[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-53":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing Han",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1222812,1620,"Chapter 53: Insight","overthrowing-han-chapter-53",53,"\u003Cp>Departure and return are always different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they first gathered at Fanyang and set out for Luoyang, there were several dozen scholars in all, and each brought servants, family, luggage, carts, and horses — the whole journey was one endless fuss, dragging on and on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on this return trip to Hebei, only Gongsun Xun, Gongsun Yue, and Zhen Yi traveled together as companions... The last of these was somewhat older, meaning he would study for a year, gain a bit of a name, and leave it at that; moreover, the great recluse Zhen even had a wife and children at home... So along the way there was inevitably a homesick urgency, which forced the Gongsun brothers to pick up their pace as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like that, they passed through province after province, commandery after commandery, and only when they came in sight of Wuji in Zhongshan did everyone finally catch their breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My two younger fellow disciples, since we have arrived here, why not linger a couple of days and let me fulfill my duties as host?\" The first to relax was, in fact, Zhen Yi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since we are fortunately free, we were just about to impose upon you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It is only right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gongsun brothers offered no refusal — after all, having been fellow students for a year and now returning, their friendship was far deeper than before, and the Zhen clan of Wuji in Zhongshan was a famously wealthy and powerful house here in Hebei; there was no need to stand on ceremony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so the convoy turned together into the borders of Wuji County, and the mood grew easy and pleasant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother Dayin, why were you in such a hurry the whole way?\" Gongsun Yue, riding beside Zhen Yi's cart, asked curiously. \"Even earlier, when you suddenly decided to travel back with us, it seemed a bit rushed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you noticed, younger brother Yue.\" Zhen Yi shook his head with a rueful smile. \"To be honest with you, after I left, some small matters arose at home. I truly could not bear it any longer, so I decided to return as quickly as possible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see. May I ask...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won't hide it from you — after I left, my wife suddenly bore me another daughter. Having been away over a year, my heart was extremely restless!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Yue was dumbfounded; even the horse beneath him stopped for a moment before he caught up to the other's cart again and said with a straight face: \"So that is how it is. Brother Dayin, set your mind at ease. We are brothers — whatever you need, speak plainly. If that wife of yours comes from a powerful clan in the same or a neighboring commandery and it is inconvenient to act, just leave it to us brothers. And as for that so-called 'daughter,' if it is too awkward to deal with openly, leave her to us as well. My aunt is an exceedingly good person; we will take her to Liaoxi and let my aunt raise her, and you shall never have to see each other again in this life. What do you say?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhen Yi sat in the cart, his face blank for a long moment, then suddenly clutched the cart rail and roared in fury: \"What outrageous nonsense are you spouting, you brat? This daughter of mine was born nine months after I left home — the timing is exactly right. Where do you get off wanting to help me kill my wife and child?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Yue was mortified beyond measure and apologized profusely without pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this sort of thing was ultimately just a minor interlude. The party continued straight along the official road within Wuji County without any delay. However, it was only when they arrived before the magnificent main gate of the Zhen residence that everyone discovered, speechless, that one of the main figures of this journey — Gongsun Xun — had actually vanished. Upon careful inquiry, they learned that the moment they entered Wuji County, he had taken a few attendants and gone off to inquire into local customs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brother Dayin, pay my elder brother no mind.\" Gongsun Yue was equally exasperated. \"Whenever he arrives at a new place, he absolutely must run off into the countryside to inquire into customs — looking at the local population and geography, asking the locals about taxes and corvée labor, and secretly investigating whether there are many abandoned infants and whether the Taiping Dao and the Buddhist sect are flourishing... Let us first go pay our respects to your family elders, and leave someone who knows him to wait for him here at the gate!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"V-very well.\" Zhen Yi had wanted to say something, but in the end, his eagerness to see his family won out, and he stepped first through his own main gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It must be said that at this time, the spring plowing was imminent, and the common folk in the countryside had practically poured out in full force to turn the soil and sun the fields. Gongsun Xun and his few companions had ridden all the way from the countryside early on; as far as the eye could see, everywhere was a scene of bustling activity. Now, reining in their horses on a small slope and gazing out, they were deeply moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hebei is a flat, open plain,\" Han Dang remarked with some feeling. \"But compared to beyond the frontier, there are still more rivers and waterways. When cavalry sweeps across this place, one must still scout the terrain in advance to avoid being trapped in a dead end.