Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 663 Unkind Policy
"Dear dear ones, now Chao Cuo proposes to cut down the vassal, the persecution is very tight, and the widow is helpless, what can I do?"

In the third guard pavilion of the Great Xia Kingdom outside the imperial palace, Liu Ci seriously questioned the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs under his command.

Dong Zhongshu was silent for a moment, and then replied: "My lord, our country of Xia will probably not be affected."

"Why is this?"

"Chao Cuo wants to limit the military power of princes and kings, financial power and so on, but we don't have these. He can't limit it even if he wants to."

Liu Ci suddenly realized, and immediately stopped worrying.

"That's right, I don't even have a soldier under my command, so I'm afraid he won't be able to restrict my military power?! Dong Qing's trick!"

Xia Houci also hurriedly said, "Dong Xiang is wise!"

Dong Zhongshu was a little helpless, and he said again: "Your Majesty doesn't need to pay attention to the matter of cutting down the vassal. Among the kings in Chang'an, only Dai Wang is qualified to participate in it. However, Your Majesty should care about another matter."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"Imperial Mausoleum."

"Don't you know, Your Majesty? In yesterday's court meeting, Chao Cuo changed his tone and didn't mention the matter of cutting down the vassal. Instead, he suggested that His Majesty renovate Anling, maintain Changling, and the tombs of many clan kings. As a foreign king, why not?" How about getting involved?"

Liu Ci looked at Dong Zhongshu in a daze, "Building the imperial tomb? I don't understand. Didn't my father always advocate festival burials? Why do you care so much about the tomb? Anling and Changling are being renovated every day. , constantly expanding the city, Changling has a population of hundreds of thousands, and Anling is even more prosperous, even more prosperous than the royal city of Hexi Kingdom. It doesn't look like a mausoleum at all, why does Father do this Woolen cloth?"

Dong Zhongshu laughed, "My lord, this is the first strategy of a big man."

"Your Majesty has lived in Chang'an for a long time. I don't know the reason for this. There are not only farmers, merchants, craftsmen, scholars, Chehou, but also other types of people."

"This kind of people are called Hao. They don't have any official positions, but they have a lot of wealth. They bully the people at the bottom and resist the governance of officials. They occupy a lot of land and turn the people into their own tenants. They do evil and control the place. Once Reduce the suppression of them, and they will quickly empty the officials, so that the orders of the temple cannot reach the grassroots. Therefore, at the beginning, some ministers came up with a way to let them move out of the place by letting them guard the imperial tomb. Their land and their possessions, let them lose all influence as farmers in strange lands."

"Your Majesty has been renovating the imperial mausoleum all year round, not for himself, but to suppress these tyrants."

Liu Ci suddenly realized, and then asked again: "Why is it so troublesome? Why didn't you just order them to be killed and kill them all?"

"Your Majesty, direct order to kill is not in accordance with the law. A great man governs the country with benevolence and righteousness. Naturally, such a thing cannot be done. Moreover, these people cannot be killed cleanly. The power in the local area may exceed your imagination. In the beginning, most of the rich families in the local area were the clans of various countries. During the Qin Dynasty, these people tangled up their respective strengths, and then launched a rebellion. People like Xiang Yu were the noble families of the Six Kingdoms. Emperor Gao took the world and used the mausoleum The strategy is to call these powerful men from the six countries to guard the imperial mausoleum, let them leave their hometown, take away their land, so that they can no longer do evil."

"However, most of today's rich families are related to the founding ministers and today's Chehou from all over the world."

"For example, your Majesty may not know the rich and powerful families in various places in Ruyin. Most of the powerful families there are named Xiahou. They are all relatives of Ah Ci. Maybe Ah Ci doesn't know them, but they rely on the Marquis of Ruyin. Prestige, accumulating wealth everywhere, domineering, becoming a tyrant, um, the tyrants can’t be called the tyrants, Ci is the tyrants, they are just tyrants, some tyrants are even just the slaves of the rich family Beheaded, but he turned out to be just Wang Tianqi's former entourage. After retiring from old age and returning to his hometown, he borrowed the prince's fame and accumulated a lot of wealth, and finally started to focus on iron mines."

