Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 441, Li Yu's Countermeasures

This year is a grand year. The Southern Han Dynasty perished and Lingnan was pacified. This is a happy event.

So this year's Spring Banquet, the Ministry of Rites wrote that more than half of it should be, and at the same time, envoys from various countries in Beijing were called together, so as to show the grace of the emperor and show the image of a great country.

Shi Congyun thought about it and finally refused.

Happy to happy, he understands the situation of the treasury, disaster relief, and expansion of the Bianshui Industrial Zone have already spent a lot of savings in the treasury. After all...the emperor's family has no food left.

If he went on a grand scale, it would cost a lot of money, and he couldn't bear it.

Emperor Shi was still thinking about Jiangnan and the Liao Kingdom in his heart, and his money was still of great use.

But when he thought of money, he also thought of those bastards like Liu Yujun and his ministers, and he felt angry.

......

Dou Yi led the joint trial of the three divisions very quickly, and sent the first batch of handling opinions to his desk years ago.

Among them were more than 300 eunuchs including Li Tuo, 69 court ladies headed by Lu Qiongxian, and [-] witches headed by Fan Huzi. The wizards were sentenced to beheaded and abandoned the market.

The remaining hundreds of people were sentenced to be distributed. As for Liu Yu, the ruler of the Southern Han Dynasty, Dou Yi and others were judged to be beheaded according to his crimes. However, according to the national law, the emperor can grant amnesty. For the common people, otherwise I am afraid that the influence will be bad.

Shi Congyun looked at it, and most of them had no opinion. This was definitely the largest execution outside of the battlefield.

Nearly 500 people were involved, all of whom were beheaded and abandoned the market. This was the most severe punishment since the founding of the Qin State.

Emperor Shi also thought at first whether it would be too harsh, but in the end he agreed to Dou Yi's proposal, in order to start implementing the "Great Qin Criminal System" that has not been many years old.

However, he didn't immediately seal it and issue it for execution, because it was the Chinese New Year, and the killing of so many people during the Chinese New Year would not have a good effect, so he planned to delay this matter until the next year.

.......

Shi Congyun did not follow most of the opinions of the Ministry of Rites for the Spring Festival banquet, but he still organized a frugal version. The food is not important, the important thing is to connect with many civil and military people.

Apart from Meng Chang, Liu Jun, Yelu Talie and others, Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde, Zhao Kuangyin, Han Lingkun and other veterans who were idle by him were also invited.

Of course, there are envoys from various countries and the annual tribute they brought. The most gratifying part of the Chinese New Year for Shi Congyun is to accept the annual coin tribute from various countries, which made him happy all night.

This year is not extravagant, but very lively New Year's Eve.

.......

In the south of the Yangtze River, there was a light snowfall, and the city of Jinling was brightly lit and lively.

In contrast, the atmosphere in the palace is much more dead silent...

In the main hall of the Jinling Imperial Palace, in the magnificent lobby, the candles are brightly lit. All the ministers are sitting on the left and right. In front of them are compact wine cups and jade butterflies. They are full of exquisite dishes. There are many kinds and fragrances, and there are maids serving wine beside them. , Exchanging cups and cups, toasting and staggering.

The charcoal fire in the copper basin at the corner of the main hall glowed dark red. Under the tranquility, from time to time, the sparks would suddenly explode and make a beeping sound.

Li Yu sat on the top with a white jade wine glass in his hand, and the dance and music below felt dull and uneasy.

Seeing him like this, the concubine beside him hesitated to speak several times.

After a while, the bustle below continued, but Li Yu got up and said, "I'll go out to catch my breath."

The concubine beside him was about to stand up but was stopped by him: "No, I will go by myself."

The eunuch next to him even put on fox fur for him. Li Yu left the main hall through the small back door. The hustle and bustle was left behind. As soon as the light dimmed, the chill came over with the night, and he couldn't help hugging his arms.

"Officials, servants, come over to that blanket again." The eunuch said as he was about to go back to get things.

Li Yu shook his head, "No, it's a little cold, but I'm not cold in my heart."

The eunuch stopped talking.

"The battle report from the south has been confirmed two days ago." Li Yu said suddenly, as if talking to himself, or talking to the eunuch behind him: "I haven't slept well for several days."

