Chapter 812: Jiang Zuoquan in hand!
The burly and fierce soldiers broke the silence of the county. These sudden outsiders, holding the royal flag of the court, attracted countless attention. From the common people to the scholars, everyone was shocked and confused.
Since ancient times, the smaller the place, the more familiar the society is. In this era when travel is more dangerous and expensive, most people have lived in a county town for generations, and except for those traveling merchants, they have never left.
To most people, the Jianye imperial court was a legendary and extremely distant place, even farther away than the sun that could be seen by looking up.
To the common people, there was no difference between the envoys from the Jianye court and those from the county, but to the gentry in Shanyin County, the difference was huge.
In Shanyin County, there are five major aristocratic families. Those who occupy here are all relatively low-ranking aristocratic families. In the eyes of the noble families in Jianye, these aristocratic families are just aristocratic families.
But in Shanyin County, these families are like emperors. Basically, most of the official positions are held by these people. The county magistrate sent by the court has to cooperate with these people in order to govern the county affairs.
In Shanyin County, the heads of the five major families were notified to welcome their superiors together, including Shanyin County Magistrate Huang Si. All the important people in the county were gathered in the yamen.
These people were all dressed in silk and satin, looking around anxiously.
Huang Si couldn't sit still any longer, so he deliberately lowered his voice and asked, "Everyone, why do you think the court suddenly sent people here, and made such a big scene? Is it because the court wants to go to war again and asked us to collect supplies and laborers?"
The high-ranking officials in the imperial court generally would not pay attention to a small county town. To put it bluntly, those people totally look down on this place.
The children of those noble families may never set foot in any other county except the one where they live in their entire life. Even if they become officials, they will not become county magistrates, but will directly join the army.
Those who do not join the army will take up noble positions such as editing books and history, and then be promoted rapidly to the highest decision-making level. Low-ranking officials such as county magistrates are not something that high-ranking families would do.
Every time the imperial court sent people here, they were basically asked to prepare food and soldiers, so Huang Si guessed that it would be the same this time.
"It's easy to prepare food and recruit soldiers."
Now that all the countries are coexisting in parallel, wars are a common occurrence. Basically, these aristocratic families are the focus of every conscription. Even if they don't want to support the court in the war, they are all locals after all. Going to a strange place to fight, spending money, food, and the lives of their clansmen, just thinks it's weird.
But living under the rule of the imperial court, even if you are passive and lazy, you still have to pretend to do something. You also have to have an attitude when you are slacking off. You don't have to rush forward desperately, but at least you can't openly hold back.
Wu Yong, the head of the Wu family, said angrily: "Everyone, what are you thinking? How can this be asking us to prepare food and soldiers? When did we go to war without issuing a conscription order in advance? When did we directly come to the local area to recruit soldiers?
Besides, why would such a large-scale war be necessary?
Once the imperial edict is issued, we will do as it is told. Shanyin County is not worthy of the imperial court sending special personnel to monitor it. At most, someone from the county will come."
After hearing Wu Yong's words, the few people who had just calmed down could no longer calm down. "Then why is this happening? Is there any news in the county? County Magistrate Huang, you are well-informed in the county, so you haven't heard any news at all?"
The reason why County Magistrate Huang was well-informed was simply because he had friends in Kuaiji County and other counties, and news usually spread very quickly within this circle.
The gentry in the county are completely different from those in the county.
The gentry in the county is a very broad group. Most of them are prestigious only in their own county and belong to the upper class of the gentry in the county, but only the upper class.
But there were some aristocratic families in the county, such as the Gusu Luo family, the Gusu Lu family, the Lanling Xiao family, and the Huaiyin Han family. These families were famous all over the world and were usually referred to as famous families in the country.
If it comes to this, even the emperor will have to speak nicely. As long as he is not an abnormal emperor, wealth and glory will be easy to obtain.
County Magistrate Huang has some connections, but if he could really make those top connections, he would not have wasted so many years in Shanyin County. He said unhappily: "If there is news, would I still be waiting here with you?
The whole circle is calm. It is said that the Duke of Gusu held a Liushang Qushui Banquet in Jianye some time ago. At the banquet, it is said that some things about the gentry were mentioned. But you small gentry will not catch the eyes of the Duke of Gusu, so there should be nothing wrong.
