Chapter 282 Luo Chen
With Lu Zhi's order, Luo Chen took the water route, first along the Yangtze River, and then directly entered Guanzhong from the Han River. All the dangerous passes and fortresses along the way were opened for him.
As the sun was about to set, Luo Chen walked leisurely into Chang'an City, and then he was taken to the Prime Minister's Mansion. "Sir, the Lord is still in the palace and has not returned. I will take you to the backyard to settle down first."
Luo Chen was silent, then he bowed and said, "Thank you for your help."
By the time Luo Xin returned to his mansion from the palace, it was completely dark, but the two brothers still had a lot to talk about.
Luo Chen smiled and said, "It is rare in our family history that the Queen Mother trusts you so much. This is a great opportunity for you to make great contributions to the world."
Luo Xinwen said with a smile: "It's just because of some favors in the past that the Queen Mother trusts me."
The trust of the royal family is still very important to the Luo family.
If the royal family is unwilling to use Luo and does not take any extreme actions, but simply distances themselves from him, then Luo can only leave the political center.
After all, it is impossible for Luo to kill the emperor just because the emperor is unwilling to use him. What's the difference between that and Luo becoming the emperor directly.
After pouring wine for the two, Luo Xin asked, "Achen, has the world in your mind been built?"
Luo Chen drank the wine in one gulp and laughed loudly: "Yes, brother, the world is in my heart."
Luo Xin's face was full of smiles. He and his brothers knew Luo Chen too well. Luo Chen had a very deep understanding of the country and its system, so deep that his brothers were even unwilling to talk to him.
Because he would blatantly tear off the veil of tenderness and affection, only Luo Ling could lure him into it indirectly, but this could only be considered a trick.
He is particularly good at structural adjustments, but his shortcoming is that he is very poor in practice. He can describe it and determine the degree of completion, but he cannot do it and needs others to do it.
But this is not a big problem. There are too many people in this world who only do things by the rules. People like Luo Chen are rare.
Luo Xin asked again: "Be careful what you say in front of the Queen Mother. Don't be too radical in your thinking. Even your family members may not accept it. There is still a gap between ideals and current reality.
You know very well how difficult it was for Luoguo to be king in the past. Even if the family tried their best, it was still far from being successful. "
The reason why Luo State was able to partially realize the kingly way was that it was wealthy and had a group of highly qualified officials who worked diligently. Under the supervision of the Luo State public office, no one dared to commit crimes. In addition, in the later period of Luo State, it was still consciously controlling the balance between population and land.
Luo Chen nodded and said, "Brother, don't worry. I understand. Ideals are like flowers carved out of ice. Once they are placed in the sun, they will disappear."
Luo Xin consoled him, "There's no need to be so pessimistic. Ideals are like light, and the Luo family is the moth that flies into the fire. One day, we will embrace the true light."
The next day.
Luo Xin brought Luo Chen directly into the palace. Lu Zhi gave him a token to enter the palace, and he passed through unhindered and arrived at the Weiyang Palace.
Lü Zhi happened to be having breakfast. When she saw the brothers Luo Xin and Luo Chen, she stopped immediately and asked with a smile, "Marquis Dong'e, this is your fifth brother, Gongzi Chen, right?"
After that, he instructed the maids, "Bring food to Marquis Dong'e and Master Chen. They came so early, so they probably haven't eaten yet. Bring a few more of the snacks that Marquis Dong'e likes."
Then he turned to look at Luo Chen and asked with a smile, "Young Master Chen, is there anything you like to eat?"
Luo Chen didn't expect Empress Lu to be so approachable, so he said respectfully: "Thank you, Queen Mother. I'll be at your service."
The two of them then sat down. Of course, in this era, people ate separately. Soon, the palace maids served them their meals.
Lu Zhi knew that Luo had always adhered to the rule of not talking while eating, so the side room suddenly became quiet. After a while, as the palace maids left, the expressions of the three people became formal.
Lü Zhi said sternly, "Mr. Chen, your elder brother recommended you. I have been waiting for you for a long time. Please give me some advice. I am all ears."
Lu Zhi was an excellent politician, except that she was often impulsive when dealing with Luo Xin.
Even if it was a thousand-year blood alliance, even if it was Young Master Luo, she still had to examine him before deciding whether to really use him.
The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers are the most important positions of the country and must be carefully examined. Once there is a problem with the appointed candidates, it will cause irreparable harm to the people of the world and the court.
Especially since Luo Chen came to establish a new system for the Han Dynasty, which would almost affect the fate of the country for at least the next fifty years, or even a hundred years, this made Lu Zhi even more cautious.
This cautiousness made Luo Xin even more satisfied. Sometimes when he saw Lu Zhi, it was like seeing his most perfect work.
Lu Zhi was naturally talented, and under Luo Xin's training, she became even more dazzling.
Even without Luo's assistance, she can still create immortal achievements.
