Warring States Odyssey

  After this incident, everyone's enthusiasm greatly decreased. Even Li Yinghong, who usually loved to talk, was silent. When they encountered refugees along the way, Li Mu pointed them in the direction of Fanwu Barracks to settle down.

  By dusk, the troops had arrived at the outskirts of Handan, only a dozen miles away from the city of Handan. In the heart of Zhao Guo, most of the nobles, dignitaries and wealthy merchants have their own fields outside the city of Handan, so on both sides of the highway, there are endless fields, and on both sides of the highway, two canals have been dug.

  Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, the well-field system has been implemented. The fields are divided into public and private fields, with the public fields belonging to the royal family and nobles. Because the land is a fixed size, it is divided into many squares according to standard measurements, with boundaries on all sides, water ditches in between, and paths crisscrossing like a well character, hence the name "well-field system". In addition to the well-fields, small plots of land that were later reclaimed are also called private fields.

  The Zhou Dynasty divided the population into three categories: national people, wild people, and slaves. National people referred to those living in cities and towns, who had a certain political status and paid taxes to the state. Officials were selected from among them, and they were also the main source of military conscription, similar to the citizens of ancient Rome. Wild people lived in villages outside the city and had no political status, but some were born into serfdom and were the main labor force for tilling the land. When countries recruited soldiers, they would also recruit a portion of wild people, mainly to serve as miscellaneous workers in the army. Slaves, on the other hand, had no freedom or status and were equivalent to speaking livestock. The entire social hierarchy was strict and clearly defined.

  The public fields were allocated by the monarchs to their subjects for cultivation, and the people under the jurisdiction of the lords supervised the collective cultivation of the well-fields. The well-fields could not be bought or sold, and a certain amount of tribute had to be paid. The main income of the Zhou Dynasty and the various aristocratic houses came from taxes on public fields. Private fields belonged to individuals and could be bought, sold, and transferred without paying taxes. As a result, over time, the lords valued private fields more than public fields. Moreover, with the development of farming technology and agricultural tools, private fields were extensively cultivated, while public fields became barren, leading to a significant reduction in the income of the aristocratic houses.

  In 594 BC, the 15th year of Duke Xiang of Lu, in order to increase revenue, the state of Lu first carried out tax reform. Regardless of public or private land, it was uniformly taxed per mu, and land transactions were allowed, known as the initial tax mu. Later, other states also followed suit.

  At the same time, the increase in arable land also required a large number of people to cultivate it manually. The existing barbarians were no longer sufficient, so the landlords also put a large number of slaves into the fields to cultivate with the barbarians. Over time, the boundaries between commoners and slaves gradually disappeared, all becoming tenant farmers of the landlords. In addition, some barbarians accumulated wealth through reclamation of wasteland, surpassing many nationals, while many nationals became private land buyers due to poor management and ended up becoming employed laborers of the barbarians. As a result, the distinction between nationals and barbarians was no longer clear-cut.

  The state, in order to encourage farming, rewarded tenant farmers who worked hard and had high yields with formal exemption from their slave status. Moreover, when the state recruited soldiers, it did not limit itself to commoners, but also included slaves within the scope of conscription. Slaves who made meritorious achievements on the battlefield could shed their slave status, so the number of genuine slaves decreased sharply, and the class of commoners increased. China thus transitioned from a slave society to a feudal society.

  Although the Lu State implemented the initial tax per mu, it was seen by Confucians as a change to the laws of the former kings, and was heavily criticized for being a collapse of ritual and music, and people's hearts not being ancient. However, the initial tax per mu is actually closer to modern taxation and conforms to the needs of social development, dissolving the slave system and establishing the feudal system. It cannot be stopped by human subjective will, until the late Warring States period, the well-field system completely collapsed, and even the vast majority of Confucian disciples did not mention restoring the well-field system again.

  Due to the abolition of the well-field system, hired labor increased greatly. Therefore, in addition to villages and manors along the paths between fields, there were also dwellings for hired farmers working in the fields. Sometimes, the wealthy and powerful from Handan city would come out of the city to inspect their own land holdings and reside in these manors. Some of these manors were built on a grand and luxurious scale.

  However, due to the drought, most of the fields were already barren and cracked with innumerable spider web-like fissures. The irrigation canals were intermittent and mostly dry. In the villages, there was little smoke from cooking fires, and many village houses seemed uninhabited. Li Mu sighed as he saw this from his carriage, it seemed that this year's drought was very severe.

  The refugees and horses continued on their journey for a while longer, with more and more refugees gathering, and on both sides of the main road, there were also large numbers of Zhao soldiers stationed, prohibiting the refugees from rushing onto the highway. At an intersection, dozens of war chariots were parked in a row across the fields, with soldiers fully armed and holding bows and spears, waiting in formation. Behind the war chariots, more than a hundred tents were pitched, blocking the road to Handan and not allowing the refugees to take another step forward. However, the refugees did not clash with the Zhao army, and they stopped in front of the blockade line. Some people set up simple grass sheds to shelter from the wind and rain, but most people lived under the open sky, forming a refugee camp.

  When Li Mu's troops arrived, the commander of the Zhao army immediately rushed up and paid his respects in front of Li Mu's chariot, saying: "Junior General Liu Rui, at your service."

  Li Mu Dao said: "What's going on? Why are you stationed here?"

  Liu Rui said: "I am under the command of the Grand Marshal, stationed here to guard against refugees pouring into Handan and disrupting its order."