Besides, although the Duke of Gusu County has a very high status, he is only the Minister of Chancellery after all, and is not the highest official in the court. This incident should have nothing to do with him. "
As soon as Huang Si finished speaking, he heard the door of the county government office being kicked open. Two soldiers in armor and with long swords on their waists rushed in and pulled the door to both sides.
Before seeing the person, I heard his voice first. A rather loud voice rang out, "Why is the gate of the county government tightly closed in broad daylight? If the people have grievances, where can they go?"
Hearing these words, they knew that they were here to cause trouble. Several people immediately knew that they were up to no good. Huang Si and others hurriedly walked out of the hall and saw more than a dozen people walking into the county government office. They were all riding horses. After entering the county government office, they did not dismount. Not only were they riding horses, they were also wearing armor, holding spears in their hands, and crossbows behind their backs. They were actually fully armed soldiers.
It is no exaggeration to say that these dozen soldiers can kill back and forth in Shanyin County. After a dozen armored soldiers, hundreds of people rushed in, full of murderous intent.
This really scared everyone in the hall. What on earth happened?
The leader glanced at Huang Si and the others, and then he called out a few names, which were exactly these people. After confirming that they were correct, he waved his hand and said, "Capture all these people and send them to Jianye."
? ?
"Shangguan, Shangguan, why is this happening? We are all nobles listed in the clan annals. How can you treat us so rudely? Is there any misunderstanding?"
The leading messenger laughed coldly upon hearing this: "Clan history?
Your crime has been exposed, and this time it's my superiors who have sent me to arrest you. You know what you have done, and I can tell you that not only you, but also the entire clan, anyone involved in this matter will be punished.
take away!"
Naturally, the fraud of the noble family could not be accomplished by a single group of people. There were also people within the family who knew about it. It can even be said that many people knew about it, especially the clan leader. How could he not know about it?
…
Catch the nobles!
A huge debate broke out in Jianye City and the entire Jiangzuo. Not as shocking as Luo Xianzhi's previous suggestion to adjust the selection method of the gentry was this incident.
"My Lord, this is inappropriate. How can you arrest the nobles like this? This is totally disrespectful to society."
In the Shangshu Province office, Luo Xianzhi was surrounded by a group of uninvited guests, all of whom were prominent scholars. They absolutely could not accept what Luo Xianzhi had done.
“My Lord, we scholars are the essence of ancient saints and the crystallization of Chinese culture. Treating scholars like this is not the end of civilization?
Your rough treatment of scholars will make saints cry and cause barbarism to grow. Don't you rely on us scholars, but on those big and strong soldiers to preserve our civilization?"
Faced with Luo Xianzhi's behavior, which they thought was extremely extreme, these people finally spoke their true feelings. There will always be people who are stratified in this world. This is an objective existence.
At first, the entire Xia state looked down on the Hu people, believing them to be barbaric beasts and savages who had no idea of civilization. After the Hu people had become completely weakened, a new round of discrimination began within the Xia state.
Within Rockwell Automation, there was a problem that was considered unsolvable.
What these nobles said before was of course ridiculous. They were not the crystallization of the Xia civilization. If the essence of the Xia civilization was these people, then the Xia would have perished long ago.
But there is some truth in what they said, that is, the civilization of the Xia Dynasty must be passed on through writing. Military force is used to protect these things, but the core is indeed culture. If you want to pass it on, you need many, many scholars.
Only scholars can shoulder this historical responsibility. No matter whether they are farmers, craftsmen, merchants or soldiers, they cannot shoulder this historical responsibility.
But there is a big problem for those who read books. Books represent knowledge, and knowledge itself is a kind of wealth. No matter what a person did before or what his status and position was, once he reads books, these people's thinking will undergo a qualitative change.
This change is huge and almost irreversible, and in countless years of practice, there have been almost no large-scale exceptions.
As long as a person reads books, he will immediately leave his original class and begin to actively move closer to the class of aristocrats or scholars.
Even though he has not escaped from the predicament, he has already freed himself from it mentally and has a layer of restraint on him. As a scholar, he would never be willing to do some work. Even if he has to do it for a living, he is always thinking about leaving.
There seems to be only one solution to this problem, which is to stop reading, but this is impossible.
