Liu Che took his officials and walked into the riding stable to check.
On this tour, Liu Che's order was that officials from the Prime Minister's Office, who were above Qian Shi, should be accompanied by officials above six hundred Shi from the Imperial Censor's Yamen, and generals and assistants who were above Captain Jinwu.
Therefore, the entire team accompanying the inspection was very large.
There are more than a hundred officials who are qualified to surround the emperor Liu Che and listen to the holy teachings. There are countless officials who are bowing their bodies and lowering their heads, waiting for the opportunity to brush their faces on the outside, and there are countless officials who the Liu family has always liked.
If you have anything to do, just ask middle- and lower-level officials.
For example, there is the famous story Feng Tang Jin Yan during the reign of Emperor Taizong.
What position did Feng Tang hold at that time?
The answer is: Director Zhonglang.
This is the subordinate officer below the general with the middle facial features.
His status is roughly equivalent to the head of a reserve regiment of the Shenjing Garrison Command of the Chinese Empire.
In addition, in the story of Zhang Shizhi's remonstrance in the tiger enclosure, there is even a dialogue between Emperor Taizong and Liu Fu, who is responsible for the maintenance of the tiger enclosure.
The husband in this story is even lower level.
In history, after Chao Cuo died, Liu Che's father went to Sima who had returned from the front line to ask about the war situation ahead and what the people of the world thought about the killing of Chao Cuo.
During Xiaozhu's reign, Xiaozhu had more than one conversation with middle- and lower-level officials.
Even his sinner edict in his later years was prompted by a letter to an old man who guarded Liu Bang's mausoleum.
Therefore, countless people are gearing up and waiting for the opportunity. Many people are secretly preparing to answer the emperor's possible sudden questions at any time.
Liu Che could feel that every time he looked back, every time he turned around, every time he walked, there were countless pairs of "loyal ministers" who were full of enthusiasm and ardent hope of helping "the emperor and father solve the crisis", eager to seize the opportunity.
Faced with this situation, Liu Che nodded in his heart.
This is exactly what he wanted to see.
Are the bureaucracies of Taipu, Shaofu, and the two yamen strong?
Of course powerful!
But compared to the entire country's bureaucracy, he is undoubtedly as weak as a child.
Isn’t the Ministry of Railways of China awesome in future generations?
Fucked up.
Throughout the ages, countless facts have proven one truth: Bureaucrats will always only dare to hide in the shadows and play the tricks they are good at. But once they are put in the spotlight, even if they are all Sun Wukong, they will all kneel in the palm of the Buddha.
middle.
With this in mind, Liu Che took his officials and looked around the riding stables.
The more he looked at it, the more Liu Che's brows furrowed.
Even a layman like Liu Che had already figured out the problem with the riding stables.
There was chaos everywhere in the stable.
The health status of many horses is obvious at a glance and is not very good.
More importantly, there are too few qualified war horses!
In the Han Dynasty, there were standards for what kind of horses could become war horses.
For example, Han law stipulates that horses with a height of more than five feet and nine inches are prohibited. If the teeth are not flat, they are not allowed to leave the pass.
Why?
Because horses over five feet nine inches are considered war horses.
In addition, the imperial court would also purchase high-quality mares from the private sector at a premium.
The Book of Han Dynasty. The Records of Emperor Wu records an order issued during the reign of Xiaozhu: In the fifth year of Yuan Shou, there will be few horses in the world...two hundred thousand flat stallions.
The so-called Ping means Ping Jia, which means ordering Ping Jia to purchase 200,000 mares at a high price in the market to encourage private horse breeding.
As one of the six stables in the country, the riding stable was one of the largest horse farms in the Han Dynasty before Liu Che came to the throne.
Although its status has declined now, it is still one of the top five national ranches after Liu Che's horse garden in Shanglin Garden.
The horses here are still mainly supplied to the army.
However, in this large state-owned military ranch of the Han Dynasty, what Liu Che saw were very few war horses that met the standards of the Han Dynasty army, that is, five feet nine inches tall, strong in physique, and good at riding.
Horses are kept in the riding stables. Only about one-third at most meet the standards.
Although Liu Che had already learned about the chaos in the outer stables from the report of Xiu Yiwei.
But Liu Che never thought that the outer stables had turned into such a field.
You must know that six years ago, the Six Stables of the Han Dynasty was the country's largest horse breeding base, supplying half of the world's war horses and various official horses.
