Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 127 The Emperor and the Corrupt Official

Wen Shu was indeed there to save his life. He recuperated in the clinic for half a year, displaying the demeanor of a retired cadre from later generations.

That year, the county did not collect grain tax. When they learned that Wen Shu was recuperating at Liu Bei's place, the powerful families realized that the grain Liu Bei demanded was equivalent to paying grain tax.

Everyone sent gifts to Wen Shu, and they also sent gifts to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei still didn't accept anything, but his attitude remained as good as ever. When people came, he instructed Bian Bing to treat them well with good food and drink and to be very courteous—Bian Bing was indeed very good at this job.

Wen Shu did accept some gifts. Unlike Liu Bei, who could cultivate prestige and build influence by not accepting gifts, the powerful clans would be worried if the governor did not accept them.

The three newly appointed military commanders were elected after discussions among the wealthy families, so they naturally did not cause trouble in the county. Each family contributed some grain to support the troops, and there were no more disturbances in the county.

During Wen Shu's absence, various wealthy families recommended some officials to the prefecture, but Wen Shu neither agreed nor objected, allowing the families to fill the prefect's office with their recommendations without taking any action.

He didn't return to the prefecture until the end of the year, because by then all the county officials were back in place.

The emperor sold another batch of official positions to fill the vacancies.

Only then did Wen Shu allocate the county officials to positions based on the recommendations of each family, so that each family could benefit from it.

He then maintained his policy of non-interference, only agreeing on a price range for selling grain with various powerful clans, and ordering Zhang Nan's transport troops to strictly guard all roads to prevent the spread of plague.

A year has passed quickly.

……

That year, Emperor Liu Hong had a great time.

Last year, the Xianbei leader Tanshihuai died of illness at the age of forty-five.

After Tan Shihuai died, his sons fought for power, and the Xianbei people fell into internal strife.

The fact that the Han Dynasty's greatest enemy died in his prime was clearly an auspicious omen, signifying the Han Dynasty's enduring power and prosperity.

Upon receiving this news, Liu Hong built a garden to celebrate, and at the end of last year, he also opened a commercial street in the West Garden.

This street no longer sells official positions; instead, it sells all sorts of 'daily necessities,' such as two-headed dragons and Mr. Horns...

There were also places selling medicines, such as Hehuan San (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) and Yitiaochai (another traditional Chinese medicine formula).

Liu Hong made the women run the business as shopkeepers, and even made them wear open-crotch pants to steal from each other, fight and brawl to compete for trade routes.

Liu Hong himself, on the other hand, dressed as a businessman all day long and conducted business on the street like a merchant.

Moreover, he kept many dogs in the West Garden, and dressed each dog in a crown of merit and a sash, and hung a sign for the official residence of a high-ranking official in the doghouse.

In dogfights, the winner of a dog's rank would be promoted. The positions of the "Three Dukes" and "Nine Ministers" were frequently changed, and from time to time, a court meeting would be held for these real corrupt officials.

He then got a small cart pulled by four donkeys, and drove it himself, speeding around Luoyang to buy dog ​​food.

Seeing that the emperor was indulging in such unrestrained behavior, people around the capital followed suit, and news of the daily necessities store in the West Garden and the corrupt officials quickly spread.

The wealthy families and officials around Luoyang thought that the emperor was probably going to conscript something again.

Last time, Liu Hong wanted to play Fast and Furious and requisitioned horses. Most people missed the chance to make a fortune and instead spent a lot of money to buy horses to pass the inspection.

Liu Hong was having so much fun this time that none of the officials in the capital wanted to miss the opportunity.

As a result, people around Luoyang began to buy up donkeys, dogs, deer antlers, ivory and other similar items, planning to stockpile them and make a fortune.

Suddenly, the prices of donkeys and dogs were almost as high as those of horses, and the daily necessities that Liu Hong played with became the most popular items among officials in the capital region, making the nightlife of Han Dynasty officials much richer.

But the officials in Luoyang still failed to make money; on the contrary, Liu Hong made a fortune. Instead of sending tributes from various regions, Liu Hong had the eunuchs sell the palace's goods when daily necessities and donkeys became popular.

