People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 450: Plotting against the Youyan Family
"Your humble servant pays respect to the prefect."

After Wang Shougui came in, he bowed respectfully to Zhao Jun.

The room was still cool, and the gentle summer breeze made Zhao Jun feel pretty good.

He sat on the chair and said to Wang Shougui with a smile, "No need to be polite, just sit down."

"Xie Zhiyuan."

Wang Shougui sat on the chair next to him.

Zhao Jun looked him up and down and said, "Wang Shougui, I haven't seen you for a long time. I almost didn't recognize you."

Wang Shougui also smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, the last time we met was in Bianliang. My brother and I went to the governor's mansion to congratulate him on the birth of his daughter."

"That's five years."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "It seems that you have done well. Now you are the military supervisor of Youyan Road."

"It's all because of the trust of the government and the favor of the governor."

Wang Shougui said respectfully.

"You, like your brother, only pick out the nice things to tell me and the officials."

Zhao Jun smiled, then asked, "Do you know why I called you in first?"

Wang Shougui said honestly, "I don't know."

"This is because of your brother. I treat you as one of my own and I still trust you."

Zhao Jun said: "Secondly, I also know your duty. Now that you have taken up a post in the local area, I need to learn about Youyan's current situation from you."

In history, the father of Wang Shao, the deputy privy councilor who defeated the Western Xia and captured cities during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song, was named Wang Shougui, but that Wang Shougui and this Wang Shougui are not the same person.

From the name Wang Shougui, you can tell that he is Wang Shouzhong's younger brother, and like Wang Shouzhong, he is also a eunuch.

During the Mingdao period, a fire broke out in the imperial palace. The eunuch Wang Shougui was just a small yellow gate. After discovering the fire, he rushed to Zhao Zhen's bedroom, smashed the iron lock, and rescued Zhao Zhen with a wet quilt.

Wang Shougui made great contributions in saving the emperor and was trusted and appreciated by Zhao Zhen. He was gradually promoted from a minor eunuch to the head of the inner palace and the envoy of Xuanqing. He also participated in the governance of the flood in the Bian River.

Zhao Jun knew that the Wang brothers were all cautious people. After all, as eunuchs in the palace, if they were not careful, they would have died long ago.

So after arriving in Youyan, the first thing he did was to summon Wang Shougui to find out about the current situation in Youyan.

Wang Shougui said cautiously, "When the Magistrate asks questions, I will tell you everything I know. However, I was only transferred to this position at the beginning of this year, and have only been in office for two or three months, so I am still not very clear about this place."

"Well, I also know that as a local military supervisor, your main task is to supervise the army. Local affairs are not within your jurisdiction, so it is normal that you don't understand them."

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "But Cui Yi is the pacification envoy, in charge of military affairs, and you have a direct relationship with him. Now the censor has impeached him for corruption and abuse of power. As the military commander of Youyan Road, he has great influence and needs to be treated with caution. It is impossible for the censor to say everything. Although the censor has provided some evidence, it must be carefully identified. So I came to you first to ask, what do you think of Cui Yi?"

Wang Shougui thought for a moment and said seriously, "To answer the question from the governor, to be honest, I haven't heard much about Cui Shuaisi since I arrived in Youzhou. Maybe he hid it very well, but the governor Liu Hao once hinted at me."

"Oh? How do you mean by indirection?"

Zhao Jun frowned.

"He didn't say it explicitly, but during the banquet, he asked me jokingly, "I just arrived in Youyan, I haven't bought any property yet, and I don't have any servants to serve me. Do you need his help to buy some property and some servants?"

Wang Shougui said, "The chancellor knows that I am a eunuch and do not need these material possessions. Your Majesty's reward is generous, so I declined it politely."

"Observer?"

Zhao Jun frowned and said, "The Observation Envoy was one of the three envoys in the Tang Dynasty. Now it has been changed from real to virtual. The Observation Envoy has been set up for the Pacification Office, and can be regarded as an assistant to the Pacification Envoy. This indirect way of probing is also a common gift-giving test in the officialdom. Once accepted, the next step is to give money and treasures."

He nodded slightly and said, "Regardless of Cui Yi, there is a 70% to 80% chance that Liu Hao has a problem. However, I can detain Cui Yi first because the informant has certain solid evidence. You said that Liu Hao was just hinting at you, and his words were all ambiguous. Without substantial evidence, he cannot be arrested directly. Forget it, you go back first, get my warrant, and tell all the generals in the army to stay in the government office. Without my order, you are not allowed to enter the camp or mobilize troops."

