, and not many of them can maintain their own judgment in terms of knowledge and experience, they have a most straightforward criterion for judgment:
The life they can live under the rule.
The farming in the first year of Jian'an was getting on track compared to the first year of Jian'an. Last year's yield of five dan per mu was obviously just the beginning for them.
The farming rules that Yuan Shao did not dare to break were not unchangeable for Qiao Yan.
Under the successful demonstration of last year, the people in Guanzhong spontaneously followed the various imperial edicts issued by the Chang'an court, so that when the autumn harvest day arrived, the yield per mu had reached seven stones.
Another increase!
Even though Qiao Yan did not deliberately record the increase in per-acre yield in the Leping Monthly Report and release it to the public, this per-acre yield data still gave Yuan Shao a heavy blow in the autumn.
No matter how many so-called "unworthy of the position" and "Chang'an fake dynasty" there are, it doesn't matter so much to the people of Chang'an.
A good court is one that can provide them with enough food.
Moreover, although an earthquake occurred in Chang'an in October, the various remedial measures taken by the court to deal with the earthquake were very effective.
They quickly repaired the collapsed shanties in the capital area and also made partial compensation to each household for their losses.
At the same time, in order to prevent the collapse of houses caused by another earthquake, the government formed a team in November to optimize the structures of the houses to be built and those that have been built, taking advantage of the winter farming off season.
The abacus invented by Liu Yuanzhuo finally demonstrated its wider application value in calculations of this scale.
The cotton, which had been planted for the third year and had undergone another round of expansion, had been harvested as early as October. By November, it had become cotton-padded clothes that were sent to the capital for large-scale sale.
So when the earthquake happened again in November, people hugged their cotton-padded clothes, squatted on the streets, and talked about how each house had tenaciously held on to the end.
We should also be thankful that the magnitude of the two earthquakes in October and November were relatively small. Compared with the impact on the ground buildings, the water conservancy projects under construction in Guanzhong were probably more affected. However, a round of emergency repairs was completed during the dry season in winter, and will not have any impact on next year.
These well-organized measures were undoubtedly passed on to the outside world, which made Yuan Shao furious.
Ju Shou suggested that he take advantage of the other party's disaster and, instead of considering using public opinion to make things difficult for Qiao Yan, he should think about how to accumulate military supplies and expand the army during this period of stability.
In theory, he was doing all these things, but when he heard about the situation in Chang'an, even though he knew that the other party had suffered a disaster, he felt the pressure from these responses.
Thinking of cotton and soy sauce, two things that were popular from Guanzhong to all states, Yuan Shao felt that the things he had got from Tian Feng before were not so attractive.
The horseshoe was indeed a good thing, but during the truce he had almost no chance to use it.
Not to mention the others.
A lot of mules have been born, but they are still far from the age where they can be put to use. Fortunately, based on their demonstrated load-bearing capacity, if they can survive another two years, they will be good helpers in farm work and carrying military supplies.
I still have no idea about allicin, let alone strong liquor.
How can these compare to soy sauce, which can be eaten, and cotton, which can be worn to keep warm?
Any hesitation on the part of Yuan Shao in this comparison would be disrespectful to the cotton coat he was wearing.
He actually wanted to have someone contact Tian Feng again to see if there was any new information that could help him find a way to narrow the gap between the two sides. However, he received another piece of news that was bad news for him.
As Chang'an developed, the number of vacant positions in the court became fewer and fewer, so the natural situation was -
The recruitment method of Hongbunkan needs to be changed.
Considering that students in Leping Academy take routine monthly and semi-annual examinations every year to ensure that the knowledge taught in the academy can be implemented and that potential students can be selected, it might be a good idea to give it a try in Chang'an City.
However, the selection in Hongwenguan is very different from the assessment in Leping Academy. One needs to be especially careful about missing out on candidates who are not good at one subject well, or selecting a bunch of people who only care about empty talk, so one needs to be extra cautious in setting questions.
To this end, in the first year of Jian'an, the Chang'an court set up a special exam question design team for this matter, which included Chen Ji, one of the four directors of the Hongwenguan.
Although there was no such thing as the imperial examination at that time, it did not prevent Qiao Yan from standing in the perspective of people in later generations. While proposing the method of examination for subsequent selection, he also proposed ways to prevent cheating.
Because the format of the test questions was still under consideration, it was too cruel to lock the test setters in a room for months or even half a year or a year. In the end, the test setters were strictly monitored by the Jinwu Guards.
As Chen Ji's disciple and assistant, Tian Feng naturally received such treatment.
This temporarily cut off Yuan Shao's possibility of obtaining further information from him.
Yuan Shao had tried to send a few more spies, but none of them could match Tian Feng's talent and luck.
What can he do?
He can only continue to launch public opinion attacks.
Yuan Shao did not realize that, in a way, it made sense that he and Yuan Shu were brothers.
He turned to look at Ju Shou and saw that the other party's eyes were not fixed on the pile of letters and newspapers in front of him, but were looking out the window. When he withdrew his gaze, he revealed a hint of worry.
"What are you thinking about?"
Ju Su replied: "My Lord, do you think that the weather this winter is a little abnormal?"
At this time, there was another person in Chang'an who said the same thing.
Lingtai Daizhao recorded the climate and wind direction every day since the beginning of winter, and Ren Hong presented it to Qiao Yan.
Her assertion that there would be an eclipse on the first day of the first lunar month was almost a gamble for her. Fortunately, she won the bet and naturally took over the position of Grand Historian.
Starting this year, she and her subordinates will need to record astronomical laws, climate and weather conditions, and then submit them.
Taking into account that the Lanting no longer existed after the capital was moved to Chang'an, Qiao Yan suggested that the work of compiling history should be returned to Lingtai.
However, Ren Hong's qualifications are still far from enough to undertake the responsibility of "writing history" covered by the Grand Historian in the Western Han Dynasty. At present, this work is still carried out by Cai Yong with an honorary title so that he can further revise the Dongguan Hanji.
So what Ren Hong came to Qiao Yan to report now was still the weather.
She said: "The weather this year is really abnormal. There was so much rain in June that it even needed to be recorded in a special book for future generations to compile history. But in winter, there was not even a single snowfall."
"It's not just the snow. The wind speed and the temperature are very similar to the records of the five years of Guanghe."
The sixth year of Guanghe was a severe drought.
Ren Hong frowned and expressed her judgment under Qiao Yan's gaze, "Sir, I am afraid that the weather will change next year."
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