Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 64: Abstract Political Orders, Personified Provincial Governors

In November, Huangfu Song pacified the Yellow Turbans in Hebei, killed more than 100,000 of them and piled up their remains to form a Jingguan, hoping to use this to deter any lawless people in the world.

The court appointed Huangfu Song as General of the Left Cavalry, Governor of Jizhou, and granted him the title of Marquis of Huaili, with a fief of 8,000 households.

In the same month, Zhu Jun defeated the Yellow Turbans in Nanyang, beheaded the bandit leader, and captured more than 10,000 heads. He also pardoned all of the 100,000 captured Yellow Turbans.

The court appointed Zhu Jun as the Right General of Chariots and Cavalry, promoted him to the rank of Special Advancement, and granted him the title of Marquis of Qiantang, with a fief of 5,000 households.

Emperor Liu Hong changed the era name to Zhongping, which means "the revival of the Han Dynasty and the prosperity of the world", and the court and the people congratulated each other.

However, the facts told everyone that they celebrated too early. Half a month after the court ordered the change of the reign title, shocking news came from the northwest.

Song Jian and Wang Guo, two bandits from the Xianrong Qiang and Fuhan tribes, supported the two generals Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, who were from the Huangzhong Yicong tribe, and killed Ling Zheng, the commander of the Protector of the Qiang tribe, and rebelled.

The military commander Bian Yuan and Jincheng County official Han Yue were captured by Beigong Boyu. Under the threat of their lives, and because they were suspected of killing Jincheng prefect Chen Yi, they had no choice but to join the rebels. Therefore, Bian Yuan changed his name to Bian Zhang, and Han Yue changed his name to Han Sui. They were ordered by Beigong Boyu to take charge of military and political affairs.

At that time, Zuo Chang, the governor of Liangzhou, was a clerk of the Ten Eunuchs. Seeing the unrest in the northwest, he knew that he had no ability to deal with it, so he was so desperate that he embezzled tens of millions of dollars under the pretext of raising military funds.

The Chief Secretary Gai Xun found out and urged Zuo Chang to send troops. Zuo Chang was so angry that he thought of killing someone with a borrowed knife, so he sent Gai Xun to garrison Ayang County. Interestingly, Han Sui and Bian Zhang were unable to break through Ayang County where Gai Xun was stationed, so they had no choice but to bypass Ayang County and attack Zuo Chang who was stationed in Ji County.

Zuo Chang had no talent, and when he saw the city was under siege, he urgently called for Gai Xun to lead his troops back to help. Gai Xun, regardless of his hatred, led his troops back to help Zuo Chang.

In December, the court saw that Zuo Chang not only did not suppress the bandits, but also embezzled military funds even more. Emperor Ling of Han was furious and wanted to sentence him to death. However, because of Zhang Rang's protection, Zuo Chang's death sentence was commuted to dismissal, and Song Xiao, a native of Fufeng recommended by Zhao Zhong, was appointed as the Governor of Liangzhou.

At the same time, as a precautionary measure, the court ordered Zhu Jun to lead a large army to garrison Luoyang to prevent the rebels from reaching Guanzhong.

After Song Xiao took office as the governor of Liangzhou, in order to deal with the rebellion in the northwest, he outrageously believed that the reason for the rebellion was that the people of Liangzhou rarely learned Confucianism. Therefore, Song Xiao ordered every household in Liangzhou to copy and study the "Book of Filial Piety" to understand the way of loyalty and filial piety, so as to be loyal to the Han Dynasty.

When the decree reached Luoyang, not only Emperor Ling of Han and the court officials were confused by Song Xiao, but even the Ten Eunuchs suspected that Song Xiao had an IQ problem.

Therefore, a strange scene appeared in the court. Both the eunuch faction and the scholar faction reacted in the same way. They all asked Emperor Ling of Han to dismiss Song Xiao and replace him with someone else.

Such abstract political decree was also heard by all the officials in the Shangshutai, including Zhang Yu.

On the day of rest, Zhang Yu took advantage of the time to meet with Zhong Yao and Yuan Mi in the Luoyang Tavern to discuss what had happened in the Secretariat in recent months.

"Song Xiao has been an official for many years, serving as a county magistrate and a county governor. How could he issue a decree to copy and study the Book of Filial Piety? How dare he expect the rebels to learn Confucianism and understand loyalty and righteousness, so as to defeat the enemy without fighting?" Zhang Yu asked.

Zhong Yao shook his head and smiled, saying: "Perhaps Song Xiao was unable to deal with the rebellion in Liang Province, so he came up with this plan to ask the court to dismiss him for some reason."

"No!"

Secretary Yuan smiled and said, "I have heard of Song Xiao. He studied the classics when he was young, but his talent was mediocre. He was able to enter the government by currying favor with eunuchs. Although he served as a county magistrate and a prefecture governor, he never achieved any achievements. Before he was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou, he had been working in an idle position in the capital for several years."

Zhang Yu sneered and said, "Zuo Chang embezzled military funds, Song Xiaoru Jing put down the chaos, and Ba used insects to govern Liangzhou. How could the bandits in Longyou not rebel!"

The longer he stayed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the more Zhang Yu felt that the court was full of corruption from top to bottom. It was hard to imagine that as a frontier official, he should at least be responsible for his duties, even if he did not care about the country. However, every official was either thinking about corruption or not doing his job.

When I first evaluated Wang Yun, I said that there were too few officials like him in the world. I felt that I was hypocritical at the time, but after meeting these two anthropomorphic creatures, Zuo Chang and Song Xiao, I really felt that my words were not exaggerating.

At the beginning, I thought that if I reformed the tax system of the Eastern Han Dynasty and collected salt and iron taxes, I might be able to revive the country. Looking back now, I was too naive. Not to mention reforming the tax system, I even had a hard time rectifying the malpractices of the government.

