Chapter 349 Mausoleum
Handan.
A carriage was moving slowly on the bustling street. In the carriage was Luo Jing, who was inspecting Shandong. Looking at the prosperity before him, Luo Jing nodded with satisfaction.
As one of the most prosperous commercial cities in the world, Handan's situation is of great reference value to the whole world.
A few years ago, after the imperial court stripped the clan members of their fiefdoms, it set up money monitoring offices in all counties and kingdoms across the country to specifically monitor whether there was any obvious lack of money circulating in the market. Once discovered, they would be handed over to the government and punished severely according to their crimes, their property would be confiscated, and they might even be exiled.
Through such strict supervision, although it is impossible to completely eliminate those who are short of money, the various forms of counterfeiting methods are basically no longer seen.
"Sir, nowadays, among the dozens of counties and kingdoms in the world, most of them have already used the Tianhan coins minted by the court. When I visited the Grand Minister of Commerce some time ago, he said that the court's annual revenue increased a lot last year. The profit from minting coins is really terrifying. From this, we can know how much profit those princes and dukes made in the past."
Luo Jing did not respond to this, but said: "Your Majesty has reduced sentences and reduced agricultural taxes in recent years, which has greatly restored the economy of the people. However, because the policy is too lenient, the annexation of the people is certainly serious. However, it is impossible to solve this problem. I hope that this visit can alleviate some of the problems."
After saying that, he pulled down the curtain of the carriage, and the carriage fell into silence. Only the sound of horse hooves moving forward could be heard.
"Send out messengers in all directions, summon the powerful men of the world, and tell them to come to Handan on time to pay homage. I have something important to announce. Those who fail to come will bear the consequences themselves."
Before Luo Jing came to Handan, he had already sent out letters of conscription to many powerful families, requiring them to arrive in Handan on time to accept the summons.
Many of these powerful families are branches of the nobility that have been passed down from the Zhou Dynasty. However, after successive wars and the Han Dynasty's practice of exploiting the powerful, they are no longer as powerful as before.
However, these people had collections of books, rich educational resources, and land, so they developed very quickly. As long as the imperial court was a little less strict in controlling them, they would be able to completely control the local areas within twenty years.
Knowledge is power and wealth, which is truly reflected in these people.
But even the Luo family had no way to deal with these people.
Because whether they are willing to admit it or not, these educated, enterprising and powerful people are currently the most powerful group of people in China.
If the Han court could promise them benefits, these people could even arm themselves to defeat the barbarians.
The Luo family has always adhered to the principle of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches, ensuring the unity of the country while maintaining the vitality of the branches. If there is a problem with the trunk, the branches can quickly grow into a new trunk.
The root of this idea comes from the book written by Ji Zhao.
In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was in ruins, but the lower-class clans were so atomized that they could not support the growth of heroes.
There was no situation where the local gentry supported the fighting among the princes. The Qing court, as an outsider, accepted the entire gentry system with almost unstoppable force.
This is truly a scene that has not been heard of in a thousand years!
You know, even in the era of decadent aristocratic families, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was able to defeat the north in a terrible way. Although it lagged behind when it came to the Northern Expedition, at least it had no problem defending its territory. However, a thousand years later, the aristocratic families could no longer even defend their territory.
It can only be said that the literati and officials of the Song and Ming dynasties were more greedy but more incompetent than the powerful people of the Han and Tang dynasties. At least the noble families of the Han and Tang dynasties were good at fighting on horseback and governing the people on foot, and they really had some skills.
As for land annexation, the powerful will instinctively devour everything around them to strengthen their own power.
In today's era, land, a resource that can produce and feed people, is the most powerful force.
Land annexation is irreversible, which is determined by the nature of the regime, and can only be alleviated as much as possible.
Since the royal family themselves are annexing land, how can they possibly control others?
The powerful people summoned by Luo Jing were not simply big businessmen, because most of those businessmen were still in a dependent position. The ones he summoned were those who held minor positions in counties and whose families had extremely rich assets.
These people were only terrified about Luo Jing's summons, because Luo Jing came from Chang'an and his status was too high, far beyond their reach. Facing such a person, any carelessness would bring disaster.
…
Luo Jing was exchanging greetings with King Zhao.
After the division of the country and the extension of favors, the current King of Zhao is no longer the prince who could control the military affairs of the entire Yan and Dai countries.
Although he still holds the title of King of Zhao, it might be more appropriate to call him King of Handan.
The palace was already filled with prominent families from various counties and prefectures.
These people usually travel all over the country. Some of them know each other, and some of them even have grudges against each other. However, in this place, they all suppressed their thoughts and whispered to each other, wanting to know if anyone knew some inside information.
King Zhao accompanied Luo Jing into the hall, and everyone stood up and saluted.
Luo Jing looked around and said, "I have summoned you all here today because there is an extremely important matter that requires your help for the court.