"Yes."

Wang Shougui agreed. He was the military supervisor and had no military power, but Zhao Jun's order was an injunction.

Now, for an army of the Song Dynasty with less than 5000 men, generals can transfer troops privately, but for an army with more than 5000 men, the imperial court must send someone to serve as the chief general.

At present, the nominal commander of Youyan Road is the Pacifier Cui Yi, but he cannot mobilize all the troops. Only when the enemy suddenly attacks and the court does not send a commander of the level of Fan Zhongyan or Zhang Kang, can he mobilize part of the troops for defense.

Therefore, after controlling Cui Yi, the entire Youyan Road army was under control, and Zhao Jun could do whatever he wanted in Youyan Road without any scruples.

Zhao Jun then wrote a handwritten order and asked Wang Shougui to go out and gather all the generals to implement it.

After Wang Shougui took the warrant and left, Zhao Jun asked Jiang Dalang to call Tang Jie in - he was the whistleblower this time.

After a while, Tang Jie came in and bowed to Zhao Jun, saying, "Director."

"Ah."

Zhao Jun looked up and down at the censor who had just turned 40. Seeing that he had a firm gaze and a righteous face, he nodded slightly and said, "Censor Tang, please sit down."

"Xie Zhiyuan."

Tang Jie sat on the chair next to him.

Zhao Jun asked: "The court has handed over the confession and account book you submitted to me. Do you know if there are other people involved in the case besides Cui Yi? Especially the generals?"

This is of utmost importance. If the generals at the border are involved, it means that corruption has begun to occur in the army again. It is okay on a small scale, but it will be unbearable on a large scale.

Although the Liao Kingdom currently has basically no ability to move south, the army is the cornerstone of a country's strength. Zhao Jun had just reorganized the army for a few years when another major corruption case occurred. Doesn't that mean that something went wrong in governance, leading to the rapid corruption of the army?

Tang Jie replied: "As far as I know, it may involve Liu Hao, the governor of Danzhou, Wu Wei, the military commander of Danzhou, Lu Ji, the manager of the Beiping Prefecture Treasury, and several trusted subordinates of Cui Yi."

"It seems that not many people are participating."

Zhao Jun heaved a sigh of relief and said, "At least there is only one military commander from Tanzhou who has a connection with the army."

Think so.

Cui Yi was transferred here at the beginning of last year, and he has only worked here for a year and a half. Moreover, he is not the only one in control of Youyan Road.

The rest of the transport commissioners, the grain commissioners, the judicial commissioners, and the censors were all on the same level as him.

He was not allowed to interfere in local government affairs, criminal law, warehousing, or supervision.

The second one's status is only higher than that of Yang Ting, Wang Si, Zhou Hang, and Tang Jie in name only. In fact, there is no superior-subordinate relationship between the two parties, and he cannot command them.

It would be strange if Cui Yi led to corruption of all the officials in Youyan Road as soon as he arrived.

What Zhao Jun is worried about now is that since Cui Yi is the military chief of Youyan Road, he is afraid that he will lead many military generals astray and cause the army to quickly become corrupt.

By then, the army will have to be purged on a large scale, and turmoil in the army will cause turmoil in the country.

"This is only what I have investigated. There may be more that I have not investigated. To be honest, the governor will arrest Cui Yi as soon as he enters Youyan Road."

Tang Jie looked hesitant.

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "Why, do you think I'm too reckless and afraid of alerting the enemy and causing them to destroy the evidence in a panic?"

"Ah."

Tang Jie nodded.

Zhao Jun said, "This is because you and I are considering different issues. Have you ever thought about what would happen if I went to Youyan to investigate secretly and Cui Yi and others found out? In desperation, they joined forces with some of their followers in the army to plot a rebellion?"

"This"

Tang Jie was speechless for a moment, and then he realized that he had thought the problem too simply.

After all, Cui Yi was the chief of the army. Although he could only control part of the troops in Youyan Road, he was involved in corruption, which was most likely corruption within the scope of his authority. It is possible that he had colluded with some generals.

If Zhao Jun did not take the initiative to capture Cui Yi, and then immediately order the army to behave itself and deprive the generals of their military power, the consequences would be disastrous if anything went wrong.