Xia Houci was shocked, saying every day that he was punishing the Hao family, but in the end, the Hao family was actually me? ?

Seeing Xia Houci's terrified eyes, Dong Zhongshu comforted him with a smile: "Ci, you don't have to worry, you are from the family of Chehou, a famous and powerful family, and you are not on the migration list. Remember to pay the gold on time after you succeed to the throne in the future, just say Come to think of it, the temple has dealt harshly with the princes and lords in recent years, and in the past two years when His Majesty was away, there must have been more than [-] people who lost their lords because of gold.

Dong Zhongshu laughed at himself: "Speaking of which, I am also the son of a powerful man. I have arable land and money, but my father is generous and never did anything to bully others."

Liu Ci understood. He touched his chin, "Then why do you have to use the name of the imperial mausoleum to do things? It would be great to use these people to enrich Xia Guo."

"Your Majesty, if you use other names, the officials will definitely oppose it. After all, those in the local area are all relatives of the family, and the filial piety is not mentioned every year. With them, the power of the clan can be greater, but if it is the imperial mausoleum, there is no way. , Your Majesty wants to honor Emperor Gao, who dares to stop?? And the crown prince wants to honor His Majesty, who dares to stop? This is the emperor's mausoleum built by the Great Han."

Liu Ci just felt distressed, "Why isn't this mausoleum in our country of Xia?"

Dong Zhongshu said seriously: "That's why I asked you to participate in this matter! Although you are young and have no strength, you just mess around all day long. You don't even bother to deal with Chao Cuo, and no one looks down on you, but you are a prince after all. , Your Majesty's own son is now making a lot of noise about cutting down the feudal clan, this is an opportunity, Chao Cuo will definitely do something special, if it can be used to benefit Xia, wouldn't it be great?"

"But the imperial mausoleum is not close to me at all? Do you want me to play to make room for the elder? Dig him out and bury him in the country of Xia?? Isn't this appropriate?"

Dong Zhongshu's face darkened, "Of course it's inappropriate. However, these years, the temples have been migrating people to Guanzhong. There are too many people in Guanzhong, and the food cannot be self-sufficient. If there is another large-scale migration, it will cost a lot of money." Question. Maybe Chao Cuo is also having a headache because of this matter. What if we find a way to allow the king to repair the tomb? The emperor's tomb needs to be repaired, so can't the tombs of the kings around here be repaired?"

"It's reasonable, but previously it was only the emperor's tomb. If it was the royal tomb, would they agree?"

"Then it depends on Mr. Chao. I'm just putting forward my own opinion."

Liu Ci patted his thigh suddenly, "Don't worry about it! We'll do it like this! Xia Guo currently only has three cities and more than 7000 people. This is not even as good as a township! If you can build the mausoleum city, you can build A hundred thousand people? They are all high-quality talents, let’s do it!!”

Liu Ci said, and suddenly looked at Xia Houci who was beside him, "What do you think?"

Xia Houci pursed his lips, and asked uncomfortably, "Chao Cuo won't take me to do it together, will he?"

"Don't worry, he is a powerful man, and all the ministers have to support him loudly. No one can openly support Hao Qiang in a big man, not even Sangong, but if he manages a rich family like you, he will die of illness tomorrow. , not even San Gong.”

"Then it's better to be a wealthy family."

"No, it's best to be a Sangong."

Liu Ci, like his father, is a character who can do what he says. After Dong Zhongshu suggested, he immediately began to think about meeting Chao Cuo. First of all, how to meet Chao Cuo. Chao Cuo would not meet him. Don't look at Chao Cuo being beaten up in the temple all day long, but he is a big man, not everyone can go to see him, not even the foreign king. When it comes to Chao Cuo, there needs to be someone who can attract Chao Cuo's attention to introduce him.

Although Dong Zhongshu articulated his plan eloquently, he still didn't have much confidence in accomplishing it.

