Changan

When Liu Xie returned with the army, a grand celebration began. Since the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the dynasty has been sluggish, the heroes have been divided, and the people of the world have no livelihood. Only those who have experienced the hardships of war will deeply understand the preciousness of the peaceful years. For Liu Xie, who turned the tide and won them a peaceful time, the people are extremely supportive.

The people's requirements are really not high, and being well-fed and clothed without being bullied is enough for them to be willing to be obedient people. Looking at the simple and smiling faces, Liu Xie secretly made up his mind that the world had been unified, and what he had to do next was to pay close attention to the rule of officials and prevent people without virtue from endangering one party in a high position.

"What is the Holy One thinking?" Xun Yu, who was in charge of leading the civil and military officials out of the city to greet him, asked softly.

"Wen Ruo, I'm thinking about what to do to be worthy of the trust of these people." Hearing this, Liu Xie pointed to the people of Chang'an, who welcomed the triumph of the army, and replied.

"Lightly pay for the meager endowment, recuperate and recuperate, stop the chaos, and the world needs to temporarily stop the war." Xun Yu said when he heard this.

“…… Wen Ruo, do you know the saying that a grain of mouse droppings spoils a pot of porridge? Liu Xie asked softly.

Xun Yu frowned slightly, "Holy Lord, are you going to rectify the rule of officials?" ”

"Well, I've only just had this idea, and I don't plan to implement it right away. At the beginning, no one was available, so I had to appoint those who had bad conduct, but if we are reunified today, the officials represent the face of the imperial court, and if the officials are released to harm the party, the people will not only scold the officials, but even the imperial court will be scolded, and this kind of unpopular thing can naturally be avoided as much as possible. ”

"It's really a blessing for the Holy Lord to have this thought."

"Wen Ruo, you don't pat yourself on the back, I know my own catties, although I have the idea of rectifying the rule of officials, but this matter should not be made a big move, I can only slowly figure it out, so as not to be criticized that the court unloads the mill and kills the donkey, and the bird hides the bow."

"The saint misunderstood, Weichen did not pat the horse. Before, Weichen was worried that the saint would get carried away, but now it seems that Weichen's worries are too much. Rectifying the rule of officials really needs to be considered in the long run, and cannot be lightly moved. ”

In the time when Liu Xie and Xun Yu were talking, the team had already entered the city, accompanied by cheers, Liu Xie temporarily put down and continued to discuss with Xun Yu about the rectification of the rule of officials.

This kind of great joy must be sacrificed to the ancestors, it is also necessary to reward the meritorious ministers, and the singing and dancing food is also essential, in short, it is a word, to be happy today!

The traditional way for Han people to express their joy seems to be to eat a big meal, Liu Xie didn't know when he was drunk, and when he woke up, he found himself lying in his bedroom, with his daughter-in-law Zhen Mi lying beside him. In fact, it is also very interesting to watch the beauty fall asleep, but Liu Xie is a little unable to control it when he looks at it.

As the son of heaven of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xie sits on the world, but for women, Liu Xie is not as "hungry and hungry" as the first emperor. It is often said that there are three thousand beauties in the harem, but when it came to Liu Xie, except for Zhen Mi and a few people, even the usual draft was suspended by Liu Xie. There are really not many people in Liu Xie's harem, and he doesn't even meet the standard of three wives and four concubines. Even during the imperial expedition, Liu Xie was also clean.

As the old saying goes, after three years as a soldier, the sow is a sable cicada, not to mention that Zhen Mi is much more beautiful than the sow......

……

Liu Xie, who was in a good mood, summoned Xun Yu, who had been waiting for a long time, and looked at the recital that Xun Yu had written overnight, Liu Xie couldn't help but smile bitterly. This Xun Yu is really efficient, he just mentioned to him yesterday that he was going to rectify the rule of officials, and today he came up with a set of regulations, but Liu Xie still has a little different opinion on Xun Yu's concept.

Judging whether an official is qualified is not only based on his personal morality, but also on his ability to do things, and the criteria for judging this person's morality, Xun Yu is a bit too high? The villains of the Manchu Dynasty are naturally unfavorable to the court, but if the Manchu Dynasty is all humble gentlemen, it doesn't seem to be a good thing.

"What does the Holy One think is wrong?" Seeing that Liu Xie frowned and didn't speak, Xun Yu asked tentatively.

"Well, there's something wrong with that. Wen Ruo, what are the criteria for judging personal virtue? Who will do the standard? And I don't think virtue and ability should be discussed together, not just because good virtue means that ability is also outstanding. There is nothing to say about Kong Wenju's moral conduct, but his ability to govern the place ......"