He didn't sell the corrupt officials he played with; instead, he increased their salaries and provided them with bronze tripod-shaped feeding troughs, so that he could share wealth and status with them.

Then Liu Hong happily celebrated the Lantern Festival, and even carried out a major renovation, building a new garden.

After simultaneously insulting the officials' intelligence and dignity... the emperor received his revenge.

At the end of February, major epidemics broke out in both Henan and Hebei provinces.

According to the theory of the interaction between Heaven and Man, this inevitably makes people feel that the emperor is without virtue.

Of course, you can also say that one of the three officials is immoral.

In early March, Chen Dan, the Minister of Works who had submitted a memorial with Cao Cao to impeach the officials for making false reports and accusing them of corruption, was dismissed from his post due to the plague.

However, dismissing Chen Dan did not have any effect...

In April, drought was reported from all parts of the heartland of the Han Dynasty, from the capital region to the counties east of the pass, and then to Henan and Hebei. Local governments reported that water transport was disrupted and requested tax exemptions and disaster relief.

So Liu Hong quickly promoted Yuan Wei, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, to Minister of Works.

Shortly after Yuan Kui was promoted to Minister of Works, reports of plague from various places ceased to reach Luoyang, as if the plague had vanished...

This was certainly not because the plague had been resolved, but because Yuan Wei had blocked the roads, isolated many villages and towns, and even sealed off some counties.

The outbreak of a large-scale plague necessitated the sealing off of roads and strict control of the movement of people. Yuan Situ was capable of handling affairs, and only the Yuan family had the ability to implement such isolation measures.

However, to simply regard these matters as necessary measures in the face of natural disasters would be to underestimate the capabilities of Han Dynasty officials.

The plague has indeed occurred. The only solution is to block roads and isolate villages. Yuan Situ's handling of the situation was not problematic, but he blocked too many roads, including the main thoroughfares.

The drought did indeed occur on a large scale, but the waterway transport was not actually interrupted. It's just that the water volume of the Luo River and Pu River, which were used for transporting grain to Beijing, was indeed less than in previous years.

However, if officials in all regions say that the canal transport has been cut off, then it really has been cut off.

Liu Hong certainly knew why.

Just as the emperor acted recklessly after Tan Shihuai's death, the officials of the Han Dynasty also took advantage of the weakening of the Xianbei's strength to start causing trouble.

Before the Lantern Festival, Liu Hong drove his donkey cart around Luoyang every day, and knew that the Luo River was not so easy to dry up, and the canal transport was not so easy to interrupt.

The water in the West Garden was also drawn from the Luo River. If the West Garden's water supply was not interrupted, how could the Luo River possibly run dry? Sure enough, in that same month, many officials simultaneously submitted memorials, requesting the emperor to lift the ban on political parties, punish the eunuchs, and prohibit the sale of official positions.

With roads blocked and canal transport disrupted, Luoyang naturally lost its supply of goods...

The country is suffering from a severe drought, and there is no grain available in the capital region and surrounding areas. Luoyang will soon face a food shortage.

This is blackmail.

When it came to the issues of party persecution and selling official positions, Liu Hong made no further concessions. He only sternly demanded that all localities dig canals for disaster relief and refused to grant any tax exemptions.

There will definitely be a price to pay for not backing down.

In early May, a fire broke out at Yongle Palace.

The fire precisely destroyed the government offices and storehouses, but did not spread to other parts of the palace, nor did it kill many people.

However, a large portion of the grain stored in the palace was kept in the Yongle Palace storeroom.

This fire destroyed 70% of the palace's stored grain.

Land routes were blocked due to the plague, and water transport was also cut off. The palace lost most of its grain reserves, and all the nearby prefectures and counties, including the capital, the southern suburbs, and Henan, reported severe droughts.

— Indeed, there was a plague and a drought. Apart from the matter of the canal transport, nothing else was faked.

Suddenly, all the counties and prefectures surrounding the capital and the surrounding areas ran out of grain to buy.

Grain prices in Luoyang have soared again, with one bushel of millet costing 20,000 coins!

