Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1113 Yuanxing Reform
"The Imperial Decree..."

As Gong Saner's voice rose, all the officials retreated in unison.

"Grand Tutor Wang Yun was loyal to the country and made great contributions to the country. However, he died of a sudden illness yesterday. It is a misfortune for the Han Dynasty and for me. I order him to be posthumously conferred the title of Marquis of Yongyang County, and his eldest son Wang Gai will inherit the title. In recognition of the Grand Tutor's merits, the Han Dynasty will no longer have the position of Grand Tutor. I decree this."

"Your Majesty is so kind and benevolent. Long live your Majesty!"

The officials who were able to participate in the court meeting were extraordinary in terms of rank, status, and knowledge. They knew very well how Wang Yun died "suddenly", but they knew even more clearly that the faction headed by Wang Yun in the court had completely declined, and the power of the court was now completely in the hands of the emperor. These ministers naturally could not stand up for a dead person, not to mention that he had indeed violated the law of the country. According to the law, he could have his property confiscated and his family exterminated. Your Majesty has spared no effort to preserve his reputation and family, which is already a great favor from the emperor.

Without waiting for the officials to think about it, Gong Saner took the second imperial edict.

"The Imperial Decree..."

"From now on, the court will set up official schools in addition to the Imperial College. All counties with more than 10,000 registered households will have an official school. In addition to Luoyang and Chang'an, there will be an Imperial College in Zhuo County of Youzhou, Taiyuan County of Bingzhou, Runan County of Yuzhou, and Pingyuan County of Qingzhou. All Imperial Colleges will be under the jurisdiction of the Luoyang Imperial College. Those who pass the examinations of the Imperial Colleges in various places will enter the Luoyang Imperial College to take the exams. The best ones will be selected to serve as officials and take their respective posts."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"From now on, all land in the world, whether arable land or pasture, will belong to the court. The court will grant farming and grazing according to the number of family members. As people grow old, get sick and die, the land and pasture will increase or decrease accordingly. The wasteland reclaimed by the people will be exempted from tax for two years. After the reclaimer dies, the court will take half of it. This is the so-called 'equal land system'. Those who currently occupy more land will not be cleared out for the time being. After someone dies in the family, the land will be taken back. No land will be given to newborns until the number of people is equal."

"Military merit is divided into five levels from the lowest to the highest. A person who obtains the fifth level of military merit will be granted 20 mu of land or 60 mu of pasture, and will be exempted from land tax for five years. A higher level of military merit will be granted another 10 mu of land or 30 mu of pasture, and will be exempted from land tax for one year. After the death of a meritorious person, half of the land and pasture awarded will be taken back after the tax exemption period, and the rest will be divided equally among his sons."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"The court and the imperial family each have several farms. The official farms are used to develop new agricultural varieties and new equipment, and all the income goes to the national treasury. The royal farms are cultivated and grazed by the royal family themselves, and the income goes into the imperial family's inner treasury for the expenses of the royal family and the harem, and they pay taxes as usual. Except for the emperor and the crown prince, the rest of the royal family may not use a cent of the national treasury. These two farms may not exceed half of the total number of cultivated land and pastures in the world."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"The 'three dukes and nine ministers system' was changed to the 'two-province and six-department system'. The court set up the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Works, each in charge of its own affairs. The Secretariat and the Chancellery were set up. The Secretariat collected the memorials from the ministries and prefectures and drafted the imperial edicts. The Chancellery conveyed the imperial edicts and supervised the ministries and prefectures to implement them."

"The Zhongshu Province has one left prime minister, and the Shangshu Province has one right prime minister. Under them are three Pushe as deputies and six Sheren as assistants, called Zhongshu Pushe, Zhongshu Sheren, Shangshu Pushe, and Shangshu Sheren."

"Each of the six ministries has a Shangshu, two Shilang as deputies, six Langzhong as assistants, and ten Zhushi as staff."

"The left and right prime ministers and the six ministers can directly report to the emperor, enter the palace to make reports, and assist the emperor in commanding all officials and managing government affairs."

"There is one supervisory censor and two deputy censors, who are responsible for supervising all officials and advising the emperor, and commanding several deputy censors and historians. There is also one grand historian, who is at the same level as the chief censor, responsible for recording the deeds of the court and the country and compiling the history books."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"After the New Year, the country's name was changed to 'Yuanxing'. In March, the Taishan Mountain was scheduled to offer sacrifices to the heavens, the earth and the ancestors, in order to pray for peace and prosperity for the country and the people. Construction of the imperial mausoleum officially began. Within three years, the Sheng'an Mausoleum was completed to bury the coffins of the retired emperor and the empress dowager. Another five years were spent on building the mausoleums of the emperor and the empress."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"Reform the currency system and recast copper coins. Change the five-zhu coin to Yuanxing Tongbao. At the same time, because of the constant flow of business and travel in recent years, precious goods have become increasingly numerous, so a special silver supervisory office was set up to manage coinage. Under it, there are three major money houses, Yongxing Money House, Anmin Money House, and Huatai Money House. The money houses will open money bills, bills of exchange, deposits, loans, etc., to facilitate trade and give people a place to store their surplus money. There are also workshops to run official mulberry forests, weaving, silk, embroidery, porcelain, lacquerware, gold, silver and jade, papermaking, printing, etc."