But in just six years, it was so bad.
In this regard, Liu Che could only say: Yuan An, you are really good!
"Shocking!" Liu Che walked to a dilapidated stable in the riding stable and looked inside the stable. The two ponies were chirping hungry, obviously due to poor management. They suddenly had a fit and kicked them over.
The railings of the stable made the two poor foals hide in a corner of the stable and tremble.
"The state allocates tens of thousands of dollars every year. From the top officials to the head of Guizhou, every male contributes one hundred and twenty dollars, and all land is used to produce cud! My emperor, Emperor Taizong, wanted to build a pavilion in the past.
When people asked the officials, they said: We need hundreds of gold, so we sighed. The country's horse administration consumes more than a hundred gold every year? Ten times! A hundred times! A thousand times or even ten thousand times, it's not enough, right? Too much
Is this how you, your servants, repay your kindness and express your gratitude to the common people?" Liu Che stood on the moral high ground, his verbal skills were instantaneous, and the ammunition was tilted out crazily. As he spoke, Liu Che's eyes even turned red.
Seeing this scene, all the attendants and civil and military officials immediately knelt down, kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. This is the fault of all the ministers!"
Prime Minister Zhou Yafu even said: "As Prime Minister, I should assist Your Majesty in governing the Yuan and Yuan Dynasties and serving the emperors Yao and Shun. I don't expect that I have committed such a serious crime before I have achieved even an inch of merit. I really have no face to see Your Majesty again and rule all the officials in the world. Please
Your Majesty accepts the official seal and ribbon and punishes the official for his crimes!"
After saying that, Zhou Yafu took off his hat and kowtowed.
Liu Che was shocked when he saw it. He quickly bent forward, helped Zhou Yafu up, picked up his hat, put it on for him, and encouraged him: "This matter has nothing to do with the Prime Minister!"
What a joke!
Zhou Yafu must really take off his hat today.
After returning home, he was 100% determined to commit suicide.
Zhou Yafu moved his lips and sighed.
She said in her heart: Yuan Si, Yuan Si, why are you so confused!
Chao Cuo, the imperial censor, was as happy as the Chinese New Year. If it wasn't in front of the emperor and the ministers, he would have wanted to strip and dance to celebrate!
The so-called failure to retaliate is not a gentleman!
Chao Cuo immediately bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that the servant would not know about such a situation in the riding stable. Please call the servant to come and question him immediately!"
Although Chao Cuo didn't say it explicitly: What happened here must have been done by that guy Yuan Ang.
But even a fool can understand the state of sharpening a knife.
Liu Che lowered his head and glanced at this guy.
Chao Cuo himself cannot absolve himself of the blame for the situation that the outer stables have fallen into.
The reason is very simple. Chao Cuo dares to pat his chest and say that he has no idea about the situation in the outer stable today?
The imperial censors, style collectors, and poetry collectors he had under his command were traveling around the country all the year round, going in and out of their homes.
Chao Cuo may not know about the local affairs in remote small counties.
But what is going on in the Six Stables of the Han family? Does Chao Cuo know?
This is a lie!
Why didn't he report it?
I'm afraid Chao Cuo has been waiting for a big news. Liu Che never believed that politicians have the so-called integrity! And with the embroidered guards, Liu Che was very familiar with the situation of Taipu Yamen, especially the outer stables.
The details are clearly understood.
Therefore, Liu Che did not answer Chao Cuo's words, but turned his attention elsewhere.
After about a quarter of an hour, Zhijin Wu Zhidu and his minister Ling Ji An came back to report.
Also arriving with these two people was the servant Yuan Ang.
As soon as Yuan An arrived at the scene, he immediately knelt down, took off his hat and kowtowed, saying: "The guilty minister An An pays homage to your majesty and begs your majesty to punish him..."
"You are guilty? Where is the crime?" Liu Che said with his eyes closed.
"Guilty minister... Guilty minister..." Yuan Ang just kowtowed.
"Ha..." Liu Che waved his hand, opened his eyes, and said to Yuan Ang with some hatred for the iron.
The power is overwhelming. As the ninth minister, you are in charge of the country's famous weapons. You should not have too close contact with them. Why don't you listen?"
"The sinful minister has violated His Majesty's teachings. It is impossible to atone for my sins even if I die!" Yuan Ang kowtowed heavily and said.