The palace was short of food, and the Henan Prefect's granary was also completely empty.

Liu Hong was unable to stabilize grain prices in the capital region.

However, he could not compromise on the issues of the Party Prohibitions and the sale of official positions. If the Party Prohibitions were lifted and the sale of official positions were banned, he would have no money to support his troops!
He also couldn't deal with the eunuchs. He had just dealt with Wang Fu and others three years ago. If he were to take action against the eunuchs now, his reign as emperor would be over.

Liu Hong knew what it felt like to have no one to rely on. He didn't want to be a puppet. The eunuchs were his servants, and also the people he could truly use.

Liu Hong knew which was more important.

He can compromise, but he cannot put himself in a dead end.

Liu Hong appointed He Jin, the half-brother of Empress He, as the Governor of Henan and concurrently in charge of the logistics of the armies in Sili, overseeing the transportation and distribution of grain.

Empress He appointed He Miao (whose real name was Zhu Miao), Empress He's half-brother, as the Commandant of the Yueqi Cavalry, in charge of maintaining order in the capital.

At the same time, an imperial edict was issued to lift the road blockades in the Guandong prefectures, to transport grain to Luoyang, and to require that this year's grain tax be collected as usual, and that it could no longer be offset by silk or money.

Liu Hong only wanted to lower grain prices; as long as Luoyang didn't lack grain, the matter would be over.

But if grain prices don't come down, then from now on he'll really only be able to hide in the harem and play the role of a playboy!
This matter cannot be backed out.

At the same time, Liu Hong also built a high platform on Ating Road, specifically for observing the canal transport and water level.

Ating Road is the main waterway and land route of the Grand Canal leading to Beijing from the Luo River. This high platform was built in August when grain was transported to Beijing, and it was 400 feet high.

The claim that the grain transport had been cut off was naturally exposed beneath this high platform. If the surrounding counties still refused to transport grain to the capital, the Imperial Guards would directly lead their troops to kill people.

The emperor refused to budge, persisting even amidst the famine in Luoyang, something many hadn't anticipated.

Liu Hong's approach to solving problems is actually the same as the way officials blackmail Luoyang.

He Jin controlled the logistics of the five battalions of the Northern Army, issuing only one day's worth of rations each day, thus coercing the troops to obey orders.

He Miao took over the security of the capital with the Yueqi Battalion, and then, under the pretext of apprehending bandits, confiscated the property of many powerful families and seized their grain as a guarantee for the emperor and the army.

Liu Hong ignored everything else and only protected the palace and the army.

But the officials and those behind them couldn't hold out any longer—this wasn't the usual style of struggle; after Tan Shihuai's death, Liu Hong became much tougher.

If the confrontation with the emperor continues, He Miao's troops will continue to kill and confiscate property. If the confrontation continues, who knows how crazy the emperor will become?

The aristocratic families finally realized that only by controlling the army could they control everything; official positions, titles, fame, wealth... were all meaningless in front of the emperor.

By September, the lie about the canal transport was exposed, and grain was delivered from various counties.

Liu Hong ultimately avoided the predicament of food shortages in the palace, and grain prices in Luoyang gradually stabilized.

The emperor's crisis was resolved, but the problem remained: the plague and the drought were not resolved.

The blockade of the roads to Guandong was lifted, and the canal transport resumed as usual. However, the plague spread rapidly throughout the Han Dynasty along with the laborers transporting grain to Luoyang. Only the cold and remote border regions of Youzhou and Liangzhou were less affected by the epidemic.

Moreover, food shortages have occurred in all states and counties.

Or rather... officials in various regions reported food shortages; in any case, almost all grain-producing counties reported famine.

The Book of the Later Han Dynasty

Fifth year of Guanghe:

February, a major epidemic broke out.

In March, Situ Chen Dan was dismissed.

In the fourth month of summer, there was a drought. Yuan Wei, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, was appointed Minister of Works.

On the day of Gengshen in May, a disaster struck the Yongle Palace.

In July, a comet appeared in the Taiwei constellation.

In August, a four-hundred-foot-tall pavilion was erected on the A-ting Road.



(End of this chapter)