Chao Cuo is too conceited and arrogant, even if Liu Ci is willing to support him in cutting down the feudal clan, I'm afraid he won't bother.

Seeing Liu Ci's instant leadership, Dong Zhongshu had no choice but to break through all the difficulties.

"Chao Cuo is a difficult person to get along with. If the king wants to see him, it will be very difficult to discuss this matter with him. He will not bother with him at all, and he has always been hostile to the prince."

Liu Ci patted his chest, "Hahaha, this matter is not difficult at all!"

"Don't worry, I've been smart since I was a child. Could it be that I can't even do this? I'll let you see what I can do today!"

"Father!!!"

Suddenly there was an exclamation from the door, and Liu Chang was taken aback for a moment. Looking sideways, he saw Liu Ci standing aside with a full face of grievance.

Liu Chang seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he just let out a long sigh.

The reincarnation of heaven, the retribution is not good.

And soon, Liu Ci met Chao Cuo.

Chao Cuo knelt in front of Liu Chang, looking suspiciously at King Xia beside him, I was desperately busy cleaning up the affairs of Hao Qiang, you called me here just to listen to this little guy talking nonsense? ?What's the point? ?Why do people always come to hold me back every time I do something?
"Wrong, why didn't you talk? What are you thinking?"

"No problem, I just think of His Majesty working hard all day long for state affairs, and I feel a little bit emotional in my heart."

"Okay, Ci, you continue to tell him, I will not interfere in this matter, wrong, you can handle it yourself."

Liu Chang chose to be neutral again, and Chao Cuo didn't dare to show embarrassment to Liu Ci in front of Liu Chang, so he had to put on a relatively gentle face, "What is the king looking for the minister for?"

"I want to build the royal tomb. Is it full of people in Guanzhong? Anyway, the purpose is to let them leave their hometown. Why don't they move to other places? The imperial tomb is a tomb, and so is the royal tomb. If it can be repaired Wangling, can’t all the vassal states in the four places use this reason to relocate the powerful? No matter where they develop in the future, there will be sufficient reasons.”

Liu Ci stammered and repeated Dong Zhongshu's words, and at the end, he reminded, "I know that you cut down the feudal clan, and I actually support you very much. Xia Guo is willing to take the lead in implementing your policies."

Although immature, it already has that taste.

Chao Cuo frowned slightly and remained silent.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Ci looked at his father again, but Liu Chang just looked at him with a smile, and also didn't speak.

Dong Zhongshu was right. Liu Bang’s Changling Mausoleum is no longer suitable for relocating people. The next step is to move them to Hexi Kingdom, and they will continue to move to Hexi. Locally, it can relieve a lot of pressure. For example, which is more labor-saving, moving the South Vietnamese tycoons to Hexi or moving the South Vietnamese tycoons to Dian?The big man does not want to murder the powerful, but to escort them, give them food and drink, and let them settle down when they arrive.

It would not be a bad thing if the vassal states were to bear part of it.

Moreover, Chao Cuo firmly believes that this year will be able to solve the problem of the princes and kings, take away the power in their hands, and take back the temples. It will be fine for the development of the princes and states at that time.

However, if you want to build another royal tomb on the basis of building the imperial tomb, the pressure will definitely be huge.

The ministers did not support the migration as much as everyone thought. They just dared not say it clearly, and they were secretly thinking of a way. As early as Liu Ying's time, they had made a statement, hoping that Liu Ying would end such inhumane policies. They killed Many old people wanted to kidnap Liu Ying, a sincere gentleman, on the grounds of morality, and then they were killed by Cao Shen.

Cao Shen killed seventeen people who signed the letter one after another, directly making them extremely well-behaved, and began to praise this system with all their strength.

During Liu Chang's time, they began to look for a way out again, but Liu Chang was not Liu Ying, he was even more cruel than Cao Shen, they couldn't find any chance at all, they didn't dare to say anything, and directly supported him with all their strength.

