Established a thousand-year family from the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 481 The Plague ([-])

Five years later

The summer of the third year of Duke Yan 230 (443)
Yandu
The black plague has been raging for several years, and more than 80 people have died of the disease, but Yan Gongzheng still has nothing to do, and some small-scale rebellions have begun to occur in various places. Due to the prohibition of commercial trade, the trade between Yan and the Central Plains has been suspended.

Faced with this situation, Yan Zheng decided to abdicate to the virtuous, and in despair of reality, he chose to convert to Buddhism, became a monk, and prayed to the Buddha to save the country of Yan.

The Yan Kingdom, which was not afraid of Sima Zhao's 20 troops to attack, is now about to fall into a plague.

Hou Zhi of Yan ascended the throne as Lord Yan, but in the third year of her reign, she contracted the black plague, and died of bleeding from her seven orifices three months later.

Therefore, the aristocratic council brought Yan Zheng out of the Buddhist temple and allowed him to re-emerge.

Two years later, in the eighth year of Yan Gong 230 (448), Yan Zheng issued the "Edict of Guilt", blaming himself for the outbreak of the black plague, and then half a year later, because of too much pressure, he escaped into Buddhism again , to escape the hardships of reality.

When Jiuqing found Yan Zheng again and asked him to reset him, Yan Zheng chose to die on a hunger strike.

Yan Gongzheng died suddenly of a hunger strike. Before he died, he had not appointed an heir and had no heirs. For a while, the position of the monarch of the Yan Kingdom was vacant.

The country of Yan became extinct again, and this time there was no designated heir, and at the same time, there was no heir in line, which was even more serious than before.

A year later, under the suggestion of Jiuqing, Yan State held a meeting of nobles and elected a monarch.

Yan Palace
parliament hall
Many nobles gathered together, and some nobles sent their representatives to Yandu to participate in the noble council because they were infected with the black plague.

There were many fewer people in the empty hall than before. As many as 72 parliamentary nobles died due to the black plague, and the remaining 150 three parliamentary nobles or their representatives sat on the seats and talked a lot.

The last time the royal family elected the speaker, it was hundreds of years ago. I thought that with a perfect inheritance law, there would be no phenomenon of being unable to inherit after an extinct heir. However, a terrible black plague interrupted the succession of the throne of the Yan Kingdom .

And so far, the number of deaths due to the black plague has risen to one million.

The total population of Yan State is only 700 million, but now more than 100 million people have died from the black plague, and the number of deaths is still soaring, which is very terrifying.

boom! boom! boom!
"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"

Zong Zhang rang the wooden hammer three times in a row, shouting at the crowd.

The patriarch does not have any real power, and is only responsible for convening the parliament and maintaining the order of the parliament. As for how it will develop after the meeting, it is completely out of his control.

"Considering the special status of the Nine Ministers, we only elect one person from the Nine Ministers to become the monarch. Then, everyone can recommend themselves, and the one who has passed more than half of the approval and has the highest number of votes can become the new minister."

"Everyone may have objections."

The method of electing ministers is to follow the old system, and this is the same way to elect new ministers in the past.

The nobles and representatives had learned about the process in advance, so they had no objections. They were all waiting to compete for the position of Jiuqing.

One of the nine ministers will be elected as the monarch, and the vacant position of minister is their goal this time.

The meeting lasted for two months, and the final result was that Yan Che among the Nine Qings became the monarch/Yangong, and the Lord of Taiji City became one of the Nine Qings. As for Taiji City, it was handed over to the local citizens for self-government.

In addition to not being able to recruit troops and having no military power, citizens' self-governing cities enjoy great freedom.

The internal administrative structure of Yan State is relatively mixed. There are counties and counties under the direct jurisdiction of the government, cities hereditary by nobles, commercial cities managed by guilds, and even cities with citizen autonomy. Tribes, besides the country, there are also slave city-states/countries that surrender to Yan.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Yan State is "one country, six systems". In one country, six systems exist at the same time, and six governance states co-exist.

Moreover, the prefecture and county system of Yan State is not the same as that of the Central Plains. The counties and counties of Yan State implement multiple centers side by side, that is, there is no center in the strict sense in a county, or there are multiple centers at the same time. It is completely different from having a central "prefect" in a county in the Central Plains and a central "county magistrate" in a county.

The most important reason why Yan Che was able to be elected as the new monarch by the nobles and representatives of the noble council was that he was old enough, did not make mistakes on weekdays, and was a respected elder.

He is now 53 years old, the same generation as Yan Zheng, but more than ten years older than Yan Zheng.

The first thing Yan Che did after he took office was to announce that the Hu people and the indigenous people were the main culprits of the black plague.

He wanted to use this method to divert the dissatisfaction of the people at the bottom, and let them vent their dissatisfaction on the more miserable Hu slaves and indigenous slaves, rather than targeting the ruling class of Yan.

Subsequently, a notorious "monster hunting movement" was launched, and a large number of barbarian and aboriginal people were accused of spreading the black spot plague, and were tortured and killed by Han slaves and civilians.

These barbarians and indigenous people were accused of spreading the plague and became the devils who spread the plague in the eyes of the people. Therefore, hunting them is tantamount to hunting demons.

After the promulgation of the "Witch Hunting Decree", in just two years, as many as [-] barbarians and indigenous people were massacred and killed in public, many of whom were women and children.

In order to evade responsibility and maintain their own rule, the ruling class of Yan State can abandon everything.

What followed was a large-scale riot of Hu people and indigenous people. Facing the riot, Yan Che had only one word, and that was "kill"!
"People are like weeds on the ground. Once a crop dies, another crop will grow again. Even if they are all dead, we can immigrate from the Central Plains and grasslands to replenish the population. If we dare to challenge the ruling class, it will be a dead end! "

Almost all nobles agree with Yan Che's thinking.

The first emperor of Qin slaughtered the common people, the overlord of Western Chu slaughtered the common people, Emperor Han Gao slaughtered the common people, Emperor Wu of the Han slaughtered the common people, Emperor Guangwu slaughtered the common people, Emperor Huan Ling slaughtered the common people, the warlords of the late Han Dynasty slaughtered the common people, the Sima royal family slaughtered the common people , the aristocratic family slaughtered the people, the barbarians and warlords slaughtered the people, our King Yan's family couldn't butcher the people?
It is naive in itself to imagine the ruler as a saint who loves the people.

The main goal of the ruler is to maintain the rule. When the rule can be maintained by loving the people, he will love the people. When the rule can be maintained by killing the people, he will kill the people.

Therefore, a normal monarch can not only massacre his own people crazily, but also reduce taxes for the people so that the people can recuperate. There are countless such monarchs in the long history, and Qin Huang, Han Wu are all typical.

Because when people of later generations study a monarch, their starting point is wrong.

The goal of the monarch is to maintain the rule from the beginning to the end. Whether it cares for the people or kills the people, it is just a means, not an end. In order to achieve the goal, you can use this method or that method. specific circumstances to decide.

The purpose of a shepherd is to make money from the flock. Whether it is caring for the flock or slaughtering lambs, they are just different means to achieve the goal of making money. However, others cannot understand why a shepherd can slaughter the flock while caring for the flock.

Prosperity, people suffering, death, people suffering!
What a simple and clear sentence, someone will never understand it!

(End of this chapter)