Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Chapter 180: Ping Jingzhou and Governing Jingzhou

"Don't think that you, the Du family, can do evil just because you have a few rich people. No matter how rich you are, how can you be as rich as His Majesty?" Qin Yilu put his hands on his hips and shouted loudly, "This county lieutenant is on errands for His Majesty now. Who dares to say that?" If you don’t say anything, you are going against His Majesty!”

"Qin County Lieutenant, our Du family abides by the law and really does nothing wrong." Du Qi tried his best to defend, "No matter who we are doing business for, we must provide evidence to convict us."

"You still dare to quibble. You have a close relationship with the traitor Huan Jie. Everyone in Quanwan City knows it. Why do you have any quibbles?" Qin Yilu continued, "Since you don't admit it, then your family will be arrested and tortured by the government. ”

Du Qi was so angry that his face turned pale, his hands trembled, and he felt like he wanted to cry without tears, and it was hard to explain. He could only say: "The Huan family is also a big family in Nanyang, and even a big family in Jingzhou. Who is a famous person in Jingzhou who has not been with him? Are you saying that the current Governor of Nanyang Kuai has no contact with Huan Jie? Besides, Du has promised to give you ten acres of fertile land to settle the matter. Why do you insist on taking my sister away? Is this how you work for His Majesty? "

"Stop talking nonsense here." Qin Yilu also said loudly, "Since your Du family does not admit guilt, then use your sister to pay for the crime first. After the county captain reports to Your Majesty, your Du family will be confiscated and exterminated. See if you still dare Don’t dare to be harsh!”

Du Qi couldn't help being shocked when he heard this, and his face turned pale.

The people watching the excitement dared to talk in low voices at first, but now that they heard that the officials were on errands for His Majesty, no one dared to say anything, for fear that if they said something wrong, they would cause a big disaster.

"Hmph, a small county captain, such a powerful official!" Suddenly someone in the crowd let out a cold snort, with a hint of irresistible majesty in his voice.

When everyone took a look, they saw a middle-aged man who was neatly dressed and had an extraordinary bearing standing in the crowd. There were several people standing next to him, and one of them was Kuai Liang, the governor of Nanyang.

Maybe the common people didn't know Kuai Liang, but Du Qi and Qin Yilu knew both of them. When they saw the top official of Nanyang was here, they all came together.

"Please ask Lord Zirou to make the decision for the Du family. The Du family really did not collude with Huan Jie." Du Qi's voice was filled with sadness.

"Master Fu came just in time." Qin Yilu also said quickly, "My subordinates are carrying out errands according to Master Fu's instructions. The Du family is not cooperating, and my subordinates are preparing to take his family back for torture."

Liu Ming looked at Kuai Liang, his meaning was obvious, could it be that Qin Yilu was acting on your orders from Kuai Liang?

"Your Majesty," Kuai Liang said hurriedly, "Huan Jie is Sun Jian's confidant. After Sun Jian killed the former Nanyang governor, he handed over all the land confiscated by the government to the Huan family for management. Now Huan Jie is still serving as an official in Xiangyang. The day before yesterday, Huan Jie sent someone to secretly return to Wancheng to pick up the Huan family as they fled south, but was caught by Wei Chen. Then he ordered Wan County to thoroughly investigate the people involved in the matter. Unexpectedly, the county captain Qin Yilu actually..."

Du Qi, Qin Yilu and the onlookers saw Kuai Liang's posture and title and immediately understood that the middle-aged man standing next to him was the current emperor. They hurriedly knelt down with a "hurrah". The scene was very spectacular. .

"Your Majesty, please make the decision for the common people!" Du Qi said loudly.

Qin Yilu remained silent and shook like chaff.

Liu Ming thought for a while. Although he had been able to make a general guess, everything must be based on reason and evidence, especially in public. Although his power is powerful enough, the more he does this, the more he needs a bowl of water. It must be straight and flat, and cannot be used indiscriminately or willfully.

"I always handle affairs based on facts and the law. I can't decide who is right and who is wrong. Mr. Xi and Kuai Zirou will investigate this matter thoroughly and report it to me." Liu Ming said solemnly. road.

"According to the order!" Xi Zhicai and Kuai Liang replied in unison.

After this episode, Liu Ming was no longer in the mood to appreciate the charm of Wancheng. He returned to his temporary palace, which was actually the backyard of the prefect's mansion.

Zhang Fei took Xun Yu to experience new saddles and horseshoes.

Only Liu Ming and Huang Wan were left.

Liu Ming smiled and said: "Aiqing is also from Jingzhou and comes from a prominent family in Jingzhou. I wonder if there is any good strategy for pacifying Jingzhou?"

Huang Wan is from the Huang family in Jiangxia. His grandfather once served as a Taiwei, ranking among the three Dukes, and his great-grandfather served as a minister, also holding great power. Therefore, the influence of the Huang family is not only limited to Jiangxia and even Jingzhou, but also a well-known family in the world.

As the current Great Sima Cheng, he also views matters in Jingzhou, which is different from Kuai Liang, who also comes from a wealthy family in Jingzhou, and his vision will be broader.

