Chapter 490: The era of the heroes of the Jingnan Rebellion is over
Jimo.
Lu Chan stared in a daze at the imperial edict that was transmitted to the marquisate. This edict actually had no effect on the Lu family of Jimo.
But he is a chivalrous man with a strong sense of loyalty.
He was the organizer of the Petition on the Bus and he was one of the leaders in the Jingnan Campaign.
result……
The marquises of Guandong are indeed extremely wealthy now.
The Jingnan Campaign brought peace to three generations, and most people were probably very satisfied with it. After all, they fought to the death on the battlefield just to continue the family's wealth.
But Lu Chan was a little sad, even sadder than when he left Chang'an and returned to Jimo to plant flowers. Yuan Cong and other heroes were completely excluded from the core of power in the court.
What is even more terrifying is that the emperor treated the heroes of the Jingnan Campaign too well. The hereditary system greatly weakened mobility, and the sword that had been hanging over the heads of the marquises was taken away.
Without the pursuit of power and the motivation to maintain wealth, the outcome is obvious. Human laziness begins to rise.
Lu Chan was Liu Xun's uncle, so he was relatively restrained when facing Liu Xun's choice, but others were not so easy to deal with.
Some marquises even complained: "What does the emperor mean by this? Are you doubting my loyalty? Why not just cut out my heart and see if I have a true heart!"
Some marquises were angry and said, "We risked our lives to obey the will of Heaven and quell the rebellion, but in the end the country fell into the hands of the royal family and scholars, into the hands of these people who did nothing. Is this fair?"
As the saying goes, everyone has a thousand faces.
When some people were angry, others tried to appease them: "The Jingnan Campaign was originally for the survival of the Han Dynasty.
Now the Han Dynasty is thriving, and we have enjoyed prosperity for generations. Isn't this the best outcome?"
This kind of self-paralyzing thought gradually spread to the entire group.
yes.
Isn’t this the original intention of the Jingnan Campaign?
Since when did I forget these things?
It started from the first time he felt something was unfair, from the first time he felt he was suspected, but in the end the emperor did nothing.
Dozens of Yuanzong heroes have disappeared over the past hundred years. If those disappeared families were asked to make an evaluation, they would definitely give the emperor the greatest gratitude.
Because of the oath of hereditary succession, for the Han people who value the reputation and incense of their ancestors, what promise is more important than inheriting the ancestral temple?
"That's it."
"It's okay if you don't become one of the three dukes or nine ministers in Guanzhong."
"We are from Guandong, and we are here to guard the land of Guandong for the imperial court."
"Guard it for a hundred years, five hundred years, eight hundred years, until the end of destiny."
These voices echoed everywhere and finally gathered in Chang'an.
Time always passes in a hurry.
Liu Xun was busy dealing with various state affairs. After a short three-year period without natural disasters, various natural disasters began to occur again in both Guanzhong and Guandong.
Fortunately, the imperial court was no longer in the exhausted state it had just experienced when the Jingnan Campaign ended. Under the governance of Emperor Liu Xun and his ministers, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was recovering rapidly.
This was the case with classical countries; they did not need to spend decades or even hundreds of years to make up for the technological gap.
In an era where humans can decide everything, as long as the monarch is capable, the dynasty is not plagued by internal friction, and the population is not outrageously small, a country can rise from decline and become an unprecedentedly powerful empire in just ten years.
Liu Xiang was not only the Chief Justice, but Liu Xun also valued Liu Xiang very much and promoted him to the position of Chief Censor as Liu Xun wanted to govern the country with criminal law.
One of the Three Dukes, the highest official in the country!
He was well versed in criminal law, handled matters fairly, and enjoyed a high reputation among the people. He strictly used criminal law to regulate the behavior of officials, rectified the administration of officials, and investigated and corrected a large number of illegal officials.
But he is not a cruel official.
Even the most stringent scholar could not call him a cruel official. Most of his judgments were very consistent with moral concepts and played a role in regulating social customs.
His enforcement was strict but not harsh.
In the 12th year of Yuanfeng, Liu Xiang wrote to the emperor: "Guandong has experienced three natural disasters in the past three years, and the poor people are unable to pay taxes on time.
Your Majesty, your grace is like the sun in the sky. You have issued an edict to exempt eighteen counties from taxes, but the corrupt clerks are still deceiving the people.
They were still forced to pay taxes, and the people had to sell their only remaining land for food, completely losing the land on which they depended for survival.
In this way, the powerful became more powerful, trampling on the flesh and blood of the people and eroding the foundation and heritage of the Han Dynasty.
If it is not controlled, the demise of the Han Dynasty may be imminent."
Liu Xun was once imprisoned in Jiaodong State and reduced to a commoner. Every day when he woke up, he worried that he would be killed by Liu Dan. He had seen the ups and downs of life and knew how terrifying those evil clerks were to the people.
He immediately ordered Liu Xiang to do whatever he wanted. "The people you killed were all killed by me. Don't worry. Just do something big. I will take responsibility for it."
Just do your job, and I, the emperor, will bear all the responsibilities.
Liu Xiang was filled with gratitude and he cracked down even harder on the powerful people who brought disaster to the country and the people. Especially those who committed the heinous crime of murder would not be spared and would all go to hell.
