I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 605: Treating the Symptoms and the Root Cause

In the ninth year of Guangxi, the world was at peace.

In that year, Liu Bian was twenty-three years old.

In Liu Bian's memory, this was the second year of Jian'an. Cao Cao had just welcomed the emperor and had already made himself the Minister of Works the year before. He was in charge of military affairs and all officials obeyed him. And in that year, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor.

Liu Bian adhered to the policy of stopping the war and pacifying the people. This year, he only planned to implement the policies that had been set before.

It is necessary not only to keep the people safe, but also to keep the grassroots officials who are under strict supervision safe.

Therefore, since the end of the eighth year of Guangxi, the court has issued almost no additional imperial edicts except for fixed official documents.

However, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop.

"In the past, the state offered generous rewards to high-ranking officials and nobles who moved to remote areas. The purpose was to promote education and bring peace to the area."

"Today, some of the big families live in the border areas, and have been the leaders of the county for generations, but they only seek personal gain and have no intention of serving the public. Some even oppress officials and the people, and even incite unrest. This is intolerable, what is intolerable?"

In the court, Liu Bian did not hide his anger.

He doesn't need to hide.

"Order Liu Xuande to hold the imperial seal and go to the south to investigate the lawlessness and punish those who commit crimes severely!"

There was no need to send a large number of troops. The subsequent development of the four Nanzhong counties gave Liu Bian the confidence.

The dramatic scene was that after Liu Bei left with his army and officials, some Han Chinese families who felt that their unique position in Nanzhong as the link between the barbarians and the prefectures and counties had been seriously challenged wanted to take the opportunity to restore their original status. However, the barbarians who had been on the same side with them were not happy about this and eventually a conflict broke out between the two sides.

The efforts of Liu Bei, Zhuge Xuan, and many more officials who followed them to work in Nanzhong were not in vain.

Liu Bei only needs to finish the task on this trip.

Those who should be killed should be killed, and those who should be exiled should be exiled.

Although Nanzhong is already a place of exile, one can be exiled to Shuofang or the Western Regions!
After determining the subsequent treatment of the Nanzhong direction, Liu Bian did not stop there, but went a step further and asked: "Are these evil people unique to the four counties of Nanzhong?"

Liu Bian never expected that all officials were saints who would put public service above personal interests, but these scholars who had served as county officials for generations ignored the greater good for their own selfish interests. This was a way to seek death.

Amid Liu Bian's questioning, the court was silent for a while.

After a period of silence among the ministers, Wu Fu, who succeeded Jia Xu as the Lieutenant of the School Affairs, said, "Your Majesty, the border counties are remote and the School Affairs Department was not able to handle them in the past. Now, I often hear that some of the big families in the border counties disregard the law..."

After becoming the captain of the school, Wu Fu maintained his previous methodical style of doing things and spoke clearly.

From Jiaozhou and Nanzhong to the four counties of Hexi, the story tells of the evil deeds of the big families in these counties - after committing crimes, the officials, considering the stability of the counties, did not intervene, and relied on the power in the counties to oppress the good... For example, the big families in Dunhuang County, although they have restrained themselves a lot in recent years, they still oppressed the Hu merchants from the Western Regions and forced them to buy and sell.

Originally, the rebellion was suppressed by Dunhuang governor Zhao Qi, but Zhao Qi had been in poor health since last year, and he died in office before his resignation letter was sent to Luoyang.

After Zhao Qi passed away, some of the Dunhuang clans who had been somewhat cautious immediately took advantage of this opportunity to become more aggressive.

These actions were eventually gathered in Luoyang through different channels, including the Dunhuang County Supervisory Officials, the kings and royal family members who were heading to the Western Regions, and the School Officials.

At present, the court needs to discuss the reward for Zhao Qi, an old minister from a party background, and the selection of the next prefect of Dunhuang.

As the connecting point between Hexi and the Western Regions, Dunhuang County was very important for the Han people who were exploring the Western Regions.

Under the premise that the Governor of Liangzhou governed Hanyang County, the Prefect of Dunhuang was in charge of the Han Dynasty's logistical support for the Western Regions. Therefore, in order to manage the Western Regions, Zhao Qi's successor had to be a capable official.

The Han Dynasty today is full of talented people, so it is not difficult to find a suitable prefect of Dunhuang.

But Dunhuang County is not the only one that has these problems.

When Zhao Qi was alive, the big families in Dunhuang County behaved very peacefully and obediently, but after Zhao Qi died of illness, they could no longer control themselves.

This made Liu Bian think more.

Although there are countless laws in the world that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years, he couldn't help but worry that one day, the laws he promulgated would be violated so easily.

And beyond his sight, how many powerful families and great clans in Dunhuang are just lying in wait, waiting for an opportunity?

Thinking of this, Liu Bian felt that even if it was not implemented yet, he should try to plan a new system, especially for the counties.

