Seventy-five Sacred Fields

Once the dust had settled on the affairs of Jinan, Luan Yi thought he could finally relax and nurse his wounds. Yet, things were not as simple as he had hoped; each day brought a flood of follow-up work demanding his attention. For example, after the disciples seized seventeen counties in Jinan, the county officials and clerks who were close to Zhu Ying were executed by waist-cutting in accordance with the imperial edict. As a result, many towns in Jinan fell into a state of anarchy. Although the church’s servants now presided over local governance, their authority lacked formal legitimacy. Thus, Luan Yi had to dispatch officials in the name of his father, the chief historian of Jinan, to take office.

Luan Yi took great pains in this matter, sending a letter to Luan Fu stationed in the capital, instructing him to mobilize funds from the Phoenix Pavilion’s Luoyang branch. He purchased a large number of civil and military positions within Jinan, distributing them among the faithful who had rendered service. For instance, Wu Tian of Wujia Fort replaced Sun Ru as magistrate of Dongpingling County; Wang Bo, the musician, and Zhang Xu, the drum master, became magistrates of Licheng and Xipingling Counties respectively; Li Zhuang, the blacksmith, assumed the role of Licheng’s sheriff. In this way, almost all key posts in Jinan’s seventeen counties fell under the church’s control.

Meanwhile, following Zhu Ying’s flight from Jinan and the execution of his allies Yang Mou and Sun Ru, the Jinan state office confiscated a vast quantity of farmland from their estates, totaling over six thousand mu by final count. Using his official power, Luan Yi acquired these lands at a low price. As for their use—he had no intention of benevolently redistributing them to the poor. Instead, he transferred all six thousand mu into the church’s hands, naming them Sacred Fields.

He then leased these lands at low rates to local farmers, requiring only a thirteenth of the annual yield as rent to the church granary, far less than the customary third demanded by landlords. However, Luan Yi imposed additional terms: those who farmed the Sacred Fields must send their able-bodied family members to join the church army in times of crisis or war, and during the slack season, report every Saturday to the local church for military training.

In essence, Luan Yi’s so-called Sacred Field system was nothing more than a precursor to the military colony system later established by Cao Cao. During the Eastern Han, armies were often recruited ad hoc, meaning that many soldiers had little to no experience with arms—most were impoverished men seeking food and pay. The fighting ability of such troops was self-evident.

Here, the military colony system—now adopted as the Sacred Field system—showed its strength. The people farming the Sacred Fields were farmers in peace, soldiers in war, ensuring agricultural productivity while fostering military readiness. Moreover, grateful for the low rent, these tenants would fight more bravely and remain loyal to the church. It was, as the saying goes, killing three birds with one stone.

Yet, the system also had its flaws; weekly training was insufficient. Luan Yi knew that a professional military could remedy this, but in the sparsely populated, inefficient era of the Eastern Han, maintaining a force of ten thousand was manageable in terms of pay, but impossible in terms of daily food consumption. Thus, Luan Yi was forced to employ both the Sacred Field system and a professional army: he selected a thousand strong men from the tenants, forming the Church Guard. Three hundred were placed under the Lion Knight Dian Wei, outfitted with horses, bows, and spears, to form the Cathedral Knights; the remaining seven hundred were divided into three groups—three hundred, two hundred, two hundred—armed with swords and shields, spears, and bows respectively, forming the Sanctuary Warriors.

Together, the Sanctuary Warriors and Cathedral Knights would become the backbone of the Holy Mother Church’s future campaigns. Luan Yi’s urgency in building this army was not only to defend the church’s authority in Jinan but also to prepare for the impending Yellow Turban Uprising the following year.

Having consolidated power, raised an army, and stabilized the rear, Luan Yi understood that the Holy Mother Church was the key to survival in the coming chaos. He quickly rebuilt the main church at Mount Li, renaming it the Grand Cathedral of Saint Nuwa. The new Saint Nuwa was larger than ever, its original church, factory, and annexes merged into one grand complex. The factory, meanwhile, was relocated to the north of Licheng, near the Luo River, close to both the Yellow River and Ji River, allowing goods to be shipped north via the clear waters of the Yellow River.

At the same time, Luan Yi established churches throughout Jinan so that every county seat had its own church. These churches served as hubs, spreading Bible study groups and worship points like a web through every village, achieving total church coverage within Jinan and widely disseminating the Holy Mother’s gospel.

