Han Shizu

Since ancient times, natural disasters have often been accompanied by man-made disasters. This is almost an unbreakable and hard truth, and it can be regarded as a norm in the Han Dynasty.In the troubled Han Dynasty, almost every time a disaster occurs, the officialdom of the disaster-stricken area faces a drastic change.

Before, during, and after the disaster, a large number of bureaucrats were removed from their posts, removed from office, or even beheaded and exiled due to endless reasons.Among them, only a very small number were inspected and punished by the court simply because of poor disaster prevention and relief. More often, it was because of the disaster that they enriched their own pockets and took advantage of human lives.

There are certainly positive aspects to this, for example, some officials who care about the country and the people and work diligently will receive praise and promotions, but compared with the overall sample, they are in the minority.

Although the official education of the Han Dynasty has always required bureaucrats to be loyal to the emperor and patriotism, educate the people like children, understand the general principles, understand the general situation, and consider the overall situation, in the actual practice of holding office, it is really rare that they can achieve this.

This is still in an environment where the supervisory power of the Han Dynasty is strong.Just like what happened in every disaster in the past, last year's rain disaster in the Central Plains was also accompanied by the punishment of a group of officials, most of whom were corrupt.

Those who are brave enough even dare to use money allocated by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Taoist Department for river protection, embankment protection, and forest planting.As the core ruling area of ​​the Han Dynasty, under the leadership of the old emperor, the court was always willing to invest money in its maintenance.

For example, the policy of planting trees to consolidate soil and embankments along the Yellow River, Bian River, and Huai River has been implemented for more than 30 years, and money and grain are allocated every year and earmarked funds are earmarked.At the same time, when it comes to water conservancy and bridge embankment projects that some states and counties cannot afford, as long as they ask for help, no matter how long they have to queue, they can get some money after approval.

There is even a relationship that is used to request funds specifically for water conservancy projects to make up for shortfalls in other areas.The purpose of water conservancy projects is to prevent harm and make profits. The amount of profit can often not be evaluated in detail. However, in terms of harm prevention, once a flood occurs, it will be clear who is true and who is false. This way we can identify who is loyal, who is traitorous, and who is virtuous. No one is more convincing.

Every time he heard the following situation and saw the bad things that happened in the local area, Liu Yang couldn't help but feel angry. He was angry about their greed and evil, and also worried about these people's audacity and lack of memory.

Now, when the prince, who has gone through many hardships, reviews the memorials submitted by the local government, he has an attitude of listening [-]% and believing [-]%, or even lower. Just like the old emperor, the prince has no more respect for the bureaucrats of the Han Dynasty. Confidence at all
Therefore, although Liu Yang was sulky, he was not really surprised when he learned from Shangyang Palace about the bad things that happened during the post-disaster reconstruction process of Huanghuai Daozhou.

The ugliness and crime on the surface can basically be solved by sending inspection envoys to inspect and investigate. The difficulty is those things that are hidden under the surface and have not been reflected in the memorials.

As for the issue of land annexation mentioned in the memorials of the Imperial City and Wude Divisions.There is no doubt that a rainstorm and flood that hit Lianzhou County not only caused heavy losses to the affected officials and people, but also severely hindered the tax reform of the Han Dynasty.

In the Huainan and Huaibei regions, there has even been a general recurrence and regression.Millions of acres of land in the Huaihe River Basin were flooded, destroying not only the crops growing on the land, but also the pre-disaster land order.

In the 28th year of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the tax reform in Huaihe and Huaihe had just begun, and the progress of land clearing was also very slow. However, after a flood, the meager reform results were also ruined, almost accompanied by the destroyed land labels and boundaries, as well as those missing data, information and credentials.

In Liu Yang's view, the post-disaster reconstruction submitted by Daosi was more like a feast of vultures and a carnival of conservatives.There are millions of victims, and it is impossible for the local government to rescue all of them. The limited resources can only be used on some of the lucky ones.

The remaining victims need to help themselves. If they simply rely on government relief, they will starve to death long ago.There are almost no local governments that can faithfully provide all-round relief to the victims in accordance with the requirements of the imperial court. It is not so reasonable to appear in a feudal dynasty like the Han Dynasty.

Based on the experience of the past 20 years, if we can ensure the supply of relief food as much as possible and reduce deaths caused by famine, we have done our best.During this flood, the officials in Lianghuai did a poor job.

When the refugees returned to their hometowns, they were faced with devastation and basically poverty. If they wanted to survive, and the government was unreliable, they could only seek help from the wise village officials.

Of course, this help is not free. The price is what has happened repeatedly in most of China's history: selling local products, becoming tenants, and being personally dependent.

It is true that under the current Han Dynasty system, uncontrolled and bottomless mergers are greatly restricted. However, no matter how strict the supervision is, there are still loopholes to exploit. There are too many things in the world that cannot be restricted by a few laws.

After three years of vigorous tax reform, the Han landlord class has also woken up from the initial blow. After adapting, there are more countermeasures.

The original method of breaking up the land into small pieces within the clan and sharing the land tax has now become outdated.Just like what is happening in some places in Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, after the disaster victims return to their hometowns, the land will still be cultivated by you, and the ownership registered in the field register will still be yours. Farm tools, seeds, and cattle rental services will also be provided. However, the land produced every season is still yours. In addition to the regular taxes paid to the court, a part must be paid to the "creditor".

