When the confrontation at Danhan Mountain had just ended, the New Year had passed. Liu Bei had completed his duties and led his army back to Jinyang. Chen Chong took this opportunity to implement a new policy in Beijing when the spring plowing had not yet begun and old matters were settled. The decree implemented this time was not complicated, it was just one thing. That is to say, Sili Xiaowei's Mansion will investigate the wealth of officials in Xijing who are worth more than a hundred stones.
Chen Chong expressed his gratitude to the emperor in this way: "Since Emperor Xiaohuan, eunuchs have been in power, government offices are incompetent, the country has lost its trust, and the people have deep resentment. First, they suffered from the misfortune of the party's imprisonment, and the scholars were wronged. Later, the Yellow Turban chaos occurred, and the head of Guizhou was in difficulty. So there is Xiyuan. Neglect in government continues, corruption and despicableness continue to prevail in both the government and the public, filthiness becomes common, and fat is scraped away like a disease."
"The late emperor was in the imperial court, and often his attendants threw themselves into the river. The party imprisoned him anyway, and Dong Zhuo died. There were great chaos in the palace, and the culprit has been eliminated. However, although the culprit has been eliminated, it is especially poisonous. If the poison is not peaceful, and as time goes by, the incident in the West Garden will happen again. Come on. There is a saying in "Book" that the way of a sage is to guard against the slightest change. First, cultivate one's character through learning, and then work hard to govern the country. The people also have a saying: "To promote talents, I don't know how to write. If you look at filial piety and integrity, your father lives apart. If you are cold and pure, white and turbid as mud, you will be high." A good general is as timid as a chicken.' It can be seen that the evil of doing things untruthfully has been going on for a long time, and the people's distrust has been going on for a long time, and the palace inspections are urgent."
"Someone once said: Nothing can be done in a day, and the wind cannot clear up in one year. However, every step of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the great ancestor's foundation was founded in ten miles. Why is it too late for a foolish old man to move a mountain? You can first check the assets of the officials in the capital. The former Ignore it, think it is a household property, and then list its regulations, submit it to the emperor, and distribute it to the people. From then on, check it every year, compare the profit and loss, you can see that the dirty ones will become dirty, and the clean ones will become clear. Use this to choose honest people, and determine whether they are dirty. , become a great virtue for three generations, and win the sincerity of all people."
The emperor had asked him to do so, and the emperor had always wanted to get rid of his bad government, so he agreed immediately after seeing it.
But as Chen Chong said in his letter, the country has been out of power for too long since the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty, most of the country's rulers were young, which led to the inability of relatives to take charge and neglect of officials. In addition, when Emperor Huan was the Ling Emperor, the two emperors were close to their regular attendants, and they often demanded bribes and embezzled themselves, which led to official corruption and political corruption. Calculated in this way, it has been almost a hundred years since the country has completely rectified its officialdom. Therefore, Chen Chong only made a brief investigation at this time, and then caused a huge wave in Chang'an.
The first is Dong Chengfuwan and others. They were the relatives of the state and shared weal and woe with the emperor. Naturally, they often had ministers and noble families coming to interact with them, flattering them and giving them gifts. If Chen Chong implements this order, they will be the first to bear the brunt.
Therefore, after Fuwan learned the news, he went to the emperor that night and said that as the leader of the clan, his family assets were not just the property of one person, but were related to hundreds of people, so it was really difficult to clean up. Moreover, the country should be governed with leniency and benevolence, and the wealth of ministers should be inspected. , wouldn’t it be a loss of national integrity? How to govern with the people?
Followed by Chun Yujia, Yang Biao and other officials from generation to generation. These people, who have been in officialdom for decades, have long been like the light. Their so-called ambitions and ideals have been wiped out, and their thoughts are mostly about the rise and fall of one family and one name. How the officialdom is on weekdays, so are they. In the past few years, they have been a little greedy when they occupied high positions. Even though they have restrained themselves a lot in the past few years when Chen Chong was in power, they still have all kinds of collusion behind the scenes.