It might seem a colossal undertaking to build so many churches at once, yet in reality, it was not. Luan Yi owed thanks to Yang Mou, the Witchcraft Sect leader, who had spent over twenty years building temples throughout Jinan. With the Witchcraft Sect now gone, Luan Yi simply appropriated these temples, made minor renovations, furnished them, smashed the old idols, and installed new statues of the Holy Mother. He then invited several artists from the church academy to paint murals in imitation of those at the Grand Cathedral. With these preparations complete, local believers could be invited for worship.

Furthermore, Luan Yi dispatched a batch of loyal, eloquent church servants to neighboring provinces and counties: east to Qing and Yan Provinces, west to Chenliu and Yuzhou (including his ancestral home of Yingchuan), north to Jizhou, south to Liang and Xu. At each provincial seat, he established churches or bases, holding Bible study and preaching to spread the Holy Mother Church’s doctrine.

In his missionary efforts, Luan Yi adopted an aggressive strategy. He declared that any local citizen who attended church for worship could receive five dou of millet or twenty-five coins free from the church. If they brought friends or family to attend, they could receive two dou more or sixteen coins for each new attendee. If their recruits brought further recruits, those recruits would receive two dou as a reward, and the original recruiter would get one dou or eight coins. Should the chain extend further, he could get half a dou or four coins for each additional recruit—on and on.

In short, with each level down, the reward was halved!

Anyone from the twenty-first century would recognize this not as missionary work, but as outright pyramid selling.

Luan Yi felt uneasy about tying church attendance to material rewards—it seemed overly utilitarian. Yet, with the Yellow Turban Army about to sweep across Han within half a year, chaos imminent, he had no time for slow, steady progress. Did people come to church for faith or for millet? On this point, he was confident in the church he had built. People would initially attend for the millet—human nature is to not pass up a bargain, whether in impoverished Han or in the future twenty-first century. Wasn’t it true that modern health lectures were packed, not by the health-conscious, but by those hoping for free gifts?

Did they actually receive those gifts? They did, and more than once. But after attending several lectures, they willingly spent far more than the gifts’ value on all sorts of therapy devices and health supplements—they had been indoctrinated.

Luan Yi believed that a little cheap millet would draw the people in. After hearing hymns, witnessing the servants’ magic—no, immortal arts—and learning to pray, they too would become faithful to the Holy Mother Church. In time, they would, like Wu Tian and Li Zhuang, accidentally witness miracles and become steadfast members of the church.

By the time Luan Yi had sorted out all affairs in Jinan, it was midsummer, and his wounds had fully healed.

On a rainy morning, he decided to complete the last task in stabilizing Jinan—visiting King Liu Wu.

King Liu Wu, nominally the ruler of Jinan, had in fact never wielded any real power since his birth thirty-nine years ago. The kingdom had initially been managed by his father, Liu Jun. After Liu Jun’s death, his four sons fought over the succession. Liu Jun had favored his eldest son, Liu Xian, but at that moment, Chief Historian Zhu Ying intervened, constantly praising the fourth son, Liu Wu, and repeatedly conspiring with Sun Ru against Liu Xian. This cost Liu Xian his father's trust, and Liu Wu became king almost by accident.

At first, Liu Wu thought Zhu Ying genuinely admired his talents and had elevated him for that reason. But as soon as Liu Jun died, Zhu Ying revealed his true nature, stripping Liu Wu of all power. Even the royal palace was seized; Liu Wu was left with a single shabby chamber, living in confinement and receiving only scraps each day, enduring twenty years as a virtual prisoner until two months ago, when the Holy Mother Church’s disciples captured Licheng and granted him freedom.

To his credit, Luan Yi treated Liu Wu exceedingly well—one might even call it generous. Upon taking control of Jinan, Luan Yi returned the palace to Liu Wu, allowing him to move into the main hall and restoring his liberty. He also selected a group of servants from among the faithful to attend him daily.

As the saying goes, once basic needs are met, desire awakens. Luan Yi married Honglian, a songstress who had followed him since childhood and was among the earliest believers, to Liu Wu, making her his queen. In doing so, she not only provided Liu Wu with a warm home but also guided him into the Holy Mother’s embrace.

While giving Liu Wu a good life, Luan Yi understood that Liu Wu was still Jinan’s king. If Luan Yi wielded too much power, rumors would spread and people might compare him to the previous autocrat, Zhu Ying.

Thus, on this crisp morning, Luan Yi went to the Jinan royal residence to return the reins of power to the king who had spent twenty years as a puppet.