  Li Mu nodded, and on the matter of calling Zhao Cong back, he himself was also in favor. Since Zhao Cong had formally ordered it, Li Mu couldn't interfere, and he also thought that preventing refugees from flooding into Handan was a very correct measure. There were no dissenting opinions, only: "So how does Handan plan to provide relief to these disaster victims?"

  Liu Rui said: "I am just following orders to guard here and prevent refugees from entering Handan, as for the relief of refugees, I do not know."

  Li Mu furrowed his brow and said, "Don't you know? Or is there simply no plan to provide disaster relief?"

  Liu Rui lowered his head and didn't dare to meet Li Mu's gaze, but apparently acquiesced.

  At this time, Li Mu also couldn't help but change color. Preventing refugees from rushing into Handan was still understandable, but if they ignored these disaster victims, it wouldn't be right. However, Liu Rui was just following orders and wasn't the one in charge. Li Mu had a fire in his heart but didn't dare to vent it at him, so he could only forcibly suppress the flames in his heart and say: "Alright, let's talk about this when I get back to Handan. Clear the road and let us pass."

  Liu Rui hastily agreed and was about to order the road to be cleared, but just then a fleet of cars appeared from behind Zhao Jun's group, heading in this direction.

  The refugees saw them and were also excited, swarming over. Someone even shouted: "They're here, they're here, we won't go hungry tonight!" "This is already the tenth day, if it weren't for the lady, I wouldn't have made it this far." "The lady's heart is really good, she will definitely live to be a hundred years old."

  Zhao Jun's soldiers drew their bows and raised their spears, shouting: "What are you doing? Get back, clear the way, and wait quietly for your porridge. Anyone who dares to make trouble will lose his life."

  Li Mu Dao said: "Liu Rui, what's going on here?"

  Liu Rui hastily said: "Report to the general, this is Madame Wen Qing. Every day she comes here to open a porridge shed to provide relief to the disaster victims. It has been over ten days now, and every morning and evening, twice a day, she distributes porridge." He paused for a moment, then continued: "Fortunately, there is Madame Wen Qing, or else these disaster victims would have rioted long ago. Before Madame Wen Qing provided relief to the disaster victims, there were several clashes between our troops and the disaster victims every day, resulting in over ten of my brothers being killed."

  Li Mu nodded and said, "So it's Wen Qing."

  Liu Rui said: "You want to hurry back to Handan, I'll let them wait a bit and let you go first."

  Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Never mind, there aren't many of them. Let's let them go first. If the refugees get impatient and cause trouble, it'll be hard to control."

  Liu Rui hastily said: "Thank you, sir." He also gave Li Mu a salute and hurried over to direct the soldiers to make way.

  Gao Yuan, Li Yinghong and others stopped their horses beside Li Mu's chariot, so they also heard the conversation between Li Mu and Liu Rui very clearly. Only when Liu Rui was here, it was not good to open his mouth to speak. After Liu Rui left, Li Yinghong said with a huff: "What are the king and those ministers in the court doing? If there is no Wen Qing sister, I am afraid that even before the Qin army arrives, these refugees will first rush into Handan."

  Zhao Xuan also said: "Fortunately, this time the Qin army did not reach Handan, otherwise Handan would have been breached."

  Gaoyuan Road: "The imperial court is ignoring the refugees, there must be a reason for this. I think the king and the ministers in the imperial court are not unaware of the danger faced by the refugees. Is it possible that someone has concealed the disaster situation from the king like you?"

  Li Mu nodded, what Gao Yuan said was very likely. In the royal courts of various countries, there would always be a group of sycophants surrounding the king or prince, deceiving those below and hiding the truth from those above, only reporting good news but not bad news. If they encountered an incompetent ruler, it would be easy for them to be deceived and misled. Therefore, it was also very likely that King Zhao Xiang did not know the severity of the disaster. He nodded again: "Alright, after we return to Handan, I will meet with the king and advise him to immediately open the granary to provide relief to the victims."

  A few people were talking, at this time the relief team had already passed through Zhao Jun's checkpoint, and the refugees also made way in the fields on both sides of the highway, set up a dozen large pots, lit firewood, poured in water and rice to cook porridge.

  At this time, only a few people were seen walking towards Li Mu's side. The woman in the lead was wearing a leather cloak and a fur hat that covered her head, but her face was veiled with a thin gauze, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes, making it impossible to discern her features.

  When she arrived in front of Li Mu's chariot, the woman bowed her head and saluted, saying softly: "Wen Qing has seen General, congratulations to General for defeating Qin army again this time and preserving Zhao."

  Li Mu jumped down from the chariot, stretched out his hand and said: "Wen Qing, no need to be too polite, how is Huan'er?"

  The woman replied: "Thank you for your concern, General. Huan'er is doing well."

  At this time, Li Yinghong jumped down from the horseback and came to the woman's side in three strides, pulling her arm and smiling: "Wenqing sister, I didn't expect to meet you here."

  The woman turned to Li Yinghong and said: "So it's Sister Yinghong. Are you going back to Handan?"

  Li Yinghong nodded and said: "Yes, we defeated the Qin army, so father was summoned back to Handan by the king."

  The woman said: "It turns out that there are still more than ten miles to Handan, and now the sky is already late. My family's manor is just ahead, not far away. If General doesn't mind the simplicity, let's rest at my manor for a night first, and then enter Handan tomorrow."

  Li Mu looked up at the sky and indeed it was getting dark, so he nodded and said: "Alright, let's go bother Wen Qing then."