"It took only nine months from the time Qin sent troops to the capture of Panyu and the capture of Liu Yan...

That's because they spent a lot of time wading through mountains and rivers, crossing the mountains of Lingnan, as far as the Southern Han Dynasty. "Li Yu's voice trembled a little, and he didn't know if it was too cold or for other reasons.

"Now we're just across the river from them. What if they use the same methods they used to deal with Liu Yan to deal with us?"

"Your Majesty..." The eunuch obviously didn't know how to answer, and was silent for a while, "Slaves are stupid, how do you know about such important national affairs, it's the ingenious plan of Your Majesty and the princes."

Li Yu took a step forward, the chill in the air was still strong, he looked up at the night sky, and sighed for a long time: "Actually, if they tell me that they will send troops across the river one day, at least I don't have to be so frightened.

Outsiders think that I am the lord of the country, but only I know the troubles and sorrows in my heart. How can people in the world understand, how can they understand my suffering..."

The eunuch bowed his head and remained silent, but he obviously had a different opinion.

"Forget it, you don't understand what I said, I am the only one who knows the melancholy in this world." Li Yu shook his head, he seemed to have a melancholy temperament.

After a while, someone came out from the side hall, and when he got closer, he saw that it was the Prime Minister Zhang Ji.

"Your Majesty is working hard for state affairs, so you can't freeze your body." Zhang Jie stepped forward and cupped his hands.

Li Yu waved his hand and sighed sadly, "What's the use of working hard? This year I have seen how powerful the Qin army is, and it took nine months to win the Southern Han Dynasty. What can I do, alas..."

Zhang Ji took a step forward. He is a close minister of the lord of the country. Everyone in the country says he understands the lord best, so he said, "Your Majesty has difficulties and worries as the lord of the country. Those sufferings and difficulties must be difficult for us as ministers to understand." of.

Your Majesty endured it alone for the sake of Jiangnan, but it is difficult to explain it to outsiders. Such a righteous minister can only admire in his heart, but it is difficult to express it. Even if others don't know it, the minister knows it. "

As he spoke, he bowed his hands vowedly: "But please believe your majesty, although we can't share your majesty's worries, we will definitely surround you and accompany you with life and death. Even if the Qin army wants to come, even if the blood is spattered three feet, they will not be able to please them." !"

After hearing his words, Li Yu's expression improved a lot, and he took his hand and said: "I am also relieved to have a loyal person like Aiqing.

Feng Yanlu had already gone to Daliang as an envoy, and he didn't know whether the emperor Shi Congyun would be satisfied with the old coins he brought over this time. He was afraid that he would open his mouth by taking advantage of his might and find some other reason.

I was looking for someone to raise some more money as a backup in case of emergencies, but I was afraid that Chen Gong (Chen Qiao) and others would not know how to adapt, and I would not know how to speak for a while. "

"Your Majesty, leave this matter to me. If Chen Gong asks about it, I can deal with it myself." Zhang Ji vowed.

Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief, took his hand and repeatedly asked: "This matter cannot be delayed, it must be prepared early, I have been restless these days, Qin Jun won a big victory this year, who knows what they will do next year.

Since Shi Congyun attacked Huainan ten years ago, I have known that he is greedy for money and lustful, and he is a shameless person. As long as we meet his requirements, he will definitely not join the army in Jiangnan. "

"Your Majesty's opinion." Zhang Ji said, but his face was a little strange, but he didn't dare to show it.

"Let's go in, it's a bit cold outside, I can't stand the cold." Li Yu said.

Zhang Ji nodded, and he followed the king back to the magnificent and bustling hall filled with wine and wine.

As one of the ministers who are closest to and trusted by the lord, he actually guessed the lord's mind long ago. If the lord came out alone, there must be something wrong to say in front of everyone, and he was very anxious, so he came out with him, but This act...... He shook his head, what the hell, as long as he can please the king, he will have a prosperous official career and enjoy endless glory and wealth.

As for the re-gathering of money by the lord, although he said it vaguely, he understands that where the money comes from, he naturally asks the people for it, and finds a reason to collect taxes again. As for the people... that has nothing to do with him .

Chapter 442, Panyu Uninvited Guest

Years later, there are many things to deal with.

Before the Lantern Festival, Shi Congyun got busy.