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everywhere the eye sees is fertile fields and farmers. I never imagined the land of Hebei was so prosperous and flourishing.\" Beside him, Lou Gui, pale-faced from the jolting of his horse, had only just recovered his composure before joining the verbal sparring. \"When Emperor Guangwu entered Hebei alone and made it his base, he held the Yellow River and peered at all under Heaven, unifying the realm in just twelve years. It was not without reason.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You, my friend...\" Gongsun Xun, who had been standing with his back turned, gazing at the Taihang Mountains to the west, could not help shaking his head at these words. \"You are still too young. And coming from a gentry clan in Wanluo, your aspirations outstrip your ability. Hebei may well be a foundation for hegemony, but to say this place is prosperous and flourishing just from watching people plow — isn't that far too childish?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Farmland is the foundation of the realm. If one does not look at this, what should one look at?\" Lou Gui retorted, quite unconvinced. \"Young Lord Gongsun has only just come of age; you are not necessarily more seasoned than I am.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look at the abandoned infants!\" Gongsun Xun answered with a straight face, sharing his insight. \"To see whether a place is prosperous or not, flourishing or not, first look at whether there are many abandoned infants relative to the population. You must understand that to reproduce and raise offspring is human nature. Unless they truly cannot support them, no family is willing to kill or abandon their own flesh and blood. In this present age, to say there are no abandoned infants is nonsense, but if a place has too many abandoned infants, then even if it appears to be thriving, it is nothing but an illusion!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Gui lowered his head and said nothing; clearly, he was thinking of certain situations in his hometown. This man had harbored 'uncommon ambitions' from a very young age, and after reaching adulthood, he constantly took in desperate fugitives — precisely because he had vaguely sensed omens that this world was beginning to crumble. But exactly what was wrong, and why it was wrong, he had truly never thought through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While he was pondering, an attendant indeed returned to report, recounting in detail the number of abandoned infants in the remote corners of this area... These men were no longer doing this for the first time. According to their account, this place was really no different from other parts of Jizhou — the proportion of abandoned infants was equally horrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have been thinking,\" Lou Gui asked, his face full of bewilderment. \"As Young Lord Gongsun said, whenever abandoned infants reach a certain level, it must mean the people have no means to live... But why would such things happen? The farmland in Hebei is so fertile, trade and commerce flow freely, and this Zhongshan Commandery only reverted from a kingdom to a commandery the year before last; the Grand Administrator appointed is also quite renowned for virtue. He hardly seems like someone who would do things that harm the people, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since you don't understand, then come with me and ask.\" Gongsun Xun could not help shaking his head. In truth, he had long ago written specially to consult his own mother and learned the logic behind this from her... But since they had nothing else to do, he might as well accompany Lou Gui on a trip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Asking,\" however, did not mean asking the farmers in the fields, as Lou Gui had imagined. Quite the opposite — Gongsun Xun led his men, mounted on tall horses, wearing swords and carrying bows, and directly barged into a nearby township temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The term \"temple\" here does not refer to a religious temple, but to a public office, bureau, or residence. In fact, the \"temple\" in Buddhist temple actually originates from the \"temple\" in the Court of State Ceremonial — also meaning a public office. A township temple, then, is naturally the public office where the clerks of a township reside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gongsun Xun and his party barged straight in, they had long since startled the township clerks into utter confusion, and the clerks all came rushing out to receive them. Just as Lou Gui was curiously wondering how they should question them, he saw Gongsun Wenqi jerk his chin toward Han Dang. The latter immediately spurred his horse forward, snatched up the head township bailiff, tucked him under his arm, and turned to leave — every inch the manner of a bandit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, Han Dang went ahead while the rest drew their blades, signaling the township folk not to advance, and then slowly followed. Lou Gui was stupefied, but with gleaming blades on both sides, he could only grit his teeth, clamp his horse's belly tightly, and hurry after them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once they reached the small slope from before, Han Dang flung the township bailiff to the ground with a thud. Only then did Gongsun Xun gesture toward Lou Gui: \"The man has been invited. Go ahead and ask.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Gui opened his mouth to speak, then could not help turning his head: \"How should I ask?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly and had no choice but to step forward himself. He drew his blade and pointed it at the bailiff: \"I will ask, and you will answer. Understood?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The township bailiff had been thrown so hard he saw stars, and with a blade pointed at him, how could he dare say much? He merely nodded his head rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let me ask you — in your township last year, how many times in total did you collect the suan tax?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Seventeen times!\" The bailiff answered with exceptional crispness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called suan tax consisted of the property tax and the poll tax — the former called zi suan, the latter kou suan — both of which were supposed to be collected once a year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not really too many.