The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

Liu Zheng pondered for a moment, and finally said something he had thought to Zhang Ning.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Mancheng immediately continued.

"That's what I said too. After all, we have more soldiers and horses in Qingzhou, and we have a clear picture of the defense of counties and counties in Qingzhou, so we have greater confidence. But Ning'er insisted that it is more feasible to attack Jingzhou. Liu Zhengqu Handsome, you should quickly persuade Ning'er."

"Why? Why is it better to attack Qingzhou than Jingzhou?"

Zhang Ning was also in a hurry. He was more inclined to attack Jingzhou, so after Zhang Mancheng said this, he immediately refuted and looked at Liu Zheng, wanting to get his own answer from Liu Zheng.

"I don't know much about Qingzhou, but based on what Zhang Mancheng told me just now, when there are at least 20 troops in Qingzhou, I can be sure that the number of Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou is definitely more than your Yellow Turbans in Lingling County." The number needs to be large, soldiers and horses are the basis for attacking towns, if you want to attack Jingzhou with tens of thousands of people in Lingling County, it would be a bit too whimsical."

"I know you want to attack Jingzhou. You must have thought that Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, sent 3 soldiers to King Qin of Luoyang not long ago, but do you know that apart from these 10 people, Liu Biao still has at least [-] soldiers in the counties of Jingzhou? , the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in these counties and counties combined, it can mobilize far more than [-] troops."

"It would be too difficult for you to attack the soldiers and horses of several counties in Jingzhou with the power of one county, but it is different to attack Qingzhou. He doesn't hold much weight in Qingzhou, and the counties and counties in Qingzhou are still fighting on their own, and the possibility of defeating Qingzhou is much higher than the possibility of defeating Jingzhou."

Liu Zheng briefly explained something to Zhang Ning, and Zhang Mancheng agreed with it very much, nodding repeatedly.

In fact, he still had something else to say, and he couldn't say it to Zhang Ning.

If we attack Jingzhou now, Liu Zheng will not be able to get away no matter what. Then there will be another bloody battle, and Liu Zheng's ambition will be exposed in advance. Liu Zheng wants to hide his strength, and his plan of raising troops to store up energy will be shattered up.

Although Liu Zheng's current strength is not afraid of going to war with Jingzhou, but he exposed his strength prematurely, and it is not just a simple Jingzhou that greets him. When the time comes, the courts of Yangzhou and Luoyang will definitely focus on him. What he needs to welcome are soldiers and horses from many directions.

And if Zhang Ning and the Yellow Turbans could be persuaded to attack Qingzhou, no matter whether they captured Qingzhou or not, they would be able to attract the court's attention for Liu Zheng.

Either way is a good thing for him.

After Zhang Ning heard Liu Zheng's answer, his eyes showed a hint of disappointment.

"Of course, when I say this, I don't mean that Qingzhou must be attacked, but relatively speaking, the cost of attacking Jingzhou is much higher than that of attacking Qingzhou."

"Think about it, is it easier for you tens of thousands of people to travel long distances to Qingzhou, or is it more convenient for the two 10,000+ people in Qingzhou to travel long distances to Jingzhou?"

Zhang Ning originally wanted to say something, but after hearing Liu Zheng speak again, he stopped talking.

She also seemed to understand that attacking Qingzhou was indeed better than attacking Jingzhou.

"Okay, I understand, let's attack Qingzhou, but Liu Zhengqu is handsome, if we want to attack Qingzhou, will you join us?"

Zhang Ning paused for a moment, and finally asked Liu Zheng the question she wanted to ask the most.

After all, the purpose of their coming here is actually to get Liu Zheng to join them, to join the array against the imperial court.

Liu Zheng's face changed slightly when he heard Zhang Ning's question.He looked at the slightly begging look on Zhang Ling's face, and couldn't bear to refuse.

But thinking that this is not only helping Zhang Ning, but also helping the Yellow Turban Army headed by Zhang Man, and helping them is not good for Liu Zheng, so although he personally wants to help Zhang Ning, he still wants to help Zhang Ning. For the sake of the overall situation, Liu Zheng still rejected Zhang Ning.

Chapter 374 Going to Qingzhou

"I'm sorry Ning'er, although I also have great opinions on the imperial court, but this is not a suitable time to declare war on the imperial court, and we just had a big battle against Yangzhou, and the soldiers and horses under our command are still there. Not enough to mobilize and start a bigger fight."

Liu Zheng could only find excuses to delay, and rejected Zhang Ning's proposal.

