The Guangyang House is simple yet majestic. It was not like this a year ago. However, after the emperor advocated frugality, repeatedly mentioned it, and repeatedly criticized the extravagance and waste of those luxurious homes, it became a
One of the few powerful officials in the Han Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyi naturally followed the emperor's teachings and understood the emperor's intentions.
As a result, the daily expenses of the Guangyang House were suddenly reduced by half, and the gold, jade and silk ornaments that had been displayed everywhere to show power, status and wealth disappeared without a trace.
In addition to power and fame, Zhao Kuangyi is also a very strict and restrained person. He can even be said to be a good person. On small issues such as life style, it is even more impossible to be like some people and go against the will of the emperor.
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Of course, the emperor's frugal measures were praised by both the government and the public. After all, this was a politically correct thing to do. However, it was difficult to tell outsiders what they thought behind the scenes.
At the same time, the servants and retinues who were attached to the powerful were full of complaints. After all, their treatment had declined visibly. A large part of the nutrition of the rich and powerful was actually parasitic on them.
Insects suck it.
Of course, Liu Yang's promotion and restraint of life style are not just words. After all, even the imperial edicts and orders are dared to be violated, not to mention that Liu Yang has exhausted all possible means for such non-fatal matters.
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Starting from the autumn of the first year of Yongxi, in addition to explicitly criticizing some powerful people, Liu Yang also began to set up obstacles for these people in terms of personnel. With the help of the Imperial City Secretary and the Wude Secretary, there were thousands of connections between nobles and bureaucrats.
Even if we have to figure out all the connections, there is always a thread to follow.
If they don't listen to what they want, then they will concoct the plan based on what they care about most and attack the core of their interests. It just so happened that after the Shu Rebellion broke out, the imperial court took the opportunity to put forward a series of reform requirements for official administration and education.
In this process, some honest and capable officials were promoted. On the contrary, those who were indifferent or even unscrupulous in the past were demoted, dismissed, and "taken care of". Many of them made trouble or made trouble under the tax reform policy.
Anyone who neglects their duties or even violates the law will be punished.
In less than four months in the second half of the first year of Yongxi's reign, officials from the central to local governments, from administrators, judicial officers, magistrates to supervisors, under the auspices of Murong Defeng, the Minister of Personnel, removed, replaced, and questioned officials.
There are more than 500 people, nearly half of whom are leading figures from various places and departments.
Such a vigorous rectification of officialdom, but Liu Yang's unprecedented generosity since he succeeded to the throne, caused great discomfort to everyone, and even caused a lot of administrative chaos. Many people expressed dissatisfaction.
Especially when the chaos broke out in Sichuan and Shu, many people used this to dissuade and remind Liu Yang, but Liu Yang retorted with the same reason. The chaos in Sichuan and Shu was just a wake-up call for them. After all,
The reason is precisely due to the dirty management of officials.
If the imperial court does not take a warning and immediately implement rectification, will it have to wait until all parts of the country, border areas are at war, and rebellions are everywhere before it can be saved?
At the same time, Liu Yang could also present a lot of cases and evidence of officials derelict in their duties, crimes committed by powerful people, and rampant tyranny. Just political rectification was the result of the emperor's restraint and tolerance.
From the trip to Heqing to the Sichuan-Shu Rebellion, although the sample was not large, Emperor Liu Yang barely touched the root of the problem, which was certainly not the land conflict but the fundamental issue of production ownership.
Rather, Liu Yang was deeply aware that if the administration of officials was unclear and the emperor's authority was not solid, let alone any restructuring and reform, no matter how practical and thoughtful the policy was, it would be impossible to implement it well. What you thought was a good cure for the disease would not be available to the common people.
The poison may be fatal to the people.
Based on this understanding, Liu Yang began to break away from the rut of "tax reform" and began to move forward and attack forcefully. He truly started from the administration of officials and began to regain power and establish authority. And personnel power, in any country and in any system,
Among them, they are all the core powers, and Liu Yang must of course take them into his hands.
Of course, achieving this goal cannot be achieved by simply removing some officials and replacing some people. If the newly appointed officials are the same as their predecessors, it will be a waste of effort and will instead cause political instability.
Therefore, in response to the "disadvantages of tax reform" repeatedly raised by internal and external officials, Liu Yang put forward a series of corrective opinions, and these policy opinions based on actual problems and shortcomings are constantly being formulated.
Liu Yang's policy program gradually formed through its improvement.
