Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 146 South Sergeant
Yizhou County, Dianchi County.

In the bedroom carefully prepared for Liu Zhang by Gao Yi, the prefect of Yizhou County, Liu Zhang and Gao Yi sat opposite each other. On a table between them, there were wine utensils and glasses. On one side of the table, A small stove made of red clay. High-quality smokeless charcoal is burning in the red clay stove. Relying on the high temperature of the charcoal, the warm wine on the red clay stove absorbs enough heat and steams out from the surface of the wine. A burst of steam.

Listening to the sound of the autumn wind whistling like a night ghost coming from the window, coupled with the mist rising from the red clay stove in front of him, Liu Zhang inexplicably thought of Bai Juyi's poems.

Green Ant New Distillery, red clay small stove.

Can you drink a cup of snow when you come here late?

It's just that compared to the scene in Bai Juyi's poem, the situation is a little different. There is no falling snow outside the house, but the atmosphere is not much different.

Seeing that the wine on the red clay stove began to boil and the wine surged into waves, Liu Zhang picked up a wine spoon made of bamboo and wood, scooped up a spoonful of wine, and poured it into the wine glass in front of Gao Yi.

Seeing this situation, Gao Yi couldn't help but look a little excited. He never thought that Liu Zhang would pour the wine for him personally, but apart from being excited, there was no surprise on his face.

Because he had heard a little bit about Liu Zhang's deeds after he became the shepherd of Yizhou, Liu Zhang was not as suspicious of the scholars in Yizhou as his father Liu Yan was, but instead used the scholars in Yizhou to appoint talented envoys. Those who are capable and each based on their talents are admitted into the state pastoral office, and they can be called polite and virtuous corporals, spitting out food and holding hair.

After Liu Zhang poured a cup of steaming wine into his cup, Gao Yi respectfully thanked him: "Thank you Ming Gong."

"There is no need to be polite, Gao Qing." Liu Zhang waved his hand, asking Gao Yi to be more casual and not be so polite. Then Liu Zhang poured a cup of hot wine into his own cup and waited until the hot wine in each cup cooled down slightly. , he and Gao Yi had a drink together.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became a little more harmonious. Liu Zhang stated his intention to summon Gao Yi tonight, and it was also a test of Gao Yi's performance.

"Gao Qing, in your opinion, there are rebellions in Nanzhong from time to time, either by barbarians or barbarians, or by the Han people in Nanzhong who rebel. What is the reason for this?"

Gao Yi's face straightened up after hearing this. He knew that this was a test question given to him by Liu Zhang. If he answered it well, he could take a big step forward in his official career. If he answered poorly, there would be no chance of progress. .

He thought for a moment and thought of the words to respond: "Ming Gong, there are no more than two reasons why the Soyi people rebelled. First, although our Han family rarely taxes these Souyi people, at most we only accept some soil. There is actually no burden on the Soyi people, but it is difficult to guarantee that some officials are greedy for property, think that the Soyi people are easy to bully, and impose heavy taxes on the Soyi people in the name of the government, and then hide the property collected from the Soyi people in their own homes. In the house, and after the first success, they repeatedly collected the money from the old people, which caused the old people to feel resentful, thinking that the government was treating them harshly, and the resentment deepened. Once someone among the old people initiated an uprising, it would start a prairie fire, and the old people would appear. The situation is violent and there is rebellion in Nanzhong."

"The second rebellion of the Solo and Yi people is not the fault of our Han family, but the Solo and Yi people with human faces and beastly hearts. They are treacherous and unpredictable. When something is not going as well as they want, they start an army to rebel. Some of the Solo and Yi Qu handsome men also live a good life and are always in chaos. For example, this time the Yi King Gao Yuan rebelled against Yueqi County. The Gao family is a large-scale Soyi tribe. Ordinary officials would not dare to come to touch their troubles. There is no chance of being bullied by corrupt officials. It can be seen that Mr. Gao is not very peaceful by nature and has no loyalty to me, a big man."

Liu Zhang nodded. He agreed with Gao Yi's words. The Soyi rebellion had both internal and external causes.

