Han Shizu

Chapter 2036 The Last Journey 7
The Jiangling incident obviously did not end with that public execution. The smuggling and corruption cases themselves had many consequences.The first is to recover the dirty money. So many criminal civil and military officials relied on the golden waterway for anywhere from a few years to more than ten years. It is difficult to know how much wealth they have robbed without a thorough investigation and statistics. clearly.

At this time, the old emperor ordered Liu Wenji's general and asked him to lead a search. The first thing to search was Fu Zhaoshou's mansion. As for the rest, one by one, there was almost no possibility of escape.

This is really a big project, and just sorting out the properties of hundreds of bureaucrats and military officers is not something that can be done in a short time.In fact, when Luan Jia set off and the old emperor continued his southern tour, half of the prisoners had not yet been seized. Liu Wenji was also left in Jiangling to take responsibility for the matter to the end. Of course, it was unrealistic to rely on Liu Wenji alone. , the old emperor also left the censor Zhang Zhibai to assist him.

Public executions, loss of family property and registration, not to mention hundreds of criminals and their immediate family members were all exiled, packed up and sent to Anxi.Liu Min was carrying out a great "reform", and was short of people. The old emperor could see clearly that these people were a scourge at home, but when they came to Anxi, they were talents. With their "professional quality", they were very suitable. Liu Min's "camp" system.

This kind of treatment was the result of the old emperor's restraint. According to his original intention, he wanted to sentence all three of his clans to exile, but in the end he gave up. Fan Zhigu interceded for them, and the old emperor gave him face.

Even so, after this, the situation of Jinghu North Road also changed drastically. The once prominent and noble families collapsed and turned into dust.Especially the Wei family. Although it has not been uprooted, once the main branch of Wei Zhong falls, the remaining small branches, even if they still have some influence, will be lost to everyone, and they are likely to gradually disappear and completely decline. Disappearing into the upper echelons of Hubei, just "falling down the wall and pushing everyone back" is enough for the descendants of the Wei family.

On the contrary, the direct descendants of the Wei family who were sent to Anxi may have a greater chance. As long as they are willing to work hard, there may not be a day when the family can be revitalized in Anxi.
These are just the hundreds of prisoners. There were hundreds of people who had been captured before. The only difference in their treatment was that they saved their lives, lost their family property, and exiled their entire family. This package did not exempt them.Of course, in the exile of these people, the old emperor was impartial this time. Anxi, Anton, Linyi (Xinchu) and even Nanyang were all driven "abroad".

So many people have died, so many have been demoted, and so many positions have been vacated. Not to mention the naval system, there are many important positions from Jiangling Mansion to Chief Secretary. It is conceivable that Hubei's officialdom will be affected by this. thing.

The officialdom has always been a mess. Normally, so many positions would be transferred and changed. It is not surprising that it would take several years or even ten years.
But after the old emperor did this, the Hubei bureaucracy was frightened. For many people, it was also a blessing from heaven. Such an opportunity had been rare in decades.

There must be so many vacancies that must be filled. Officials, big and small, including those who usually just hope to pass the qualifications, are inevitably tempted. Some proactive people can't help it even when the old emperor is still in Jiangling. It became "active" up and down.

As for the replacement of these vacancies, although the old emperor had doubts, after careful consideration, he still handed it over to Fan Zhigu, and the Chief Secretary of Jinghu North Province drafted the list and submitted it to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for approval.

This is naturally a show of support for Fan Zhigu. These vacant positions are important bargaining chips for Fan Zhigu to completely control the overall situation of Hubei. As for how Fan Zhigu uses it, the old emperor has no care. He only hopes that Fan Zhigu will not Live up to his expectations.

Liu Wenji was assigned to search for stolen property. Naturally, the old emperor would not treat his grandson favorably.Liu Wenhuan was also entrusted with important tasks at the same time. He mainly had two tasks. First, after the Hubei Navy experienced this disaster, its morale was scattered and its combat power was gone. This situation obviously cannot be tolerated for a long time and must be rectified immediately to restore it quickly. order, and for the rectification of the navy, the old emperor left it to Liu Wenhuan, assisted of course by Hu Yanzan, the commander of the inner army.

Another thing is to "sweep out crime and eliminate evil". On the prosperous body of Jiangling Mansion, countless leeches are parasitic, active at the bottom of society, haunting the shadows of dark corners, devouring the flesh and blood of the common people all the time. , and also shaken the rule of the imperial court.

Therefore, in order to eradicate evil and restore order to the people, we must also clear up the turbid air beneath the prosperity of Jiangling Mansion.Of course, no matter how vicious the minions are, they are just minions. Without the protection of the powerful, they are not worth mentioning at all. So in the end, it is still a matter of fighting corruption.And over Jiangling Mansion, the largest umbrella had broken, which reduced Liu Wenhuan's resistance a lot.

