Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 572: It’s not easy to be a powerful minister

AD 224, the sixth year of Zhangwu, the fifth month of Xia.

Liu Bei's wise move was to let Xu Shu return to Beijing and serve as the auxiliary minister. Zhuge Liang opened the government and served as the governor of the vacated Jiangzhou, and Wuhan was located in Jiangzhou.

Although Huo Jun was in Wuhan, he was unable to mobilize central resources and needed to seek Zhuge Liang's advice. The two not only cooperate with each other, but also restrain each other. Therefore, Huo Jun was not the one to speak in the Southern Han Dynasty, and Zhuge Liang's cooperation was needed on certain issues.

Within more than two months after Huo Dashima came to power, with the cooperation of Zhuge Liang, relying on Huo Jun's reputation and Zhuge Liang's methods, except for Yizhou, the remaining states and counties gradually became safe.

Shangshutai, inside the meeting hall.

Huo Jun was sitting on the couch, discussing political affairs with the imperial censor Xu Shu.

"Yuan Zhi, you submitted a detailed memorial about the Tang Kan case yesterday. I have read it carefully."

Huo Jun asked his attendants to serve Xu Shu tea and said, "You are in charge of this case. Do you have any advice for me?"

Tang Kan, the governor of Wenshan County, went to Beijing to sue the county magistrate for neglecting political affairs. At that time, this case caused quite a stir and even alarmed Liu Bei. In order to verify this matter, Liu Bei specially asked Xu Shu to be transferred to the imperial censor.

"Ok?"

"I had a conversation with the Prime Minister last night, but Kong Ming wants to let Da Sima make a decision!" Xu Shu said.

Xu Shu bowed his hands and said bluntly: "Replying to the Grand Marshal, the Shangshutai is the Privy Council of the Han Dynasty, and the Tailang is an important position and a high level of officialdom, so it should be valued. Since your Majesty established the foundation and opened the business, you have mostly used people from Wu and Chu as Tailang, sometimes there are seven or eight people in a county, or even no one in a state. This has discouraged people's hearts, and it is better to make it equal and meet the hopes of the scholars in the south."

Huo Jun took a sip of tea and said, "Yuan Zhi has an opinion, but there is no harm in saying it."

After hearing this, Huo Jun thought for a moment and understood what Xu Shu meant.

In the Southern Han Dynasty, due to the preferences of the rulers, there were more than a dozen ministers in Xiangyang and Wu counties alone. In the huge Yizhou, due to the previous case of Zhang Song, no one became a minister. Even the ministers were There are only a handful of them. Insufficient allocation of political resources has led to the deformation of the Chancery.

"promise!"

Xu Shu was not from Chu, and the interests of Wu and Chu had nothing to do with him. Now considering the issue of political balance, he must report truthfully to Huo Jun.

Xu Shu pondered for a while and then said: "If the Grand Sima wants to settle the case, he can put Shangshu Lang Xi Yu and County Magistrate Xiong Jia in jail to discuss their crimes. If you want to investigate in detail, you should use this matter to make a difference."

Huo Jun pondered for a long time and asked, "Has Yuan Zhi discussed this matter with Kong Ming?"

"Not long after Jun Chu took charge of court affairs, Mr. Lao invited Kong Ming to come into the hall to discuss the matter with him," Huo Jun said.

Tang Kan was dissatisfied with Xiong Jia's dereliction of duty and wanted to impeach Xiong Jia. However, Xiong Jia was a Chu native and had a strong background, so he could not be impeached. In order to seek justice, Tang Kan kept writing memorials, but they were all intercepted by Shangshu Lang Xiyu.

The person in charge of Shangshutai is Shangshu Ling, and his deputy is Shangshu Pushe. In the Shangshutai, there are five departments under the jurisdiction of the Hu, Sangong, Changshi, Erqianshi, and Host and Guest. The five departments are in charge of the Shangshu respectively, and under them are the Shilang, Lang and other officials responsible for the implementation of specific affairs.

The reason why he was able to intercept the memorial was that the county chief registrar had a humble official position and was not in the eyes of the central government. Xi Yu originally thought that Tang Kan would retreat despite the difficulties, but he did not expect that Tang Kan was so serious that he traveled thousands of miles to Wuhan Shangshui and could not stop him.

The reason why Shulang Xi Yu helped Xiong Jia intercept the memorial was because Xiong Jia's wife was Xi Yu's sister. The Xiong family in Changsha is related by marriage to the Xi family in Xiangyang. With Xi's help, Xiong Jia was able to enter Shu as an official. Jin Xiyu kept intercepting Tang Kan's memorials in order to conceal Xiong Jia's dereliction of duty.

After passing the assessment period, Maocai and Xiaolian can serve as ministers, ministers in Taichung, or as officials.

After several months of research, Xu Shu has verified the events surrounding the Tang Kan case. In the more than two years since he took office, Du'an County Magistrate Xiong Jia has been in ruins and has piled up cases due to his obsession with acanthus and his tendency to drink and have fun.

Since Emperor Liu Xiu valued the Secretariat, it has in some sense replaced the work functions of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers; the three-province and six-bureau system that is familiar to later generations was actually derived from the Secretariat.

Because Huo Jun has been away for many years, he has never paid attention to the issue of quota allocation for ministers and ministers. Now, if we want to adjust the allocation of ministerial posts and pour more political resources into Yizhou, we still need to discuss it with Zhuge Liang.

Although the Han Dynasty had seven states, the states that actually needed to allocate political resources were only Jing, Yang, and Yi. There was no need to say much about Huaisi and Yuancong, as they naturally had political resources due to their status.