The internal reason is that Soyi is brave and fierce and lacks etiquette. When things happen, he talks with a knife and has no idea of ​​sitting down and talking. Not to mention that Soyi pretends to be docile when he is weak. When he is strong, he shows off his teeth and claws. Fangs and Wu Huan Hua are proof of this.

The foreign affairs are that some officials who are in charge of liaison with the Soyi conceal the truth from the superiors and deceive the Soyi at the same time, making the Soyi pay heavy taxes that do not exist, and make a lot of money from the Soyi.

When the barbarians rebelled, the corrupt officials claimed that the barbarians were beasts and had no loyalty. That was why the barbarians rebelled. The money went into the sacks of the corrupt officials, but the trouble was left to the government. solve.

"So we must choose upright officials, and we must also supervise the behavior of the officials below from time to time, discover the bad apples among these people, and prevent them from acting recklessly, hiding the superiors and bullying the subordinates, and slapping their butts and leaving after provoking the old people to rebel. , but he dragged the government into the water, wiped their butts, and quelled the Soyi rebellion."

Liu Zhang gave a way to deal with it. On the one hand, he selected honest officials from the source for appointment, and on the other hand, he did a good job in supervising these officials below.

Of course, this is not something that can be done just by saying a few words. How to select honest officials and how to effectively supervise them requires exploration step by step, practice step by step, and finally complete the institutional changes. construction.

"As for those old people who like trouble and enjoy misfortune, if our Han family treats them well, they will still insist on going their own way and making trouble. We should destroy their nests and destroy their species, so as to frighten all the barbarians and let some old people with sinister minds Yi Qushuai knows the consequences of angering a big man."

This is something Liu Zhang has already done. The Gao clan of Soyi rebelled in Yueqi County. All the members of the clan were guillotined by Liu Zhang on the bank of Qiongchi. At that time, Liu Zhang recruited a group of Yueqi. The county's Soyi Qushuai watched the ceremony. After watching these Soyi Qushuai, they knelt down in front of Liu Zhang, with their heads buried deep and their buttocks raised high, just like Song Jiang kneeling down in the Water Margin that Liu Zhang had seen. Their looks were exactly the same, they were all kneeling in awe to the core of their bones.

In response to Gao Yi, Liu Zhang finished his words, then picked up the wine spoon and added a glass of wine to Gao Yi's glass to moisten Gao Yirun's throat.

After drinking a glass of wine, Gao Yi talked about the reasons for the rebellion of the Yong family in Nanzhong: "The Yong family is after Yongchi, the Marquis of Shifang, who was granted the title of Emperor Gao. In the fifth year of Emperor Xiaowu's Yuanding reign, Yong Huan, the grandson of Yong Chi, lost his title because of gold. In order to make a living, Emperor Xiaowu happened to open up the southwestern barbarians, so the whole family moved to Yizhou County. The Yong family came early, and the tribe had a large population, so it was called The most powerful clan in Shangyizhou County, the Yong clan often resents the loss of their marquis because of the gold, so it is not surprising that the Yong clan rebelled, but they just happened to raise their troops under Duke Ming."

Liu Zhang nodded, but he was thinking that in addition to the loss of gold, he was afraid that the Yong family might conspire against him, which was also related to the Yong family's ancestor Yong Chi. Yongchi and Liu Bang had an old relationship, and Yongchi followed Liu Bang to fight against the Qin Dynasty. Liu Bang also entrusted him with the important task of garrisoning Fengyi, the hometown of the rebel army.

Unexpectedly, Yong Chi saw that Liu Bang was dissatisfied and did not want to submit to him, so he betrayed Liu Bang and joined the Wei State. Liu Bang was in a state of embarrassment without his old nest, so he had to attack back, but the two attacks failed, and he finally had to defect to Xiang Liang and Xiang Xiang. Liang borrowed troops to capture Fengyi. The defeated Yong Chi fled to Zhao State and joined Zhao Wang Xie's command. Later, Liu Bang attacked Qin from the west, and his life was prosperous. Yong Chi shamelessly returned to Liu Bang's group.

