In the same year that the crown prince was established, that is, 67 BC, a little man named Lu Wenshu entered the history of the Han Dynasty.
Lu Wenshu, a native of Julu (now Pingxiang, Hebei Province), had been unknown before, because he was just a low-level Tingwei Shi, with a humble position, and he just performed his duty silently. But precisely because he served as a court captain, Lu Wenshu understood the horror of torture more deeply than ordinary people. He believed that Liu Xun was a benevolent king, so he boldly wrote a memorial to him, exposing the darkness of the judiciary and demanding the abolition of torture. Lu Wenshu pointed out that the reason for unjust imprisonment was torture to extract confessions and torture. When torture crushes a person's dignity to pieces, confessing is the only relief, even though he may be innocent and has done nothing.
When Liu Xun saw Lu Wenshu's memorial, he felt it was justified, so he issued an edict ordering judges across the country to be lenient and fair when handling cases. Lu Wenshu's memorial was very gentle and weak. Although it had no effect, it reflected Liu Xun's magnanimity as an emperor to a large extent.
After the Huo family was exterminated, Liu Xun let go of his hands and made drastic changes in various national policies. Because Liu Xun had been living among the people in his early years, and was often oppressed by officials due to corruption in officialdom, so when he ascended the throne, reforming officialdom became the most urgent desire in his heart.
Regarding the necessity of reforming the administration of officials, Emperor Xuan said: "If the officials are not honest, the governance will decline." Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he announced that he would personally intervene in political affairs, eliminating the intermediate link of minister, and restoring the early Han Dynasty where the prime minister had both a position and real power. system. In addition, Emperor Xuan also paid special attention to the selection and assessment of local officials, and made great efforts to rectify the administration of officials. To this end, Liu Xun established a system of assessment, reward and punishment for officials. He repeatedly issued edicts to implement a five-day hearing system for Erqianshi (prefecture-level officials); he sent envoys to patrol the county from time to time to inspect the work of Erqianshi officials; based on the inspection results, Emperor Xuan rewarded them or punishment. He issued an edict saying: "There will be no rewards for meritorious services and no punishment for crimes. Even though Yu in the Tang Dynasty could not conquer the world." Therefore, during the more than 20 years that Emperor Xuan was in power, a large number of officials with outstanding political achievements were rewarded or given seals. The book encouraged him to increase his rank and grant him gold, or he might be given the title of Marquis of Guan Nei, and he could be promoted to Jiuqing or Sangong. Those officials who are incompetent or guilty will be severely punished.
With the implementation of these measures, a large number of "good officials" who conformed to the values of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty were gradually created to serve various functional departments of the Han Dynasty.
After the reforms during the Xuan Emperor period, the administration of officials showed a particularly important feature, that is, the "long-term appointment" system of officials developed to a relatively complete period.
On the one hand, the scope of "long-term appointment" of officials has been expanded from the original court ministers to senior local officials. In the past, only close ministers such as Shizhong and Shangshu who were involved in government affairs were honored and favored. Nowadays, even high-ranking local officials at the level of county magistrates have many "long-term appointments".
The prefectures and governors of the Han Dynasty were located between the central government and the counties. In the relationship between the central government and local governments, the prefectures and governors played an important role in connecting the upper and lower levels and transmitting information from one level to the next. The quality of the governor of a county or country is not only related to the peace of one party, but also related to the rise and fall of the country's governance.
Liu Xun was deeply aware of this, so he was very cautious and strict in the formulation and implementation of standards when selecting the governor of the county and country. Among them, it was stipulated that the prime minister of the county and country must first be recommended by the ministers of the court, and secondly, the emperor must be personally summoned for assessment. Examine his skills in governing the country.
On the other hand, the above-mentioned important officials will not be easily promoted and transferred, no matter how great their merits are. The country will only seek additional countermeasures to provide material and spiritual rewards and praise to good officials.
"Han Shu·Xuan Emperor Ji" records: "As for the descendants, they will never change." "The cardinals are careful and well-equipped, and the superiors and subordinates are in harmony with each other. There is no intention of being sloppy." This was Emperor Xuan's approach at that time to the promotion and demotion of his close ministers. and what has been achieved.
Regarding this, everyone from the first-rank officials in the court to the local county magistrates did not understand the emperor's thoughts at the beginning of the implementation of the decree. Emperor Xuan then frankly said: "The county governor is the foundation of the officials and the people. If If he is frequently changed, he will not be respected by his subordinates, and it will be difficult for superiors and subordinates to live in peace; if the 'long-term' system is implemented, the people will know that they will be in office for a long time, and they will not dare to bully their superiors, and will naturally 'obey their teachings'."
In order to reward the prefects who had outstanding political achievements in governing the local area, Emperor Xuan would issue seals to commend and encourage them; increase their salaries on the basis of the original salaries; reward them with a certain amount of money; and even confer titles on them as Marquises of Guan Nei, so that they could enjoy political reputation and financial gain.
