The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 191 Dad, Please Give Way

Xiao He formulated the "Nine Chapters of Laws", and later there were 18 chapters of "Bang Zhang", 27 chapters of "Yue Gong Law" by Zhang Tang, and 6 chapters of "Chao Law" by Zhao Yu, totaling 60 chapters, which are the "Han Laws".

During the Xin Dynasty, Wang Mang abolished the Han laws. However, after the restoration of Emperor Guangwu, with the aim of "removing the complexity of Wang Mang's laws and returning to the light laws of the Han Dynasty", the sixty articles of Han laws were continued to be used.

Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu's original intention was good.

However, because the old laws before the Han Dynasty were already complicated and cumbersome, and the successive imperial courts of the Later Han Dynasty continued to supplement the laws and decrees, the current Han laws are extremely bloated.

In particular, the redundant laws and decrees were actually supplements to the laws, such as procedures, subjects, grades, articles, and comparisons, and their essence was some articles used by the powerful to exploit loopholes. This led to an increase in the number of legal provisions, but an increase in the number of people who did not follow the law, making the Han laws, which had been passed down for 400 years, less and less credible and majestic.

Chen Chong, the court judge during the reign of Emperor Zhang, noticed many problems with the Han laws and wrote to the emperor to request him to remove the harsh rules and implement lenient policies. Unfortunately, this action offended Dou Xian, a relative of the emperor at the time, so the plan to improve the laws ultimately came to nothing.

Right now, Liu Xie seemed to be determined to take advantage of this incident to rectify the Han laws in one fell swoop. At the same time, he would cooperate with the soldiers who were about to become grassroots officials in various places to make the Han court cleanse of its dross and regain its glory!
Liu Xie specially summoned Jia Xu to the front and stood beside Dong Zhuo.

"The matter will be handled by the Shangshutai. We must give the people of the world a satisfactory explanation."

"How to deal with murderers, how to deal with fighting, and whether officials should be implicated because of the mistakes of relatives, all of these need to be discussed in detail."

Reshaping the Han laws will inevitably close the small doors that were previously opened for the aristocratic families one by one.

Instead, the beneficiaries should be turned into the emperor, the imperial court, and more helpless people.

It is inevitable that there will be provisions such as the "Eight Discussions".

But the meaning of law has never been to uphold justice, because the word "justice" is inherently vague and too idealistic.

The real meaning of the existence of law is to maintain rule and to build order.

Absolute fairness and justice cannot exist in the law.

If we pursue absolute fairness and justice, we are actually pursuing absolute idealism, which is obviously unacceptable in this real world.

Therefore, Liu Xie's original intention in ordering the reform of Han laws was just to clear the house before welcoming guests, so that the Han Dynasty could be reborn.

By the way...

Liu Xie added: "Otherwise, it would be too cruel to let a figure like the Chief Censor lose his integrity because of his nephew's crime."

In the end, Liu Xie couldn't bear to burn Huangfu Song completely.

Huangfu Song’s contributions to the Han Dynasty should not be buried so easily in the ashes of the past.

For both public and private reasons, Liu Xie wanted to do his best to save Huangfu Song's life.

"Here."

Jia Xu understood what Liu Xie meant, but after he slightly turned his body, he froze in place, with cold sweat slowly running down his cheeks.

Dong Zhuo in front of him seemed to have nothing to do and was flipping through the tablet in his hand!
Hu means "suddenly", to prepare for something that is suddenly forgotten!
Such small props were widely used as early as the Shang Dynasty and served as memoranda for ministers.

Although Jia Xu was used to wiping it clean and rewriting the contents that needed to be prepared for the day's court meeting every time, some key small words were written at the bottom by Jia Xu and were not wiped off.

At this moment, Dong Zhuo was checking Jia Xu's "memos" -

"The fourteen steps to the left of Xuanshi Hall are the blind spot of the emperor and the Grand Master. They can hide there on weekdays."

"If the emperor has a serious expression and nods from time to time, he must have been distracted. We can move on to the next topic."

"When the Grand Master is in a good mood, his left hand will be slightly raised backwards. When he is in a bad mood, he will protect his hands in front of his chest. You must pay more attention when speaking."

"I wonder who among the Nine Ministers has body odor. Stay away from them during court meetings..."

After watching to the end, Dong Zhuo raised his head and sniffed in the direction of the Nine Ministers present. There did seem to be a faint fishy smell.

"Jia Lingjun... the record is quite detailed?"

Jia Xu's smile now was uglier than crying. He wanted to reach out to take his tablet, but Dong Zhuo put it directly into his sleeve.

"I haven't finished reading it yet. I'll return it to you after I finish reading it."

Finally, Dong Zhuo added:

"And show it to the Emperor, too."

Jia Xu covered his heart, thinking about how to retire and return home again...

The disbanding of this court meeting naturally shocked many bureaucrats and people in Chang'an who were still confused.

When Taiwei Yang Biao learned about what happened at the court meeting, he jumped up from his sickbed and grabbed Yang Xiu's shoulders: "Son! Go and visit Shangshu Ling Jia Xu! Go!"

Yang Xiu was shocked by his father's behavior: "Dad, are you going to die and want to entrust me to Jia Lingjun?"

Yang Biao spat——

"You little bastard, I won't die unless you die! How can there be such an unfilial son like you?"

Then Yang Xiu was even more confused.

"In that case, why does father want me to go find Jia Xu?"