"The Zongzhengfu, the former Nine Ministers, and the Neifu, established by the Empress, were combined into the Neiwufu, which was responsible for managing the affairs of the imperial family, managing the royal assets, and building the royal gardens."

"The Banking Supervision Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs each have a chief minister, several deputy ministers, and dozens of ministers. The ranks of officials in the two offices are the same as those of the six ministries, and they are directly under the emperor."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"Reorganize the imperial guards of the capital, and set up four imperial guards: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Each of them has 30,000 soldiers, stationed inside and outside the imperial city, as well as at Hulao Pass, Hangu Pass, and Mengjin Port. There are also 30,000 Yulin Guards to protect the imperial palace. The commanders of the four imperial guards and the Lieutenant General of the Yulin Guards are all appointed as the second rank officials, directly under the emperor."

"The ranks of Siping, Sizhen and Sizheng generals will be abolished, and the governors of each state will be in charge of the government affairs of each state, and the military power will be under the command of the governor. In addition, when the four generals of the front, back, left and right, the general of the cavalry, the general of the chariot and cavalry, and the general arrive in the local area, they can temporarily take over the military power under the jurisdiction of the governor of the state. Each state is not allowed to recruit soldiers without authorization. The required soldiers will be recruited by the court and then sent to garrison. Those who recruit soldiers privately will be charged with treason."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"From now on, eunuchs will only serve in the palace, and they are no longer allowed to serve in the previous dynasty, let alone take charge of military affairs. In the future, if any eunuch interferes in government affairs, everyone will be able to kill him."

"The Imperial Decree..."

"The feudal system and the fiefdom system were abolished. Starting from the first year of Yuanxing, all meritorious service awards were no longer granted with fiefdoms. Instead, the lands set by the equal-field system were matched with houses, gold and silver, etc., to show the grace of heaven. All royal titles were no longer granted fiefdoms. In addition to the existing Tinghou, Xianghou, and Xianhou, there were five ranks of royal titles from the lowest to the highest, namely, Jungong, Guogong, Heir to the King, Junwang, and Qinwang."

"Among them, the heir to the throne, the prince of a county, and the prince of a relative cannot be given a title unless they are descendants of the royal family."

"All the above matters depend on the cooperation of all the nobles. All the official positions are proposed to be appointed as follows..."

"Right Prime Minister of the Ministry of Shangshu: Xun Yu."

"Left Prime Minister of the Secretariat: Qian Li."

"Minister of Works: Xun Chen."

"Minister of War: Cui Jun."

"Minister of Revenue: Wang Chen."

"Minister of Rites: Zhang Long."

"Minister of Personnel: Meng Jian." "Minister of Punishment: Zhong Yao."

……

Liu He's many decrees were read out throughout the morning. When the court meeting ended, it was already noon. Liu He held a banquet in the Zhangde Hall of the palace and drank with his ministers until the end of the hour of Wei. When the emperor and his ministers finished drinking, all the officials left.

The response caused by this grand court meeting was unprecedented.

Whether it was abolishing the fiefdom system, reorganizing the imperial guards and the royal guards, or reforming the military, changing the country's name, or offering sacrifices to the gods at Mount Tai, they were all top-level events for a country.

But all these major events have come together today, and even so, they still cannot be compared with the other things.

The equal-field system, currency reform, the establishment of the official school system, the two-province and six-department system - each and every one of these was enough to shock the court and the country.

What was announced at this court meeting was going to bring about a radical change in the Han Dynasty. After dinner, the people discussed these new measures with great interest and called them the "Yuanxing Reforms."

In Yang Biao's house, Yang Xiu had an unwilling look on his face. Looking at his father fishing calmly in the backyard, he couldn't help but step forward to interrupt his interest.

"Father, you can sit still."

Yang Biao was not upset, he put down the fishing rod and said: "Why can't I sit still?"

Yang Xiu curled his lips and said, "Your Majesty has made such reforms, abolishing the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers and replacing them with the Two Provinces and Six Departments system. The newly appointed left and right prime ministers and the six ministers have nothing to do with you, father. Isn't this exiling my father to the mountains and abandoning him? Moreover, none of these two prime ministers and six ministers are my Yang family's children or disciples. Is Your Majesty deliberately trying to suppress the Yang family?"

Yang Biao looked up at him, stood up, walked to the pavilion nearby, picked up a cup of tea and took a sip.