After the court meeting, Xun Yu and Jia Xu returned to the Secretariat together. As the left and right ministers, they had their own dedicated office space after the expansion of the Secretariat.

As soon as he came back, Xun Yu asked, "Wenhe, from what your majesty said today, it seems that he is dissatisfied with the nobles in various places because of the incident in Dunhuang County."

"It is undeniable that every county and state in the world today has a family of dignitaries who have served as county officials for generations, and their influence on the county is too profound. However, in my opinion, this is not necessarily a bad thing. For the sake of reputation, these dignitaries in the county will always take better care of their fellow villagers."

"Yes, it is indeed so on the surface." Jia Xu said calmly, "After all, the common people can be bullied. Maybe they will be grateful even if they are treated like cattle and horses by others!"

Xun Yu knew that Jia Xu had misunderstood his meaning after hearing this, and added: "I am not trying to attract attention from the rich and powerful in the county. It is undeniable that there are some bad apples among them, but I won't go too far to correct the wrongs, right?"

"Moreover, according to the current official system, almost all officials of the county with a rank of 100 stones or less are from the county... This is not only a custom, but also because it is difficult for people who are not from the county to win the support of the people, let alone go deep into the countryside. Even if the original county officials are removed, there will always be new ones after the former ones leave."

Xun Yu’s meaning was very clear. As long as the administrative system of the county was here, a family of dignitaries would inevitably be born.

Jia Xu naturally understood what Xun Yu meant. He knew that the Xun family of Yingchuan, where Xun Yu came from, was definitely one of the most powerful families in Yingchuan County, especially the three Xuns represented by Xun Yu, Xun You, and Xun Yue in recent years, who were all considered to be qualified to be officials in the eyes of outsiders.

In his early years, the Xun family felt that the atmosphere in the court was not good. Among the Eight Dragons of the Xun family who best represented the Xun family, several remained hermits throughout their lives. Even if they became officials, they would soon return to their hometowns and did not do much to retain their disciples and old officials.

At that time, the only high-ranking official among the eight dragons of the Xun family was Xun Yu's father, the second dragon Xun Gun. He was despised by the literati because he arranged a marriage between Xun Yu and the daughter of the eunuch Tang Heng, but he became the prime minister of Jinan... If he had not died when Xun Yu was two years old, he would have become a minister. After the death of the second dragon Xun Gun, the Xun family never produced a high-ranking official of the 2,000-stone level again until Xun Shuang entered the court again.

It was because Xun Shuang died early, otherwise there would have been one more minister at the duke level. Even though there were fewer students and old officials, it is not an exaggeration to call the Xun family the head of the Yingchuan noble family.

But precisely because of this, the current system of recruiting county officials is extremely beneficial to the Xun family at that time.

Because no matter what the Yingchuan prefect's aspirations were, he needed to recruit people from the Xun family to serve as county officials - if he wanted fame, the Xun family had it; if he wanted talented people, the Xun family had them; if he wanted connections, the Xun family had them; if he wanted virtues, the Xun family had them too!
In this way, the Xun family became unstoppable in Yingchuan.

This is also one of the reasons why Jia Xu misunderstood Xun Yu's words before. In addition to Xun Yu's words at the time, they were misleading. Another reason is that Jia Xu did not believe that Xun Yu would give up their clan interests so easily.

Therefore, in addition to being shocked in his heart, Jia Xu looked at Xun Yu with a little more admiration. He couldn't help but ask himself, if it were him, would he be able to make such a choice so decisively?
Although he often exchanged political views with Xun Yu in front of the emperor in the past, the two did not have much contact in private. Now Jia Xu felt more and more that Xun Yu was indeed a person worth associating with.

There are always people in later generations who believe that the reason why Xun Yu opposed Cao Cao's title of duke is because Cao Cao moved the capital from Xuchang to Yecheng, and then regarded Xun Yu as the representative of the Yingchuan Group, and they naturally believed that Xun Yu died for the interests of the Yingchuan Group.

However, he completely ignored the fact that given Xun Yu's status at the time, why would he risk losing his life or even implicate his clan for the so-called "Yingchuan Group". Even if he didn't consider his own safety, could the so-called group's interests compare to the clan's interests?

If we only discuss things from a regional perspective, we will inevitably fall into the trap of dogmatism and treat people as puppets of the "so-called certain group".

Seeing that Xun Yu had already come up with an idea, Jia Xu asked, "I wonder what method Wen Ruo has come up with?"

Xun Yu replied: "My idea may not be enough to cure the root cause, but it is enough to treat the symptoms temporarily."

"Nowadays, all the officials of 100-stone rank and below in the county are local people. What's more, it has become a custom that the Gongcao, who is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of county officials, is rotated among the county's great families. If the 2,000-stone rank fails to supervise, it is easy for the local nobles to deceive them. Therefore, the rank of Gongcao and other officials in the county can be raised to a level higher than 200-stone rank."

