Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 389

"Isn't this Yuan Jun?"

"Long time no see, are you still okay?"

Chao Cuo grinned, with mocking sarcasm in his words.

Yuan An was the worst among the young men who served under Chen Ping's command. He was promoted in reverse, constantly moving back and forth between localities and temples. Liu Chang even called him a "little guy who sells straight". Cuo didn't deal with this fellow at first. When the two were under Chen Ping's command together, Chao Cuo was anxious to express himself, often dealt with things according to his own ideas, and actively spoke to Chen Ping, hoping to persuade Chen Ping to follow Do it yourself.

Yuan Ang was quite dissatisfied with his behavior. Yuan Ang believed that Chao Cuo was selfish, disregarded the overall situation, and stretched his hand too far. Since then, Chao Cuo and Yuan Ang have become enemies. No matter where Chao Cuo meets Yuan Ang, he will never miss the opportunity to attack him.

The two are like the next generation of Zhaoping and Zhang Budo.

But the difference is that Yuan Ang has high demands on himself. He will not fight back against Chao Cuo, and he will not take advantage of his words. Unless Chao Cuo is really wrong, he will not care about Chao Cuo's sarcasm. Yuan Ang always looked bitter and hated, and did not like to speak.

Facing Chao Cuo's ridicule, Yuan Ang just replied calmly, "No problem."

"Hahaha, it seems that the food in Beidi County is still good. You have gained a lot of weight. This time you came back from Beidi? Where do you work?"

"Serve in the Shaofu."

Chao Cuo was even more proud, he raised his head, "I told Your Majesty that I need some subordinate officials to come to help, but I didn't expect that Your Majesty would send you here, if you don't do well, I won't care about your old feelings. , You have to do things well and don't neglect! Do you understand?!"

However, Yuan Ang ignored Chao Cuo, and Chao Cuo was not in a hurry. Anyway, it was under his command, and he would watch it in the future.

Just like the other ministers around Liu Chang, Chao Cuo also has his own flaws, and when later generations evaluate Chao Cuo, they often use four words, "sharp, straight, engraved, deep", that is, strict, upright, harsh The ruthless Chao Cuo is not a generous person, and his relationship with almost all the ministers is not very good, even to the level of life and death, which is relatively rare in the early Han Dynasty, even if there are conflicts among the other ministers, not reach this level.

They waited here for a long time, and finally, the frame of Shaofu Ling came.

The Shaofu had already opened the door, and the officials looked at the two young people standing in front of the door in surprise. They were quite familiar with these two. After all, they used to work in the Shaofu in the past, but they were unwilling to take care of them.He didn't want to talk to Yuan Ang because Yuan Ang was a boring person, and he was sluggish when dealing with others, even though his social skills were not very good.

Zhang Cang stepped down from the carriage unhurriedly, and when he saw the two people in front of him, he let out a long sigh.

Chao Cuo hurriedly stepped forward to meet him, "Meet the Shaofu Commander by mistake!"

He did not claim to be a minister, this is also his intention to show his own intention. His ministerial decree will not obey the control of the Shaofu, and he is no longer a servant of the Shaofu, but Zhang Cang did not want to play with the doll in front of him. What is playing the house, the other party's thoughts are with him, it's terrifyingly immature, and he doesn't even care about it.

"Well, it's all here, let's go."

Zhang Cang led the two into the mansion. The officials were busy working, but Zhang Cang brought them into the study.

Zhang Cang sat down and looked at the law in front of him.

He doesn't like these two. Where are these two subordinate officials, these are two big troubles.

Fortunately, in the future, even if these two departments are directly led by the Son of Heaven, as long as these two big troubles do not fall on their own heads, everything is easy to say.

"In the future, you don't have to come here to meet, and go directly to the palace to handle the transfer or arrangement of officials. I won't ask. Of course, if something happens, I will send someone to inform you. You can just stay in the palace with peace of mind."

"I heard that your majesty ordered your young mansion to receive a minister, and then you will take care of the minister's affairs in the future."

Chao Cuo said with a smile.