Kong Rong served as the Beihai Taishou back then, but he did not make any achievements in office, the ugly thing is that there are not many of him, not a lot of him, it is a dispensable existence, and the people did not live a good life because of his Beihai Taishou, but because of his incompetence and blood mold. At that time, the Yellow Turban thief Guan Hai gathered a crowd to march into Hebei, but asked Yuan Shao to lead his troops to repel him. When he was defeated and returned to Qingzhou, Kong Rong wanted to beat the water dog, but the water dog was also a dog, and he didn't take advantage of it but provoked Guan Hai, if it wasn't for Tai Shi Ci who broke through and moved reinforcements regardless of the danger, Kong Rong's family was likely to be slaughtered by the Yellow Turban Thief.

Outstanding writing does not mean that the ability is also outstanding! Kong Rong belongs to the type that can only move his mouth but not his hands, and it is no problem for him to quote scriptures and shout, but if he is really responsible for some practical affairs, it will be possible.

"What does that mean?" Seeing that Liu Xie did not agree with the music he wrote, Xun Yu couldn't help but ask.

"There is no standard for rectifying the rule of officials, we should follow the trend, as long as we keep a red line, then we can do it."

"Then I don't know what the red line of the Holy One thinks?"

“…… Do not harm the people. Liu Xie thought about it and replied in a deep voice.

The people are the cornerstone of the country, and if the foundation is not stable, any building built on this foundation stone may collapse. Liu Xie, who came from later generations, knew better than anyone how powerful the people were, because they were the only ones in this world who could overthrow the rule of the imperial court.

……

In the seventh year of the Han Dynasty, seven years had passed since the imperial court recovered Jiangdong and Jiaozhou. The Han Dynasty was reunited, and the people finally became rich after seven years of recuperation, and finally had time to concentrate on making villains, and the population of the Han Dynasty began to grow significantly, but it will take some time for these newborn babies to grow up.

The lack of population has become the most troublesome thing for the imperial court at present. A large number of fertile fields are deserted, and a large number of mineral deposits are not mined, and the reason is that there are too few people. Liu Xie still has time to wait for those children to grow up, but some people can't wait any longer.

Cao Cao, who has been re-elected as the protector of the Western Regions for two consecutive terms, is now white, and he can return to his hometown after returning to Chang'an this time, but before saying goodbye, Cao Cao hopes to persuade Liu Xie to use troops against the Western Regions, because after crossing the snow-capped mountains, there are large areas of fertile land waiting for the Han to occupy.

The aborigines who originally lived in the Western Regions had long been dispersed by Liu Xie's people, and they were either naturalized as Han Chinese or fled further west. Cao Cao, as the protector of the Western Regions, his biggest enemy was actually the horse thieves who roamed the trade routes of the Western Regions. In addition, Cao Cao put more energy on Tianzhu, that is, India in later generations.

Through the eyes and ears of the merchants, Cao Cao collected a lot of internal information about Tianzhu, and was also full of confidence in sending troops to attack Tianzhu. In order to persuade Liu Xie, Cao Cao has revised his battle plan more than once, but Liu Xie has always kept Cao Cao's recitals and not given a clear attitude. Cao Cao returned to Chang'an this time, just to fight for it again, even if he didn't have the opportunity to lead the troops to the battle, he also hoped that his eldest son Cao Ang could go out for his father and fulfill his wish.

"Nope." In the face of Cao Cao's plea, Liu Xie refused very decisively, and gave the reason for the refusal before Cao Cao asked the reason, "Meng De, I know that Tianzhu has good land, but the problem is that we have one of the biggest problems that have not been solved, and before this problem is solved, the imperial court will not easily launch a war against the outside world." ”

"What's the problem? Could it be that the family secretly united to control the government? Cao Cao hurriedly asked.

"No, no, the family is very well-behaved now, they are all honest, and the problem I am talking about is population."

"Population? Is my Han population insufficient? Didn't you say that it was almost 30 million? ”

"Is thirty million a lot? Meng De, you have to see how big our Han territory is now. At its peak, the population of the Han Dynasty reached 50 million, but at that time, the territory of the Han Dynasty was not as large as it is now. I also want to keep the fertile land of Tianzhu for myself, but the problem is that we have few people, and even if we go to occupy the land now, we don't have enough manpower to cultivate it. External expansion is necessary, but it must wait until the land of our Han can no longer support everyone, and at that time, if you don't mention it, I will also use troops against Tianzhu. ”

“…… So, the old minister can't see that day? Cao Cao asked with some regret.

"You can't see that your children and grandchildren will be able to see it, and it's not impossible if you really want to see that day."

"Is there any way for the Holy One?"

"Yes, try to live."

