Changing the State into a County; Old Man Chen Seizes the Opportunity to Retire on Account of Age

In the blink of an eye, Li Ru had been working as the steward of Cao's estate for over two months. It was now September of the third year of Chuping, the season of harvest. Across the entire Jiyin Commandery, whether wealthy gentry or common folk, everyone was busy with only one thing: the harvest.

Cao Hong had even dispatched corvée laborers to help the gentry and commoners near Chengshi sweep in the wheat, thereby accelerating the city's consolidation. Over the half-year since Cao Hong arrived in Jiyin Commandery, the lives of the local people had been quite decent. Although the encroachment on land by local powerful clans was becoming increasingly ruthless, one could not deny that fewer and fewer commoners were dying of starvation.

Though many independent farmers had been reduced to tenant farmers and laborers for the great landowners, they only needed to till the fields without having to worry about natural or man-made disasters causing a complete crop failure, because their masters would at least guarantee them a full meal. Nor did they need to worry about bandit raids, for they now lived within sturdy, fortified manors.

From the very day Cao Hong arrived in Jiyin Commandery, he knew that the powerful clans with their fortified manors and estates would find various ways to annex the lands of independent farmers and even small landowners—either by forcibly occupying them amidst the chaos of war, or by lending money and grain during peacetime disasters at exorbitant interest rates that left the victims unable to repay, forcing them to sell their bodies and land. Even after Cao Hong established his casinos, those powerful clans specifically stationed men near the gambling houses to prey on those who lost everything, offering them usury loans and demanding their properties as collateral.

All these maneuvers caused the lands of the Jiyin clans to grow larger and more fertile, and their tenant base to swell. Cao Hong saw it all, yet he never once intended to intervene. Since Guo Jia had said that current Yanzhou did not yet belong to the Cao army, why bother managing it? After Lü Bu occupied the place and all the anti-Cao elements jumped out into the open, the Cao army could deal with them one by one. Would it not be far more gratifying to reclaim their lands and tenants afterward for a redistribution?

Furthermore, those land-grabbing clans would always consciously carve out a portion of fertile land, wall it off into a fortified manor, and present it to Cao Hong as a token of flattery. Within half a year, the arable land under Cao Hong's name in Jiyin Commandery had likely exceeded twenty thousand mu. He possessed thirteen manors and fortified settlements, with over three thousand tenant farmers—which, calculated at six people per household, amounted to five hundred households. This speed of wealth accumulation left Cao Hong deeply astounded. Although crop yields per mu were still quite low at the time, with the best fertile land yielding roughly one dan per mu—about twenty kilograms—Cao Hong's twenty thousand mu were all prime land. A single bumper harvest could yield twenty thousand dan, or four hundred thousand kilograms of rice.

This was more than enough to feed his tenants and servants. Combined with the income from two casinos, several pawnshops, taverns, teahouses, and inns, Cao Hong now possessed much of the dashing demeanor he once had back in Wu Commandery.

Although Li Ru, acting as steward, had uttered harsh words about offering no strategies and refusing to calculate taxes, he was in reality quite competent, at least fulfilling all the duties expected of a steward. For instance, he calculated revenues and expenditures, distributed wages to the servants, replaced aging singing girls, dancers, and musicians, and even brought physicians to various manors to treat the tenant farmers, thereby ensuring a steady labor force. This deeply touched Cao Hong, who thought that even if Li Ru never devised a single strategy for him and simply remained a steward for life, it would still turn out wonderfully.

Aside from this, Li Ru's greatest hobby was to visit the newly built casino in Chengshi for a couple of wagers, then head to the adjacent small tavern for a pot of wine, listening to the rumors passed along by traveling merchants. Currently, Lü Bu, acting just as Li Ru had anticipated, had defected to Yuan Shu and stationed his troops at the border of Nanyang and Yanzhou. Lü Bu was perpetually waiting to watch Cao Hong make a fool of himself, as he utterly refused to believe that Lü Bu would part ways with Yuan Shu.