The Luo family would rather cultivate a large group of such people than let people stop reading. Books are things that make people better. If people don't read, no matter how smart they are, they will be limited.
As I said just now, scholars do bear the heavy responsibility of inheritance, and this is a responsibility that only scholars can shoulder, no one else can.
Luo Xianzhi certainly knew this truth, but he had no other choice, so he smiled coldly and said: "I really don't know what you are talking about. Scholars are indeed the essence of civilization, but not every scholar deserves this title.
A thousand years ago, my Luo family's ancestor Luo Sheng, and the Confucian sages Confucius and Mencius, already knew the principle of teaching without distinction, and the principle of recruiting many disciples, but most of the noble families still don't understand it until now. I don't know what the essence of your heritage is.
Perhaps what they are passing on is how to cheat, how to use the identity of the nobles to deceive more people in order to gain more benefits. They are completely a group of people who are obsessed with profit."
Luo Xianzhi's sharp words shocked everyone, and they hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by this, Lord? Why don't we understand it at all?"
Luo Xianzhi knew that these people couldn't understand him, so he threw the evidence away and continued in a cold voice: "Look, these are the nobles I arrested this time. For the sake of wealth and glory, they even traded their ancestors. This is the nobles now. If I don't rectify them, what will they do in the future?
Can you still practice benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness? Can you still guarantee loyalty and filial piety? No, filial piety is no longer there. Every one of you aristocratic families promotes your reputation for being noble and honest, but in the end you can't even practice filial piety. And you still have the nerve to come here to complain about your grievances. It's really ridiculous.
I am ashamed for you all.”
filial piety!
There is nothing more important in this world than filial piety. Even the emperor cannot stop his subjects from fulfilling their filial piety. To say that a person is unfilial is basically to destroy that person.
So any accusation of filial impiety will be dealt with seriously, but now everyone is speechless.
What they held in their hands was evidence forged by the nobles.
Those aristocratic families that were gradually falling into decline, actually added outsiders to their family tree for the sake of wealth and glory, and thus had more descendants without their ancestors even knowing about it.
I have lived for so many years and have never heard of such a thing. I have never thought that there would be such an operation. Perhaps it is because their status is too high and they have not experienced decline, so this will not happen.
Luo Xianzhi knew that such things had been uncommon since ancient times, but there had never been such counterfeiting using family tree before. However, there were many cases of replacing someone with someone else. Even in the current families, there might be bloodline replacements, especially those with many concubines. It is very likely that the master of the house raised the children of the guards or even the children of the slaves. This all existed, and only the Luo family could guarantee that there would be no such thing. After all, the Luo family was the only family that could test bloodline.
Not to mention the stigmata of the direct line, even the stigmata of the collateral line can be detected. The Luo family can trace the origins, and they have few descendants, so they have always been strict in this regard.
"My Lord, could this be fake?"
Someone asked unwillingly, Luo Xianzhi sneered: "After I learned about this, I was shocked and worried that it was fake and someone was framing me. I personally sent people to investigate. After investigating for so long, it turned out that it was not fake. There was more and more evidence. I was furious and arrested them all in Jianye.
I can tell you clearly that His Majesty has already known about this matter. His Majesty is extremely furious and has asked me to investigate this matter thoroughly. All those who have anything to do with this matter must be dealt with and must die.
I said at the banquet last time that there are big problems with the aristocratic families today, and now such a thing has really happened. No one in this world would do such a thing without profit. This kind of thing must have big problems with the aristocratic system of our dynasty, and there must be big problems with the clan records. I will conduct a thorough investigation and will never let such a thing happen in Daliang again.
Do you have anything else to say?
If not, you might as well leave first. The affairs of the Shangshutai are quite busy, and I still have many things to deal with. I am afraid I don’t have time to accompany you here to talk. "
Luo Xian issued an order to expel them. The leaders of these noble families looked at each other and could only leave in disappointment. What else could they do?
Luo Xianzhi stared at the backs of these people as they left, a smile appeared on his face. These people began to get anxious. He had always known that since the day of Liushang Qushui, there had been people plotting against his policies and wanting to mess up the clan history.
They were unwilling to bring the selection criteria for the gentry under official control.
