Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3284 Implementation and Trial

On the Emei Ridge.

Fei Qian stood with his hands behind his back, and Xun Chen followed him half a step behind respectfully.

In the distance and near, the mountains are green and lush, as if it is a beautiful painting of nature.

In later generations, most of the Emei Mountain has become barren, with yellow being the majority and green being scarce.

At present, there are still many ferns on Emei Mountain. These ferns, tall or short, occupy most of the area, so that if you look down from the air, the entire Emei Mountain looks like it is covered with a layer of soft green carpet.

However, these ferns that seem to be flourishing now are gradually degenerating due to temperature changes and human damage...

Just like Hangu Pass was a pass that caused great headaches for the six kingdoms during the Warring States Period, but by the time of the Han Dynasty it had become an ordinary city.

Different situations should have different changes due to time, events, places and people.

  All plants will evolve, and those that do not will face extinction. How long has it been since humans last evolved?

Fei Qian's thoughts were interrupted by the letter delivered back by Zhang Xiu on a fast horse.

What Zhang Xiu described was exactly as Fei Qian had expected.

Hedong and Hedong, and the people and the people, are not exactly the same.

After reading it and being silent for a moment, Fei Qian handed the letter to Xun Chen.

Regarding Zhang Xiu's report in the letter that the tenants in the Yuncheng Basin area of ​​Hedong "did not know what was good for them", Xun Chen also frowned, and after a moment's silence, he said, "My lord, I have heard that the sun is yang and the moon is yin. There is a reason for the rise and fall, and the cloudy and sunny days have their own principles. The reason for the mountains and rivers is the flow of rivers. Mountains are winding and steep, high and steep, and the peaks are uneven, but they cannot block the sun and the moon. Rivers are ups and downs, and the edges are like big rivers, but they cannot contain the stars. Now the land of Shandong is like the sun setting when it is at its peak, and the moon waning when it is full. The rivers are high and cannot cover the sky, and the rivers are deep and cannot contain the four seas. These people are like the shrubs in the mountains and rivers, and the fish and shrimp in the rivers. How can they know the operation of the heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and how can they know right from wrong?"

Fei Qian nodded slightly.

Xun Chen was indeed very smart, he even guessed part of Fei Qian's thoughts.

The land of Hedong can be divided into upper and lower parts along the line of Emei Mountain. The upper part is centered on Linfen and Pingyang, while the lower part is naturally centered on Anyi and Jiexian.

The areas of Linfen and Pingyang were basically abandoned in the late period of Emperor Ling, so much so that Ding Yuan, the then governor of Bingzhou, hurried back when he heard that the central government had an opportunity. He did not want to return to Bingzhou at all. This shows the embarrassment and hardship of the area northeast of Hedong at that time.

In contrast, the Yuncheng Basin in the south has always been under the control of the Han gentry.

This kind of control is extremely similar to the method used to control the people in Shandong.

After all, before Fei Qian came to Linfen and Pingyang to build a school and built the Qinglong Temple in Chang'an, the gentry in Hedong were all following the footsteps of Shandong.

It is very difficult to change a person's habits, and it is even more difficult to change the customs of a place.

Therefore, the customs of Upper and Lower Hedong are very different.

So what about the customs in Shandong and Shanxi?

Although Xun Chen's words do make sense, they are actually more of a comfort.

Fei Qian stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the vast land below the slope of Emei Mountain, and said in a deep voice: "In the past, Qin was the hegemon, and no one in the world dared to disobey it. But its defeat was like a mountain collapse that could not be stopped. The reason why Qin was defeated was not because its soldiers were not strong, its soldiers were not brave, its generals were not good, and its laws were not strict. It was because it lost the hearts of the people and the hearts of the world."

"The word 'people's heart' is not well explained. What is the people's heart? At the beginning of Qin, the country was governed by law, agriculture was emphasized and commerce was suppressed, so that the people had no second will. However, when the whole world was ruled, some people said that the law was too harsh and the people could not bear it. Who could not bear it? Chen Wu shouted an angry cry and responded to the people's heart. What is this people's heart? Whose heart is it? '

"He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and he who loses the hearts of the people loses the world. The defeat of Qin was due to ignorance. But now there is a car overturning, what can we learn from it?"