Luo Chen sat up straight and began to explain his thoughts to Lu Zhi, "Queen Mother, I have studied too much, so let's talk about the system first.
In the past, King Su established a hierarchical system. In the system of Bang Zhou, there was no room for slaves to survive. Even in Luo State, only the people of the country could enjoy power.
Our ancestor Duke Wen attempted reforms and was extremely successful, but he did not touch the slavery system at all.
Is this because of an unwillingness to extend favors to the slaves?
Because I can’t yet!
The State of Zhou was founded by the people of the country and maintained by the nobles. It would be foolish not to protect those who shed blood for the State of Zhou and to benefit those who were turned into slaves by the enemies.
In the early days of the Zhou Dynasty, the royal family mainly relied on a large number of military nobles in the royal capital, so after King Li's failure, Duke Wen appeased these people as soon as possible.
After these people went bankrupt, the royal family relied entirely on the vassal states with the surnames Ji and Jiang for their existence. As a result, a large amount of power was shared with the vassal states, allowing the royal family to survive.
This is what you need to pay attention to. The Han Dynasty was established with the support of certain people, and certain people are needed to survive in order to stabilize the world and protect them. All systems must be built around this.
Once these people become disappointed with the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty will collapse like the Qin Dynasty after a brief period of glory. This is called being deserted by everyone. "
Luo Chen's first paragraph alone shocked Lu Zhi. These words were so touching, and the profound truths contained in them were something Lu Zhi had never heard before.
She said quickly: "My elder brother is Marquis Lu, who has prestige in the army. He also has relatives in Qi. Marquis Dong'e is my trusted minister. Marquis Huaiyin Han Xin stands on my side. The meritorious officials of Fengpei also respect me. I believe that the Han Dynasty is as stable as Mount Tai."
Luo Chen shook his head and said, "This means that your position as regent is stable, this means that the Liu family's country is stable, not the Han Dynasty's country is stable.
The Han Dynasty is like a beautifully decorated house, and you are the owner of this house. The nobles are like the door and window locks of this house and the decorations in the house. If the doors and windows are unwilling to open for you, it means that you have lost your country, and this house will welcome a new owner. "
At this point, Lü Zhi already understood, and sure enough, Luo Chen immediately said, "But what really supports the house are the beams and pillars, the countless wood, and the solid foundation. If these decay, the whole house will collapse, and there will never be a new owner."
Lu Zhi completely understood what Luo Chen wanted to say. Lu Zhi's position was very stable, but the Han Dynasty was not stable. If the dynasty collapsed, what would become of the empress dowager and the emperor?
Lü Zhi asked in a somewhat dry voice, "Sir, who do you think supports the Han Dynasty?"
Luo Chen naturally did not beat around the bush after saying so much, and said directly: "They are those who have a small amount of land in their hands, enough to support their own families, and have spare energy to practice martial arts, and provide taxes and soldiers for the Han Dynasty steadily, just like the Wei Wuzu of Wei State and the brave warriors of Luo State in the past.
If there are ten thousand of these people, five hundred thousand people will be safe. If there are two hundred thousand of these people, ten million people will be safe. If ten million people are safe, then the Han Dynasty will be unshakable.
It is enough for you to protect these 200,000 people."
This is of course a slightly exaggerated statement, but Lu Zhi knew that the core of Luo Chen's words was to protect those small landlords who were not even considered powerful.
How to protect?
Of course, Lu Zhi knew clearly how the powerful people annexed the land of these people. If these people lost their land, they would become refugees, and if there were too many refugees, they would become rebels.
Thinking of this, Lü Zhi said solemnly: "Sir, you are truly a talented and capable person. What should I do to ensure the stability of the Han Dynasty?"
Luo Chen bowed and said: "In the counties directly under the imperial court, their taxes will be reduced or exempted, so that they can work hard in the fields. The imperial court will reserve food, store money and goods, and call for soldiers to train.
As for the kingdoms of the Shandong kings, you can leave them alone. Those kingdoms have great power to begin with, and the imperial court cannot interfere with them at will. You only need to collect a certain percentage of taxes from them.
We must not think of fighting with them and seizing power just because those princes have too much power. What we need to do now is to work together to overcome the difficulties in people's livelihood caused by the war.
But it is necessary to publicize your existence to the world, so that people all over the world know that all of this is your work.
People all over the world, whether they are the people under your rule in Guanzhong or the kings and princes in Shandong, will see your kindness.
No matter how much wealth you accumulate, it is just mountains of gold and silver. What use is it?
The hearts of the people in the world, the irrefutable orthodoxy, these are the most precious things, gold, silver, cloth, and silk, only have value when they are spent. "
Lü Zhi was quite excited and asked: "Your words are so inspiring, so what should I do in the counties directly under the court?
What kind of system should the court implement in order to obtain the irrefutable orthodoxy you mentioned in all aspects? "
Luo Chen smiled and said, "An efficient official system and a set of ideas to maintain the central court are enough."
(End of this chapter)
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