In Jiangzuo, the upper-class gentry naturally supported the aristocratic families in power, but the lower-class gentry opposed the aristocratic families' monopoly of power, because it prevented them from rising. However, they opposed the aristocratic families' monopoly of power, but not the gentry in power. The balance of power in this is quite interesting.
In fact, another thing happened at this time. Xiao Yan was preparing to use administrative orders to prevent the gentry from intermarrying with each other, especially the largest families. The reason why these gentry were so powerful was definitely closely related to the complicated marriage relationships between them.
Xiao Yan was planning to include those aristocratic families that had always prided themselves on their nobility in the list of those whose marriages were prohibited. This idea came about because Luo Xianzhi mentioned that since ancient times, since the Zhou Dynasty, nobles have liked to form alliances for marriage, and almost all groups with great influence used marriage to maintain their relationships with each other.
So Xiao Yan came up with this idea.
But in Luo Xianzhi's opinion, there was no need to go through so much trouble. He said to Xiao Yan, "Your Majesty's issuance of such a decree proves the strength and nobility of those families. It just shows that everyone wants to marry them. This is not to prohibit them, but to raise their status."
Xiao Yan thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case, so he gave up the idea.
Recalling everything that had happened since he came to Jianye, Luo Xianzhi whispered to himself: "Everything is in the past, why bother with so much trouble?"
Yes.
In Luo Xianzhi's view, everything is over. In this respect, he is much more optimistic than his father Luo Youzhi and Xiao Yan.
The three countries north of the Yangtze River did not know about it, but in Liang State, in Luo Xianzhi's opinion, the days of the aristocratic families were already on the decline. The real era of the aristocratic families actually only lasted for a few decades in Chu State.
When Xiao Yan started his rebellion and during the twenty years of war, the royal family and their allies had already seized political and military power. The aristocratic families now only had considerable potential and influence in society and culture. The essence of the Xiao family was to use military force to consolidate their ruling position. Both the central and local levels were under military control. The Luo family also supported the Xiao family in terms of the so-called aristocratic style and elegance.
Why did Luo Xianzhi make such a judgment? There was a very simple reason. During the Chu State period, it was impossible for the Chu emperor to kill the leader of a great aristocratic family. Just as the Chu emperor said that Lu Xun was a treacherous villain and deliberately did not lead the army to attack the Wei State, but was responded by the aristocratic ministers who said that the emperor had no right to say that.
The imperial power of the Chu State was very low, so it could not be called a puppet. After all, the emperor's words still counted in many aspects, but that was all. If he wanted to do something in more aspects, that would be impossible.
But this was not the case in Liang State. Since Xiao Yan ascended the throne, the power of the Liang emperor was normal. In the early days, the aristocratic families had not yet come to terms with the reality of Chu State, so there were some conflicts, but they were soon suppressed by Luo Youzhi. The Zhang family was exiled in this process, so the various aristocratic families quickly realized the difference. When Xiao Yan returned from the grassland, he launched an attack on the Han State again, and the result was needless to say.
Luo Xianzhi felt that his father's strongest point was that he was able to ensure that the State of Liang showed no signs of perishing in the second generation.
Although the emperor of the Chu State did not have much power, the throne was very stable. Even the last emperor of the Chu State was able to serve as emperor for decades safely because the various aristocratic families restrained each other in order to preserve the throne of the Chu family.
Later, if it were not for Luo Youzhi's internal support, Xiao Yan's army might not have been able to successfully conquer the State of Chu, because the various aristocratic families would not surrender so quickly, and they might have to go through a brutal war until one side was defeated.
However, the replacement of the emperor, the exclusion of the aristocratic families, and the restoration of the system of imperial power were not so easy to stabilize. This was like jumping from one circle to another, which would make everyone feel at a loss. What to do was very important to everyone. Luo Youzhi used his superb skills to suppress this problem, allowing the Liang Kingdom to transition normally and smoothly to the present.
These old nobles usually have one characteristic, that is, the more they decline, the more they want to show off their prominent family status to show that they are still the same as before. In fact, some people in today's world have said that "when decline reaches its peak, one becomes arrogant", which means "when a family declines to the extreme, it becomes arrogant".
Luo Xianzhi said that everything was over because these aristocratic families began to become proud of themselves. Back in the days of the Chu State, they were not like they are now. The aristocratic families at that time did not take the initiative to demonstrate their power. They just used some simple words at the critical moment to make everyone feel their power.
