A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 135 Junze
Chang'an City, the Prime Minister's Residence.

As usual, the Chief Secretary Wang Chao reported the rumors circulating in the streets to the old Prime Minister.

This is perhaps what sets Gongsun Hong apart from other important officials: he takes gossip very seriously.

When the dynasty spoke of the first year of Yuanshuo, when Chiyou's banner appeared, Gongsun Hong's slightly closed eyes suddenly opened.

What were the major events in the first year of Yuanshuo?

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, there are three important matters."

Without hesitation, Wang Chao blurted out, "First, Your Majesty should issue an edict reprimanding the laxity in recommending candidates for filial piety and integrity in some prefectures and kingdoms, and formally establish the system of recommending candidates for filial piety and integrity."

The Han Dynasty pioneered the selection of talents in the first year of the Yuanguang era by recommending filial and incorrupt officials.

However, throughout the Yuanguang era, local authorities did not strictly enforce the law. Therefore, the emperor issued another edict, reprimanding some prefectures and kingdoms for not even recommending a single person, and questioning the prefects and princes: "The Han Dynasty governs the country with filial piety, yet you have not a single person of filial piety and integrity under your rule?"
In the same edict, the original initiative of recommending filial and incorruptible officials was transformed into a system of recommending them. Recommending and selecting filial and incorruptible officials became a responsibility that all "provincial officials" had to fulfill, and those who failed to do so would be punished by law.

In other words, disregarding the emperor's edicts is considered an act of disrespect and should be punished accordingly.

Of course, filial piety is above integrity. Failure to uphold filial piety will result in punishment and imprisonment, while failure to uphold integrity will only lead to dismissal from office.

Over the years, a large number of filial and incorruptible people have entered high positions through this system, and the recommendation of filial and incorruptible individuals has gradually become the most important talent recommendation system in the Han Dynasty.

Even the former prime minister was able to be repeatedly recommended by the local authorities because of his image as a very filial son who was extremely devoted to his stepmother. In the fifth year of the Yuanguang era, he was reinstated to the imperial court and was eventually appointed prime minister and granted a title.

Years have passed in the blink of an eye. When Gongsun Hong thought back on the past, he didn't feel much regret. The reason why the system of recommending filial and incorrupt officials was important was that it opened up an effective channel for people from the grassroots and commoners to enter officialdom and get promoted to a certain extent.

Before the system of recommending filial and incorruptible officials, the positions of officials above the county magistrate level in the Han Dynasty were basically monopolized by official families and local powerful clans. After the introduction of the system of recommending filial and incorruptible officials, it was equivalent to opening up another path for talent selection, allowing even the most virtuous and upright people at the grassroots level to have the opportunity to rise to the top and be used by the emperor.

At the same time, establishing the moral standards of "filial piety" and "integrity" can achieve the educational effect of promoting goodness, allowing the common people to see the real benefits of doing good, and naturally admire and emulate them, "thus transforming the people and changing customs."

Gongsun Hong sometimes acknowledged His Majesty's abilities. Although His Majesty was often extravagant, superstitious, cruel, ruthless, militaristic, and levied exorbitant taxes, making him seem unlike a ruler, aside from these instances, His Majesty had made more efforts than Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Xiaojing in expanding territory, weakening kingdoms, and selecting talented individuals.

The appointment of filial sons and honest officials to the court did improve some of the bad practices in the Han Dynasty. However, the birth of any system is often accompanied by corruption. There was a fixed number of "filial and honest" positions in a prefecture. In this secular world, the sons of officials, nobles and powerful families always had a better chance of occupying any of the positions than others, even if these positions were not originally intended for them.

The power to recommend candidates for the civil service examination was in the hands of the prefect. If the prefect loosened his grip even slightly, he could use this power to gain connections with powerful families and receive generous rewards from influential figures.

Secondly, while it seems normal for the imperial court to promote morality, too much of a good thing can be bad. Overemphasizing morality can easily breed hypocrisy and create a series of extreme behaviors.

If demonstrating filial piety could earn praise from the court and pave the way for an official career, then there would certainly be unfilial people who would act like filial sons in public, constantly raising the bar for filial piety until it goes against common sense.

