"Zhi said: Since I came to the throne, I have governed the world with benevolence and righteousness. I have given rewards and punishments to deter conflicts. I have never been too lazy to seek talents. I love the people as if I were afraid of falling short. I am a pure child who knows my heart."
"I sincerely remember Han Fuyue, the Duke of Wuchang and the governor of Jinghu, who conquered and restored the Central Plains. He worked hard and made great achievements. He is the pillar of our dynasty and I rely on him.
"I have now specially sent Chen Yuanshan, the commander-in-chief in front of the palace, to express my condolences to the army in person with the imperial edict. If the Zhaoyi army refused to accept the order, I will forget all the blame and forgive everything. I will give gold, silver, money, silk and other things to comfort the soldiers for their hard work.
"I hope you will not betray my heart, and remember to be loyal to the king and serve the country, and I will encourage you to do so.
"On the day, month and year, the emperor gave a letter to Han Fuyue."
Taiwei Chen Yuanshan finished reading the edict and said to Zhao Haiping: "General Han, will you accept the edict?"
Zhao Haiping stood there calmly and reached out to take the imperial edict: "I accept the edict."
Chen Yuanshan was a little angry for a moment.
Because General Han Fuyue's behavior at this time, not kneeling or worshiping when seeing the imperial edict, was actually disrespectful. But considering that General Han has already done the most disrespectful things, there is really no way to delve into this little detail at this time.
However, I still have to try the mission of this trip.
Chen Yuanshan hesitated for a moment and then said: "General Han, the officials miss you very much. This time I came here because of the officials' entrustment. I would like to ask you to wait for the affairs in the north and find a time to go back to the Privy Council to report on your work. .
"Officials will also reward meritorious officials, so that they can help you, general."
Zhao Haiping couldn't help but want to laugh. Qi Gaozong and Qin Huizhi are really interesting. At this time, they still expect me to go back?
What are you going back for? Are you waiting to be arrested and killed unjustly? This time I don't have to worry about making excuses.
However, Zhao Haiping also knew that Chen Yuanshan was just a messenger, so he smiled calmly: "Don't worry, Taiwei Chen, the official's intentions are already clear, but the affairs in Beidi are complicated and I can't get away.
"When things in the North are almost settled, I will naturally rush to the capital and apologize in person."
Chen Yuanshan looked at Zhao Haiping suspiciously. It was obvious that he didn't believe it, but he seemed to have some luck in his heart, thinking that General Han Fuyue might still be loyal to the emperor.
Having said this, Taiwei Chen had nothing else to say: "In that case, I will resign first."
After Chen Yuanshan finished speaking, he exited the military camp.
Zhao Haiping didn't treat him politely, and casually arranged for one of his lieutenants to take care of him, then didn't bother to pay attention to him.
At this time, the official positions in the Qi Dynasty, during the Qi Huizong period, the actual status of the Taiwei had plummeted. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Qi, Taiwei was no longer a particularly important official position.
The three princes were as numerous as dogs, and the princes were everywhere. Although this was an exaggeration, it also showed the serious depreciation of these official positions in the Qi Dynasty.
And this Taiwei Chen Yuanshan was also severely marginalized in the court. He had to look at Qin Huizhi's face to act. This trip was just a hard job forcibly arranged for him by Qi Gaozong and Qin Huizhi.
Therefore, there is no need for Zhao Haiping to pay attention to it, and there is no need to be hostile. He can just accept the edict.
Returning to the Chinese army's tent, Zhao Haiping unfolded the edict again and read it from beginning to end.
I have to say that Qi Gaozong's attainments in calligraphy are indeed good.
It is written in regular regular script, and the handwriting is as natural and random as flowing clouds and flowing water, but the artistic conception is extremely sublime and the composition is clear and clear, with no flaws visible. The font is well-proportioned, the ink color is uniform, and the smoothness of the brushwork between the flying pen and the lifting pen is displayed.
In short, the authentic works of Qi Gaozong in later generations often fetch sky-high prices, which is enough to prove that his attainments in calligraphy were indeed unique.
It's a pity that no matter how good you can write, it doesn't mean you can be a good emperor.
