The army passed through Bajun Chengguan and arrived at Jiangzhou City. Yan Yan and Jiangzhou Civil and Military Affairs went out to greet them. Liu Zhang saw on the horse that the attitude of these officials was quite respectful, so he called Yan Yan and asked in a deep voice: "Who are here?"
Yan Yan cupped his hands and replied: "All the civil and military officials from Jiangzhou who are worth more than 200 stone are here, but..." Yan Yan paused for a moment and said hesitantly: "It's just that the famous families in Jiangzhou, except for the Fei family, all the others didn't come.
.”
"They have no obligation to come." Liu Zhang said lightly, made a stand-up gesture to the civil and military officials, and rode into the city. Zhang Ren looked at the streets of Jiangzhou and said to Liu Zhang: "My lord, this Jiangzhou is the first place in southern Sichuan.
Why does the big city look more dilapidated than Fucheng? Zhao Wei is so unscrupulous in plundering the people's wealth."
Fa Zhengdao on the side said: "General Zhang doesn't know. The prosperous places in our Xichuan are mainly concentrated around Chengdu, while the north, south and east are relatively barren, especially the north and south. On the back there are wars with the Zhang Lumi bandits from time to time, and there are barbarians in the south.
, so the economic downturn cannot be entirely blamed on Zhao Wei."
After finishing speaking, Fazheng glanced at Liu Zhang and felt a little uneasy. The Battle of Fucheng made him identify Liu Zhang as his lord, and chasing Zhao Wei and pacifying the Wuxi barbarians began to make Fazheng awe of this lord. Now he is obviously biased towards Zhao.
Although Wei's words were true, he was still afraid of Liu Zhang's anger, especially since he told Liu Zhang what the Jiangzhou family had done, Fazheng had always felt that Liu Zhang was suppressing his anger.
But Liu Zhang's expression was indifferent. He looked at the streets on both sides from time to time. The land of Shu was relatively peaceful. Although these people were not rich, they still lived and worked in peace and contentment. Only occasionally did their heads poke out from the cracks in the door. His eyes were full of numbness. Liu Zhang looked ahead and said to Fa Zhengdao: "
Xiaozhi, you said you have an idea to rectify the government affairs in Jiangzhou, please tell me."
Fa Zhengdao: "The reason why Jiangzhou officials are lawless is simply that they have strong support from the aristocratic clans. The aristocratic clans are the biggest obstacle to our rectification of Jiangzhou, so as long as we appease the aristocratic clans, it will be easy to rectify Jiangzhou..."
"Tell me the important point." Liu Zhang interrupted Fazheng.
"My lord, have you ever heard of the recruitment order?"
Liu Zhang pondered for a while and said: "Cao Cao's recruitment order, do you want to recruit people from poor families to replace these officials from aristocratic families?"
Fa Zheng shook his head and said: "No, if you recruit children from poor families to replace children from aristocratic families, it will definitely cause a backlash from the aristocratic families. My method is to issue a recruitment order, recruit children from aristocratic families, and replace the children from the old aristocratic families with new ones. In this way, we both
It achieves the purpose of punishing illegal officials and also favors newly appointed officials. Jiangzhou's official governance will inevitably take on a new look."
The sound of horse hooves on the bluestone floor made a thumping sound. Liu Zhang lowered his head and thought deeply. After a long time, he sighed and said to Fa Zheng: "Filial piety and straightness, you treat the symptoms but not the root cause. You said that the children of the family are illegal because of the support of the family behind them. You use the new family to support them."
To replace the old family, wouldn’t the new family have the support of the family?
It is true that we have punished a group of officials, which is a prestige, and promoted a group of officials, which is a favor. With both favor and prestige, the government will inevitably take on a new look, but that is temporary, because those newly appointed officials will ultimately serve the family.
Serving and obeying the will of the family, their nature has not changed. Moreover, if we issue a recruitment order and recruit all the children of the family, it will not only chill the hearts of the poor family, but also if the family does not cooperate, why don't we feel ashamed?"
"My lord, you don't have to worry about the cooperation between the families. Today, only the Fei family is here to welcome your lord. We can promote more children of the Fei family and cause conflicts among the families in Jiangzhou. No one wants their family to decline. They are very interested in my lord."
The recruitment orders for talents are bound to be followed in droves, and in the future, we can use strict laws to restrain officials."
Fazheng really didn't think there was anything wrong with his method, and he didn't understand why Liu Zhang talked about officials obeying their family's will. This is indeed a fact. In this era, family interests often outweigh self-interest, but this is the case for the entire Han Dynasty.