Seeing Zhang Ning's lonely look, Liu Zheng changed his subject and continued.

"Although I cannot directly participate in your war against the imperial court, I am still willing to help you in other ways."

Liu Zheng spoke, although he was still wary of Zhang Ning's thoughts, but the disappointment in Zhang Ning's eyes showed.It still made Liu Zheng tremble a little in his heart.

After Zhang Ning heard Liu Zheng's words, he didn't continue to ask Liu Zheng what the help was.

On the contrary, Zhang Mancheng was very curious about the help Liu Zheng said.

"Liu Zhengqu Shuai, what kind of help are you talking about? Can you tell me in detail?"

Zhang Mancheng looked at Liu Zheng with anticipation on his face.

Liu Zheng originally wanted to say a few more words to Zhang Ning, but was interrupted by Zhang Mancheng, and he was too embarrassed to pester Zhang Ning to talk more, so he could only explain to Zhang Mancheng.

"I know that the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou is short of food. I have a way to send you some food and grass in a short time to solve your worries. With enough food and grass, you can attack the imperial court wholeheartedly. Wait until all the towns in Qingzhou Get it down, and then just give me a county close to the coast."

As soon as Liu Zheng told Zhang Mancheng what he wanted to say, Zhang Mancheng's eyes immediately brightened.

The reason why the Yellow Turban Army revolted against the imperial court was not because they didn't have enough to eat, there was a famine in the world, and everyone had no food to eat, which aroused their resistance.It is precisely because of the lack of money and food that they want to attack the imperial county and rob the food so as not to starve to death.

The Yellow Turban Army, which was short of food, heard Liu Zheng say that he could unconditionally support some of their food and grass, which of course made Zhang Mancheng happy to see it.

Of course, Liu Zheng did not do this unconditionally. He had already stated his request as soon as he opened his mouth, which is to give Liu Zheng a town near the coast after the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou took down Qingzhou. This simple request is for the present As far as the Yellow Turbans are concerned, it doesn't matter at all.

Not to mention that they haven't taken down any towns in Qingzhou yet, even if they do, they will only use one of the small towns in exchange for Liu Zheng's large amount of food and grass resources, so for them, there is nothing to lose , how could they refuse.

"Great, if Liu Zhengqushuai has your food and grass support, I think we will have a greater chance of conquering Qingzhou. As for what you said, I will give you a town at that time. Don't worry about it. Don't say it is one, even if it is many." If you want a few, I won't frown."

After Liu Zheng rejected Zhang Ning's proposal, Zhang Ning didn't seem to care so much. She just glanced at Liu Zheng coping with what Liu Zheng said, as if she wasn't interested.

On the contrary, Zhang Mancheng cared a lot about what Liu Zheng said.Holding Liu Zheng's hand, I urgently hope that Liu Zheng can also give some support in other aspects. After all, Liu Zheng now occupies the entire Jiaozhou, although Jiaozhou is not as good as Qingzhou.But at least it is a state, with a population of millions, which is much stronger than the Yellow Turbans.

After Zhang Ning had no interest, Liu Zheng was unwilling to say anything more to Zhang Mancheng. After Liu Zheng agreed with him on the arrival time of the first batch of grain and grass.Then I negotiated the general process with them.

And they didn't stay here for a long time with Liu Zheng. In order to put the uprising on the agenda as soon as possible, they decided to start their journey back to Qingzhou in these two days.

In fact, the reason why Liu Zheng agreed to deliver food to the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou on this trip was mainly for another purpose, that is, before Liu Zheng wanted to solve the problem of the shortage of war horses, he once thought about going to Youzhou by sea. , and now, Liu Zheng's shipping has matured, not only has a reliable route from Jiaozhou to Xuzhou, Liu Zheng also feels that it is time to open the route from Jiaozhou to Youzhou.

If you go from Jiaozhou to Youzhou, this route must not bypass Qingzhou. Instead of this, it is better to go to Qingzhou first to learn about the situation of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou. If it is feasible, Liu Zheng really wants to go there. On the reveal of Xuzhou going to Youzhou, a transfer station will be established in Qingzhou.

In this way, the commercial transportation lines along the entire coastline are almost perfect. The first stop is Hepu City in Jiaozhou, the second stop is Houguan County in Yangzhou, the third stop is the transfer station Xuzhou, and the third stop is the transit station Xuzhou. The fourth stop is in Qingzhou, and the fifth and final stop is Youzhou.