Qi Huizong's calligraphy is also outstanding, and he can even create a new font himself, but so what? The Jingping Incident broke out, which made the people of the Qi Dynasty miserable, and the entire Northland was still wailing under the attack of the Jin people.
And what about Qi Gaozong?
His calligraphy can fetch sky-high prices, probably not only partly because his calligraphy is really good, but also because of the popularity of General Han Fuyue.
The phantom of General Deng Yuanjing stood beside Zhao Haiping, and he naturally witnessed the entire process.
Of course, during the war, Zhao Haiping also asked General Deng Yuanjing for his guidance. The second great victory at Zhuxian Town was actually won by Zhao Haiping and General Deng Yuanjing.
"I didn't expect that the imperial court actually acquiesced to your behavior." General Deng Yuanjing also felt a little incredible when he saw the content of the edict.
This edict was already a sign of submission. It not only absolved the sins of previous disobedience, but also showed goodwill.
Of course, Qi Gaozong didn't actually reward him with too much gold, silver or silk at all, he just wanted to do it a little bit. After all, he didn't want to "fund the enemy" anymore.
But what Zhao Haiping needed at this time was not the money and food.
The hidden meaning in the edict is very clear: General Han Fuyue, you are very awesome. Now the public opinion is fierce, I can't touch you. But don't go too far. In name, you are still a minister of my Qi Dynasty. Give me face and don't really start a rebellion. As long as you stay calm, I will acquiesce to your current state. If you want to fight for gold, just go and fight for it yourself.
Zhao Haiping smiled: "All trash has one characteristic, that is, it is strong on the outside but dry on the inside.
"The reason why Qi Gaozong and Qin Huizhi can manipulate General Han Fuyue and many generals at will is because these people have to abide by the rules. And they are the makers of the rules, so why can't they manipulate them?
“But towards the Jin people, they are completely obedient.
"The envoy of Jin dared to scold the emperor and officials in the main hall, but Emperor Gaozong of Qi did not dare to respond. The famous anti-Jin general was originally resting in an inn, but was asked by the people in the palace to make room for the envoy of Jin. When he was replaced, he was When he was resettled, he found that the yard of his residence was filled with animal excrement and garbage. He was so angry that he vomited blood and died suddenly.
"Why is there such a difference? It's nothing more than bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
"For military generals who can manipulate them at will, they will take advantage of them, but for Jin people who dare not offend them, they will be fearful and sincere.
"And now, I've gone from being someone they can manipulate at will to someone they can't mess with!"
Obviously, Zhao Haiping used this victory to make the DPRK's attitude towards him undergo earth-shaking changes.
In the past, he was a treasonous person and his crime was unpardonable. If the Jin people won, he would definitely be implicated by the Qi Dynasty in the name of treason and his whole family would be labeled as a rebel and would never be able to stand up again.
But now, the Jin army was defeated, and the Qi Dynasty's attacking army directly mutinied.
However, while Zhao Haiping was tough, he also showed an attitude that it was still negotiable and there was still room for redemption.
This made the frightened Qi Dynasty court instantly soften.
General Deng Yuanjing asked: "Then what do you plan to do next?"
Zhao Haiping threw the edict aside: "It's simple, they are busy with their business, and I am busy with mine!
“After this war, the Qi Dynasty and the Jin people still have to negotiate peace.
“But when they negotiate a peace, it has nothing to do with me.
"I want to continue to regain the Northland. This process may not be particularly smooth and will encounter many difficulties, but it is inevitable.
"I want to find a living space for the suffering people in the North in the gap between Qi and Jin!"
…
“Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Majesty!
"The peace is settled!"
Qin Huizhi held the peace proposal in his hand and handed it to Qi Gaozong.
Qi Gaozong's face showed joy and he reached out to take the peace proposal.
