Chapter 37 Abolition of history and establishment of animal husbandry
In fact, Liu Yan had heard from Dong Funa as early as last year that Yizhou had the spirit of an emperor.
However, he also knew very well that it was definitely not a good time to depose Shi Limu.
Because the world was at peace last year, it was impossible to convince the emperor.
At the end of last year, the emperor's tax collection caused an uproar. Liangzhou, Youzhou and Jiaozhou took the lead in rebellion, which allowed Liu Yan to see an opportunity.
So when the three places were locked in a bitter battle and a steady stream of memorials for help were being delivered to Luoyang, they entered the palace to meet the Holy Spirit.
In February of the sixth year of Zhongping, the Han Dynasty used the Xia calendar, which was the lunar calendar of later generations, so February was already March in the solar calendar, and it was a season of warming in the north.
The West Garden is full of spring, with birds chirping and flowers fragrant, and warblers and swallows flying everywhere.
Liu Yan took small steps through the gravel path with mottled tree shades cast by the warm sun, and came to the grassland beside the artificial lake. There were palaces and pavilions on the grassland, and the emperor was overlooking from a high platform.
This was considered a hobby of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. It turned out that he liked to climb the platform of Yong'an Palace.
Zhang asked Zhao Zhong to have large mansions in Buguangli and Yongheli south of Yong'an Palace. In order to avoid being seen by the emperor, he persuaded Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty not to go to the marquess platform of Yong'an Palace.
For this reason, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty no longer went to Yong'an Palace, but he also liked to look far away, so he built a high platform in the West Garden and often watched the Western Market in the West Garden.
The high platform in the West Garden is more than 20 feet high, almost 50 meters high. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty spent tens of millions of money to build it.
In addition to the West Garden, the Yutang Hall has also been renovated.
After getting the money, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sent Song Dian to repair the Yutang of the Nangong Palace, and sent Bi Lan to cast four bronze figures to line up in front of Canglong and Xuanwu Palaces.
Four bells were also cast, which could hold two thousand grains, and were hung in front of the Yutang and Yuntai Halls.
He also cast a Tianlu toad and spit water to the east of the bridge outside Pingmen, and then the water flowed into the palace.
They also built overturned carts and placed them on the west side of the bridge to spray the roads in the northern and southern suburbs to save the people the cost of spraying the roads.
Four more coins were cast, each with four patterns connected to the rim wheels.
A rough calculation shows that money has been spent in these years. Chen Mu has almost run out of the money he saved to help collect taxes. Supporting the Northern Army in the war this year is a problem. No wonder he only thinks about collecting taxes and making up for it.
previous deficit.
Liu Yan slowly climbed up the steps, step by step, panting.
I am over 50 years old and my body cannot bear it.
"Taichang Qing."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was on the high platform looking at the lively scene of Luoyang West Market outside the West Garden. When he heard that Liu Yan was coming, he turned around and saw Liu Yan slowly climbing up the stairs. He smiled and said, "Why are you free today?"
Come to the palace to find me."
Although Taichang was the head of the Nine Qings, he was actually equivalent to the Ministry of Rites in later generations, in charge of the rituals, music, rituals of the Sheji Ancestral Temple, etc. Apart from holidays, sacrifice days and etiquette, he had almost nothing to do.
So on weekdays, Liu Yan either stayed at home or at the Ancestral Temple. Even when the three ministers and ministers held court meetings, they were all clay statues of Bodhisattvas and seldom spoke.
It is indeed a strange thing to suddenly come to see the Emperor today.
Liu Yan calmed down his tired body, stepped forward and bowed his hands: "Your Majesty, Liu Yan."
"Taichang, please sit down."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty invited him to sit down. The emperor and his ministers were on a high platform. The warm spring breeze was blowing, flags were fluttering on the platform, and fruits and snacks were placed on the table.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Liu Yan thanked him and went to the table. The two of them sat in rows.
After Liu Yan sat down, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty asked strangely: "Qing Taichang is not in the Ancestral Temple. Why did you come to see me today?"
Liu Yan said seriously: "Your Majesty, I am here today because I have important national affairs to discuss with your Majesty."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty asked curiously: "Please tell me, Mr. Taichang."
Liu Yan said seriously: "Today, the states are in chaos, border affairs are rising, the imperial tax revenue cannot be raised, and central government orders cannot be issued to the localities. This is all because officials from various places colluded with the powerful, cleverly created names, attracted the powerful gentry, and passed on the taxes that should have been paid by them.
Give it to the people, who suffer so much that they have no choice but to kill officials and rebel."
"Is there such a thing as this?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was stunned. He knew that officials from various places had been writing letters saying that taxation was uncomfortable and had been urging him not to continue collecting taxes. He didn't know why these officials were suddenly so resistant.
Zhang Rang and others knew the reason, but they didn't dare to say it. Because their clan was also a powerful landlord class and also resisted paying taxes.
Liu Yan continued: "Yes, most of the officials from various places are from the background of buying officials. They have money to buy officials, so they are naturally powerful people in various places. When your Majesty collects taxes, those powerful people are naturally unwilling to pay, so they collude with the officials or resist paying.
Taxation, either hiding the land or forcing the people to pay more taxes, is the foundation of chaos in the world."
Emperor Ling's face darkened, he punched the table and cursed angrily: "These silverfish!"
Zhang beside him made Zhao Zhong and others shrink their necks.
Since in this position, there must be entanglements with countless officials of the imperial court, and their clans also have countless properties in their name. If the emperor wants to collect taxes, he is also plucking their hair, because in this matter, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and the others are also
On the side of the courtiers, they did not want the emperor to collect taxes too harshly.