Xun Chen couldn't help but ponder after hearing this. He certainly wouldn't say that the people's will is the will of the common people. After all, in the Han Dynasty, the vast majority of the common people were ignorant and didn't even have a name, let alone understand the so-called political laws.

After thinking for a long time, Xun Chen bowed and asked: "My Lord, please enlighten me, what exactly is the meaning of the word "people's heart"? "

  We talk about the people’s will, we talk about the people’s will, but what is the real “people’s will”?

To be honest, Xun Chen also had worries.

If Fei Qian fights against Cao Cao, then there is no problem at all. But if Fei Qian goes crazy and does something like "Classmate Wang" and starts a land reform...

Fei Qian established military farms and granted land to the people who farmed there, but Fei Qian was still the "big landlord" of this era.

To put it simply, it's like a cleaner in a fat supermarket earning 6,000 or 7,000 yuan. The capitalists will only laugh at the stupid fat man, and then yell at the employees, "If you think it's good, then go ahead. But if the fat supermarket wants other capitalists to pay the cleaner 6,000 or 7,000 yuan together..."

If Fei Qian distributes his own or ownerless land to those people who settled in the countryside, the aristocratic landlords will not say a word, at least not in public. But if all the landlords in the world were to distribute land to their tenants, that would be a joke.

Fei Qian smiled, "The people's heart is not as precious as gold or jade, nor as beautiful as brocade. It is the foundation of the country and the cornerstone of the country. What the people hope for, the king will pursue; what the people hate, the king will avoid."

Xun Chen smiled helplessly and was about to say something, but then he changed his mind and frowned again.

Fei Qian seemed to have said a lot of clichés, but if you think about it carefully, there are many truths in it.

What is the root?

What is Cornerstone?

  What do people hope for and hate?

If a country's ruling class does not know what the people want and hate, or if they want to force ordinary people to distort their hopes and numb themselves, then even if all the information about Chen Sheng and Wu Guang is deleted and blocked, the roar in the swamp is inevitable.

Fei Qian waved his hands, "The issue of public opinion is very important, so let's talk about public opinion first."

Xun Chen couldn't help but let out a breath and nodded repeatedly.

  It's fine to just talk about these two words, but if someone really goes into detail, who wouldn't tremble?

"The will of the people is their own opinion, but the opinion of the people is not the will of the people. It is like a river to the four seas, one to the many." Fei Qian said slowly, "However, the opinion of the people in Han is mostly wrong. There are many who listen to one side and believe in one side, and few who are prudent and clear-headed."

This was not only true in the Han Dynasty, but also in many feudal dynasties. What is very interesting is that the more ordinary people are, the easier it is for them to empathize with capital. This capital is not necessarily limited to capitalists in later generations, but can also be landlords, nobles, tyrants, and aristocratic families who own a large amount of production and living materials.

"The debate on salt and iron is to compete with the people for profit, regardless of right or wrong, gain or loss. The only way to stop it is to get rid of it." Fei Qian shook his head and said, "But if the Han Dynasty loses salt and iron, will the people benefit from it? What was the price of salt during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu? What is it now?"

Xun Chen could not answer.

In the Western Han Dynasty, the price of salt was relatively cheap. In some years, the price of salt and grain was even equal or similar. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the salt and iron system, the price of salt did increase significantly compared to before, but after the salt and iron monopoly was abolished, the price of salt did not drop immediately, but rose sharply.

There may be some inflation factors involved, but if compared with grain, the price of salt changed from one to one or one to two in the early Han Dynasty to one to five in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and sometimes even one to eight.

Therefore, it is obvious that the sons of the gentry in the Han Dynasty led the people to criticize the government and abolished the state-run salt and iron industries, but the burden on the people did not decrease but increased instead.

What Fei Qian said is indeed a typical problem in China. Emperor Wu of Han was not the founder of state-owned enterprises.

After all, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, even the flesh trade was state-owned...

But an interesting phenomenon in China is that once conflicts arise between state-owned enterprises supervised by the government and private enterprises, public opinion overwhelmingly supports the private enterprises without any distinction.

Even if the conflict is normal business competition or dispute, people will support private enterprises regardless of the consequences.

  If we really want to calculate, the exploitation of ordinary people by these aristocratic families and gentry may be even more serious. The rent and tax exemptions and disaster relief in the court are often embezzled and divided by local officials and powerful people. When the local aristocratic families and powerful people rose to power, how many of them were free of original sin? How many of them did not rise and grow by trampling on legal norms and violating social morality?