Huang Yuan launched a rebellion and Tang Kan visited the capital thousands of miles away. The above two incidents should be seen as a signal to remind the Han Dynasty to adjust the allocation of political resources.

After a while, Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu entered the hall one after another, and the three of them saluted each other. Huo Jun was the first to speak and said: "What Yuan Zhi said, I wonder what Kong Ming meant now?"

Zhuge Liang sat down with a fan and said: "The late emperor was able to take over Jingchu because of King Lu's recommendation, so he became a native of Fu Chu. The late emperor treated him as a high official. In the past, the people of Shu hated me and would rather die than surrender. , I would rather hide than attach it, so Your Majesty has no intention of using it.”

"I, the Han Dynasty, have been ruling Shu for ten years. The scholars and the people have gradually returned to the country and have the desire to serve the country. It is not appropriate to block the way and cut off the Shu people's ambition to become officials. Liang believes that we should use the talents of the people at the time to promote talents and serve as officials. , to please the people of Shu. I am afraid that the people of Shu will not be used by me for a long time, but I hope Zhong Miao will think deeply."

During Liu Bei's period, Shu people were not used much. In addition to the occupation of political resources by Wu and Chu scholars, it was also related to the Shu people themselves. For example, Wang Lei preferred to die rather than surrender, Zheng Du retired to seclusion and did not serve as an official, and Zhang Song became arrogant after his surrender, which had already offended Liu Bei. In addition, in order to give back to the Chu people, Liu Bei did not like to use Shu people.

Today's situation has changed, and policies have changed accordingly. The government of the past cannot be used to govern the present world.

"good!"

Huo Jun nodded and said: "The words of Kong Ming and Yuan Zhi are good opinions. They are now beneficial to the country. Can Jun'an stop them?"

After saying that, Huo Jun paused for a while, and then said: "The five counties of Yizhou are currently in chaos. Jun thought it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to enter Shu, conquer and appease them, and recruit talented people to serve as officials. As a county magistrate, this can not only open the door to Shu people, but also save redundant officials."

Because Liu Bei came to power in a gentle way, he caused a lot of redundant official problems for the Southern Han Dynasty. For example, just talking about Nanjun and Xiangyang counties, there are no less than a thousand Cao officials. Nowadays, it is impossible to woo the Shu people by giving out official positions indiscriminately.

Since the rebellion in Nanzhong, Huo Jun has planned to clean up the powerful people in Nanzhong, either to make room for scholars from Yizhou and Liangzhou, or to assign positions to redundant officials.

Xu Shu frowned and thought, and said: "As Great Sima said, those who conquer Nanzhong should conquer the rebellion, and then appease the scholars, build states and counties, and reshape the order of the Bashu Dynasty."

"Of course!"

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said: "Lu Boyan can conquer the barbarians, but he cannot appease the scholars, nor can he build states and counties. This means that it is easy to calm the chaos in the south, but it is difficult to pacify the people in the west."

Now that Lu Xun has taken an official position, he can command the troops, but cannot care for the people. Today, he can pacify Nanzhong, but he cannot effectively settle Yi, Liang, and Nanzhong.

As for whether Lu Xun can be given rights, logically speaking, he can be given. It is nothing more than recording the affairs of the minister and making him a state pastor. But these two rights, according to the current political situation of the Han Dynasty, could not be given to Lu Xun. After all, some rights were given to Huo Jun, and it was difficult for Huo Jun to take them back.

Zhuge Liang understood what Huo Jun meant and said with a smile: "As Zhongmiao said, Zhongmiao is the one who can enter Shu to rule the three states, pacify the chaos outside, and pacify the people. However, when Zhongmiao enters Shu, he has a small skill. It is suspected of being used. Moreover, Cao Pi's movements are unknown, and Zhong Miao has a heavy responsibility and should not move lightly."

"Zhong Miao wants to order~"

Xu Shu knew Huo Jun's intention and immediately looked at Zhuge Liang.

Huo Jun suppressed his smile and said: "Yizhou is located in the west, surrounded by mountains and blocked roads. The people of Shu are comfortable, the people of Ba are good at fighting, and the people of the south are unruly and prone to rebellion. When entering Shu today, the first thing is to appease people's hearts, and the second is to level the south. , and then reestablished states and counties."

If we just talk about the rebellion in the central counties of Pingnan, and let Lu Xun or Huang Quan take action, it can be said that they can be easily captured. But if we want to appease the scholars in the state, establish states and counties in Nanzhong, and promote Chineseization, we really need to let Huo Jun or Zhuge go.

With Huo Jun's current status and the fact that the Southern Han Dynasty faced the risk of Cao Pi's southern expedition at any time, it was naturally impossible to march westward to Bashu. Nowadays, the only person who is qualified to master the Eight Classics of Zhenger is Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.

As for whether Zhuge Liang would suspect Huo Jun of ostracizing him, it can only be said that it depends on whether the friendship between Huo and Ge can withstand the test. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang is open-minded. He has known Huo Jun for more than ten years and has experienced many things. How can he not trust Huo Jun?

Of course, everything has not yet been settled, and it still depends on the reactions of the officials in the DPRK!

Zhuge Liang nodded in agreement and said: "The roads in the middle of Shu are blocked, which is easy for thieves to cause chaos; the south of Shu relies on the danger and distance and kills the officials. If the above two are not taken into consideration, they will overthrow the country in the Northern Expedition in the future, and they may do it again. chaos."

Seeing that Huo and Ge had already decided on the strategy, Xu Shu smiled and said, "Cao Pi sent Xian Yu to help go south. I wonder what your opinions are?"

"Cao Pi sent his envoys south, but his intentions were not good." Huo Jun said with a smile.

"Liang and Zhong Miao agree!"

"Ha ha!"

(End of this chapter)