Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 544 Eight Articles of the Edict
Although Mi Zhu was not known for his strategy, due to his honest and elegant temperament, he not only had a good reputation among the government and the public, but also received many praises among the people. Even famous Confucian scholars such as Zhang Zhao and Xu Jing did not dare to treat Mi Zhu lightly.

Today, Mi Zhu offers four thousand talents to Jianghuai, which highlights Mi Zhu's great wisdom, and his pattern is far beyond what Mi Fang can match.

At the banquet held in the following days, when Liu Bei recalled his past, he did not shy away from telling the miserable experience of his defeat in Guangling, where the soldiers were hungry and trapped, eating each other. He also said that without Mi Zhu devoting all his family resources to help, he would not be what he is today.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Bei recorded the old merits of the Mi family, worshiped Mi Zhu as the grand master, increased the number of households in the city by two hundred, and made his son Mi Wei the captain of the cavalry.

The Grand Master is one of the three divisions. He has no specific functions and is mostly honored and rewarded. Liu Bei made an exception and granted a reward to the two hundred additional households.

In the early days, in order to secure Wu Chu's position as quickly as possible, Liu Bei granted many titles and towns, but overall, the Southern Han Dynasty implemented the system of the two Han Dynasties, and no one was granted a title without military merit.

Even though Huo Jun's 15,000 or 6,000 households had a lot of food, Huo Jun earned it with his military exploits. Mi Zhu had no military merits, especially since he had already received the title of rural marquis. It was an exception to be able to add two hundred households to the title due to his past achievements. After all, for most people in the court, the title of Xianghou is already an unattainable dream.

For a period of time afterwards, Liu Bei inspected the grassroots counties in Jiangzuo to understand the lives of the grassroots people.

The Northern Expedition was frequent. Although Jiangzuo was far away from the border, it was often transferred to serve as corvees or to perform military service for the Northern Expedition. Therefore, people's farming is often interrupted, and coupled with heavy taxes, it makes people's lives somewhat difficult.

But fortunately, under the auspices of Zhuge Liang, the Southern Han Dynasty implemented rice-wheat rotation farming technology for a long time. With the popularization of advanced productivity, the country and the people achieved a win-win situation.

Liu Bei's heart sank, and he said sadly: "I originally wanted to entrust important matters to Lord Huan, but now I suddenly fell ill. This may be fate!"

As soon as these eight edicts came out, the people in Jiangzuo all rushed to celebrate when they heard about them.

The above eight regulations were drawn up after Liu Bei visited for a month, observed the sufferings of the people, observed the bad governance of local counties and counties, and discussed with his ministers for many days.

Second, the local counties and counties were ordered to prohibit indiscriminate recruitment of military service. In the future, the elderly and the weak were not allowed to be recruited to serve, and military service was not allowed except in times of unrest, so that the people could concentrate on farming as much as possible.

Seventh, all mountains and lakes that can be opened to the people should be lifted if the ban can be lifted. If the ban cannot be lifted, it must be reported to the state and central government for discussion.

However, just when Liu Bei was about to return to China, Zhuge Liang received news from Wuhan that Yin Huanjie of Wuhan had died while in office.

First, the officials and soldiers in Jing, Yang, Jiang, Jiao and other areas, those under the age of twelve, those over fifty, orphans, singles and those in need of support in their families were all dismissed as civilians. If there are disabled people, they will be exempted from taxes and the government will provide relief.

"what!"

Fifth, vigorously promote the rice and wheat farming system, and send agricultural envoys from counties, prefectures, and counties to encourage farmers to ensure that no land is left profitable. And model farmers must be selected and commended by the states and counties, either with cattle or with knighthoods.

Third, states and counties are not allowed to requisition shipbuilding timber and shipbuilding. From now on, the central government will issue quotas for the construction of naval boats and boats, and the timber will be provided by the army. If it is requisitioned from the private sector, all must be purchased with their own funds, and extortion is not allowed.

"Your Majesty, it's time to express condolences!" Ma Liang said.

After the inspection, Liu Bei issued eight edicts and sent them to the seven states of the Han Dynasty.