Huang Wan smiled and said: "In fact, it is easy to pacify Jingzhou, but the difficult thing is to control Jingzhou."

Liu Ming looked like he was listening and said, "I heard the details."

"To quell the rebellion in Jingzhou, we only need to defeat Sun Jian. Now that Sun Jian is greatly weakened and running for his life, it is not difficult to pacify Jingzhou."

Huang Wan explained, "But to govern Jingzhou, you can't use gold and iron horses. There are many big families in Jingzhou, fighting with each other and entangled with each other. They are inextricably linked. The most fundamental thing in governing Jingzhou is to balance the interests of the major families. In this way Only then can we get support from everyone..."

Huang Wan hesitated for a moment and continued: "It's just that after His Majesty implemented the new tax system, as a close minister of His Majesty, I naturally know the importance of this policy to the country, the country, the country, but the opposition families only care about their own interests, and most of them will regard the new tax system as suppression. People will unconsciously oppose the new policy of sanctioning aristocratic families, and if it is fanned by people with ulterior motives, it may take some twists and turns to truly gain the support of all families and balance the interests of each family. "

"Hahahaha..." Liu Ming laughed loudly after hearing this and said, "I am the king of the world, so naturally I have to put the world first. No matter how influential the family is, it is just a family in a region. How can I compete with the country? Comparatively, I want to take advantage of the military power to go south and use iron and blood to uproot the disobedient families. For example, the Huan family in Nanyang supports Sun Jian's rebellion and refuses to repent. He should be punished! "

"Of course, everything has both yin and yang." Liu Ming continued, "Suppressing blindly is not a long-term solution. As Aiqing said, the influence of aristocratic families cannot be underestimated. Of course, I am too lazy to balance the interests between them. I only need to Just give them a lick on the head.

"I have already made a plan, and will immediately issue an order to promote business, relax all restrictions and discrimination on commerce, and reduce business taxes. In this way, the family will be the first to benefit, and they will no longer care about the three melons and two dates in the land rent. "

After Liu Ming finished speaking, he wrote a decree, impromptu trade order, and sent someone to Luoyang to give it to the great Sizong Lu Zhi. The great Sizong and the great Situ jointly wrote the document and promulgated it to the world, thus lifting the trade ban.

Regarding taxation, it was basically the same as the court's attitude towards Tian Sang. It was also divided into two parts, with 20% going to the state pastor and 20% going to the court treasury.

For farming, 20% is leased to landlords and gentry as land, and 20% is returned to the government as land tax. Half of the 20% goes to the imperial court and half to the state government.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty." Huang Wan saw Liu Ming's series of operations in his eyes, and couldn't help but secretly admire him for his clear thinking, decisive actions, and concern for the world. He was indeed the king of ZTE.

"It's just that the major aristocratic families in Jingzhou are more urgent than others and need to be the first to see the benefits of the business promotion order. I suggest that Nanyang be the first to push it forward so that the children of the aristocratic families can taste the benefits. In this way, when His Majesty leads the heavenly army to go south, There is a lot less resistance," Huang Wan suggested.

"Good. I will order Kuai Liang to do this after he comes back." Liu Ming said with a smile. Huang Wan was still very accurate in seeing the problem. "Ai Qing feels that besides the business order to let them see the benefits, there are other Can the method be used as an aid?”

"Actually, there are many methods." Huang Wan said, "For example, recruiting children from aristocratic families to serve in the government, marrying nobles in the court with aristocratic families, and of course the most direct way is for women from their families to enter the palace to serve His Majesty. This will make them feel more at ease." Marriage was an important means of balancing interests between officials and wealthy families in ancient times, but Liu Ming is now in a dilemma. He is only in his thirties and has no daughter to marry. One of his two sons was killed by him, and the other was stolen by Yuan Shu and Sun Jian. .

There is only one way to get married, and that is to select some direct women from aristocratic families to be brought into the palace, but there are too many women in the palace now.

These are the legacies left by Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty. Liu Ming has not met them a few times until now. His main energy is taken up by Concubine Shu Feng Fangnu. It is not that he has no energy to share with other people. Concubine.

The main reason is that those women are not his in the first place. Although they can be regarded as trophies of his victory over Liu Hong and even the entire Han Dynasty imperial power, the trophies are too rich and he can't handle them at all.

Every day is the same, and you won't be lucky again for a year. Besides, although my body is strong, I can't bear to cut it every night. An iron pestle can be ground into a needle.

So now Liu Ming is treating the inheritance coldly and letting it sit there for now. In addition, he is too busy. There are leaks in the country and he needs to fix them everywhere. He has no mood or time to engage in those harem pleasures.

Alas, we can only take one step at a time.

At this moment, a battle report came from the front. After a brief resistance in Fancheng, Sun Jian led his troops and fled across the Han River to Xiangyang. Gao Shun and others had no warships, so they could only stay in Fancheng and wait for the emperor's instructions.

After Sun Jian escaped from Wancheng, he first settled in Xinye. Liu Ming sent Gao Shun, Xu Chu, Zhou Cang, and Li Yan to pursue him.

