I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 414 Inheritance
Logically speaking, Ma Riti was a Shizhong and was considered a member of the eunuch system.

But he had been the Grand Marshal for quite a long time, during which he promoted many of his former officials, so his identity as an outsider official could hardly be concealed by a Palace Attendant.

Just as Guo Jia was thinking about what Ma Riti was going to do, he suddenly heard Ma Riti say this: "Fengxiao, you don't want the hard work of you and your colleagues to go to waste because of the mistakes of corrupt officials!"

This made Guo Jia speechless: Is this something a former senior Grand Marshal like you can say?
Facing Ma Ritian's naked moral kidnapping, Guo Jia actually had no good solution. If he was a hermit in the opposition, he could have fought back against Ma Ritian without fear of authority, but now he was a Shangshulang seconded under Ma Ritian.

Weak, helpless, and pitiful.

Guo Jia is still a moral man after all and cannot avoid this attack.

He could only say: "Please give me some advice."

Anyway, he wouldn't lose any weight if he listened to Ma Riti's intentions.

"In fact, it is too late to hold those corrupt officials who falsified the accounts accountable now. Moreover, time is of the essence. If they are implicated, I am afraid that we may not even have enough manpower to relocate the people."

"So, the most important thing at the moment is to be lenient and allow the criminals to make meritorious contributions while serving their sentences, so as to avoid a situation where both sides are destroyed. Compared with the lives and property of the people, it is not a bad idea to temporarily let some criminals go and allow them to make up for their mistakes with meritorious services in the future."

"Of course, if there are stubborn people who refuse to change, they should be punished as a warning to others!"

This time, Guo Jia was in trouble again.

It's just this, such a simple question, is it necessary to suppress him with status and morality?

"From my humble opinion, what you said is a good idea. Why don't you advise your majesty directly? Your majesty must understand the principle of taking emergency measures. Even for the sake of the people, I believe your majesty will agree."

Ma Riti smiled and said nothing.

Seeing that Guo Jia still didn't understand, he realized that although Guo Jia was extremely capable, he still lacked some skills in the way of making a living.

But as a young person, you don’t have to be like the famous officials in the officialdom. This is also good!
He then added: "The emperor must act in a fair and just manner, and there must be nothing he cannot say to others, only then can he gain respect from all quarters."

Although it was an emergency, it was still against the law and was not suitable to be reported directly to the emperor.

So, things can be done, but they cannot be said.

The emperor today has sharp ears and eyes, so we cannot deliberately hide things from him, as this will lead to disaster.

And it probably can't be hidden.

Therefore, someone needs to reveal it to the emperor, but it cannot be recorded.

Guo Jia was the candidate chosen by Ma Riti.

During the days that Guo Jia worked under Ma Ritian, Ma Ritian did not expect that this seemingly unstable Shangshulang would be surprisingly steady in his work.

No wonder he is valued by the emperor.

This also made Ma Riti admire talented people.

Otherwise, for Ma Riti, who had many former officials, who could he choose to secretly reveal this matter to the emperor?
In the past, he would have preferred talents like himself, like Zhao Yu, who was promoted by him. Now, he probably has more experience, and can appreciate Guo Jia, who has a different personality from him.

As for the so-called Yingchuan folks' statements in the Shangshutai, Ma Riti did not care.

What's wrong with the friendship between gentlemen who share the same aspirations and ideals?

He was also good friends with Lu Zhi, Yang Biao and others, but they would not give up their differences in political views just because of their friendship.

……

"Okay, I understand. Fengxiao, tell me to do as Ma Gong says."

Liu Bian came to his Shangshutai again. After meeting Guo Jia, Liu Bian finally understood why Ma Ritian had hinted to him to come to Shangshutai when he met him earlier.

Just as Guo Jia said, in an emergency, one has to make decisions based on one's own judgment. Liu Bian still knows what is important and what is not.

To put it bluntly, due to limited human and technical conditions, anti-corruption will never be completely eradicated, not to mention that feudal imperial power itself is the highest privilege. Liu Bian had to compromise with some phenomena first.

He also understood very well why Ma Riti and others had taken such a big detour - the ministers could compromise with the criminal officials, but the emperor could not.

At least not on the surface.

Seeing Guo Jia's straightforward agreement, Liu Bian asked, "Feng Xiao has been seconded to Ma Gong recently. How do you feel?"

"Your Majesty, do you also want to hear the truth like you did just now?" Guo Jia maintained most of his nature in front of Liu Bian and was not fussy about trivial matters.

"Of course! Now that there is no one around, even if Fengxiao complains to me about Ma Gong, it will never be heard by anyone else... I don't know what complaining means? Maybe it's a joke? Sarcasm?"

Guo Jia said: "Not really, not even to the point of being sarcastic. Lord Ma has been coordinating all the affairs during this period of time, and it is definitely not easier for him than for us..."

"It's just... I always feel like Ma Gong is treating people like animals..."

Guo Jia couldn't help but make a teasing remark.

Liu Bian smiled. Guo Jia was confused by the situation and had not yet figured out Ma Riti's intention.

How many officials have left Ma Ridi's Taiwei Mansion in recent years? If Guo Jia can inherit Ma Ridi's political legacy, his future career will be much easier.

Even with Liu Bian around, Guo Jia's career prospects were promising given his starting point.

Liu Bian had no intention of interfering and just let things take their course.

Hanoi County.

Zhao Weisun had just arranged for his poor clansmen to nominally share his family's land when he received an urgent military order from the Liyang camp. Liyang Captain Chunyu Qiong ordered him to return to the camp within a certain period of time and wait for orders.

Military law is much stricter than civilian law.

For example, the "beheading for missing the deadline" rule during the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising was military law. Regardless of whether the nature of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's behavior was enough to violate military law, this military law itself does exist and is still in effect.

Zhao Weisun, who was originally a military inspector, did not dare to neglect military law. He had to stop making trouble and hastily stopped various arrangements.

However, Zhao Weisun did not stop the division of land, and directly completed the change of land in the official register of Wen County.

This movement could not be hidden from Zhong Yao.

But Zhong Yao remained indifferent.

Chang Lin, a subordinate of Zhong Yao, who informed him of the incident, was puzzled and asked, "Since the Lord knew what Zhao Weisun had done, why did he let him go instead of making preparations earlier?"

Zhong Yao asked in return: "Bo Huai, let me ask you, why does Your Majesty want to implement the new tax system at this time?"

Many problems of the Han Dynasty could be seen by knowledgeable people. Chang Lin served as one of the Nine Ministers during the Wei Dynasty, so he was not lacking in insight: "Because the output of many people's land is not enough to bear the taxes."

"Yes, but now, at least the poor people of Zhao Weisun have land."

"But these fields still belong to Zhao..." Chang Lin stopped speaking halfway.

He already understood what Zhong Yao meant.

Chang Lin, who grew up in a poor family, understood very well the appeal of these fields to people.

(End of this chapter)