Therefore, Tang Jie thought that taking action against Cui Yi would scare those under him, and then destroy the evidence, making it difficult to arrest him.

But what Zhao Jun wanted was to maintain stability.

Regardless of whether it would alert the enemy or not, we should control the people and stabilize the army first.

This is because the positions you are in are different and the issues you consider are also different.

"It is my fault for not considering it carefully."

Tang Jie stood up, bowed, admitted his mistake and said, "Please punish me." "It's just a small matter. What's there to punish?"

Zhao Jun smiled, then said, "But this matter involves a senior official after all. The pacification envoy is a road-level official. Under normal circumstances, you report to the court, and the court should send officials from the Censorate to investigate. Now the Constitutional Court has handed the problem to me, but I don't have that much time and energy to take care of this matter, so I will not participate in the subsequent investigation. When the time comes, I will let someone take the lead, and you and Wang Si can assist in the investigation. I just want the results, do you understand?"

"Yes."

Tang Jie agreed.

"Go."

Zhao Jun waved his hand.

The Constitutional Court probably saw that Zhao Jun happened to be in Youzhou, so they were too lazy to send anyone over and let Zhao Jun handle the matter.

After all, Zhao Jun did not come alone. In addition to his entourage of guards, he also had capable assistants such as Yang Gao, Yang Cha, and Wang Anshi. They themselves were former Xingming and Yushi officials, so investigating this kind of case was a piece of cake for them.

After Tang Jie left, Zhao Jun asked someone to call Yang Gao and Yang Cha. They were both assistant ministers of the first-level institutions, both of whom were of the third rank. They were definitely qualified enough to investigate the fourth rank road-level officials.

After arranging the tasks, he began to summon Yang Ting, Wang Si, Zhou Hang, Wei Guan and others.

Several people entered the hall a little nervously. Although they had no evil intentions, Zhao Jun's majesty still made them feel scared.

This statement is too exaggerated.

To pacify envoys along the way and directly control and detain people, how could the prime ministers in the past have such ability?

"Your humble servant pays respect to the prefect."

After the four people came in, they saluted Zhao Jun first.

Zhao Jun nodded slightly, pressed his hands down and said, "Well, everyone, please sit down. No need to be polite."

Everyone sat down.

Then Zhao Jun said, "This is my second tour of the country. I am following the orders of the government to investigate the people's sentiments and find out what is missing. Do you know why I have to come to Youyan as my first stop?"

"Forehead"

Everyone looked at each other, and Yang Ting said, "Is it because the people of Youzhou are newly annexed and the people are unstable?"

"good."

Zhao Jun nodded approvingly and said, "It has been a hundred years since the Central Plains lost Youyan, and the people's hearts have long been dispersed. Although the Han people in Youyan may not necessarily be loyal to the Liao people, they are still wary of our Song Dynasty."

"Yes."

Yang Ting sighed, "It seems that Youzhou has returned, but many people resist us. For this reason, the court has to use some surrendered local noble families to help us maintain order."

Zhao Jun asked: "How are these noble family children arranged now? How do they usually help the court run the functions of local government?"

Wei Guan replied: "Reporting to the court, they mostly serve as deputy positions in local county offices, such as county magistrate, prefecture chief, judge, militia, defense, etc., assisting the county and prefecture governments, helping to gather the people, and reclaiming fields and canals."

"How's the effect?"

"It's not ideal. There are many people who pretend to obey but secretly instigate the people to not cooperate with the government. If Fan Xiang hadn't captured many Liao, Jurchen, Menggu, and Bohai prisoners and made them serve as laborers, I'm afraid the infrastructure construction of Youyan Road would not have progressed smoothly."

"Not expected."

Zhao Jun nodded slightly.

As for the current situation in Youzhou, the Song Dynasty allows local noble families to govern together with the Song Dynasty government.

Among them, the main local official positions were dispatched by the Song Dynasty court, such as the chief officials of roads, states, and counties, and then the assistant officials or middle and lower-level officials at the state and county level were appointed by local family members.

For example, the Liu family, that is, the Liu Liufu family, who were the first to surrender, received good treatment.

Of the six brothers of the Liu family, except Liu Yide who died young, Liu Sangu who defected to the Song Dynasty and Liu Liufu who served as prime minister in the Liao Dynasty were transferred to inland officials of the Song Dynasty, while the rest, Liu Erxuan, Liu Siduan and Liu Wuchang, served in local positions.

Moreover, their descendants were also appointed as middle and lower-level officials.

