The news of the war between Cao Jun, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan soon spread throughout the Thirteen Prefectures.
In various states and counties under the rule of the Han Dynasty, after hearing that Cao Jun was at war with Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, they all went to the local county offices to donate food to Cao Jun.
Officials from all over the country knew that the Cao family and his son hated corruption. In addition, this matter was of great importance, so they did not dare to accept the food donations from the people easily.
As a result, officials from various places wrote letters asking Cao Cao for instructions on what to do about this matter.
At the morning court, Liu Bian, who had changed his reign name, once again refused to go to the morning court on the grounds of physical discomfort.
The government affairs above the court were still handled by Cao Cao with all the civil and military officials.
When Cao Cao saw the memorial handed over by the officials below, he couldn't help laughing.
"Everyone, I have seen that Zixiu's farming strategy and the grain seeds he and Shuo'er improved have allowed the people of the five states to have a bumper harvest. As soon as they heard that there was a war, they all came to donate grain!"
When Cao Cao said this, he smiled proudly.
Although this strategy of farming was interfered by some wealthy families at the time.
Some people were deceived and bought poor seeds for temporary gain, resulting in poor harvests.
Fortunately, the folk customs at this time were very simple. Those who had a good harvest still had a lot of surplus food at home, which could help those who had a bad harvest.
There are still a small number of people who buy the poor seeds of aristocratic families, so generally speaking, every county in the five states has a good harvest.
When the officials saw Cao Cao's proud look, they kept saying congratulations.
Some people who were about the same age as Cao Cao lamented why their sons were such bastards and couldn't even praise him for his filial piety and integrity.
Cao Cao's face was full of joy as he listened to those respectful words.
When he was satisfied enough, he said loudly: "Now that the imperial troops have enough food, they don't need the people to donate food. But if the people have such thoughts, we naturally can't chill their hearts."
When Cao Cao said this, he remembered the tax change that Cao Ang mentioned to him before.
In the past, the imperial court collected taxes according to a fixed tax from each household.
Although the taxes collected under such a tax system are relatively stable, it can easily cause unrest in years with poor harvests.
Therefore, Cao Ang proposed that taxes should be collected according to the acres of land owned by each household. The more land the family owned, the more taxes would be collected.
But in this way, those aristocratic families who own countless fertile lands will become the main tax payers.
Now that the world is uncertain, Cao Ang does not want to conflict with these wealthy families, so this tax collection method has not been proposed.
At this time, Cao Cao wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to popularize this tax method among ordinary people. As for the interests of those wealthy families, he would not touch it for the time being.
"Everyone, the people are having a good harvest now. According to Zixiu, as long as there are no major natural or man-made disasters, the people will have a good harvest every year. So I think the tax method should also be changed."
As Cao Cao finished speaking, those officials who came from aristocratic families felt their hearts pounding and felt not good.
But Cao Cao's next words made them put their hearts back in their stomachs.
"Of course, the new tax method is just a proposal. It should be implemented among the people first to see how effective it is, and then adjustments will be made based on the actual situation."
When a minister heard what Cao Cao said, he took the initiative to stand up and asked: "Sir, I wonder what the new tax method you mentioned is exactly?"
"It's very simple. It means changing the previous fixed tax to a tax per acre. We will determine the specific tax amount per acre according to the actual situation."
"In addition, the most important thing now is for each county to start measuring the newly cultivated fields and re-measure the old fields to facilitate the formulation of taxation strategies."
As Cao Cao's instructions came down, one order after another was sent from Luoyang to various counties.
For a time, all counties under the imperial court began to measure in full swing, and Huainan County was no exception.
When Lu Su saw the new order, he couldn't help but sighed: "These two counties in Huainan have not implemented the policy of farming before. It seems that this work is not easy to do."
…
At the same time, Yizhou Department.
Liu Zhang had now completely secured his position as Yizhou Mu. He began to consolidate his power and replaced all important positions in various counties with people loyal to him.
At this time, he also informed the world of Liu Yan's death.
Liu Yan is dead, and Liu Zhang's two brothers are serving as hostages in Luoyang. This Yizhou can only belong to Liu Zhang.
However, Liu Zhang, who had complete control of Yizhou, was still uneasy.
Because he was afraid that Cao Ang would lead his army to attack him, and he was also afraid that Cao Ang would release his two brothers back and compete with him for the position of Yizhou Mu.
In fact, if Liu Zhang wanted to kill his two brothers, it would be very simple.
Form an alliance with Xiliang, or form an alliance with Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, and attack Cao's army together.
I believe that Cao Ang would really kill his two brothers in a rage.
But Liu Zhang didn't dare. He was too afraid of Cao Ang.
He had vivid memories of his life in Luoyang back then. Knowing how terrifying Cao Ang was, he naturally did not dare to raise an army.
So, he could only write a letter to Cao Ang, in which he sincerely expressed that he would always be loyal to Cao Ang and hoped that Cao Ang would not let his two brothers back.
Because once his two brothers come back, Yizhou will be in turmoil again, and it will be the people of Yizhou who will suffer.
However, Cao Ang led his troops on an expedition, and the letter did not reach Cao Ang's hands, but Cao Cao's.
Cao Cao looked at this letter, and Liu Zhang's ardent feelings were expressed in every word.
Seeing this, Cao Cao couldn't help but be suspicious: "How did this guy Zixiu scare Liu Zhang?"
However, Cao Cao also knew that Cao Ang's strategic center has always been in the north, so Yizhou in the south should be more stable for the time being.
So Cao Cao wrote a letter to Liu Zhang in the name of Cao Ang, asking him to supervise Yizhou. As for his two brothers...
Although Cao Cao didn't say it explicitly, he meant that they would never return to Yizhou in their lifetime.
…
While Cao Cao stayed in Luoyang and handled government affairs in various places, Cao Ang also came into contact with Yuan Shao.
At the gate of Weijun, Huang Zhong and Yan Liang fought hand to hand.
Both of them wielded a long sword, and their sword skills were equally good. They fought for more than thirty rounds, and no one took advantage. (End of chapter)