However, they knew that their family reputation was important, and they did not dare to speak out against the financial investigation, lest they taint their innocence. Instead, he instigated the government officials to write to the Chancellor's desk, expressing extreme difficulties in administration. After all, the world is currently unstable, people are confused, and there are many local laws and regulations. Even if it is tried in Xijing, it will alienate the prefectures and counties. It is better to unify it first and then talk about other things.
Finally, there are the petty officials at all levels in Chang'an. If we say that officials with more than 600 dan have many savings, they can still communicate as usual even if they are not corrupt, but these officials with 100 dan cannot do it. If they don't use their hands to embezzle money, they will not have gold and silver to manage their relationships, and they will also spend a lot of food and drink. Affected. If Chen Chong rectifies the administration of officials, they will be the most affected.
Although these petty officials had no voice, someone in the capital added fuel to the fire and actually signed a petition with a thousand names and handed it over to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Sili. In order to cause chaos in the country, as if Chao Cuo was the reason, he begged Chen Chong to withdraw his order and issue another order. he is.
The influence on the government and the opposition was so great that it really exceeded Chen Chong's expectations. This time, he had greatly postponed the time to rectify the official administration. He tried to implement it in Beijing for one year, but he did not expect to encounter such rock-like resistance. So much so that the emperor hesitated and asked him if he wanted to postpone the matter. Even many of his students are quite hesitant.
For example, Xu Qian, when he was in Taixue, he always followed Chen Chong to the countryside to collect folk customs. He compiled the folk songs that criticized corrupt officials into a book and distributed them widely in Taixue. After Chen Chong entered the capital, he also worked for Jingzhao Literature. He also brought several of his clan brothers to the capital to work as clerks in the Guangluxun Mansion. Even with such a position, their names were written on the Thousand Persons Register. This made Xu Qian greatly panicked.
But Chen Chong knows very well that the more difficult a big thing is to do, the earlier it must be done. If you look forward and backward in everything, and live in ignorance in the name of preserving the overall situation, you will really harm the overall situation and bring disaster to the future. The day after he received the list, he held an ordinary court meeting and ordered all officials in the capital with more than 300 shi to attend the meeting at Lingtai.
There were more than 2,000 officials attending this conference, and even though the memorial platform was large, it was a bit crowded. In addition, Chen Chong sent people early to spread the news to the people around him, saying that there would be a meeting to purge officials and other matters. Farmers immediately gathered, and the whole place was surrounded, asking about the rumors inside the tomb.
When everything was ready, Chen Chong slowly walked to the stage. The officials looked over and realized that Chen Chong was not wearing a court uniform, but a military uniform. The weather was freezing, but Chen Chong was wearing a plain cashmere cloak, holding a thousand names in one hand, a green sword in the other, and wearing deerskin boots. Wearing a tiger flower crown. Even the last official looking from afar could detect a somewhat chilling atmosphere.
Four men stood under Chen Chong's stage. Every time Chen Chong said something, they repeated it loudly so that everyone around him could hear it. As the beginning of his political instruction, Chen Chong did not discuss the matter first, but only said hello to the ministers, and then looked back on the past.
He said: "I am thirty-four years old this year. Although I am younger than most of the senators and ministers present, I have been an official in the court for nearly twenty years, so I can be considered an old man. Twenty years ago , I left Yingchuan, went to Tokyo for a study tour, and entered Taixue. It happened that the late emperor was giving lectures in Taixue. Because of my family ancestors, I was able to participate in the society and was fortunate enough to be awarded the title of doctor. From then on, I entered the official world until now. "
Next, is what everyone is familiar with: "I still remember that Luodu was prosperous at that time. I debated with He Xuehai for fifteen times in Taixue. There were as many strangers as stars in the sky, far better than today. But the whole world is full of misunderstandings of the imperial court and hundreds of officials. I am ashamed to be one of them. Therefore, I wrote to His Majesty and asked for permission to leave the capital. I traveled to various counties to collect stories and wrote a book to express public opinion."
