Chapter 368: Using control to dig roots, public sentiment surges
Author: Soy Sauce Mixed History
Chapter 368: Using control to dig roots, public sentiment surges
What kind of three-chief system is it that caused so much emotion and indignation among the officials on the high platform?
The fact that Deng Ai used a special document to explain it shows that the introduction of the three-member system is not simple.
And under that detailed introduction, all the officials on the high platform who had read poetry and books quickly understood what the three-chief system was.
In essence, the three-chief system proposed by Deng Ai was a transformation of local grassroots administrative organizations in the Han Dynasty.
Originally, the local grassroots administrative organization of the Han Dynasty was centered on the township.
There is a detailed record of this in the "Book of Han":
". There is one pavilion in ten li, and the pavilion is long; there are ten pavilions and one township, and there are three elders in the township, who have high rank, stingy husbands, and wander around.
The three elders are in charge of education; the husband is stingy in his duties, hearing lawsuits and collecting taxes; he travels around and follows the prohibition of thieves and thefts."
It can be seen from this record that the local administrative organization at the lower level of the county in the Han Dynasty was the township.
Since the economy in ancient times was not as developed as in later generations, such a relatively simple local administrative system was in line with the national conditions of the time.
Otherwise, the big man wouldn't be so powerful.
It's just that any system will have great disadvantages over time.
The biggest drawback of this system is the word "three elders".
Liu Bang, Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty, once issued a decree:
"If the people are over fifty years old, have practiced spiritual practice, and can lead people to do good deeds, they will be considered as three elders and one person from the village.
One of the three elders of the village was chosen to be the three elders of the county, and he and the county magistrate, the prime minister, and the lieutenant taught each other about things, and they were not allowed to join the garrison again. In the tenth month, they will be given wine and meat."
Under Liu Bang's edict, the "Three Elders", the predecessors of local powerful people, began to occupy an important position in the local political system of the Han Dynasty.
In the Han Dynasty, apart from age, there was another very important reason for selecting the "Three Elders", which was "those who can lead the crowd".
In China, a clan society, to achieve this, it is not enough to rely solely on personal virtue. They must be recognized by the clan forces.
Under the historical conditions at that time, most of the "Three Elders" who met such requirements were nobles left over from the Six Kingdoms.
This can also be supported by various records from the Han Dynasty. The "Three Elders" were not only very influential in the local area, but also often directly participated in discussions on national affairs, and could even write directly to the emperor.
The "three elders" with such knowledge and ability cannot be ordinary people.
In ancient times, knowledge was the most expensive resource.
Of course, it is impossible for Liu Bang not to see this.
But just because he saw this, he resolutely continued to advocate the "three elders" system.
Because the Han Dynasty that had just been established at that time was dilapidated and in turmoil, he needed to give the "three elders" in these places considerable political privileges in exchange for their sense of identification with the Han Dynasty.
Judging from various events that happened later, Liu Bang's goal was perfectly achieved.
It’s just that no matter in any dynasty or in any period, local administration is the key to stabilizing the country.
As the "Three Elders" system develops over time, its power has also expanded infinitely.
Due to the special political status of the "Three Elders" in the Han Dynasty, the "Three Elders" could influence the public opinion of the township party and often played a key role in the inspection and recruitment of "rural elections".
At the same time, Sanlao is an important organization that formulates local laws and regulations, and is also an educational organization that promotes national policies and regulations.
Even later, even the promulgation and implementation of local government policies and laws in the Han Dynasty required consultation with the three elders.
The most important thing is that the "three elders" are not directly appointed by the government. In many cases, they are elected spontaneously by the local government.
This directly led to the gradual evolution of the "Three Elders" into the attributes of local powerful people.
Because everyone has selfish motives.
Since the government does not interfere in the election of the "three elders", and the position of the "three elders" has a coveted and huge influence in the local area.
How come those "three elders" don't want to pass this position on to their descendants?
A generation or two later, the local tycoons that would be known to future generations appeared unsurprisingly.
It is precisely because most of the predecessors of local powerful people were the "three elders" that they have such great influence in their hometowns.
Due to this strong influence in the local area, many county magistrates and even prefects directly appointed by the Han Dynasty did not dare to confront the local wealthy families.
In order to save their official positions and even their lives, they gradually became complicit with the local wealthy families.
This was the "imperial power did not go to the countryside" during the Han Dynasty.
When the imperial power did not go to the countryside, a large number of land annexations and acts of sheltering the population began to become rampant.
Countless fertile fields have been appropriated, and countless good people have been forced to become domestic slaves of local wealthy families in order to make a living.
