A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 834 Hereditary Jiangzhou State in Jin

Jiangzhou, Xunyang.

When Xu Jingzong was demoted to the county magistrate, he once met a lost businessman's concubine playing the pipa at the Xunyang Pier. He later told Huaiyu about this in a letter, so Wu Huaiyu later wrote Pipa Xing,

The same people from the end of the world, why do they know each other when they meet.

Huaiyu accompanied Fan Xuanfu back to his hometown in Anlu to visit relatives. He did not stay for too long before continuing his journey along the river and arriving in Jiangzhou.

Jiangzhou is known as Jiujiang in later generations, and is a relatively famous town in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Especially in recent years, with the opening of the Meiguan Road, the trade route from Jiangxi to Guangdong has flourished, and Jiangzhou, the wharf where the Ganjiang River connects to the Yangtze River, has become even more prosperous. .

Next to Jiangzhou is Poyang Lake, which is called Pengli Ze at this time. The lake water has dried up a lot during this season, but it has formed the rare Pengze prairie.

Huaiyu was fishing at the pier on the Xunyang River yesterday and eating delicious river fish. Today he brought his family to Pengze Prairie.

It really feels like I'm on the prairie outside the Great Wall, with grass as far as the eye can see. It's not too cold yet, and the grass hasn't withered yet.

Everyone was surprised and liked this grassland, especially the two princesses Xiao Ningzhu and Li Baiyu. They were so touched that they even shed tears of joy.

It was as if I had suddenly returned to my hometown beyond the Great Wall.

"I didn't expect that there are grasslands in the south of the Yangtze River." Li Baiyu heard Huaiyu say yesterday that he would take her to the grasslands to ride horses today. She didn't believe it, but she changed her riding clothes in the morning.

I never thought I would actually see the grassland.

There are endless green grasses and polygonum bushes with small purple flowers.

This place was originally a fish farm in a large lake with the same color as water and sky.

Poyang Lake is very large, but it is also a famous shallow lake. It is bounded by the Gan River on one end and the Yangtze River on the other. It goes through a significant process of rising and receding water every year. During the dry season, the water level of Poyang Lake is even lower than the water level of the Yangtze River. It is mainly driven by Ganjiang added,

During the dry season, a large area of ​​the originally sparkling lake turned into a dry pasture, and the lake area was like a green blanket.

"It turns out that Jiangnan is also very good." Li Baiyu was wearing a Khitan narrow-sleeved, tight-fitting kesi star-patterned cross-collar robe. The robe was very long, and the skirt trailed to the floor.

Wearing high leather boots and a belt around the waist, there are quivers, daggers, brocade pouches, etc. hanging on them.

Jiangnan Road in the Tang Dynasty was very large, and its jurisdiction was equivalent to Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang in later generations, as well as the area south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, Anhui, and part of Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guizhou.

It is almost the area on the south bank of the Yangtze River below the Three Gorges. It reaches the sea in the east and the Wuling Mountains in the south. There is no difference between them.

In the past two years, Jiangnan Road was divided into east and west roads. Jiangzhou belongs to the west Jiangnan Road, including Jiangxi, Hunan, and the south bank of the Yangtze River in Anhui.

In the eyes of the Tang people at this time, Jiangnan, West, Jiangnan, and East were all Jiangnan. No one thought that Jiangxi was not Jiangnan, and Hunan and Anhui were not Jiangnan.

This was the first time Li Baiyu set foot in the south of the Yangtze River, and he fell in love with it as soon as he arrived, the mighty Yangtze River, and the surprising Pengze Prairie.

This Khitan princess' surname is Li and Baiyu. The surname is actually the surname given by her father to the country. She chose the name herself. It is taken from a line in an ancient Yuefu poem "Longxi Journey",

What is there in heaven? White elms have been planted successively,

This Yuefu poem is a poem that praises a strong woman who is good at managing the household and treats guests diligently. The white elm in the poem does not refer to the white elm tree, but to the stars in the sky.

It just so happens that the real name of Li Baiyu Khitan means star.

It is late autumn, and the Khitan princess, who is accustomed to the northern weather, does not feel afraid of the boring heat, and the experience is good.

"Are there any prey on this grassland? Are there tigers, wolves, rabbits, and foxes?"

"This was originally a lake, but now it becomes a pasture during the dry season. It will turn into a lake again after the rainy season,"

"But there must be rabbits, and there are also wolves and foxes..."

