Chapter 177 Illegal Crime Zhao Liezhi Feng (5000 words!)
While waiting for Mi Yang's return, under the orders of King Liu Bei, tens of thousands of Han troops temporarily set up a large tent outside the city.
After the tent was set up, under the command of their respective generals, tens of thousands of soldiers were distributed around the tent to guard it.
More than a hundred ministers outside the city were also welcomed into the tent by Liu Bei and sat down.
Although spring has arrived, the weather outside Chengdu is still cold, and Liu Bei does not want his ministers to continue to stand in the cold wind.
After letting the ministers enter the big tent to avoid the cold, Liu Bei himself led Zhuge Liang to the edge of the fields outside the big tent and watched the people working in the fields.
Many people in the fields noticed the arrival of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, but they did not know the identities of these two people. They only knew that the identities of these two people who were guarded by many guards not far away must be very unusual.
After realizing this, many people did not dare to look directly at Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. They looked at their feet and concentrated on their own affairs.
As many people leaned down, sweat dropped from their foreheads to the fields at their feet. This scene of hard work fell in Liu Bei's eyes, making him feel very good.
The people under Liu Bei's finger said to Zhuge Liang: "Since the Zhongping Period, the world has been in chaos. I have always thought that the reason why the world is in turmoil is because the people's hearts are in chaos."
"And those are the hearts of the people!"
Liu Bei pointed his finger at the rice seedlings in the hands of the people and said to Zhuge Liang.
Regarding Liu Bei's words, Zhuge Liang had a smile on his face.
Zhuge Liang bowed to Liu Bei and said, "If it weren't for the king, Yizhou wouldn't be like this today."
Zhuge Liang's words made Liu Bei laugh loudly, and Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang with a smile in his eyes:
"Kong Ming, even if I have the heart to help the world, but without the help of Kong Ming's talent in managing the world, I will not be able to achieve what I have achieved today."
After he finished laughing, Liu Bei looked at the working people in front of him, as if he was recalling his childhood.
He continued to speak to Zhuge Liang: "Gu has been orphaned since he was a child. At that time, there were often foreign raids in Zhuo County, and my mother did not dare to take him out to work.
Therefore, Gu Gu and his mother made a living by weaving mats and selling shoes since childhood, and their life was very difficult."
"At that time, I thought that if I could cultivate fields and be self-sufficient, I would be satisfied."
"Later on, when the world changed, I responded to the call of the country and joined the army to serve the country, and this is still the case today."
"The ignorant child back then became the King of Hanzhong today."
Speaking of this, Liu Bei's tone was full of disbelief.
Even though he was talking about his own personal experience, he never expected that he would achieve such an achievement today.
Among the three major princes in the world, only Liu Bei can be considered a poor man in his youth.
Although Cao Cao was born in a eunuch family, the Cao family had been a wealthy family since Cao Teng, and he had no worries about food and clothing since he was a child.
Although Sun Quan lost his father when he was young, he had a good brother Sun Ce. Under Sun Ce's care, he never suffered much hardship since he was a child.
In other words, among the eighteen princes who originally divided the world, who had a poorer background than Liu Bei?
"Although I am now the King of Hanzhong, I have never forgotten my childhood dream."
"Liu Bei back then was just like the people in front of us today. All they wanted was a few acres of thin farmland."
"With this, the mind will be at peace. When the people's hearts are at peace, the world will be at peace."
"What I don't understand is, why don't some people understand such a simple truth?"
When he said this, Liu Bei's smile had disappeared, and a cold look appeared on his face.
"When Ji Yu was governing Yizhou, he acted virtuously, won people's hearts with small favors, and favored his subordinates with good and high positions. This caused the wealthy families in Yizhou to violate the law one after another, and it was difficult to return.
"Since Gu Zi took control of Yizhou, he has taught and taught the law, encouraged good and deposed evil, and used both Confucianism and Legalism. He has made it clear many times that he hopes that the nobles and nobles of Yizhou can work together with Gu to revive the Han Dynasty."
"But people's hearts are unpredictable. No matter what they do, there are still some worms in the country who rely on their fame to do things that harm the people and enrich themselves."
"Although Jingzhou and Yizhou are vast, their national power is far inferior to that of the Central Plains and Hebei."
"Under this situation, if anyone again harms the public and enriches his own interests and wastes the country's power for his own use, he will not be able to compete with Cao Cao."
"Kong Ming, do you think these people should be killed?"
At the end of the sentence, Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang.
Facing Liu Bei's inquiry, Zhuge Liang gave his clear attitude.
"If you violate the law and harm the people, you should be killed."
Zhuge Liang is not a cruel official. He has always opposed unauthorized killing and indiscriminate killing. However, if the other party really breaks the law, Zhuge Liang is not a soft-hearted person.