Liu Yan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the chaos in Youzhou, Liangzhou, Jiaozhou and Jingzhou is because local officials and local powerful forces joined forces to oppress foreigners and tried to collect taxes from foreigners to make up for their shortcomings. This method will soon be spread to other countries.
In the hinterland of the Central Plains, when these officials and powerful forces unite again to force us Han people to pay taxes, the Yellow Turban incident will happen again."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty heard something was wrong, and said with a bad look on his face: "Qing Taichang is also here to persuade me not to collect taxes anymore?"
Liu Yan hurriedly said: "No, Your Majesty, I believe that the reason why such a thing happened is because the governors in various places only have the power to supervise and have no power to interfere in local affairs. The powerful people in various places only need to bribe local magistrates and prefects with heavy sums of money."
, a large amount of tax money can be left, and the governors of various states know this situation, but cannot intervene. There are so many counties and counties in the world, and the central government cannot control them, which has led to this result."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty asked in confusion: "Then what does Yitaichang mean?"
Liu Yan smiled slightly: "History should be abolished and Mu should be established. The central government should send trusted ministers to serve as state pastors in various places. The state pastors should supervise the prefects and county magistrates in various places. If there are officials who accept bribes and deceive superiors and subordinates, they should be removed immediately, and then these states will
If Mu Lai has full authority to handle tax collection, then the imperial court's tax revenue will definitely be sent to the government, and officials will not oppress the people in various places. Then the world will be stable and the foundation of the Han Dynasty will be supported."
Abolish history and establish animal husbandry?
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was thinking in his heart.
What he cares about is whether he can collect the money.
Now it seems that the reason why the money cannot be collected is indeed due to the shirk and continuous delay by local officials.
Regardless of whether they were local tycoons or local officials, they all openly and secretly opposed the central court and found various reasons to disobey the king's orders.
If it's one or two, it's fine, and at worst it can be dealt with. But if almost half of the officials in the world are like this, it's not easy to deal with.
Moreover, this also shows that these officials did not care about the authority of the central court at all and believed that the court did not dare to do anything to them.
The Han Dynasty had more than 160 commanderies, more than 1,000 counties, and tens of thousands of officials at all levels. Many officials openly obeyed the imperial court, but secretly did not implement the imperial decrees at all.
There were too many such phenomena. Even if Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was angry, he would only attack one or two people at most. But there were so many officials in the world, he couldn't cut off tens of thousands of people at once.
For this reason, he could only order Zhang to let Zhao Zhong and others, and let the eunuchs dispatched to various places urge local officials to do things as soon as possible.
The problem is that the Shi Chang Shi also own numerous properties, and many officials in the imperial court relied on them for promotion, which is commonly known as the eunuch party.
By doing this, the emperor not only harmed the interests of all powerful families, but also harmed the interests of the eunuchs.
Therefore, even the ten regular attendants turn a blind eye and do their work without exerting any effort.
This is why the government decree issued last year has only collected less than 10 billion in taxes this year. If taxes in various places had already been raised in the past few years or a few months, why wait until now?
After Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty figured this out, he probably understood that what Liu Yan said was indeed reasonable. In order to get the 70 billion tax revenue that made him crazy, he nodded and said: "What Taichang Qing said is, the power of the governor
It is too small to supervise the local area. I should send the state pastor to various places to replace the governor and let the state pastor exercise his power to raise this year's taxes."
Liu Yan was overjoyed and followed the words of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty and said: "As long as the state pastors in various places can control the power, supervise local officials, supervise the tax payment of powerful people, and appease the people, your majesty will have countless money to collect, and then use the money to govern the place.
Then the country of Han Dynasty will be stable, and the Liu family will have a foundation for eternity."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty said happily: "In the opinion of Tai Changqing, who should be elected as the governor of each region?"
Liu Yan said without hesitation: "The power of the state pastor cannot be held by ordinary people. It should only be held by people from the Liu family. These people are all descendants of the Liu family. After the ancestors of the ancestors, they have the Han Dynasty in their hearts and will be loyal to the world."
Serve the imperial court without any second thoughts."
"Taichang Qing's words make sense."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty thought deeply and said: "It's just that there are very few people in the clan who have the reputation to serve as state pastors. At present, there are only two people, Taichang Qing and Zong Zhengqing. I'm afraid it is difficult to take care of the whole world."
Liu Yan thought for a while and said: "In addition to me and Bo'an, your Majesty can also appoint a highly respected minister, such as Huang Ziyan, who has a good reputation and will definitely be able to appease the place."
"Taichang Qing's words deeply touched my heart. Since you want to serve the country, although I can't bear to have you leave, I can't bear to stop you from your determination to serve the country. I wonder where Taichang Qing wants to serve as a state pastor?"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty asked.
Liu Yan replied: "The governor of Yizhou, Geng Bi, and his favored minister Cheng Qiu are corrupt and perverting the law. The people of Yizhou are complaining, and I want to go to Yizhou. When the time comes, your majesty will appease the people of Yizhou and urge the tycoons of Yizhou to pay taxes. This year I will be the emperor."
Bringing state tax.”
After hearing these words, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed: "That's it, Taichang Qing will be the pastor of Yizhou. I hope that after Taichang goes to Yizhou, he can protect the people and the country, so that the land tax can be smoothly collected by the central government, and he can live up to my expectations."
Trusted."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Liu Yan was ecstatic in his heart. He smiled and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty's words will be kept in mind."