With Chao Cuo coming, Zhang Cang can no longer deal with the memorial, can he rest?The answer is no, this King Li, in the spirit of using it to death, has opened up an unprecedented official position for Zhang Cang, leading the Shangshu with the young mansion, what does it mean?Even if he is the leader of the young mansion in his own job, and he is part-time as a minister, the memorial still has to be dealt with, but it is no longer dominated by him, but by the official minister, Chao Cuo.

This is very embarrassing, Shang Shu belongs to Shaofu, Zhang Cang is Chao Cuo's head, Shang Shu is in charge of leading Shang Shu, and Chao Cuo is Zhang Cang's head.

Zhang Cang persuaded several times, but it was useless at all. Liu Chang couldn't listen to the persuasion, and even threatened Zhang Cang. If the master ignored him again, it would not be the minister of command. Books will be led by Shang Fang. Anyway, all the vacancies that are suitable for you will be taken, and no matter the nonsense, the state minister will let you take it!
Naturally, Zhang Cang didn't dare to say anything more. He should just lead the Shangshu. It's better than the Shangshuling. He is equivalent to the external staff and guidance of the Shangshu.

Seeing that this fellow Chao Cuo had the idea of ​​competing with him for the first place, Zhang Cang didn't care, and said directly, "You can take care of the big and small matters of Shangshu yourself."

Immediately, he waved his hand and let these two unsightly guys get out.

Walking out of the Shaofu, Chao Cuo's face was full of envy.

The minister of the young mansion, this Duke Zhang is really deeply loved by the emperor, what a blessing this is.

After leaving the young mansion, Chao Cuo walked in front of Yuan Ang and asked casually, "What position do you want to hold?"

"When Your Majesty saw me earlier, he had already been conferred an official position."

"What position is it?"

"Zhongshu Order."

"Oh, Zhongshu. What?!!"

Chao Cuo almost jumped up.

He had always thought that Yuan Ang was here to assist him, but he didn't expect that this fellow was here as a scholar, so wouldn't he be on the same level as him?Can he even manage himself? ?But how could it be?His Majesty clearly hates this guy so much, how could he still let him stay by his side? ?
When the two of them came to the palace and started to take over the people under Zhang Cang's command to form their own team, Chao Cuo ignored the matter. It took him three days to finally complete the appointment and dismissal of officials. Most of these people were transferred from Zhou Chang. They were young and quite talented. It is hard to say whether they can support the inner court, but for now they are still able to make do.

Just when Chao Cuo was handling the affairs of Shangshu, Liu Chang brought people to visit.

And the person following him, of course, is Yuan An, the commander of the Central Book.

Chao Cuo took advantage of Chang Liu's arrival, and finally asked something that he couldn't understand for a long time, "I heard that Your Majesty hates Yuan Ang very much, why do you keep him by your side?"

To this, Liu Changyu replied earnestly: "None of your business! Hurry up and review those memorials! How many memorials are there?!"

Liu Chang is still slowly building his own internal court system. The courtiers did not have much objection to Liu Chang's behavior. After all, this person can't be persuaded. He can do whatever he likes. It is not impossible for these people to do the work instead of him. The emperor himself reviewed the memorial, but it made the officials in various places miserable.

The ministers' requirements for Liu Chang are very low, and they don't need you to be diligent in governance. You can go out hunting in peace, just don't mess around!

On the contrary, Chang Liu was full of confidence in his inner court system. He felt that with this system, he would be able to hunt with peace of mind from now on, and the temple affairs would be carried out in an orderly manner.

However, in order to enjoy such a blessing, one must bear a small price.

And this price
"Why do you suppress my impeachment?! Are you treasonous?! You are just a subordinate of the Nine Ministers. Who gave you the power to suppress the court official's statement without authorization?!"

The furious Zhang Shizhi pointed at Chao Cuo not far away during the court meeting and cursed.

"There is a system in the temple, you act recklessly, deceive Your Majesty, according to the law, you should be executed!"

Chao Cuo lowered his head and said nothing.

However, Zhi Du got up and said coldly; "Empress Zhang has to impeach me dozens of times every month for suppressing the decree of the Shangshu, which is also right. Besides, the decree of the Shangshu was set up by His Majesty, who is in charge of this matter. The past system punished His Majesty's ministers, you are blatantly despising His Majesty and ignoring His Majesty's orders, you are the one who should be punished!"

