The great man will live forever

Chapter 277 Shooting flies and tigers together

Liu Xiu sent his generals to suppress the rebellion everywhere, and good news came frequently, which also made the world's powerful people see his determination. Everyone restrained a little and did not dare to rebel openly.

After all, sending out the army requires money. As the old saying goes, once the guns are fired, there is ten thousand taels of gold. Liu Xiu had no choice but to watch everyone being honest, so he could only call back the army soldiers, and then continued to order the land.

But these powerful men looked honest. Once Liu Xiu put away his fangs, they also showed their talons and began to bribe local officials.

"Congratulations to Mr. Ouyang for your promotion. Now he is the Great Situ, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He is in charge of the country's finances. Under one person, he is above ten thousand people."

This is Ouyang She's mansion, and the speaker is Dongfang Pengyi, the head of the most powerful Dongfang family in Runan.

Ouyang She, whose courtesy name was Zhengsi, was born in Qiancheng, Le'an (now Gaoqing County, Shandong Province). He was honest, courteous and courteous. More importantly, he was the direct descendant of "Fu Sheng Shangshu" and a great Confucian scholar of the generation.

"Fu Sheng Shangshu" is an important school of Confucianism. By Ouyang She's generation, it has been passed down for eleven generations. The Ouyang family has been a "Doctor of Shangshu" for eight consecutive generations.

The value of doctorates in the Han Dynasty is not comparable to that of today's doctors. Doctors at that time were the emperor's advisers and could decide national affairs, even more than the academicians of later generations. Even Liu Xiu himself was a disciple of this school of thought.

Wang Mang was the magistrate of Changshe County at that time, and later joined the Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan as the magistrate of Yuanwu County. After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as Yin of Henan, was granted the title of Marquis of Poyang, and was appointed as the prefect of Runan. He taught and educated people, appointed talented people, and had considerable political achievements.

In the spring of the 15th year of Jianwu's reign, Han Xin, the chief situ, was dismissed and committed suicide. Ouyang She, the prefect of Runan, was appointed as the chief situ. He also served as one of the six ministers of household affairs, in charge of the state's financial and revenue agencies, and held a high position.

Today, Ouyang She is about 50 years old, with a gray beard, and looks upright, but in fact, this is not the case. Sometimes academics are not directly related to character.

With a look of concern for the country and the people, he sighed and said: "Sigh... You only see me rising all the way up, but you don't know the weight of my burden.

Now His Majesty wants to conquer the land, which is simply a way of causing chaos. Rebellions are happening all over the place. I am also very worried. When can His Majesty be moved back to the right path? "

Dongfang Pengyi said in agreement, "That's right. Sir, you've worked hard. Your Majesty won this world, doesn't he still rely on us?"

Immediately, he got to the point, "This is the land deed for Pingyu, Yang'an, and Yangcheng. They are all good fields, with 500 acres."

As he spoke, he handed the bamboo slip to Ouyang She. This was the land deed, with red handprints and signatures on it. Although paper had been popularized and used, their land deed was from many years ago.

There was no papermaking technology in the ancient times, so they could only write with bamboo slips. They took this technology to the extreme. The bamboo slips were painted three times with tung oil. After drying, they could even be preserved for 3 years in a dry environment.

Ouyang She refused, "How can this be done? This is just a bribe."

"This is a small tribute to you. Our Dongfang family admires your talent and supports you in educating the world. Your family tradition, Fu Sheng Shangshu, should be passed down to the world."

"That's true, then I'll accept it."

"What about the lands of Ancheng, Nanton and Langling?"

"Where is your family's land?"

"No!" Dongfang Pengyi shook his head with a serious look on his face.

Ouyang She stared at him, "Really?"

Dongfang Pengyi was slightly silent, "This... if you say it is, it will be there. If you say it is not, it won't be. Or maybe you have it."

"That's probably true." The two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.

Runan is the largest county in the world, with thirty-seven counties under its control.

Since the emergence of private land ownership, land annexation has begun, and land annexation in the late Western Han Dynasty was particularly serious.

In fact, land was not privately owned from the beginning. It was always changing. The fall and rise of dynasties were accompanied by changes in the land system.

The land system during the Xia and Shang Dynasties was a public ownership of land based on clan units. At that time, agriculture often adopted collective labor methods. Because the level of science and technology at that time was extremely poor, everyone still used stones for farming, which were sharpened.

