Great Han Empire

Chapter 1011 Chapter [-]
The imperial edict of the eldest princess was very sudden, and she left Liyang very quickly, and the ministers in Chang'an were caught off guard.Grand Sima Xu Rong, Yushi Dafu Xun You, and Ting Weiqing Chen Qun rushed to Liyang overnight, intending to ask the Eldest Princess for her opinion on the court's purge of officials, but at this moment the Eldest Princess has already crossed Luoshui and is about to reach Pubanjin.She didn't say anything, just walked away.

Xu Rong sat alone in the carriage, worried and frowning.He didn't expect the eldest princess to leave Chang'an in a fit of anger. This should be regarded as a threat, a threat in disguise.Since you are all ignoring my existence, then I will leave, and you can do whatever you want, and the responsibility for the peril of the country is on your shoulders.If something happens in the future, it's out of control, you should lose your head, you should be punished, and none of you can escape.

The eldest princess handed over the problem to Xu Rong.Xu Rong gained weight, changed his identity, and changed his thinking. He had to reconsider the solution to the crisis from the standpoint of the emperor and His Highness.

Xun You and Chen Qun sat in another carriage, closing their eyes and meditating.The eldest princess felt the bloody wind blowing towards her face, she was forced to leave, and was forced away by the Prime Minister and the Taiwei. As a result, the strongest and most reliable wings of the eldest princess were gone, and Chang'an lost She was protected by the eldest princess, exposed to the raging storm, and the danger came screaming.How can we avoid this violent storm?
=

On October [-]th, Chang'an City looked calm and calm, but under the calm water surface, undercurrents were surging, and storms were about to come.

Prime Minister Li Wei and Taiwei Zhang Yan rushed to Weiyang Palace one after another.

Xu Rong made a decision. In order to protect the interests of the court, he should control the scope of the case as much as possible. In principle, only the main criminal should be held accountable, and the innocent should not be punished. The method of "paying off debts" formulated.

Zhang Yan did not object.The purpose of Li Wei this time is to implement the strategy of "clearing debts". If the purpose can be achieved smoothly, there is no need to kill all the people, so as not to intensify the conflicts between the parties in the court and provoke the struggle between the court and the opposition.Before the country is unified, the great cause of ZTE requires the close cooperation of all forces. When formulating and implementing national policies, the imperial court must follow the principle of alleviating and reducing conflicts and trying to protect and balance the interests of all parties. This principle cannot be changed.

Li Wei is in a good mood.The eldest princess is gone, and all the power of the Han Dynasty is in the hands of the ministers of the Northern Xinjiang Department. All opponents have lost their resistance, and now they can do whatever they want without any resistance.

"Your Highness can figure it out, it's really a blessing for the country." Li Wei walked to the door with a smile, and waved to Jia Kui and Wen Hui who were standing outside the house.

Chang Shi and Sima of the Prime Minister's Mansion came in with several bundles of papers each.Tian Chou looked at the documents piled up on the case table, and then at Li Wei who was confident, and asked in surprise, "Brother Zhong Yuan, have you formulated a new policy?"

"Of course, how can I miss such a good opportunity?" Li Wei pointed out the window, "If I miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, God will beat me to death with a thunderbolt."

Xu Rong and Zhang Yan looked at each other and smiled wryly.The prime minister of the big man is too powerful, his indomitable momentum can even be compared with a hundred thousand cavalry, and no one can stop his sharpness.

=

"The imperial court used the 30-year border land lease right to repay the debt. The main purpose is to relocate the population and garrison the border, but what will happen after 30 years?" Li Wei said, "Since the Great Qin Dynasty, garrisoning the land and guarding the border has been the purpose of defending the territory. It is an important national policy, and Emperor Xiaowu once moved millions of people to Hetao, Hexi and other frontier areas, but why did they all fail? Why does this national policy always lose its effect over time? The land in the county is always barren, and the people in the border county always move south one after another?"

"Four reasons." Li Wei stretched out four fingers and said, "Unpredictable disasters, frequent invasions by barbarians, corrupt officials, and..." Li Wei looked at everyone in the room and said word by word, " The exploitation of the people by the garrison system is too severe. The garrison system itself is an emergency system. It has been implemented for a long time, and the people in the garrison will not get benefits, and they will lose their enthusiasm for farming, and then all problems will follow. And to."