Previously, Qi Gaozong had sent bachelors from Duanming Palace and others to submit an oath form to the Jinren. The contents of the oath form were:
"The minister said that the territory we came to draw today is bounded by the flow of the Huaihe River. In the west, there are Tang and Deng states that belong to the upper state. Since it was created by grace, I promised to prepare the country. From generation to generation, descendants will strictly observe the minister's honor. Every year, the emperor's birthday will be celebrated on the first day of the lunar month. Envoys were sent to congratulate them endlessly. The annual tribute was 250,000 taels of silver and silk, starting from the year of Renxu. Every spring, people were sent to Sizhou to pay. With this alliance in Chongqing, the Ming God was killed, and the family was killed. His country. Now that I have entered the oath table, I am looking forward to the superior country to issue an oath edict, and the envoys of the common people will always have a guarantee."
The golden man's reply has also arrived at this time.
"The emperor Ruo said: Heaven has sent mourning to your state, and it is urgent to violate the Qi alliance and subvert it. Bi'er is on the outside of the river. With diligence, our army has been here for eighteen years. I use my condolences to express my condolences to the people. What a crime. Today, he regrets his misfortune, and sincerely invites you. He sends a memorial to you, and is willing to serve as an assistant. Now he sends Dr. Guanglu, Zuo Xuanhui and others to hold the title of emperor and appoint you as the emperor. The country will be named and the world will serve. As a minister, I will always be Pinghan. Oh my god, you are respectfully listening to my orders!"
Both sides are not difficult to understand.
Qi Gaozong put on a groveling attitude of a slave, claiming to be a vassal. At the same time, he agreed to use the Huai River as the boundary and cede Tangzhou and Dengzhou to the Jin people. He also did not want any of the northern land that had been lost and recovered before. He also promised that "descendants of the Kingdom of Jin will abide by the integrity of ministers for generations to come" and would like to send envoys to pay homage to the Emperor of Jin every year on his birthday, with an annual tribute of 250,000 taels of silver and silk.
He also swore an oath and told the consequences if he broke the alliance.
The Jin man, on the other hand, scolded Qi Chao in a condescending manner. First, it was said that the Qi Dynasty lost its destiny and violated its previous alliance with the Jin Kingdom, which led to war between the two countries. Now that the Jin people know that you are wrong, they will forgive you and allow you to surrender as a subject for generations and be obedient!
The words above did not save Qi Gaozong any face.
But Qi Gaozong was still delighted to read it over and over again.
In any case, it is also a peace agreement!
There is no need to fight anymore, and there is no need to worry about your unstable status. From today on, you can sleep peacefully and no longer have to be frightened by the search for mountains and seas!
After reading it twice, Qi Gaozong's joyful expression gradually faded away.
Qin Huizhi asked: "Why are the officials unhappy?"
Qi Gaozong seemed to have come to his senses: "Previously Wanyan Sheng insisted that General Han Fuyue must be killed before peace talks can take place. But at this time, aren't the Jin people still negotiating peace with me?
"If I really kill General Han Fuyue... wouldn't I be giving a big gift to the Jin people for no reason!"
No matter how stupid you are, you should understand now.
The golden man’s condition is just asking for a sky-high price!
Now that General Han Fuyue could not be killed, Wanyan Sheng also returned in defeat. As a result, when they went to negotiate for peace, the Jin people no longer mentioned the condition of killing General Han Fuyue, because there was no one who could kill General Han Fuyue. killed!
At this time, the Jin people were in chaos in the rear, and Wan Yansheng had to gather the remaining soldiers and the defeated generals to go back and put down the rebellion. Therefore, after the peace talks between the two sides dragged on for a while, the peace talks were generally settled in accordance with the previous peace agreement.
At this time, Qi Gaozong came to his senses. It seemed that General Han Fuyue could survive.
Qin Huizhi's face turned cold and his eyes rolled.
Clearly, he had to say something.
Although the Jin people brought up the matter of killing General Han Fuyue, he had been encouraging and promoting it.
At this time, Qi Gaozong came back to his senses and felt that peace could be negotiated without killing Han Fuyue. Then wouldn't the blame be firmly placed on Qin Huizhi?
Thinking of this, Qin Huizhi said coldly: "How can an official think so?
"It would be a big mistake not to kill Han Fuyue!
"At this time, Han Fuyue is tantamount to treason, and will soon become a serious problem for the officials!
