Although this was an all-out attack on local tyrants without official status, which was essentially no different from bullying the weak, because this was an action led by Liu Bei, some people still had other ideas.
A group of people close to Liu Bei and those who were more concerned about his future political future saw this as an opportunity to please Liu Bei.
They speculated on Liu Bei's psychology and felt that Liu Bei seemed to be very dissatisfied with the existence of slaves, and further speculated that this might be a prelude to Liu Bei's next large-scale political action——
Those who abide by the slave restriction order are his own people, and they will definitely get promotions and more political benefits in the future.
Those who do not abide by the slave restriction order are his enemies. If you don't stand with him now, you may not stand with him in the future. The next large-scale political action may be the first to target him.
This might be Liu Bei's characteristic obedience test.
Many people, including people around Liu Bei, came to the corresponding conclusion, so they actively dismissed the redundant slaves around them, keeping only three, and then went to the government to report to the government with great fanfare to show their support for the slave restriction. order's support.
Later, some officials even started an "arms race" to dismiss slaves in order to please Liu Bei.
If you send away ten, I will send away twenty; if you send away twenty, I will send away thirty; if you send away thirty, I will send away fifty.
All in all, as long as Liu Bei is happy, remembers their names, remembers their efforts to cooperate with the slave restriction order, and thinks that they are Liu Bei's own people, then they will feel that this business is a profitable business.
For example, Zhang Ji, who was born in the land of Sanfu, urged his family to release 637 slaves and handed them over to the government. Du Ji, who was also born in the land of Sanfu, also urged his family to release 360 slaves. The slaves were handed over to the government.
Zuo Fengyi and Han Hao, who was born in Hanoi County, urged the family to release 327 slaves. He also reported the number of acres, houses and tenants of the family, and required the family to fully report to the government and not hide anything to show support.
Yin Da, the governor of Hongnong County, urged the family in Hanoi County to release 477 slaves. He also reported the specific amount of the family's property and asked the family not to hide private property and report it in full to express his support and support for Liu Bei. loyalty.
Although Ruan Yu was from Chenliu, he also asked the Ruan family to respond to Liu Bei's call and take the initiative to release the 263 servants of the family. He also dismissed the servants in his house until there was only one old man who had been with him for many years. servant.
Xun You did not represent the Xun family, but only represented himself. He dismissed the servants in his house to only six. The reason was that as a general, Liu Bei only had ten servants in his house, and he had absolutely no reason to keep more than ten slaves. .
Represented by Ruan Yu and Xun You, some subordinates whose families were not in the Sili area also began to engage in involution.
They started with themselves and dismissed the redundant slaves around them, leaving only three or five people to serve them. This also fully stated that they could not have more slaves than Liu Bei to show their loyalty and respect.
As for the production and management problems faced by the family, there are also the cries of some miser...
It’s not that we really can’t afford to hire free people to do work, but it’s just a matter of spending more or less. Is it possible that people can really starve to death? If you skip a few dishes in one meal, you’ll get all your money back!
And compared with the political benefits that can be obtained later, aren't these expenditures a drop in the bucket?
When can’t you make money?
Can you get promoted if you want to?
I can’t tell my priorities! This is it!
Because the involution behavior of the group of young officials close to Liu Bei was so frenzied, a group of old officials, including Ma Rixi, also ended up with them.
They dismissed the slaves in the palace one after another and went to the government to register to show their support for Liu Bei's slave restriction order.
The number of slaves they released was not too large, but politically it ensured that they were on a united front with Liu Bei, showing that they were a group of people and supported the slave restriction order.
So when there was news in the local area that someone had gathered to rebel because of the slave restriction order, there was no opposition voice. Instead, they collectively asked Liu Bei to suppress the rebels forcefully, kill chickens as a warning to monkeys, and implement the requirements of the slave restriction order.
We, the superior gentlemen, have already expressed our stance and even made compromises. We have already released our slaves and are ready to spend money to hire people. How dare you guys resist?
This is no longer an ordinary rebel, he must strike hard!
So after the relevant news reached the imperial court, old and new bureaucrats petitioned the imperial court to authorize General Liu Bei to take full responsibility for suppressing local "rebels" who defied the slave restriction order.