Liu Bang wanted to kill Yong Chi several times, but because of Yong Chi's meritorious service, Liu Bang, as a purely political animal, did not take action. Later, in order to set an example in front of the heroes and appease the heroes who were afraid that they would not be able to become marquises, Liu Bang Liu Bang gritted his teeth and made his enemy Yong Chi the Marquis of Shifang. The Yong family moved to Shifang County in Guanghan County, Yizhou.This is a grudge passed down from ancestors. The Yong family has been disobedient for a long time. Historically, Yong Chi was very arrogant in replying to Li Yan to persuade him not to rebel. In his letter to Li Yan, he said: "Gai Wen Tian Wu Er" On that day, there were no two kings in the land. Today, there are three kings in the world. There are three in Zhengshuo. Therefore, people from far away are confused and don't know where they are going. 'Obviously, the world was divided into three parts at that time, and I didn't know which one was orthodox, so I simply went it alone.

After talking about the Yong family, Gao Yi talked about the Meng family, a large family in Yizhou County: "The situation of the Meng family is different. I have dealt with Meng Yi, the patriarch of the Meng family, many times. This person has some talents. He My biggest wish is to serve as the governor of a county. I heard that the Yong family used the official position of the governor of Yongchang County to induce Meng Yi to rebel. Meng Yi's eldest son Meng Jie once advised Meng Yi at that time, but Meng Yi was greedy for the position of governor. Confused by his official position, he did not listen to Meng Jie's advice and eventually raised troops to rebel."

"Meng Yi and his two sons, Meng Jie and Meng Huo, are currently imprisoned in the county temple. Meng Yi wrote a letter earlier stating that Meng had no intention of rebelling. He was the only one who was deceived by his official position as county governor. I lost my loyalty, did something wrong, and disturbed Duke Ming."

Gao Yi paused here, and his brows were tangled for a while, and finally decided to continue: "Ming Gong, the land of Nanzhong, although it is located between the old and the barbarians, has a good literary style and many scholars, but these people There are talents, but no place to use them. Firstly, if the Nanzhong scholars want to serve in the imperial court, they are in the dilemma of having no one to recommend them. Secondly, the Nanzhong scholars take root in Nanzhong and serve as officials and officials in Nanzhong, but the imperial court With the Three Mutual Laws in place, the Nanzhong scholars can only sit in the positions of county magistrate and county lieutenant at most. The position of county governor is hindered by the Three Mutual Laws and is left to outsiders."

"The talented and learned scholars in Nanzhong, who are depressed in their official career, tend to have superfluous thoughts and do some rebellious things."

Gao Yi's words were straightforward, and Liu Zhang naturally understood them. What Gao Yi said so much was just to say that the official career path of scholars in the Nanzhong region was blocked.

It is said that there are people in the court who serve well as officials, but there are not many scholars from Nanzhong in Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many close relatives in the imperial city of Henan and close relatives in the imperial hometown of Nanyang. Of course, priority will be given to the children of close relatives of the close ministers, not to mention that there are some These four generations and three princes, who have been in the imperial court for generations, have been in the family with gold seals and purple ribbons for generations, and their children cannot be accommodated. How can they take care of the scholars of Nanzhong, the horned Gada, and therefore, the scholars of Nanzhong went to the imperial court in Luoyang. The path to becoming an official is unavailable.

The scholars in Nanzhong had no choice but to consider doing things locally in Nanzhong, but there was a ceiling above their heads when doing things locally in Nanzhong. According to the Three Mutual Laws, people from this county could not serve as prefects of this county, but at least there were four in Nanzhong. County, you can also go to other counties to be the prefect.

But the problem came again. The Three Mutual Laws not only evaded the prohibition of people from the state, county, and county from being the governor of the state, the prefect of the county, or the magistrate of the county, but also evaded the relationship between in-laws.

"Xie Chengshu": "Shi Bi moved to Shanyang to be the prefect, and his wife, the daughter of the Xue family in Juye, came to worship the Prime Minister of Pingyuan with three mutual respects."

Shi Bi was from Chenliu in Yanzhou, so there was no problem in becoming the governor of Shanyang County in Yanzhou.However, Shi Bi married Xue, who was from Juye County, Shanyang County. If Shi Bi became the prefect of Shanyang, his family would be under Shi Bi's governance.At this time, according to the Three Mutual Laws, in order to prevent Shi Bi from using his function as Shanyang Prefect to take special care of the Xue family in Juye, Shi Bi was moved to Pingyuan Prime Minister.

