When he learned that Zhang Jiao had begun his activities, Yuan Xi had a profound sense of crisis.
But he was too young and couldn't do much.
In order to survive in troubled times, he had to make preparations in many aspects, internal, external, industrial, and even military and security. Fortunately, he was born into the Yuan family, and he was born with many things.
Because his father, Yuan Shao, served as the magistrate of Puyang County, he still had some soldiers under him, although those soldiers looked weak and had no fighting ability at all, just like handymen.
But it doesn't matter, except for a few central troops, the Eastern Han Dynasty has reached the present.
The local army has long been of no use.
All the major local families have their own private armies to ensure their own safety, protect their property, agricultural estates, and their own fortresses. If something goes wrong, these handymen from the local counties will not be able to send them. Useful.
Ever since Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu abolished the military service system of the Western Han Dynasty and replaced it with a recruitment system, the mainstream military system of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the recruitment system.
Except for a few standing armies in the central government, there are almost none at the local level. They are temporarily recruited when something goes wrong and then sent home after the matter is resolved. They are not standing.
This maintains the tradition of "strong trunks and weak branches", which has been the case throughout the ages.
This situation lasted until the later period of Cao Cao's reign, when Sima Yi's eldest brother Sima Lang proposed to re-implement the local standing army system. Only after the local standing army system reappeared.
Before that, for a long time, it was temporary recruitment.
After using the method of sending troops home and hiding troops in the countryside, this indeed maintained the need for centralization of power. The local prefectures were basically guarded and could not separate themselves.
However, this also made the local power weak, so small troubles were fine. Once a major rebellion occurred, the fragile foundation of the Eastern Han Empire would be exposed.
That's why the Yellow Turban Uprising was in full swing, sweeping through most of the country's states and counties, and at the same time dealt a heavy blow to the Eastern Han Empire.
At this moment, the Eastern Han Empire had lost all its mobilization capabilities.
It is simply not enough for it to be able to organize independently and deal with the power of the Yellow Turban Uprising with its own strength without relying on local wealthy families.
In the end, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to lift the shackles of the party, drink poison to quench his thirst, and allowed local county guards to recruit soldiers privately. This started the chaotic era of the late Han Dynasty.
But before that, the local wealthy nobles had bankrupted most of the farmers and incorporated them into their own manors to hide their household registrations.
The Han government could not recruit enough soldiers because they were all in the manors of local wealthy families and became their private property.
Nowadays, the aristocratic family has a private armed force, and the Yuan family also has a private armed force.
Yuan Xi grew up in their family's manor since he was a child. He watched the tenants in their manor work hard and create various items. He saw large wheat fields, fish ponds, and even large tracts of water. Pear field.
These local wealthy families occupy most of the land, own a large number of tenants and farms, and each handles different industries.
Farming, iron smelting, food processing, weaving clothes, etc. can be completed internally, and daily commercial transactions have created a relatively complete manor economy.
Some of them are directly members of the privileged class and do not have to pay taxes. Local tycoons also use various methods to evade taxes or even not pay taxes at all. ap.
The main body of paying taxes is the owner-peasants, an increasingly smaller group. They bear extremely heavy exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
The aristocratic families occupied a large amount of land and established a large number of manors.
Quite a bit, it means self-sufficiency. The income is huge, but it will not be taken out at all and handed over to the country. The same is true for the feudal towns in the Tang Dynasty.
After seeing these scenes, Yuan Xi had a deeper understanding of the saying that "the economic base determines the superstructure."
Therefore, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty wanted to sell his officials on a large scale in exchange for money.
The Eastern Han Empire is dead, this country is already in existence, and the economic level has begun to split. The political level only needs an opportunity to split.
Ordinary people who serve as county magistrates will not be able to secure the position of county magistrate if they do not get the support of these powerful local powers. However, Yuan Shao is different. Behind him is a powerful Yuan family, four generations and three nobles. There is no other powerful family in the world.
Because of these forces, resources, background, and private tribes, the Yuan family remained firm even in these troubled times. Moreover, taking advantage of the chaos in the world, the Yuan family recruited and trained nearly three thousand dead soldiers. .