The attitude of the gentlemen towards these guys who resisted the slave restriction order was unprecedentedly consistent.
Kill them!
There is basically nothing that the ruling class cannot accomplish if it reaches consensus, but anything that cannot be accomplished is due to excessive internal contradictions.
On May 19, the second year of Jian'an, nine families including the Zhao, Wang, and Xue families in Pingyin County, Henan, united to resist the government's slave restriction order, spreading rumors that if the government took action forcefully, they would have to use force to protect them. the property of.
They believed that everything they had was obtained legally, and the slaves were bought with money. There was nothing to violate the laws of the court, so they resolutely resisted this request and did not accept the slave restriction order.
After Liu Bei got the news, he immediately ordered his general Xu Huang to lead a force of troops to attack.
Xu Huang acted very quickly. On the afternoon of May 21, the second year of Jian'an, all the joint resistance forces of the nine families were wiped out. All nine families were wiped out. took over five thousand slaves.
On May 23, news came from Xingyang County that several families had joined forces to resist the slave restriction order. Liu Bei instructed Zhang Fei to lead his troops to solve the problem. On May 25, the boycott was physically ended by Zhang Fei, and eight families After being destroyed, Zhang Fei found more than 6,000 slaves from these eight families.
On May 29th, several families in Liang County resisted the government's slave restriction order with force, injuring several officials. Liu Bei was furious and sent his general Lu Bu to lead an attack. On the second day of June, Lu Bu successfully completed his task and captured Liang. The rebellion in the county ended, and more than 8,000 slaves were obtained.
On May 30th, several families in Shaanxian County, Hongnong County resisted the government's slave restriction order with force. Yin Da, the governor of Hongnong County, led the county soldiers to encircle and suppress the rebellion. On June 2nd, the rebellion was resolved and five hundred people were killed. The remaining people acquired more than 5,000 slaves.
Also on May 30th, several families in Yiyang County, Hongnong County, united to resist the government's slave restriction order. Yin Da moved to Yiyang County on June 3rd, and resolved the rebellion on June 6th, and obtained the There are more than 4,000 slaves.
On the second day of June, several families in Yewang County, Hanoi County, united to resist the government's slave restriction order. Liu Bei sent his general Zhao Yun to lead his troops north. On the sixth day of June, he solved the rebellion and killed more than 600 people. There were over eight thousand slaves.
On June 3rd, several families in Zuofengyi's Chongquan County jointly resisted the slave restriction order. Zuofengyi and Han Hao led county soldiers to encircle and suppress them. The battle was resolved on June 5th, killing more than 400 people and capturing more than 4,000 slaves.
On June 5th, several families in Wugong County of Youfufeng jointly resisted the slave restriction order. Youfufeng Guoyuan led the county troops to attack and fought for three days to put down the rebellion, killing more than 800 people and capturing 12,000 slaves.
Also on the fifth day of June, several families in Lantian County, Jingzhao Yin, united to resist the slave restriction order. Sun Qian, Yin Jingzhao, sent troops to quell the rebellion, killing more than a thousand people and acquiring 16,000 slaves.
On June 6, several families in Duling County, Yin, Jingzhao, united to resist the slave restriction order. Sun Qian personally led the troops to quell the rebellion, killing more than 600 people and capturing more than 10,000 slaves.
…………
…………
At the end of May and the beginning of June, as the slave restriction order was issued and the government began to enforce the order, a large number of families were afraid of Liu Bei's power and iron-fisted methods, so they decided to compromise with the court and surrendered the extra slaves in exchange for a night of peace. sleep.
But at the same time, many families appeared in many places who were unwilling to obey the government's orders. Either because their interests were too involved, or because of their personal personalities, they ignored Liu Bei's prestige and resolutely disobeyed. They gathered to defend themselves and resisted the government's coercion. execution, and even injured officials.
Faced with such resistance, Liu Bei certainly would not tolerate them. If the local officials could not solve the problem themselves, he would dispatch cavalry from Luoyang to attack across the board.
The big man's iron fist came crashing down.
(End of chapter)