Population and land are the foundation of any feudal dynasty.
When these two fundamentals are lost, the national power of the Han Dynasty will only become weaker and weaker, while the power of local powerful people will become stronger and stronger.
Coupled with their political influence in the officialdom, they had the courage to confront the central government and rebel.
Mi Yang knew this, as did most of the officials present.
But in the past, no one dared to pierce this layer of window paper, but now Deng Ai wants to pierce this layer of window paper.
Although the Three-Elder System sounds similar to the Three-Elder System, its provisions are all designed to address the implicit privileges of the Three-Elder System.
What are three lengths?
That is to say, in Deng Ai's vision, from now on the five families in Liangzhou will be neighbors, with one neighbor being the chief;
Five neighbors are called a mile, and one mile is considered to be one mile long;
The five li are the party and there is a party leader.
This is for the three longs.
The scope of powers and responsibilities of the three chiefs are: checking household registration, supervising farming, collecting rent transfers, collecting corvee and military service.
Precisely because the third chief Deng Ai wanted to set up had such responsibilities, most of the officials on the high platform were upset.
Many of those who could become officials in the Han Dynasty were from local aristocratic families.
Of course they know what their ancestors have done for generations.
After all, they are able to become officials now because of what their ancestors have done for generations.
Will the three-chief system be beneficial to Liangzhou once it is implemented?
There must be something there, anyone can know it by just thinking about it.
Once the three-chief system is successfully implemented in Liangzhou, a large number of acres and population will definitely be counted.
By then Liangzhou's national power will definitely be greatly enhanced.
However, once the three-chief system is successfully implemented, it means that their family will no longer be able to protect the population and annex fertile land as usual.
This is a major blow to the family's power and a huge infringement on their existing interests.
The officials who were originally sitting thought that Deng Ai wanted to use today's opportunity of national celebration to casually offer a strategy to please Mi Yang.
Unexpectedly, Deng Ai was not trying to please Mi Yang. He was clearly trying to seize their interests!
It is unbearable!
No one can remain calm when their interests are violated.
So just after Deng Ai finished explaining the contents of the three-chief system, one of the officials on the high platform immediately stood up and scolded Deng Ai.
This person's name is Xiao Pu, and he is the contemporary patriarch of the Xiao family in Mianyang.
Mianyang is the most prosperous county in Hanzhong County except Nanzheng, and the Mianyang Xiao family is rumored to be a descendant of Xiao He, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.
Although this is just a rumor, it does not prevent Xiao Pu's ancestors from using this rumor for their own benefit.
The Mianyang Xiao family has been rooted in Hanzhong for hundreds of years. During these hundreds of years, the Mianyang Xiao family has developed into a powerful family in Hanzhong County.
At the beginning, because of the influence of the Xiao family in Mianyang, Mi Yang recruited Xiao Pu as his hero in order to stabilize the people's hearts in Hanzhong.
Although the meritorious service is not a job, Xiao Pu's real power is not small at all, and his status is not much different from that of the three jobs.
That's why Xiao Pu dared to show his identity at this time and come out to scold Deng Ai, who was one of the three men and had a low background.
Xiao Pu came out to scold Deng Ai, not only because he felt that the three-member system would greatly harm his own interests, but also because he had a fear in his heart.
The Han Dynasty implemented the famous land system.
Although the name of the famous land system is different from the Qin Dynasty's military merit system, the essence is the same.
That is, what kind of title you have, you will have a corresponding amount of acres and servants.
If someone does not live up to his name, it is undoubtedly a violation of Han law.
Xiao Pu knew that in the past hundred years, his family had protected thousands of people and annexed more than a thousand acres of land.
But he doesn't have any title now.
Under such a strong disparity between reality and name, once the three chiefs find out about this matter, his entire family may suffer as a result.
The three-chief system not only greatly infringes the interests of his family, but also threatens the survival of his family. It is impossible for him not to stop the implementation of the three-chief system.
I saw Xiao Pu standing up and shouting at Deng Ai: "The Han family has its own system of three elders. How can you change it without authorization as a minister?
As the chief administrator of Liangzhou, it's fine if you don't provide good advice to the shepherds to stabilize the people's livelihood.
Now you actually want to trick the shepherd into accusing him of being disloyal, you are so cruel!"
As soon as Xiao Pu spoke, he slapped a big hat on Deng Ai.
When he angrily rebuked Deng Ai, his eyes widened with anger, and on the surface he looked like a minister who was loyal and protective of his lord.
But in the face of Xiao Pu's "loyalty to protect the master", Mi Yang showed an interesting look on his face.