"Does father want me to go find Jia Xu and ask him to reveal the imperial examination questions to me?"

Yang Biao paused. Yang Xiu waved his hands, "That's impossible! Jia Lingjun has always been known for his caution. If we go there now, we may not be able to find him. Even if we really see him, does father think Jia Xu will reveal the question?"

"The reason why the emperor abolished the imperial examination system and promoted it was to prevent children of wealthy families like us from being easily appointed to official posts. Now you ask me to go find Jia Xu, isn't that like an old man hanging himself - seeking death?"

"As for the position of the Censorate... Dad, do you think the emperor would let a child of the Hongnong Yang family go in? To supervise myself? Why would the emperor go to so much trouble? The reason why the emperor increased the power of the Censorate is to use the poor to contain the wealthy. It won't be long before the Han court will have countless "poor people in charge of confidential matters". If you send your child to the Censorate at this time, isn't that simply disgusting the emperor?"

"As for the remaining Han laws... Dad, listen to my advice. If you really want to die, just find a rope yourself, but don't touch that thing. Don't let my Hongnong Yang family be cut off from the incense!"

Yang Biao's expression has become increasingly stiff.

Because the things Yang Xiu mentioned were exactly what Yang Biao wanted to get involved in...

But Yang Xiu had already told him bluntly not to even think about it!
If you intervene at this time, you will be courting death!
But Yang Biao reacted quickly, and glared at him, "How dare you talk to your father? You're asking for a fight!"

Yang Biao raised his hand and hit Yang Xiu twice, but because his body had not recovered yet, not only did he not hurt Yang Xiu, but he himself began to breathe heavily.

Yang Biao's face flushed red at this moment, and Yang Xiu immediately teased him again: "Dad, you are really old!"

Yes, I am indeed old...

But precisely because of this, Yang Biao was extremely worried about Yang Xiu.

"Although I had expected the emperor to reform the recommendation system, I didn't expect it to be so drastic!"

"You have no way to enter the officialdom in the future. What should I do?"

Yang Xiu was slightly stunned, and then he realized that Yang Biao had always been thinking about him.

But Yang Xiu immediately burst into laughter.

"How come there is no way out? Father, have you forgotten that I was one of the scholars who joined the government soldiers and taught them how to read?"

"There are many smart people among those palace soldiers, but how can they compare to me, my child?"

Compared to Yang Biao's worries, Yang Xiu was extremely calm.

"Even if I take 10,000 exams! Even if I find 10,000 scholars to take the exam with me, I will still be the first!"

"Except for me, the rest of us are just ordinary people!"

Arrogant! Proud!
But only Yang Biao, the father, knew that his son was telling the truth.

But he couldn't help but curse back: "Arrogant! Sooner or later you will suffer a great loss because of this character!"

Yang Xiu wanted to refute, but suddenly remembered someone and quickly changed his words with a smile: "I can't compare with the emperor, but the others are just like that!"

Yang Biao glared: "You dare to compete with the emperor? I will beat you to death, you unfilial son!"

Yang Xiu begged for mercy and tried to escape from the battlefield: "Dad, you are sick first. I can't go to Lord Jia, but I have to go to Grand Tutor Dong."

Yang Biao was puzzled: "Why?"

"Father, oh father, how did you become a high-ranking official? How come you can't even…"

Feeling that Yang Biao was about to slap him in the face, Yang Xiu quickly explained: "Father, haven't you noticed that the reputation of the Grand Tutor has obviously improved in the past two years?"

"In fact, the reputation of the Grand Master was not bad to begin with, but it plummeted after the incident in Luoyang, causing the world to spurn him."

"But now with so many things happening, I'm afraid people have already changed their view of the Grand Master."

Yang Xiu counted on his fingers to Yang Biao: "Defeated the Xiongnu, killed the Chanyu, recovered Hedong, governed Guanzhong, promulgated the equal distribution of land, reformed the government soldiers, pacified the Qiang invasion, and cleverly seized Hanzhong. Now, he wants to use himself as a starting point to reform the system and revise the Han laws, starting a transformation that will cleanse the Han Dynasty's essence and marrow..."

"In the first year, the rebellion was put to rest; in the second year, Yin was conquered; in the third year, Yan was conquered; in the fourth year, Marquis Wei was established; in the fifth year, Cheng Zhou was built; in the sixth year, rituals and music were established; in the seventh year, the government was handed over to King Cheng."

Yang Xiu asked Yang Biao: "If the emperor really restores the Han Dynasty, what kind of evaluation do you think Master Dong will leave in history?"

"Does father still think that we should not go and pay our respects to the Grand Master?"

Yang Biao's expression gradually became serious at this moment.

In fact, there had long been a rumor in Guanzhong that Dong Zhuo intended to become the Duke of Zhou of the Han Dynasty.

At that time, everyone thought this was a fantasy and it was really laughable!

But now?

Yang Biao was then shocked to find that Dong Zhuo's achievements had accumulated to such a terrifying level.

Even if his personal morals are flawed...he can indeed be called the Duke of Zhou of the modern world.

But Yang Biao was still puzzled.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that when it comes to credit, 90% of the credit should go to the emperor, but why was it all attributed to Dong Zhuo?

Yang Xiu looked at his father with an expression that said "you are completely hopeless".

"Father, listen to me. Go and resign your position as the Three Dukes. I will take care of the affairs of the court from now on."

"Get over here! I'm going to beat you to death, you unfilial son!"

(End of this chapter)