Emperor Liu continued to listen to some of Zhang Dejun's interesting anecdotes about Xijing, ranging from the private affairs of officials to the people's sentiments in the city. Emperor Liu also relished them. This was also a way of entertainment for him recently.
"Recently, have the nobles gathered as frequently as before?" Looking at Zhang Dejun, Emperor Liu said calmly.
When Emperor Liu said this, his eyes were as deep and calm as an ancient well, bottomless. Hearing this, Zhang Dejun subconsciously lowered his head and responded with some caution: "Back at the official residence, I have been a little quiet in recent times. I have restrained myself a lot and am not arbitrarily discussing government affairs."
"Really!" Emperor Liu seemed to have some doubts.
"However, private meetings are still inevitable!" Zhang Dejun said again.
Emperor Liu couldn't hide his interest and asked: "Who is there?"
"Fenyang Gongyao met again, Pingyuan Gongsun Li, Shi'an Marquis Li Jixun, Mayi Marquis Dangjin, Haining Marquis Liu Guangyi, Guang'an Bo Cao Yuangong, and Guangyang Bo Zhao Kuangyi was also very busy at the banquet!" Zhang Dejun said.
"Sun Li!" Emperor Liu frowned suddenly.
"Exactly!"
"If you don't take care of yourself properly, you will get involved in such things!" Emperor Liu said with a hint of disappointment in his tone.
Zhang Dejun buried his head even lower. Of course he knew Sun Li's status in Emperor Liu's mind. He was a veteran Yuan Cong general who had been in charge of the army for more than 20 years. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel wary. Even Sun Li could arouse the emperor's dissatisfaction, so who else in the whole court could maintain his holy favor?
"Zhao Kuangyi? It won't take long for him to return to the court!" Emperor Liu seemed to be talking to himself: "Where is Zhao Kuangyin?"
Zhang Dejun said: "Rongguo Gong is not on duty when he is in the palace. He lives in seclusion and keeps silent!"
"These two brothers, haha!" Emperor Liu smiled. Among the nobles mentioned by Zhang Dejun just now, most of them were involved with the Zhao family. It was inevitable that Emperor Liu would think more: "Compared with his brother, Zhao Kuangyi is young after all. !”
It is obvious that Zhao Kuangyi is much more active in matters such as gathering relationships, cultivating power, and improving reputation. Zhao Kuangyin, on the other hand, has a high and powerful position, but he has always kept a low profile and kept his edge.
"Bring the memorial submitted by the official department!" Emperor Liu suddenly raised his head and ordered Yantuo on the other side.
"yes!"
This is a transfer list involving high-ranking officials at home and abroad. After several discussions beforehand, the political hall reached a consensus and Emperor Liu also gave instructions. Now it is up to him, Zhu Pi, to make the final decision.
Emperor Liu's eyes fell on Zhao Kuangyi's proposal to appoint the governor of Luoyang. After pondering for a moment, he finally approved the proposal with a wave of his ink pen.
"Let Zhang Yong return this memorial to the Political Affairs Hall!" Emperor Liu said to Chongyan.
"yes!"
"Where are the five families of Fu, Li, Gao, Zhe and Guo?" Emperor Liu asked again.
These five families are the five most important and prominent five relatives of the Han Dynasty. Regarding this matter, Zhang Dejun did not dare to hide anything. He seemed to be unanimous and kept to himself, not interfering or expressing his position.
However, in Emperor Liu's view, this was still not something worth gratifying. In recent days, Emperor Liu has not been constantly reflecting on his past policies. He has gained a lot from his past actions, and his relatives are also one of the important considerations. I don’t know when he started, but he felt that the power and influence of the relatives of the Han Dynasty seemed to be a bit heavy. .
"How is the condition of the British Duke?" Emperor Liu suddenly became concerned about Chai Rong.
"After the beginning of spring, things started to go back and forth. I have been lying on the bed for a long time!" Zhang Dejun replied.
Since returning to the Northwestern Dynasty, Chai Rong's health has been unsettled and has been recurring. Although he has received many treatments, he has never been able to recover. In the past ten years, he had devoted himself to the country at the expense of his health. In his later years, he was reduced to fighting against illness.