These things earned him great reputation, and then he was assassinated.
Then a brave warrior appeared beside him, and a man walked out of the Imperial Observatory.
Luo Qing.
Be it the emperor, princes or powerful common people, they all knew Luo's clear attitude. It was Luo's duty to crack down on the illegal powerful people.
This extremely obvious political statement shocked countless people, because the Luo family is the largest and most powerful family in the world. You want to kill yourself?
Although all the nobles in the world knew that the Luo family looked down upon their practice of oppressing the common people and would not go along with them, they used to think that the Luo family would at most stay out of it.
Just pretend you didn't see it. After all, this is the world of the Liu family, not your Ji clan's Zhou. Even if the Mandate of Heaven falls, what does it have to do with you?
What's more, the Liu royal family themselves are doing this. The emperor is the most ruthless one in plundering, and it is legal. Why do you care about us?
"Do I, the Luo family, need to report everything I do to you insects?"
A voice filled with endless sharpness spread from Zhaocheng Luo Sheng's mouth to all directions. Suddenly, everything was silent, with only countless undercurrents surging beneath the calm water surface.
But the Luo family is not afraid, this is not a chaotic world!
What can these powerful people do?
The imperial court can suffocate these people with just one hand, not to mention the Luo family, they can only wait to be slaughtered.
In this war in which the imperial court suppressed the powerful people in Guanzhong and Guandong, the ones who benefited the most were the Guandong marquises.
Although there were strict regulations that the land of the marquisate could not extend an inch outward, the court had no regulations that did not allow it after the family was divided. After all, the more descendants there were, the less wealth they could give.
Except for the former marquisates of ten thousand households, the other marquisates were not large to begin with and did not need to be divided up.
Therefore, it is very normal for children of nobles, especially illegitimate children, to make a living on their own.
The imperial court also had no regulations prohibiting the purchase of shops and real estate, which created a strange scene: the court was waving butcher knives in front, and the marquises were waving sickles behind them.
The court announced its decrees, the marquises waved their money and silk, the court's knives were stained with blood, and the marquises ate from bowls full of food.
The highlight was the tacit cooperation, which made the powerful people be eaten to the point where nothing was left, and the firepower was basically borne by the court officials.
This situation was reported to the emperor. "Your Majesty, the ancients once said that people can only survive in an environment of worry and trouble, and will perish once they become comfortable. The princes do not know how to restrain themselves. This is probably a sign of decline."
Liu Xun was silent for a long time, and finally said only one sentence, "Where in this world can there be eternal prosperity?
Is there anyone in this world who would put himself in trouble just to live forever?
Let them do what they want, as long as they don't touch the land allocated to the common people, let them take the shops and properties, this is what I should give them."
The emperor's statement made the marquises even more fearless.
In this era, land is undoubtedly the most productive treasure. Owning land means owning almost everything, but for the marquises, it is too dangerous.
There is no such concern for shops and real estate. Even if you don't keep them to collect rent, you can still make a lot of money by selling them.
Some people with foresight saw the crisis beneath this prosperous scene and lamented: "We are marquises with military merits, we have earned our fame on horseback, and we have made great achievements and passed down our legacy to our descendants.
We will use the emperor's reward to enrich our family, maintain our reputation, treat the people of the country well, and make people all over the world admire our behavior and respect our character.
This is the foundation on which we can launch the Jingnan Campaign.
But now, for the sake of some petty profits and some fleeting wealth that can be lost at any time, these foundations have been lost.
Isn’t this the most stupid and short-sighted thing to do?”
The ancient sages have already explained all the truths, but how many of us can see what will happen a hundred years later?
Anyone who can see through ten years is considered noble!
"The world is bustling with people because of profit. The world is bustling with people because of profit."
Although it is not completely correct, it is enough to represent the vast majority of people.
No one expected that the opposition to the order to reopen schools would end like this, and no one expected that the implementation of the order to suppress the powerful would be so dramatic.
The power of the powerful people in Guandong was hit hard, and the dukes were busy digesting their gains.
The heroes who contributed to the Jingnan Campaign began to die out.
————
I have often recited "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Book of Han", and I have always sighed that prosperity and decline, disaster and fortune are all determined by heaven?
The waxing and waning of the moon takes thirty days, the sun's positive and negative shifts cause the four seasons to change. How could a meritorious official, who was so glorious and outstanding, end up like this in just a short period of time?
Reciting it again, this was the disaster of Emperor Xuan of Han. He was too indulgent, gave too many rewards, had no restraint, doted on his meritorious officials, loved his relatives and friends, which made him arrogant.
Taishigong said: "From the beginning, I always wanted to strengthen its roots."
But if the roots are already crooked, how can the branches be straight?
"Born in adversity, die in comfort."
This is the truth!
Disasters often accumulate from small things, and wisdom and courage are often trapped by one's own desires. Worry and hard work can make a country prosperous, while leisure and pleasure can destroy a person. The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty's meritorious officials can be seen from this. - "Historical Mirror·Han Ji"
The wise rulers in history were all mean and ungrateful, and I didn't want to write Liu Bingyi like that, so I had to create an original emperor and write about him the way I wanted.
(End of this chapter)
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