Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 459: Man Chong: Cruel Officials Should Be Friendly to Their Colleagues

In the eighth month of mid-autumn, once the emperor's edict arrives, officials in Guanzhong will be transferred wherever they are supposed to go, regardless of any personal will.

All the free officials from the Nine Ministers and the Six Ministries were sent to Bingzhou to deal with the Xiongnu issue.

Some knowledgeable people have guessed that the court will soon turn to Luoyang. At this moment, the population of Guanzhong has not yet recovered. Even if some wealthy families have released their servants, retainers and some slaves, there are still few people and more land.

Moreover, manpower is needed to slowly repair Chang'an. If it serves as the capital for too long, with more and more scholars settling near Chang'an, it will place a greater burden on the people.

Although Yizhou is a land of abundance, the loss of grain transported to Guanzhong is too great, so it can only be self-sufficient. If this continues in the long run, the people will surely be resentful.

As Liu Yu was transferred to Yongzhou, Man Chong took over as the governor of Yizhou, Gao Rou remained as the prefect of Guanghan, and the emperor promoted Sun Ce, who had killed nearly 10,000 Dingling Hu people in Anding County, to the position of prefect of Ba County.

This undoubtedly made the Shu nobles and leaders of the twelve counties of Yizhou and the vassal states of the barbarians feel terrified.

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Among the three most famous cruel officials in the Han Dynasty, Man Boying, Mao Xiaoxian and Gao Wenhui, two of them were in Shu.

The emperor's move was clearly aimed at all the powerful families in Yizhou.

As Yizhou was the only province in the world to surrender without a fight, the power of the local nobles had never been weakened.

No matter who dominates Yizhou, as long as someone dares to infringe on their interests, they will unite with the barbarians to rise up in rebellion.

Relying on the clan's troops and the barbarians as reinforcements, they have the confidence to rely on and are not afraid.

Even though for several years there were cruel Legalist officials like Man Chong and Gao Rou, and Sun Ce, who was not afraid of the powerful, cracked down on illegal and powerful people, they didn't say anything.

This fragile calm lasted until September 20th of the fourth year of Jianxing, when Liu Bei thoroughly wiped out the Bingzhou nobles and the Huns.

The Han army's combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers were withdrawn to various military offices for rest and recuperation. Military officials distributed meat, fine wine, and cloth, and counted out the donkeys, mules, and horses captured by the Han army, allowing them to take them back to their hometowns with joy.

After returning to Yinguan in Yanmen, Liu Bei ordered Xu Chu, Dian Wei and other soldiers to take Prince Liu Yong to Yinguan via Fenshui. The soldiers of the Xiandeng Camp and Shengshe Camp of the Central Army withdrew to Luoyang for rest.

He will then lead the Huben Cavalry and the Ruichong Camp to Youzhou to deal with some minor issues, and then go to Jizhou to crack down on the restless gentry.

Liu Bei thought of his plan last year to transfer Man Chong and Gao Rou to Guandong as provincial governors, but he gave up because of the restlessness of the Yizhou nobles.

At this time, the northwestern counties of the Han Dynasty were finally somewhat stable, and it was time to deal with Yizhou. Liu Bei then asked the officials of the Secretariat to write an edict and send it to Man Chong, Gao Rou, and Sun Ce, ordering the twelve counties of Yizhou to start measuring the land at the same time. He also asked Guan Ping, who was on trial as the prefect of Nanjun, and Zhou Yu, who was in charge of the Yangtze River navy and the prefect of Jiangxia, to keep an eye on the situation of the nobles in Shu.

Once someone rebelled, he would immediately dispatch troops from Jingzhou to Shu to quell the rebellion.

At the end of October, an urgent imperial edict from the Secretariat was delivered to the Yizhou governor Man Chong in Chengdu. After reading the imperial edict carefully, he immediately sought out Zhang Zhao, the prefect of Shu County, to discuss the matter of land measurement.

"Your Majesty has sent an imperial edict ordering us officials to begin measuring the land in Shu by the end of the fourth year of Jianxing at the latest. I wonder if Zibu has any good advice for me?"

Man Chong bowed to the north and respectfully took the imperial edict for Zhang Zhao to read. After Zhang Zhao finished reading it, he immediately asked.

Hearing this, and the request made by the emperor in the imperial edict, Zhang Zhao frowned. He pondered for a moment, then saluted and said, "Envoy Man, Yizhou is one of the fourteen states in the world, with the most counties and kingdoms. Since Emperor Guangwu pacified Gongsun Shu, in addition to the chief officials such as the prefect, he mostly adopted the method of Shu people governing Shu, which prevented Bashu from rebellion."