After seeing what Zhuge Liang said, Liu Bei took out a memorial from his arms and handed it to Zhuge Liang for inspection.
After Zhuge Liang took the memorial table from Liu Bei's hand, he read it carefully, and then a heavy look appeared on his face.
After Zhuge Liang read it, he frowned and said to Liu Bei: "I never expected that a man with a clear name like Zhou Zhong would allow his people to do such evil."
After Liu Bei heard Zhuge Liang's emotion, he chuckled.
"In the past, many of the Zhou family's children violated laws and disciplines. At that time, I thought that Zhou Qun was lax in discipline, but now it seems that this is not the case."
"This report was submitted to Yu Gu by Yide before. After receiving this report, Gu sent the censor to the local area to investigate."
"Last year, Gu Ming Yide did not return to Langzhong for the time being, but turned to Hanxing County to garrison in order to make Zhou Qun think there was an opportunity."
"Sure enough, after Yide left Langzhong, Zhou Qun's behavior became more and more excessive, almost rampant."
"What he has done now is intolerable to me."
After Liu Bei said this, a guard came to report that Zhou Qun had been taken away by Mi Yang and was now in the tent.
After learning the news, Liu Bei turned to Zhuge Liang and said to him: "Let's get rid of some moths so that I can enter the city."
After speaking, Liu Bei took Zhuge Liang back to the tent.
When Liu Bei returned to the tent, he saw Zhou Qun standing in the tent, smelling of alcohol.
When the officials in the big tent saw Liu Bei coming back, they all saluted Liu Bei.
Under the salutes of the ministers, Liu Bei passed by Zhou Qun and came to the main seat in the tent.
After Liu Bei came and sat down on the throne, he stretched out his hand to help the officials in the tent stand up one after another.
After the ministers and Zhou Qun stood up, Liu Bei looked at Zhou Qun: "Zhongzhi, I heard that you are sick today, why are you still drinking?"
Zhou Qun had just drank a lot of wine in the mansion, and the smell of alcohol on his body could be clearly smelled by everyone in the closed tent.
As soon as Liu Bei said this, there was a rustle of discussion in the big tent.
Today is the day when King Liu Bei returns. According to etiquette, as ministers of the King of Hanzhong, they should all go out of the city to welcome him.
Zhou Qun had previously informed Zhuge Liang that he was ill today and could not come to greet him.
Because of Zhou Qun's reputation, many officials knew about this matter.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qun, who was unable to go out due to illness, was able to drink in the mansion.
At this point, everyone knew that Zhou Qun pretended to be ill and deliberately did not come to greet Liu Bei today.
Liu Bei seemed to be asking Zhou Qun, but in fact he was directly exposing Zhou Qun's true face.
Facing Liu Bei's inquiry, Zhou Qun remained silent and just bowed to Liu Bei.
No excuses, no admissions.
Since Liu Bei took control of Yizhou, although he promulgated the "Shu Ke" to govern Yizhou with strict laws, he was merciful and respectful to the Yizhou nobles.
He promoted a large number of former civil and military officials under Liu Zhang, employed them without question, and allowed them to do their best.
Therefore, according to Liu Bei's past style, he would not rashly send troops to break into the mansion to capture him.
And Liu Bei would do this, definitely not because he did not come to greet him today.
So Zhou Qun thought that Liu Bei did this for other reasons.
Before knowing the reason, Zhou Qun felt that it was best for him to remain silent.
Anyway, even if Liu Bei found out that he was pretending to be sick and not coming to greet him today, with Liu Bei's benevolence and righteousness, he would not punish him too severely.
Looking at Zhou Qun who was silent in the face of his inquiry, Liu Bei did not show any sullen expression on his face.
The officials in the big tent also didn't understand why Liu Bei suddenly asked Mi Yang to lead the troops to bring Zhou Qun outside the city.
Therefore, none of the officials in the tent spoke out to reprimand Zhou Qun.
Liu Bei took out the memorial that he had just shown to Zhuge Liang, and ordered the waiter beside him to deliver the memorial to Zhou Qun.
When the waiter came behind Zhou Qun with the watch in his hand, Zhou Qun stood up and looked at Liu Bei. He saw Liu Bei motioning for him to open it and take a look.
At Liu Bei's signal, Zhou Qun began to report.
As soon as Zhou Qun saw the above content, a look of fear appeared on his face.
What Zhang Fei recorded in his report to Liu Bei was not just a side event, but the illegal activities of the Zhou Qun family in Langzhong.
After a look of fear appeared on Zhou Qun's face, Liu Bei took out another memorial.
This memorial was written to Liu Bei by the imperial censor.