Li Ru now went by the name Li Wenxu in front of outsiders and possessed official household registration, so everyone addressed him as Steward Li. On this particular day, Steward Li had once again vanished, while Cao Hong was entertaining an important guest from Dongjun within his mansion—a relative of Steward Li from five hundred generations back. None other than Li Qian, the father of the famed Cao Wei general Li Dian, and the very same friendly fellow who had first greeted Cao Hong by calling him "Old Li, Old Li."

At this moment, Old Li was embracing two singing girls, drinking heartily and laughing aloud. Cao Hong smiled and remarked, "Old Li, did our Lord send you here merely for me to change the designation of Chengshi Kingdom to Chengshi County?"

Li Qian slipped his hand into the bodice of a nearby singing girl and laughed, "Precisely that matter. The Lord said that Chengshi 'Kingdom' is an archaic name, and no one currently holds an appanage here, because it was originally the fief of Liu Mai, son of King Xiaowang of Liang and younger brother of Emperor Jing of our Han Dynasty. That is ancient history from two or three hundred years ago, and Liu Mai's line died out long ago. Therefore, this place should no longer be called a kingdom."

Cao Hong nodded and said, "If that is the case, tomorrow I shall summon the Administrator of Chengshi to implement this renaming."

Li Qian fondled the singing girl beside him as he chuckled, "General Cao, you truly have secured a fine assignment, living a life akin to an immortal here. You must know that all of us generals under the Lord's command are stationed within the borders of Dongjun, and not a single one commands an independent army stationed in another commandery. Even Ying Shao, that defeated former Administrator of Taishan, has managed to return to his post as administrator. General Yuanrang is stationed in Puyang, Zao Zhi in Fan County, General Miaocai in Dongwuyang, and Jin Yun in Fan County. As for the rest, they are all stationed with the Lord in Juancheng."

*Jin Yun? Xun Yu did not mention him.* Cao Hong thought to himself, then immediately asked aloud, "Who is this Jin Yun? I have never heard of him."

Li Qian replied, "This man is from a powerful clan in Fan County. After the Lord crushed the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, he sold off all his family wealth to come and submit to the Lord, so the Lord permitted him to station his troops in his hometown."

Cao Cao's subordinates were indeed growing more numerous by the day; no doubt there would be even more people he did not recognize in the future. With this thought, he offered words of comfort to Li Qian: "The Lord has his own profound intentions in making such arrangements. Stationing the generals in Juancheng perhaps prepares them to dispatch troops or guard against formidable enemies."

Li Qian laughed, "You guessed right there. The Lord did indeed say he has other arrangements for us. As the saying goes, a divided force is weak; to overawe the entire territory of Yanzhou, we must cluster together. However, speaking of stationing General Cao in Jiyin Commandery, all of us generals are genuinely convinced of your capability. Who does not know that Juancheng was originally a dilapidated place, yet you renovated it anew? Three tiers of city walls are not even the half of it—there are watchtowers built right into the ramparts. Such a massive engineering feat was completed in less than a year! What is even more remarkable is how you attracted so many wealthy clans. If one were to speak of the most prosperous place in Dongjun, it is unquestionably Juancheng! Coupled with that Gulin Temple outside the city, whose incense burns endlessly—no one knows what miraculous methods those two old monks employed, but they have drawn commoners from all over Dongjun, as well as the Dongping and Jibei kingdoms, to burn incense and offer worship, making Juancheng even more bustling. The Lord frequently praises you without end, saying that without Zilian, Juancheng would never be what it is today. Initially, some generals felt disgruntled that you were permitted to garrison Jiyin, but after seeing Juancheng for themselves, every single one of them was convinced!"

Cao Hong had been listening with a smile, but when Gulin Temple was mentioned, his heart skipped a beat. Back when they were marching on Juancheng, Sheng Meizhen had mentioned to him that her master, the Yin Ghost Xu Deng, intended to build a temple in Juancheng. Cao Hong had agreed at the time, while warning Sheng Meizhen to tell her master that the abbot of the temple must not attempt to use religion to control state affairs. He hadn't given it much thought since. Now that Li Qian brought it up, Cao Hong recalled it, only to find that it had already transformed into a Buddhist sanctuary of Yanzhou, and Cao Cao himself seemed quite appreciative of the temple. This gave Cao Hong an extra stroke of lucky fortune for stumbling into success.