Cao Cao: "......"

……

Seventeen years of Zhongxing in the Han Dynasty

Liu Xie, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, announced his abdication, and the crown prince Liu Kai succeeded to the throne......

Qingzhou Donglai coast

Liu Xie, who retired, did not stay in the Chang'an Palace to be his emperor, and after his eldest son Liu Kai was put on the throne, he took several of his daughters-in-law to start a tour of the mountains and rivers. Liu Xie used to be the son of heaven of the Han Dynasty, and the whole world was not the king's land, but he listened to the famous mountains and rivers of the Han Dynasty a lot. Now that I can finally unload the burden on my body, while I still have the energy to move, I naturally want to have a good time.

Liu Xie's team started from Chang'an, went to Hanzhong, entered Bashu, and then went down the Yangtze River to Xiangyang, and then turned north to the Central Plains after visiting Jiangdong, and waited for Chang'an to end after the Han Dynasty turned around. Along the way, Liu Xie did not like extravagance and waste, and directly refused the reception of the government.

When today's son Liu Kai is also helpless against Lao Tzu's willfulness, although he is now the Son of Heaven, but Liu Xie is the emperor, and he is a great man who turned the tide back then, whether it is prestige or reputation, Liu Kai is incomparable. What's more, Liu Xie couldn't move the country, so that Liu Kai had no excuse, in order to protect the safety of Liu Xie and his party, Liu Kai had to secretly order Jia Mu, the son of Jia Xu, and Fa Miao, the son of Fa Zheng, to protect them secretly, and if something went wrong, he would come to see him.

For his son's concern, Liu Xie accepted it calmly, and did not make any mistakes, except for visiting famous mountains and rivers, that is, visiting the old ministers of the court and the central government who returned to their hometowns. By the way, I also passed the addiction of the patrol envoy to see if there are any unjust, false and wrongful cases in various places. And it is gratifying that the magistrates released by the imperial court are still ethical, and the huge Han officialdom only allowed Liu Xie to discover more than a dozen black sheep.

When they met Liu Xie, they deserved to be unlucky, who told Liu Xie not to allow outsiders to reveal their whereabouts, and always carried out surprise attacks, so that those people didn't even have a chance to prepare.

On this day, Liu Xie's team arrived in Donglai, Qingzhou, which is the hometown of Tai Shici, the governor of the South China Sea Fleet. As a celebrity in Donglai, Donglai people have long regarded Tai Shi Ci as an object of worship, and although the former residence of Tai Shi Ci is uninhabited at this time, someone has always been responsible for cleaning and repairing it.

Of course, Liu Xie was not interested in Tai Shici's former residence, but it was a little strange that Tai Shici's son Tai Shixiang returned to Donglai at this time. Tai Shixiang is now also the captain of a warship in the South China Sea Fleet, how could he run back to his hometown for no reason, could it be that he stabbed some kind of basket?

"The Emperor Taishang thought too much, and Weichen returned to his hometown not to avoid disaster, but to repair the ancestral home to prepare for his father's old age." Tai Shixiang replied with some tears and laughter.

"Oh, that's the case, is Ziyi going to retire too?" Liu Xie asked with some disappointment on his face when he heard this.

"Back to the Holy Lord, my father is now nearly seventy years old, and his strength is not enough, and it is difficult for him to be qualified for the position of governor of the South China Sea." Tai Shixiang explained when he saw this.

"When will that Ziyi come back?"

"The imperial court has ordered the army division to prepare to take over, and it is estimated that after the handover is completed, my father will leave for Chang'an to report on his work, and it will take at least half a year for my father to return to Donglai."

After putting a stick of incense on Tai Shi Ci's ancestors, Liu Xie left Tai Shi Ci's house and strolled through the streets, and suddenly found that the crowd was surging in the direction of the city gate. Standing in the crowd, Liu Xie saw Sun Ce's son Sun Shao riding a high-headed horse to open the way, followed by a long wooden cage prison cart, each of which had a person locked up, including a woman.

"Stop!" Sun Shao, who was walking at the front of the team, saw Liu Xie in the crowd, he couldn't believe it at first, and after rubbing his eyes vigorously to make sure that he had not admitted his mistake, he immediately turned over and dismounted, knelt down on one knee and saluted Liu Xie: "The last general, Sun Shao, meet the emperor." ”

"Excuse me, who's in the prisoner car?"

"Returning to the emperor, the prisoner in the car is the leader of the barbarians of Wadao, and the last general will return with his father's expedition to Wadao and return victoriously, and this time he was ordered to escort the enemy chieftain to Chang'an to offer prisoners." Sun Shao replied loudly.

……

——End of the book——