Chapter 224: Small
As a result, the atmosphere in the court became increasingly tense, and anything could become a topic of debate and criticism among the ministers.

One day, Li Jiancheng asked his officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs what the situation would be like during the Great Governance. An official who served in the Ministry of Civil Affairs during the Kaihuang period said, "There are 8,907,000 households, totaling 46,010,000 people. The Chang'an Taicang, Luoyang Hanjia Cang, Luokou Cang, Yongfeng Cang, Taiyuan Cang and all the charity cangs in the country are full.

The capital and the treasuries of the provinces have tens of millions of pieces of cloth and silk, and the barbarians are submissive and pay tribute in large numbers. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, there has never been such a prosperous dynasty. "

All the ministers could not help but admire that this was indeed a prosperous era, and then they began to criticize Emperor Yang.

Such a prosperous era has been turned into this in just over a decade. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a heinous crime.

After scolding Emperor Yang, Li Jiancheng asked, "My lords, can we achieve great order as soon as possible after great chaos? How long will it take? And if we can achieve great order in the world, what methods should be used?"

Wang Hu stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the world has experienced wars and chaos, and now people's minds are at peace. Your Majesty should implement a policy of resting the people, which is in accordance with the will of heaven and the people. If you do this, you will have a peaceful world in three to five years."

Pei Ji shook his head and said, "Three to five years, how can it be fast? Three to five years may win a war, but it will definitely not achieve great peace. We need to work slowly."

"I agree with the Prime Minister's words. It is easy to break something, but it is difficult to make it happen. Without ten years of hard work, how can it be accomplished?"

The Minister of Personnel Feng Deyi stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I think that if we want to achieve great order after the great chaos in the world, we should adopt severe and decisive measures, rather than the gradual measures we are currently using. If we can regulate the world, I think we can achieve great order within three years."

After listening to Feng Deyi's words, an official sarcastically said, "If you govern the world according to what you said, how is your majesty different from the First Emperor and the Yang Emperor? Are you trying to put your majesty in an unjust situation?"

These words were venomous, and Wei Zheng stepped out slowly: "Your Majesty, what Lord Feng said is to let the emperor exercise his authority alone and make arbitrary decisions, imitating the tyrants of the Sui Dynasty. However, these two emperors all wanted him to use his own ability to intimidate the civil and military officials of the world and enslave the people."

Feng Deyi snorted coldly: "Doctor Wei, everyone in the world knows that my emperor is wise and brave, how can he be compared with Qin Ershi and Emperor Yang of Sui? Doctor, please do not put this crime on me.

Your Majesty, after the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, people's hearts gradually became cold, so the Qin Dynasty exclusively used Legalism, and the Han Dynasty mixed kings and hegemons. They wanted to educate but failed. Your Majesty, Wei Zheng is a shallow and upright person who does not know the current affairs. If you believe his empty talk, you will ruin the country. "

Li Jiancheng said, "My Lords, it is normal to discuss government affairs. It is fine to hold different opinions, but please do not criticize each other."

Everyone restrained their desire to confront each other: "We will obey your order."

Du Ruhui said calmly: "If, as Lord Feng said, people's hearts are becoming more and more corrupt and less pure, more than two thousand years have passed since the Three Dynasties. People today should all be ghosts. Would you rather bring them back and educate them?
Haha, it can be seen that the ancient times of conferring titles on the present are probably a bit absurd. The way to govern a country is the most practical and cannot tolerate any vainness. "

Pei Ji naturally wanted to support Feng Deyi: "Then I wonder what advice Doctor Wei has on governing the country?"

Wei Zheng expressed his opinion without reservation: "Now the world is exhausted, and the people are eager for the world to be governed. This is what people want. If we educate them, we will achieve twice the result with half the effort.

If we only use criminal laws and miscellaneous tyranny, the people will say that our dynasty is following the bad example of Emperor Yang, and the people's hearts, which have just been stabilized, will inevitably become chaotic. Once the people's hearts are in chaos, nothing can be accomplished. We must make the people's hearts and minds go in the right direction, and the upper and lower levels must be united, and the education must be gradually deepened, then we can achieve great order.

When the people are strong and the food is plentiful, it will be a natural outcome after great governance. "

This statement was not very profound, but it also made the ministers realize that Wei Zheng, in addition to being daring to speak out and make direct criticisms, also had some ability in government affairs. Of course, the policy of great governance debated today was only a superficial appearance. After all, they were still fighting for the reduction of officials. They had to test the emperor's determination on this matter from all aspects.

If the emperor was not so determined, they would have to take action.

Li Jiancheng said: "The world is so vast that one person or even a few people cannot manage it. Therefore, we must be open-minded and listen to the opinions of all. Governing the world cannot be accomplished by my own strength. The laws must be lenient and the people must be treated gently. First, we must get rid of redundant officials, reduce extravagance and expenses, lighten taxes and levies, select honest officials, and ensure that the people have enough food and clothing."

"My emperor is wise."

As the emperor expressed his stance again and set an example by taking the royal family as the first step, he issued an edict that the royal family members who had no merits so far would have their titles reduced by one level. Once this edict was issued, some royal family members could not even keep their titles of county dukes.

They flocked to the retired emperor to cry and complain that the retired empress was in poor health, but many women in the imperial court still harassed her. When the empress heard about it, she rushed over angrily and scolded them, and severely punished them.

As a result, the officials in Guanlong had to give way temporarily. This gave way when the officials from Jiangnan and Shandong, who had originally been the most supportive of cutting redundant officials, began to become dissatisfied with Fang Du, who was in charge of this matter.

There were 2,563 officials in the capital, but now they are streamlining the organization and eliminating redundant officials until there are only more than 700 people left. Nearly 2,000 officials have lost their jobs.

Most of the blows were directed at Guanlong, but they were so large that no matter how hard they were cut, they were still the largest faction in the court. There were not many officials in Shandong and Jiangnan to begin with, and after being chopped down so mercilessly, there were only a few left.

If this was the case in the capital, wouldn't the local areas be even more ruthless? Officials in Guandong, Shandong, Henan and Jiangnan once again rose up in rebellion, wanting to kill Fang, Du, Wang and Liu in the name of clearing the court.

The emperor ordered Luo Yi, Duke of Xiangyang, Governor of Youzhou, Marquis of Xinfeng, and General of the Left Jinwu Army, Wang Shichong, to suppress the rebellion.

Therefore, this matter was able to proceed smoothly. When the news of the rebellion was received, the emperor began to appease his ministers: "I cannot bear to see you lose your office and fail to perform your duties, but the country has too many officials, the cost is increasing day by day, the number of officials has doubled, and the rent and taxes have been reduced every year. It is said that there are too few people and too many officials, and nine out of ten sheep are shepherded.

Now I want to remove the idle ones and combine the small into the big so that the country will not be short of food and silk and it will be easier to recruit talented people. I really can't bear it but I have to harden my heart. I hope you can understand me.

For officials who are laid off, the court can retain their ranks and salaries for one year. Within this one-year period, you can either seek another position based on your own ability, or retire. The court will give you half of your retirement salary based on your rank to support your family.

If this had been said at the beginning, the ministers would not have been very grateful, but now they have cried and made a fuss, and have accepted it helplessly. Now that His Majesty has taken out honey, they can only kneel down and thank the emperor for his grace.

Since the officials in the capital had accepted it, how could the local officials dare to cause trouble? The generals of the imperial court were ready to suppress the rebellion and make meritorious contributions at any time.

The chief officials of the ten provinces also established their own prestige with the first three things they did after taking office, making the court's control over the local areas even stronger and more powerful.

………………

(End of this chapter)