Everyone nodded.At that time, ministers such as Zhang Wen and Cui Lie were eager to revise the land system and vigorously promoted the "dictation of land by word". Let the people quickly get benefits from the land, thus stabilizing the hearts of the people and speeding up the growth of the imperial court's wealth.

"Since the implementation of the new land system in the Tuntian districts of the border counties in northern Xinjiang, the production of grain and millet has been increasing. Although the rate of increase is very slow, the barrenness of the border counties will gradually improve after a long period of time. The border counties become rich and the people stay. Once it is down, the vast territory of the Han Dynasty will be able to be defended."

"But..." Li Wei suddenly emphasized, "The imperial court has policies, and the powerful families and wealthy merchants naturally have countermeasures. They will never be satisfied with recovering their principal and interest. They will definitely try to squeeze money from the land and people in the border county. Money twice as much as principal and interest, and this kind of unrestrained and cruel exploitation will quickly push the border county into the abyss of war, so..." Li Wei picked up a volume of papers, "We have to formulate a strategy for cultivating the fields and defending the border. To ensure the survival of the people in the border counties, we must restrict and combat the unscrupulous exploitation of powerful merchants, and we must ensure the stability of the two northwestern borders."

"Is it possible to simultaneously implement the garrison system and the dictation system?" Xu Rong asked.

"Yes, the imperial court grants the immigrants a certain amount of land and reduces or exempts the land rent to ensure their survival while immigrating to farming." Li Wei said with a smile, "If the survival of the immigrants is guaranteed, the stability of the border county will also be guaranteed. , and if these powerful and rich people want to recover their principal and interest within 30 years, they must appease and treat the immigrants well, otherwise they will lose all their money."

"The imperial court's new land system has taken away the 'shady households' of the aristocratic families, and this time the 'reclamation of fields and guarding the border' has taken away their tenant farmers and field boys. The strength of the aristocratic families in various places has been hit hard again." Li Wei proudly Waving his hand wildly, "But it's not enough. The imperial court will further weaken their strength to minimize their harm to the country."

Xu Rong felt dizzy, feeling physically and mentally exhausted, and couldn't hold on anymore.Now he could understand why the eldest princess gritted her teeth with hatred for Li Wei.This series of heavy blows, no one can bear it. The policy of "cultivating fields and guarding the border" has seriously damaged the interests of the wealthy and powerful, but the prime minister still has more ideas, and continues to launch "attacks", which is bound to beat the wealthy and powerful to their knees.

The smile on Zhang Yan's face was also a little stiff.If there was no letter from the general, he would not have unequivocally supported Li Wei. After all, it would have taken a lot of risk. However, Li Wei's "appetite" was getting bigger and bigger, which made him involuntarily have an ominous premonition.If Li Wei is allowed to continue to reform the system like this, will one day "change" to the military class and "change" to himself?

===

Tian Chou was terrified, and asked cautiously: "Brother Zhongyuan, besides the strategy of 'cultivating the fields and defending the border', do you have a new strategy for restructuring?"

"Of course..." Li Wei looked up to the sky and said "haha", with an angry look on his face, "At the beginning of the year, in order to regain the wealth that was robbed by the powerful and wealthy, the imperial court formulated a set of restructuring strategies, but there were many obstacles. It took a lot of effort, and even lost the life of Master Zheng Xuan, before it was promulgated and implemented. The price we paid was too high, especially the compromise of the "Nine Ranks of Officials Law", which buried the safety of the country. Afterwards, the more I think about it, the more I regret it, and I think Da Sima’s worries are very reasonable.”