There are three imperial tombs of the Han Dynasty outside Chang'an, namely the Tomb of Emperor Taizu Gao, the Tomb of Empress Gao, and the Tomb of Emperor Renzong Xiaohui. When Your Majesty went to pay homage a few days ago, he was impressed by the sparse population of the three imperial tombs and shed tears, saying that it was because of his unfilial behavior that his ancestors were so lonely.
His Majesty was still sad until the end of the worship.
As a subject, if you see your monarch in trouble and do not help, this is not what a subject should do.
If a younger brother sees his elder brother in sorrow but does not offer comfort, it cannot be called filial piety.
I left Chang'an and came to Shandong to meet you loyal ministers, precisely because of His Majesty the Emperor. "
As soon as Luo Jing said this, the faces of those powerful families changed drastically, and some even looked horrified.
Mausoleum town!
This is a phrase that all the powerful people in the Han Dynasty are terrified of.
The emperor wants to send more people to guard the imperial tomb.
From the perspective of later generations, the mausoleum town system was like harvesting leeks, harvesting the powerful people in various counties and prefectures of the Han Dynasty one after another, and constantly preventing the powerful people from becoming powerful in the local areas. It was an extremely progressive policy. Although the policy measures were too crude, when the central court was strong, these people had to obey, which was a virtuous circle.
But for these powerful people, this was a policy that would destroy their families and even lead them to oppose the imperial court.
After all, the imperial court wanted their lives, and expecting them to be loyal was indeed too shameless.
King Zhao was also somewhat shocked that it was said so directly. Shouldn't such a thing be dealt with by a direct imperial decree ordering them to migrate?
Before he died, he gathered these people together and told them, "I'm here to kill you."
This is too particular.
"My Lord!"
Someone couldn't help but stand up and asked, "My Lord, are you going to kill me?"
Luo Jing smiled and said, "Guarding the tomb of the late emperor is an act of loyalty to the court. Why do you say this?"
This sentence made everyone unable to hold back their excitement, even Prince Zhao's face began to twitch. He also lived in Chang'an in the past. His Majesty the Emperor certainly would not care about these foreign tyrants.
However, when outsiders without any roots come to Guanzhong, which is full of nobles and royal relatives, they become fat sheep that can be slaughtered at will.
"My Lord!"
Countless people could not help but feel sad and angry. People of this era were very aggressive and would get bloody on the spot if they disagreed with something.
Luo Jing seemed not to feel the murderous intent coming from them, and still smiled and said: "Don't be impatient, if it is really as you think, I will just send you an imperial decree, do you dare not go?
But Your Majesty is merciful and does not want to force you to migrate and leave your homeland, so he ordered me to persuade you and have a good discussion. "
His laughter and words made people feel as if they were falling into an ice cellar. There was even a faint smell of blood and the sound of sharp metal and stone in his words. If he wanted to kill you, would he have to put in so much effort?
This basin of cold water immediately calmed everyone down. Yes, in the past, the decree was directly issued to the counties and kingdoms, and then the migration began. But now Luo Jing came in person.
Who is Luo Jing?
He was the emperor's closest minister, and basically his actions represented the emperor's will.
During the years that the emperor has been in power, he has always been kind and has used his broad mind and noble character to influence the people of the world, just like the King of Chu was moved by your majesty's kindness and took the initiative to end his own life.
The smart people reacted quickly, bowed and said loudly: "We are stupid, please give us some advice!"
Luo Jing slowly put away his smile and said calmly: "You guys can sit here today because although you are rich, you rarely take advantage of others and rarely collude with officials, so I am willing to see you.
If all your wealth was gained by exploiting the people, you would have been confiscated and exiled long ago.
Listen carefully.
Your Majesty must select a group of young men with outstanding literary talent or special skills from the great families in Shandong to serve as Langguan in the palace. Langguan is a candidate for Shizhong. Even if they cannot serve as Shizhong, they are still your Majesty's close ministers.
But the Han Dynasty naturally has its own rules. Your Majesty knows that you all come from large families with large populations, so you are required to prepare sufficient assets for the officials who will enter the palace. The officials' relatives and so on must also be brought to Chang'an.
Your Majesty wants to build a large county around the imperial mausoleum. In order to make the county prosperous as soon as possible, it requires powerful families from all over the world to settle there.
Your Majesty has always been fair and will not seize your property by trickery. If you are willing to migrate, Your Majesty will remember your contributions. You all know that in the Han Dynasty, officials are selected through imperial examinations.
Your Majesty said that Shandong has many temples of philosophers and many schools of thought. It is a place of brilliant culture and a great many talents. In addition to selecting officials, the imperial examinations should also pay attention to Shandong children. If you are willing to migrate, the imperial examinations in recent years will also open up a convenient door. "
With every word Luo Jing spoke, the light in everyone's eyes brightened.
"Sir, the Wang family is willing to move to Guanzhong."
Immediately, some people became enthusiastic. What Luo Jing said sounded nice. Whether to migrate was entirely voluntary. Anyone who believed it was a fool. Now, migrating could also gain the relationship with the royal family. Anyone who disagreed would be a fool.
(End of this chapter)
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