"What did you say?! If you act according to the law, how can I impeach you?! You and Chao Cuo are the same raccoon dog, acting recklessly and trampling on the law in His Majesty's name!"

Zhang Budo couldn't bear it any longer, and scolded, "Shut up!"

"This is a court discussion, who allowed you to quarrel here? You just don't take His Majesty seriously!"

As soon as Zhang Budo opened his mouth, the two stopped arguing.

Chao Cuo opened his mouth and said: "You are a doctor of the imperial censor, but the ministers quarreled in front of His Majesty. This is your dereliction of duty! Before His Majesty spoke, you stood in front of His Majesty and roared loudly. What can a servant do?!"

Zhang Budo was shocked and angry, "I'm helping you!!"

Zhang Shizhi immediately exclaimed: "How can the doctor of the imperial censor win over the officials of the inner court? Your Majesty has an order! The inner courtiers and the outer courtiers should not have illicit affairs. Is Zhang Gong trying to form a party for personal gain to cultivate his own power?!"

Zhang Budo was furious and was about to refute.

Zhi Du pointed at Zhang Shizhi and scolded: "The imperial censor is one of the three princes and supervises the ministers. This is not favoritism, it is maintaining the order of court proceedings. You always use some loopholes to deal with ministers. You have a reputation for being upright, how can you say that you behave like this??"

It's not clear how the ministers are, anyway, Chang Liu, who is sitting in the upper position, is completely stunned.

The four legalists in front of him seemed to be caught in an endless cycle. Zhang Shizhi and Zhi both scolded each other, Zhang Budoubt scolded them, then Chao Cuo scolded Zhang Budo, Zhang Shizhi scolded Chao Cuo, Zhi They all went to scold Zhang Shizhi again, Zhang Budo scolded Chao Cuo, Zhang Shizhi scolded Zhang Budo. Anyway, Liu Chang just felt dizzy, and for a while, the appearance of these four people became blurred, who is who? Some are indistinguishable.

"enough!!!"

Liu Chang screamed violently, and the four of them shut up at the same time.

The ministers looked at Liu Chang gratefully. The ministers didn't like Liu Chang roaring rudely during the court meeting. However, the roar this time sounded so pleasant. If it could be heard by their respective ears Once, that's even better.

Looking at the four people who pleaded with him at the same time, Liu Chang had a toothache.

He really didn't expect that these four people, who are also legalists, would be so fiercely arguing.

Fortunately, Liu Chang is also somewhat prepared.

"Where is the Chinese Book Order?!"

"The minister is here."

"You hold my saber, stand aside, and when the four of you dare to roar again, you will kill on the spot, don't hesitate!"

"only."

Yuan Ang picked up the sword of the Son of Heaven and stood aside, staring at the four with calm and ruthless eyes.

Everyone knows what kind of virtue this fellow is, and everyone in the temple says that this is a person who regards the "Book of the Lord of Shang" as the "Analects of Confucius".Yuan Ang's toughness and many of the policies he proposed were all in favor of the Legalists. Even the matter of the king's head-to-head was quite similar to Zhang Shizhi. An authentic Confucian scholar like Xue Hou, how could he face the king's head-tie. what.

Others may hesitate to hold the sword of the Son of Heaven, but this guy definitely won't. His stubborn and upright temperament proves that he can really cut people. It's all because of his character. His grandfather used to be an official in Tang, a standard Tang official with red roots and upright roots, but he was a robber in his early years.

The two brothers in their family, the eldest son Yuan Kuai, is a good talker, friendly and generous, and has a wide network of people. Even Zhou Bo has a good relationship with him, and the second son Yuan An is the opposite of his brother.

Under Yuan Ang's gaze, the four guys finally stopped arguing.

However, they did not give up on this, and after the end of the court meeting, the four of them appeared in the Hall of Houde at the same time.

The court can't be noisy, so I have to make it clear here.

Liu Chang was not angry, he just called Yuan Ang with a smile, "This is my Zhongshu decree, if you have anything, just tell him, and he will tell me what you think! I still have important things to do, Let's go first!!"