And now?
"They found that they could no longer be above the emperor, and could no longer be on equal footing with him, so they could only pretend to be away from the imperial power. However, in order to maintain the family's wealth and status, they had to become officials, so they had to make friends with the imperial power. As a result, they became very pretentious. This is something we should learn from. It's not just the aristocratic families. In the past, almost all the nobles were like this. The more arrogant they became, the more we can think that they knew they would lose power. This proves that the bottom of the entire society has begun to change, and future generations can use this as a reference."
Luo Xianzhi wrote these things on the white paper next to him. These things were his essays, thoughts that were not yet in the process of being systematic. After he sorted them out, he would record them in a more concise and efficient way in the appendix of "On the Gentry" .
Along with the book "On the Aristocratic Family", these things were books on government administration, which could be learned by future generations. The reason why Luo Xianzhi was able to have so much profound knowledge at a young age, in addition to the fact that he was a genius, was because of the existence of these books on government administration.
The characteristic of a genius is that he can draw inferences about other situations by analogy and learn very quickly. After reading these things, Luo Xianzhi was able to actually use them in reality. He did not need to figure out what his ancestors had experienced on his own, but understood and knew it naturally.
After writing all this, Luo Xianzhi lay back and fell asleep out of exhaustion. He was really exhausted these days. Not only was he busy with the government affairs of the Shangshu Province, but he also had to deal with the investigation of the aristocratic families and his marriage. Even a body of iron could not bear it.
He is not one of those direct descendants blessed by their ancestors, and he does not have such strong physical fitness. Although riding and archery are not a problem, that's all. He is definitely not comparable to those rough guys.
…
Luo Xianzhi was sleeping soundly here, but the turmoil outside was getting bigger and bigger, and gradually some rumors began to spread. In politics, there is an iron rule that rumors are usually the most accurate, because these rumors are usually things that are difficult to say directly, but they must be known to others, so they will be spread quietly and openly.
This is the situation now. Luo Xianzhi certainly knows that this news cannot be covered up. He essentially has no intention of covering it up because there is no need. The wider this matter spreads, the better. He must let it spread like wildfire. When all kinds of rumors are flying around and other noble families can no longer bear the increasingly strange rumors and beg him to deal with it, then he will start to deal with it.
As for why Luo Xianzhi was so sure that there would be rumors, it was naturally because the gossiping hearts of people in this world would never stop, and there would never be a shortage of people who would seize opportunities.
Especially those smart people, anyone can see that if this is a true story, it will cause a huge political storm, and in this political storm, many people will definitely be implicated and punished.
But dangers also contain opportunities. If you can make contributions in this, the rewards you will get will be great. If you can take advantage of the chaos and get rid of your enemies, wouldn’t that be wonderful?
This kind of thing has not been uncommon in ancient times. No political storm can completely and accurately deal with those who want to be dealt with. Almost every time, many so-called innocent people will be implicated. The sophistication of the cleansing methods determines how many people are implicated.
And if there were no rumors, wouldn't Luo Xianzhi let him have it?
The Luo family has been in Jiangzuo for so many years, especially after the disappearance of the main branch of the Luo family, they are still able to stand firm. Is it because of so-called luck?
Mr. Luo is not a pedantic person. Although he has an unshakable bottom line, the Buddha also has a diamond appearance and thunder-like means. What's more, Mr. Luo is not incapable of political tactics and framing others, but he just doesn't usually use them.
However, when it comes to dealing with those shameless people, Luo Xianzhi's view has always been that there is no need to talk to them about politics and morality, and the most important thing is to send them to paradise.
When Luo Xianzhi gradually saw fewer outsiders, the palace became extremely quiet, as if the emperor didn't know about it, but how was this possible?
Moreover, Luo Xianzhi has already said that he had reported this incident to the emperor after it happened. So the emperor's behavior now is even more intriguing and disturbing.
What exactly does the emperor want to do?
This is what all the aristocratic families want to know.
But it was not until this time that they discovered a sad fact, that is, if the emperor did not want to see them, they could not even enter the palace and see the emperor.
They are really just a facade, the real core power is not in their hands at all. At this moment of relationship, they can only run around in vain and wait for the unknown result.
