Throughout the dynasties, when people were unable to survive due to disasters, they would actively migrate to big cities.
Big cities have more resources and rich people. Although leaving your hometown in this way requires you to risk starving to death on the way, since you are waiting to die if you suffer a disaster in your hometown, it is better to go to the big cities and try your luck to see if you can find someone to survive. hope.
This is escape.
But the problem is that in ancient times, people were not allowed to carry out large-scale independent migration. They had to have a road guide when going out. Without a road guide, it was equivalent to being a strongman. If caught by the government, they would be severely punished.
Although facing this kind of famine situation, the chief officials of big cities with a little bit of conscience will choose to open the city gates and accept relief people, but if you really don't open the city gates, it makes sense.
Especially in the current situation in Chang'an, where you are on the border and there were enemy movements some time ago, how do you know that when you open the gate of Chang'an, all the people who come in are ordinary people? !
What should we do if there are enemy troops mixed in and inciting chaos after entering the city? !
Therefore, Zhang Xi's decision to open the gates of Chang'an City came with certain risks.
But now, Zhang Xi has no choice but to do this.
Zhang Xi was really worried if he did not open the city gates to accept the people affected by the disaster and relied on local officials to deal with these victims.
The county magistrates, county lieutenants, and county magistrates of the forty-six counties in Guanzhong are basically newcomers who have only been in office for less than half a year. If they just lack administrative experience, there is an understanding. If there are two people among them who have bad intentions, or If you don't take the life and death of the people seriously, that would be really troublesome.
There are not many winter resources left, and we can’t afford “middlemen making the difference.”
Of course, the opening of Chang'an is not entirely due to concerns about local officials. The most important thing is that Chang'an has enough houses to resettle some of the victims.
Apart from anything else, Chang'an, as the capital of the Han Dynasty, had quite a few palaces in the city, and most of the wealthy families in the city had moved away due to Manchu favor, leaving a lot of empty houses.
Theoretically speaking, Zhang Xi is not qualified to open these houses to ordinary people.
The Chang'an Palace, whether it is empty or not, is a royal property and a private property belonging to the emperor. Is the place where the emperor lives a place where people can come and go at will? !
And the family's property is not very able to move.
You don't care whether these aristocratic families have moved to the pass, but the title deeds of these houses are always in their hands, and these houses are their property.
Even if you are the governor of Yongzhou, you cannot occupy it.
This is not a question of whether Zhang Xi has power or not, but a consensus among the families in the world. Even if the families who stayed in Chang'an have nothing to do with these families who moved in, if Zhang Xi dares to occupy the properties of these families who moved in, then the families who stayed in Chang'an will They will also attack Zhang Xi.
This is a matter of core interests. This hole cannot be opened. Once it is opened, local officials can expropriate the family's property at will, let alone the emperor. Is this okay? !
At worst, the Chang'an family would not agree, but at worst, no family in the world would agree.
Therefore, when Zhang Xi said that he would open the city of Chang'an to accommodate the people affected by the disaster, no one raised any objections. But when Zhang Xi said that he would requisition the unowned houses in the city and open the royal palaces to accommodate the people, all his subordinates jumped out one by one. Objected.
I really don’t blame these people, because since ancient times, no official has treated the people with such low standards.
From the standpoint of Jiang Wan, Chen Zhi, Huang Quan and others, they really couldn't understand what their governor was thinking.
Indeed, as a local governor, it is your duty and responsibility to govern the local area and provide disaster relief to the people. But there is no need to do this, right? !
Forget about the aristocratic families, there is more or less a way to negotiate this, but the royal family's industry is so easy to move? !
Now Chen Zhi couldn't help it anymore. Chen Zhi, who had never opposed Zhang Xi, stood on the opposite side of Zhang Xi this time and persuaded Zhang Xi to give up opening the royal palace.
The main reason is that it doesn’t sound good if you say it out loud.
As the Tuogu minister, Zhang Xi was supposed to support the emperor and support the country, but now he opened the royal palace to the common people without the emperor's consent. At a small level, it was acting without an edict. At a large level, it was an intentional insult to the emperor's majesty. , deceive the king and ignore the superior.
Is this what a minister should do? !
Not only Chen Zhi felt this way, Jiang Wan, Huang Quan, and even Liu Yin and Hu Zun, who heard about the matter, also sent documents to express their objections.
Liu Yin said that although he was incompetent, he would never let the people overstep their bounds and live in the emperor's palace. At worst, he would open his county governor's mansion and leave it to the victims of the disaster, and he would take his whole family to live in military tents.
Hu Zun said that there are many aristocratic families in Chang'an City. If Zhang Xi opens the empty houses of aristocratic families in the city to the common people, it will definitely hurt the hearts of the aristocratic families. Zhang Xi should think twice.
The more Zhang Xi listened, the more he felt that this matter was a little different from what he thought. Really.
Zhang Xi originally thought that most of the people who opposed his decision were concentrated on the side of the aristocratic family.
After all, the influence of the aristocratic family is extremely great these days. Although the number of the Chang'an aristocratic family has decreased a lot, there are still many left after all, and the encroachment on the aristocratic family's property will definitely be severely resisted by the aristocratic family. No, this disaster relief effort is inevitable and may trigger local unrest.
But who knows, these subordinates are actually more concerned about the problems of the emperor's palace. For the aristocratic family, these people are basically not taken seriously.
Jiang Wan and Chen Zhi said that dealing with the aristocratic family was negotiable. Even Hu Zun, as the spokesperson of the Guanzhong aristocratic family, only said that the aristocratic family would be "sad" because of this and hoped that Zhang Xi would "think twice". At first glance, this seems unreasonable. It doesn't seem like the consequences will be serious, right? !
so.
