Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 545 Pen Pal Surnamed Chen
It was already summer when Liu Bei set off from Moling and returned to Beijing. He stayed in Jianghuai and Jiangdong for more than two months. In addition to the traveling schedule, Liu Bei's eastward tour took more than three months. It was spring and February when I left, and it was already summer and May when I returned to Beijing, and autumn was approaching.

After returning from Jianghuai, Liu Bei summoned Zhuge Liang and his surrounding officials.

"Kong Ming, have the funeral arrangements for Duke Xu been completed?" Liu Bei asked.

A few days after Huan Jie passed away, on Liu Bei's way back, Xu Jing, one of the three princes, died of illness. Since Liu Bei was not in Wuhan, Zhuge Liang arranged the funeral for Xu Jing on behalf of Liu Bei and rewarded Xu Jing's family with money and food.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Xu has been buried now. Liang paid his funeral and sent a letter to the Central Plains Minister to tell his clan members." Zhuge Liang said.

"good!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly and said: "Since this year, many ministers have died. In addition to taking care of funerals, Kong Ming should send more doctors to consult about illnesses, just in case."

"promise!"

Xu Jing came from Runan, Yuzhou. Due to the turmoil in the late Han Dynasty, he fled to Jiangdong, then fled to Jiaozhou, and finally settled in Yizhou, where he was captured by Liu Bei.

Since he surrendered to the Han Dynasty, Xu Jing's reputation was so high that people in Cao Wei learned about Xu Jing's whereabouts. Those who received his favor, such as Chen Ji's sons Chen Qun, Yuan Huan, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, etc., wrote to Xu Jing to say hello.

Zhuge Qiao once asked Zhuge Liang why he wanted to communicate with the enemy's ministers?

In the past, Chen Qun left Liu Bei and did not seek refuge with Cao Cao. Instead, he followed his father to seek refuge in Xuzhou. Ironically, he was with his father in Lu Bu's army when he surrendered to Cao Cao.

Today, Chen Qun may not serve the Han Dynasty, but there is no guarantee that one day, the Han Dynasty will be able to push back to the Central Plains. When the country is on the verge of subjugation, how can Chen Qun not think about him and his family?

Zhuge Liang learned about Chen Qun's life through Liu Bei. Chen Qun could not be said to be loyal, but a pure scholar from the Central Plains.

Zhuge Liang smiled and said nothing. There were some things that had not happened that he could not tell outsiders in detail.

"Your Majesty!"

In the letter, Chen Qun did not disclose any major national events. On the contrary, he often talked about trivial matters with Zhuge Liang and Liu Ba, learned about Wu Chu's landscape and outstanding figures, and occasionally greeted his former leader Liu Bei.

"Kong Ming!"

In his reply, Zhuge Liang asked about the current situation of his friends in the north, such as Cui Jun (Zhouping), Shi Tao (Guangyuan), Meng Jian (Gongwei), etc. As Shangshu Ling, Chen Qun knew everything and would always reply truthfully to any letter that did not involve confidentiality.

Of course, this kind of thing is too far away, and Zhuge Liang dare not think too much about it. He can only say that it is possible. And there is nothing wrong with having a pen pal who is a senior official in Cao Wei.

Liu Bei sat cross-legged and asked, "Can you read the eight edicts I issued? Are there any shortcomings?"

It has to be said that Chen Qun was a man of many ideas. Since Liu Bei established the Southern Han, he had maintained close correspondence with Zhuge Liang and Liu Ba on the pretext of caring for Xu Jing.

Of course, those who had contact with Cao Wei Shangqing were not only Xu Jing, but also Zhuge Liang, Liu Ba and Chen Qun who often exchanged letters.

Over time, Xu Jing became the window for the Southern Han Dynasty to understand Cao Wei's domestic trends. Now that Xu Jing has passed away, Zhuge Liang, being both sentimental and rational, should inform those in the Central Plains.

Zhuge Liang smiled while stroking his fan, and said: "The eight edicts are very important at this time. Your Majesty's eastward trip is of great benefit. If you can travel for a few years, you will wait for the people in the mountains to come out, live in seclusion and become naturalized. I hope that will happen then." Our country, the Han Dynasty, should be prosperous, and the people in urban and rural areas should be happy."

Liu Bei issued eight edicts. Although it was said to be reducing taxes and pressure on the people, it was actually changing the direction and increasing the financial pressure on the Southern Han Dynasty.