But that's the problem. Public opinion inherently tends to favor these aristocratic gentry.

Of course, there must be reasons why the gentry and aristocrats secretly guided public opinion, but more importantly, Dong Zhongshu equated the emperor with heaven.

In other words, "Everyone is guilty, and the fault lies with me!"

In the West, all sins are attributed to God and Jesus, while in the East, this "God" is the Son of Heaven.

No matter what happens in the world, no matter what the people are unhappy about, the final blame will be on the emperor, or the court under the emperor. As for whether these problems really belong to the court or the emperor, most people will not think about it.

Of course, since the imperial power has the highest and greatest power in the world, it also needs to bear the greatest responsibility. Therefore, the saying "If all the people are guilty, the fault lies with me" is correct. As the emperor, he must face all the dissatisfaction of the people and solve all the sufferings of the people.

But the problem is that these people are so stupid that they also classify the middle class of the ruling class into their own chaotic and kind camp. They always take the nobles and powerful people as their spiritual sustenance, praise and boast about them, and empathize with their gains and losses, just like the old tenant farmer who was extremely sad about the loss of Master Wang...

This is not the first time Fei Qian has encountered such a thing.

Before Cao Cao attacked Hedong, Fei Qian once took Fei Zhen north to Yinshan Mountain, where they encountered a group of people who stopped their carriages and horses to appeal for justice for their master.

Fei Qian did not blame the people, but later punished the local gentry who instigated the people to complain, thus putting an end to the drama that treated Fei Qian and the people as fools.

But such an incident also left a warning in Fei Qian's heart.

  If this is the case in Hedong, what about Shandong?

An ordinary citizen, a tenant farmer who doesn't even have the means of production and living, is actually talking about the benefits of the gentry and the powerful?

Fei Qian believed that this was probably because the emperor was connected to God, just like the people always cursed the evil God when they were helpless. It was a vent for their helplessness towards their own fate and their pain.

But for the Han Dynasty at that time, is a centralized dynasty really the enemy of the people?

  For the people of the Han Dynasty, is it better to have a strong centralized state or a Warring States period with fragmentation and division among different regions?

History has made its choice, but the people are still in chaos.

Indeed, in the centralized dynasty system, there were many policies that made the people dissatisfied, or even deliberately exploited the people. But dissatisfaction does not mean a hostile relationship.

It is mainly about the opposition and unity of contradictions.

Fei Qian increasingly felt that the knowledge imparted in the junior and senior high schools of later generations was truly a magical tool...

Humans are social animals. They form societies, work together, and create wealth. But since there is division of labor and cooperation, there must be a certain order, and the order must be maintained by those in power, which inevitably forms power. Then what kind of organizational structure controls, restricts, and supervises this power becomes a different political system.

Therefore, we need to analyze specific issues specifically.

If Fei Qian had said these words before he had occupied Guanzhong and put forward the theory of the four classes of people, everyone would probably have laughed. Even if they said nothing, they would have felt disdain in their hearts.

After all, one should not meddle in matters that are not within one's jurisdiction.

But now that Cao's army is clearly defeated and Cao Cao is just making a last-ditch effort, Fei Qian's same words about the family and country system and the principles of governing the country will give Xun Chen a different feeling. It feels like Fei Qian is far-sighted and is thinking three steps ahead!

"My lord, you are right. The opinions of the people are mixed and it is difficult to distinguish the good from the bad. There are also traitors hiding among the people, using the name of citizens to do private things," Xun Chen said slowly, "I do have a plan, but I am not sure whether it is right or wrong because I have not thought about it very well."

Fei Qian raised his hand and gestured, "Go ahead."

"Since the lord has proposed the four classes of people, my humble opinion is that we might as well add another four classes of people." Xun Chen thought and said, "Nowadays, many people do not know right from wrong and do not know reason. They are not stupid, but they are misled by the thieves. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are mixed together, and the classics and prophecies are in chaos. The children of scholars do not understand agriculture and art, but they also say such things. Ordinary people naturally have no way of knowing why, let alone why, so many of them speak nonsense and do not know what they mean. I think that we can add seats for the four classes of people in the Censorate, such as the system of Xia and Zhou, to make it right and live up to its name, and perhaps let the people know the difference and understand the truth, so that scholars can discuss their studies, farmers can discuss their farming, artisans can discuss their tools, and merchants can discuss their markets, and perhaps we can avoid fraud, false politics and inferior power."