"In your opinion, at this time, it damages the royal dignity but has nothing to do with the family's face?!" Zhang Xi asked, not quite understanding.
Regarding this, Chen Zhi explained helplessly, "Even though this matter is inappropriate, the aristocratic family is not as good as the royal family. Faces are at stake in royal affairs. The aristocratic families can eventually gain understanding, as long as the governor pays a small amount." .”
I mean, as for the aristocratic family, as long as the interests are in place, it is not something that cannot be comforted and discussed.
Jiang Wan nodded slightly, but said with some disagreement, "In the past, during the Battle of Guanzhong, most of the Guanzhong families followed the Wei thieves into the Pass. This was an act of abandoning the Han Dynasty and joining the Wei Dynasty. The late emperor was kind and did not pursue the case. Now the people of Guanzhong are suffering, and the family is The separation of national concerns is a righteous act, so why are there any objections?!"
I mean, if those aristocratic families who moved to Guanzhong were to be strictly investigated, Liu Bei could punish them as traitors and confiscate their property. It was just that Guanzhong had just been occupied at that time, so he had more worries. No action.
Now they are just borrowing the assets in their names to help the people. They themselves are no longer in Chang'an. We have the final say on how to arrange it. Looking back, we only need to publicize that these aristocratic families voluntarily lend out empty houses, which will also be good for their reputation among the people. Why not? !
Jiang Wan's attitude became a little tougher.
But Huang Quan still said, "The Guanzhong family is in decline, but you should not treat it like this. The person I am concerned about is the Central Plains and Hebei family. If we decide the family's property so easily, we will inevitably attract criticism. However, this time the governor acted, It's just an emergency. The assets of the family are temporarily released, and they are not taken for one's own. They can be returned to the family and compensated afterwards. Prefect Hu's intention is probably the same."
After all, Huang Quan still stood from the perspective of the noble family and helped to say something.
The meaning of this statement is actually to tell Zhang Xi that there are not many aristocratic families in Guanzhong nowadays, so they naturally do not dare to show their teeth in front of Zhang Xi, the governor of Yongzhou, who has great power and is entrusted with a lonely and important minister.
That's why the words in Hu Zun's document to Zhang Xi were so soft.
But again, what these aristocratic families are worried about is not that Zhang Xi will open up the properties of those aristocratic families who have moved in. What they are most worried about is that Zhang Xi will confiscate the properties of these aristocratic families under pretexts.
If you confiscate the fields of these relocated families and re-divide them, this is understandable. After all, the people have fled and there is no one to farm the land. The land cannot remain uncultivated.
No matter how generous the monarch is these days, he will not be polite to you on the land issue.
But things like houses and family property are different. They are not worth much in themselves, but their symbolic meaning is great. If even this asset is to be appropriated, the family will definitely not be able to accept it.
Therefore, the Guanzhong Family actually conveyed a bottom line to Zhang Xi through Hu Zun - it can be opened to the people for refuge, but it cannot be used as their own. It must be returned afterwards and a certain amount of compensation must be given.
Well, this compensation. Although the aristocratic families that have moved inland to the pass can't get it, they can't live without it, even if it's just a pretense.
After figuring out the thoughts of his subordinates, Zhang Xi suddenly became enlightened.
If I had told you earlier, if I had known that the Guanzhong family was so easy to talk to, the rest of the things would have been easier to handle.
Zhang Xi immediately wrote a letter to Hu Zun, asking him to tell the aristocratic families on his behalf that the requisition of houses to resettle the people was only a temporary move and would be returned later.
The dignified governor of Yongzhou still looked down upon those empty houses.
As for the Chang'an Palace, Zhang Xi didn't take it to heart at all.
At least in Zhang Xi's view, the opening of the palace complex in Chang'an is the least problematic.
With Zhuge Liang's character, as long as he can appease the people and provide disaster relief, you just ask for the royal palace in Chengdu to be released. He, Zhuge Liang, dares to make this decision.
Furthermore, this matter is actually not without benefit to Liu Chan.
Now that the Han Dynasty has just settled in Guanzhong, the people's hearts are not yet attached, and there is such a severe snow disaster. If Liu Chan issued an edict to open the Chang'an palace complex to resettle the victims, who would be the most grateful person after the disaster rebuilds their homes? !
Since ancient times, how many emperors in the world would be willing to open their palaces to the people to relieve disasters? !
Liu Chan ascends the throne as the new king, what is he lacking most? !
It is the people's support and prestige.
In this matter, Liu Chan only needed an edict to make the people in Guanzhong appreciate Liu Chan's kindness. This was easier to make the people grateful than some administrative measures that lightly shook taxes.
Even if Liu Chan doesn't realize what this move means, Zhuge Liang will help him realize it.
Therefore, Zhang Xi really is not worried that Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang will disagree with this matter.
But, what my family members said makes sense.
As a minister of Tuogu, and being outside, it is really not easy to act without an edict.
Therefore, Zhang Xi had to report this matter specifically and go through the process. After the memorial was sent, Zhang Xi did not wait for the emperor's reply and directly asked Chen Zhi to prepare for the opening of the palace.
After finishing these things, Zhang Xi could barely breathe a sigh of relief. He had a place to live, and there was no shortage of food for the time being. The only thing he lacked was probably heating in winter.
There isn't enough charcoal.
When he thought of this, Zhang Xi immediately entrusted Huang Quan to contact the heads of the major families in Chang'an City. Zhang Xi, the governor of Yongzhou, wanted to invite people to dinner.
To put it bluntly, Zhang Xi wants to "beg for help", and it depends on whether any Guanzhong family is willing to give him this face.
There is not much official fire carbon storage left, but Zhang Xi believes that these Guanzhong aristocratic families should have a lot of inventory in their hands. It depends on how they can get it out.
(End of chapter)