Fourth, since the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), all the money owed during the reign of Liu Qi and Liu Bei will be paid without any shirk. All taxes and debts owed by the people to the government will be exempted.

Eighth, if there are death row prisoners in counties and counties, they will all be sent to Wuhan for autumn discussion. Local governments are not allowed to impose death sentences without authorization. If they violate the order of the superior, they should be punished according to the crime.

On a micro level, with taxes remaining unchanged, people's lives have improved thanks to the increase in income per mu. When there is no corvee, if you cultivate for two or three years, you will have enough food for one year; if you cultivate for eight or nine years, you will have enough food for three years.

For example, if civilian ships are recruited for war, few of them will be returned to their original owners after the war. This is either due to war losses or corruption. The current regulations will prevent this phenomenon from happening and reduce the losses of the people.

The Han Dynasty reformed the tax laws and exempted them from excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, but this did not mean that there were no other burdens in private, such as the regulations on building boats. The Southern Han Dynasty was based on water towns, so it was impossible to travel without boats. Local governments often used the excuse of constructing boat boats to recruit people for a long period of time or expropriate folk timber.

From a macro perspective, the Southern Han Dynasty benefited from the advancement of productivity and was no longer trapped by food and grass. The salaries of officers and officials were gradually guaranteed.

Following the promulgation of the eight political decrees, Liu Bei also returned to Moling from the county, intending to rest in Moling for a few days before preparing to return to Beijing.

Liu Bei was heartbroken to see that although the grassroots people had benefited from the advancement of productivity, they were still suffering from hard labor.

Sixth, counties and counties that had suffered a harvest failure of up to 50% due to floods and droughts were exempted from tax collection in the current year, and half of the taxes were reduced in the following year; the fields and seeds previously given to the people of the Jianghuai River had been withdrawn but not exempted.

Huan Jie was the same person as Liu Ba, and he admired Cao Cao in Jingchu.

During the Battle of Guandu, Huan Jie persuaded Zhang Xian to raise troops to contain Liu Biao and cooperate with Cao Cao. Even if Zhang Xian was defeated, Huan Jie would not be used by Liu Biao and would return to seclusion in the county.

Later, when Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, Huan Jie, like Liu Ba, ran to meet Cao Cao and serve for him.

The Battle of Chrysostom broke out, Huo Jun defeated Cao Cao, and Liu Ba went to Jiaozhou and Yizhou successively because he was detained in Jingnan and did not serve Liu Bei.

Huan Jie was captured on the way to Cao Cao's defeat and was appointed by Liu Qi. After Liu Bei took control of Jingzhou, he turned to serve Liu Bei.

Gai was impressed by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Since Huanjie took office, he has been an honest official, trustworthy and upright, and has received many praises. Finally, on the recommendation of Zhuge Liang, he succeeded Fazheng as Wuhan Yin. Huan Jie served as Yin Shou for many years. He enforced the law strictly and did not accept bribes. All high-ranking officials and nobles respected him. Under his rule, Wuhan's household registration was the first among all counties, reaching the level of not closing the door at night and not picking up things on the road.

The wider the territory of the Southern Han Dynasty, the more talents it needed. The death of Huan Jie now made Liu Bei feel that he had lost a pillar.

Liu Bei calmed down and said: "Huan Jun is an honest official and has been of great benefit to the country. I want his son to inherit the title of Marquis of Guannei. Let the prime minister decide whether to pursue a posthumous title."

"promise!"

"Your Majesty, now that Jun Huan has passed away due to illness, there is a vacancy in Wuhan Yin. It is appropriate to choose Shang Qing as his successor." Ma Liang said.

Liu Bei paced and said: "Wuhan is the capital, and those who can serve as Wuhan Yin must be courageous and able to recognize people, and be honest officials. I am afraid that there will be few capable officials in the court."

"Your Majesty, Pang Lin, the governor of Yuzhang, and Jiang Wan, the governor of Danyang, may be able to appoint them." Ma Liang recommended.

"Pang Lin, Jiang Wan?"

Liu Bei frowned slightly and commented: "Pang Lin's talent is far inferior to that of Shi Yuan. He is more than qualified to serve as a county governor, but he is not as good as upholding the affairs of the capital."