Blind filial piety and false filial piety will inevitably prevail, and there will be many stories about them in the streets.

Gongsun Hong silently noted it down, realizing it was time to advise the emperor to standardize the system of recommending filial and incorrupt officials.

This also reminded Gongsun Hong of a shortcut to officialdom: "the petition to the emperor by the emperor." He remembered that in the first year of Yuanshuo, three people had obtained an audience with the emperor through this method.

Zhu Fuyan, Yan An, and Xu Le.

There's no need to elaborate on Zhu Fuyan; his cunning "Decree of Grace" will be remembered for all time. Yan An's memorial seems to address the decadent lifestyle among the people, advising His Majesty to be cautious in military operations and to strengthen the centralization of imperial power. His arguments are nothing new.

But it was Xu Le.

He proposed the concepts of "collapse" and "disintegration," arguing that "the danger to the world lies in the collapse of the foundation, not in the disintegration," a principle that remains consistent throughout history.

What is "collapse"? Xu Le uses the end of the Qin Dynasty as an example. Chen Sheng was neither a descendant of royalty nor a local sage. He was neither as learned as Confucius or Mozi, nor as wealthy as Tao Zhu or Yi Dun. Yet, when such a person raised his arm, the whole world responded. This was because he took advantage of three favorable circumstances: the people were suffering and the monarch did not care; the people had grievances and the court did not pay attention; and the people were in chaos and the government did not adjust its policies. This is what is meant by the collapse of the regime.

Gongsun Hong still remembered Xu Le's words: "The people are suffering and the ruler does not care, the people are resentful and the ruler is unaware, the customs are in chaos and the government is not reformed. These three things are what Chen Sheng relied on. This is what is called the collapse of the regime."

What is “disintegration”? Xu Le used the Rebellion of the Seven States during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han as an example. At that time, the princes of Wu, Chu, Qi and Zhao used their power and wealth to drive the people of their countries and raise hundreds of thousands of troops. However, they could not seize an inch of land. Instead, they surrendered and died, and their countries were destroyed. Was it because their power, wealth and military strength were weaker than Chen Sheng’s?

Of course not. Rather, it was because the virtues of Emperor Xiaowen and Emperor Xiaojing spread far and wide, and the people were all happy to stay in their homeland and unwilling to risk their lives for the princes. This was the trend of disintegration.

Xu Le regarded the common people as the soil they actually relied on, while regarding the upper-class nobles as the roof tiles; if the people were at peace, the country would be at peace.

This idea is somewhat in line with the current administration of the Emperor. The Prime Minister's Office has the responsibility to recommend virtuous and capable people, but the Emperor has been in power for so long and yet no one from the Prime Minister's Office has made a recommendation. Xu Le, not bad.

Gongsun Hong wrote down the name.

Seeing that the old prime minister's expression had relaxed again, Wang Chao continued: "Second, in the summer of the first year of Yuanshuo, 20,000 Xiongnu cavalry invaded Shanggu, Yuyang, and Yanmen counties, killing and plundering officials and civilians, and besieging Han Anguo's army."

In autumn, His Majesty dispatched General Wei Qing with 30,000 cavalry out of Yanmen Pass, and General Li Xi with Dai Pass, to counterattack the Xiongnu. Li Xi's army achieved nothing, while Wei Qing's army beheaded and captured several thousand.

fighting.

This corresponds to the celestial phenomenon of Chi You's banner.

However, given the years of war between the Han and the Xiongnu, the Battle of Yanmen was one of General Wei Qing's many victories, and so many years have passed, why would it be mentioned again?

Moreover, it was mentioned with an ominous air. After a brief period of fruitless thought, Gongsun Hong urged Wang Chao to continue, "Third, the eldest son of the emperor was born."

With just a few words, Gongsun Hong's muscles tensed up.

That year, His Majesty was twenty-nine years old.

Prior to this, His Majesty had been married for over ten years and had only one daughter, born to Empress Wei.

Your Majesty's fertility is not a problem at all; this has been proven in the past, present, and future. However, noble men in the Han Dynasty generally begin to reproduce around the age of fifteen or sixteen, while Your Majesty had very few children before the age of thirty. Clearly, Your Majesty disliked the arrogance of Empress Chen and her daughter and was unwilling to share a bed with them. This is also why Your Majesty's reproduction returned to normal after Empress Chen was deposed.