After Zhou Qun read Zhang Fei's memorial, Liu Bei ordered his waiter to hand over to Zhou Qun this memorial, which was obtained through the censor's investigation.
After Zhou Qun read this memorial, the fear on his face became more and more intense, and there was even cold sweat on his face.
Compared with Zhang Fei's memorial, which was mainly based on speculation, this memorial after investigation by the censor recorded the crimes of the Zhou family in Langzhong in more detail, and each item was listed with evidence.
This is because after Zhang Fei left Langzhong, the Zhou clan became more lawless and unscrupulous.
Under such circumstances, the censor sent by Liu Bei was able to obtain a lot of evidence against the Zhou family in Langzhong without much effort.
Zhou Qun's performance after reading the report fell in Liu Bei's eyes.
"At that time, Emperor Xiaowu established the governor of the state, and ordered the governor of the state to inspect the state with six orders."
"Qing's family exceeded the control of the land and house in Langzhong, used the strong to bully the weak, used the masses to oppress the few, and the people suffered a lot."
"Later, he colluded with local officials, used power for personal gain, invaded the people, and gathered money for rape."
"In Langzhong County alone, there are thousands of families. Because of the actions of Qing's clan, their families were destroyed and their families were sold off."
"From the day when Gu Zai promulgated the "Shu Ke", he strictly ordered all ministers in Shu not to rob the people's land for their own selfish interests."
"Last year, Guzheng called on the people of Yizhou to support Jingzhou, but Qing kept thousands of guests and ordered the tribesmen and guests to escape from hard labor."
"Everything about this has been documented with evidence. Do you have anything else to say?"
Liu Bei's words fell into Zhou Qun's ears, making Zhou Qun tremble all over.
Mi Yang on the side finally understood why Liu Bei ordered him to capture Zhou Qun today.
It turns out that it was Zhou Qun who indulged his tribesmen in committing illegal acts in the countryside.
The word "powerful" is a key topic that cannot be avoided in the politics of the Han Dynasty.
Since the Han Dynasty, every emperor has been wary and defensive against powerful men.
Crackdown on illegal tyrants has been regarded as a politically correct thing since the Han Dynasty.
Looking at the first four histories, we can see that many famous officials in the Han Dynasty became famous by fighting against the lawless powerful, and gradually ranked among the three nobles.
When Zhuge Liang formulated the "Shu Ke", he made it his top priority to crack down on local illegal tyrants and support poor peasants to restore production.
What Mi Yang didn't expect was that under the shock of "Shu Ke", Zhou Qun's family would dare to commit crimes. They were really bold.
Facing Liu Bei's questioning, Zhou Qun was speechless.
The irrefutable evidence is here, how can he explain it?
Zhou Qun knew that after being declared guilty in public, he could not escape the death penalty.
At this time, he suppressed the fear in his heart, looked at Liu Bei and said: "Is your Majesty punishing me for this illegal act, or is it Nan He's prophecy?"
When Liu Bei heard Zhou Qun's words, he narrowed his eyes.
The "Nanhe" mentioned by Zhou Qun refers to Changyu.
Changyu, a native of Shu County, is a famous fortune teller in Yizhou.
When Zhang Yu was young, he and Zhou Qun in Langzhong were both famous. Chang Yu was good at using the changes in celestial phenomena to predict people's affairs, predicting good and bad luck, and his talent and knowledge surpassed Zhou Qun's.
Changyu's reputation back then was far higher than Zhou Qun's today.
But in the 23rd year of Jian'an, Chang Yu died because of an incident.
When Liu Bei launched the Battle of Hanzhong, both Changyu and Zhou Qun advised not to fight for Hanzhong.
"The land should be given to you, but the people should not be given to you. If you send out partial troops, it will be disadvantageous, so be careful!"
"Don't fight for Hanzhong, the army will be at a disadvantage!"
These were the advice given by Zhou Qun and Zhang Yu respectively at that time.
Zhou Qun and Zhang Yu were both famous celebrities in Yizhou at the time. They made this conclusion before the war, which greatly affected the morale of Liu Bei's army at that time.
Later, in order to stabilize the morale of the army and support Liu Bei in attacking Hanzhong, Zhuge Liang specifically asked Yang Hong, another famous scholar in Shu, about this matter.
"Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou, and there is an opportunity for survival. If there were no Hanzhong, there would be no Shu. This would be a disaster for our family."
In today's affairs, men are responsible for fighting and women are responsible for luck, so why not send troops?"
With the support of Yang Hong, the morale of the military and the people in Yizhou gradually stabilized, thus supporting Liu Bei in winning the Battle of Hanzhong.
Later, Liu Bei did not punish Zhou Qun and Zhang Yu because of this incident.