When Fei Qian heard this, his heart skipped a beat and he immediately fell into silence.

Xia and Zhou are two very important dynasties among ancient political regimes.

One was the integration of a single aristocratic tribal system into a monarchy system, and the other was the stripping away of witch gods to become a true monarchy system.

It is said that the Xia Dynasty ended the "abdication" system praised by Confucian scholars, and then used this to criticize the cruelty and incompetence of the last king of the Xia Dynasty. But in fact, the so-called "abdication" system is actually a struggle for the "alpha wolf" in the primitive tribe. The failed alpha wolf may not die on the spot, but his ending may not be as wonderful as described by Confucian scholars.

The reason why "Huaxia" is called Huaxia is not only the superficial meaning of the two words "Huaxia", but also represents that the core of Hua, Xia, Huaxia, Zhu Hua, and Zhu Xia is "Xia". This word was used by the Zhou people in the Western Zhou Dynasty before the Spring and Autumn Period to express their orthodoxy and national unity consistent with the Xia Dynasty.

Just as the Qin and Han dynasties must refer to the Zhou dynasty, while the Ming and Qing dynasties mostly refer to the Han and Tang dynasties, the succession of royal power must have its legitimacy in order to be recognized by the world. If the throne is obtained through less bright means such as usurpation, occupation, and murder, it will mostly be despised by the world and it will be difficult to maintain stability in governance.

As the first dynasty recorded in Chinese history, the formation and development of the political system of the Xia Dynasty had a profound impact on later generations. The political structure of the Xia Dynasty not only included the hereditary system, bureaucracy and legal system, but also reflected the balance between royal power and aristocratic power. In this context, the political system of the Xia Dynasty can indeed be seen as a prototype of an early parliamentary system, which is mainly reflected in the mutual restraint and balance between royal power and aristocratic power.

Qi, the founder of the Xia Dynasty, broke the traditional system of abdication and established a hereditary system, which marked the beginning of the inheritance of royal power within the family. This system guaranteed the stability and continuity of the regime to a certain extent, and provided an important reference for later dynasties. The Xia Dynasty established a relatively complete bureaucratic system, with officials at all levels having clear division of labor and responsibilities. This not only strengthened centralization, but also improved the efficiency of state management. The existence of the bureaucratic system enabled the Xia Dynasty to effectively manage state affairs and maintain social stability. In later dynasties, the system of division of labor among officials can still be seen, and it can be said that there is a shadow of the Xia Dynasty.

An important feature of the Xia Dynasty's political system was the balance between royal power and aristocratic power. Although royal power was the highest power, the aristocracy inherited a privileged position through the hereditary system and participated in the decision-making of state affairs, forming an effective constraint on royal power.

This kind of restriction later evolved into a struggle between the imperial power and the prime minister's power, and then evolved into a power struggle between the imperial power and the cabinet...

Overall, the progress of human society is determined by the refinement of social division of labor and the depth of integration of overall social resources. It is a process from extensive to intensive.

Some people say that the essence of China's governance is "holding meetings"...

In later life, Fei Qian also hated meetings, but later he found that what he hated was not the meetings themselves, but empty meetings, fake meetings, and meetings that did not involve any real issues. If you want to gather everyone's strength to solve practical problems, you must hold meetings. And to some extent, is this kind of "meeting" also a kind of "political discussion" or "deliberation"?

So what Xun Chen said seems to be the direction of development of a political system?

Fei Qian thought about it and said, "If what you said is true, we can give it a try. After we recover the land of Hedong, we can set up a branch of the Advisory Office in Anyi to test the system."

Although Fei Qian did not say it explicitly, it almost made it clear that Xun Chen would soon end his long-term residence in Pingyang as the chief steward and would be officially sent out to become a local chief. Otherwise, where would the so-called "trial production" come from?

Xun Chen could not help but prostrate himself on the ground, touching his head to the ground, "I will not let you down, my lord!"

Fei Qian stepped forward and helped Xun Chen up. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly saw soldiers rushing towards him from a distance. It seemed that something had happened...