Seeing this scene, Liu Che shook his head.
Yuan Ang is a gentleman and a talented person.
Make friends all over the world and have close friends all over the world.
And he is indeed a loyal minister, loyal to the country and loyal to the Liu family.
However, no one is perfect.
Having friends all over the world and having contacts all over the world will inevitably bring about another negative side.
That is, there are countless people who want to make money with Yuan An or poach others.
Four years ago, Yuan An was impeached by Chao Cuo for corruption and bribery, and for accepting financial bribes from Wu King Liu Bi, and was beaten to the end.
If Chao Cuo had no conclusive evidence at that time, how could he have been able to move Yuan Ang?
But then again, given the current situation of the Han Dynasty, there are basically no clean goods among the civil and military ministers and relatives of the Manchu Dynasty, except for a few people such as Zhou Yafu, Zhidu, and Ji An.
Bribery was common even in the palace.
Even Liu Che can only carry out targeted anti-corruption and dare not target the entire bureaucracy.
Therefore, in the Han Dynasty, corruption was not a crime. After the corrupt officials were impeached, there were many comebacks.
You cannot ask a minister of a feudal dynasty to be on par with the people's servants in terms of moral integrity and personal qualities.
What is the purpose of becoming an official thousands of miles away?
Isn’t it just about getting rich?
Generally speaking, as long as it was not excessive and he could do his job, Liu Che would tolerate it.
But Yuan Ang really disappointed Liu Che this time.
His close official and business relationship with local powerful people and rangers became the reason why Liu Che could not tolerate him continuing to stay in the position of servant.
"I also gave you a chance..." Liu Che sighed in his heart.
A few days ago, Liu Che asked Liu She to discuss the reform of the horse administration with Yuan An, which was actually giving Yuan An a chance.
If he could stand up, sell out his teammates, and promote political reform, then what happened today would never have happened.
It's a pity that Yuan An has too much loyalty in his heart.
He attaches great importance to loyalty, even to the point of disregarding the laws and disciplines of the country!
Back then, he was able to hide Ji Xin and escape from prison. Today, it is normal for him to harbor a few friends and provide cover for them.
But what he hurt and hindered was Liu Che's plan.
Perhaps, in Yuan Ang's heart, he felt that he had done a good job in his role as Taiwen and was able to complete national tasks. Therefore, it is normal for his friends and connections to receive some benefits.
Liu Che no longer looked at Yuan An, but told Ji An and Zhi both: "Zhi Jinwu. Shangshu Ling, you come and tell me and tell all the officials where the horse in the stable has gone?"
When Yuan Ang heard this, he buried his head deeply in the ground and did not dare to look at others.
Where did the stable horses go?
Although Yuan An didn't know it clearly, he could guess it.
Since the year before last, the emperor ordered people to learn the method of farming with draft horses from Dai Guo. The horse farming industry in Guanzhong developed rapidly.
However, the Han Dynasty lacked horses.
The national horse administration system has difficulty supplying the horses produced every year, even for the army, local officials and the postal system.
In many places, horses can only be replaced every five years. There are countless examples of county magistrates being forced to buy horses in the market to supplement the horses used by the government and postal services.
Therefore, when some of his former friends, using his guise and brand name, went to the outer stables to greet the officials below, put in some money, and 'loan' dozens or hundreds of horses to go out to do business, more and more people
many.
Yuan An always thought this was no big deal.
The country's horses are kept in stables anyway, and as long as there is no war, they are generally not used.
Horses kept in stables require care and feed.
By 'loaning' to friends for emergency relief, you can avoid this part of the loss and recover losses for the country. Moreover, Yuan An's friends are indeed very considerate. Every time they borrow a horse and return it, they can ensure the basic health of the horse.
Some horses even gained weight. Occasionally, if there was any damage, they would be compensated immediately.
Over time, Yuan Ang became relieved.
But who knew that a situation like this would happen!
If only I had known this...
"Reporting to your majesty, I have found out..." Zhi Du reported with an expressionless face: "There are 5,071 official horses in the riding stables, but now the number in the stables is 4,000.
One hundred and fifty-two, nearly 900 good horses are missing, and all the missing horses are strong horses over three years old..."
As the Han Dynasty's horse administration system that inherited the Qin system, it has a strict and complete system.
