Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 428 Liu Bei: I will be a role model
"I humbly wish that the Holy Lord's grace is immeasurable. Your Majesty will repay the Grand Master from the depths of his soul. If Lord Kang Cheng knew about this in the afterlife, he would certainly be grateful for the Lord's grace."

Xun Yu was filled with emotion and bowed deeply.

Even he envied this. If the emperor could hang his portrait in the Guangming Palace, and posthumously confer him honors and grant him a coffin made of cypress wood, then his life would be worth it.

If I can still accompany Your Majesty behind you, I can offer you advice and suggestions even in the afterlife, and assist the Han Dynasty in continuing to defeat the princes.

Thinking of this, Xun Yu discovered that there was something that seemed to have been overlooked by the court officials. Perhaps some officials knew about it but did not dare to bring it up for fear of offending His Majesty's taboo.

However, the death of Lord Kang Cheng indirectly gave Xun Yu a reminder.

"Your Majesty..." Xun Yu sorted out his thoughts, then bowed and said, "Since ancient times, when the emperor ascended the throne, in addition to formulating the system of the world and granting amnesty to all the people, there is one thing that cannot be neglected."

"In the first year of Jianxing, the whole country was in ruins and wars were still raging in the border counties. But now Yong and Liang were just beginning to be pacified, and the unruly Qiang and Hu had been conquered and annihilated, or had already fled thousands of miles away."

"The remaining Qiang and Di tribes that were close to the Han Dynasty were gradually registered as civilians. Their leaders and generals went to Yunyang and were granted Han surnames by the emperor. They opened trade markets and communicated with each other. The emperor also used Qiang etiquette to make an agreement with the leaders that the Han and Qiang would always be close relatives. The leaders were grateful for your sincerity and cut their fingers with knives and pointed to the sky as a promise that if the Han Dynasty was close to the Qiang, the Qiang would never rebel against the Han and would defend the southwest for the Han Dynasty from generation to generation."

"Your Majesty, first take thunderous action, then show your tolerance, and patiently persuade the Qiang people to submit. Now, although the people in Guanxi have no surplus food, they will no longer suffer from war. In two or three years, they will be able to store surplus food."

"In that case, you can first order the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Works to select a precious site for the mausoleum, and then tamp the earth after a few years. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Xun Yu cleverly first talked about Liu Bei's achievements in recent years, then turned the topic to the people, and finally mentioned the matter of building the mausoleum.

In the Han Dynasty, death was treated as life. Even the common people were particular about lavish burials. It was even more different for the emperor, let alone Liu Bei, the founding emperor.

If Your Majesty did not intervene, the size of the mausoleum alone would be enough to keep officials discussing for a year or two.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei could not help but frown. Building the mausoleum would take at least several years just for the burial mound, not to mention that a manor would have to be built on top for sacrifices.

During the Han Dynasty, lavish burials became a trend, and countless gold and jade artifacts were buried in the ground. Not only did this attract greedy bandits to steal them, but even the princes were tempted to dig up tombs and steal money to support their armies.

He did not want his ministers to be dug up and seen again in the future after having passed away for many years, so the custom of lavish burials that had been passed down for hundreds of years had to be curbed.

Liu Bei thought secretly, and then said: "Wen Ruo, treating the dead as if they were alive is filial piety, but the world will be in chaos every two hundred years. Leaving too many valuables such as money and silk will not only prevent our ancestors from resting in peace, but will also bring disaster. How can our descendants bear it then?"

"It would be better to give a simple burial, without gold or jade, but to make clay replicas of the objects, hire craftsmen to carve gold ornaments and patterns, and then carve the gains and losses of one's life on the back of a stone tablet for future generations to worship and admire."

"I wonder what Wenruo thinks?" Liu Bei asked.

Xun Yu pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty's simple burial system can be announced to the world as a law, but it still requires ministers to set an example."