Liu Chang left triumphantly.

The four of them looked at Yuan Ang, Zhang Budo disdain to tell this guy something, he is the third prince!
The others were silent for a long time, then turned and left.

This guy is dumb, it's useless to tell him more, not to mention, they don't bother to say more to this cheap Confucian.

Liu Chang was relieved, but the ministers in the court began to torture like hell. These four people were always arguing endlessly, targeting each other, and no one would back down. When the third prince came to preside over the court meeting, the ministers really felt that they should retire and return home.

Zhou Chang couldn't hold them back. These legalistic eagles and dogs only had the emperor in their eyes, and the third prince didn't take it seriously.

"Your Majesty, this is the number of naturalized vassals at present. This is the situation in various places. For those vassals who are unwilling to serve their past masters, the local government will pay for redemption and arrange arable land. money, and money from arable land.”

Zhang Budo took out the recent reports of the ministers in this regard, and Liu Chang carefully checked it for a long time.

"160??"

"This number is indeed quite large. However, why are there so few ministers who want to be redeemed by the government??"

"Your Majesty does not know, many ministers are wealthy people in clothing, but their life is much better than that of some commoners. They are reluctant to leave, and they even worry about paying taxes in the future and want temples. take back order"

"Oh, short-sighted!"

Liu Chang said rudely, and Zhang Budo nodded immediately, "Your Majesty is right! How long can the wealth and honor obtained by flattering the master last?"

"I restricted those ministers' ministers. I did nothing wrong. What does my sixth brother want to raise so many ministers?? One thousand and 630 people??"

Liu Chang looked at the report in his hand, and it was also somewhat difficult to understand the behavior of the sixth brother.

Zhang Budo explained: "I heard that the King of Changsha missed Chang'an very much, so he raised many ministers from Chang'an, and ordered everyone in the palace to speak the words of Chang'an. He also often played the scene of Chang'an. Some ministers impeached him. He has a bad heart and wants to be the master of Chang'an."

However, Liu Chang shook his head, "Sixth brother will not rebel. He is dull, taciturn, and timid by nature. What he has done is not bad, after all, he is the son of the father."

Like what Liu You did, if you put it in other dynasties, it would be outrageous, but in the Han Dynasty, especially the early Han Dynasty, it would not violate the peace at all. What a strange thing, you can find it from the princes and kings of the old Liu family. There is no most outrageous thing, only more outrageous things. This behavior of Liu You was placed in the excellent matching mechanism of the early Han Dynasty. It was mediocre and nothing. .

If you don’t believe me, you can go and find the abolished vassals and kings of the Western Han Dynasty, and see the reasons why these people were abolished. They are simply varied. Some break through the limit of human IQ, break through the bottom line of morality, and even break through the limit of imagination, and others A few simply broke through the limits of the word human.

If you count them, then these princes and kings of the big Han are not even bad! !
However, Chang Liu hadn't seen this sixth brother for a long time.

Zhang Budo gave a serious introduction to his work in these days. He did a really good job, and the affairs of the ministers, big and small, were progressing steadily.

"Your Majesty, if you are relieved, can you release Liu Jing? There are many things that cannot be left without him."

Liu Chang's anger came and went quickly, so he agreed to Zhang Budo's request.

When Zhang Budo was about to leave, Liu Chang just asked suspiciously: "You came to me to report the situation these days, but you never mentioned the quarrel between you and Zhidu, nor did you impeach them in front of me. .Why is this?"

Zhang Budo chuckled and said, "Your Majesty. If a king wants to govern the world, he must combine yin and yang. As a yang technique, it means rectifying names, rectifying the law, exercising the right to kill, respecting the ruler and subordinate ministers, teaching the abilities of ministers, and monitoring and guarding against them. The so-called Yin trick is to prevent the ministers from forming a party for personal gain, not allowing them to get along like friends, and if the ministers live in harmony, then the position of the king will be lost."

"So every time their quarrel is about to die down, you just jump in and stir??"

Liu Chang looked at him helplessly and shook his head deeply.

This technique of applying no harm is really indescribable.

(End of this chapter)