He thought Xiao Pu's reason for refuting Deng Ai was funny.
But this cannot be blamed on Xiao Pu. In fact, the three-chief system is a good system that benefits the country and the people in every aspect.
Even if he wanted to stop the implementation of the three-member system, he couldn't tell lies with his eyes open.
In this case, he could only think of this reason to refute Deng Ai.
The content is impeccable, so I will make it impossible for you to implement it in name only.
There is another big benefit to choosing this reason.
Xiao Pu knew that Deng Ai was Mi Yang's confidant, and he even guessed that Deng Ai's suggestion today might be Mi Yang's inspiration.
However, Mi Yang did not choose to end the situation personally, which shows that he still has some concerns about the implementation of the three-leader system.
So his current task is to find a concern that Mi Yang cannot ignore so that he cannot implement the three-leader system.
Xiao Pu thought that the reason he was looking for was enough to make Mi Yang's worries infinitely larger.
After all, the local political system dominated by the Three Elders has been a system implemented by the Han Dynasty for four hundred years.
For four hundred years, the emperors of the Han family did not dare to change this point.
What’s more, Mi Yang?
Mi Yang was their master, but at the same time, he was also Liu Bei's minister.
After Xiao Pu finished refuting Deng Ai, before Deng Ai could defend himself, most of the officials on the high platform who had found the backbone immediately stood up with Xiao Pu and started angrily scolding Deng Ai.
At first they might have followed Xiao Pu's reasoning to refute Deng Ai.
However, as more and more officials joined in, the crowd on the high platform was noisy, and at the same time there were also some personal attacks on Deng Ai.
Deng Ai's background is an unavoidable point of attack in this world, not to mention that he also has a physical disability that cannot be changed.
Just when those unsavory remarks became more and more intense, those who attacked Deng Ai were thinking of using these remarks to hit Deng Ai's heart.
Listening to the refutations and humiliations coming from all directions, Deng Ai did not flinch as ordinary people imagined.
"People who come from a humble background often cannot make their own decisions. But people can obtain a better future through hard work.
Shi Zai, I want you to leave my name in history with me tomorrow."
This is what Mi Yang said to him last night when she handed the document into his hands.
Thinking of these words, Deng Ai tightly held the document in his hand.
If the three-chief system, which is beneficial to the country and the people, can be implemented under his advice, then in the future, Deng Ai will be remembered for centuries in the history of Qingshu!
Isn't this what he has always wanted?
Deng Ai took a deep breath.
He looked around at the "loyal ministers of Liangzhou" who were constantly attacking him. He did not choose to retreat. Instead, he strode towards Xiao Pu under the siege of everyone.
Deng Ai's extremely offensive step not only shocked Xiao Pu, but also the other ministers who were besieging Deng Ai started to scold him when they saw that Deng Ai did not retreat but advanced.
Taking this opportunity, Deng Ai shouted at Xiao Pu:
"Can Xiao Gongcao clearly explain how the three-elder system changes the three-elder system?"
Although Deng Ai stuttered, as long as he did not speak at length, his stuttering was not obvious.
Moreover, Deng Ai had personally killed the enemy in battle, so he had an evil aura about him.
When the fierce shouts echoed on the high platform, the officials took a step back slightly.
There is another very important reason why many officials behaved this way, and that is that they could not refute what Deng Ai said.
In reality, once the three-chief system is implemented, it will definitely make it extremely difficult for local powerful people to protect the population and annex acres of land in the future.
But did Liu Bang give the three elders this kind of power back then?
not at all.
The princes and kings who do this without authorization will be punished by Han law, let alone the three elders.
This power cannot be exposed to the light. Once it is exposed to the light, Mi Yang will have even more reason to attack them.
Since the emperor of the Han Dynasty never gave the three elders such power, then if this power is transferred to the three elders in the future, how will the three elders system be changed?
Deng Ai's rhetorical question left hundreds of officials on the high platform speechless.
Self-destruct?
No one present had the courage.
Just after Deng Ai briefly suppressed Xiao Pu and dozens of other ministers, Fa Miao and other direct descendants of Mi Yang saw that the time was ripe.
They all stood up from their seats and stood behind the man who gave the first voice to the three-member system in the world.
"The three-chief system proposed by the chief official is beneficial to the country and the people. I ask the shepherds to implement it."
Since we are here to dig roots today, we must strike while the iron is hot!
There is another chapter in the early morning.
I saw everyone’s blessings yesterday, and I’m very grateful for everyone’s blessings.
Today is also the day when this book received a big push, which is very unexpected and surprising.
It was not easy to get this book to this point.
Thank you all for your continued support.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!