Sun Jian heard the news and fled without even a trace of resistance. He fled directly to Fancheng, followed by Gao Shun.

It seemed that attacking Fancheng did not take much effort. Seeing that there was no hope of holding on, Sun Jian abandoned the city and fled.

Sun Jian was now severely weakened, but Xiangyang was also a big city and was separated by the Han River. It would take a lot of trouble for the imperial troops to take it down with one force.

Just when I thought of this, another spy reported that Yuan Shu had led 20,000 reinforcements from Shouchun and was heading to Xiangyang.

"Do we need to build a naval army in order to pacify Jing and Yangzhou?" Liu Ming scratched his head. "It takes too much time. I can't wait, and neither can the people in the world."

…………

At this moment, Kuai Liang and Xi Zhicai walked in together.

"Your Majesty, the matter has been cleared up." Xi Zhicai said.

"Well, tell me slowly." Liu Ming said.

"Du Qi did have contacts with Huan Jie before, but there is no evidence that he betrayed the imperial court. In fact, the Huan family also belongs to the Nanyang clan, and many people from the government or the private sector have contacts with them, which is also normal."

Kuai Liang introduced, "Let's talk about Qin Yilu. He actually knew that Du Qi was innocent, but he fell in love with Du Qi's sister and wanted to take her as his wife, so he deliberately made things difficult and even robbed Du's family under the pretext of making things difficult."

"Qin Yilu beheaded him in public to serve as a warning to others." Liu Ming said calmly, "Tell me the specific situation of the Huan family."

"Huan Jie is determined to follow Sun Jian." Kuai Liang said, "To be honest, the reason why I first started working for Sun Jian was because I was bewitched by Huan Jie. Most of the aristocratic families in Jingzhou were persuaded by Huan Jie.

"Huan Jie's younger brother Huan Yi is in prison. Yesterday I went to persuade him to change his ways. As a result, Huan Yi persuaded me to betray your majesty and act as an internal collaborator for Sun Jian. He is really stubborn."

Liu Ming sneered and said: "Since you are stubborn, let's cut it up and hang it out to dry. The entire Huan family will be executed. All the family property will be confiscated and their land will be used to resettle the refugees. Let the Jingzhou family see the consequences of opposing me." ”

Kuai Liang shuddered when he heard this. Fortunately, he was smart enough to change the direction of the situation in time and sided with His Majesty. Otherwise, the Kuai family would never end well.

Then Liu Ming explained the matter of Xing Shang Ling to Kuai Liang and asked him to do it immediately. Kuai Liang breathed a sigh of relief and felt that the pressure on his head seemed to have been reduced a lot.

He faces not only his own family, the Kuai family, but also the work of other aristocratic families. If he cannot let them see the benefits, it will be difficult for him to be a parent official.

Before leaving, Kuai Liang suddenly thought of something and said: "Your Majesty, Du Qi said that your Majesty is leading the army, working extremely hard, and there is no one around to serve him. The soldiers are rough and rough, and they must not be careful, so... So he wanted his sister Du Shi came to serve His Majesty, I don’t know..."

Liu Ming and Huang Wan looked at each other and knew that marriage was actually a way for aristocratic families to maximize their resources.

The Du family sent women to serve the emperor, just to make the family prosperous.

In this regard, it is just like what the monarch and his ministers said just now.

Huang Wan also understood immediately. Kuai Liang, a pig, even made a gesture to seek His Majesty's opinion. How should His Majesty express his opinion on this matter? He immediately said: "Your Majesty, please accept the good wishes of the Du family. In this way, the Jingzhou aristocratic families can see that your Majesty is not just suppressing the aristocratic families. As long as they abide by the law, your Majesty will not hesitate to show your favor."

Kuai Liang also reacted, "I also ask your majesty to accept the Du family, so that I can go to the public to spread your majesty's kindness to the people of Nanyang. The Du family and the Huan family, one will be punished and the other will be punished. Naturally, the major families will know what to do next." How to choose.”

Liu Ming looked at Xi Zhicai.

"Your Majesty has always been good at doing good things. This is a good word and good policy." Xi Zhicai said, "I just talked with Mrs. Du during the investigation. This woman is not only outstanding in appearance, but also good in conversation. She has the appearance of longevity."

"You just have to look at the arrangements for such a small matter." Liu Ming waved his hand and said, "Now there is a military situation that we need to discuss. Huang Aiqing will tell all the ministers about the military intelligence battle report they just received."

At that moment, Huang Wan reported the latest situation of Sun Jian's defeat and retreat to Xiangyang and Yuan Shu's reinforcements.

"To cross the Han River, the imperial court currently does not have warships. We can temporarily build some rafts and recruit some fishing boats to solve the problem of crossing the river." Huang Wan went on to talk about the current problem, "But the premise is that Sun Jian does not send warships to interfere. In fact, If the imperial army marches to the east of the Yangtze River in the future, it will still be inseparable from warships. At that time, ordinary rafts cannot be used to cross the Yangtze River. "

————PS: The second dragon raises its head in February, I wish all the big guys the best of luck!
(End of this chapter)