Chapter 610: State Governor
Trust between people is a precious and scarce thing that many people find difficult to obtain until they die.
Suspicion between people is a poisonous seed that exists in people's hearts all the time.
Between extremely powerful people like the emperor and his subjects, suspicion always far outweighs trust.
Thus, the emperor's mentality or power politics came into being.
The Legalists called it, the ruler and his subjects fight a hundred battles a day!
There was now almost no trust between the emperor and his ministers in the Han court. After years of confrontation, the political atmosphere had become extremely serious.
The relationship between the emperor and his ministers reached its lowest point in the past hundred years of the Later Han Dynasty. The emperor was no longer a good emperor, and the ministers were no longer good ministers.
The only factor that keeps the Han court united now is the inertia brought about by the three hundred years of Han political tradition.
Everyone is doing things step by step. While promoting their own interests, they jointly maintain the banner of the Han Dynasty and the existence of the emperor.
Zhang Jue is using the most violent means to turn the situation in the world upside down. This is a critical moment for life and death, and the emperor is suspicious of certain people.
The more critical the moment of life and death, the more people love to fight. This is not just the case with the current emperor. There are too many such people in history. The Qin State was able to successfully destroy the Shandong states.
It's not just that Qin is powerful, but mainly because there are frequent internal conflicts among the countries. Is the Han Dynasty now going to embark on this path of no return?
A relatively loyal minister in the palace thought rather sadly.
The emperor sat on the couch, looking down from above, taking in everyone's thoughts. The ministers in the palace asked the emperor indirectly who he suspected, but the emperor did not mention anyone specifically, only expressing his concern about the overall situation.
This made many ministers confused and they didn't understand what the emperor wanted to do.
If it is directed at a certain person, then we need to judge how to deal with it so as not to cause major fluctuations.
Now the emperor is dissatisfied with the overall situation. Does he want to change the entire system?
Although the county system was indeed somewhat inappropriate for the current chaotic times, many people had already discovered this during the battles against the Taiping Army and the bandits and rebellious local tyrants that had sprung up everywhere.
If it weren't for the imperial edict to loosen the restrictions on the prefects of each county, these prefects would probably still be trapped in one county, not daring to lead their troops out of the country.
Looking at the emperor sitting on the couch and his confused ministers, Liu Yan's heart suddenly began beating violently.
He realized that the emperor might not be suspicious of a specific prince, but was dissatisfied with the system that led to this result.
This is an opportunity!
An idea that has been turning over in my mind countless times, but I have never had the chance to speak it out, may be waiting for this opportunity.
Liu Yan quietly looked at the emperor at the top, recalled the words he had thought about countless times, and then bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have a report!"
Everyone in the hall cast their eyes over to him. The emperor asked Liu Yan to continue, so Liu Yan prostrated himself on the ground and said solemnly, "Your Majesty.
What did the Zhou Dynasty rely on to achieve its revival in the past?
They relied on the princes with the surnames Ji and Jiang.
The Qin Dynasty did not enfeoff princes and collapsed in just a dozen years. Emperor Fusu later enfeoffed the kings. If it were not for Emperor Gaozu's destiny, the situation in the world might have been stabilized.
Therefore, after Emperor Gaozu conquered the world, he appointed princes to the Liu family in all directions. The disaster of the fall of Qin did not fall on our Liu family, and the country has been passed down for three hundred years to this day.
In the pre-Han period, there were countless marquises of Jinling in the world, and there were close relatives of princes who held great power and each guarded a region.
Although there were rebellious people in the world at that time, almost all of them were nipped in the bud.
It was not until the collapse of the Jin Dynasty that bandits began to rise up in the late Han Dynasty.
After Emperor Guangwu restored the country, the country abolished the titles of marquises and restored the titles of governors, but to this day, collusion between prefects and powerful people is endless.
He cannot quell rebellions when advancing, and he cannot defend the territory when retreating. This is the drawback of being a prefect in charge of a county.
Do your Majesty and the other ministers know the reason?"
As soon as Liu Yan said this, everyone in the hall held their breath. The emperor and the ministers all looked at Liu Yan, wondering what he was going to do?
What's the reason?
Isn't it that although the prefect has great powers, the scope of his governance is small, and the counties cannot unite, but the rebels will not care about the boundaries between states and counties.
Isn't it because there are no officials in the local area who can gain the trust of the court and can't exert their strength?