Once such a transportation line is successfully built and commercialized, it will have a huge economic and even military effect on Jiaozhou.

But after all, these fleets under Liu Zheng's command have not been to Youzhou. Although Liu Zheng has already known this route, it has not yet been commercially opened, and it is still unknown.

That's why Liu Zheng planned to take advantage of this opportunity to go to Qingzhou to deliver food and grass, and go directly to Youzhou to see if there is any chance to transport the war horses from Youzhou to Jiaozhou.

The matter of war horses is already somewhat imperative. After all, the three thousand war horses brought back by Liu Zheng from the Central Plains, now after two years of fighting, there are only a thousand war horses left. Liu Zheng's cavalry had to be disbanded.

That's why Liu Zheng went to Youzhou, which is transported by water, in a short time.

After making up his mind, Liu Zheng arranged for the troops of the navy to start preparations. First, he took part of the second-season grain in Jiaozhou and packed it on the ship. Then on the third day, he brought Zhang Mancheng and Zhang Ning and other core members of the Yellow Turban Army, Liu Zheng rushed to the sea and headed directly to Qingzhou.

When Liu Zheng told them that they could return to Qingzhou from the ocean, they still couldn't believe it, but Liu Zheng said it firmly, and Zhang Ning, who had always believed in Liu Zheng, also chose to follow Liu Zheng from the ocean to Qingzhou. They are a group of old Yellow Turbans who are willing to really follow the boat.

The ship departed from Hepu City and arrived at the transfer station in Houguan County on the third day.

Zhang Ning and Zhang Mancheng, who had never seen the sea before, felt a little seasick after drifting at sea for two days, but they still couldn't believe that they had arrived in Yangzhou in just two days.

Especially when he learned that this shipping line was used by Liu Zheng to make money through business, he was even more surprised.

Chapter 375 Taxation

Liu Zheng originally earned thousands of gold every month through the water transport trade between Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake. Later, after opening the line from Xuzhou to Jiaozhou, the money earned through trade plus the tax levied on trade transactions , just from here can bring him five thousand gold.

This is only a month away, excluding the taxes collected from other places. If Liu Zheng's economy is not active enough, he would even want to directly exempt farmers from the grain tax.

If he can open up more trade routes, in the future, the entire business income alone can be worth the mouth and calculation of an entire state.

In the Han Dynasty, people had to pay taxes, which were generally divided into three types of taxes.

Kou Fu, Kou Fu is a head tax collected by the Han Dynasty court on children aged 14 and under.Also known as mouth money, mouth cheap money.In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the amount collected was 20 yuan per person.The starting age is 7 years old, and it was advanced to 3 years old when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, Gong Yu wrote a letter requesting that the age of Qina be postponed to 7 years old, which was adopted.Oral taxation was seldom reduced or deducted. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the warlords fought in chaos and ruled the darkness. Even babies were allowed to pay when they were one year old.

Suan Fu, Suan Fu was a poll tax levied on adults by the imperial court during the Qin and Han Dynasties.It is also the main source of taxation. It began with Shang Yang's reform and was a poll tax levied as a military tax.In 203 BC, Liu Bang issued an order, stipulating that all people aged 15-56 years old should pay 120 yuan per person as a count.

Suanfu is a major item in the financial revenue of the Han Dynasty, which is managed by the big farmers.The purpose is to "govern the treasury of soldiers, weapons, chariots and horses", so it is still in the nature of a military tax.All calculations and taxes were paid in currency, with few exceptions, except that Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty issued two special edicts to temporarily use millet instead of money because the price of grain was too low to hurt farmers.

The amount of entitlement may be reduced or waived due to special circumstances, and occasionally it may be increased. Generally speaking, each person is calculated once a year, but there are also special circumstances. For example, there was a decree in the Qin Dynasty that "people who have two or more males are not differentiated. Double the Fu"; in order to encourage the increase of household registration, the Western Han Dynasty advocated early marriage.In 189 B.C., it was decreed: women aged 15 and above to 30 who are not married are counted five times, that is, their fortunes are five times that of ordinary people.

The law of the Han Dynasty also stipulates that Jiaren and slaves pay twice as much, that is, merchants and slaves pay twice as much as ordinary people.This is obviously to suppress business and limit slavery.

However, in Liu Zheng's Jiaozhou, all these regulations that suppressed businessmen were abolished, and instead they were vigorously supported. Liu Zheng only collected half of the taxes such as counting and oral taxes.