"Jiang Wan, as Kong Ming said, is not a talent from hundreds of miles away, but a weapon for the country. However, he can govern the county and the state in a lenient manner, but he may not be able to govern the capital."

Pang Lin may not have been capable enough, but Jiang Wan was not incompetent to be the prefect of Wuhan. It was just that Liu Bei did not want to use scholars from Wu and Chu to govern Wuhan.

Now Zhuge Liang wants to make a decision. Wuhan is the capital of the Han Dynasty, so someone without interests must succeed Yin Shou to intimidate the senior officials and relatives of the capital for him and Zhuge Liang.

As Liu Bei was pacing, he suddenly thought of someone and asked, "How is Li Zhengfang doing?"

Li Yan had outstanding political ability. When he served as the governor of Qianwei County, he made sure that there were no bandits in the county and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Not only that, Liu Bei knew that Li Yan was aloof and aloof and did not associate with ordinary Chu people. Now using Li Yan as Wuhan Yin should be a sharp knife.

"Your Majesty, the law enforcement is very strict and cannot please others. Now that he is ordered to govern Wuhan, there may be some shortcomings," Huo Jun said.

"Does Jun have other candidates?"

Seeing that it was Huo Jun who spoke, Liu Bei took the initiative to ask.

"Jun thought that Sima Zihua could be appointed as the Yin Shou of Wuhan."

Huo Jun raised his hand towards Liu Bei and said: "Sima Zhi is open-minded and fair. He can understand the subordinates, is not afraid of big clans, and punishes justly. When I was governing the county, Sima Zhi dared to correct him face to face, and many good officials in the court could not be compared with him. !”

"Sima Zhi?"

Liu Bei looked thoughtful and said: "Zihuahua is an envoy to encourage farmers to travel throughout Wu and Chu counties, teaching skills and preaching, which has benefited countless people. He is a good official."

As he spoke, Liu Bei fell into deep thought and carefully compared the abilities of Sima Zhi and Li Yan.

Sima Zhi was from Wen County, Hedong Province. Apart from being friendly with Wang Can and Huo Jun, Sima Zhi had almost no friends from Chu, so he had no foundation in Jingchu. Judging from his status, there is no big problem in using him to govern Wuhan.

As for Sima Zhi's ability and character, it goes without saying. Sima Zhi did an outstanding job in persuading farmers. The popularity of rice-wheat rotation farming in Wuchu today is inseparable from Zhuge Liang's implementation and Sima Zhi's promotion. The two are indispensable.

After hesitating for a long time, Liu Bei said: "Sima Zhi has both talent and virtue, is an honest official, and does not interact with outsiders. Now we can follow Zhong Miao's words and appoint him as the Yin Shou of Wuhan. As for Li Yan, I will use him when the opportunity comes!"

"No!" Ma Liang retreated and prepared the edict.

When Ma Liang retreated, Liu Bei looked at Huo Jun and said: "Xu Huai is the border of the country. Since this year, the thieves have chosen to strengthen their troops and guard them tightly, seeming to have the intention of peeking south. The current situation cannot be settled except by you. I After returning to the capital, Jun Mu will guard Xu Huai."

"If there is a change in Xu Huai, you should fight, and I will send troops to stay behind."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, Jun will live up to your orders!" Huo Jun said.

Since Huo Jun conquered Xiapi and Donghai, he went deep into Cao Wei and Henan, which aroused a fierce response from Cao Wei. Cao Pi took advantage of the heavy losses suffered by the Taishan bandits and appointed Sun Li and Hu Zhi as governors of Langya and Dongguan counties, and also added troops to Peng and Tan cities.

At present, because Xiapi and Donghai counties are located in the north of the Yangtze River, they are surrounded by enemies in the west and north and are connected to Huaidong. There is always the danger that Cao Wei will push back Xia Pi. Without Huo Jun watching over him, Liu Bei would not be able to rest assured.

Of course, Cao Wei was also wary of Huo Jun, waiting for the opportunity and not daring to launch troops easily. Under this background, Liu Bei did not recruit Huo Jun to the capital as usual, but asked him to stay on the border and guard the river.

(End of this chapter)