"We can carefully recall the disadvantages of the probation system, and from this we can infer the disadvantages of the 'Nine Rank Officials Law'. In the future, the powerful families will be consolidated and strengthened by this law. Look at the Yang family in Kansai today, The Yuan family in Runan, the Ma Clan in Guanzhong, the Cui family in Jizhou, etc., which family doesn’t have hundreds of disciples and influences throughout the court and the opposition? If this method is vigorously promoted, after one or two generations, there will still be us inside and outside the court Is there a shelter for the offspring? Relying on the descendants of the powerful families who eat the flesh of the big man, suck the blood of the big man, and disregard the interests of the big man, can the big man be rejuvenated? Can the big man prosper?" Li Wei pouted contemptuously, " Go dreaming."

"What? Do you have a better selection method?" Zhang Yan asked hastily.

"I have no better way, I can only slightly change the selection system to be more beneficial to us." Li Wei looked at the people in the room and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, my lords, you have participated in the court test (Confucian scripture examination)?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I participated in it once." Li Wei said, "It was because of that test that I got outstanding grades, so I was favored by Mr. Zhu Jun and worshiped under him. If it wasn't for that test, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"The imperial court seldom selects talents through imperial examinations." Xu Rong said, "Because the court's inspections are held every year, and the Lang officials in the Lang's office are overcrowded, under normal circumstances, it takes many years to conduct an examination. .You have a good chance." Then he frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, "Do you want to select talents by means of trials?"

"Yes, as long as all the students of Taixue pass the examination, they can immediately obtain the qualification to become an official." Li Wei said, "Anyone who has talent can participate in the examination. The examination is also once every three years. In the county examination, those who have excellent grades will go to the prefecture to participate in the examination in the second year, and in the third year to participate in the imperial examination in the capital, and those who pass the examination can become officials."

Li Wei was very excited, and explained in detail the "examination and selection system" and the specific selection and examination methods.

"The most direct benefit of it is that it severely hit the strength of the powerful families, weakened their power, and reduced their harm to the country." Li Wei said excitedly, "After this policy is implemented, no matter you are studying today, Confucian students who study ancient Chinese classics are still Confucian students who study new classics. As long as you have real skills and excellent test scores, you can become an official. They will definitely support and respond. I am a living example."

"In addition, in order to excavate and discover talents as much as possible, we should not only test Confucian scriptures, but also test history, law, Fu, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. All kinds of talents can pass the test and become officials."

"Good way, good way." Tian Chou repeatedly praised, "Now the imperial court needs a large number of officials, relying on the 'ninth-rank officials' to select talents once every three years, the number is too small, this test system can just make up for the nine-rank officials. Insufficient law. Zhongzheng is also a human being. He cannot evaluate all aspects of Confucian scholars. Coupled with factors such as family status and human relations, he will inevitably miss too many talents. After the implementation of the test and selection system, if these people cannot obtain qualifications through Zhongzheng , You can also obtain qualifications through test scriptures. In this way, there are more ways for Confucian scholars to become officials, and the court will get more talents. You can get more with one move, and you can get more with one move."

Zhang Yan pondered for a long time, then said worriedly: "In the long run, the selection system of classics does not ask about family status, but only about talent and learning. It is very beneficial, but, if these two selection systems are implemented together, there must be some advantages. future……"

"Now that the government is in our hands, we can use various methods to quickly expand the influence of the selection system, such as expanding the number of candidates. Go directly to the court as an official or go to the local government to serve as a county magistrate with a salary of one thousand stones, etc..." Li Wei smiled indifferently, "The system of trial selection is a new system, and the Ninth Rank Official Personnel Law is also a new system, but due to The test selection system is more fair and just, and can bring greater benefits to the Confucian scholars. It will undoubtedly be supported by the majority of people, but the ninth-rank official law without the support of the Confucian scholars will be unsustainable. will disappear."

=

"What if the rich and powerful are firmly opposed?" Xu Rong looked embarrassed, "We can't force them too hard, they will jump the wall if they are in a hurry, let alone people?"

"That's right, Zhong Yuan, at this time bloody and corrupt, the consequences are unpredictable." Zhang Yan also persuaded, "The eldest princess walks away, the meaning is obvious, she just firmly disagrees with killing people. If something goes wrong in Chang'an , affecting the great cause of ZTE, we will be in big trouble."

"Is it okay not to kill people when things have become so troublesome?" Li Wei sneered, "Where is the dignity of the Han law? Where is the prestige of the court? How can the government be undefeated with such appeasement and connivance?"