"From the fifth year of Xiaoling Zhongping to the first year of Jianxing, Liu Yan and his son occupied Shu for ten years. In order to split the land and establish their own regime, they often promised to benefit the local nobles. After Liu Yan's death, Liu Zhang's governance of Shu became even weaker. He allowed the nobles to occupy the land, keep guests and followers, conceal the household registration, and greatly increase the power of the nobles."

"In terms of the number of powerful families and their followers, they far surpass those of other prefectures and counties of the Han Dynasty. Whenever there is a rebellion, only three or four clans can easily mobilize tens of thousands of people. In addition, the powerful families in each county like to stick together, promote their relatives and friends, and former officials, and bypass the county governors sent by the court."

"The more famous of these noble families include the Zhang, Du, Liu, and Ren families in Shu County, the He family in Pi County, and the Chang family in Jiangyuan." "The Yang, Li, and Zhang families in Wuyang, Qianwei County, the Wang and Li families in Guanghan, the Du and Qin families in Mianzhu, the Yong, Li, and Wen families in Zitong, the Shi and Cheng families in Jiangyang. The Qiao family in Ba County, the Sanhu and Huang families in Langzhong, the Zhao and Chen families in Anhan. The Yong family in Yizhou County, the Cuan family in Jianning, etc."

"In addition to having a number of followers ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 to 6,000, these powerful families also have close ties with the barbarians in southern Yi."

"If the Han Dynasty wants to completely survey the land in Yizhou and force the nobles to surrender their troops, the Shu people will surely rise up and oppose it, and the world will be turned upside down."

"Even if we can protect the passes leading to Yizhou, such as Jiameng, Baishui, and Yufu, it will take three years for the Han army to restore order, even with its brave generals and powerful soldiers. If we do this, there will be corpses everywhere and rivers of blood..."

When Zhang Zhao reached this point, he immediately shook his head and sighed.

After finally achieving some results in governance, the people were about to starve to death again. In the imperial edict, it was seen that General Zhang Yide would station troops in Hanzhong County, and Fa Zheng and Zhang Cheng from the Secretariat would join the army.

In addition, there were Man Boying, the governor of Yizhou, and Gao Wenhui, the prefect of Guanghan, who were slightly familiar with military strategies, as well as Sun Bofu, who often liked to suppress bandits and robbers, and Zhou Gongjin of Jingzhou.

The court must have made up its mind to recover the concealed land taxes as well as the soldiers and servants, and will no longer allow the local powerful families to do whatever they want.

"Zi Bu, why do you have to be so sad? The government of Shu has issued hundreds of orders, but it has not been able to revitalize the people. Why is that?"

"It is because the local nobles have occupied various villages and used this to hinder the prefectures and counties, and the laws of the Han Dynasty cannot be passed down to the villages. This has never happened since the Han Dynasty was revived for three times."

"How can we not use thunder and lightning to deal with such an arrogant and domineering state, and then destroy its supporters and start a new plan."

"You and I were promoted by the emperor, and only then did we have the important positions we have today. We must work harder and abandon the old to create the new. The restoration of the Han Dynasty cannot afford to lose all our previous efforts due to a single misstep!"

After saying that, Man Chong patted Zhang Zhao's arm and said with a smile.

As the governor of Yizhou appointed by the emperor, he understood His Majesty's determination better than Zhang Zhao who was transferred later. It was not that the court officials intended to thoroughly survey the land in Yizhou, but that His Majesty had such an idea a long time ago, but it was delayed until now due to various circumstances.

As the Qiang people and the Xiongnu were subdued, it was time to take action against Yizhou.

Man Chong and Gao Rou, as followers of the Legalists, of course agreed with the idea of ​​punishing the powerful. Although Sun Ce was not a Legalist, he was bloodthirsty and aggressive and would cooperate to the extreme.

Only Zhang Zhao had to let him see the emperor's detailed edict so that he could understand His Majesty's determination.

Even though the Han Dynasty ruled the world with documents, when it came time to enforce them at the local level, it still depended on whether the officials were willing to put their heart into it.

Those who are not serious may appear to have completed the imperial edict, but in reality they have not done anything at all.

Man Chong had worked diligently for the emperor to rectify the administration of officials for many years, so how could he not be aware of the ins and outs of it?

Only when you can unite your colleagues to work hard for the court and not upset His Majesty, can you be considered as a good official.

Reporting colleagues secretly at every turn and making officials try to avoid the issue is not the behavior of a cruel official.

A cruel official should be one who works tirelessly throughout his life, treats people with kindness, understands people's sufferings, makes good use of the law, and is dedicated to the public.

This is the only way to have a good beginning and a good end...

Man Chong silently thought about it
(End of this chapter)