What's more, Liu Zheng abolished such things as more endowments.

The so-called more tax, a kind of duty tax.It began in the Qin Dynasty and was still used in the early Han Dynasty, stipulating that men between the ages of 22 and 56 should be obliged to pay more.Gengfu includes three kinds of military service or military service: "Gengzu", "Zhengzu" and "Shouzu".

Farmers have to serve the local government for one month every year, which is called Gengzu.Farmers serve in person, which is called "Jian Geng".If you don't want to serve in person, you can pay 300 yuan to the government to hire someone to serve on your behalf. This method of paying for someone to serve is called "Guo Geng".Sometimes localities don’t need many pawns, and farmers still need to pay, which becomes a tax burden, which is called "gengfu".

Zhengdi is the official military service.The Western Han Dynasty stipulated that men between 2356 and [-] had to perform military service for two years.In addition, each person serves one month in the county every year, which is called changing service or death service.For those who do not serve, they pay [-] yuan a month, which is called Jian Geng.Each person has to guard the border for three days a year, and those who don't serve will pay three hundred, which is called Guogeng.

Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty stipulated that men between the ages of 20 and 56 must serve in the country's military for one year, and they can go home after serving.However, in case of war, they will be temporarily recruited and cannot return for several years.Shuzu means that every man has to go to the border to garrison for the country for one year in his life, or go to the capital as a guard.

If you don't want to go in person, you can also hire someone to replace it at a monthly fee of 300. Generally, farmers can't afford it, so they have to serve in person.In the following dynasties, there were methods similar to forced labor, but with different names.

This kind of military service system was directly abolished by Liu Zheng, so Liu Zheng's remuneration was not given at all. Not only was there no remuneration, Liu Zheng also paid military service to those who served in the military, and the military salary was higher than that of other princes. After several times, this is nothing. The soldiers under Liu Zheng are more eager to serve as soldiers, while other princes arrest people to serve as soldiers. Liu Zheng only needs to yell a few times, and there are endless soldiers. .

However, due to the abolition of Gengfu, the tax revenue of the entire Jiaozhou has been much reduced. After all, Gengfu is also the source of most of the tax revenue of the entire state and county, based on the news that Liu Zheng got from Shi Xie before.

Before Liu Zheng occupied Jiaozhou, the tax burden of Jiaozhou for a year was actually not much.

The oral tax is less than 1000 million yuan.

Count as 5000 million yuan.

3000 million more money.

After all, it was actually only nine thousand gold.

Of course, this is also because the population of Jiaozhou is too small, but the population of one million is not even enough for the population of some counties in the Central Plains.

Although Liu Zheng migrated a lot of people from Yangzhou because of Liu Zheng's appearance, these people have no tax to pay for the time being. The people of Jiaozhou.

But his annual income has indeed dropped a lot. If it weren't for the business support of the Mi family, Liu Zheng would have earned an extra 5000 million gold out of thin air, which just offset the taxes he waived. Some really don't know what to do.

It is also true that Liu Zheng is more determined to do business and expand his business lines. As long as he develops a few more lines in states and counties, Liu Zheng can completely exempt some taxes on the people, and the world will be peaceful at that time.

Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world.

Seven days later, Liu Zheng's fleet had already arrived in Xuzhou. After passing through Xuzhou for a while to load and unload the cargo, Liu Zheng let the fleet stay here for a few days. He went to Mi's house in Xuzhou, and met Mi again. Mi Zhu, the head of the family, met with him and explained his decision to go north this time, to Youzhou.

Mi Zhu naturally supported him, and sent a small team to follow Liu Zheng, so that he could get familiar with the route as soon as possible, and after arriving, he could open up business in the shortest time.

This time, Mi Zhu never doubted Liu Zheng's words, but chose to believe it, and followed Liu Zheng with the cargo.

This is not the first time for Liu Zheng to set sail, so although he doesn't really understand the route, he still understands the truth of walking along the coastline and approaching a little bit. Four days later, they came to a place called Donglai small county town.

Chapter 376 The Land of Qingzhou

Dongnai County.

A concave bay, in front of a fishing village, is the junction of Langya County in Xuzhou and Donglai County in Qingzhou.A small fishing village called Qingdao.

"This should be the boundary of Qingzhou. If you pass this place, go west and you should be able to reach Linzi City in Qingzhou."

Liu Zheng vaguely told Zhang Mancheng, Zhang Ning and others according to some map knowledge he could still remember.

