Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 473 89 The Servant Lying on the Incense Stove-1

As the date of electing the prime minister approached, the situation gradually became clearer.With the help of donations, Lishe has controlled more than 40 prefectures and counties. In addition, it has persuaded some local gentry. Chen Dong has been able to secure the position of false prime minister. , so he took the next best thing and sought the position of false political advisor for Hou Huanyin. Of course, Chen Dong readily agreed. * Ten prefectures and counties have already stood by his side, which is what everyone expects.And in the previous month, the competition secretly provoked by the Neo-Confucian Society to compete for prefecture and county schools with donated students also brought a large amount of money to the treasury of Ezhou.Many prefectures and counties were dissatisfied with the loss of the county school's sacrificial wine position, and they also donated students to fight against the Neo Confucian Society. Under the two-phase confrontation, the number of donated students from the county school increased by more than 100. Within a short period of time, the Ezhou government treasury was enriched with more than 3000 million money and food.

In the large tent of the Baoyi Army's military mansion, the curtains on all sides are raised high, and the soldiers can be seen coming and going from the tent.Huang Jian looked around curiously, and finally fell on Zhao Xingde who was making tea, and said with a smile: "Yuan Zhi must have heard the rumors outside."

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "I heard, it's quite a legend." He brought a cup of tea to Huang Jian.

Huang Jian nodded, and thoughtfully said: "The rumors have sinister intentions, is Yuan Zhi going to defend himself?"

Zhao Xingde shook his head and said with a calm smile: "Rumors are limited to wise men, and now those chatterers are in high spirits. If the younger generation discerns, the rumors will become more and more popular. After a period of time, the younger generation will come out to clarify the matter." He Sighed, "The big thing now is that every prefecture and county is about to elect a fake prime minister. Chen Shaoyang was roasted on the stove. Mr. Huang made a special visit, presumably because of this matter?" It's just that in the current situation, if he judges it, he will be in the game, and those who are interested will add fuel to the flames, which may overwhelm Chen Dong's limelight, so before electing the prime minister, Zhao Xingde decided to remain silent.

Huang Jian looked at Zhao Xingde appreciatively, he nodded, then shook his head and said, "This old man came here for the matter of donating life." He frowned and said, "As Chen Shaoyang said, donating life is an expedient measure. However, With this, the rich and powerful control the prefectures and counties, and once their power is achieved, it will be difficult to shake. What I am afraid of is that if this matter is accumulated, the tyrants will take advantage of this opportunity to run rampant in the countryside and control the prefectures and counties. It's time to start." His words were full of worry, "Besides, this system of donating life blocks other scholars from making progress, which will inevitably arouse criticism and dissatisfaction from other scholars. The matter of bullying the common people in Yurou Township, the selection of officials, and the good reputation accumulated by the Neo Confucian Society over the years, I am afraid that it will be ruined at once."

Zhao Xingde nodded and said: "Sir, what you said is reasonable." He came up with this idea for Chen Dong, but it was just to deal with the current situation, which violated his heart, and he was thinking about the gains and losses when he had some free time these days.Just when Huang Jian came to visit, he said: "The younger generation thinks that in order to curb the disadvantage of donating students to select officials, we must disperse the power of the states and counties, and use national laws to restrict local tyrants."

"How do you say that?" Huang Jian's eyes showed deep thought.

"The authority of prefectures and counties is actually divided into two parts. One part is to govern the local area, and the other part is to decide cases and judge prisons. The power of deciding cases of local county magistrates can be divided, and the court has another judge to judge cases. In this way, Even if the county magistrate chosen by the donation is biased, it will not make the people have nowhere to complain."

Huang Jian doubted: "The prefectures and counties were elected just now, and another judge was appointed. Isn't it true that the prefectures and counties will not agree to it?"

Zhao Xingde said slowly: "This matter can be done step by step. The imperial court will not mention the matter of setting up another judge, but let the county school elect another judge. There is an extra official position in the prefecture and county, and the gentry must agree. If the power is strong, at most another member of the party will be elected as the judge. If the power is not strong enough, I am afraid that the judge will be the one who checks and balances the state and county. The judges elected by the county school will inevitably have many problems over time. Sheng, after the public grievances arise, the prime minister will appoint a group of judges from the Dali Temple to go to the local area to receive pleadings from the people to review unjust cases. These judges from the Dali Temple are stationed in prefectures and counties. The judge of Dali Temple will directly punish the crime."

Huang Jian thought for a moment, then asked: "The three classes and six houses in the county government, but some should be distributed to the judge? The judge does not have these subordinates, so I am afraid that he is not the opponent of the county magistrate." In fact, it played a very important role. Without the help of these people, it would be difficult for even magistrates to do things, let alone the newly established judges.

Zhao Xingde shook his head and said: "It is precisely to make the judge weak. If the power of the two parties is not much different, I am afraid that the judge will become another county magistrate, and the vicious struggle between the two will not be conducive to governing the region. If the judge's power is much weaker than For states and counties, what he relies on is the righteousness of the national law, so that the judges can be biased to the side of the imperial court and the national law." He pondered, "In this way, the harm of the powerful gentry to the common people can be reduced."