The Nanzhong scholars often have inter-county in-laws. After all, they are all locals, and it is normal to have in-law relationships. However, after the three mutual laws were stipulated, the official career path of the Nanzhong scholars was cut off, and they could not become county officials. Or something like that, maybe a county magistrate or a county lieutenant can do it. If you want to be a prefect, then don't dream about it.

A talented scholar will have a big problem if his talents cannot be used.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a man named Zhang Yuan who was bold, indulgent and suave, and thought he was talented.However, he failed to pass the Jinshi examination and passed the provincial examination of Shangshu Province, but he passed the palace examination. After this, Zhang Yuan went to seek refuge with Li Yuanhao of Xixia, taking the destruction of Song Dynasty as his own duty, and constantly encouraged Li Yuanhao to attack his motherland, Song Dynasty. Use troops.

With Zhang Yuan's assistance, Li Yuanhao defeated the Song army at Haoshuichuan. Zhang Yuanzhi was so proud that he wrote a poem on the wall of a temple on the border of Song and Xia sarcastically: "Xia Song has never stood tall, Han Qi is not surprising. Manchuan Dragon A tiger chariot is still talking about a military plan."

Zhang Yuan's incident deeply hurt Song Renzong, who was in power at the time. In order to prevent scholars who failed the palace examination from defecting and being used by other countries, in the second year of Jiayou, Song Renzong stipulated that all those who participated in the palace examination were Jinshi.Those at the bottom of the rankings are all given "the same background as Jinshi". The country would rather spend money to support them than let these people have other ideas.

Liu Zhang understood the meaning of Gao Yi's words. Gao Yi suggested that he use the scholars in Nanzhong to prevent the talented and learned people in Nanzhong from being frustrated or even disappointed, and finally embarking on the road of rebellion.

Liu Zhang straightened his expression, raised the wine glass in his hand, and greeted Gao Yi: "I understand what Gao Qing means. Please watch my actions to see the consequences."

He assured Gao Yi that he would solve the situation where Nan Zhong's officials had no career path and prevent Nan Zhong from becoming resentful of the imperial court.
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Different from the lively scene where Liu Zhang was cooking wine and discussing Nanzhong in his room, the prison in the Dianchi County Temple was deserted.

Meng Yi, the head of the Meng family in Yizhou County, had not fallen asleep at the moment. He had been pampered and pampered all his life. Naturally, he could not sleep peacefully in this dark and humid prison, so he stood up and sat up cross-legged.

Meng Jie on one side noticed the movement of his father Meng Yi. He opened his eyes and looked at Meng Yi, and at the same time shouted: "Father?"

"If you can't sleep, get up and sit down." Meng Yi reluctantly smiled and comforted his eldest son Meng Jie.

Meng Jie was silent when he heard the words. He knew what Meng Yi was thinking. Meng Yi was deceived by Yong Mian and rebelled against him, and ended up like this. His father, Meng Yi, felt guilty, feeling guilty for the relationship between him and Meng Huo. The two sons were imprisoned, feeling guilty that the Meng family members were imprisoned, and that they had not fulfilled their responsibilities as clan leaders.

He glanced at Meng Huo, who was sleeping peacefully on the other side, and leaned over to talk to Meng Yi in a low voice.

Meng Yi sighed and said to Meng Jie: "Jie'er, my father has some friendship with Gao Yi, the governor of Yizhou County. I wrote a letter to Gao Yi earlier, willing to be killed, hoping to save you and your brother. life."

Meng Yi felt extremely regretful, believing that his talents were not appreciated, and he was a county guard. It was because of this greed that he brought the Meng family to a situation that would never be restored.

"Father, I heard that Liu Shijun is a kind man and is not a person who is used to killing. I think as long as we, the Meng family, are loyal and obedient, maybe Liu Shijun will forgive us father and son." Meng Jie comforted his father, but He knew in his heart that if his father and his son committed such a crime as treason, there would be blood.

(End of this chapter)