Although the Jinling Marquis in the pre-Han period only controlled a county, their power was greater than that of the current prefects in times of war. The mere fact that they could lead a large army abroad was much more powerful than that of the prefects.
Many people had guessed what Liu Yan wanted to say, so he did not beat around the bush and said, "Your Majesty, in times of chaos, sending relatives and trusted ministers to govern has been a tried and tested approach for thousands of years.
Nowadays, most of the clan members are working in Luoyang, which is unreasonable.
The imperial court is the sky, and the local towns are the pillars supporting the imperial court. If we do not strengthen these pillars and continue to increase the weight of the sky, how can the Han Dynasty be stable?
I suggest that Your Majesty select outstanding talents from among the royal family and the ministers whom Your Majesty trusts the most, depose the governors who are no longer effective, and appoint important ministers to serve as provincial governors. The provincial governors will suppress the prefects of various counties and suppress the powerful local tyrants and the surging Taiping Army who are causing chaos in the counties.
The stability of the Han Dynasty lies in this!"
Depose the Inspector General and set up provincial governors!
“No!”
"This is a way to let the local governments become powerful and to seek death."
"Raising a tiger is a disaster. This is raising a tiger is a disaster."
"Liu Yan has a treacherous plot in his heart. Your Majesty, please punish him."
As soon as Liu Yan finished speaking, voices of opposition arose in the hall. The voices were so loud that they almost blew off the roof of the hall. However, Liu Yan did not feel uneasy at all. He just looked at these opponents calmly. He believed that these people would agree with his approach soon.
The advantages and disadvantages of deposing Shi and enthroning Mu are so obvious. Doesn’t the emperor know these shortcomings?
Doesn’t Liu Yan know?
Well, it would be fine if it was just a stupid monarch with mental problems, but why do many apparently normal monarchs and ministers suddenly make stupid moves that are out of character?
It is possible that there were a few situations where people did not think things through, but the vast majority of these stupid moves were actually made out of necessity.
Just as economic development will cause environmental damage, it will be very troublesome to deal with in the future and may even bring harm to future generations. Who doesn’t know this?
But won’t the economy develop?
Now we can’t even eat, who will talk to you about the future? This is the reality.
The reason why Liu Yan proposed to set up provincial governors instead of sending princes to govern the country.
There were no great princes in the Later Han Dynasty, and the feudal system existed in name only. Because of the rebellion of the kings in the late Han Dynasty, people were frightened and no one dared to mention this matter.
In fact, sending important officials to serve as governors of provinces was the most useful last resort under the political conditions of the Later Han Dynasty. The ministers in the palace and the emperor were all people who understood politics very well.
I quickly realized why Liu Yan proposed to set up provincial governors. This was actually the system of princes stationed in the city, except that the provincial governors were easier to control than the princes.
The emperor can control the world by setting up provincial governors. As long as the governors he chooses are loyal to the court, the power of the central court will be greatly enhanced.
The emperor was moved.
He no longer trusts those princes, and what he wants to do most is to place his own confidants in local states and counties.
The emperor's expression showed that he was moved. Some officials in the palace wanted to speak out their objection, but they were stopped. It was impossible to stop him now. It would be better for him to think about how to get enough benefits from it.
As the night deepened, the emperor and his ministers did not feel the slightest bit tired.
No one had expected that a meeting that was held because of the emperor's nightmare would lead to such a big change.
…
People on the front line naturally were unaware of the disturbances and affairs in Luoyang. These loyal princes had no idea that the emperor had begun to suspect many of them.
Fortunately, the emperor was smart enough not to do anything stupid like changing generals in the middle of a battle, giving remote commands, or issuing golden orders.
Huangfu Song, Luo Kong and many princes were constantly discussing issues related to subsequent combat.
If the two armies want to cooperate, they need to decide in advance who will be the main attacker and who will be the auxiliary. Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands of people on the battlefield, it will be a mess. If you are not careful, one camp will be blown up, and then everywhere, resulting in a complete defeat.
Luo Kong and Huangfu Song did not get along well.
In Luo Kong's opinion, apart from his superb ability to command troops, there is nothing else worthy of praise about Huangfu Song.
He possessed almost all the shortcomings of a Han army general. Although he was educated, he was a pure warrior and too indifferent to life.
Huangfu Song thought that Luo Kong was too soft-hearted and was not a qualified general.