The few people who followed Zhang Mancheng were also very surprised when they heard that this was already the boundary of Qingzhou. It took them only half a month to get from Jiaozhou to Qingzhou. Before, they also traveled by water from Qingzhou to Jiaozhou, but But it took two full months.

It is conceivable that if this waterway is really opened up, the commercial value in it will be huge. Of course, those who do not know how to do business will not understand the value.

They were just surprised by the short distance of the journey, and now they are convinced of Liu Zheng's support for food and grass, but they still have some doubts about whether this is really the boundary of Qingzhou.

However, it was Xu He who was beside Zhang Mancheng who took the initiative to stand up. After looking at the bay, he quickly recognized it.

"My lord, this seems to be the boundary of Qingzhou. I know this place."

There are several people around Zhang Mancheng, who are locals from Qingzhou. They are important generals of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou. After Zhang Mancheng fled to Qingzhou, they supported Zhang Mancheng. Therefore, most of Zhang Mancheng's current descendants are soldiers from Qingzhou.

The natives of Qingzhou naturally have heard a little about some places in Qingzhou. At this time, when Liu Zheng said that this is the boundary of Qingzhou, after thinking about it, he thought he had really heard of such a place.

"Is it Qingzhou? We'll find out if we go down and have a look. Jiang Qin, you go and park the boat, and then lead people to guard our boat. Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, you come ashore with me. As envoy, I will accompany you first." You go to your stronghold in Qingzhou."

Although Liu Zheng came mainly for Youzhou this time, he planned to build a transfer station in Qingzhou. In Qingzhou, he still had to come here to walk around and observe from time to time.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms period, Qingzhou did not have a strong sense of existence. There were no particularly major wars here, and basically it rarely changed hands. At the beginning, it belonged to Yuan Shao in name, and Yuan Shao occupied one of the four northern states. Later, the Battle of Guandu broke out and was annexed by Cao Cao.

Qingzhou also fell into the hands of Cao Cao, and has always belonged to Cao Cao's subordinates. Before Cao Cao took control of Qingzhou, although Qingzhou belonged to Yuan Shao in name, in fact, Qingzhou had serious internal friction. At the same time, there are all kinds of bandits and bandits.

Although Qingzhou can be regarded as a place where brave and skilled fighters are born in large numbers and there is no shortage of food and grass, the people here are also not well educated. Although it is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius and a country of etiquette, there are also many famous thugs in history.

The most famous ones, thieves and thieves, all come from here.

During the Xinmang period, during Wang Mang's new dynasty, a massive peasant uprising broke out in Qingzhou, and the name of the rebel army was Chimei.Together with the Red Eyebrow Army and the Green Forest Army, they overthrew Wang Mang's rule.Later, the Red Eyebrow Army wiped out the reform regime established by the Green Forest Army.However, the Red Eyebrow Army did not reach the end. They were wiped out by the rising Liu Xiu, and regrettably withdrew from the stage of history.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the vigorous "Yellow Turban Uprising" broke out in Qingzhou again. The Yellow Turban Army became the last straw that crushed the decadent Eastern Han court. had a huge impact.Cao Cao's fortune was thanks to the 30 "Qingzhou soldiers".

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the "Wagang Uprising" broke out here again. Countless Qingzhou heroes rose up, gathered troops to rebel against the Sui Dynasty, and established the Wagang Regime here.It's just that their power was too weak, and they got a good way out after they surrendered to Qin Wang Li Shimin.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, in Qingzhou again, the Wang Xianzhi uprising first broke out, and then the "Huang Chao uprising" broke out.The Huang Chao Uprising finally shook the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and once established its own regime, almost becoming the successor of the Tang Dynasty.But in the end Zhu Wen betrayed the rebel army, which led to history entering the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

In the Song Dynasty, there was another anti-armed force here, and that was the famous Liangshan hero.The real Liangshan Uprising did not have such a big battle. Under the leadership of Song Jiang, they did not accept recruitment, but moved to various places, and were finally forced to surrender to the court when they were defeated.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, this place fell into the hands of the Jurchen Kingdom of Jin. Due to the overwhelming burden, the people here organized to resist the rule of the Kingdom of Jin.This rebel army was named "Red Coat Army" because it wore red coats as a mark.Under the external attack of Mongolia and Song Dynasty and the internal echo of the Red Coat Army, the Kingdom of Jin was quickly overwhelmed, defeated, and headed to the end.

In almost every dynasty, there will be rebels here to rebel against the court.