"Then let's go hunting quickly,"

Seeing such a good pasture, Li Baiyu's nomad genes seemed to be ready to go out, and he couldn't wait to ride and hunt.

"Okay," Huaiyu agreed with a smile. It would be a pity not to gallop on such a large grassland.

A group of people galloped on the pasture,

Not to mention that this was the Tang Dynasty after all, and there were still many wild animals of all kinds, so there were also many wild animals on this seasonal grassland.

After half a day of hunting, we gained a lot.

Not only did he shoot many rabbits, but also muntjacs, deer, and deer.

and all kinds of birds,

Fat wild ducks, beautiful pheasants, and flocks of wild pigeons, etc.

This temporary prairie is like a paradise for wild animals.

under the setting sun,

The women gathered their prey excitedly and had another sumptuous picnic meal.

Wu Huaiyu no longer has to be the chef today. His wives and concubines have become experts at picnics along the way, and even the children have decent adult helpers.

He simply set up his easel and painted leisurely on the side, capturing this warm scene.

When I'm in a good mood, I get inspired when I start painting, which is very smooth.

Fan Xuanfu came to the back and watched her husband painting quietly. He was so focused on the painting, the painting was so beautiful, and the colors were so amazing.

She was fascinated by her husband's talent.

far away,

Several horses came running.

It was the Baiqi guards from Guanzhong who brought a new secret message from the emperor who was visiting Jiucheng Palace. The emperor's latest letter still talks about the division of clan clans and the enfeoffment of ministers. The emperor seems to be a little obsessed.

After Huaiyu read the letter, he had dinner with his wives and concubines.

Spicy diced rabbit, stewed venison, stir-fried mutton meat, five-spice braised deer meat, braised fish, fried fish cubes, stir-fried snails, etc.

They even opened a small stove for Huaiyu to stew deer, deer, and three treasures.

The picnic on the grassland was very pleasant, the dishes were also very good, and the stewed three treasures was quite satisfying.

After eating happily, Huaiyu took out the emperor's letter and read it,

In fact, the Shiqing Shilu thing is nothing new. Hereditary officials were very common before the Qin Dynasty, and they were called the Shiqing Shilu system. However, in the late Warring States period during the Great Controversy, the disadvantages of Shiqing Shilu became apparent. In fact, It was just raising a bunch of moths, so after Qin unified the world, hereditary official positions became history.

However, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, hereditary officials appeared again.

For example, Gao Huan, 'removed King Xianwu of Qi as Prime Minister, General Tianzhu, Grand Master, and hereditary governor of Dingzhou, and added 90,000 households, adding to the previous 150,000 households. "

In addition to him, in the second year of Yongxi, "the envoy Chijie, the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the three states of Heweibu, Liang Jingrui, the general of the Hussar, and the hereditary governor of Hezhou were appointed as the Yitong three divisions."

Liang Jingrui, the hereditary governor of Hezhou, was the founder of the Western Wei Dynasty.

Another example is Yuan Tianmu, a clan member of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After Emperor Pingwen Tuoba Yulu, he was one of the few talented people among the clan members at that time. He was very successful in the military. He suppressed the massive Ge Rong Uprising.

Emperor Wei granted him the title of supervising the history of the country, recording ministerial affairs, opening a government office, and becoming a hereditary governor of the state.

There were not many such hereditary officials in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. For example, Quan Jingyan was the Jianjie General of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He pretended to be the governor of Yiyang County, the hereditary magistrate of the county, and was granted the title of Marquis of Danshui. When his great-grandson Quanqi arrived, Emperor Wei allowed him to be hereditary magistrate. He was only twelve years old at that time. By the time of his son Quan Yuanli, dynasties had changed, and the Yuwen family had the final say in Guanzhong. After his meritorious service, the Northern Zhou Emperor also named him General Wei, General Chariot and Cavalry, and hereditary governor of Luozhou.

It was not until the third year of Baoding that Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty made up his mind to abolish the hereditary officials since the Northern Wei Dynasty. For the first time, those who were hereditary in prefectures, counties and counties were changed to fifth-class nobility, prefectural uncles, county ennoblements and county ennoblements.

It is said that it has been seventy years since Emperor Wu of Zhou abolished hereditary officials.

Li Shimin actually thought of establishing a title of honorary minister, but if you think about it carefully, Li Tang was also born in the Guanlong military aristocratic group, which originally originated from Wuchuan Town, one of the six towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Many things about Li Tang are still from the Northern Wei Dynasty. Passed down from generation to generation.

