I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

Chapter 426 Emperor Crown Ceremony
Liu Sheng placed high expectations and expectations on the doctor Yushi (belonging to the Yamen).

Because in this era—in this social background where bribery of officials has almost become a social norm, and the whole society believes that bribery is normal and something that should exist, the existence of a supervisory agency always makes people feel more at ease .

How serious is the bribery trend in the Han Dynasty today?

——When local officials from counties and counties go to the pilgrimage, they almost always instinctively want to manage the relationship inside and outside the palace. Even if they have not committed any mistakes, this visit to Beijing is just an ordinary job report.

The emperor and the empress dowager send the palace servants out to do business, but if it involves communication with people outside the palace, it is also a default to get the "reward" from the outsiders.

It can be said that the Han family went up to the ministers and officials above the court, the princes and relatives, down to the eunuchs and eunuchs around the emperor, and even the concierges and servants of these officials-in this era, it seems that no one He is not greedy and does not accept bribes.

Thinking about the late emperor, what was the most admired aspect of Prime Minister Shen Tujia?
honest.

The two sleeves are cool, and the iron face is selfless.

It is obviously something that every official should do, but it has become Shentu Jia's "unique" quality that is famous all over the world. It can be seen how strong the trend of bribery in this era is.

In fact, when Zhao Yu mentioned earlier that '[-]% of the officials who graduated from the examinations were expelled and sent to prison within half a year', Liu Sheng instinctively wanted to ask: what about those officials who were not from the examinations?

How many officials of the Han family can still maintain their "virgin status" after becoming an official for half a year, and still guarantee that they will not be eroded by sugar-coated bullets?

Of course there are.

It's just that people like this are the same as Shen Tujia - just because of the reputation of 'this man is an official, he doesn't accept bribes', he has become an outlier in the official group.

If you are lucky, not taking bribes will become the foundation of this official and the main reason why this official is admired;

If you are less lucky, it will make this official not accepted by the whole group, which will become the main reason why this official is "out of gregarious" and "ignorant".

Therefore, what Liu Sheng really wants to say is: Indeed, [-]% of the officials who were elected for the first time have been defeated so far, and most of them are because of bribery.

But this does not mean that the candidates selected by the examination are a group of greedy people that the Han family 'has never had'.

The habit of giving bribes is a problem of the social atmosphere of the entire Han family.

These young people who got ahead by virtue of their examinations failed to learn all the experience of other seniors in the process of integrating into this background and environment.

To put it more bluntly, these stunned youths are only focused on fishing, but they don't have any cognitions like "hide and hold, don't look too ugly, don't be too realistic".

Coupled with the fact that inside and outside the court, they were already wary of this emerging group, so they just happened to have a clue to their door, so they naturally fell into trouble.

Is bribery a felony?
Maybe in the hereafter.

But at least in the era in which Liu Sheng lives, bribery is basically similar to the inaction of officials in later generations-it can be criticized and despised, but it is also the norm in the officialdom, and it is far from punishing others for it. , The extent to which he was removed from office.

Especially after an incident during the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the bribery of the Han family has gradually changed from hiding it to something that the public does not have to worry about.

As we all know, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen is the fourth son of Emperor Taizu Gao Liu Bang.

In the 12th year of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Gaodi Liu Bang passed away, and Prince Liu Ying inherited the Datong. Almost in the same year, the seven-year-old acting king Liu Heng left Beijing to take up the vassal.

From the 12th year of the Han Dynasty (195 BC) to the 15th year of Queen Lu's death (180 BC), the acting king Liu Heng was in Jinyang, his capital.

In the 15th year of Empress Dowager Lu, Empress Dowager Lu passed away, and the princes and ministers united internally and externally to punish all Lu, and welcomed the 22-year-old Dai Wang Liu Heng to succeed Datong and inherit the ancestral temple and shrine of the Han family.

Since he is the successor of Datong, Liu Heng naturally brought a few humerus confidants from Jinyang to Chang'an.

Among them, there are Chihou Bozhao, who was later sung to death in an elegy, Song Chang, a famous minister of Taizong's first dynasty, and Liu Heng's most capable general at that time: General Zhang Wu.

So much so that even today, there are still many people saying: Emperor Taizong entered Chang'an from Jinyang, and only brought six people with him;
Among these six people, apart from his uncle Bo Zhao, the ones Emperor Taizong trusted the most were Song Chang and Zhang Wu.