This system is so complete that it will accurately record the height, weight, appearance standards and outlines of all registered official horses, and all war horses with a height of five feet nine inches or above that meet the military riding standards or horses used by local postal services will even be registered.
The name is on the register.
Later generations once unearthed an official horse registration book from the Dunhuang area in the late Western Han Dynasty, called the Chuanma Name Book.
In the unearthed slips, the staff of the horse administration system of the Han Dynasty recorded very carefully even if a horse lost a tooth, and they barely even drew a portrait of these horses.
Therefore, no one has the courage to destroy any official horse registered in the Han Dynasty.
However, no matter how strict the system is, there are loopholes, and no matter how perfect the system is, there are loopholes that can be exploited.
What's more, there is so much money and profit in the horse administration system.
Since Liu Bang, the bureaucrats in Taipu Yamen have learned to use public weapons for private purposes. They will use some names to take some horses from the official stables and go home to use them as cart horses.
When Taizong arrived, these guys were no longer limited to public utensils for private use.
They learned to rent public equipment to make extra money for themselves.
And all of this stems from an order from Liu Che's grandfather to restore the horse.
"After verification by the ministers and others, as well as the report of Xiuyiwei, I have found out that all the official horses that are not in the stables were 'borrowed' by the wealthy merchants in Guanzhong and Ziqian merchants. The wealthy merchants and Ziqian merchants obtained the horses from the official stables.
If you rent it to others, you will receive interest money, and the monthly rent for each horse ranges from 500 to 800 yuan... People who rent horses may use horses to plow the land, or use horses to deceive the government in order to gain the benefits of restoring the people!"
An An ruthlessly disclosed all the things he had verified.
This biggest pustule and bomb in the Han Dynasty's political system was detonated at once.
All the audience were surprised.
Even Yuan An himself opened his mouth, extremely shocked.
Leasing a horse to others for plowing land is not a big deal; at most it is a prison sentence.
However, the last thing Ji An reported was a reminder for the Lord of Hell!
Why?
Use horses to deceive the government in order to gain the benefits of restoring the people.
To put this matter into perspective, if Shang Gang goes online, it will definitely lead to the crime of deceiving the emperor!
Moreover, the emperor who deceived him was Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the most popular and popular emperor in the Han Dynasty.
Yuan An always praised himself as a loyal minister of Emperor Taizong and a lonely minister of filial piety. He was not willing to bear such a charge no matter what.
Therefore, he immediately cried and said: "Your Majesty, I have no idea at all!"
Liu Che looked at him.
Of course Liu Che knew that the current problems in Taipu Yamen were not caused by Yuan An.
Yuan Ang is not that capable. Within two or three years of taking power, he turned the good Taipu Yamen into what it is today.
In fact, situations like this have already existed.
However, after Yuan An came to power, because he only paid attention to the situation of the inner stables and paid little attention to the outer stables, and Liu Che vigorously promoted horse farming, many of Yuan An's friends and confidants got involved one after another because of the profits.
I want to take a sip of soup, but the officials of Taipu have done this countless times in the past. What does it mean to poach the country?
In the end, the people below didn't even bother to report to the superiors. As long as someone stuffed the money, they would dare to borrow it.
In this way, Yuan Ang was taken to the ditch by them.
Liu Che had figured out this situation as early as last year.
I was able to hold it in till today just for Yuan An's sake. I couldn't bear to see Yuan An embarrassed, so I kept arranging it slowly and thought through all the problems and plans before I came to prick this pustule.
Otherwise, Liu Che could come and pop this pustule during spring plowing or summer busy time, and then Yuan An would really have to die!
"I believe that the imperial servant does not know..." Liu Che slowly opened his mouth to excuse Yuan An: "But the imperial servant is not strict with his subordinates and has committed the crime of dereliction of duty. He is no longer suitable to be the imperial servant. He will dismiss the imperial servant and serve as Jiangdu
Mr. Wang!"
"My lord, thank you for your kindness!" Yuan An immediately kowtowed.
For Yuan An, this was the best result for him to be dismissed from his position as Taifu and transferred to Jiangdu as a Taifu.
More importantly, he can use this to escape from this whirlpool and go to Jiangdu to avoid trouble. After a few years, he may not be able to recover.
As soon as the emperor opened his mouth, all the ministers naturally knelt down and said: "I have received the imperial edict!"
Just when everyone thought that this matter would just be lifted high and put down gently.
