Liu Bei and Guan Yu both turned their heads at the same time.
Their gazes were sharp. Dangerous. The kind that made people reconsider their life choices.
Liu Bei: Could you please not mention the Battle of Yiling?
Guan Yu: If I don't die, where does the Battle of Yiling come from?
Zhang Fei instantly ducked his head—but he still muttered stubbornly under his breath.
"I wasn't wrong though… Big Brother only ever lost to the real monsters. Didn't that Cao Cao also get ambushed by Lü Bu?"
Laughter burst out all around.
As for Sun Quan's military résumé, no one felt the need to pile on further.
Was there anything more absurd than Xiaoyao Ford?
At the very least, "withdrawing without success" meant he managed to drag the entire army back in one piece. That alone already counted as a noteworthy achievement.
---
[Lightscreen]
[While Lord Guan was busy fortifying his city and eyeing Cao Cao to the north, another critical factor began to emerge: the internal rebellions within Cao Cao's territory
Rebellions under Cao Cao were not rare. Based on incomplete statistics, between 200 and 220, there were 51 armed uprisings within Cao Wei.
11 in the core regions, 17 in the east, and 23 in the west.]
---
Liu Bei's eyes lit up.
"That Wei Feng rebellion should be among them, right?"
Anyone who nearly stabbed Cao Cao in his own backyard immediately earned Liu Bei's respect., and even raised the banner of the Han.
That alone earned a measure of approval.
---
[Lightscreen]
[This brings up an old debate regarding Cao-Wei's tax system.
Modern scholars often say that the taxation systems of the glorious Tang Dynasty were inherited from the Wei and Jin Dynasty, which in turn began with Cao Cao's reforms.
The conclusion? That Cao Cao's system was not only more advanced but more humane. They claim the Qin and Han systems, which took 50% to 60% of crops, were 'evil,' and it was all thanks to the great reformer Boss Cao that the foundation for the Tang Golden Age was laid]
---
Kongming's expression turned serious.
Even the Tang dynasty had learned from Cao Cao's tax system.
As someone currently handling taxation affairs, he knew exactly how complex and difficult such reforms were.
If that claim were true, then Cao Cao's methods deserved careful study.
Liu Bei, however, frowned.
"One-thirtieth tax. Where does this fifty or sixty percent come from?"
Zhang Fei let out a low chuckle.
"If it were truly one-thirtieth, how could the Yellow Turbans have swept across the land."
Liu Bei fell silent.
Why had the Han declined. Why had the people suffered.
Because they had been crushed under endless layers of taxes.
---
[Lightscreen]
[And here's the contradiction.
If Cao Cao's people truly had enough food and clothing, why did rebellions never stop?
Were all fifty-one rebellions just die-hard Han loyalists?
The answer lies in the fine print.
The so-called Qin-Han "fifty percent tax" appears clearly in Ban Gu's Book of Han, Wang Mang's edicts, and Xun Yue's memorials. The Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governance summarizes it succinctly:
"The powerful and wealthy encroach and oppress, dividing the land and forcing tenants. Its name is 'one-thirtieth tax,' but in reality, it is 'one-half tax.'"
In other words, on paper, the system was still one-thirtieth land rent.
In reality, once miscellaneous exactions were added, half the harvest was gone]
---
Liu Bei lowered his head in shame.
Disgraceful! And the shame has traveled all the way to the future and the future's future The exploitation by powerful families, this was the terminal illness of the Han.
Zhuge Liang nodded. Petty, hidden taxes were the root of the people's misery. When a 3% tax turns into 50% or 60% through "fees," how can the people survive?
---
[Lightscreen]
[Cao Cao changed this to a fixed field tax of four sheng per mu.
In the late Han, the yield per mu was only about a quarter of what we have today, roughly 280 catties (140kg).
Four sheng is about 16 catties (8kg), which is roughly an 18-to-1 tax (about 5.5%). On paper, Boss Cao looks like a living Buddha.]
