Han Shizu

There is no doubt that no matter how much change Liu Min plans to make and how strong his determination is, Anxi's affairs have not reached the point where he has made his own decisions.

Although you can talk to yourself, the consequences may be serious. Therefore, regarding the reform of Anxi, Liu Min personally drafted a detailed charter and reported it to the court.After five hundred miles of flying, riding fast, rain or shine, it was already late June when we arrived in Luoyang.

It was raining heavily and there were thunder gods in the sky, but the atmosphere in the Guangzheng Palace was unexpectedly relaxed. The main reason was that the laughter of the Crown Prince Liu Yang seemed to be cheerful. This was particularly rare for His Royal Highness, who was always reserved. The ministers present were naturally relaxed. Quite a few.

"Recently, it's rare to receive some good news. Qian Ruoshui, Yao Yigong, and Wang Ji are all rare capable ministers and officials!" Liu Yangchang said.

How should I put it? In the past few months, the political arena of Han Dynasty has not been stable. There have been troubles everywhere and peace has been rare.There is no need to mention the center. From the prince to the court officials, they all live in the shadow of the old emperor. His moody temper makes people feel like walking on thin ice.

Locally, the northwest officialdom has undergone another major purge, especially in Hexi and Longyou districts. Half of the officials have been replaced, including many high-ranking officials above the state capital. There are more than 200 people who need to lose their heads. The impact is spreading. , Guannai Road also lost many officials.

A group of "reformers" led by Wang Yucheng were happy, but Helong's political affairs were neglected, and the administration of many places even fell into temporary chaos and paralysis.

Seeing that the situation was escalating and the sequelae of the purge became more and more prominent, Prince Liu Yang could not sit still and went to the old emperor in person to report in detail the situation and situation of Helong's reforms.

There was a conversation between the emperor and the prince. Translated, it goes like this:
Prince: Your Majesty, do you think this is enough?

Emperor: Do you think that's enough?

Prince: Enough!
Emperor: Why?Too much, not enough?

Prince: The local government is in danger, and the powerful are repeated!
Then, there was no clear edict, but the rectification of the northwest officialdom was actually stopped. The inspectors and censors did not conduct large-scale investigations and impeachments, nor did they continue to make large-scale changes in officials. The major issues gradually became smaller and then disappeared.

Compared with the past, the rectification of the northwest officialdom lasted shorter and was not large in scale. It was basically limited to Helong Road, but the impact was not small at all, and even more profound.

Killing is only one aspect, what is more important is the prince's warning, which is repeated violently.There is a saying that the bureaucrats of the Han Dynasty have their own ugly side, but from the perspective of maintaining the Han Empire and consolidating the Liu family, they are also pillar-like existences.The nobles need bureaucrats to balance them, the powerful need bureaucrats to restrain them, and the people need bureaucrats to govern them.

Although there is no absolute boundary between the first two, and there are even many cases of collusion and collusion, at least under the current political situation, the Han bureaucrats, especially the common people bureaucrats, have great positive significance for the Liu family.

Government needs to fight corruption and promote integrity, and the ruling class needs to purify itself to maintain vitality and ensure combat effectiveness. It even needs to use the heads and blood of corrupt officials to ease conflicts and appease people's grievances.

However, everything must have a degree. In the current northwest, the imperial court needs to pay attention to the principle of overcorrection.The officialdom has been purged, military and political officials have been tortured enough, and the authority of the court has been established, but what about political power?But in fact, it keeps slipping.

After all, if the bureaucrats have too much time to take care of themselves, how can they find the time and energy to control the powerful and powerful people in Guizhou?In the past 30 years, the officialdom of the northwest has undergone several reforms, but if it remains unchanged, it will definitely be a major case with widespread implications.

After several rectifications, in some places, there has been a trend of losing political power.With the help of the imperial court's rectification, some powerful families and clans resurrected and stole local governance power.

At the same time, in order to rule the northwest, the military and political system had absorbed many clan and tribal forces. Although the court's rectification was an indiscriminate attack, those people also suffered heavy losses, but while they slipped through the net, they took the opportunity to expand their influence and grow stronger.The Yang family in Ganzhou is the best example.All in all, Liu Yang's advice struck a chord with Emperor Liu.If Liu Yang had used the clichéd reasons of political turmoil and unstable public sentiment to dissuade him, he would probably only have received a rebuke from the old emperor.