"You have been smart since childhood. Even His Majesty has praised you. In the Imperial College, your performance in recent years is first-rate. No other lecturer can compare with you. In the past years' examinations, those who ranked at the top must have been your students. But although you are the best in the way of studying and teaching, you know nothing about the affairs of the court. I think His Majesty transferred you to the Imperial College and gave you many hints and warnings in order to warn you to concentrate on teaching and not to speculate too much about the affairs of the court. This is indeed His Majesty's good intention to save your life, but you don't understand it."

Yang Xiu pursed his lips, somewhat unconvinced: "I just don't believe it. Among the disciples I taught, there are many respected people in your county. My disciples can still become officials, so why can't I do it?"

Seeing that his son was not giving up, Yang Biao could not help but shook his head and looked towards the direction of the imperial palace with a look of gratitude.

"Well, since you have asked, if I don't explain it to you clearly, I am afraid you will try to figure it out on your own, which will only make things worse. In that case, please sit down."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu immediately sat down in front of his father, respectfully filled his father's cup of tea, then sat up straight, looking as if he was listening attentively.

Yang Biao took another sip of tea before speaking.

"Have you ever noticed that your majesty has been fighting for many years, and his civil and military officials have repeatedly made meritorious contributions, but although the rewards are generous, no one has been granted a fiefdom?"

Yang Xiu nodded and responded: "Yes, even General Guan Yu, the best general in the army, never received a fiefdom reward."

"That's it." Yang Biao said, "What is a fiefdom? From now on, the people of this place no longer have to pay taxes to the court, but only need to pay tribute to the owner of the fiefdom. The same is true for the fiefdom of the county king."

"Your Majesty abolished the feudal states and fiefdoms, collected all the land in the country and returned it to the court, and implemented the equal land system. What you did was nothing more than to strengthen your own imperial power. As the saying goes, 'All under heaven is the king's land, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects', Your Majesty is just putting this ancient saying into practice."

Yang Xiu seemed to have realized something: "In this way, your Majesty's will and decrees can be spread to all corners of the world, and your authority will be extremely strong. Even if someone has the intention of rebellion, they have no foundation, so it is naturally difficult for them to reproduce the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms in the past, or the situation of the princes rising up today."

"But even if that's the case, what does it have to do with our Yang family?"

Yang Biao shook his head: "Have you not noticed that among the newly appointed officials, half are from aristocratic families, and half are from humble backgrounds or even rural areas?"

Yang Xiu thought for a moment and said, "As expected. Right Prime Minister Xun Yu is from the Xun family of Yingchuan. Left Prime Minister Qian Li was your Majesty's playmate when he was young in Huangshui Township. Among the six ministers, four are from wealthy families and two are from poor families. Among the vice ministers, most are from poor families or of humble origins."

At this point, he seemed to suddenly understand.

"Your Majesty, do you intend to suppress the children of the noble families?"

Yang Biao nodded and said, "Of course."

"Your Majesty's intention, although I have long been aware of it, I never thought that this change also had such an intention. Now that I think about it, everything is clear. So, after Wang Yun's death, Wang Qian and many old officials who had close contacts with the Wang family in Taiyuan resigned one after another, and even the father of the Minister of War Cui Jun, the Grand Tutor Cui Lie, resigned and returned home. Did they also realize your Majesty's intention?"

"That's right." Yang Biao said with great certainty, "I am sure that if Cui Lie is unwilling to resign, the position of Minister of War will definitely not be passed to Cui Jun."

Yang Xiu was indeed extraordinary, and he immediately drew inferences from one example: "It seems that people like Wang Chen and Wang Gai are now being promoted and promoted rapidly, but that is just a delaying tactic deployed by Your Majesty to prevent others from having doubts about Wang Yun's sudden death."

"Not entirely." Yang Biao waved his hand. "I assert that Your Majesty has no intention of completely expelling the nobles and wealthy families from the court. Since ancient times, the art of emperors is the art of employing people and the art of balance. The rich and the poor, the children of the nobles and the country folk, can coexist in a balanced manner, and Your Majesty can rest assured. And Wang Chen and Wang Gai did not agree with Wang Yun's many illegal acts, and they often dissuaded him. In addition, they are indeed talented, so Your Majesty will naturally use them."

"As for the children of my Yang family..." Yang Biao changed the subject, his tone sounding a little sad: "Alas, I only regret that the children of my family are not numerous, and there are even fewer who are outstanding. Now there are few people of my family in the court, but it is not your Majesty's fault."

When Yang Xiu heard this, he showed a proud look on his face: "Don't worry, father. Although His Majesty intends to prevent me from becoming an official, since I am in the Imperial Academy, I will definitely train more talents. This will also enhance the prestige of my Yang family's disciples."

Yang Biao smiled widely, his eyes narrowed into slits, and said a few words of encouragement, but Yang Xiu did not notice that when his father heard what he had just said, a hint of relief and satisfaction appeared in the corner of his eyes.

What he would never have imagined was that just because of this change in his mentality, he, who was destined to die young due to being "too smart", would now die of old age and even become a famous teacher in the Han Dynasty and become famous.

Another big chapter, about to restart the war stage
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(End of this chapter)