Cao Hong smiled and said, "We are all serving the Lord; how can there be any distinction of superiority? Old Li, since you are not pressed for time, why not rest here for a few days? There is a place in town called a casino, which is quite thrilling. You ought to go try your hand!"

Li Qian laughed, "I have long heard of this novelty. The wealthy families of Dongjun originally only knew about Sun Boqin's cockfighting ring, but now everyone rushes to Dingtao and Chengshi here to gamble, driving Sun Boqin to despair."

Cao Hong chuckled dryly. Li Qian continued, "However, gambling is a matter for another day; I must return to report to the Lord. Aside from visiting Zilian here, I also need to go to Junyi in Chenliu to summon the former Jiujiang Administrator Bian Rang to serve as the Administrator of Jibei."

Upon hearing this, Cao Hong suddenly remembered that it was precisely because Cao Cao killed Bian Rang that Chen Gong and Zhang Miao turned against him—at least historically speaking. Therefore, he casually asked, "Bian Rang? I know of this man. Back when we campaigned in Xiangyi, I also killed a wealthy clan named Gan, who claimed to be relatives of the Bian family. By that token, Bian Rang and I share a grudge; I fear he will not step out of retirement."

Li Qian cursed, "More than that! He frequently holds banquets at home and reviles the Lord in front of his guests with language too foul to hear. Yet this man holds considerable renown in Yanzhou, so his words have spread far and wide, and everyone knows them. Moreover, this has not been the first time the Lord has sent men to invite him into service; each time they have been insulted and returned. This time, the Lord has declared that if he remains obstinate and unappreciative of favors, he will give me an official mandate to mobilize the Chenliu Commandery troops to his estate and slaughter the fellow!"

A thought stirred within Cao Hong. So Cao Cao had already developed the intent to kill him and had even issued the order. If Chen Gong and Zhang Miao were to rebel on this account, it was already an irreversible fact. Since that was the case, it truly fulfilled Guo Jia's prophecy, and there was no need for him to try and stop it. Although the situation he was about to face was perilous, he had no choice but to carry it through.

Thus, Cao Hong said, "Then I wish you complete success, Old Li!"

Li Qian laughed heartily and said, "I shall set off tomorrow; today I shall first go play with the General's singing girls!" With that, he took his leave of Cao Hong and returned to his quarters to carouse in wild abandon.

Cao Hong instructed the servants to clear away the banquet, feeling somewhat idle. Remembering the matter of changing Chengshi Kingdom to Chengshi County, he thought he might as well summon Old Man Chen to settle it right away. He thus dispatched someone to invite the old administrator of Chengshi Kingdom. After a short while, Old Man Chen arrived, and Cao Hong informed him of the decree to convert the kingdom into a county.

Old Man Chen immediately stated, "This is easily handled; we need only issue a formal document. As it happens, this old servant also has a matter to report to the General: I am now old and plagued by illness, truly struggling to shoulder such heavy responsibilities. Coinciding with this conversion of kingdom to county, it is the perfect opportunity to replace the old kingdom administrator with a new county magistrate, allowing me to retire to my home and spend my remaining years in peace."

Cao Hong replied, "But Old Chen, you possess immense virtue and prestige here; I cannot find a replacement for you on short notice." This was the truth; the Chen family's reputation in Chengshi Kingdom was second to none. If he were to retire, unless Cao Hong personally groomed someone and gave them full support, it would be difficult to find a successor. However, there was another method: having Old Chen find his own successor. This was the third system of official selection in the Han Dynasty, alongside the *Chaju* (observation and recommendation) and *Zhenpi* (summons) systems, known as the *Renzi* system (hereditary privilege).

This system was originally intended for senior officials with a rank of two thousand *dan* who had completed a three-year term, allowing them to recommend a family member for an official post as a palace gentleman. However, with the corruption of the late Han regime, the *Renzi* system had permeated all levels of local administration, down to even the *Sanlao* (elders), who could exercise a form of hereditary succession where sons inherited their fathers' posts—though it still required the consent of the immediate superior.

What Cao Hong said was tantamount to allowing Old Man Chen to execute the law of *Renzi*.