The achievement of the Prime Minister of Jiaodong was considered in the "performance appraisal" to appease a large number of refugees and "administrate with extraordinary standards". Therefore, he was praised by the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Xuan raised his salary to "two thousand stones" and was given the title of Marquis of Guannei. Huang Ba, a famous minister of the previous generation who was demoted, worked hard to govern the county during the eight years he served as the prefect of Yingchuan. After the assessment results came out, Emperor Xuan issued an edict to praise him and gave him an additional reward of "the title of Marquis of Guannei, a hundred catties of gold, and a rank of two thousand stones". Although their positions have not been promoted, because their political achievements have been affirmed, they will naturally work harder to repay the emperor's great kindness.
At the same time, the emperor's move can also make them an example for officials to follow, and can stimulate the improvement of political conduct and governance. Its far-reaching significance is far greater than what ordinary people can foresee. These Xunli or good officials enforce the law fairly and show both kindness and power. "The people who live there are rich and those who live there are favored." Therefore, they are highly praised by people of the world.
"He was a good official in the Han Dynasty, so he became prosperous and was called Zhongxing Yan."
People's good impressions of honest and capable officials everywhere were transformed into respect and support for Emperor Xuan. For a while, Liu Xun's great image directly matched that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
From the rewards Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty gave to good ministers who reformed the officialdom, we can see that he was indeed a good emperor who was diligent in government and loved the people, and had great talents and strategies. However, a benevolent king also has an iron-blooded side.
When the Huo family was executed and Emperor Xuan came to power, Liu Xun began to reform punishments, emphasizing harsh punishments and punishing unjust officials and powerful men. Some high-status, corrupt officials were executed one after another. Da Si Farming Yannian played an extraordinary role in establishing Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. Even he was accused of corruption. Liu Xun was furious. Tian Yannian had meritorious service and was always cited as an important minister by Liu Xun. This time he committed a crime at a time when Emperor Xuan was reforming punishments. He must not delay national affairs because of him. Although many ministers in the court interceded for him and believed that "the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period can be repaid with merit", Liu In the end, Xun did not agree, and sent an envoy to "summon Tian Yannian to Yi Tingwei" for trial, and planned to impose a heavy punishment on Tian Yannian. Tian Yannian had no choice but to commit suicide in fear of crime.
Liu Xun was not only famous for his strict law enforcement, but also for his lenient and simple administration. He believes that officials must be severely punished for their corruption and bending the law. However, the governance of ordinary people requires officials who are good at making judgments and have a broad mind. They can often be compassionate when convicting and sentencing. Under such circumstances, the people can actually benefit. Therefore, when Emperor Xuan appointed local officials, in addition to using some smart and capable officials to severely suppress the lawless tyrants, most of them appointed a group of follow-up officials to govern the local area, thus changing the phenomenon of harsh and destructive officialdom and social development. Conflicts have also been greatly alleviated, and the political situation has been stabilized.
In fact, before Liu Xun entered the palace, he was accused of theft and sent to prison due to a false accusation. Fortunately, his wife Xu Pingjun's father was a local official, and with his mediation, Liu Xun was able to escape punishment. However, Liu Xun was a disciple of his predecessors and a teacher of future generations. He deeply hated the practice of court officials who were indiscriminate and often pronounced unjust, false and wrong cases.
After he took control of the country, he proposed to resolutely abolish harsh laws and rectify unjust prison sentences. Shortly after Liu Xun took office, he personally participated in the trial of some cases. In the third year of Dijie (67 BC), Liu Xun added four officials, Ting Weiping, who were responsible for the evaluation and review of prisons, and set up a censor to review the severity of Ting Wei's sentencing. The following year, Liu Xun then issued an edict, abolishing the law of Shou Nilian sitting, and ordered the pardon of those who offended his name by writing letters.
In the fourth year of Wufeng (54 BC), he sent 24 people to patrol all over the country to rectify unjust imprisonment and report officials who abused punishment. In addition, Liu Xun also issued amnesty orders ten times. Suddenly, everyone in the world was grateful for Liu Xun's actions.
Emperor Zhao also adopted the policy of "resting with the people" and achieved remarkable results. However, there was still no thorough reform of salt and iron. After Emperor Xuan took charge, he intensified reform efforts. In September of the fourth year of Dijie (66 B.C.), he issued an edict: "Officials may cause trouble for their own purposes and ignore their faults, and I will pity them. Salt is the food of the people, but Jia Xian is noble, and the common people are in deep trouble. It will reduce the amount of salt in the world."
It can be seen that the industrial and commercial government-run policies were still partially implemented during the Zhao Emperor's period. After Emperor Xuan's vigorous rectification, some of the drawbacks of these policies, such as officials bending the law for personal gain and corruption, were effectively suppressed within a certain period of time. This was beneficial to The people's "rest and recuperation" and the gradual recovery and strengthening of national power.
For a time, the "Zhaoxuan Zhongxing" was spread by word of mouth, and was recorded in the annals of history. It was considered by historians to be the most prosperous era since the founding of the Han Dynasty.