The old emperor didn't say much about doing errands for the two grandsons, but in the eyes of interested people, it was a special and obvious political signal. He was clearly inspecting the two grandsons.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Far away in Jiangling, the guests and assistant officials in the East Palace are not there. Liu Wenji even has only two attendants around him. Although the old emperor is equipped with Zhang Zhibai and Hu Yanzan to help him, the old emperor has explained in advance that they are only for entrustment. At the end of the day, the two emperors and grandsons are basically allowed to express themselves more freely in dealing with matters, and the key observation is their personal qualities.

In this regard, many people who have thought far ahead can't help but sigh. It seems that the choice of the king of the next generation is between these two emperors and grandsons.However, this thought throughout my life has caused more doubts.

If the Holy Will belongs to the second emperor's grandson, how can the legitimate son of the East Palace explain that he is the legitimate grandson of the emperor, and the etiquette system cannot be abolished. Even if the emperor's grandson is appointed according to the current political atmosphere, not many people will object, at least they will not dare to understand. face opposition.

At the same time, although the emperor's grandson Wenji was the prince's son, he had to worry about the Khitan blood flowing in him.Although the Han Dynasty did not pay much attention to this aspect, but was afraid of comparison in everything, compared with Liu Wenhuan, he was the most upright and more accepted by people.

What's more, the Mobei Khitan still exists. If Wen Ji succeeds, wouldn't it give foreigners the opportunity to spy on the Central Plains? Even His Majesty the Emperor would not dare to commit such a major political risk!However, the emperor is getting old after all.
The old emperor didn't care at all about those mediocre and unfounded worries. He cared about what he cared about, so he just put the two emperors' grandsons in Jiangling, assigned them tasks at the same time, and then just observed them silently.

The matter of succeeding another generation is far away, after all, the crown prince has not yet ascended the throne, but at the same time, it is very close. After all, once the old emperor dies, whoever inherits the title will become a major event in the court.

Therefore, how could the old emperor not think about it.However, this matter was much more difficult for the old emperor than when he made Liu Yang the crown prince.Regardless of status, how could the child in Luoyang, who was less than five years old, be more favored than the two grandsons of the emperor whom he had almost watched grow up?

Of course, the old emperor could not wait for the Jiangling incident to be completed before leaving. His southern tour was not just for Jinghu North Road. The emperor's favor should be extended to the entire southern country. How could he allow the officials and people of Hubei Province to "exclusively favor" him, so he stayed in Jiangling Ten days later, the old emperor issued an edict to continue Nanxing.

Before setting off, the old emperor issued another edict, but it was to Jiangnan and Jiangxi Provinces. The intention was very clear, directing the two regiments to direct their divisions to reorganize the naval forces under their jurisdiction.The problems of the Hubei Navy are probably common to the entire Southern Navy, and the shortcomings of Hubei are probably not unique to the South.This edict of the old emperor is naturally a warning. If Yin Jian is aware of what happened in Jiangling and does not restrain himself and make corrections, waiting for the Holy Spirit to arrive and set off a fierce wind will not be difficult for the old emperor at all!

Starting from Jiangling and heading south, the route we took was the same as when Duke Murong Yanzhao of Wei Guo defeated Chu. It was nearly 40 years ago, and the memory is also a bit blurry.At the beginning, the old emperor only studied the roads, cities, rivers and lakes, and land through the battle reports from the front. Now, going on it in person can be regarded as a journey to recall the past, which is of great significance.

Go out along the south of the Yangtze River, turn east, and rush to Yuezhou.Yuezhou is the third-largest Shangzhou in Jinghu North Road, with a population of hundreds of thousands. Although the word is an old word, it is indeed a land of plenty and abundant resources. Especially in the past few decades, it has developed rapidly, and Dongting Water and Lake The benefits are enough to support the people for a long time.

When I arrived in Yuezhou, I had a panoramic view of the Dongting scenery, tasted fish, shrimp, water crabs, and carefully appreciated the scenery of the lakes and mountains. Although the autumn breeze was cool, it also had a unique scenery.Of course, Yueyang Tower is a must-visit place. Although it is not as famous as Fan Wenzhenggong's famous poem, the atmosphere inside the building and the scenery outside the building are no less than the scenery of the Yellow Crane Tower.

The Yueyang Tower of the Han Dynasty was also newly built and not recently built. It was rebuilt under the leadership of Qin Zaixiong, the Marquis of Hongjiang in the early years when he was stationed in Baling. It can be considered a kind of prosperous landscape.