His Majesty, nearing thirty, finally had a son, whom he "loves dearly." His ministers were overjoyed, and Dongfang Shuo and others excitedly wrote poems to congratulate the emperor and bless the eldest son.

That eldest son of the emperor is none other than the current Crown Prince, Liu Ju.

Gongsun Hong immediately recognized the celestial phenomenon of Chi You's banner that suddenly spread among the people.

"Go check."

"Who is spreading the legend of Chi You's banner?"

"Where did this legend begin?"

"Prepare the palanquin to be carried."

"I need to know everything before I go to the palace for an audience."

Gongsun Hong stood up and issued several orders, instantly changing the entire Prime Minister's residence.

"Yes, Prime Minister."

……

Weiyang Palace.

During Gongsun Hong's audience.

Imperial Censor Zhang Tang was reporting to Liu Ju about powerful and influential families who were "obstructing the voluntary release of slaves from their social status."

Marquis Liu Fu of Antan, Marquis Lu Ze of Qiu, Marquis Xu Guang of Rongcheng, Marquis Jie Bingyi of Xiangcheng, Marquis Dong Xian of San, Marquis Bi Fengyi of Shan... These names include meritorious marquises, marquises favored by imperial relatives, and marquises of princes. Every name Zhang Tang utters represents the fall of a marquisate.

Dozens of marquisate mansions, disregarding the agreement of voluntariness, were destroyed by Zhang Tang.

Gongsun Hong silently calculated the number of marquises in the Han Dynasty, and realized that there were not many left.

"Marquis Mu, Emperor Shizong".

“Dai Hou is confused.”

"Marquis Yanghe, Qiren".

Three more marquises.

Gongsun Hong's body trembled. These three marquisate mansions were different from the previous ones; they belonged to the descendants of meritorious officials of Emperor Gaozu.

Marquis Mu was the title of Li Shang, a founding general. He was initially enfeoffed as Marquis of Quzhou. His eldest son, Li Ji, inherited the title for helping the court quell the Lü Clan Rebellion. However, he was deposed during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, and his second son, Li Jian, was enfeoffed as Marquis Mu instead. Emperor Shizong of Li Shang was a third-generation descendant of Li Shang.

The Li family had made contributions to the founding of the Han Dynasty and to suppressing the rebellion of the Lü clan. They had been prominent for five generations, but unexpectedly, they fell because of a voluntary agreement.

Marquis Dai originated from Peng Zu. When Emperor Gaozu raised his army, he opened the city gate of Pei County and became Liu Taigong's charioteer. Later, he served as the head of the Imperial Stables and followed the army to conquer Chen Xi. He was enfeoffed as Marquis Dai for his merits.

Marquis Yanghe, whose name originated from Qishi, accompanied Liu Bang, the King of Han, to Hanzhong Commandery at the end of the Qin Dynasty as a Zhongyezhe. He served as Langzhongqi and followed Emperor Gaozu in pacifying the armies of the feudal lords, and was enfeoffed as a marquis for his meritorious service.

Two families of high-ranking officials, one lasted for four generations and the other for three.

Gongsun Hong felt a chill for no reason. An ancient saying goes, "The blessings of a virtuous man will decline after three generations and end after five." Could it be that there is a divine will at play here?

"Prime Minister, please." Huangmenling Jiangbo brought over an embroidered stool and whispered a reminder.

Gongsun Hong came to his senses, gave Jiang Bo a grateful look, bowed to the throne, and then sat down on the embroidered stool to listen to Zhang Tang's account of life and death.

Zhang Tang paused for a moment, then said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor has discovered another Marquis's mansion that is obstructing the voluntary agreement of a servant to leave the household register. Ignoring Your Majesty's decree, a maid in that mansion attempted to leave the household register but was blocked by the Marquis and drowned herself. However, this matter is of great importance, and we dare not make a decision on our own. Therefore, we request Your Majesty's guidance."

Which marquis's residence?

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is the residence of the Marquis of Pingyang!"

(End of this chapter)