"Now that Lord Kang Cheng has passed away, the emperor has issued an imperial decree granting him a simple burial. We must not advocate a simple burial at this moment, otherwise those who are dissatisfied will discuss it privately."

"It would not be too late to announce the strict law to the world in a few years."

The reason why he made such a suggestion was that Xun Yu was afraid that some people would attribute the reputation of Liu family being cold-hearted and ungrateful to the emperor.

There is no shortage of people who use their mouths to stir up trouble. The wealthy families who are dissatisfied with their interests keep a close eye on the emperor's behavior. When they see an opportunity, they send their trusted followers to spread nursery rhymes. The common people don't know why, so they follow the nursery rhymes and sing along.

Fortunately, the emperor had foresight and plowed the counties of Hebei, Zhongyuan, Huainan, Guanzhong, and Heluo, and either dispersed the powerful families or cut off their tentacles, so as to prevent the powerful families from holding the people hostage.

Having said that, they did not dare to confront the court openly, but they were working against it secretly.

At this time, it would be most appropriate to use cruel officials with strict laws and harsh punishments to inspect the states.

Liu Bei thought about it and immediately said: "Bo Ning, Xiao Xian, and Wen Hui governed Yizhou and the three prefectures, making the officials harmonious and the people gradually able to have enough food. They have made great contributions."

"I would like to order Bo Ning to be the governor of Jizhou to rectify the local customs, Xiaoxian to be the governor of Bingzhou, and Wenhui to be the governor of Yongzhou to govern various places and supervise the prefects, county magistrates and local clans."

"We will strictly investigate violations of the law, and reward those who take the initiative to report them."

In the past two years, the court's attention has been focused on Guanxi, and Guandong has been much more relaxed, which has undoubtedly led some people to become unscrupulous.

It is time to let Guandong wake up and not think that Zheng Shi stood on the side of the court to suppress the gentry. In fact, it was Zheng Shi who inadvertently protected the gentry, otherwise the cruel officials would have gone to various states long ago.

Don't think that because the court focuses on the west, you will have only a superficial understanding of everything happening in Guandong. In fact, it is just opening a gap to allow some fish to swim in on their own initiative.

Just like cracking down on illegal tyrants, we first need to determine how many people are involved, and then gradually clear them out.

Liu Bei had long understood that the stubborn problems accumulated over hundreds of years could not be cleared up simply by measuring the land. The Han Dynasty needed to be torn down and rebuilt, and the same went for the gentry and powerful families who depended on it.

Fortunately, he is physically energetic and has plenty of patience to rebuild all the clans in the world.

After that, Liu Bei brought the topic back to the simple burial, and said with a chuckle: "Wen Ruo, there is no need for the ministers to set an example in this matter, just start with me."

"Since the Jianxing period, successive Han emperors have abolished rammed earth burials to save the people's labor. Instead, they have only used hills as mausoleums, dug passages, and placed clay objects. Bricks are made from the excavated earth. Gold and jade objects are no longer allowed, and gold-thread jade burials have also been abolished."

"Any burial of human or animal sacrifices is also prohibited. This must be included in the Han law. No matter if it is a slave, servant, horse, cattle or sheep that died accidentally, it is not allowed!"

Liu Bei thought about the fact that the custom of burying people alive with their dead had been banned repeatedly but was still often practiced in later generations, so he added.

"Your Majesty, slaves and servants are not allowed, but livestock..." Before Xun Yu finished speaking, Liu Bei waved his hand and said with a smile: "What's the point of burying livestock? They will become skeletons in a few months. It is better to take clay and mold it into pottery the same size as a horse. It can at least be preserved for thousands of years."

"It is the same with humans. If they are carved into an image that is identical to the real person, it is enough to accompany them in the afterlife. If people understand this principle, why would they need rotting corpses to protect it?"

"In a few years, when the construction of the mausoleum begins, we will announce this to the world."

Liu Bei said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)