After Emperor Taizong came to the throne, he quickly appointed Song Chang as General Wei and Zhang Wu as Lang Zhongling. It is not difficult to see that Emperor Taizong trusted these two people enough to entrust his personal safety to them.

Only later, a little estrangement gradually developed between Emperor Taizong and these two humerus confidantes.

——General Wei Song Chang, due to some unreasonable reasons, gradually lost the trust of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, almost at the same time that Emperor Taizong gradually came to power, he withdrew from the court at the same speed.

As for Zhang Wu, because of an experience of accepting bribes, Emperor Taizong was completely nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

As we all know: Emperor Taizong did not grasp the power that the emperor should have at the first time since the beginning of his succession, and the internal and external powers were firmly controlled by veteran officials such as Chen Ping and Zhou Bo.

This is also the fundamental reason why the princes and ministers chose Liu Heng, the acting king, as the successor to the Datong instead of Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, as the emperor after they punished all Lu. , Qi Wang Liu Xiang and Dai Wang Liu Heng, who can also form a new court team the next day, are too easy to control.

Being sent to Jinyang, he had to shoulder the responsibility of guarding the border, and he also had to endure the poor financial situation of the vast land, sparse population, and sparse taxes;

He has been honest since he was a child, and he is far away from the Chang'an court, and even in the Central Plains for too long, there is no possibility of controlling the court at all.

Therefore, Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other veterans unanimously decided: For our own life and life, we should choose Liu Heng, the acting king, to make this clay statue!

Dai Wang Liu Heng is indeed honest enough.

At least before becoming the emperor, Liu Heng was honestly like a rabbit.

But as the saying goes, rabbits bite people when they are in a hurry - as the emperor, Liu Heng will naturally not return people and animals harmlessly, and let his fate be in the hands of others.

Immediately after assuming the throne, Liu Heng appointed General Zhang Wu as Lang Zhongling, so he put his personal safety in his own hands;

Later, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, who originally wanted to appoint Song Chang as a Wei Wei, but was worried that this move would irritate Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other veterans, invented the position of "General Wei" without hesitation, and let the Han Song Chang, the first general of the family guard, became the commander of his own palace guard.

After patiently waiting and planning, Emperor Taizong finally took back the power that belonged to him—the power that belonged to the emperor, from the dead old prime minister Chen Ping, and Jiang Hou Zhou Bo, who finally knew the value of jailers.

Having had such an experience, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen naturally cherished the days of "power in hand" extremely, and cherished it very hard to get back the power in his hands after exhausting all his efforts.

Therefore, after he completely controlled the court, Emperor Taizong began to guard against his close officials.

First, Song Chang was dismissed, and the temporary position of General Wei was also dismissed;

Afterwards, it was Bo Zhao who committed suicide in front of his spiritual seat, making the world understand Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's determination.

The last Zhang Wu couldn't escape this fate.

Zhang Wu is a Confucian general.

It is the kind of Confucian general who is honored as "Zhang Gong" by the literati and officials, and is also admired by the soldiers. He can talk about academics with others in a gentle voice and kindly, and can also go into battle and kill the enemy.

Such a person once made Emperor Taizong Xiaowen unable to do anything.

Until one day, someone reported that Zhang Wu was taking bribes, and Emperor Taizong Xiaowen finally caught Zhang Wu's braid.

Zhang Wu accepted a lot of bribes, worth five hundred gold.

At least for the Han Dynasty, which was still in the reconstruction stage at that time, five hundred gold was an extremely large fortune for any individual.

But under the social background at that time, Zhang Wu's five hundred gold can actually be whitewashed as a gift-a gift or a heart from others.

Everyone knows that after Song Chang and Bo Zhao, Zhang Wu will also be hit by Emperor Taizong Xiaowen;
Everyone knows that Zhang Wu's acceptance of gold is a rare opportunity for Emperor Taizong Xiaowen.

It's just that no one thought that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's way of handling this matter would be so sinister...
According to common sense, the way to deal with this matter is nothing more than the following two.

The first one is to laugh it off after learning that Zhang Wu has accepted bribes, and then call Zhang Wu into the palace privately, beat him up tactfully, and say something like 'don't make it difficult for me' and 'pay attention to the influence'.