To sum up, it is to "eliminate the administration of officials, strengthen supervision, provide benefits to the people, and ensure fairness." Governance must be governed by officials first, and the country must be stabilized by the people first. In a society governed by people, the problems caused by the thought and policy of governing the country and tranquilizing the people must ultimately seek the solution of rule by people.
way to solve it.
It's hard to say where this road will end, and it may not work in the end, but as Liu Yang grasps the "key points", at least for now, he is moving in a clear direction with a steady and powerful pace.
Emperor Liu Yang in the first year of Yongxi reign was very hard-working. In addition to handling major military and state affairs, he spent a lot of time on the assessment and education of officials.
From the magistrates to the magistrates and magistrates, they must meet each of them in person to examine their understanding of local politics and people's conditions, listen to their ideas on governance, and at the same time explain his own use.
political philosophy.
The emperor has personally done everything to this extent, so it is naturally effective. It is with such painstaking efforts and painstaking efforts that the unique authority of Emperor Yongxi began to be established from the inside out, and the imperial power also began to fight back.
The local bureaucrats may not care about the suffering of the people, but they must care about their own power and official status. The emperor also used this political rectification to make them clearly realize that even if the sky is high and the emperor is far away, Yong in Ziwei City is still far away.
Emperor Xi is still the one who can control their future and life and death, so don't lose your respect.
Liu Yang also conveyed an attitude to his ministers: be honest, self-reliant, and do your duty, then nothing will happen. If you want to make progress, do the most important things at the moment, relieve people's grievances, calm people's hearts, and uphold fairness.
Of course, there was enough foundation for Liu Yang to do this and initiate such a political reform. First of all, similar "rectification movements" were not uncommon in the era of Emperor Shizu, and the subjects of the Han Dynasty were also "knowledgeable" about it.
Secondly, Liu Yang evolved from a powerful prince to an emperor. In addition to the support of his mother's family and other relatives, he also cultivated a large number of talents with the East Palace staff as the core for more than 30 years, and these are undoubtedly Liu Yang's core strengths.
He is here to support his governance in all aspects.
Third, and most importantly, during the late reign of Emperor Shizu, the Han Empire experienced various ills and its national power declined. However, the overall strength and control of the ruling class was still very strong, and the authority of the court was sufficient. From the official
Among the people, the general trend is also upward.
Without these, things like what Liu Yang did would have been boiling over. It is true that all the Daozhou states in the Han Dynasty had various exploitative behaviors that fell below the lower limit, had no dignity, and were greedy to the point of stupidity, but not all places were like Sichuan and Shu.
In this way, even the last grain of grain or a single copper coin is not willing to be left to the bottom peasants.
It was through such a "political attack" that Liu Yang truly realized what kind of wealth Emperor Shizu had left to him. The core of this wealth was not the throne, eyes and ears, and wealth, but the set of
A national social management system that has been operating stably for decades with the imperial power as the center.
In this system, as long as the core power can be grasped, the imperial power is almost unlimited. Of course, only Emperor Shizu can reach the highest limit.
For this reason, Liu Yang couldn't help but reflect on all the situations that had happened since he succeeded to the throne. Some things were even completely beyond his expectation. After all, according to his prediction, the situation after he ascended the throne should be that everyone in the court would be upright, and the monarch and his ministers would work together to correct the problem.
The Han Dynasty accumulated many shortcomings and put the country back on the right track, creating a more rational, harmonious, and prosperous world.
But obviously, Liu Yang was too "naive" before. After learning from the pain, Liu Yang came to a conclusion. The most fundamental reason may be that he retained too much of the psychology and style of the Donggong period.
Far from keeping up.
You must know why Emperor Shizu had such supreme authority. He did not get it for nothing, nor did he live long. It was snatched away by him with his fangs and sharp mouth, and it was built on numerous corpses.
Perhaps not so fully, but when Liu Yang truly realized the power in his hands and used it to govern the country, the Han Empire also restored its former order from top to bottom.
To be fair, it would be unfair to blame all the turmoil and chaos that have occurred since Liu Yang ascended the throne because of his incompetence as the Yongxi Emperor. It would be unfair to criticize him for being weak, hesitant, and lacking in control.
From an objective perspective, Emperor Shizu had huge problems. He not only created a peak feudal empire, but also brought endless pressure and trouble to his subjects.
Compared with inheriting the greatness of Emperor Shizu, Liu Yang's greater challenge is how to bear the backlash of the halo while paying for the late emperor to wipe his ass. Tax reform is one aspect, and Shu chaos is also another aspect. In addition to the two,
,there are more.