Li Shimin is considered a genius, but perhaps he took over the world because he killed his brothers and imprisoned his father. Therefore, he has always been very humble and did not dare to indulge. He always wanted to make the Tang Dynasty last forever.

In his heart, he had always hoped that his descendants would be able to avoid the fratricidal fratricide that he did in the past.

The enfeoffment system seemed to be Li Shimin’s panacea.

And granting the title of governor to the hero seems to have become a bargaining chip for Li Shimin to win the support of ministers in his plan to divide the clan kings.

The emperor wrote letters to Wu Huaiyu one after another, making his plans more and more detailed, hoping to get the full support of this capable minister.

In the emperor’s latest statement,

Clan enfeoffment means that the sons of the emperor divide the feudal states and establish a country, with the state as the country, and the kings as the hereditary governors of the enfeoffed states. For example, in the future, King Li Zhi of Jin will be enfeoffed to Datong, Yunzhou. Li Zhi will use Yunzhou as the country and become the hereditary governor of Yunzhou.

As for the heroes, they mainly focus on the current meritorious officials. The Zhenguan Dynasty only granted about twenty people in total. There are also those who rebelled, were convicted and had their titles deprived of their titles, such as King Pei Jiluo Yi Junkuo.

Therefore, there are no more than twenty people who are truly qualified.

"Make Changsun Wuji the governor of Zhaozhou, and make Zhao the principality. Fang Xuanling is the governor of Songzhou, and the country is in Liang. Du Ruhui is the governor of Mizhou, and the country is in Lai..."

Wu Huaiyu saw himself in the list of feudal ministers. Wu Huaiyu was the governor of Jiangzhou and the country was in the Jin Dynasty.

We also saw the warriors Xun and Fan Xing. The warrior Xun was the governor of Bianzhou and the king of Zhou Dynasty.

Fan Xing became the governor of Chenzhou and the governor of the country.

Others include Li Jing, hereditary governor of Puzhou, Qin Qiong, hereditary governor of Xuzhou, Gao Shilian, hereditary governor of Shenzhou, Li Daozong, hereditary governor of Ezhou, Li Xiaogong, hereditary governor of Guanzhou, Li Ji, hereditary governor of Qizhou, Cheng Yaojin, hereditary governor of Puzhou, and Zhang Liang, hereditary governor of Li. Prefecture governor, Duan Zhixuan is hereditary governor of Jinzhou, Yuchi Jingde is hereditary governor of Xuanzhou, Liu Hongji is hereditary governor of Langzhou...

Wu Huaiyu didn't have much feeling about his hereditary position as governor of Jiangzhou.

To the north of Jiangzhou is Qizhou, where Li Ji is the hereditary governor, to the west is Ezhou, where Li Daozong is hereditary, and to the east is Xuanzhou, where Yuchi Jingde is hereditary.

Except for Hongzhou in the south, there is no hereditary governor.

There is a hereditary big boss in each of the east, west and north. With him, it is really the four heavenly kings gathered in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

There is Li Ji in the north, Wu Huaiyu in the south, Yuchi Gong in the east, and Li Daozong in the west.

I don’t know if the emperor’s arrangement has any profound meaning.

After careful consideration, Wu Huaiyu began to write a reply to the emperor, not to express gratitude, but to firmly oppose the emperor's granting of honorary ministers as hereditary governors.

This hereditary governor, to put it bluntly, is not a vassal state with a different surname, but it is also sealed in the mainland of the Central Plains, and there are more than twenty of them at once. If the emperors are like this in the future, there are a dozen of you and a dozen of me, then the Central Plains will be filled with vassal states, and all states will be enfeoffed.

Can someone still have the surname Li in that world?

Wu Huaiyu and his descendants have been hereditary governor of Jiangzhou for generations. Even though they are titled as Duke of Jin, they are not actually Jiangzhou.

Even if the imperial court restricted the power of the governor, which was smaller than the power of the kings, the hereditary military attachés of the Ming Dynasty could destroy the Ming army to the core. This shows how harmful the hereditary officials are.

Even though Wu Huaiyu was also on the list of Shifeng governors, and the Wu family even accounted for two, he still objected.

If you do this, the Tang Dynasty will collapse within two or three generations. The collapse of the Tang Dynasty so quickly is not a good thing for the upstart Wu family.

(End of this chapter)