Although it only promoted one level of official rank, once it was implemented, it meant that the counties and states would lose the power to appoint and dismiss Gongcao.

In the past, Xun Yu would not have dared to propose such a radical policy because the imperial court’s authority was weakened. In the past, the “common people” of some counties and kingdoms even dared to unite and drive out the two thousand officials appointed by the imperial court.

Even the prime minister and the prefect had to face such a situation, let alone the Gongcao who was involved in the actual interests of the local clans.

But things are different now. In the past, in order to allow the two thousand stone officials sent by the court to suppress the expansion of local forces, they had to give the two thousand stone officials higher power. Today, the two thousand stone officials hold both military and political power. Any two thousand stone officials who are able to make decisions in the counties and states can absolutely decide life and death.

Now that the imperial court’s authority has been established through a series of wars to quell rebellions, it is time to change this vicious cycle of county and state governance!

Xun Yu talked about the county officials that he thought needed to be appointed by the court - "Gongcao is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of county officials, Hucao is in charge of household registration and often manages sacrifices, agriculture, etc., Bingcao is in charge of military conscription, Zeicao is in charge of public security, Jueccao is in charge of criminal law, and Cicao is in charge of civil litigation."

Jia Xu originally thought that Xun Yu only wanted to make a fuss about Gongcao, but he didn't expect that Xun Yu suddenly turned his attention to the six Caos.

But he also had to admit that the matters that these six departments were responsible for were indeed very critical.

Moreover, it is not difficult to implement. There are more than a hundred counties and kingdoms in the world. Even if there are no suitable candidates for the six ministries, the original people can be used first.

Who dares to refuse the offer of promotion and increase in salary?
Seeing Xun Yu's frankness, Jia Xu no longer hesitated and said bluntly: "What Wen Ruo said can be a temporary solution. In fact, I have considered a solution to the root cause, but it is not yet perfect."

Xun Yu immediately asked curiously: "Wenhe, please give me some advice."

Jia Xu had already decided to speak frankly to Xun Yu when he brought this up, so he immediately explained, "This is something I've learned from watching the prosperity of the Imperial College today."

"Nowadays, the schools of the wealthy and powerful are better than the Imperial College in terms of classics. However, there are still children of wealthy and powerful families who are willing to go to the Imperial College. Why? In my opinion, the 'God of Classics' often lectures on classics in the Imperial College or in the name of traveling to study, but this is just an external reason. The real reason is that in the past ten years, the students of the Imperial College and the scholars who traveled to Luoyang have had too many opportunities to come into contact with them."

"Whether it was the initial examinations, the local officials, or the later migration of northerners to the south. Although there were hardships in each, they were beneficial to one's resume. There were also students from the Imperial College who stayed in the Imperial College all year round to study the classics, hoping that one day they would be able to master the four classics and enter the three offices as officials."

Xun Yu listened to what Jia Xu said. He vaguely sensed something, but he was still not sure what it was, so he waited expectantly for Jia Xu's conclusion.

"Wen Ruo should know that after these students enter the Imperial College, they often stay away from their hometowns for years. Even if they become officials in the later period, they will not return to their hometowns." After saying this, Jia Xu asked, "The so-called powerful families, in my opinion, are the people of the big families who live together in one place. And if there are talented people in the family, they all leave home at a young age and live outside for many years. I would like to ask Wen Ruo, can such big families still control the counties and countries?"

Yes, how can people who are away from their hometown for a long time have such influence in their hometown?

After hearing this, Xun Yu praised: "Wenhe's words are indeed insightful. I have heard that spring breezes can moisten things silently. Now I see that Wenhe's strategy is in line with this method."

"And doing so will also make the literary style flourish! The two will be in harmony, and literature and talent will flourish!"

Jia Xu said modestly: "What I said is just a rough statement. The specific implementation needs a little improvement."

"The path has been decided, and the rest is nothing to worry about!" Xun Yu praised generously.

He further suggested: "Why not report what I just said to Your Majesty so that you can plan and implement it."

Jia Xu replied: "Why don't you and I explore it a little more, improve it a little, and then report it to Your Majesty."

"good!"

Three days later, the court issued an imperial edict, stating that the ranks of the county and state officials were not enough to reflect their importance, and increased the ranks of the Merit and Household departments to 200 dan, and the ranks of the Military, Bandit, Decision, and Resignation departments to 200 dan.

As for promotion, the promotion and appointment of these six Cao officials had to go through the Three Dukes' Office and the Secretariat first, which was not mentioned in the imperial edict.

On another day, Liu Bian went to the Imperial College in person to watch Zheng Xuan lecture on the classics. On the same day, he summoned thirty people who were older and proficient in the three classics to the Imperial College to test their talents. He granted them the title of Langzhong and prepared them for office in three departments.

(End of this chapter)