\" Gongsun Xun put away his blade with a chuckle. \"Your Grand Administrator truly lives up to his reputation for virtue...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold on!\" Lou Gui beside him was flabbergasted. \"The suan tax collected seventeen times — how can you say that's not too many? The poor, suffering common folk rely on nothing but a few meager acres to live. If a suan tax of a hundred-odd cash becomes two thousand cash, naturally the people will have no means of livelihood. How can such a Grand Administrator be called virtuous?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This Grand Administrator is indeed not bad.\" Gongsun Xun corrected him helplessly. \"During the Wen and Jing reigns of the Former Han, in some commanderies and kingdoms, the suan tax was already being collected five or six times a year.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed not bad.\" Han Dang chimed in agreement. \"For an inland commandery or kingdom to collect it seventeen times, this Grand Administrator truly deserves to be called an honest official...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That still doesn't make sense,\" Lou Gui said, growing ever more baffled. \"Even if the system has decayed, over a hundred years it went from once to five or six times?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun, Han Dang, and even the several attendants behind them all shook their heads and said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I understand now.\" Lou Gui seemed to realize something, and suddenly moved to draw a blade and point it at the bailiff — but reaching back, he recalled he wore no sword. He had to dismount and point with his finger as he shouted his interrogation: \"How many times did you in the township add on your own?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sirs... good sirs above,\" the township bailiff, who had recovered his wits a little, said while coughing, utterly aggrieved. \"This suan tax is not a matter of how many times, but of the fixed quota. The number of households and the population of a township are set; the number of households and the population of a county are also set, and the same for a commandery! His Excellency the commandery governor never issues an order to collect the suan tax a certain number of times; he only requires that the suan tax matching the household and population figures arrives in the accounts. And the county magistrate is roughly the same. It is only when it reaches us in the township, where we have to personally collect the suan, that in order to make up the total...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold on,\" Lou Gui once again detected a problem. \"Since the suan tax only needs to match the household and population figures, then why must you collect it seventeen times to match? Wouldn't once be enough?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The township bailiff stole a glance at Lou Gui, inwardly sighing at his misfortune — how had he run into such an ignorant fool? But though the blade had been put away, it was still in the man's hand, so the bailiff still forced himself to give the answer that everyone knew: \"In reply to this young lord, it is because the number of households and people from whom the suan tax can actually be collected is only one-tenth of what is on the books. On top of that, every collection consumes money and grain, and when sending it upward, every level skims a little off. So in the townships, if we don't collect it seventeen or eighteen times, we cannot make up the accounts. And if we cannot make up the accounts, the higher-ups will give you a poor performance evaluation, and you can only be dismissed from office...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hold on again!\" Lou Gui, this scholar from a renowned clan of Wanluo, felt as if his entire worldview was being overturned. \"This land of Hebei is densely populated. Everywhere I looked along the way, the fields were full of common folk. How can you say the registered households are not even one-tenth of the books?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This young lord!\" The township bailiff was truly at his wit's end. \"It is not that the registered households are truly insufficient, but that the households from which we can collect are insufficient! The great houses in the townships — who knows how many households and how much land they conceal? Who would dare go and actually collect the suan tax from their families? Hasn't it been this way for who knows how many years? Ordinary commoner households are levied multiple times a year, and then they go bankrupt and can only sell themselves and their land to the great houses, becoming the great houses' dependents. And when the great houses clearly have more people and more land, no one dares to actually collect from them, so they can only shift the suan tax from the lost households onto the remaining small folk... Over a hundred years of this, the suan tax naturally went from once a year to five or six times, then to over ten times, and finally to the seventeen or eighteen times it is now... How is it that we are harming the people? It is truly this world itself that has gone wrong!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Gui was dumbstruck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the logic of how land annexation ruined the realm! Even though he had long understood the principles behind it in his heart, Gongsun Xun still could not help shaking his head repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not right!\" Lou Gui was, after all, a man with a brain, and suddenly reacted again. \"Since you are able to serve as township bailiff, you must be from a great house in this township, correct? This concealment of households, this 'not daring to come to the door' — does that not include your own family? And a township bailiff is ultimately a ranked county clerk; the skimming, the 'consuming money and grain' — do you not get your share of that as well?