Zhong Yao sighed helplessly and said, "Everyone who takes office as a magistrate must go to Xiyuan to pay fees, so many officials do not think about governing the people when they take office, but instead think about how to get the money they paid back from the local government."

“Although Zuo Chang embezzled tens of millions of military funds, he spent at least tens of millions of dollars on bribery of eunuchs and buying an official position from Xiyuan in order to get the post of Governor of Liangzhou. After Zuo Chang took office, he would inevitably become more corrupt in order to make up for the loss of buying an official position.”

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said with emotion: "The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for profit. There were not many people who entered the government to serve the people, and now that they have to pay money to enter the government, there are more and more people who abuse the people."

"Confucius said, 'A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger.' This is exactly what happened!"

Officials who governed the people had to pay the emperor money to take office, which essentially treated official positions as commodities. Since official positions were commodities, even if the exercise of the rights obtained after purchasing the official position was illegal, the court could not judge them because the officials had paid money. For example, when Zuo Chang was dismissed for corruption, he was only dismissed.

Even the civil officials, in order to get back the money they lost, would plunder the people even more, and even squeeze the grassroots people dry. In order to survive, the people would naturally resist tyranny.

Perhaps because he had heard too much about Zhang Yu's compassion for the people, Zhong Yao hesitated for a moment and asked, "I wonder what Ji'an's intention is?"

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment, then said solemnly: "May the world be peaceful and the people be happy!"

Zhong Yao and Yuan Mi looked at each other and said with admiration: "Ji'an cares about the people, Yao is not as good as you!"

"Ji'an has high aspirations, even Mi cannot match him!" Secretary Yuan said, raising his glass.

Zhong and Yuan were born into aristocratic families and studied Confucian classics at a young age, but they did not pursue such lofty goals in life. If Zhang Yu's ideals were true, they would be ashamed of themselves.

Seeing the two men's expressions, Zhang Yu quickly raised his glass and said, "I am a lowly person and I am weak. I am just talking nonsense. You two can just laugh at me!" "No!"

Secretary Yuan said in a deep voice: "The world is in turmoil. Only by clarifying the will of the world can the world be at peace again. Ji An has this will because of his great strength. How can he be ashamed because of his low position!"

“Thank you Yongning for your message!”

"please!"

After the banquet, when they were slightly drunk, the three of them said goodbye and left, agreeing to meet again at the Shangshu Terrace tomorrow.

When Zhang Yu was about to leave the private room, he heard a commotion coming from the front, and the voice sounded particularly familiar.

Taking a few steps forward, Zhang Yu took a closer look and saw his acquaintance Sun Jian, Wu Jing, Xu Kun and others entering the wine house to drink.

"Jian!"

"Brother Wentai!"

Sun Jian was sharp-eyed. He spotted Zhang Yu and quickly stepped forward, laughing and saying, "It has been half a year since we parted at Changsha. I never thought I would meet Ji'an here."

"Why is Ji'an here?"

Zhang Yu was very enthusiastic. He put his arm around Sun Jian's shoulders and said with a smile, "I just had a feast with my friends and am preparing to go home now."

"Wen Tai followed General Zhu to the south to fight against the Yellow Turbans. I wonder what military achievements he made?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Jian, there is something I don't know!"

Sun Jian was touched and said, "I followed other generals to besiege the Yellow Turbans in Wancheng. The siege lasted for more than a hundred days and was extremely brutal. On the day the city was captured, I asked to be the first to climb the wall and led my troops to attack the city wall fiercely. Most of my brothers were killed before we captured Wancheng."

"Just survive!"

Zhang Yu sighed and said, "It would be great if you could accomplish great deeds!"

"Ok!"

Sun Jian nodded and asked, "How is Ji'an doing?"

"After being selected as a filial and incorrupt official, I am now serving as a palace official in the Secretariat. Next year I will be assigned to a post outside the capital," said Zhang Yu.

"Okay!"

Sun Jian said happily: "Ji'an is so young, but he has achieved such success. His future is uncertain!"

"How is Brother Wentai?"

"I was promoted due to my military merits and was appreciated by General Zhu. I am now temporarily appointed as the military commander."

Sun Jian lowered his voice and said, "After the first month of the year, we may mobilize a large army to conquer the Liangzhou rebels. I should go out again at that time. I heard that General Huangfu will lead the army. If Ji'an wants to make a contribution, let's see if he can join the army!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said vaguely: "It depends on the distribution of the pavilions at that time. I am a minor official and I don't know the details yet."

In Zhang Yu's memory, the rebellion in Liang Province was not so easy to deal with. It seemed that it had been going on until the death of Emperor Ling of Han, and even had been recurring in the past few years. Even Zhang Wen and Dong Zhuo had joined the expedition. It might not be so easy to deal with it in the first expedition.

"good!"

Sun Jian revealed the information about the expedition to Zhang Yu only because he wanted Zhang Yu to save him. Now that Zhang Yu had no intention of going with him, Sun Jian naturally would not force him.

"Ji'an, this is Han Dang, Han Yigong, from Liaoxi County in Youzhou. He is a hero I met in the army and he is good at shooting." Sun Jian introduced the new member Han Dang to Zhang Yu and said.

"Yigong, this is my savior Zhang Ji'an, who is a very good archer!"

"Meet Mr. Han!"

"Greetings, Mr. Zhang!"

Looking at Han Dang who was awkward in his words and actions, Zhang Yu thought of Cheng Pu who was now beside Wang Yun. He wondered how Cheng Pu and Li Song were doing.

After chatting with everyone for a few more words, Zhang Yuwan declined Sun Jian's invitation to a banquet and walked back home alone.

(End of this chapter)