Although the family of the prime minister of the Liao Dynasty changed to an ordinary family after the Song Dynasty, and currently only Liu Liufu and Liu Sangu serve as middle and upper-level officials, it is already good enough to continue the family politics after the change of times.

What's more, the officials sent by the Song Dynasty had no way to directly intervene in local governance, and they needed to govern together with them in order to implement their policies.

Therefore, to some extent, these aristocratic families are of low rank but great power.

So how can we keep the power in our hands?
Two ways.

The first is to climb to the center of the Song Dynasty as quickly as possible and reach a higher position to continue the family's influence.

But this is obviously not a goal that can be achieved in a short time.

As officials who surrendered from the enemy country, even if they used to be high-ranking officials, the high-ranking officials in the Song Dynasty are all assigned to specific positions. How could they suddenly let you take up the position?
Either you start as a mid-level official, or you will be given a high-ranking official position with no honorary title. Otherwise, it will be unrealistic to maintain your power.

The second was to use the power and influence they once had over the Han people in Youyan to make the Song court realize their importance and continue to rely on them to govern Youyan.

If all the Han people in Youyan were obedient and the officials sent by the Song Dynasty could easily order them around, then these children from aristocratic families would naturally lose their value and would soon be politically marginalized.

Therefore, in order to keep the power in their hands, they will inevitably choose to pretend to obey but secretly disobey, cooperating with the court on the surface but secretly making trouble.

"Youyan's situation is quite special. It is still the same as the Jin Dynasty. The literati and the Liao people jointly rule the country. These aristocratic families have great influence and appeal in the local area."

Zhao Jun looked around at everyone and said, "The Han people in Youyan are now worried that the court will be unfavorable to them, so they still trust those aristocratic families instinctively. However, Youyan has been Han territory since ancient times. How can the court allow two voices to appear in the local area?"

"Isn't the dean planning to eradicate the Youyan family?"

Yang Ting and the other four were shocked. Zhou Hang was the first to say in a surprised voice, "You must not do this, the governor. This will cause panic among the people and there may be a civil uprising."

“This is a last resort.”

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Using brute force is certainly effective. Kill them all. Even if there is a civil uprising, kill them all. Let things pass in a few decades, and slowly calm down. Youyan will naturally integrate back into their homeland, but this will not be done unless it is absolutely necessary."

"That"

Everyone was puzzled, and Wang Si asked, "What is the dean's plan?"

Zhao Jun pondered and said, "This matter still needs to be planned slowly, but it is not that difficult to do. Just divide it up and solve it."

As he said this, he smiled and said, "Those who are willing to cooperate can help cooperate. Those who are unwilling can also do so. Our Song Dynasty is short of officials now. They are helpful to the court in recovering Yanyun, so it is reasonable for the court to grant them official positions. Just transfer them all away."

The aristocratic families were able to control the local area through their influence, which was the reputation they had accumulated over hundreds of years. If they were moved away, this reputation would suddenly become meaningless.

Just like the large-scale reform of native chieftains in the Qing Dynasty, the local chieftains were dismissed from their posts and sent to other places for resettlement, making the ethnic minorities lose their backbone.

This situation can also be applied now.

Initially, the imperial court needed these noble families in order to appease the local people.

Now that two or three years have passed and people's hearts have gradually stabilized, we can use various excuses to transfer and deport the local noble families, weaken their influence, and turn the noble families into regular officials. Then the governance will naturally go smoothly.

"The governor is wise!"

"What a great idea!"

"Our governance has been hampered by local aristocratic families. If we send them away, it will be much easier."

When everyone heard this, they immediately became excited.

This divide and rule is a traditional skill of the Han people. The most typical example is the Southern Xiongnu. Later, the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks and retained the part of Tuli Khan.

Therefore, Zhao Jun understood as soon as he heard them. He had even thought about this problem before, but they just didn't have the power to do so.

Now that the imperial court is finally planning to take action against the local families, they naturally feel happy.

After all, as local officials, they are essentially frontier officials. Although there is an imperial court above them, the imperial court will not control them every day.

Now they have to co-govern with local families, and they must feel uncomfortable.

"Well, but I'm new to Youyan, so I don't know much about the local area. You should sort out all the local conditions, including the information about the noble families. I will inspect it in Zhuozhou first, and hand it over to me when I arrive in Beiping Prefecture."

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, with morale high.

(End of this chapter)