After King Wu conquered the Shang Dynasty, he adopted the policy of "enfeoffing relatives and using vassals to protect the Zhou Dynasty", enfeoffing his relatives with the same surname and meritorious advisers to various places and establishing vassal states.

The sovereignty and property rights of the enfeoffed areas belonged to the King of Zhou, and the princes only had financial and governance rights. All the land and subjects in the country were nominally owned by the king of Zhou, which is the saying "all the land in the world is the king's land; the shores of the land are all the king's ministers".

The land system at that time was the well-field system. The so-called well-field system meant that the land was roughly divided into nine vertical and horizontal strips. The central one was public land and the remaining eight were private fields. All the income from the public land was turned over to the lord, and part of the income from the private land was also required. Turn it over.

Although it appears to be privately owned, it is actually state-owned. Although part of the income from these lands belongs to the lords and part to the cultivators, in the final analysis these lands are not owned by the local lords.

There is a rule of "no voodoo in the fields", and the land cannot be bought or sold, because their owner is the Emperor of Zhou, and the local princes and cultivators only have the right to use it.

But this will inevitably lead to poor enthusiasm of cultivators or farmers. Anyway, it is not their own, and they do not need to put in so much effort.

With the emergence of iron and bronze ware, there was surplus labor. In order to make better use of this labor force, the well field system faced collapse.

This is a historical process and an inevitable result of the development of productive forces. The feudal lords often ceded or exchanged land without authorization, gradually turning the land into private property.

At the same time, as more and more newly cultivated land is opened, the number of private fields is also increasing. The emergence of private land corroded and impacted the public ownership of land based on the well-field system.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Qi State's "Long-land Tax" refers to the collection of taxes based on the amount of land and the quality of the land. The Lu State's "Initial Tax Mu" implemented taxation on a per-mu basis. They no longer distinguished between public land and private land, both of which promoted land taxation. Transformation from state ownership to private ownership.

During the Warring States Period, the Qin State's Shang Yang Reform emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and rewarded farming and weaving; it abolished the well-field system and established private land ownership in legal form.

The Qin Dynasty began to implement private ownership of land and pay taxes per mu. At that time, land annexation was serious, and farmers were burdened with heavy corvee and heavy taxes.

In the Western Han Dynasty, the household registration system was implemented. People who were officially registered in the government household registration (household registration system) were responsible for taxes, corvee, and military service according to their assets;

There were three forms of land ownership in the Han Dynasty: feudal state land ownership, landlord land ownership, and yeoman land ownership.

Then the land became more and more strict, until the collapse of the Western Han Dynasty, and a man named Wang Mang prepared to return the land to the state and return to the public ownership system. However, the productivity was completely unequal, and the strong resistance was too severe, so it was bound to face collapse.

Historically, Liu Xiu wanted to solve this problem after he came to power, but it was not completely solved because Liu Xiu himself relied on the powerful landlord class to win the world. Therefore, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, land annexation continued to become more and more strict, so that peasants' livelihoods were reduced. Can't go down anymore.

With Zhang Jiao's words, "The sky is dead, Huang Tian is here to stand, and the year is Jiazi, the world is auspicious!" The Yellow Turban Uprising, which is so majestic and famous in history, began.

Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Uprising was very fundamentally different from Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's Dazexiang Uprising, as well as the later Huangchao Uprising, and even many peasant uprisings in later generations.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted because they could no longer survive. In addition, Chen Sheng himself was ambitious. He said in his early years: "Do princes and generals have the guts to be happy? How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?"

Huang Chao's uprising was based on a kind of revenge against the dark society. He was a man who killed powerful people and the royal family. He killed and killed all the way, truly embodying "When autumn comes on September 8th, I will kill all the flowers after they bloom." The incense formation soaring to the sky penetrates Chang'an, and the city is filled with golden armor!"

Many peasant uprisings in later generations also failed to survive.

But Zhang Jiao is different. It's not that he can't survive. Think about it, even the personal chamberlain of Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong at that time had his followers. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country believed in him and worshiped him.

He wanted money, land, and people. If Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was the emperor of the Han Dynasty at that time, then he was the emperor of the people, and his prestige among the people exceeded anyone else.

After the uprising, he did not proclaim himself emperor, had no heirs, and all three brothers died.