"Later he returned slowly, and he defeated the Jinghai troubles with Sun Yat-sen, and defeated the Yellow Turban with the general, with few achievements. Following the order of the late emperor, he served as the prefect of Xihe. He first surrendered to Baibo, and then pacified the Xiongnu, and repeatedly defeated Xianbei. I thought that the border areas would be cleared. The world is at peace. Unexpectedly, the late emperor was in power and Dong Zhuo was harmed. Therefore, I fought three battles with the Liang people and finally settled Guanzhong and restored your majesty. However, in recent years, there has been great chaos in Guandong, and there is still no peace."
After reviewing the past twenty years, Chen Chong asked everyone: "Since Chang Shi has been eliminated and Dong Zhuo is dead, why hasn't the world been peaceful yet?"
When Chen Chong said this, he paused. Seeing that everyone in the audience was listening attentively, he continued: "The country is falling apart. First, the governors of prefectures and counties lead their own troops, horses, food and grass, and the emperor's orders are difficult to control, so the localities have their own way. The second is that God's will is unkind, and the Central Plains is hit by disasters every year. During the Guanghe period, there were even three disasters a year. It was difficult to collect taxes and troops. Third, officials were corrupt. They bullied the government and the people, did not love the people, and did not respect ghosts and gods. Therefore, the Han Dynasty If one loses his or her heart, he or she will often be rebellious."
All the ministers present here, from Situ Chunyujia to the officials of various governments, were touched when they heard this, and they held their breath and listened to Chen Chongkang's impassioned talk.
Chen Chong turned to talk about this financial inspection. He raised the joint list in his hand and said to everyone: "I ordered the financial inspection this time. In the short term, as this letter said, it may make Guandong... The officials are disappointed. But if I don't do anything, can the people's hearts in Guandong be saved? Although the world is big, it is built on a piece of earth and a tree. People's hearts are rare, but they are only a penny or a millet. Even if you can travel north and south, but you have lost your people's hearts, How can the country be stable?"
Although there were people talking in the audience, it was generally quiet. Even though most of the officials were expressionless, Chen Chong knew what they were thinking, and he had no intention of continuing to entangle with them. As he grows older, he is no longer willing to express with words, but is more willing to do it directly. His memory rarely leaves the words he told others, but more about what he has done.
He finally held his sword and said: "Chen Chong has gone through thirty-seven battles so far, and he has not yet been defeated. Don't worry, gentlemen. If there is rebellion in Guandong, I can put it down."
There was silence under the mourning platform. When the news came out, people outside the mourning platform cheered like thunder.
After the meeting, Chen Chong immediately led people to inspect the mansion, and brought angels and people to watch, to show that he had absolutely no selfish intentions. In the end, a total of 600 volumes of books, 900 acres of dry land, one servant girl, Yanxing five and ten thousand baht, and thirty gold cakes were found. This servant girl was invited by Chen Kui because Cai Yan was pregnant. The magistrate of the Sili school is the third one who sits alone, and is in charge of Sili and illegal affairs. The three public servants and the nine ministers are all subject to his control. In addition, Chen Chong acted as the minister, and all government affairs in the world passed through his hands. The power he held was so great that the only difference between him and the emperor was his status. But the only assets the family has are no more than those of an ordinary three hundred stone family. When everyone heard it, they were either amazed, admired, or laughed, with various reactions.
Chen Chong has not always been like this. When he was serving as a doctor's memorial service, Chen Chong set up a paper shop in Taixue to sell paper. He earned a hundred gold a year and had quite a lot of money. But now that he is a minister of the auxiliary country, it is not appropriate for him to do this anymore. All the paper mills have been set up as official properties for him, and all the money earned has been sent to the Jinyang Ba Mansion.
But no matter what, Chen Chong was the first to demonstrate and set an example, and finally implemented the financial inspection order. As for what is right or wrong, it is not something that people can predict.