In history, these people finally waited for the "benevolent, righteous and Confucian" emperor Liu Xi, this generous and benevolent king, finally realized the difficulty of these tyrants, and no longer practiced the mausoleum system, really sympathizing with the people. Then , There is no more, the tyranny prevails, a large number of land annexations, and the conflicts among the people are extremely sharp, and finally ruined the entire Western Han Empire. It is impossible for them to attack themselves. Although the previous generations of emperors were aware of this and thought about repairing it, but there is a problem with the root, what effect can repairing branches and leaves have?

The rot at the root of the Eastern Han Empire not only destroyed the empire, but even set off a frenzy of aristocratic families, which almost took away the entire China. The dog with its tail running away made Huaxia suffer from a dark period for hundreds of years. Until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Huaxia got up again, covered in bruises, and there were still maggots wriggling on the wound, heh, the famous family.

But these things don’t exist in the big Han, at least they don’t exist in today’s big Han. For the big rich, the big Han has gold and gold, and they have to kill a group of princes from time to time. For the small and powerful, the big Han has the mausoleum system. Harvest them as leeks.

Chao Cuo didn't give a clear answer, he just said that he had to go back and think about it.

Liu Ci was a little disappointed. After Chao Cuo left, he looked at Liu Chang at a loss.

"Father. Will he listen to me?"

"Hahaha, if I say yes, you will go out and say that is what I mean, and force them to agree, right?"

Liu Ci's face immediately collapsed, "Why does father speculate on me like this? That means he won't listen?"

"You found the wrong person for this matter. Why did you find Chao Cuo?"

"Then who am I going to find?"

"Your brother."

Seeing Liu Ci who was bouncing away from Houde Hall, Lu Lu couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I've grown up, even Ci has started to move around for political affairs."

"So I let them go and let them grow up. They should do something and accumulate experience. Anyway, I have the bottom line, so I'm not afraid of making mistakes."

Liu Chang suddenly asked: "Teacher, where have they been? Why haven't they come back yet?"

"It's probably because we have arrived in Xiting Kingdom and have many things to deal with, so we can't come back quickly. I'm afraid we have to wait for a long time. I think it's better not to come back too soon for the Taiwei. Once he and Zhang Buyi come back, the temple will There are too many changes here, and no matter which side the Taiwei is on, big things will happen."

"This is your short-sightedness. Why is Master involved in this kind of thing? Zhang Buyi doesn't care much. Only Chao Cuo regards this matter as his lifelong ambition!"

In just a few days, Chao Cuo raised his butcher knife, and his first target was the mighty Liang State.

In an instant, the heavenly Liang Kingdom became a purgatory. The officials arrested people everywhere. The brutal officials broke into luxurious mansions one after another, and dragged out those people who were usually high above them. Those people looked like dead dogs. There was a bloody conflict between the soldiers and the servants, and the scale became larger and larger. The soldiers patrolled everywhere, and even the building and boat troops began to go ashore. Under the whipping of the officials, they embarked on the road in despair. Many people were put on shackles because of their opposition, and some were beheaded because of their violent opposition.
People were fleeing everywhere, and the people were terrified and hid in their homes, trembling.

Even the capital city became extremely chaotic. This hotbed of tyrants turned into a slaughterhouse for tyrants only a few days later. The tyrants were empty, and Chao Cuo was very powerful. His style of doing things was different from that of his predecessors. Regardless of the reputation of these people among the people, as in the past, those who migrated were all tyrants, and tyrants do not mean rich people, only those with a bad reputation are called tyrants, and the others are just purely rich, Chao Cuo is Such extreme behavior quickly aroused a lot of opposition. Chao Cuo seemed to be waiting for their opposition and quickly arrested the opponents.

He played to Liu Chang, asking him to execute these opponents and prohibit their descendants from holding official positions.

Liu Bi was furious, and became even more resentful towards Chao Cuo.

It's fine if you want to deal with me, why should you be distracted to deal with Hao Qiang?Could it be that in your eyes, Naigong is the same as those tyrants? ?Are you belittling me so much? ?
This unprecedented blow made the officials extremely dissatisfied.

Chang'an looked more and more calm, but it seemed that something was brewing again.

At this moment, Taiwei's forward troops passed through Hexi Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)