I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 182: The Sword of the Future Kills the Officials of the Present Dynasty

Liu Che and the civil and military officials each had their own hopes.

"Reply to Father's words."

Liu Ju stood up and faced Liu Che, bowed slightly, and said only two words very briefly:
"almost."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Che and the civil and military officials did not respond, but waited patiently for what Liu Ju would say next.

"..."

Liu Ju also bowed slightly, and then there was no movement.

"???"

Liu Che and the civil and military officials gradually began to feel doubtful.

"..."

Liu Ju still said nothing.

"!!!"

Liu Che and the civil and military officials finally began to be shocked.

"..."

Liu Ju still said nothing.

"Is this your answer to me?"

Liu Che only felt that his blood pressure was pressing against the top of his head again, and veins in his temples were bulging.

"Really gone?"

Civil and military officials also looked surprised and suspicious.

Before Liu Ju, no one had ever heard of a report that was so concise and clear.

This is the morning court to discuss national affairs!

Even if reporting on work progress needs to be as concise as possible, it is still necessary to start from several aspects, compare the past and the present, use facts to provide evidence, state a specific charter and conclusion, and then look forward to the future and paint a pie for Your Majesty that can be big or small.

What do you mean by "soon"?

Is it going to be done soon, or is it not going to be done soon?
The civil and military officials were certain that if they dared to report to Emperor Wu of Han as Liu Ju did, they would basically be dismissed and investigated on the spot, or at the very least convicted of dereliction of duty.

"Your Highness has not reported to the emperor before, so he may not know how to report to His Majesty."

Before Liu Che could react, General Wei Qing could no longer hold back and hurriedly excused Liu Ju while guiding him.
"Could you please tell me in detail what measures have been taken to reform the state-run salt and iron industry, and what changes have taken place in the Salt and Iron Industry Office of the Minister of Agriculture?"

"It will be soon, Father."

Liu Ju still insisted,
"Some things may not work once they are said in public. If Your Majesty wants to know the details, I can report to Your Majesty in private after the morning court session. Now... it is better not to make it public."

"..."

This time even Wei Qing didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, Liu Ju's statement was a barely acceptable excuse, and neither Emperor Wu of Han nor the civil and military officials could find any fault with it.

Even if they wanted to argue, it would be after the morning court session, when only the father and son were there in private.

However, his words made Kong Jin and Dongguo Xianyang, who were also attending the morning court, feel a little nervous.

There had been no movement for about a month, and they thought that the reform of the state-run salt and iron industries had come to an end, and that Liu Ju, a young and inexperienced man, would not be able to make any waves after all.

But now from Liu Ju's tone, it seems that he has some powerful tricks up his sleeve?

Thinking of this, the two of them unconsciously glanced at Sang Hongyang beside them.

If we were to ask who among the Grand Minister of Agriculture was closest to Liu Ju recently, it would naturally be Sang Hongyang.

But at this moment, Sang Hongyang also looked confused, as if he had no idea what Liu Ju was talking about...

Is he really just trying to be mysterious?
Is it to disturb our minds and force us to take some action, thus revealing our flaws?
The two looked at each other again.

They were very sure that they had already arranged the relevant affairs of the Salt and Iron Yamen perfectly, and even they themselves would not be able to find any problems. Otherwise, Sang Hongyang would have found out long ago, so how could he wait until now?

Besides, if Liu Ju really had some powerful methods, some clues should have been revealed in the past month.

But what did Liu Ju do this month?

Apart from the first visit to the Minister of Agriculture, after he took out the abacus and the four-pillar list, he never stepped into the door of the Minister of Agriculture again, and he didn't even take a look at the account book submitted by the Salt and Iron Office recently...

Even Sang Hongyang, who was relatively close to Liu Ju.

It was only at the beginning that he led the meeting to check the account books day and night for more than ten days. Now he has gradually become tired and seems to have no hope anymore.

and so……

What Liu Ju said just now was actually a strategy to attack people's minds.

You just want to disturb our minds and force us to reveal our flaws, right?

He actually has no other choice!

Thinking about this, the two gradually calmed down...

But Liu Che also sneered and said in a deep voice:
"I am not interested in your nonsense. Just tell me directly when the reform of the state-run salt and iron industry will be effective!"

"almost."

"..."

"Father, it's really almost there."

"I'll give you another month. If I still can't see any results after a month, you don't have to do this anymore!"

...Half a month later, Bowang Garden.

"Du Tingwei Shi, you have worked hard these days."

Looking at the pile of bamboo slips that had been delivered recently, and Du Zhou, who had become darker and thinner, Liu Ju smiled and gave him some verbal encouragement.
"Once this is done, you will be a great contributor to our Han Dynasty. When I submit a memorial to my father, I will emphasize your hard work and achievements. Promotion to a higher position is just around the corner."

"Your Highness's kindness in supporting me will be unforgettable to me!"