However, at that time not only the buildings were built, but also the embankments and ditches were renovated to integrate them into a whole, which not only served as a landscape, but also benefited the people.Qin Zaixiong, the Marquis of Hongjiang, actually made a lot of achievements during the Han Dynasty. It is really rare for someone from Yao people to achieve this step.

Therefore, after climbing the Yueyang Tower, the old emperor naturally thought of this old Yaoman, and immediately called for him to meet him in person.Qin Zaixiong was already in his seventies. Although he was still in good spirits, he still retired from the military and political circles and returned to his hometown to recuperate.

However, although he no longer has an envoy on his body, it means that he has completely retired. Qin Zaixiong's influence on the two lakes is shared by both Han and Yi.Over the years, Qin Zaixiong has been building bridges, roads, digging ditches, dredging waterways, setting up education, and promoting Chineseization in Chenzhou. He is behind each and every event. Of course, it is inevitable that Chenzhou will gradually become a The "independent kingdom" of the Qin family.

The emperor summoned Qin Zaixiong, who "happened" to be visiting Dongting, to meet him quickly. The old emperor just laughed at this "coincidence".However, towards Qin Zaixiong himself, the old emperor still had a gentle attitude.

The old emperor said long ago that if all the barbarians in the world were like Hong Jianghou, then China would no longer have to worry about barbarians.Of course, there is only one Qin Zaixiong in the world.

Naturally, it was inevitable to mention Qin Zaixiong's influence in the two lakes and his control over Chenzhou. Qin Zaixiong's political awareness was not weak, and he was frightened to hear it. Fortunately, the old emperor only mentioned it, and finally encouraged him to keep up his efforts. , to assist the government to ensure the stable and orderly development of Chenzhou, eliminate conflicts between Han and Yi, and benefit the local people.

For these encouragements, Qin Zaixiong was naturally grateful and burst into tears, but he was thinking in his heart that he should be more restrained next.Although he kept his word in Chenzhou, he really couldn't bear the light words from the emperor.
Although Yuezhou is a prosperous place with abundant resources and people, it is not worthy of the old emperor's nostalgia. After only five days, he set off again.However, the day before setting off, the old emperor personally climbed to the Xiguan Tower in Baling City and heard that Zhou Xingfeng died in the battle here.

The old emperor went to the top of the city to pay his respects, and even specially offered a stick of incense.Of course, Zhou Xingfeng couldn't afford to pay homage to the old emperor. At that time, it was still a vassal town that was fighting against the king's master. The old emperor only paid homage to him during those turbulent years.

Going from Yuezhou to Changsha Prefecture was still by boat, which made the old emperor quite emotional. In less than two months since he went south, he took a boat that he had not taken in 60 years.

From Baling, we left the Yangtze River, crossed Dongting, and went south along the Xiangjiang River. After a long waterway of more than [-] miles, we arrived at Changsha.With Dongting as the boundary, Jing Lake is divided into the north and the south. However, there is only one lake between them, and the folk customs of the two roads are very different.

The reason may be that Hunan has a complex population structure, which includes a large number of immigrants.After the Pingchu Dynasty, the land of Hunan was devastated and devastated, and the population dropped sharply. According to statistics, the population was less than one million.

After that, the development and renaissance of Jinghu South Road ushered in for more than ten years, and the population policy was one of the most fundamental policies.In the early years, the officials of Jinghu South Road, from the Taosi level down, were all actively seeking change. They encouraged procreation internally and recruited externally, including refugees, barbarians, barbarians, and even bandits and bandits. As long as they were human beings, they were all accepted according to regulations. , meat and vegetables are not taboo.

With development to this day, it can be said that more than half of Hunan's population comes from other prefectures, which has also resulted in Hunan's multicultural and complex people's sentiments, among which the most obvious one is of course Changsha City.

In the past nearly 40 years, Hunan, which has experienced several wars, has developed from a state of poverty and poverty. From Bian Guitan and Zan Jurun, to Zhao Kuangyi, Li Fang, and now Guo Xin, just from the employment of people, you can know the court's attitude towards Hunan attaches great importance to it.

At the same time, Jinghu South Road was also the beginning of the imperial court's vigorous development of the Huguang area. Over the past few decades, it has become the most obvious symbol and has achieved remarkable results.

The economy is developed, the population is abundant, and the culture is prosperous. As early as ten years ago, there was a description of "Huguang is familiar with the world". Although it is suspected of being over-proclaimed, it also shows the development of the two lakes.

In comparison, it was even more difficult for Hunan to get to where it is today. After all, the foundation is weaker, and Dahan's Jinghu South Road can be said to be the most developed in history.

(End of this chapter)