Maybe he was really ambitious, but his ambition was not to be emperor, but to establish a peaceful and prosperous age so that everyone could have enough to eat and overthrow the decadent Han Dynasty. To those living beings who had no food to eat at that time and were gnawing tree bark, hungry, eating Guanyin soil, and changing their sons to eat, it didn't matter whether Zhang Jiao could save them.

The important thing is that Zhang Jiao is the only one who is willing to lower his head to see their suffering, shed tears for them, lead them out, and save them...

He was like a light, illuminating them, so they followed Zhang Jiao without hesitation, and this move was uncontrollable. When violence loses restraint, other situations will inevitably occur.

Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Uprising kicked off the Three Kingdoms and many years of wars. These wars were fought with almost all the people defeated. The situation at that time was that there were very few people, but there was a lot of land, and a lot of it was deserted, so Cao Cao He took the lead in implementing the farming system.

The so-called farming means that the state forces farmers or soldiers to cultivate state-owned land and collects a certain amount of land rent.

In fact, it was not initiated by Cao Cao. It originated from the Western Han Dynasty and formed a complete system by Cao Wei.

In the 169th year of the Western Han Dynasty ( BC), Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty used criminals, slaves and recruited peasants to garrison the borders and farm the fields. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dispatched a large number of garrison soldiers to farm the Western Regions.

However, at that time, farming was mainly concentrated in the western and northern borders. The main form was military settlement, and the scale was small.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wars continued year after year, social productivity was greatly damaged, the land was barren, the population dropped sharply, and food shortages formed serious social problems.

These all provided conditions for farming. In the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao adopted Zao Zhi and Han Hao's suggestions and started farming near Xudu (now Xuchang, Henan).

The land used for farming is ownerless and barren land. Labor force, cattle, and farm tools were captured during the suppression of the Yellow Turban Uprising. Some of the labor force claimed to be recruited was actually forced.

It is said that the harvest of one million dendrobium grains in the fields that year alleviated social conflicts.

"So the prefectures and counties set up field officials to accumulate grain and conquer all directions. Without the labor of transporting grain, they merged with the bandits and brought peace to the world."

After Sima Yan became emperor, probably in order to appease the powerful and landlord class who supported him, he ordered the abolition of farmland, and land annexation became more and more serious.

From the Eastern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, equalization of land appeared. In fact, the equalization of land system was to allocate unowned land to landless people for farming according to the number of people. The land was state-owned, but it could be owned by the cultivators after a certain number of years of farming.

There are four types of fields: open fields, hemp fields, mulberry fields, and residential fields. Open fields and hemp fields are not allowed to be bought and sold, while mulberry fields and residential fields can be passed on to future generations.

The land equalization system reduced land disputes and was conducive to the reclamation of unowned and abandoned fields. It was suitable for the social environment at that time, and it also helped the poor get rid of the control of powerful families and transform into state-registered households.

Later land systems or tax laws included the Tang Dynasty's Rent Yong Diao and the Two Taxes Law, the Ming Dynasty's one-whip law, and the Qing Dynasty's share of land. Generally speaking, the road changes at any time, there is no perfect system, and there is no absolutely reasonable method...

Things in the world are always changing, and Ouyang She's affairs cannot be hidden from Liu Xiu.

In September of the fifteenth year of Emperor Guangwu's reign, Liu Xiu was conducting a nationwide land and census and discovered that Ouyang She had committed fraud and accepted huge bribes when he was the governor of Runan, so he was imprisoned for questioning.

"He really deserves to die, Arita 2 Qing."

Liu Xiu also didn't expect that the important minister he promoted turned out to be a huge corrupt man. He gave Liu Xiu a big slap in the face, and Liu Xiu was angry and prepared to execute him.

However, just when Liu Xiu sent Ouyang She to prison, something unexpected happened.

The chamberlain also reported, "Your Majesty, there are thousands of Confucian scholars gathered outside the palace gate, many of them are students of the Imperial Academy, and some of them are self-critical."

Liu Xiu was furious, "What? What are they going to do, force her into a palace?"

In ancient times, parents who paid attention to physical and mental health, only prisoners would shave their heads, and these more than a thousand Confucian scholars shaved their heads to intercede for Ouyang She.