Although the surname Chai had been adopted long ago, in the eyes of many people, Guo Chai was still a member of the same family, and Emperor Liu actually thought so. But the other pillar of the Guo family, Guo Wei, Duke of Xing, has always been old and strong, living firmly and happily.
After much consideration, Emperor Liu said: "Be prepared, I will choose a day to leave the palace and visit Chai Mansion to visit the patient!"
"yes!"
With his eyes slightly closed, Emperor Liu leaned on the recliner, thoughts rising and falling in his mind. Emperor Liu really had no intention of targeting the distinguished ministers. As long as they abide by the law and spend some salary and rice to support them, it doesn't matter. They are meritorious ministers and deserve such treatment.
Emperor Liu admitted that he was not the kind of person who could only share adversity but not wealth. The reason why the meritorious officials were favored at the beginning and the promotion of the noble status was not only a certain compensation for taking over the power, but also because they wanted to have such a class that was closely related to the country to defend the imperial power and maintain the empire.
However, the development of things is always independent of human will, even if Emperor Liu is the emperor, he rules the world and is rich all over the world. After so many years, he found that the situation was not as he expected.
The nobles of the Han Dynasty, especially the founding heroes and military nobles, indeed played a very important role in the Han Dynasty. This was the cornerstone of the rule of the Han Empire. But at the same time, the influence of nobles and nobles is inevitably expanding, and gradually penetrates into the imperial court, both inside and outside the central government.
Not long ago, Emperor Liu reviewed the lists of military and political officials at the central and local levels of the Han Dynasty, and made a comparative analysis of the promotion, appointment and dismissal of officials in the past ten years.
It can be clearly found that the proportion of nobles among them is inevitably increasing, and they gradually occupy a large number of key positions. Especially, as time goes by, when the second and even third generations gradually grow up.
Even if you start from the same official position or honorary position, those with status and connections will rise faster and more steadily. This is especially obvious after the Kai Bao Year, and has already formed a trend. Among the rest, there are still a large number of people who are inextricably related to the nobles.
In contrast, those who take the scientific examination and are promoted through ordinary official positions have a much slower and more difficult process. In order to improve the "quality" of the scientific examination, there were considerable restrictions on the difficulty of the examination and the number of students admitted, which also led to the slow development of the Han bureaucracy. Even though it had been nine years since Dao Kaibao was established, the scholar-bureaucrats and landlord bureaucracy were still suppressed in the Han Dynasty.
The reason why Emperor Liu wanted to support a noble class in the first place was not only for the political consideration of compromise, but also for the reason that he did not necessarily take "Song Dynasty" as a warning to suppress the literati to avoid using culture to control military force.
But the facts have proved that the suppression seems to be too much. In the end, if the country wants to develop normally and stably, it is necessary to reuse civil servants. The influence and growth of the noble class eventually tended to infringe on the imperial power. This made Emperor Liu wary.
During this period, just some vague rumors and some high-level policies and guidelines have caused a lot of discussion and endless noise. This made Emperor Liu even more unhappy. Just showing some signs of it made some people unable to sit still. If one day, due to national affairs, the interests of the honorable nobles were infringed, what would happen? What would they do? They will not unite to resist policies, boycott the court, or even force him to get a palace.
Emperor Liu has always had the mentality that "there are always unscrupulous people who want to harm me", and every time he thinks of this, his heart feels itchy, as if a poisonous snake is biting him.
After so many years, the only thing that has not changed about Emperor Liu is probably his passion and love for unlimited power. After realizing the threat from the noble class, he inevitably had strange thoughts.
The so-called reduction of honorary salaries and restrictions on honorary treatment is only superficial. In essence, it is to limit their power so as not to threaten the imperial power and shake the emperor's status. Among them, relatives + nobles are the ones most likely to arouse suspicion.
There is no doubt that Zhao Pu belongs to the common people's bureaucratic class, which is completely different from those military aristocrats. Of course, he wanted to introduce some policies, which were not necessarily the same as Emperor Liu's starting point, but at least to a certain extent, they suited Emperor Liu's psychology and were consistent with him in the general direction.
And after going round and round, in the end, Emperor Liu seemed to be going back to the old path of supporting civil servants and the common people bureaucracy.
This also seems to be a strange circle, people get lost in it and can't get out of it. There is no real way out whether they turn left or right...
