Chapter 47 7. Rectify the social atmosphere

Bohai County is the base that Yuan's father and son have operated for many years, and their influence in this area has lasted for more than ten years.After Cao Cao captured Bohai County, he needed to establish his authority as soon as possible to ensure the long-term stability of this area. After Yuan Tan was killed, Cao Cao ordered his head to be displayed to the public. At the same time, he ordered that whoever dared to cry for him would kill his wife and children together (those who dared to cry would kill their wives).Cao Cao didn't expect that there would be someone who was not afraid of death, and came to plead with him to take Yuan Tan away.This person is Yuan Tan's subordinate in Qingzhou, the secretary-general of the state government (don't drive) Wang Xiu.

Wang Xiu once advised the Yuan Tan brothers to live in harmony and deal with Cao Cao together, but Yuan Tan refused.When Yuan Tan was killed, Wang Xiu was in Gaomi. He had a chance to escape, but when he heard that his master was dead, he came to pay his respects. As soon as he dismounted from his horse, he cried out, "Where can we go without a master? How to return)?" Cao Cao thought he was a righteous man, so he received him.Wang Xiu said: "I have received Yuan's kindness. If I can bury the old master and kill him calmly, I will have no regrets." Cao Cao was deeply moved by Wang Xiu's righteousness, and agreed to his request to bury Yuan Tan.

Cao Cao had a good impression of Wang Xiu from the beginning. After Nanpi was captured, he led people to inspect the city. He once went to an official's house and saw that all his family property was less than ten hu grains and hundreds of volumes of books. It reminded him of Ye County When they were breached, they confiscated tens of thousands of people's property, such as examination and distribution, and left a deep impression on this official at that time.This official is Wang Xiu. Cao Cao hired Wang Xiu to work in his Sikong mansion as the director (Sikong 掾), and later he also served as the commander of the metallurgical unit (Sijin Zhonglang general). This position is mainly responsible for mining, smelting, and casting of weapons and agricultural tools. It is not an important department, but it is in charge of most of the "military enterprises" and has an important position.

Wang Xiu was very competent in his job, and he worked for seven years. During this period, he had many opportunities for promotion, but he gave up because Cao Cao couldn't find a more suitable person than Wang Xiu to replace him.Cao Cao felt a little sorry for this, and wrote a long letter to Wang Xiu, expressing the importance of the position of General Si Jin Zhonglang and his affirmation of Wang Xiu's work.Later, Wang Xiu finally became the prefect of Wei County, and he made great achievements in local governance. Before and after this, Cao Cao successively issued a series of orders in the identities of Sikong and Jizhou Mu to restore production and life in Jizhou area and rectify social order.These orders include "Jianhebei Zufu Order", "Suppressing Merger Order", "Forgive Yuan's Same Evil Order", "Order of Neat Customs" and so on.

In the "Jianhebei Renfu Order", Cao Cao ordered the exemption of land rent and taxes for the ninth year of Jian'an (204) in the Jizhou area in order to restore and develop production.The promulgation of this order was supported by the people. During Yuan Shao's rule of Jizhou, he relied on powerful landlords politically and militarily, which rapidly expanded the political and economic power of these people.For a long time, Cao Cao has been thinking about the disadvantages of the mechanism of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He believes that the rapid development of powerful forces is the main reason for the weakening of the regime, so he is very concerned about how to restrain the powerful forces.Cao Cao believes that if this problem is not solved well, even if he gains power, he will not be stable, and he will be swayed by powerful forces at critical times.

Based on these long-term thinking and analysis of the actual situation, Cao Cao promulgated the "Order to Suppress Mergers". He emphasized that a society "does not suffer from scarcity but inequality, and does not suffer from poverty but anxiety", allowing the gap between the rich and the poor to widen. There are bound to be serious consequences.He said that a family like Shenpei not only has strong economic strength, but also serves as a stronghold for harboring criminals and is the umbrella of evil forces. How can ordinary people support such a regime? Cao Cao had far-sighted plans to use public opinion to attack powerful forces. He was unwilling to have a wealthy economy and wealthy politics in the area he ruled.As an important step to curb wealthy families, he clearly stipulated in the "Order to Suppress Mergers" that the rent standard for each mu of land is four liters, and each household receives an additional two bolts of silk and two catties of silk. other taxes.He asked all counties and counties to strictly check to see if there is any phenomenon that powerful landlords hitch a ride and collect other taxes and fees, and at the same time prohibit vulnerable groups from paying taxes for those powerful people.

After the capture of Nanpi, the entire territory of Jizhou became the "Cao Tong District". Some officials at all levels who had served in the Yuan regime and the army were still employed, while others were uneasy, fearing that their old accounts would be settled one day.In response to this situation, Cao Cao promulgated the "Ordinance of Pardoning the Yuan Family for the Same Evils" in Nanpi, which clearly stated that those who had done bad things with the Yuan family were allowed to change from evil to good (those who shared the same evil with the Yuan family, started with them).