The uprising in the middle of Shu was a big challenge for the Yongxi regime, which had not yet completely gotten on the right track, but for Emperor Liu Yang, it was also a crisis and an opportunity.
After all the struggles and hesitations at the beginning of his succession, he had nowhere to start. With the outbreak of the Shu Rebellion, Liu Yang found an entry point, an opportunity to coordinate internal and external affairs and control power.
Of course, the prerequisite is to win the victory and the rebels in Sichuan and Shu must be pacified. However, after more than half a year, the progress is not so smooth.
It is now mid-spring of the second year of Yongxi's reign, and the perspective returns to Guangyang's residence. Dusk is approaching, and the sky is already filled with brilliant colors. Zhao Kuangyi returns home much earlier than usual, and is in a very good mood.
, I couldn’t hold back the smile that filled my mouth.
Zhao Dechong, the eldest son of the uncle's family, who came to greet him, couldn't help but ask: "What's the happy event today? To make my father so happy, could it be that the chaos in Shu was over?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuangyi immediately restrained himself, no longer had a happy face on his face, and restored his majesty as the number two figure in the political hall.
He reached inward and, accompanied by Zhao Dechong, passed through the atrium and entered the main hall. He just said: "Sichuan is still in chaos, but your father's power is even greater!"
Facing Zhao Dechong's surprised gaze, Zhao Kuangyi smiled again and explained: "Your Majesty has asked my father to co-manage the Metropolitan Procuratorate. From now on, I will also be involved in the supervision of the imperial court!"
In the past year, to be precise, in the past six months, the authority of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been a process of gradual strengthening, which was completely instigated by Emperor Liu Yang.
When Liu Yang wanted to implement official governance, in addition to the education and training of officials and personnel changes, supervision work was very important, and could even be said to be a decisive link. During the reign of Emperor Shizu, the imperial supervision system had been adjusted several times, and the power was not said to be lacking.
But there is always a weak link.
Supervision work is difficult to do. You have to chew bones and offend others, but you also have to maintain your integrity and resist all kinds of external temptations and threats at any time. And Emperor Shizu was more inclined to go eccentric and engage in spy supervision. Naturally,
This resulted in the invisible weakening of the authority of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Liu Yang's approach since he came to the throne has been to reshape the authority of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. To this end, he did not hesitate to restrict the Imperial City and Wude Ersi. Since this spring, he has issued another edict to limit the power of the imperial censors at all levels inside and outside the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Responsibilities were clarified, and administrative funding was increased at the same time. It was also announced that in the next scientific examination, the number of admissions and the admission rate of Mingfa will be appropriately increased.
For a time, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate strengthened their backs and could hold their heads up. Yang Ye, who was worshiped by Liu Yang as the "Capital Inspector", became even more popular. The supervision system also attracted the Han officials to the naked eye.
Visible improvement.
Under this circumstance, the emperor asked Zhao Kuangyi, who was actually the deputy prime minister of the Political Affairs Hall, to co-manage the Metropolitan Procuratorate. On the one hand, it further enhanced the strength of the supervisory system. On the other hand, it was also an expansion of power for Zhao Kuangyi, which was mutually reinforcing.
Zhao Kuangyi could clearly see the impact of this matter and it would be of great benefit to him, so he was naturally happy.
In contrast, Zhao Dechong seemed to be more cautious. After thinking about it, he said: "This is an errand to offend people!"
Hearing this, Zhao Kuangyi waved his hands and said with a smile: "If you want to do something and accomplish it, how can you not offend others? What's more, when I reach the position of a father, there are not many people and things worth offending! You have no worries.
, nothing to worry about!”
As he spoke, Zhao Kuangyi couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Your Majesty's chess move is also exquisite. He let Murong Defeng employ people and let his father supervise them, so as to achieve the purpose of mutual checks and balances, while his father had to fall into the trap willingly.
middle"
Hearing what Zhao Kuangyi said, Zhao Dechong nodded thoughtfully, and Zhao Kuangyi continued: "Compared with the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, this is exactly what I am more happy about as a father.
In the past six months, Murong Defeng's son had placed many people inside and outside the court, many of whom were in key positions, and he could not help but feel proud of himself.
Obviously, even if he is regarded as a confidant and right-hand man by His Majesty, if he has too much power, he will inevitably be jealous.
Your Majesty did not trust Murong Defeng without any reservation, and the rift between the monarch and his ministers may have started from then on. This is enough to make my father happy for a while."
Hearing Zhao Kuangyi's scheming words, Zhao Dechong frowned, but he didn't want to disturb his good mood, so he could only let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, couldn't his father be getting carried away?