Han Shizu

Chapter 855 The Great Han's Military Bureaucratic Landlord

From the first year of Qianyou, the Han court began the policy of granting land and appointment to military officers, and it has continued to this day.As of the 11th year of Qianyou, the number of Daozhou subordinates of the Han Dynasty who served as officials in local prefectures, counties and towns due to military exploits and retirement had reached more than [-].

This is not a small number. Except for a small number of officials who were entrusted with prefectures and counties, most of them were assigned to return to their hometowns, or arranged nearby and on the spot, and became officials in the vast villages of the Han Dynasty.

This is also the so-called "imperial power to the countryside" movement, with meritorious personnel as the main body.Those who are entrusted have all gone to the battlefield for the big man, made meritorious deeds, and shed blood in order to receive rewards.

Therefore, these people have a relatively high degree of recognition of the imperial court, and they can actually respect the imperial court and implement policies.They are meritorious, have land, have power, backed by the imperial court, and honor prestige reaches the village.

This large group of people is a powerful weapon for the central government to strengthen its influence and management over the local area. Over the past ten years, it has indeed played a certain positive effect.At the same time, it also represents that an ancient and traditional force has risen again, and that is the military landlord class.

However, everything has its advantages, it must have its disadvantages.The officers and soldiers in the places where they have been transferred are not only responsible for arresting officers, dispatching officials, and maintaining public security. A large part of them are also responsible for rural governance.

However, for a group of basically uneducated Qiu Ba, it is not a big problem to let them fight and fight desperately on the battlefield. It is difficult for them to manage people's livelihood, manage taxes, and coordinate with neighbors, so it is difficult to achieve smooth sailing.

Because they come from the army and have a tough style of work, many people act in a rough manner. When things happen, they don't follow the law and use power to overwhelm others.If that's all, it's nothing more than that, among them, it has triggered a lot of phenomena in the village of fish and meat after going to the countryside.

In case of disputes and cases, many of them were handled privately and never reported to the government. Theft, wounding, and adultery were considered "trivial matters", and even some fatal accidents were handled without authorization.

As for these "military officers" in the village, the common people either feared their power, or feared their power, and did not dare to resist, and did not dare to raise issues to the government.Although, so far, it is only a partial phenomenon, but there are more and more such phenomena, which proves that there is a problem.

This is what Zhao Li has been tracking and investigating recently.Liu Chengyou immediately attracted attention after reading his posthumous memorial, and from the supervision memorials received by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Liu Chengyou found a series of malpractice cases.

For example, there is a township head in Beizhou who likes to whip the people, no matter how big or small the fault is, he will serve him with fifty lashes.

For example, Puzhou is one mile long, and there is a case under the rule, which prohibits the people from raising complaints against the government and self-determination.

For example, there is a county lieutenant in Huazhou, who uses poor land to make people rich.

For example, there was a policeman in Jinju who forcibly took other people's wives and persecuted their families.
And these people all have a common feature, they are all retired officers and soldiers.Similar incidents are not enumerated, and it can be said that there are many evil deeds, all over the counties and towns of Daozhou.As for the local chief officials, there are quite a few people who are clear and strong, and have done something to rectify, but more, because of the "status" of these people, they have more scruples, as long as they don't go too far and make things big, Also open one eye and close one eye.After all, the emperor also said that these people are all meritorious men of the Han Dynasty, and they are an important part of the Han Dynasty's governance of the village.
Before the Zhao Li case, what he had been working on was the supervision and investigation of such common cases. He was going to make a big move to impeach those local officials who were officers and soldiers, and asked the emperor to change the policy.However, before the incident was brought up, his own case had been issued.

Liu Chengyou hadn't paid attention to these things before, and the officials below rarely reported them.Even if there are those who are punished by law, they will only follow the normal regulations of the imperial court and deal with them on a case-by-case basis.

However, when such a thing becomes a local problem, it becomes a very serious problem overall.For a long time, the "imperial power going to the countryside" that Liu Chengyou hoped for did not achieve the expected effect. On the contrary, after so many years, it gradually developed into a new malady.

Liu Chengyou deliberately weakened the influence of local clans and tyrants, and strengthened the control and management of the local area through these military meritorious landlords and officials, but judging from the results, it seems that it only replaced part of the role of that part of the people.

The rise of the military landlord class in the countryside only represents a new local force. They are not fundamentally different from the original clans, tyrants, and landlords. obey.