An important reason for the failure of the Yuan regime was the fact that there were serious internal cliques and intrigues. This kind of atmosphere spread from the upper class to all levels of society and became an unhealthy atmosphere.In the past "Yuan Tong District", not only officials and powerful people manipulated public opinion, excluded dissidents, and turned black and white, but also there were phenomena such as right and wrong, lack of a general sense of social justice, and the prevalence of crooked ways among ordinary people. In response to these problems, Cao Cao issued the "Neat Customs Order" in Nanpi again:

"Formation of cliques and selfishness was hated by ancient sages. I heard that in Jizhou, father and son will be divided into two factions, slandering and fighting each other. In the past, there was no elder brother, but everyone said that he had an affair with his sister-in-law; the fifth Lun married three times. Daughter, some people said that he abused his father-in-law; Wang Feng was arbitrary, but Gu Yong praised him as Shenbo of the Zhou Dynasty; Wang Shang was loyal, but Zhang Kuang said he was heretic. If the above phenomena are not eradicated, I think it is a shame." Although these examples cited by Cao Cao occurred in the previous generation, they all refer to something.The formation of cliques has reached a serious level, and even father and son brothers are divided into two factions to fight civilly and violently.They failed to set a good example for the society, so that the folk customs deteriorated rapidly, which not only corrupted the social atmosphere, but also affected social stability and production development.Cao Cao made great efforts to rectify social customs, which has strong practical significance and urgency.

Economically exempting taxation, suppressing mergers of powerful and powerful powers, politically resolving conflicts between old and new forces, and then starting with rectifying the social atmosphere and restoring social order, Cao Cao's series of policies quickly changed the social outlook of Jizhou and restored production. And development. During this period, the situation in Youzhou also underwent new changes.Yuan Xi's generals Jiao Rong and Zhang Nan saw that Yuan's group was about to be destroyed, so they launched a mutiny and drove Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang out of Youzhou. The two Yuan had to go to Tadun, the leader of Wuhuan in western Liaoning.Ta Dun married a girl from the Yuan family before, and was related to the Yuan family by marriage, and now he is very powerful in the western Liaoning area.

Jiao Rong claimed to be the governor of Youzhou, and he led the chiefs of all counties and counties in the prefecture to surrender to Cao Cao.Cao Cao was very happy that Youzhou won without a fight, saving the trouble of an expedition. In the name of the court, he recognized Jiao Rong as the governor of Youzhou, and named Jiao Rong and Zhang Nan as lieutenants.Prior to this, Xian Yufu and Yan Rou who had been active in Youzhou had already joined Cao Cao's camp. Xian Yufu led his troops to join Cao Cao before the Battle of Guandu, and was appointed by Cao Cao as the deputy commander of the Northern Frontier Army (General Zuo Duliao) and named Tinghou. He was allowed to guard Youzhou and become a force to contain Yuan's group.During the Battle of Guandu, Xian Yufu personally led the army to the front to help in the battle.Yuan Shao was defeated, and Cao Cao was delighted to hear the report. Xian Yufu was right next to him at the time. Cao Cao said to him, "At the beginning of the year, Yuan Benchu ​​sent Gongsun Zan's head. I felt dizzy when I saw it. I don't want to see it today. It was God's will and the result of everyone's hard work that he was defeated!" Later, Xian Yufu also participated in the Battle of Nanpi. Xian Yufu's comrade-in-arms and ally Yan Rou is well-known among the northern minorities. Xian Yufu once joined forces with him, Liu Yu's son Liu He and others to fight against Gongsun Zan.After Gongsun Zan's death, Yan Rou also stood on Cao Cao's side, and he was appointed by Cao Cao as the commander of the Anti-Wuhuan Army (Lieutenant of Protecting Wuhuan).After the Battle of Nanpi, Yan Rou persuaded some leaders of Wuhuan, Xianbei and other ethnic minorities to join Cao Cao and presented famous horses. Yan Rou was named Guan Neihou. According to "Wei Lue", Cao Cao liked Yan Rou very much, and once said to him: "I treat you like a son, and you also treat me as a father (see you like a son, and want you to treat me like a father). "Yan Rou then treated Cao Pi and the others like brothers. With Shao Yufu and Yan Rou, and now Jiao Rong and Zhang Nan's surrender, the Youzhou issue can be said to have been preliminarily resolved.But not long after, Zhao Du and Huo Nu from Gu'an County (now Laishui, Hebei) of Youzhou Governor's Department, Zhuojun Gu'an (now Laishui, Hebei) raised troops and killed the governor Jiao Rong and the prefect of Zhuojun. Sent out to attack Xian Yufu in the area of ​​Luping (now north of Miyun Reservoir in Beijing) in the north of Yuyang County, Youzhou Governor's Department. In July and August of this year, Cao Cao led his troops to leave Nanpi and march into Youzhou, beheaded Zhao Du and Huo Nu in Zhuojun, and crossed the Lu River to rescue Luping. This was the first time Cao Jun marched northward to Youzhou.Tadun's troops did not resist and withdrew outside the Great Wall. Cao Cao then led his army back to Shiye County. In October of the tenth year of Jian'an (205), Cao Cao returned to Ye County.The expedition lasted for a whole year, and the harvest was quite fruitful. Cao Jun captured Nanpi, wiped out the remnant enemies in Youzhou, and drove Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang out of the Great Wall. All the four northern states in the original "Yuan Tong District" have occupied Jizhou , Qingzhou, and Youzhou, the only ones that are not sure are Bingzhou to the west of the Taihang Mountains, but even if the high-ranking officials want to rebel, there is no serious problem.