"Although the Jin people have attacked our dynasty many times, they are just barbarians. How can they shake the official's throne? On the contrary, Han Fuyue has such popular support. If he were to wear a yellow robe, the official's life would be in danger!
"If Han Fuyue had been killed first, how would there be the current chaos? Once the peace agreement is concluded, the officials can rest easy.
"But now, as long as Han Fuyue is not dead, the official family will not be able to live in peace!"
Qi Gaozong's previous regrets were instantly wiped away, and he suddenly said: "What Qin Xiang said is true! I should have killed Han Fuyue long ago!
"But now that his wings have matured, even the Jin people are helpless. What can our court do?"
When Qin Huizhi saw Qi Gaozong, his thoughts changed instantly, and he said: "Don't panic, officials, this person can still be taken care of...
"Since the peace agreement between our dynasty and the Jin people has been completed, and the north of the Huaihe River has become the old land of the Jin people, then let the south return to the south, and the north return to the north. They will handle matters in the north by themselves.
"Han Fuyue's army is at its peak at this time, so we cannot face it head-on. It is better to use the strategy of driving away tigers and devouring wolves, and let Han Fuyue continue to fight the Jin people in the north. He has neither food, grass nor reinforcements, and sooner or later he will need them. If he is defeated, then it will no longer be considered that I killed him unjustly, it will be his own fault!
"If this plan works, Han Fuyue and the Jin people will lose both sides in the fight, and our country will benefit from behind the scenes. By then, the peace negotiation between our country and the Jin people will be more stable."
Qi Gaozong couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Okay! Just as Prime Minister Qin said!"
…
The peace negotiation between Qi and Jin has been concluded, and it is agreed that the Huaihe River will be used as the line, with the north belonging to Jin and the south belonging to Qi.
This was actually an unacceptable clause for the people of Qi Dynasty.
After all, General Han Fuyue has already reached the south bank of the Yellow River. After the victory at Zhuxian Town, he can immediately regain the old capital, and then cross the Yellow River and take back all the counties in Hebei and Hedong.
However, the emperor decided not to fight?
However, the common people do not have any decision-making power on such important military and national affairs.
According to the original historical development, after the death of General Han Fuyue and the conclusion of the Qi-Jin Peace Agreement, the two dynasties maintained peace for about twenty years.
In the past twenty years, Qin Huizhi of the Qi Dynasty gradually gained power. He not only persecuted the military attachés, but also the scholar-officials.
The Jin people were not prepared to attack Qi Dynasty again every day. First, he put down the rebellion in the rear and wiped out the rebels in Hebei, Hedong and other places. Then he set up military camps in these places and strengthened his rule.
After twenty years of this, Wanyan Hailing once again raised his troops to invade the south.
There may not be many records of this in history, but you can actually imagine how painful and desperate the people in the North will be after the peace agreement is signed.
They lived like slaves under the rule of the Jin people. Seeing the victories of General Han Fuyue's Northern Expedition, rebel armies from all walks of life rose up to respond.
They also knew that if the rebel army failed, they would be massacred by the Jin people;
They also know that the Qi Dynasty is also in chaos, the court is not necessarily clear and the taxation is not necessarily light.
But they still raised their troops to resist without hesitation.
Why?
Of course it was because they were all from the Qi Dynasty and still had illusions about the Qi Dynasty, but more importantly, the rule of the Jin people was too cruel and they couldn't survive anymore!
Therefore, they formed a rebel army and even sent military rations to General Han Fuyue, looking forward to it day and night.
In the end, all he got was Qin Huizhi's words: "Go south to the south, go north to the north."
I mean, you northerners should fend for yourself.
Even the rebels who ran to the Qi Dynasty, Qin Huizhi had to send them back to the north, let alone the suffering people in the north?
The Gungun princes of Qi Dynasty had long ago abandoned them like grass.
But in this trial fantasy, all this situation has changed.
In this vast area north of the Huaihe River and south of Yanyun, there is an additional force.
Originally, the Jin people's rule over this area was not stable, and they could only achieve indirect rule by establishing a pseudo-regime.
