Chapter 561: Uprising in the East China Sea!
Since the new policy, a prosperous scene has appeared around Chang'an.
Because Chang'an was the capital of the empire and Guanzhong was the heart of the imperial court, a large amount of resources were invested here. Other counties could not afford the cost of reform, but Guanzhong had input from all over the world and could afford it financially.
There are many officials and strict supervision, and the court's control over this area is relatively deep, reaching deep into the counties and townships, and most problems can be quickly reported.
In addition, with Luo Qi's personal attention, as the Praetorian Guard, he can hunt down thieves, investigate crimes, and conduct direct trials throughout the Guanzhong area. He can catch those who intend to take advantage of the situation in the first place.
Even if some officials wanted to deceive their superiors and subordinates, they would basically not be able to escape being discovered under the direct supervision of the embroidered uniforms throughout Guanzhong.
Even if the new policy cannot be implemented completely as expected, as long as some vitality is released, it will be enough to improve the situation in Guanzhong.
It can be said that the situation is very good!
In Wang Mang's mansion, the main leaders of the reform faction gathered together, their faces full of smiles. Wang Mang laughed loudly and said, "The implementation of the new policy in Guanzhong is going very smoothly. If it continues at this speed, not to mention the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, it will not be long before we can return to the prosperous era of Emperor Su Wang Shanghuang?"
Everyone burst into laughter, but Luo Qi remained worried and asked in a deep voice, "I wonder how the implementation of the new policy in the counties of Guandong is going. It should be a little slower than that in Guanzhong."
As he was speaking, a messenger came running into the hall. He was a very capable man with dark skin.
There is a report from Guandong, in two copies.
Although the current supreme rulers of the Han Dynasty are the Queen Mother and the Emperor.
But one was a child emperor, and the other was an empress dowager who was not concerned with state affairs.
Wang Mang was the one in power, so all memorials were submitted directly to him. When a seal was needed, the Empress Dowager would be contacted. Usually, Luo Qi would go to the palace to find the Empress Dowager.
Zhao Hede liked to go to the palace to talk with the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager often held banquets in the palace. As her husband, Luo Qi would naturally accompany her. Sometimes he would stay in the guest hall of the palace, so he was very familiar with the palace.
Wang Mang smiled and opened it, but he burst into laughter in an instant, and even patted the seat next to him.
Seeing that Wang Mang, who was always polite and old-fashioned, had lost his composure to this extent, everyone looked at him curiously, wondering what the content of the letter was.
Wang Mang waved the memorial in his hand, handed it to others, and laughed, "Just now, Master Qi was asking about the situation in Guandong, and Cui Yi, the governor of Donghai County, sent me the results of his reform.
Look at what Cui Yi has done in Donghai County. It is no worse than Guanzhong, and even better. "
Everyone was shocked when they heard this and quickly took it to have a look. Wang Mang saw everyone's surprise and said, "What does this mean?
This shows that the new policy can also be smoothly implemented in Kanto, which is in line with the general trend of the people.
Those who do not do well must not have done it with all their heart.
Cui Yi should be rewarded well. He has achieved such results so quickly. He is a talent. He should be a role model for county governors and magistrates all over the world. Those who don't do their job well should take a closer look."
Cui Yi's memorial was passed around among the crowd, which listed his achievements in detail, making everyone marvel. No one thought that someone would dare to deceive these big guys.
Moreover, it is not easy to forge such things. Wang Mang and even Luo Qi probably couldn't believe that a county magistrate with a salary of two thousand stones would risk the lives of the people to forge such things.
But Luo Qi still found something abnormal, that is, the result was too good!
Guanzhong has a better foundation than Guandong, but it still couldn't achieve this level. It's amazing that an ordinary county in Guandong can achieve this result.
This official named Cui Yi was nearly 40 years old. He had not been particularly outstanding in the past. He had been transferred to the position of county governor two or three times, but had never made any achievements or mistakes. If he had great talent, he should have become famous long ago.
But is it normal that they can achieve such results in the face of the complex new policy reforms?
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong!
Luo Qi remained silent, but had already secretly made note of Cui Yi and Donghai County in her heart, and wanted to secretly investigate the situation of the county magistrate and Donghai County.
…
There is a very powerful family in Donghai County.
Lanling Xiao family!
The Marquis of Han!
As the Jinling Marquis of Donghai County, Marquis Ying has always been a big figure in Donghai's political arena. But in fact, people in the entire Donghai county government, including the governor of Xuzhou, have only seen Marquis Ying very few times.
These top-level marquises have outstanding reputations and have reached the highest titles. They receive no shortage of rewards from the royal family every year, but they rarely appear in public except during sacrifices.
Cui Yi was full of fear of the Yinghou Mansion. He never set foot in Lanling County, where the Yinghou State was located. The implementation of this new policy also directly ignored the Yinghou State.