But fortunately, Zhuge Liang implemented the method of judgment, and Huo Fan implemented the strategy of dragnet and earth net, and extensively inspected the people of Shanyue who were hiding in the mountains. The two-pronged approach will reduce taxes for the bottom class and will be paid by the big households. And as the lives of the people at the bottom improve, hidden households gradually emerge, which will form positive feedback. All in all, Zhuge Liang highly recognized the eight edicts implemented by Liu Bei.

Liu Bei stroked his beard and said proudly: "In the past, Huanling lost the world because of raising taxes. If I can reduce taxes and gain the world, future generations should learn from this."

After saying that, Liu Bei asked: "Kong Ming, Cheng Ming is enforcing the law in Shu. I wonder how many people came out to inspect?"

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, Governor Pan strictly enforces the law. Although many large families in Shu have resentments, there are more than 3,000 households so far, and hidden households in each county are gradually being separated. After searching, all counties will meet Load the document and submit it to Wuhan."

"Is there any dissatisfaction with having a famous surname in Shu?" Liu Bei asked.

Zhuge Liang frowned and thought, and said: "There is a lot of dissatisfaction. According to Governor Pan, on the day when the law is routinely decided, many officials in the county are unwilling to do it. He only asked the officials in Guanghan to search for the big families in Shu County, and the officials in Shu County to search in Guanghan Even so, there were many complaints. Later, Governor Pan executed several people, and the officials did not dare to neglect them."

"The surname Liu in Sichuan was dissatisfied and seemed to want to gather people to cause trouble. Fortunately, Lu Baliang led his troops to station in Chengdu. The big families in Sichuan were suddenly at peace and did not dare to cheat. They separated out the population one after another and did not dare to hide it."

"As for what the court said, there were occasional reports from Shu people, impeaching the governor Pan and Lu Baliang for cruelty to the people, which was based on the suspicion of Bashu rebellion."

"Humph!"

"Yan Chengming and Boyan rebelled?"

Liu Bei snorted coldly and said: "From what I have seen, those who want to rebel must be these Shu people. It is okay to use swords without weapons, but if you want to gather people to cause trouble, swordsmen and soldiers should be ruthless."

In order to successfully retrieve the hidden population, Liu Bei transferred Lu Xun and used generals from Ba and Chu to deal with the powerful families in Shu. If it was as Liu Bei thought, the big families in Shu were too soft. When they saw the army coming, they all surrendered.

The big families in Shu are not stupid. Zhuge Liang is only searching for the population, not taking away slaves from them. In the face of their lives, they gave in and decided to pay money to ensure safety.

Of course, this does not mean that the great clans in Shu completely surrendered. They just had to surrender due to the force of the Southern Han Dynasty. If there is an opportunity in the future, they may be able to resist boldly.

Zhuge Liang did not want to implicate too many people, so he said: "Although we are searching for household registration in Yizhou now, Nanzhong is under virtual rule, so we cannot forcefully search the population. If the searches in the counties in central Shu are completed, what do you think, your majesty?"

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "When I went to Jiangdong, Zhongmiao sent me a message to search for hidden households. If the generals are strong and strong, and they send troops because of their troops, they can be organized into military households; if there are troops who do not perform military service, they can be ordered to pay taxes. But, I don’t know what Kong Ming thinks of treating those who haven’t sent troops in the usual way.”

Zhuge Liang stroked the feather fan lightly and said: "What Huo Du said makes sense, and Liang agrees with him. I think that those who have not yet led the army need to observe the difference in status, and then formulate detailed rules to separate them into seclusion and pay oral tribute."

Zhuge Liang also divided and disintegrated the powerful and powerful families who had not sent troops, so as to minimize the impact of household registration retrieval.

"Please Kong Mingyan!" Liu Bei asked for advice.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "Today we are conquering the Central Plains, Your Majesty, it is better to open up the government. If there are children from Wu and Chu families who want to join the army, select the best and strong ones and join them in the forbidden army. When the household registration is searched, they will be treated as soldiers and exempted from tax and military service." . The slaves and hermits have their own ways of dealing with them, so there is no general explanation..."

Compared with Huo Jun's overly concise decrees, the policies implemented by Zhuge Liang have more content, and there are more situations for the wealthy families to choose from. With more choices, the wealthy families are less likely to do extreme things.

"good!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly and said: "Kong Ming's words should be the words of the state minister. Today's decisions on law and policy can be based on these words. Implement it in Wuhan first, then observe the results, modify it, and promote it to various counties."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)