But wouldn't it be unexpected that after the Hanzhong War, Changyu told people: "At the age of Gengzi, the world will change generations, and the Liu family will be wiped out. The Lord has Yizhou, and after nine years, he will lose it in Yinmao."
speech.
Under such circumstances, Liu Bei imprisoned Chang Yu and executed him.
Zhou Qun has become much more honest since he killed Chang Yu. Unexpectedly, he would bring up the old matter again today.
The reason why Zhou Qun mentioned this matter today was not to complain about Zhang Yu, but to disturb the public.
He knew that when Liu Bei read out his crime in public, he had already begun to murder him.
In this case, he could only bring up the old matter again to disturb the hearing and hearing of the ministers present, avoid the important and trivial, and make the ministers think that Liu Bei punished him today because he was "envious of the virtuous and jealous of the capable."
Only in this way, relying on his reputation in Shu, maybe some ministers will come out to intercede for him.
Sure enough, under Zhou Qun's deliberate disturbance, some ministers from Yizhou in the big tent began to come out to intercede for Zhou Qun.
Seeing this scene, Liu Bei smiled instead of being angry.
How could he not know Zhou Qun's thoughts?
But will he care?
"Here comes someone."
At Liu Bei's call, hundreds of soldiers rushed in from outside the tent.
After hundreds of soldiers rushed in, Liu Bei pointed to Zhou Qun in the tent and said: "Take them back to Chengdu and throw them into death row."
Liu Bei's order made Zhou Qun look ashen and fell to the ground.
Is Liu Bei really not afraid of his reputation?
Then Liu Bei ordered Shangshu Deng Zhi to read aloud a list of names.
There were dozens of names on the list, most of them were ministers from the Yizhou clan, but there were also ministers from the Jingzhou or Dongzhou clan.
The names on the list that Deng Zhi read were all the same people like Zhou Qun who instigated their family members to violate laws and disciplines.
Zhou Qun thought that Liu Bei would be concerned about his reputation, but what Zhou Qun didn't expect was that he was not the only one Liu Bei wanted to punish today. What he wanted to do was cleanse.
The reason why Zhou Qun was targeted first was simply because he had the best reputation in Yizhou and was more shocking to people.
Before Deng Zhi read his name, the dozens of ministers looked at Zhou Qun. They were still watching with cold eyes, secretly rejoicing.
But after Deng Zhi finished reading his name, they realized something was wrong. They immediately came to the tent and knelt down to beg Liu Bei for mercy.
In the face of their begging for mercy, Liu Bei only said coldly, "When you were killing the people, did you ever think about today?"
After saying this, Liu Bei pointed at the dozens of kneeling ministers and issued a royal order: "Take them all away and escort them back to Chengdu for trial!"
After King Liu Bei's order was issued, hundreds of soldiers, who looked like wolves and tigers, immediately stepped forward and dragged the ministers, who had always been unattainable in the past, out of the tent.
Under the dragging of the soldiers, the begging for mercy of dozens of ministers instantly resounded throughout the tent.
At this time, they didn't have the aloof demeanor they had in the past.
Liu Bei's move immediately shocked the officials in the tent.
In the past, even if Liu Bei punished ministers, he would not carry out large-scale criminal actions.
But then the officials in the tent quickly realized that many years ago, Liu Bei also punished people on a large scale.
That was when Liu Bei first entered Yizhou. In order to punish the lawless tyrants in Shu County, many people were killed during that time. During that time, dozens of people in Shu were shocked every day.
But just after that, Yizhou's national strength recovered rapidly and its food income increased sharply, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent victory in the Battle of Hanzhong.
But as time goes by, more and more people choose to forget about the prison and start committing illegal acts again.
Looking at the shocked expressions of the ministers in the tent, Liu Bei said what he said when he first entered Yizhou:
"Illegal crime!"
When Liu Bei's words spread throughout the big tent, all the officials were shocked.
Maybe they all forgot this sentence, but Liu Bei always remembered it.
He will use his own way to remind the officials not to forget.
Listening to Liu Bei's words, a smile appeared on Mi Yang's face.
Liu Bei may not be able to transcend the limitations of feudal rulers and cannot be truly fair and just.
Perhaps everything he does today has many political considerations.
But no matter what, he was born in poverty, compared to Cao Cao and Sun Quan at that time, he was indeed the one most likely to bring stability to the people.
Because only a lord born in poverty can truly realize the importance of the people.
Zhao: majestic, courteous and clear is called Zhao; intelligence and subtle observation are called Zhao;
Lie: If you have made great contributions to bring peace to the people, it is called Lie; if you have done great things to bring peace to the people, you are called Lie;
Liu Bei is worthy of his reputation as Zhao Lie.
Continue coding.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!