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The township bailiff had long since seen that these men were not truly villains, so his courage had grown a little: \"This young lord, please — I dare not deny your words. But is my family the only great house in the township? It is simply that those above eat the meat while we drink the soup. Do you know that over half the land and population in our county rests with a single family? The other so-called great houses, compared to this family, are but a drop in the ocean... In my opinion, if this family were simply willing to pay the suan tax normally, then the common folk in the townships would probably see their annual suan tax drop directly to three to five collections a year!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him, Gongsun Xun could not help laughing at these words: \"This great house you speak of — could it be the Zhen family, whom I am here to visit this time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bailiff's face instantly went pale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough!\" Gongsun Xun shook his head again, then bent down from his horse, reached out, and pulled the man up. \"We are not villains. It was a moment's jest, and we frightened the township chief — that was our fault...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would never dare!\" The township bailiff hardly dared say another word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you've been frightened today and later feel unwell after returning home, come find me at the Zhen residence this evening or tomorrow. If you cannot find me, you may also seek out Zhen Yi of the Zhen family directly…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would never dare!\" The Township Husbandry Officer's face was nearly ashen as death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In truth, where is it not like this?\" Gongsun Xun turned his head again to look at Lou Gui. \"Even your family and mine — one a renowned clan of Wan and Luo, the other a hereditary house of Liaoxi — can we truly escape unscathed? The realm is crumbling, and no one remains unsullied, but we must keep our hearts clear and perceptive!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am humbled by your teaching.\" Lou Gui looked dazed and at a loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would never dare!\" Seeing that Gongsun Xun paid him no heed, the Township Husbandry Officer actually dropped to his knees and kowtowed, begging for mercy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What is the matter with you?\" Han Dang furrowed his brow and asked. \"My young master is no longer even speaking to you… Besides, earlier when I seized you and held several blades against you, you never kowtowed. Now that we are about to let you go, why start kowtowing?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Before, I truly did not know that you gentlemen were all scions of great houses, and close friends of the Zhen clan…\" The Township Husbandry Officer kowtowed even faster. \"My reckless and foolish words — I beg you young masters and young lords not to take them to heart!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am not one who cannot judge the gravity of matters. Go back at ease, lest the assistant clerks of your township grow anxious from waiting.\" Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly, then spurred his horse and rode straight off, no longer caring what the Township Husbandry Officer might think.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the party once more passed through the fields, a clear, crisp child's voice suddenly drifted faintly to their ears: \"Better to betray the two-thousand-bushel official than to wrong a great house. The two-thousand-bushel official takes my cap; the great house takes my head. Take my cap, and my head remains; take my head, and the cap is no more!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this famous old nursery rhyme and recalling what he had just witnessed, Lou Gui could not help but turn pale and shake his head repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Gongsun Xun also furrowed his brow, but his thoughts were of a different nature — within a year or half a year, a great army would likely be raised in the You and Bing regions, and when that time came, Jizhou would inevitably have to levy corvée labor and apportion military grain. By then, whether one could still hear such a stirring nursery rhyme was, he feared, an open question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, on second thought, he could not help but mock himself somewhat. If this campaign could truly ease the border troubles, then Jizhou would also benefit greatly — why should he indulge in such sentimental posturing? Moreover, rather than lamenting here over matters beyond his power, would it not be better to think on how to seize the chance to earn some merit, and thereby sooner fulfill his long-cherished wish: \"Strive to make one's name known among the feudal lords, so as to barely preserve one's life in a chaotic age\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the Yuankang era of the Former Han, Zhuo Commandery had the great clans of the Western Gao and Eastern Gao. From the commandery clerks downward, all feared and avoided them, none daring to cross them, and all said: 'Better to betray the two-thousand-bushel official than to wrong a great house.' A hundred years later, the Grand Ancestor crossed north of the Yellow River and saw the common people living in hardship. He again heard children passing on this old rhyme by the roadside, and he halted his horse beside them, sighing deeply for a long while. Lou Gui and Han Dang were both at his side, and they withdrew from his attendants to remonstrate, saying: 'The realm is crumbling — this is precisely the time for heroes to wield their might. My lord, you should exert yourself.' The Grand Ancestor rebuked them, saying: 'The fields lie barren, the people have no means of livelihood. If you do not think of serving the state, how can you speak of your own selves?' Gui and Dang were both ashamed and withdrew.\" — The Old Book of Yan, Scroll One: Annals of the Martial Emperor, Grand Ancestor\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Another recommendation — thanks to the editor-in-chief. Also, there's a new book group; interested readers can join at 684558115.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",3900,"2026-06-04T19:42:03.441Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","02beb0a45d7053ba1d5425fca2143708d4b56544896d8e371c6d7200e6450599","overthrowing-han-chapter-54","overthrowing-han-chapter-52",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]