After careful consideration, Huang Jian said: "The magistrates of the prefectures are controlled by the magistrates, and the magistrates are bound by the laws of the country. There are magistrates from Dali Temple behind them. It is indeed a solution." He looked at the soldiers walking back and forth in the distance, secretly Thinking: "In this way, the restraint of the prefecture and county on the prime minister has also been greatly shared by the judge. In the long run, the local powerful forces will focus on the prefecture and county, freeing them from the struggle for power in the central government. It can be slightly alleviated. Although the prime minister cannot appoint states and counties, the power in the center is not as restrained as it used to be. It feels like the situation has suddenly become brighter, and there is a place to exert strength. In the end, no one can achieve anything. But what about the common people? Will the common people's life be easier?" Thinking of this moment, Huang Jian couldn't help frowning deeply, and sighed.

............

As night fell, the head of the Yellow Crane Tower was still brightly lit. Kong Zimu, an envoy from Jingdong Road, was the host, and invited fifty or sixty prefectures and counties to attend the banquet.Kong Zimu represents Hou Huanyin, the appeasement envoy of Jingdong Road.Chen Dong and Hou Huanyin respected the emperor in Ezhou and Jingdong respectively, echoing each other from afar.According to private rumors, this time Chen Dong became a fake prime minister, and Hou Huanyin pretended to participate in political affairs, and his power in dozens of states and counties on the Jingdong Road was further consolidated.The invited state and county schools, even members of the Neo Confucian Society, had to give Kong Zimu this face.

Kong Zimu is worthy of being Hou Huanyin's confidant, the house is full of guests, and he takes good care of every county school offering wine while drinking wine.He observed and tested everyone's attitudes towards Ezhou and Jingdong while talking, while quietly telling everyone to be careful that the Prime Minister's Office of Ezhou interfered too much in the affairs of the prefecture and county, and even emptied the county magistrate and county school .

"Brother Wu's words are not unfounded worries." A gray-haired old man with the appearance of a wealthy gentry said worriedly, "Now the military power is in the Baoyi Army and the Township, and the food and grass are in the Military Supply Office. Waiting for restraint." He stretched out his hand to 'touch' his head, and said with lingering fear, "It's okay to suppress the police, especially those soldiers and ruffians in the Baoyi Army, they are really unreasonable."

His last words resonated a lot, and everyone nodded in agreement. Someone said in a low voice: "Chen Dong only wants to be the prime minister. It's okay to say, have you heard the recent rumors? According to me, Zhao Xingde is a He wants to usurp the throne and become the emperor." The other said cautiously, "Shh, keep quiet, if this person really thinks so, he must be a big 'traitor'."

Kong Zimu listened to all directions and watched the six directions.Most of the prefectures and counties who attended the meeting were not pedantic masters, but quite sophisticated people.On the one hand, these people hope that the forces of Ezhou can resist the Liao army for them, and on the other hand, they don't want Ezhou to infringe on the interests of the gentry in the prefecture and county. Otherwise, they might as well vote for Zhao Qi in Xiangyang.Compared with Chen Dong of the Neo-Confucian Society, Cai Jing, Li Bangyan and others were far superior in their methods of bringing in party members and looting places.

Seeing that the heat was right, Kong Zimu coughed, pretending to be worried, and said: "This time we elected the prime minister, but we didn't just put the handle of the knife in someone else's hands." He cupped his hands far away to the north, and said loudly, "The so-called under heaven, is it the land of the king, and the shore of the land, is it the minister of the king? Everyone respects the Holy Son of Heaven, and the prime minister is just like us. He is only the son of the emperor. If there is a problem, then it is not a capable minister, but a rebellious minister. Please tell me, is this the truth?"

Some people still don't understand the meaning of Kong Zimu's words, some people's faces are solemn and dare not agree easily, and a few people said loudly: "Well said, we are just respecting the Son of Heaven, and we are not following rebels." Chaos'." Most of the people present were prudent people, and after these people yelled a few times, they couldn't continue, and their momentum weakened.Kong Zimu saw it, and thought to himself, it seems that Chen Dong's power and influence in the southeast are indeed not small, Hou Gong asked Chen Dong to be the prime minister, maybe he didn't mean to put him on the fire. Let's burn this fire even harder.

Kong Zimu coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "Since Chen Shaoyang is expected by everyone, but as the saying goes, Lu Yao knows the horsepower, and he can see the hearts of the people over time. We must elect him to be the prime minister, but there must be constraints. According to Mr. Huang Zhoushan, the county school After Jijiu elects the prime minister, he still has the right to discuss impeachment. However, Mr. Zhoushan only proposed a general idea of ​​how to implement it, but there are no rules and regulations. Everything is established if it is not foreseen. Ladies and gentlemen, we will discuss one today. How about the regulations governing the prime minister?"