In Emperor Liu's view, the imperial court was intensifying its efforts to regulate officials and crack down on corruption and violence. Only the bureaucrats were in trouble, and only the rentier class was uneasy.People's hearts, first of all, the definition of the word "people" needs to be carefully considered.

Ordinary people, as long as the bureaucrats don't do evil, they can be as stable as a mountain without even having to do anything on their part.The relationship between bureaucrats and ordinary people has always been between domination and exploitation. The purpose of regulating Helong is because local officials act too wantonly, exploit too harshly, and look too ugly. The ordinary people can only applaud, so why complain?

Therefore, such rhetoric would never be able to impress the old emperor.However, when the prince repeatedly talked about local governance and clans and powerful people, the old emperor, who was still not confused about major matters, naturally had to take it seriously.

In the eyes of the old emperor, corrupt officials are abominable and hateful, but not terrible. They are toilet paper that can be used to wipe one's butt at any time.But the problem will be more serious if local governance power is diverted due to the investigation of corrupt officials.

Therefore, it is reasonable to stop in time.At the same time, so many officials were captured, the bad governance in the northwest was changed, and the original intention of the court was realized.Next, we have to enter a new cycle, starting from appeasing the northwest officialdom.
In fact, the abuses in the northwest officialdom have been repeated repeatedly, and have even led to the collapse of governance.After looking into the root cause, the problem lies with the old emperor again.

Without him, the old emperor became more anxious as he got older. Whenever something happened, he liked to engage in movements, make connections, expand the area of ​​attack, and carry out large-scale cleansing. How could problems not arise if he did this?

Cao Che's actions can certainly solve the short-term disadvantages, but the sequelae cannot be eliminated by the old emperor's wishes.Under the current restrictions on information and transportation, administrative efficiency is already low, and carrying out special operations in the northwest is an opportunity for local power to rise.

In comparison, Prince Liu Yang's steady and progressive approach is more suitable for today's big men. The approach is different, but the ultimate goal can be achieved. At the same time, it is more in line with the principle of "governing a big country is like cooking small delicacies".

The politics of the Han Dynasty should be more rational and should not be left to the whims of the old emperor.The political rules of the Han Dynasty were originally issued by Emperor Liu, but now, many rules have been broken by himself, which is very detrimental to the political ecology of the Han Dynasty.

It has to be said that the old emperor is no longer suitable to continue to rule this empire. The various problems caused by the old emperor have deeply affected the empire and affected all aspects of the entire empire. In fact, the prince's efforts to repair the leaks have already begun.
Compared with the He and Long purges, there is the commonplace tax reform issue. Although it is no longer as dramatic, the impact on the empire is obviously more far-reaching.

It has been three years since the tax reform was carried out. By this year, it has been fully implemented across the country. At the same time, various problems have begun to explode.There are two most obvious problems. First, resistance from the local areas still exists. They dare not confront the court in person, but there are endless roundabout tricks.

Take the land clearing as an example. The imperial court issued several edicts asking all prefectures to summarize and report the results of land clearing. However, so far, only Gyeonggi, Henan, Yulin, and Jiangnan have done so.

The rest of Daozhou either has not been completed, or the reported data is untrue and looks fake. The most egregious one is Helong. It has not started for three years. I wonder if it is the reason for the "Western Expedition"
Whether it is reprimand or punishment, there is always something to say at the local level. Of course, this problem is common, but it will be solved one day, and a data that satisfies the court will eventually be obtained.

In comparison, the second issue is much more troublesome, and that is the issue of tax reform for officials.Any reform or policy cannot be implemented without its executors.However, the quality of the executors varies, and their understanding of the policies also varies. When they get to the local government, it is inevitable that there will be a lot of demons dancing around, and what annoys the superiors the most are the ones who violate the policy and deliberately misinterpret it.

Since the beginning of this year, whether it is from supervisory agencies or local reports, impeachments about the "irregularities" of tax reform bureaucrats have been flying to the political hall like snowflakes.

Among them, there are certainly criticisms of the reformists and many falsehoods. Likewise, there are many people and many issues that are real and make people angry.

The three people mentioned by Prince Liu Yang, "Qian, Yao, and Wang," are three local officials with outstanding political achievements, good official reputation, and remarkable achievements in tax reform.