I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 158 Xun Shuang’s suggestion

If the exemption from oral duties is a show of kindness to the people, then recommending and recruiting great scholars is a show of kindness to the scholar-bureaucrats.

Shen Tupan's rejection was nothing, but Liu Bian was still a little disappointed with Yu Cheng's rejection.

When a bus was used to conquer people, he naturally had to know something about the people who were recruiting people.

Yu Cheng was born in a humble family, not even a poor family, but he was very smart. When he was serving as a servant of the county court, he gained the attention of the famous scholar Guo Tai, who recommended him to work as a servant for the students of Taixue, and also take the opportunity to study classics.

Yu Cheng lived up to his expectations. After he achieved success in his studies, when he discussed the classics with Taixue doctors and other students, he felt that he was of low status and sat at the bottom of the table every time.

Because of him, Shi Tai learned that it was more important to sit down.

Yucheng's background gave him high demonstration value, and he taught classics in his hometown and refused to conquer conquests many times, so he was very famous.

It's a pity that whether he really didn't want to be an official or just to raise his hopes, he couldn't be used by Liu Bian.

Putting aside these unpleasantnesses, Liu Bian waited for the arrival of Xun Shuang and the other three with a smile on his face.

Liu Bian knew that the arrival of Xun Shuang and others did not mean that they had really decided to join the court as officials.

He wanted to test whether the talents of the great scholars were worth reusing, and the great scholars would never serve him wholeheartedly just because he was the emperor.

After all, there are many precedents for scholars to offer their political ideas and suggestions when accepting conquests, or to resign because they received no response.

When they met for the first time, Liu Bian showed a courteous and virtuous attitude.

He did not call himself "Zhen", but called himself "Bian". He humbly asked the three people for advice on the strategies of governing the country and the problems existing in the Han Dynasty.

Xun Shuang, who had the highest reputation among the three, was the first to answer: "In the past, the saints built the heaven and earth and called it ritual. Ritual is the foundation of happiness and auspiciousness, and it also stops the source of disaster..."

He finally concluded: "Therefore, it saves money and saves money in the government. It provides easy service and tax, and the people are at peace."

Xun Shuang advocated etiquette and required officials to set an example of filial piety for the people and observe three years of mourning. He believed that the monarch should be the first to advocate frugality, make superiors and subordinates effective, emphasize the difference between father and son, monarch and ministers, etc.

Then Chen Jihan Rong said, words are not pompous, and deeds are not pretentious.

Chen Ji, in particular, could not hide his style of work from the Gan faction in his words. Their foundation in Confucian classics was very profound.

After all, Liu Bian had learned some classics from Zheng Xuan and Cai Yong, so he still had some judgmental skills.

Compared with Xun Shuang and Chen Ji, Han Rong seems a bit mediocre, but he is still worthy of being called everyone.

During this meeting, they only mentioned the general political direction and did not talk about specific policies.

After hearing this, Liu Bian praised him very much, and all three of them became servants.

An important official of the Qing Dynasty in the service, a close minister of the emperor, worth two thousand stones, no fixed number.

The Han Dynasty had a precedent of worshiping famous Confucians as servants. This move is enough to show that Liu Bian attaches great importance to great Confucians.

As for how long he will stay in the position of waiter, that depends on the future.

Currently, among the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers, there is a vacancy in Taichang. There is also a Shangshu Ling who is as powerful as the three Gongs.

Liu Bian did not plan to make up for it immediately, especially the Shangshu Ling. There had been no Shangshu Ling for a long time during the reign of Emperor Xian, and it was only managed by Shangshu Pushe.

In Liu Bian's mind, Gai Xun was the minister most interested in him, and his actions in rectifying officialdom cannot but be appreciated. But Hedong's position is also very critical. If he is transferred back rashly, if the new governor cannot follow Xiao Gui and Cao Sui, and inherits Gai Xun's policies and practices, his previous efforts will easily be ruined.

After Xun Shuang and the others bid farewell to the emperor, Xun Shuang and Chen Ji had their nephews in Beijing waiting for them. Compared with them, Han Rong's next generation was a little helpless. The day after meeting the three people, Liu Bian received Xun Shuang's memorial. This time, what he said was true.

Liu Bian didn't know how much of the credit was due to Xun Yu and Xun Yue, but what Xun Shuang said was very much to his liking.

Xun Shuang lived in Yingchuan for a long time. Because of the outstanding people in Yingchuan, scholars from other places often went there to study and communicate with each other.

From this, Xun Shuang knew the affairs of the world without going out.

Historically, after Xun Shuang was forcibly appointed as an official by Dong Zhuo, when the country was in crisis, he had been committed to recommending wise men, secretly accumulating strength, and planning to eradicate Dong Zhuo. Unfortunately, he died of illness before the matter was settled.

Xun Shuang's governance style was in the same vein as Xun Yu. He first proposed to Liu Bian that reforms should be carried out slowly.

Regarding the most critical land issue, he believed that the measure of recruiting Hu people to work in the fields in Guanxi should continue to be implemented, select capable officials, and organize them into households to unite the people.

The people who can do this are by no means limited to Guanxi. By building water conservancy and opening ditches in the southern parts of Jingyang and Yangzhou, a lot of cultivated land can still be reclaimed. The barbarians scattered in the two states can also imitate Guanxi and educate them.

Liu Bian knew that the two places did not have the foundation of Guanzhong in the early years, so it was relatively difficult to develop them.

Moreover, without the migration of northerners to the south caused by the war in the north, the development of the south would inevitably lag behind. There is no doubt about the potential of the south, especially now that the climate is getting colder. If the people lack motivation, they need guidance from the court.

Developing the south is definitely a good policy, but the people who preside over the policy are also highly moral. Otherwise, why has the barbarian rebellion in the south not been resolved after so many years?

Under today's actual conditions, the impact of the policies of a local official is too great.

Talent is still needed!

Xun Shuang also mentioned the issue of amnesty for the world.

Of course, Xun Shuang held the attitude of "don't indulge in amnesty". He believed that amnesty to the world was only a small favor, not a great virtue.

It is also said in "Hong Fan": "Only for power, only for blessing, only for food."

It means that amnesty for the whole world is the right of the monarch and should be decided by the monarch.

But after saying this, he then suggested that Liu Bian pay attention to the poor and homeless people who needed amnesty to survive.

The poor are unable to pay taxes, and refugees are simply fugitives, both of which mean crime.

In the past, when there was a general amnesty for the whole country, the poor could be exempted from the crime of tax arrears, and the refugees who could not survive in the mountains and fields could be reorganized into households.

Therefore, in the past, when people were displaced due to wars and natural disasters, good governance such as amnesty and tax exemptions were usually implemented after the disaster to help the people resume production.

Xun Yu believed that the amnesty should be used with caution rather than banned.

This gave Liu Bian a new angle.

But whether to grant amnesty to the whole country or to try to solve the problem in the form of official decrees, Liu Bian hesitated for a while.

Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Amnesty is a one-size-fits-all approach, but the implementation of the decree is even more problematic. With this decree, I am afraid that there will be countless times more poor people in the world who cannot afford to pay taxes.

If he really wants to amnesty the world...then didn't he insist on it before in vain?

Liu Bian decided to discuss it with Lu Zhi and others. At Lu Zhi's suggestion, Liu Bian sent someone to summon Tingwei Qing Yangxu to ask about countermeasures.

Tingwei is responsible for compiling the number of prisons closed across the country, and he should be the most aware of these situations.

(End of this chapter)