And now, Zhao Haiping will use the Zhaoyi Army he established to launch a vigorous cause in this vast area!
…
…
At this time, Fan Cun was in the trial illusion.
Having ascended the throne and become the emperor, he is immersed in political affairs every day.
Of course, he couldn't understand the memorials of the ministers, and he wasn't particularly good at handling these political affairs.
But he has the official plug-in Sheng Taizu.
At this time, Taizu Sheng was looking at one of the memorials with a stern expression.
"They are all words to flatter the superiors and bully the inferiors."
Fan Cun looked at the contents of the memorial with some curiosity. In his opinion, these were all empty words and cliches. They seemed to be a tribute to King Yun who had just arrived at the base, and also commended his own achievements.
With his weak foundation in classical Chinese, all his brain cells died after reading this memorial.
How did Sheng Taizu realize that this was a word of flattery and bullying?
Sheng Taizu snorted coldly: "I have seen this kind of memorial many times! This man is doing merit for himself, but he can't even calculate the land and taxes of the prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction! Although I don't know the local situation, I can tell from the few memorials he submitted. It can be easily seen from this figure that this is a lot of false reporting.
"As long as we send someone to investigate, we will definitely find evidence that this person is corrupt and has violated the law!"
Having said that, Taizu Sheng seemed to be a little dissatisfied: "There are still so many people in the court who are corrupt and pervert the law like this!
"It's no wonder that the Qi Dynasty had accumulated many disadvantages and was vulnerable to a single blow!
"Civilian officials love money, but military officials cherish death. It's weird to be good at it!"
To Fan Cun, these memorials seemed to be just eulogies and full of cliches and empty words, but to Sheng Taizu, he had a sharp eye like a torch and instantly saw that the entire Qi Dynasty had turned into a sieve.
After all, Sheng Taizu started in the grass and worked step by step from the grassroots level. What kind of tricks have he not seen before?
These civil servants wanted to make a fuss about numbers. It was easy to fool an emperor like Qi Huizong who only knew how to write calligraphy and play football. But to fool Taizu Sheng, it was really like lighting a lantern in the toilet and courting death.
Fan Cun was a little curious: "Hey, didn't I hear that the Qi Dynasty was a dynasty with high salaries and integrity? The salary of officials in the Qi Dynasty was the highest in history, and the Jingping incident was just a sudden death for the Qi Dynasty, and the life span was not over. Why? At this time, the government is already on the verge of collapse?"
Taizu Sheng chuckled: "High salary to support integrity? This is an interesting statement.
"High salary can support integrity? I have never believed it!
"Young man, think about it for yourself, if you are an ordinary person and you have to look for a subordinate to do things, and if the subordinate's salary is only two taels of silver a month, how much money can you spend to make ends meet? On the contrary, if a subordinate's monthly salary is Your salary is only ten taels of silver. How much money do you need to spend to make peace?
"If it is the so-called high salary to support integrity, and a special sum of money is allocated to support integrity, then these low-level officials and subordinates can hire people to work if they have money! In the past, even exploitation was done secretly, but now they can hire people to spread the work. Layers of code have been added, and a lot of procedures have been added for nothing, but the people at the lowest level have been exploited even more!"
Fan Cun suddenly asked: "So, low salary can better support integrity?"
Sheng Taizu shook his head: "Of course not. High salary cannot support integrity, and low salary certainly cannot support integrity! In the final analysis, whether an official is honest or not has little to do with the amount of salary.
"Officials are the ruling class of the country and they hold privileges! If you want to fill their appetites with money, how much money can you fill?
“If you give ten taels, they dare to think of thirty taels; if you give thirty taels, they dare to think of three hundred taels!
"No matter how much money you give to maintain integrity, they will get used to it, and then their selfish desires will expand, and they will still have to double this number several times."
Fan Cun nodded: "That's true. Then how can we maintain integrity?"
Sheng Taizu said seriously: "It's very simple, the butcher's knife can nourish integrity! All officials and subordinates who commit adultery, commit corruption and bend the law should be pulled out and sentenced to death!"
“Although this move cannot cure the root cause, it can treat the symptoms.