---
Mi Fang noticed the atmosphere in the hall shift violently.
Everyone's jaw dropped, much like his own when he first saw the light screen.
Even his brother, Mi Zhu, looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Impossible," Yunchang said, standing up abruptly. "How could later generations produce four times the yield per mu?"
"Twelve shi per mu…" Kongming muttered, disbelief clear in his voice. "Could this be an error?"
"Or is this another form of technological power?"
"Kongming!" Liu Bei's mind raced.
"If Cai Lun's paper can lead to Zuobo paper, then with that Tiangong Kaiwu, could we not also raise yields to ten shi per mu or more?"
Kongming opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head.
My lord, that is far too optimistic.
By his own estimation, even achieving three and a third shi per mu for rice this year in Jingzhou would already be excellent.
---
[Lightscreen]
[But in reality, only the gentry and landlords enjoyed that low tax.
For the common folk, Cao Cao unleashed the Tuntian (agricultural colony) system.
According to records in the Book of Jin, if a household used government oxen, the tax was 60%. If they used their own oxen, it was 50%.]
---
"Kongming, what is our current tax rate?" Liu Bei asked.
Fanning himself slowly, Zhuge Liang replied in a low voice, "Combining all levies, we are between 30% and 40%."
Liu Bei nodded. In these chaotic times, a 3% tax was a fantasy, but being lower than Cao Cao made his conscience feel a bit lighter.
---
[Lightscreen]
[Where did the people for these colonies come from? Forced conscription.
The Records of the Three Kingdoms is full of entries about Cao Cao forcibly moving populations to Xuchang and Yecheng.
"In 205, he forcibly moved households after taking Ji Province; in 209, he forced a relocation in Huainan that caused 100,000 people to flee to the East.
And what happened to those who refused or tried to run? The Biography of He Kui says: 'Those who do not follow instructions must be executed."]
---
Liu Bei shook his head.
He understood Cao Cao's ruthlessness.
The people understood it too.
Hearing Cao's troops were coming was like hearing demons had arrived. They packed their families and fled, often following Liu Bei himself.
It was because he refused to abandon the people that his retreat slowed, allowing Cao Cao to catch up, leading to the defeat at Changban Slope and the death of Lady Mi.
He felt no regret.
Now, his only regret was not having enough soldiers to strike down the Cao traitor outright.
---
[Lightscreen]
[Still, it cannot be denied:
Cao Cao's tax reform was a systemic advancement, though it remained far from the post-liberation Household Responsibility System.
The Tang Dynasty did reference it, pushing the Great Tang into a world-famous golden age.
But who would've guessed, Cao Cao's original reform was merely a compromise with the powerful clans.
Because the powerful clans paid less, those conscripted into Tuntian were squeezed even harder.]
---
The hall fell into thought.
Liu Bei and Kongming exchanged a glance.
No words were needed.
Kongming silently noted another unfamiliar term.
Could that "household system" be the key to those twelve shi yields.
Liu Bei, meanwhile, thought further ahead.
Great clans had always been a deep-rooted problem.
How had later generations dealt with them.
---
[Lightscreen]
[On top of taxes, the people were burdened with forced labor (corvée).
If they dared to refuse or desert, the end was death. Under such oppression, public resentment boiled over. By 219 AD, the entire world was pushed to a breaking point.
In the first month of the 23rd year of Jian'an, Ji Ben, the Imperial Physician, along with Geng Ji and Wei Huang, rebelled. They attacked Xuchang and burned the camp of Wang Bi, the Chancellor's Chief Clerk.
Later that year, Zhang Gu, the Magistrate of Luhun, was ordered to conscript men for the Hanzhong campaign.
The people, terrified of the long distance and the hardship, were thrown into turmoil. A man named Sun Lang led a revolt, killing the county registrar and taking up arms.
By the winter of the 23rd year, in the tenth month, the garrison general Hou Yin and others rebelled in Wan. They seized the Prefect of Nanyang, abducted officials and citizens, and held the city..]