Du Zhou bowed and thanked him immediately, but he still asked,
"But I still don't understand why Your Highness ordered me to lead people to secretly check the land and houses of these salt and iron officials. What is the purpose? Could Your Highness please enlighten me?"

At the beginning, Liu Ju ordered him to investigate the property of the salt officials and iron officials.

Unfortunately, most of the property these days is physical objects that can be easily hidden, and there is no big data account connected to the Internet. Even if Emperor Liu Che wanted to collect taxes from merchants, he could only use extreme measures such as "告缗", which made it impossible to find out.

After learning about this situation.

Liu Ju had to change his strategy and instead ordered Du Zhou to investigate the land and residences of those salt officials and iron officials.

The focus of the investigation is on the current status of these people's land and houses, as well as their status before they became officials.

This thing is much easier to check.

Because in this era, the sale or construction of land and houses was certified by land certificates. These certificates were usually carved from stone slabs, which would clearly state the time of the sale or construction, the identities and names of the buyer and seller, and were buried in the form of a monument at the edge of the property or next to the house under the witness of local officials, the three elders or the head of the pavilion to avoid future disputes.

Therefore, as long as someone is sent to check these land certificates, it is easy to find out the changes in the land and mansions of the salt officials and iron officials in recent years.

But Du Zhou still didn't understand what the point of checking these things was.

Since he was the historian of the Supreme Court, Du Zhou naturally had a deep understanding of Han laws. According to the current laws of the Han Dynasty, this information could not be used as definitive evidence of corruption, and it was probably still impossible to bring those salt officials and iron officials to justice.

"Of course, it is to eliminate the malpractices of the state-run salt and iron industries."

Liu Ju said with a smile.

"But according to Han law..."

“The law has a certain lag.”

"what?"

Du Zhou had never heard of such a statement before, so he looked confused.

"That is, the law is used to solve existing problems, and what will happen in the future is uncertain, so as time goes by, there will often be gaps and gaps in the law, and it must keep pace with the times to avoid lagging behind."

Liu Ju patiently explained the science to him.

"You have been in the court for some time, and you must have often encountered some new cases that have no legal basis. This is a manifestation of the lag of the law."

"So your Highness means..."

Du Zhou seemed to understand something.

"That's what I mean. Since the law is lagging behind, we should find ways to introduce new laws to fill in the gaps and gaps in the law on the basis of ensuring fairness and justice, so as to meet existing needs."

Liu Ju smiled.

"However, any addition or amendment to the Han laws needs to be drafted by the three supervisors of the Imperial Court and submitted to Your Majesty for review before implementation."

Du Zhou said in embarrassment again.

"I have sent the suggestion of adding more laws to the Chief Justice Zhao Yu. He and the left and right judges should not dare to make a decision on this matter without authorization. It is likely that it has been sent to the palace."

Liu Ju said with confidence.

This move is called "using the sword of later generations to kill officials of this dynasty."

Liu Ju believed that with Liu Che's character and style, he would definitely praise the decree he proposed!
of course.

There is one thing that Du Zhou doesn't know, and he doesn't need to know it.

Now, Sang Hongyang has formulated a complete set of "standardized" assessment systems for the official salt and iron industry according to his requirements. This is enough to ensure that even if people who do not know anything about iron smelting and salt boiling are parachuted into the Salt and Iron Office, as long as they strictly follow the "standardized" assessment system, the Salt and Iron Office can operate normally.

To put it bluntly, this "standardized" assessment system turned the entire Salt and Iron Office from top to bottom into a sophisticated machine.

Each of them is a part of a machine. The trajectory and method of operation are clearly defined and everyone knows what they should do. Naturally, their efficiency is much higher than that of human rule in a chaotic state.

As for the imperial court, it only needs to send people to conduct assessments regularly or irregularly to control most of the situations.

But Liu Ju also understood it in his heart.

"Standardization" cannot eliminate corruption. Even this system may still have some loopholes and needs to be improved in the actual implementation process.

But even so.

Such a management system is much more reliable and advanced than the current rule of man!

……

at the same time.

Greenhouse Palace.

"The crime of having huge amounts of property of unknown origin?"

Liu Che was also shocked by this unprecedented crime, and looked at the Chief Justice Zhao Yu in confusion.

"Your Majesty, this is the crime the Crown Prince has brought up, and he has asked me to add it to the Han law and enforce it."

Zhao Yu bowed and said,
"This crime is intended to monitor court officials."

"It means that the annual rewards for court officials are fixed, so after serving as an official, the amount of property they own should also be fixed according to the number of years they have served."

"If an official has a large amount of property that exceeds the prescribed amount, he or she should provide a reasonable and legal explanation of the source of the property."

"If you can't explain this part of the family property, you should be treated as a thief who embezzled money and should be skinned and stuffed with straw as a warning to others."

(End of this chapter)