At the beginning of the country, the authority of the central government was strong, and they were an extension of the policy will of the emperor and the court, which had great positive significance.But it is foreseeable that with the passage of time, they will eventually integrate and evolve with local forces, and finally become deeply rooted.
With this level of understanding, Liu Chengyou suddenly found that he still took the governance of the village for granted.The imperial power going to the countryside is only an ideal state after all, and it is a problem that cannot be completely solved. In the current imperial society, it seems that it can only be improved to a certain extent during a certain period of time.As for more, just delusional.

After figuring this out, Liu Chengyou felt quite depressed while being helpless.And this, compared to Zhao Li's case, made him more uncomfortable, helplessly aggrieved.Of course, for Liu Chengyou, this problem is not that serious, because it seems to be only a social governance issue, and it does not have much impact on the imperial power and his throne.

No matter how those military officers and landlords change, they are essentially a force to maintain the emperor and the court's local rule. It's just that the development of this force deviates from Liu Chengyou's original intention
"Fan Qing is here! Take your seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" In the Chongzheng Hall, Fan Zhi looked at the emperor who was rumored to be in a bad mood recently, and Fan Zhi stayed with him carefully.

"What's the matter here, Qing?" Liu Chengyou cut to the chase.

Fan Zhi didn't procrastinate, and presented a thick memorial, saying: "Your Majesty, regarding the Zhao Li fraud case, there are 85 officials and personnel involved in the case, including officials and criminals in Beijing. Now that the review is over, the punishment is as follows, please review it with Your Majesty!"

"En!" Liu Chengyou responded, picked it up and looked at the penalty result, his brows furrowed quickly, and said, "Is it too light?"

Hearing this, Fan Zhi said calmly: "Your Majesty, the Ministry's judgments are all based on the severity of the criminals and dealt with in accordance with the "Xing Tong"!"

According to the judgment of Yousi, there were 36 criminals in Beijing, and the circumstances were serious, and only 11 were sentenced to death.And what Liu Chengyou meant was also obvious, that he felt that too few people were killed.

Hearing his answer, Liu Chengyou immediately said: "I'm not questioning the judge's punishment, but it should be decided according to the circumstances. Zhao Li's case can be called the largest fraud case since the founding of the People's Republic of China. As a member of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he is in charge of supervision. His behavior is unruly, his evil deeds are notable, and he has ruined the reputation and authority of the imperial court. If he does not impose severe punishments, how can he give an explanation to the people of the world, and how can he warn the ministers and workers of the world?"

Seeing the emperor's reaction, Fan Zhi was silent for a while, stood up, cupped his hands and said solemnly: "Your Majesty's legislation was intended to prevent rape, and now the judge has followed the system and made the decision without any omissions. It would be a violation of the law and unfair to change the sentence easily. So, how can we demonstrate the solemnity of the Dharma and convince the people of the world?"

Well, Fan Zhi started to rival the emperor again.

Regarding this, Liu Chengyou's expression turned cold, and his tone became less friendly: "Is Fan Qing blaming me for my improper usage and unfair law enforcement?"

"I don't dare, I just tell you with reason, let's talk about the matter!" Facing the emperor's gaze, Fan Zhi showed no fear at all.

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou took a few deep breaths, calmed down, and said in a cold voice: "This case is a special case, I will treat it as a serious matter!"

Fan Zhi also said calmly: "Your Majesty, please issue an edict, I dare not issue an edict!"

"you!"

Liu Chengyou choked for a moment, and immediately recalled that it was also because of a corruption case, Liu Chengyou took the lead, and Fan pledged to punish him according to law.At that time, Fan Zhi replied to Liu Chengyou in the same way, but that time, he chose to follow Fan Zhi's suggestion.

But this time, after staring at him for a while, Liu Chengyou said forcefully: "All those involved in this case will be punished with a higher penalty!"

Obviously, the emperor wanted to force it. However, Fan Zhi seemed to have no choice but to stand silently.On Liu Chengyou's side, Zhu Bi made the next reply and directly handed it over.

After forcibly implementing his will, Liu Chengyou's mood seemed to improve a lot. It was a comfortable feeling. Looking at Fan Zhi with a blunt expression, he suddenly smiled at him and said, "Fan Qing, before Zhao Li died, he gave me sex. A memorial, I still have some memorials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate here, take a look, I want to hear your opinion!"

After finishing speaking, Liu Chengyou ordered someone to hand over all the memorials about the ills of military officials in the village to him for reading.

Fan Zhi also calmed down his helpless mood. With a little doubt, he took it and looked it over, his expression gradually serious.

(End of this chapter)