Chapter 25: Household Registration Case Verification
"When chaos arises, words are the order." The Book of Changes
Weiyang Palace, Shangshu Terrace.
On the day when his daughter was enthroned as queen, Dong Cheng, who had fulfilled his wish to serve as a chariot general and handle the affairs of the court, held the slip in his hand in front of his eyes, scanned the contents of the memorial up and down, and slowly showed a contemptuous smile on his face.
.
Shangshu Lingshi Sun Rui sat on his lower right side and looked at Dong Cheng with a frown. Although the man had a smile on his face, Shisun Rui only felt that his eyes were cold and joyless, and even the tone of his words was indifferent.
Posturing:
"So, the matter of Shanglin Qingzhang has been basically completed?"
Wu Shuo, the minister, stood in the hall and replied respectfully: "The number of fertile fields and cultivable land in Shanglin is reported. However, there are not many refugees who have applied for recruitment, so there are many people but few land, and many wastelands have not been cultivated."
Seeing that the other party had a clear goal, he deliberately brought up the topic he wanted. Dong Cheng narrowed his eyes and turned to Shisun Rui: "I don't think there is any need to say more about the importance your Majesty attaches to farming. Now that the land is available, there are not enough refugees to cultivate it.
In my opinion, farming should be included in the local plan as a spur, what does Junrong think?"
Scholar Sun Rui was highly respected in the court, and when people met him, most of them would respectfully call him father-in-law. Only those who were close to him could call him by his first name.
Now Dong Cheng said it casually, which made Shisun Rui feel even more contemptuous, and anger suddenly appeared on his face. At this moment, Shanwu noticed that the minister's servant sitting opposite was looking at Yang Zan, and Yang Zan's expression
Seriously, she shook her head very slightly at him.
Shisun Rui took a deep breath and said: "It should be so."
The so-called Shangji is actually a performance evaluation system for local officials that originated from the Warring States Period and flourished in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Every year, local governors compile accounting books for household registration, taxes, thieves, prison lawsuits, etc., also known as collection books, and dispatch officials.
Reports were made level by level and submitted to the imperial court, and the imperial court assessed the performance of local governors accordingly.
Incorporating the effectiveness of farming into the performance evaluation of local officials is undoubtedly an institutional supervision for local magistrates, county magistrates, and especially farmers. This is originally a good thing to improve administrative efficiency, but it can easily lead to other people.
of intention.
Dong Cheng nodded and said: "Wu Ziju is the third Duke Cao Shangshu, and he is in charge of the state and county affairs at the end of the year, so he can be responsible for this matter."
Wu Shuo was lost in thought when he heard the word "Zi Ju" in his name and was suddenly startled.
Scholar Sun Rui took a deep look at Wu Shuo. He knew that Wu Shuo liked to speculate and gain power, and he would bend over backwards to please the powerful officials, whether it was Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, or Ma Rixi. This time he saw that Dong Cheng's relatives gained power and overcame Yong.
The cowardly Ma Rixi was stunned, so he defected to Dong Cheng's camp.
Wu Shuo is also lucky. Everyone he meets values his role as a minister and wants to use Wu Shuo to expand his influence in the minister's desk. Otherwise, someone like him who has betrayed his master many times will not be able to meet new people if he meets someone new.
The Lord has no room for disgrace in his eyes and has rejected Him a long time ago.
At this time, Shisun Rui suddenly thought, could Dong Cheng's move be specifically aimed at those farmers who were distributed to counties?
In the past, prefectures and counties were recruited by prefects and county magistrates themselves, but this was the first time that the imperial court directly sent vassals to the local areas. In order to show the importance it attached to the farmland, in order to meet the emperor's expectation of deepening the central government's control over the local areas,
, the imperial court specially selected talents from the three ministers who served as the reserve of central officials.
These Lang officials who are selected to serve as farmers in various places are all the future pillars of each faction in the court. If someone deliberately makes a bad evaluation in the above assessment, the harm will be no less than to which party.
The power has been drained from the bottom of the cauldron.
Scholar Sun Rui sternly remonstrated: "Situ has always been the leader in handling local affairs. Although the Third Duke Cao is responsible for examinations, in this matter, his position is too light."
Dong Cheng did not feel dissatisfied and said with a teasing smile: "Junrong, please don't forget that Mr. Situ Zhao is still ill. He will be involved in the plan in less than half a year. Can you bear to let Mr. Zhao drag his sick body to work hard for this?"
"Then this matter should not be decided by the cavalry general alone. Your Majesty should be asked to make a decision."
Dong Cheng looked at Wu Shuo, who was standing in the middle with an embarrassed look on his face, his face darkened, and he said, "Then I will lay out the details here and submit them to His Majesty."
Letting the other party hit a nail, Shisun Rui did not feel much relieved. On the contrary, his heart became heavier. With the arrogant temper Dong Cheng showed in the court recently, there must be something else that can make him give in temporarily.
A bigger plot.
I saw Dong Cheng continue to say: "Speaking of the large number of people and the small amount of land, in addition to the raging local bandits, which made it difficult for the refugees to apply for recruitment at ease, I thought of another group of common people who could be used as farms. I remember it was the first year of Chuping, when the imperial court moved the capital to Chang'an.
, there must have been hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who entered the customs with the driver at that time, right? Letting them enter the farmland would solve the problem of the lack of people in the farmland, and secondly, it could also solve their livelihood. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."
Hearing that Dong Cheng was planning to target the Luoyang residents who were forced to enter Guanzhong from the west, Shisun Rui's brows suddenly jumped, and a bad premonition emerged in his heart.
Before he could answer, Yang Zan across from him couldn't sit still: "The people suffered from hunger, disease and cold on the way to the west, and were driven by Dong Zhuo's chariots. The dead accumulated on the road. Not even one out of ten who finally arrived in Guanzhong was alive.
Most of the people who have finally settled down already have houses and land, so once the imperial court brings them into the farmland, won't it mean that they will continue to be violent?"
Dong Cheng laughed inwardly and disapproved of it. Although these people did suffer heavy casualties on the road, according to private estimates by the government staff, the number of people who finally arrived in Guanzhong was at least about 100,000 households.
These people had just arrived, with no food, clothing, or land to live on. Dong Zhuo just brought them here without any intention to help them. As a result, these people either died or fled, and most of them became hidden by the local aristocratic families.
The account is dead from the books.
The Yang family of Hongnong was one of the big ones who took the opportunity to absorb the household registration, so Yang Zan was more anxious to object than Shisun Rui.
The expressions of everyone on the Shangshu table changed drastically. All the Shangshu and Shangshulang who came from a powerful family in Guanzhong showed panic expressions on their faces.
Dong Cheng was very proud of everyone's performance. He smiled slightly and ignored Yang Zan. Instead, he asked Sun Rui demonstratively: "What do you think Jun Rong?"
Shi Sunrui's face was extremely ugly, and he said coldly: "Your Majesty's order to farm the land was originally to recruit refugees and prevent them from losing their livelihood. However, they have been resettled in Guanzhong for three years and are not refugees. Once the imperial court includes them in the farm,
, It’s okay for those with less land, but those with more land may not be willing. If they are forced to do it, I’m afraid it will cause resentment among the people.”
Dong Cheng was a little disappointed: "Is this really impossible?"
"This must never be done!"
Everyone was stunned and looked toward the door. They saw Taiwei Ma Rixi, who was over fifty years old, standing tremblingly at the door with a displeased look on his face.