Don’t be afraid of inspections from above. After all, everything is done in accordance with tax reform regulations.This is not a annexation, it is just a debt repayment. The court wants to suppress the "owner-tenant" relationship, so this "clean" debt relationship cannot be banned.The only problem may be that the interest rate is higher and can be adjusted at any time, to the point where you will never be able to pay it back in your lifetime. Is this exploitation?Is it squeezing?If it weren't for the kindness of wise men and elders, people would starve to death. Even if you are exploited, you must first be worthy of being exploited.

If it attracts the attention of the government, well, under normal circumstances, the government will not cause trouble. As long as the taxes are paid in full and the bureaucrats are fed, how can they care about the plight of the people?

What's more, in such a disaster period, their actions are of great merit in rescuing the suffering. They saved the court so much trouble, reduced the chaos of right and wrong, and improved the restoration of public security order. They should be commended and praised by the government. That's it.

As for the county magistrate, all he needs to do is to take good care of the mud-legged people on his own territory, farm the land honestly, pay taxes and grain in a disciplined manner, and don't make any big troubles and cause trouble for the officials. Adding trouble to the court.

Let’s all work together to maintain the “A prosperous age of prosperity” and create a prosperous atmosphere with clear rivers and seas. That will be the great unity of the world.
It seems that the behavior of the Huainan landowners is not a special case. It is like the instinct of the feudal landowners. By analogy, this is not the only strategy to deal with the court's tax reform.

Even though he is not the main executor of the tax reform, Liu Yang still feels indignant about the various phenomena that have occurred in Lianghuai.As the prince, he must look at this issue from the perspective of the court and the royal family. Putting aside everything else, this kind of behavior of trying to find loopholes and exploiting loopholes is a blasphemy against the authority of the court.

Being able to influence the imperial government's affairs can naturally lead to confrontation with the imperial court in any other matters and in any field.It is intolerable for any person in a superior position to be obedient and contradictory.

In addition to being indignant, Liu Yang also felt a headache, because he clearly saw that if the local clan tycoons were doing this, the court would not be able to do much to rectify it.

Wu Desi's investigation is only superficial. He knows that this kind of behavior exists, but to be specific to individuals, it requires doubled energy. To be specific to more cases, the price paid will be even higher.

In the final analysis, the regulatory power of the imperial court is limited, and its scope of radiation is also limited.How difficult it is for the imperial power to go to the countryside.Once the wealthy people in the countryside figured out how to deal with the court, trouble would ensue.

Liu Yang has almost foreseen that the tax reform in the Huaihe and Huaihe regions has suffered such a setback. If we do not find ways to curb it and strengthen supervision, I am afraid that the future will be worrying.Liu Yang even had doubts about the final outcome of the tax reform that the old emperor pushed for in his later years.

There are dozens of tracts and thousands of counties in the Han Dynasty. Countless disasters of various sizes occur every year. Each disaster destroys the old land order and can easily cause the bankruptcy of the farmers and bring annexation to the landlord class. Opportunities and convenience for expansion.

Natural disasters and man-made disasters are entangled together, and the destructive power they unleash on the regime is unimaginable and difficult to prevent.

For a moment, Liu Yang almost realized the essence of the rule of the Han Empire. No matter how worried the emperor was about the country and the people, or how good the government implemented to relieve the people's plight, the people would always be in poverty.

It is impossible for the emperor to directly rule the common people without overcoming the nobility, bureaucrats, landlords, and clans. As long as there are these rentier classes in between, the people will never be free and will not have easy food and clothing, let alone other things.

If you want to overthrow the interest class in the middle, it will be tantamount to digging your own grave. After all, the emperor's system is not maintained by the hundreds of millions of Guizhou farts.

Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. This is certainly true. An emperor who can realize this can be called a wise king.However, most of the time, Guizhou in the world does not have the ability to "capsize the boat".

The emperor can govern the country with such a concept of "loving the people", but he needs to understand that his ultimate goal is to maintain the rule of the family and the world, rather than to empathize with the head of Guizhou.

All the common people can do is struggle hard. In the so-called prosperous times, the degree of exploitation is relatively light. Even if they cannot enjoy the fruits of their own blood and sweat, they still have the opportunity to wait and see from the bottom.
Liu Yang is not like the old emperor. In his heart, he still has ideals and good hopes for peace in the world and well-being for all people.Therefore, although I felt sad due to some practical problems, my mentality adjusted quickly.

Even if many problems are deep-rooted and difficult to eradicate, the action must be taken when it is necessary, and the rules established must be maintained, even if it is just to ensure that the court has laws and reasons to follow when it strikes hard in a certain limited area, that is the positive meaning .

Next, we need to pay more attention to the promotion and maintenance of tax reform, Liu Yang thought to himself.In the fourth year of tax reform, there is no longer much controversy in the court. This is a consensus. Regardless of the pros and cons of the old and new tax systems, the tax system of the Han Dynasty must be unified. After all, this is an issue seriously related to the ruling order, and repeated pulling and pulling cannot be tolerated. Excessive delay.