"If it is renovated from generation to generation, it will be clear and bright from generation to generation; if it is abandoned once and accumulated for a long time, it will be an irreversible situation."
Fan Cun nodded, having a new understanding of the situation at this time.
Of course, what Taizu Sheng said is not entirely correct. If the salary of officials is really so low that they cannot maintain their daily lives, and even buying food and meat is a problem, then they will take risks and engage in corruption.
Therefore, high salaries to support incorruptible officials are actually part of a variety of measures. Strict punishments and decentralized supervision must first be implemented to make corruption easier to detect and punished more severely. Only then can high salaries be provided to support incorruptible officials to ensure their basic Life.
Only if these three aspects are achieved, high salaries and high integrity will have certain results.
This may have hope in modern society, but in ancient society, the hope was very slim.
Sheng Taizu was an emperor from a lower-class background, and he had a deep hatred for these subordinate staff, so he felt that he was overdoing it in this regard.
But no matter what, the official administration of Sheng Taizu's dynasty was the clearest.
Many people use the fact that corrupt officials still appear after Sheng Taizu killed them to argue that killing corrupt officials is useless. This is obviously wrong. In fact, it is indeed impossible to kill all corrupt officials, but killing them is better than not killing them.
Later, there was also an attempt similar to "raising honest silver", but the final result was that officials stopped working, hired people at all levels to increase the showdown, and became pure exploiters themselves. The more honest officials are promoted, the more people they hire. Even in a small county, the number of subordinate officials can reach 2,000. Because of their high salaries, these people's living standards have improved, and their exploitation of the subordinates has also increased significantly.
No matter how well the system was designed at the beginning, it will completely change in the later stages.
The situation in Qi Dynasty at this time was actually more serious.
Because the Qi Dynasty had a magical system called "Enyin", the children of officials could directly enter the officialdom without going through layers of selection or taking the imperial examination. This is indeed a good way to win over the scholar-bureaucrats, so that all officials in the DPRK and China can sing praises to the emperor. However, the result is that a large number of overstaffed officials do not do their job, and the situation of redundant officials becomes more and more serious.
Wang Wenchuan wanted to solve this problem when he carried out the reform, but in the end he couldn't solve it at all.
After all, to change this point would be to go against all the civil servant groups in the court, and it would be easy for Wen Junshi to get ridiculed by "just to share the world with the scholar-bureaucrats".
Fan Cun fell into deep thought: "The situation of official corruption is very serious, and the problem of redundant officials and overstaffing is also very urgent.
"Even... there are so many officials, it's a bit of a headache to check them one by one. There are too many!
"What should I do?"
Taizu Sheng smiled coldly: "Isn't this simple? Create a great prison!
"Find a bigger reason and involve all the officials in the court! Then conduct a thorough investigation!
"If someone is found to be idle, find a reason to implicate him and remove him from office; if someone is found to be corrupt, behead him; if he is in an important position and cannot be moved for the time being, use both kindness and power to let him continue to work for a while!
"Create several big prisons and kill everyone!
"When the killings are almost complete, we will then reform the official system and eliminate all redundant positions. Then we will establish the imperial examination and select a large number of officials from civilians to fill these vacancies and use them to check and balance these old party officials!"
Fan Cun thought for a while: "I'm afraid we can't rush this matter. After all, the Jin people are still watching outside the city. If too many officials are killed and it triggers turmoil in the court, will there be danger?"
Sheng Taizu sneered: "What danger is there! They are just a bunch of rotten scholars. If they can really get things done, how can there be a Jingping incident?
"Those who are talented must naturally be put to good use to bring things right out of chaos. But those who dance happily must be the most stern and cruel at heart!
"When the time comes, you can let the Western Army hunt for gold, and at the same time, you can naturally control the entire capital in a wartime state, use the Wude Division to spy on the city's intelligence, and by the way, you can also find out the corruption of these officials.
"Those who refuse to obey will be killed without mercy!
"When everyone is killed in the capital, the people will clap their hands and cheer, calling our emperor a saint.
"To put it bluntly, as long as you have a knife in your hand, you can cut through the mess quickly without any restrictions!"
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