The noise about this matter in the city was getting louder and louder, but that was all beneath the surface. Above the surface, the matter was getting quieter and quieter. After the long-awaited grand court meeting was cancelled by the emperor due to illness, the matter became quieter and quieter. Everyone knew that the emperor deliberately did not meet with the ministers and did not even give the ministers the opportunity to see him. This was really terrible!
On the official level, the hottest topic in the entire Jianye City right now should be the marriage of Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan. The instigator of their marriage is a prince of the royal family, who is Xiao Yan's elder and the oldest person in the royal family.
This level of attention was so great that, when the crown prince got married, this person was the main messenger. Luo's betrothal gift caused a sensation in Jianye City. Basically everyone was looking forward to the marriage of Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan, and the scholars in the city had already begun to prepare to write poems for their marriage.
In Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan's eyes, the marriage was like a volcano about to erupt, but everyone was staring at the craftsmen carving ice flowers in the crater.
Obviously most people know that a storm is about to sweep across Jianye, or even the entire Liang State, but now everyone is looking forward to this marriage.
…
In the Xie family's mansion, Xie Daoyun quietly waited for the wedding day. Her brothers often came to see her, with smiles on their faces, "Sister is so beautiful, brother-in-law is so lucky."
Xie Daoyun asked, "Have many families come to visit recently? Have they not given up yet?"
The only family that could be contacted with Luo Xianzhi now was the Xie family. In fact, many people believed that the reason why Luo Xianzhi had not yet made his move was because he did not want to cause any bloodshed before the wedding. Many families that had good relations with the Xie family came to visit him, hoping to test the waters.
Xie Xuan didn't say anything after hearing this, which was considered as tacit agreement, and then he sighed slightly: "How can they know? We really don't know anything, why do they all think we know? But my brother-in-law is unwilling to start now, is he really unwilling to start before the wedding date?"
Xie Daoyuan lowered her eyelids when she heard that. She knew some things. After all, many things were the ideas she and Luo Xianzhi came up with together. But of course she couldn't say these things, even if they were her family members. And those things had nothing to do with the Xie family, so she should not say too much.
However, the reason why they are holding back now may be that they really don't want to start before the wedding. Although Luo Xianzhi is a politician, the people of Luo family have never been the type who only know how to govern. This is also what women all over the world yearn for in Luo family.
Under the gazes of those who were anxiously awaiting the result and those who were watching the excitement from the other side, the marriage of Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan finally took place as scheduled. This should be the most grand event in Jiangzuo since the prince's wedding. The Luo family had created quite a big show themselves, but it was not too grand. However, Xiao Yan took the initiative to add countless things to Luo Xianzhi, so although this marriage did not exceed the system, it had reached the extreme in almost all aspects.
The city of Jianye was bustling with activity. The surging waves of the Yangtze River seemed to be celebrating for Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan. Too many people gathered on both sides of the road in Jianye. On such a day, etiquette could be slightly relaxed. So, surrounded by countless people, Luo Xianzhi rode a tall horse to Xie's mansion.
Everything went very smoothly, with a luxuriously decorated mansion, a beautiful bride, a smooth wedding, and almost no accidents. This was understandable. Whoever was so blind as to cause trouble in such an occasion probably didn't want to exist in Jiangzuo anymore.
After night fell, the guests gradually left, taking away the prosperity of the city. Luo Xianzhi and Xie Daoyuan sat in the room. Xie Daoyuan had always been beautiful, and she was even more beautiful today. Luo Xianzhi seemed to be relieved. The lights went out and he was surrounded by red waves.
"Is my husband going to deal with those things?"
Luo Xianzhi woke up with the morning light, and saw Xie Daoyuan sitting in front of the glass mirror, adorn herself.
Those things?
Luo Xianzhi quickly understood what Xie Daoyun was talking about. He shook his head and said with a smile, "It has been postponed for so many days. One or two more days is no problem. Let's finish our work first."
really.
Xie Daoyuan turned around and looked at herself in the mirror, who looked as beautiful as a flower. It turned out that Luo Xianzhi had postponed this matter because of his wedding date.
…
Luo Xianzhi's rest was over and he returned to the Shangshu Tai. After his appearance, the entire Shangshu Tai was shocked. As soon as Luo Xianzhi appeared, all the officials in charge of handling criminal matters were called over.