, the court will not blame individuals for serving family interests, at most it will only use strict laws to restrain them.
Thinking of this, Fazheng suddenly thought of a terrible possibility. He remembered Liu Zhang's eyes outside Bajun City. He had only seen that kind of chill once in Fucheng, and that time, Yu An and other dozens of heads fell to the ground.
Could it be that Liu Zhang is going to attack the Jiangzhou family this time?
When Fazheng thought of this possibility, his back went cold. If Liu Zhang really attacked the family, he would not only destroy the hearts of the Xichuan family, but also the trust and hope of the world. In the future, when he goes out to Xichuan to fight for world hegemony, he will inevitably be resisted by the families everywhere. This kind of
The results were terrible.
Fazheng hurriedly tried to dissuade him, but Liu Zhang waved his hand and said calmly: "It's useless for us to talk about this now. Let's wait until I meet those parents and officials. Maybe they are not as bad as I thought."
The army was stationed outside the city, and three thousand soldiers followed Liu Zhang into the city. When Liu Zhang arrived at the county government, he did not go to the lobby, but summoned all the officials in Jiangzhou in a small room.
The room was not big, and there were soldiers on both sides. The officials stood a little cramped. Liu Zhang didn't want to sit on the cushions, so he sat directly on the coffee table. While rubbing his calves worn by the horse's back, he said casually: "I am here to see you today."
Come, firstly, to commend you for your diligence in political affairs and benefiting the people of this area, and secondly, to ask what sufferings Jiangzhou has and what I need to do."
A group of officials immediately bowed and said, "This is all my duty."
Hu Cao Shi Zhang He stepped forward and said: "My lord, when it comes to the sufferings of Jiangzhou, there is one. We are invaded by Nanzhong barbarians and Wuxi barbarians every year. The people are miserable. It has been rainy recently. I'm afraid
The rice will rot in the fields before the harvest time, so the harvest may be reduced. I also ask my lord to reduce or reduce Jiangzhou taxes as appropriate."
Liu Zhang sneered in his heart, do these officials still think that they are the puppets who used to guard the Prefectural Mufu? No matter how powerful the Wuxi Barbarians and Nanzhong Barbarians are, they can attack Jiangzhou? It is even worse if the rice is rotten due to the rain.
It’s a joke, if it’s autumn, it’s still possible. It’s only midsummer now, and the rice is still green and can absorb a lot of rain. Where does the mold come from? If I were really Liu Zhang, he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, and became a state herdsman.
If you don't leave the Zhou Mufu, you will really be deceived by this group of people.
Liu Zhang rubbed his temples, closed his eyes and said: "Master Zhang is really considerate of the people's sentiments and petitions for the people. Okay, I will consider the issue of tax reduction and exemption. If there are any difficulties, continue."
When the other officials heard that Liu Zhang had agreed so quickly, they all smiled in their hearts. They originally thought that the dim-witted Zhou Mu had changed his mind, but they didn't expect that he was still the same as before. They couldn't help but stepped forward to "petition for the people."
The meritorious Cao Shi rushed forward and said: "The barbarians invaded every year, but the rewards and punishments for the rebel leader Zhao Wei were unclear. As a result, many meritorious civil and military officials in Jiangzhou were not allowed to be promoted. Among them were the thief Cao Shi Jiang Qi, and the five-edged doctor Feng Xu... (omitted two words)
More than a dozen names)…”
As soon as the meritorious officer Shi finished speaking, he stepped forward and said: "My lord, Zhao Wei has messed up the government and failed to practice etiquette. The sacrifices to the sages of heaven and earth have been neglected. I also ask my lord to allocate money to build a sacrificial platform and re-erect the statues of the sages."
Bing Cao Shi: "Zhao Wei conscripted troops, regardless of local defense, and asked the lord to allocate military expenditures to rectify the defense of Jiangzhou."
Jin Cao Shi: "Zhao Wei is very happy to have great achievements. He has been fighting all year round. His treasury is empty and he cannot make ends meet..."
Cao Yuan: "The roads leading from Jiangzhou to various counties and villages were washed away by heavy rains..."
Every official who came from Jiangzhou spoke of his own hardships, as if not complaining.
It was like suffering a big loss, and finally even the county recordkeeper came forward and said that the bamboo slips were not enough.
Fazheng frowned secretly and felt very worried. Even though Liu Zhang had a smiling face and was approachable, Fazheng knew that Liu Zhang was already angry.