Four hundred and sixty-ninth chapter killing chickens and scaring monkeys
The next day, according to the scheduled procedure, Liu Che led the civil and military officials and Queen Chen Ajiao to worship their ancestors at the Gaomiao.⊥
By the way, the late emperor's Han tripod was also carried from Yangling to the high temple and offered as a sacrifice to the ancestors.
The Han Dynasty followed the Qin system, and the Qin system followed part of the Zhou system.
As the saying goes, 'the country is on your right and the ancestral temple is on the left', from the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the status of the ancestors was higher than that of the country (heaven and earth).
Therefore, in the more than fifty years since the Han Dynasty, there have been only five emperors even including the Young Emperor's brothers, but the total number of sacrifices to heaven and earth before and after it has not exceeded ten fingers.
But ancestor worship is carried out every year.
In fact, ancestor worship itself was a political act used by the Han emperor to declare his power, clarify the status of the monarch and his ministers, and strengthen his control over his ministers, especially the vassal states, princes, and honorable ministers.
The donation of money is the most important part.
The so-called drinking gold, drinking wine, as the name suggests, is wine, and it is high-purity wine. In the Han Dynasty, it was often sacrificed to the ancestors to enjoy the wine.
As for the discretionary gold, it is the gold contributed by the princes to the emperor to assist in sacrifices.
Han law has strict regulations on the gold provided by princes and princes to the emperor as a sacrificial offering.
In history, there were unlucky princes who were deprived of their kingdoms and titles because the amount of money they offered was two taels too low.
Later, when Xiaozhu was in power, he carried this rule forward and revoked the title of one hundred and six marquises at one time on the pretext that the fineness of the gold was insufficient or the weight was not up to standard.
Among them there are many people with prominent positions who have enjoyed the country for several generations.
In other words, before Xiaozhu’s incident of squandering gold and seizing time, there had already been various behaviors of cheating, and it was commonplace that the weight and fineness of gold did not meet the regulations - otherwise, where would Xiaozhu be caught?
One hundred and six fat sheep to slaughter?
In fact, this is also true.
Liu Che looked at the gold cakes that were now placed in front of him, grabbed one and weighed it. He knew that someone was playing a trick.
In the Han Dynasty, there were strict regulations on the weight of gold cakes made of gold.
When talking about one gold, it must be one catty (Hanjin, about 225 grams to 250 grams).
But now this gold cake has obviously been tampered with.
Its actual weight is probably less than 90% of a normal gold cake. As for the color? It still looks yellow-orange. But after Liu Che picked up the scissors and cut off a small piece, he discovered that the gold was still mixed with a lot of impurities.
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"Your Majesty, the amount of money allocated to the deputies of the princes. As far as I know, since Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the amount of money allocated to the ministers has often been only 80% of the actual amount of money allocated, sometimes even only 70%..." Wang Dao explained beside him.
"Really?" Liu Che laughed.
The roots turn out to be here!
Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was welcomed to the throne by the princes and ministers.
In other words, after Emperor Taizong Xiaowen came to the throne, imperial power became less intimidating in the eyes of some people.
Although Emperor Taizong Xiaowen later made a huge comeback and regained power from the elders and ministers.
However, in order to maintain power, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen inevitably had to make concessions to the princes and princes.
The princes and princes of the southern vassal states began to decay. This was the inevitable result.
Liu Che knew that he could not remain silent on this matter.
Silence will make people think that they are weak and can be bullied, and then they will be defeated.
In the official circles of the late Ming Dynasty, there was a lack of openness and lack of votes. It may have existed in the early and middle periods of the Ming Dynasty, but it was definitely shameful!
Why was it that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was upright and appeared in the sun openly?
Has it even become a well-known rule?
Isn’t it just that the old Zhu family after Jiajing became more cowardly than the last?
They no longer dare to challenge the huge bureaucratic interest groups.
However, the bureaucratic interest groups pressed harder step by step, forcing the Zhu family into doom.
Liu Che himself knew this.
But he is not the same Piggy he was when he was involved in the gambling incident.
Liu Che knew very well that Xiaozhu was able to stop one hundred and six ranks in one go. That was because at that time, Xiaozhu's subordinate Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were shining brightly, and the old class of princes had almost no say in the army - even now.
Li Guang, Cheng Wushi, and Han Anguo of the Qingzhuang Sect have all been eclipsed by the light of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. They have even become passers-by, A, B, B, and D.
The combined strength of the princes is not as powerful as one of the little pig's fingers.
Therefore, the little pig can kill and seize the lives of the princes. If they tell you to get out, you have to get out!
But now, the only force Liu Che can really rely on is the Tiger Guards around him. Other military forces are not so reliable.
"We can only kill the chicken to frighten the monkey..." Liu Che sighed in his heart. Since the sixth year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign in the Zhongyuan Dynasty, the Han Dynasty has not used discretionary clauses to punish the princes for more than ten years. It seems that
, the princes may have also forgotten that if you don’t offer enough gold, you will lose your life!
"Let's go check and see which house has the most unruly money and weak foundation?" Liu Che ordered.
But Wang Dao didn't even move, he lowered his head and replied: "Reply to Your Majesty, there is no need to check, Zhuang Wuhou is the one!"
"Song Chang..." Liu Che sighed leisurely, and could only say that if he didn't seek death, he wouldn't die!
Zhuangwu Marquis Song Chang, Conglong Minister of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, was granted the title of Xinhai in April of the first year of Emperor Xiaowen, with a settlement of 1,400 households.
This person was a popular figure in the previous generation in the early days of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen. At that time, he was Zhihou, Zhuangwuhou and now Zhangwuhou, the three major generals under Emperor Taizong.
These people had extensive contacts with ministers and were good at dancing, which enabled Emperor Taizong Xiaowen to quickly defeat the power of the veteran ministers headed by Zhou Bo.
But Song Chang is a typical person who gets carried away when he is proud.
Arrogance based on favor and arrogance based on merit are not enough to describe this person.
So his decline is logical.
After the first year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign, Song Chang actually withdrew from politics and was left idle.
Moreover, the speed of Song Chang's decline was beyond everyone's imagination.
Liu Che still remembers that after he was reborn, he once saw Song Chang's carriage in front of Empress Bo's palace. At that time, Song Chang went to Empress Bo to ask for money. Liu Che always remembered that scene.
"It's up to him!" Liu Che waved his hand and ordered: "Go and ask the Yushi doctor's office to prepare for impeachment. The princes with 1,400 households must still have some gold at home..."
Gold is something that no one will ever have too little of in the history of mankind!
Especially for Liu Che, it is his established national policy to collect as much gold as possible, accumulate gold, and make reserves for the future gold standard.
And the discretion of the princes is the cornerstone of his policy!
Just from the gold in front of him, it is roughly estimated that he should be able to cast about three thousand gold cakes, which is roughly equivalent to more than half a ton of gold in later generations.
How could Liu Che allow such a huge and stable source of gold to be lost?
Therefore, we had no choice but to let Song Chang die.
Anyway, Liu Che remembered that in the original history, it was time for Song Chang to kill himself.
In his previous life, this year, Song Chang was completely removed from the ranks of the Han princes. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature for better and faster novels!
ps: Today is my wife’s birthday, happy birthday to my wife~
