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Fei Qian quietly, slowly let out a sigh, feeling an overwhelming tide of fatigue wash over him...
"Shuye," Fei Qian set down his tea bowl and instructed, "You go rest for a while first. Then take some men and depart at the Chou hour [1-3 a.m.] to represent me in welcoming the troops from Xihe. Afterward, swiftly lead the cavalry to rendezvous with me at Yong'an. We must march south before dawn! We need to quickly defeat the remnants at Xiangling and then shift to the battlefield at Pingyang!"
Huang Cheng stood, bowed, and accepted the order. Without further words, he left first to rest.
"Shucheng, for now, I'll trouble you to immediately prepare some supplies, then muster a thousand infantry and the remaining Hu cavalry. Once Shuye brings the Xihe cavalry, all forces will be under Shuye's command to march south and defeat the enemy! Also, the provisions transported from Pucheng are estimated to arrive tomorrow. You need to arrange them properly. After setting aside an appropriate grain ration for the commoners, you must prepare to join forces and march south to resolve the siege of Pingyang!"
Zhang Lie similarly accepted the order and withdrew, filled with fighting spirit.
Fei Qian was left alone in the main hall as the night grew even deeper...
A sudden, intense sense of loneliness, like this boundless darkness, completely engulfed Fei Qian.
He was the loneliest, the loneliest person in the entire Han Dynasty.
He was originally a forgotten person, a forgotten name...
When speaking of the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, one inevitably thinks of Liu, Cao, and Sun; inevitably thinks of Lü Bu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun; inevitably thinks of Zhuge, Sima, Xun Yu, Guo Jia...
In the original history, Fei Qian himself was merely an extra, a walk-on role. This feeling of seemingly confronting the whole world truly wasn't pleasant.
Fei Qian looked at the corners of the hall where the lamplight didn't reach. The flickering flames made the shadows on the ground stretch, contract, and leap, as if something lurked within, arrogantly and wantonly brandishing claws and fangs.
Beneath the throne lay a foundation of bleached white bones.
Beneath the crown were suppressed wailing souls.
Beneath the scepter seeped filthy blood.
Setting aside other matters, just within Fei Qian's memory, Cao Cao undoubtedly carried a massive halo, a man with many built-in auras. In later generations, among the fans of the two great Chancellors, those who admired Cao Cao were certainly not much fewer than those who admired Zhuge Liang...
But think about it—in Fei Qian's memory, his current nominal senior brother, now and in the future, in history or the Romance, how much blood would stain his hands?
First, he had the law-breaking uncle of Jian Shuo beaten to death with clubs.
During the chaos of He Jin and the Ten Eunuchs, he killed the eunuch leaders Zhang Rang, Duan Gui, and others.
While fleeing, he killed Lü Boshe's entire family.
When absorbing the Qingzhou troops, he killed the remnants of the poison.
During the campaign against Yuan Shu, he killed Wang Hou.
After defeating Lü Bu, he killed Gao Shun, Lü Bu, and Chen Gong.
During the Battle of Red Cliffs, he killed Cai Mao and Zhang Yun.
Bian Rang.
Yang Xiu.
Hua Tuo.
Xu You.
Xun Yu.
Kong Rong.
Cui Yan.
And those whose names are unknown—"several" commoners of Xuzhou, "a few" of Yuan Shao's surrendered troops after Guandu.
And those killed for inexplicable reasons—the nameless attendant killed in his "dream."
And those killed even before being born—the child in Empress Dong's womb...
Conquest?
The word, in later generations, could be spoken after finishing a bowl of Shaxian mixed noodles and a cola, with legs propped up, accompanied by a belch rising from the stomach: "What's the point of being a man if you don't strive for conquest?"
Heh.
Fei Qian gave a slight, self-mocking smile. In truth, his original thoughts were very simple: to survive in this chaotic Three Kingdoms era, at least not to live like a stray dog, but to live like a human being. That was enough.
But unknowingly, he had become what he was now—from one person to a group of people; from one person's life to the lives of a group, all hanging on his shoulders...
To live, to live like a human being, and incidentally do some things he wanted to do—such a simple goal, whether in the past life or this one, seemed not simple at all.
After sitting for a while, Fei Qian stood up. Relying on memory, he walked to the pillar where the Yong'an County Magistrate had once been bound. He remained silent for a long time, then slowly said, "Brother Xu, tomorrow will mark the White Wave's destruction. Your vengeance will soon be avenged..."
Fei Qian walked out of the main hall, gazing into the distance...
His own road was still difficult. The difficulty lay not only in people but also in the entire system...
The Han Dynasty's taxes were definitely light, but the burdens were heavy. Mencius once said, "A tax of one-tenth is the policy of a true king." But the Han's ailment was not in its tax rate; it was in its entire system.
"Within the four borders, all land is the king's land; all who eat the fruits of this land are the king's subjects." Han law only recognized one method of land distribution: the emperor granting land to the common people or bestowing it upon the powerful nobles. However, simultaneously, Han law also stipulated that land could be privately owned. Cultivators could have their own fields; owners could freely use and sell their land...
Allowing free sale inevitably led to land annexation. Because taxes were light, and the powerful nobles could avoid many miscellaneous levies, the cost of annexing land became very low. The nobles who amassed large tracts of land grew richer with each encroachment and became ever more greedy for land. Therefore, they disregarded all means to seize the land of self-cultivating farmers.
Throughout the Han Dynasty, over the course of one to two hundred years, land and wealth gradually shifted from being dispersed to being concentrated in the hands of the scholar-official families and local magnates. The total number of Han households continuously declined. Self-cultivating farmers became tenant farmers for these scholar-official families and local magnates, working land that was originally their own yet having to pay over fifty percent in rent!
The slightly wiser scholar-official families understood to use some conciliatory policies to win over people's hearts. But many indulged their greedy nature. Even during Emperor Ling's reign, when the state needed to pay massive military expenses to resist the Qiang and Hu rebellions, they intensified their exorbitant levies on the populace below. Coupled with climate changes and the advent of a small ice age, this ultimately led to large-scale peasant uprisings across the nation.
To break this feudal system would mean standing in opposition to the entire dynasty. Look at Wang Mang. What happened to him? His head was chopped off, his tongue pulled out, his body preserved as a specimen, stored in the imperial armory.
But to allow this system to continue meant the situation of the "Five Barbarians Uprising" would only be delayed, not fundamentally resolved. The infighting among the Central Plains people over land would absolutely drain the last ounce of their strength. At that point, the barbarians outside would inevitably covetously approach their doorstep.
The Yuan, the Qing dynasties—all were no different.
But these thoughts, these ideas—could they be discussed with others, explained to others?
Huang Cheng wouldn't understand. Ma Yan wouldn't grasp it. Cui Hou wouldn't be clear. As for those like Jia Qu and Zhang Lie...
Fei Qian shook his head. At least not now.
Whether in the Han Dynasty or in later ages, anything involving systems meant touching the interests of many, many, many people. If not handled well, it would lead to endless disaster, completely submerging him.
Now that Yong'an County town had been broken by the White Wave bandits, some land deeds still remained in the county office. If he wanted to make any moves, this was the best opportunity. Once the White Wave bandits were pacified, naturally they would begin settling the commoners. By then, any attempt to act might be too late...