The other princes naturally saw the discord between the two. Some of them didn't care, some even laughed secretly, and some were worried that the relationship between the two would affect the war.
Afterwards, when Huangfu Song and Luo Kong assigned tasks to each other, their actions were relatively tacit, which dispelled these people's concerns.
It seems that both of them pay attention to the overall situation, and their personal relationship will not affect the subsequent battle.
…
“There is a rift between Huangfu Song and Luo Ziming, and there will definitely be problems with their future cooperation.
There was even a scene where my friendly forces were in trouble, but I remained as still as a mountain. God was really helping me.”
In the Taiping Army, Luo Xiao spoke to all the generals in a resounding voice.
Huangfu Song was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty and could be described as upright and incorruptible.
However, loyal ministers may not necessarily live in peace with each other. They may even attack each other and even kill each other.
Huangfu Song and Luo Kong are typical examples of people with incompatible personalities. As long as there is a disagreement, it will definitely affect their work together.
Human actions are very much controlled by emotions. Likes and dislikes can affect people's judgment. Whether to rescue friendly forces on the battlefield and how much loss is worth the rescue are all unquantifiable data.
What they actually rely on is the close relationship between the coaches. If they hesitate for a little longer, the whole battle situation may change. This is no exaggeration.
Luo Xiao has been practicing the Taiping Army's formations these days, and this practice started when he became Zhang Jue.
In this era where formation is king, a good formation can enable the army to withstand greater damage and collapse, and can make the army have stronger combat effectiveness and smaller losses.
There are countless formations in Luo Xiao's mind. He has read too many military books. Although he only flipped through them casually before and did not study them in depth, as long as he wants to use them, his memory will naturally bring them out.
To draw inferences about other cases and to gain a comprehensive understanding lies in this.
As more and more troops gathered, Luo Xiao led tens of thousands of troops from Xingyang. In addition to the most elite troops, there were also auxiliary troops to provide armor for these armored soldiers.
After such a long period of wrangling, the loyal princes finally finalized the allocation of cities to be garrisoned and subsequent tasks.
After all, it is impossible for hundreds of thousands of people to be crowded on a battlefield. There are many mountains and rivers and passes along the way from Luoyang to Xingyang, and there is no such large plain that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people at the same time.
However, the main attack directions are all together, and the real main forces are also together. The goals of both sides are the same, which is to directly destroy the other side in a field battle.
The Han court was worried that Luo Xiao would lead the Taiping Army back to Guandong, gather the bandits in Guandong, and then rebuild their strength. Therefore, they had to defeat the main force of the Taiping Army in one blow and completely eliminate the threat posed by this largest rebel group to the Han court.
Luo Xiao wanted to make everyone in the world completely lose confidence in the Han court before the deadline. He didn't even want to kill a mere emperor, he wanted to make everyone realize a problem.
The Han court has lost its mandate!
Now that the world has returned to the time of renewed competition, heroes with lofty ambitions no longer need to worry about the fear caused by the fact that the Han court has not lost its mandate of heaven.
In order to achieve this goal, Luo Xiao must directly defeat the main force of the Han court.
In the minds of people all over the world, the fall of a dynasty and the loss of the Mandate of Heaven means the failure of the most crucial battle.
In the past, King Wu defeated King Zhou, held the Mengjin Alliance, and then fought the Battle of Muye, which led to the fall of the Shang Dynasty.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, in the Battle of Handan, the main force of the Qin army was defeated in one battle, and the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.
If Luo Xiao could win a great victory in the battle of Luoyang, a shadow would be cast over the hearts of people all over the world, and they would begin to doubt themselves.
At that time, Luo Xiao showed a smile on his face. If he said those words again, even if the emperor didn't die, he would probably be as good as dead.
————
The large-scale appointment of provincial governors proved that the Luoyang court had basically lost the ability to manage county affairs from an institutional perspective. When the system failed, the only thing the supreme ruler could do was to trust in people's loyalty.
From the perspective of the Han Dynasty rulers, this system of sending out towns had good traditions and results, but times had changed and Zhang Jue would not give him a chance. In the face of a chaotic situation, he used this system like a man trying to find a sword on a boat, which completely pushed the Han Dynasty into the abyss. The Han Dynasty fell due to the Taiping Uprising led by Zhang Jue, but it was actually due to the various decisions made by Emperor Ling. This is by no means an exaggeration. - "History of the Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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