The follow-up processing and resettlement of the Southern Han Dynasty, the division and design of administrative divisions, the arrangement of a large number of personnel and personnel, the change and implementation of policies, and the change and popularization of laws.

In addition, with the use of these years, the "Da Qin Xing Tong" inherited from the "Da Zhou Xing Tong" has many unreasonable points, while the "Da Zhou Xing Tong" used in the previous and later Zhou Dynasty is based on the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Many of them are directly copied.

But obviously times have changed, and now more than 50 years have passed since the end of the Tang Dynasty in theory, but that is only in theory.

In fact, from the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, the warlords were divided into separate regimes. The imperial power did not come down to the counties, and the warlords ruled all directions. The judicial system dominated by civilian officials in the early and mid-Tang Dynasty completely turned into a private punishment system dominated by local warlords. Martial arts can formulate local laws at will. , the consequences would be inhumane and lifeless.

If we count from the time when the judiciary collapsed in the Tang Dynasty, it has been almost 200 years. The times have changed and the situation has changed. It is not appropriate to transfer many laws of the Tang Dynasty.

In particular, the laws on the imperial examination are completely inapplicable to the present.

Although there were imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were like a decoration, to comfort ordinary people, because the proportion of candidates in the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty was very low, and they were not vague.

Candidates in the Song Dynasty and after that had a lot of tricks to cheat, but there was a prerequisite for their cheating, that is, the exam was really strict, and they were forced to take risks and do some small tricks.

The Tang Dynasty did not use cheating, because the cheating in the Tang Dynasty was not in the examination room, and it was taken care of long before the examination room.

In the simplest comparison, there were very few civilian prime ministers up to the prime minister level in the Tang Dynasty, but there were many civilian prime ministers or high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty.

This is also an important reason why the glory of the Tang Dynasty was very short. From the founding of the country to the Anshi Rebellion, and then a rapid decline, the warlords only had a separatist regime for more than 130 years.

It is also one of the important reasons for the chaos in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The lack of ascending channels at the bottom level led to land mergers and the aristocratic family grew too fast.

Land mergers and resource monopoly have occurred in all dynasties. Just like the Matthew effect, the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker.

If the lower ranks are not forced to rise, land annexation and monopoly will accelerate sharply. The Han Dynasty inherited and improved the military merit system from the Qin Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty had a large number of recruits to ensure a fair imperial examination system. More like the excesses of it.

Its military merit system is not the only way to ascend like the Han Dynasty, nor is it very strict in rewards and punishments like the Han Dynasty and Qin Dynasty. Alright, if a general loses a battle, he will be punished with a capital offense if he does not die.

It has imperial examinations, but more of them are just a decoration. The unambiguous examinations are basically monopolized by the powerful and nobles. More than [-]% of the official arrangements are based on connections, and only a small part is based on the imperial examinations. The imperial examinations are not fair.

As a result, during the Anshi Rebellion, those who followed An Lushan to rebel were not only foreigners, but all-encompassing, Khitan people, Xi people, Turkic people, Shatuo people, etc., and there were also many Han people.

Because of land mergers, serious resource monopoly, and no upward channels at the bottom, then they can only follow the rebellion.

Later, the Northern Song Dynasty learned the lessons of the Tang Dynasty’s demise to a large extent. First, it tried its best to restrain the military generals. The second was to attach great importance to the imperial examinations and prepare a large number of upward channels for the bottom. In addition to the obscurity of the exams, it attaches great importance to it. Zhao Kuangyin even specifically stipulated that , if the children of poor families pass the exam, they will be in high school, but if the children of officials pass the exam, they will have to pass the palace examination to see if they have real talents and learning, and if they have a relationship and go through the back door.

It's just that things have two sides, and the Song Dynasty's reflection on the Tang Dynasty also had some overkill.

For example, a large number of low-level officials were selected through the imperial examinations, which greatly opened up the promotion channels. It did give ordinary students more opportunities, but it also made the bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty very complicated and redundant. burden, even when faced with the invasion of foreign enemies, they shirk and argue and respond slowly.

As Wang Fuzhi of the Qing Dynasty said, the failure of several foreign wars in the Northern Song Dynasty was not due to military strength, but to personnel and logistics.