In this way, there is a high probability that Zhang Wu will take the blame and resign, and Emperor Taizong no longer has to guard against this old acquaintance and confidant.

The second is to do business, directly make the incident a big one, point at Zhang Wu's nose and curse, and then punish Zhang Wu with 'a close minister breaks the law, and the crime will be increased'.

In this way, no matter whether Zhang Wu is fined or imprisoned, he will be dismissed from office at the same time, and at the same time he has no right to complain.

But Emperor Taizong Xiaowen chose the third way - an inhuman way, which is very unimaginable.

——Give five hundred gold, ashamed of his heart.

After learning that Zhang Wu had accepted five hundred gold in bribes, Emperor Taizong gave Zhang Wu five hundred gold in return, saying to the outside world: "I am ashamed of my heart;
At the same time, Emperor Taizong also called Zhang Wu to his side, and said some words that made people unable to lift their heads anymore, and they were completely socially dead from then on.

——Zhang Wu~
——The other person is a minister, you, but my good big brother~
——You also know that I came to Chang'an, but I don't know how many people are waiting to see my jokes.
——Let me know if you are short of money in the future~
——Although I don’t even want to build a pavilion, and I don’t even want to spend a hundred gold, but in order to prevent you from accepting bribes, I’m willing to give you five hundred gold flowers~
——Don't let those foreign ministers get my excuses for money, it's too difficult for me~
——How difficult it is for me, Zhang Wu, you know~
···
With such a strange feeling of yin and yang, Zhang Wu died completely socially in the Han Dynasty, and since then he has lost every opportunity to compete for the position of Sangong Jiuqing when there is a vacancy.

Filled with shame and humiliation, Zhang Wu decided to forgive his sins in the way he was best at, so he asked himself to be a side general to guard Xiaoguan.

In the end, seeking benevolence and deserving benevolence, he died in battle while guarding Xiaoguan, shrouded in horse leather, and used his own life to wash away the stigma of the "greedy man who receives money".

According to common sense, when such a thing happened, the trend of giving and accepting bribes prevailing in the Han family should have been suppressed, or at least improved to a certain extent.

Even if it is to avoid becoming the next Zhang Wu, officials should start to pay attention to their eating habits, and pay attention to the possible impact of giving and accepting bribes.

But the actual situation is running wildly in another direction...

--what?
——When Zhang Wu took bribes, instead of punishing him, Emperor Taizong gave him five hundred gold?

——Doesn't that mean that the more I greedy, the more Emperor Taizong will give me?

——What is guilt, and how much is reputation worth?

In this way, the story of Zhang Wu receiving gold was passed on, and there was a bizarre version of "as much as you are greedy, the emperor will give you more".

Although this version is not accepted by too many people, it has subtly made the world understand that the Han family's tolerance for accepting bribes is very high, even so high that instead of being punished, they can even get the emperor's support. degree.

As a result, the bribery trend of the Han family intensified after Zhang Wu accepted the gold.

If before that, people knew how to hide and hide a little bit when they gave and accepted bribes, after that, they were no longer avoiding people at all.

Before that, bribery still knew to put on the guise of "gift giving" and "birthday celebration", but after that, it was completely gone.

——Even even hiding belongings in the sleeves and sneaking them into the other party's cuffs, so as not to be seen by others, people are unwilling to do it again...

"Official style and honesty are not just caused by officials who are born in the examination, and they need to face things."

"For this matter, some changes need to be made to the functions of the Imperial Doctor."

···
"There is no rush for these things, and I don't expect that within three or two days, all the officials of my Han family will become as clean and honest as the old Anzhen Wuhou."

"But if you don't accumulate steps, you can't reach thousands of miles; if you don't accumulate small streams, you can't form rivers and seas."

"——This matter may not be urgent, but it must be done."

"Everyone is worried about it, and strive to come up with a charter as soon as possible, and see how to do it, so that the censor's office can play its role of 'supervising all officials', and curb the intensifying trend of bribery in our Han family."

···
"This matter should be raised in Xia Tian."

"As for the beginning of spring, my coronation ceremony..."

In the end, Liu Shengcai finally got up from the imperial couch and scanned everyone for a week.

"My lords, do you have anything to say?"

"The empress dowager has already said that the crowning ceremony will be held in the second month of spring."

"How to do this grand ceremony, where to do it, and which clan princes need to be called into the court..."

(End of this chapter)