The chamberlain continued: "Your Majesty, there is a student who has expressed his willingness to die for Ouyang She. This man is Pingyuan Lizhen. He is seventeen years old. When he heard that the prison was about to be terminated, he rushed to the capital and went to Huojia County, Hanoi. He signed a letter and asked to die on his behalf. . This is his petition, does Your Majesty want to read it?"

"Let me take a look at what he wrote. Ouyang She is in a high position, does not know how to love himself, relies on power, is greedy, and fails to live up to my expectations. What is there to say? Can he tell the truth?"

Liu Xiu said, taking the letter and reading it.

It reads: "I saw that my master, Situ Ouyang She, was a Confucian scholar and a doctor of the eighth generation, and I took Zang Jiu as my grave.

The Shanzi of the She family was young and could not pass on his studies. After his death, he was forever deposed. Your Majesty was ordered to be ridiculed for killing the virtuous, and the scholars were deprived of the benefit of teachers. Begging to kill the minister in order to save his life. "

Liu Xiuqi smiled and said, "After the death of a person, he will be forever in ruins. Your Majesty will be ridiculed for killing virtuous people, and scholars will lose the benefit of their teachers."

Ouyang She's disciples were spread throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his influence among Confucian scholars was too great. For example, one of his students, Cao Zeng, had three thousand disciples and was also called Confucius.

Ouyang She, a seventeen-year-old disciple, took the initiative to die in Ouyang She's place. More than a thousand Confucian scholars surrounded the palace and interceded for Ouyang She, which shows Ouyang She's status among Confucian scholars.

"Okay, that's really good."

"Prince, what do you think?" Liu Xiu was under pressure. He just killed Han Xin, and less than a year later he wanted to kill his replacement Ouyang She. I'm afraid this is not good.

Liu Han thought for a moment and immediately said: "Father, he should be killed. Killing him will shock the world and make people not dare to be corrupt easily. Farming must be carried out. Laws are laws. If they are changed casually because of some Confucian scholars, it will take a big man." What’s the law for?”

"Yeah." Liu Xiu nodded.

In the winter of November of the same year, during the Jiaxu period, the great Situ Ouyang She was imprisoned and died in prison.

Situ sent Chen Yuan to write a letter to pursue the case, and his words were serious. Liu Xiu then gave him a coffin, a seal and a ribbon, and three thousand pieces of silk.

After killing a big tiger, one of the Three Dukes, Liu Xiu immediately extended his butcher knife to the local middle-sized tiger.

According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Chronicles of Emperor Guangwu": "In the autumn of the 16th year...in the ninth month, Henan Yin Zhangji and more than ten people from various prefectures did not sit down to farm, so they were all imprisoned and died."

In other words, Liu Xiu successively killed Henan Yin Zhangji and several county guards, which can be described as a thunderous method.

In addition to the officials who were executed, many officials were dismissed and demoted.

"Book of the Later Han·Biography of Liu Long": "In the eleventh year, he was the governor of Nanjun... In the fifteenth year, he ordered Xiazhou County to inspect his affairs...The next year, Long was imprisoned and more than ten people in his family died. Emperor Yilong Meritorious officials are specially exempted from being treated as common people."

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Poxiao Zhuan" states: Wang Yuan "began to pay homage to Cai Ling at the beginning, moved to Dongping to be prime minister, settled down to cultivate fields, and was imprisoned to death."

"Book of the Later Han·Biography of Bao Yong": "(Yong) came out as the prime minister of the East China Sea, but it was not practical to hold the land while sitting there, so he was conquered, and many of the county guards were imprisoned. When Yong arrived in Chenggao, the imperial edict was issued and he was appointed as the governor of the state and the official of the road."

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Scholars": Mou Chang "moved to Hanoi to be the prefect of Hanoi, but he was not exempt from farming."

"Book of the Later Han·Biography of Ku Li": Li Zhang "came out as the prefect of Langxie... and then sat down to save people's fields without actually conquering the land. He had meritorious service with Zhang, but he was the commander of the bandits. He was exempted from punishment for more than a month and returned. If he resumed the expedition, he would die of illness."

In addition, Zhao Xi, Fugong, Fan Ye and others were deposed or executed because of their untruthful claims.

For a moment, the whole world was as silent as a cicada, with heads rolling in!

This is Liu Xiu's confidence and domineering power. With Liu Han's support and encouragement, he killed more, stronger and faster than ever before in history!

(End of this chapter)