When these people came out, they all had serious expressions on their faces and no one dared to step forward to ask questions, but as soon as they approached, they were shaken of the head and told not to ask anymore, as it was about that matter.
really!
Perhaps it was because they had already expected it, now that Luo Xianzhi really started to deal with the matter, many people actually felt relieved. The cruelest punishment in the world is not direct execution, but the process of waiting for death when it is impossible to change the result of death.
This feeling of knowing that there is a knife hanging over your head but being unable to get rid of it, knowing that the knife will fall sooner or later but not knowing when, is simply terrible.
Many people want an immediate explanation whether someone is dead or alive.
Now Luo Xianzhi gave them this result and explanation.
"Scholars inherit the teachings of sages and make great achievements. The gentry are the descendants of outstanding scholars. Because of the kindness of their ancestors, they are listed as high and prominent by the world. They rely on the kindness of their ancestors, not their own abilities. The kindness of a gentleman benefits future generations. This is the rule set by the King of Su. For 1,400 years, no one has failed to abide by it.
But the ancestors' kindness extends to the descendants, and the descendants also need to protect their ancestors and make meritorious contributions to make their ancestors more prominent. Your Majesty of our dynasty has been promoted to the emperor, and thus the ancestors have been promoted to the title of king. This is the greatest honor to the ancestors since ancient times.
But what are some people doing now?
The blessings of the ancestors are no longer enough to protect the descendants, and they even covet the bones, blood, and flesh of their ancestors and put them on the bodies of outsiders.
What are some people doing now?
The ancestors had never shown any favors, but they used some gold, silver, pearls and jade to join the genealogy of other tribes, betrayed their own ancestors, and chose other people's ancestors to worship, leaving their own ancestors in the wilderness without receiving blood offerings, while they worshiped other people's ancestors.
I am really shocked.
His Majesty the Emperor is truly speechless.
Isn’t this trampling the Holy Word on the ground?
Isn’t this trampling the teachings of the saints on the ground?
Isn't this just throwing away all the rules of propriety and morality?
Would anyone allow such lowly people to continue living under the sky of the Suwang Emperor?
Can such shameless people be allowed to continue living in this world?
If such people are not punished with the most severe means, how can they serve as a warning to future generations?
I have reported this to His Majesty the Emperor. All these people, whether they are the forgers or those who condoned the forgery, must be executed, and their faces must be covered with their hair and their bodies thrown into the wilderness to punish them for their unfilial behavior.
I am extremely worried about the current aristocratic families. I even suggested to Your Majesty that the Gusu Luo family be removed from the clan annals. I don't want to stand under the same sky with people like you anymore.
Your Majesty comforted me.
Clan records can no longer make the gentry noble.
I will gather the strength of the entire Gusu Luo clan to re-check, redefine, and re-arrange the clan history.
I will bring the nobles back to the era of outstanding achievements.
Before I have completely compiled the new clan record, Daliang will stop granting official positions according to the clan record to prevent any more people from deceiving the world and stealing fame by using the clan record to hold high positions. That would be a shame for the entire Daliang.
I am using this document to tell the nobles of Jiangzuo that this is my intention and your Majesty has agreed to it. Do you have anything else to say?
I think you shouldn't say anything.
If I cannot shoulder these responsibilities, then the aristocratic family, a group that once had countless achievements, will be destroyed in your hands.
The four states of Daliang are borne by your Majesty and on my shoulders, not by you. You just need to obey your Majesty's orders, that's all."
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The "Aristocratic Forgery Case" was one of the three major cases during the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. The causes leading up to the outbreak of this case will not be elaborated, but the final result was gratifying. Emperor Xiao Yan and the ruling Luo Xianzhi, through this major case that shocked Jiangzuo, dealt a heavy blow to the aristocratic families that were already on the decline.
The author believes that this was one of the turning points in the aristocratic politics of the Southern Dynasties. After losing their military and political power during the Luo Youzhi era, the aristocratic families also began to lose power in society, and the only advantage they retained was their cultural advantage.
In terms of culture, Luo Xianzhi did not attack it, but protected it. This was Luo Xianzhi's instinct as a wise politician. ——"Politics of the Aristocratic Family"
(End of this chapter)
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