Marquis Ying had naturally heard about what was happening in Donghai County, but he was a Marquis of the Jinling Order. Even if he broke the Jinling Order and took over the county, that was military power and the administration was not something he could control. Moreover, Cui Yi did it so carefully that nothing could be found out without further investigation.
The most important thing is that the emperor is a child who can't even speak clearly, and the empress dowager is a woman who doesn't care about things. Even if he reports it, who can he report it to?
Wang Mang?
That's absolutely impossible!
Do you think you are King Lowen?
This is what Lanling Xiao and other top marquises think from the bottom of their hearts. When Wang Mang wrote to the marquises, an agreement was reached on the surface, but in fact Wang Mang thought that these marquises were trash, and the marquises also thought that Wang Mang was nothing.
It can be said that the two different identities are disgusted with each other.
In the mansion of Marquis Ling, the steward reported with a gloomy face: "My Lord, the speed at which the people in the county are becoming refugees has increased a lot, and there are many more people attacking the government offices. There are even rebellions of thousands of people, but they were all suppressed by Cui Yi. These ordinary people are still far inferior to the elite soldiers in the county."
Marquis Ying frowned tightly. The uprising of rebels in the county was a big deal.
But since the county magistrate had suppressed the rebellion, it would be difficult for him to directly take over the military affairs of the county. Breaking the golden order was the supreme power, but abusing this power would lead to attacks from court officials on the marquis of the golden order.
After a long while, the Marquis of Ling slowly asked, "Is it because of the new policy? Wasn't Cui Yi promoting Wang Mang's new policy? Go check and see what happened. Why did so many refugees suddenly appear?"
The steward took the order and turned to leave. Marquis Ying clenched his hand holding the dagger tightly. Donghai County was the base of the Xiao family. If it was occupied by refugees, the Xiao family might be destroyed.
This has always been the case with Guandong. Its status in the Han Empire has always been suppressed by Guanzhong. In simple terms, the Han Empire did not invest enough power in Guandong.
"If the world has become so exhausted, the destiny of the Han Dynasty will not fall, right? What should we do to maintain the survival of the family?
well.
Chang'an is the center of the Han Dynasty. If the court was in Luoyang, with a powerful imperial guard, the pressure on the family would not be so great."
This is not just a problem for Marquis Ying alone, but a problem for all the marquis families with a long history.
…
Refugees are contagious, and their number is growing exponentially. Often, when the imperial court only thinks that there are dozens or hundreds of unruly people causing trouble, there are actually countless potential people ready to flee.
Cui Yi's sudden forced reforms were not enough for the people to react at first, and they foolishly believed what the government said. However, the people were very discerning when it came to finding fault, and they were not fools, and they soon discovered the government's conspiracy.
Suddenly, a large number of people rebelled against the tax-collecting clerks.
"All the high-ranking officials in the court have already accumulated countless wealth, yet they still won't let go of this little bit in our hands!
They said all the good things but did all the bad things.
The imperial court is unwilling to give us a way to live. Why should we still be its subjects?
I heard that natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred not only in Donghai County, but also in all the prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty. Isn't this God guiding us?
We are causing trouble here, are we the only ones?
There must have been similar uprisings by rebels in other provinces and counties of the Han Dynasty!
The Han Dynasty is about to end, and the whole world is in rebellion! "
This was not a simple peasant uprising. There were many powerful people who joined together, some powerful people who failed in the struggle, and some scholars who were completely disappointed with the Han Dynasty and tried to overthrow it.
Although the powerful people took this opportunity to seize land on a large scale, many of them were not on the same page with the court, because they still remembered that the new policy was hanging over their heads.
Their goal was to thoroughly incite a popular uprising, then point the finger at the imperial court, put the blame on the new policies, and cause confrontation between the rebellious refugees and the imperial court.
Moreover, this kind of instigation can easily succeed, because no matter what the reasons for the rebellion, in the eyes of the court, they are all rebels. The rebellious refugees are also very clear about this. Once they rebel, they will not care who oppresses them. Their ultimate goal is only one, and that is the court!
These powerful people can either help the court suppress bandits and gain more benefits, or they can join the new king and overthrow the corrupt old dynasty. It's like having the best of both worlds.
————
In the history of the Han Dynasty, starting from the time of Emperor Li of Han, it was always Guandong that was the first place where civil uprisings broke out, and in the history of the Han Dynasty, the number of civil uprisings in Guandong far exceeded that in Guanzhong.
This is not because the people of Guandong prefer to challenge the order, but because Guanzhong has obtained more resources and social conflicts are much smaller than those in Guandong.
The author extracted the approximate fiscal expenditure of the Han Dynasty from historical materials. After a rough calculation based on purchasing power parity, the per capita resource consumption of the Han Dynasty in Guanzhong was about three times that of Guandong.
This injustice, which was almost visible to the naked eye, led to widespread dissatisfaction and distrust in Kanto, from the powerful to the common people.
The Chang'an court implemented new policies on the basis of lack of trust, which was easily exploited by ambitious people. This was one of the fuses for the chaos in the late Western Han Dynasty. ——"The Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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