So Emperor Shi was also thinking.

It is not feasible to continue to use the laws of the Tang Dynasty. History has proved its disadvantages, and times have changed, and Daqin also needs new laws.

The imperial examination must be taken seriously, and it must be taken as seriously as Zhao Kuangyin. This must be reflected in the law. Regarding the imperial examination fraud, the charges of seeking personal gain must be stricter, and the imperial examination process must also be optimized.

At the same time, in order not to overcorrect as in the Northern Song Dynasty, he must find a balance point, otherwise a large number of officials will be selected, which will cause redundant officials in the future, which will greatly reduce the administrative efficiency of the country.

Martial arts should also be paid attention to, and his newly established "gongju", which is presided over by the secret department to select craftsmen, should also be tried to advance simultaneously.

In addition, many areas that need to be improved over the past few years need to be changed.

Emperor Shi attached great importance to the revision of the new "Da Qin Xing Tong".

He made a decision without haste, and asked Dou Yi to discuss it.

......

On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, after the Lantern Festival, the results of the joint trial of the three divisions were revised after several discussions, and finally finalized. The official notice has been posted, listing their crimes, and at the same time issued an order to announce it to the world.

In the Southern Han Dynasty, 360 seven eunuchs including Li Tuo and Xue Chongyu, 83 court ladies including Lu Qiongxian, and [-] witches and wizards including Fan Huzi were executed.

By the end of the first lunar month, nearly 500 people had been beheaded, blood flowed into rivers, and many people were terrified.

It is indeed too bloody and terrifying for those who have never been on the battlefield.

As for Liu Yan, because he is the lord of the country, he was not taken to the street to beheaded, but he was given the last decency by giving him poisoned wine and making him commit suicide by taking poison.

However, Liu Yu broke down and cried when he found out. The officials of Yushitai and the imperial guards from the east and west classes arrived and refused to die. In the end, they were forced into it by the soldiers of the imperial guards, and finally died of poison.

During Liu Yu's reign, he liked poisoning ministers the most, watching them die in pain, but he did not expect that at the end of his life, he would experience it himself.

......

After dealing with these, at the beginning of February, Shi Congyun announced that he would revise the imperial edict of "Great Zhou Xingtong", and at the same time, all officials in the world could submit letters to make comments.

The appointment to revise the law is dominated by the newly promoted Yushi Zhongcheng Dou Yi.

And temporarily set up an office next to the Longevity Hall, let Dou Yi lead the Minister of Dali Temple, and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment will revise it here.

The Long Live Hall is the emperor's bedroom. It was announced in front of the civil and military officials of the great dynasty, and they were asked to amend the law next to the bedroom, which shows that the emperor attaches great importance to it.

On the one hand, it also allowed officials to speak up and give opinions in order to show off in front of the emperor.

.......

Soon, the time came to the fourteenth day of February, and Pan Mei came to make a memorial.

On the one hand, it is said that Panyu has been completely controlled, the decree has been implemented, and the entire territory of the Southern Han Dynasty has settled down.

There were two small-scale rebellions in the lower reaches of the Guijiang River before, and troops were sent to suppress them, killing 120 or six rebels. Now the entire Southern Han Dynasty is peaceful, and [-]% of the officials sent by the imperial court have already arrived at their posts.

However, his report on another matter caught Shi Congyun's attention.

Pan Mei said that when Liu Renshan led the naval forces to blockade the seaports and ports, they intercepted a fleet of ships. The people on them were different from those from the Central Plains. There were six large ships with 240 crew members, and they were different in style from their ships. The sails were tall and slender. pointed bottom.They could not speak Chinese clearly, and after being translated by local officials in Panyu, they claimed to be businessmen who had traveled thousands of miles from the west coast to do business, and asked Shi Congyun how to deal with it.

Shi Congyun was stunned for a moment, something suddenly came to his mind...

Chapter 443, the sword hidden in the smile

Looking at Pan Mei's memorial, Shi Congyun immediately thought that it was probably a businessman from near the Persian Gulf.

Liu Yu's favorite concubine was nicknamed Meizhu, who died in the rebellion. It is said that she was a plump Persian with dark skin, which shows that the Southern Han Dynasty and the Persians had close contacts.

It should be a caravan from the sea.