"How much do you want to kill?" Xu Rong asked slowly, a little angrily.

"It depends on whether they are willing to bow their heads to the court? Are they willing to bow their heads and obey their ears and stop fighting openly and secretly with the court." Li Wei picked up a volume of documents from the table, opened it, and placed it in front of Xu Rong.

Xu Rong was shocked.Zhang Yan and Tian Chou surrounded him.

"Revise the "Criminal Law"?" Tian Chou was taken aback, "Brother Zhongyuan, are you crazy? Your Highness will not agree. When he was in Jinyang, the ministers of the court repeatedly asked for the revision of the "Criminal Law". But they were all flatly rejected by the eldest princess."

"The eldest princess is not in Chang'an now, and Da Sima is the agent of state affairs." Li Wei said indifferently, "If the "Criminal Law" is not changed, this time it will not be a matter of one or ten deaths, but a matter of thousands of deaths. "

"Rebuilding the "Criminal Law" is a matter of great importance. How dare I make decisions on my own?" Xu Rong shook his head and smiled wryly, "Zhong Yuan, you are not only forcing them to bow their heads, but also beheading them. Is it too much for you to let them dig their own graves?"

"Really?" Li Wei laughed, and snatched the documents on the case table, "Since they don't want to dig a hole for themselves, they have no choice but to throw the corpse in a random graveyard to feed the wolves."

"Zhong Yuan..." Zhang Yan looked at Li Wei and asked solemnly, "Are you sure the eldest princess will agree?"

"My lords..." Li Wei sighed, and said helplessly, "Since ancient times, no matter whether they succeed or fail, those who promote reformation to strengthen the country will end up miserable. Few people can live alone and enjoy their old age peacefully. Modify " "Criminal Law", delete the complex to simplify, reduce the heavy to the light, make a law and save punishment, to put it bluntly, it is for ourselves. This opportunity is too rare today. If we miss the opportunity, it will be more difficult to force the eldest princess to revise the "Criminal Law" in the future. "

The atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled down.

"Can powerful families and rich merchants convince the eldest princess?" Tian Chou asked worriedly, "After so many years, have you ever seen the eldest princess let go?"

"This time she will definitely let go." Li Wei showed a bit of bitterness on his face, "Because she is determined to take back the lost power, she thinks that the imperial power has been bullied, she is going to fight back, and the strength she relies on is our opponent " Li Wei threw the document on the ground casually, "This is the price of reform. No matter which dynasty, at such a critical moment, someone will always sacrifice their lives."

Xu Rong smiled lonely.A trace of disdain curled up on the corner of Zhang Yan's mouth, "I've been killing for so many years, and I don't care about killing a few more."

=

On October [-], Sili Xiaowei Zhang Liao was ordered to arrest Jun Shuling Qu Zhong.

In the afternoon of the same day, Taicang ordered Xu Ling to be "invited" to Sili Xiaowei's mansion.

=

At dusk, Grand Tutor Yang Biao, Yushi Dafu Xun You, Da Honglu Yuan Yao, Ting Weiqing Chen Qun went to Qilin Hall to pay a visit to Da Sima.

"If I knew today, why bother?" Yang Biao closed his eyes and sighed, "We have been doing our best to restrict and weaken the imperial power, but today it has come to such a point... It seems that the relative power is too much. Expansion is indeed a disaster for the country and the people."

"The problems that the sages couldn't solve, we can't solve either." Xun You frowned, and said with great frustration, "Checks and balances, checks and balances... What kind of official system can perfectly solve the checks and balances between imperial power and prime minister's power, and keep the imperial power in the court?" balance of power?"

"Forget it, don't discuss this kind of thing, let's think about how to get through the difficulties." Ting Weiqing Chen Qun said in a low voice, "I heard that Liu Pan from Bashu was ill, and he withdrew his troops and returned to Chengdu. The Wudu battlefield has ceased fighting If there is no accident, the left general Yan Liang and the right general Wen Chou will return to Chang'an with the Northern Army soon."

Yang Biao opened his eyes in shock, "Really?"

=

(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
(End of this chapter)