My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 444: Your Majesty, are you really willing to do this?

"Prepared imperial edict."

After a while.

Liu Rong had returned to the imperial couch at the top and sat upright.

Liu She also knelt on the ground with his hands behind his back, listening respectfully to the holy teachings.

Inside the hall, all the officials, ministers, nobles and relatives shed tears, whether real or fake, to express their reluctance to see Liu She, the old prime minister, who was about to retire.

——Now that it has come to this, let’s not even talk about whether one is a successful person or not, or whether one is a treacherous or not.

Even if he didn't give face to Liu She or the prime minister, he had to give Liu Rong some face.

After all, Liu Rong made such a big fuss, and the main audience - or Guanzhong, was the officials and ministers in the court who gathered in Xuanshi at this moment.

After Liu Rong shouted "Draft edict" in a low voice, the old figure that attracted everyone's attention appeared in everyone's sight again.

At this moment, Gongsun Hong was only wearing an off-white censor's robe and a legal crown on his head that symbolized the censor.

Of course, this was not because Gongsun Hong was appointed as the Imperial Censor;
Instead, the then current Liu Rong issued an oral order: all candidates and prospective officials who have passed the three rounds of imperial examinations and are confirmed to be appointed as 400-shi officials but have not yet been formally appointed will be temporarily regarded as "collecting folk songs and imperial censors."

This makes sense.

After all, the job of the Imperial Censor for Collecting Folk Customs was to travel at public expense all year round, sightseeing in the name of "collecting folk customs", and then bringing back the "folk customs" he collected from all over the world to Chang'an for reporting.

Almost 99% of the candidates who took the imperial examination came from more than 100 miles away from Chang'an, and most of them came from the counties and states in the eastern part of the Guandong region.

It is completely natural to ask these candidates to produce a report on their hometown after passing three rounds of imperial examinations.

If one can produce a report on field research, he can naturally be called a censor-in-chief for field research.

To be honest, it is the Chang'an court that owes these "collecting censors" a sum of money for their travel expenses and salaries during the period of collecting verses...

At this time, Gongsun Hong was wearing the robes and cap of the censor, with a copper seal on his waist hung on his belt with a yellow ribbon, looking like a "civil servant with a salary of 200 dan or more and 600 dan or less".

But Gongsun Hong's theoretical official status was actually the Minister of the Chancellery.

Moreover, it was after being promoted by Liu Rong that he became the Shangshu Ling, a position at a level higher than that of a two thousand stone official.

After being officially appointed, Gongsun Hong would wear a crimson official robe and a two-beam Jinxian crown, which was exclusive to middle and senior civil officials.

The seal and ribbon on the waist will also be replaced with a silver seal and a blue ribbon that symbolize a rank higher than 2,000 stones.

Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon, what level is it?
——The seal and ribbon system of the Qin and Han dynasties stipulated that the princes had golden seals and silk ribbons;

That is, a seal made of gold, tied around the waist with a pale green ribbon.

—— Prime Minister, Grand Marshal, Emperor's Grand Tutor, Grand Protector, Grand Master and other "ranks of ten thousand stones" with gold seals and purple ribbons.

In addition, during wartime, the front, rear, left, right, top, chariot and cavalry, general, etc. all had gold seals and purple ribbons (temporary).

It should be noted that the "golden seal" of the princes is not the same as the "golden seal" of the prime minister, the general and the three ancient dukes.

To be precise, there is a very clear distinction between seals, stamps and chapters.

Seals are not unfamiliar to most people in later generations.

——The First Emperor Ying Zheng used the Heshi Bi as material and ordered craftsmen to carve the imperial seal, with the inscription: "Received the Mandate from Heaven, may you live long and prosper!"
This is the jade seal that symbolizes the supreme imperial power.

The application scenarios of the imperial seal are mainly to give legitimacy to new policies and laws when formal decrees and laws are promulgated.

It is like stamping the imperial seal with the eight big characters "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper" on the decree for the promotion of a new policy. It is equivalent to telling the people of the world: This is what I am going to do.

The jade seal is the proof.

Further down, there are golden seals that are exclusive to the princes.

Compared with the emperor's jade seal, especially the mythical imperial seal, the golden seals of the princes are naturally of a lower grade.

The materials used are definitely excellent - gold is not as precious as jade;

In terms of size, the golden seals of the princes were also smaller than the jade seals of the emperor in order to clearly define the hierarchical order of superiors and subordinates.

Another thing is the compilation of characters.

Different from the words on the imperial seal, which directly hit the soul of Chinese men: "Ordered by Heaven, long life and eternal prosperity";

The golden seals of the princes were mostly well-behaved and honest: A certain king of the Han Dynasty.

Its application scenario is somewhat similar to that of the imperial seal, which is to leave a mark on letters and official documents to declare "this was done by me."

Of course, the emperor was qualified to make laws and reform systems, but the princes were not.

Therefore, the application scenarios of the golden seals of princes are often in private correspondence and the issuance of a few extremely limited government decrees.

The most representative of these is the golden seal that the princes stamped on their decrees when they wanted to enjoy their legal rights, collect labor from the people, and let the common people do the hard labor for them for free.

But this was not to let the common people know who had conscripted them as coolies;
But it leaves a trace.

——The princes of the Han Dynasty imposed labor on the people within certain limits and time limits.

For example, the King of Liang could recruit 30,000 civilians every year to work for 45 days;
For example, the King of Qi could recruit 20,000 civilians every year to work for 30 days.
For example, the King of Jiangdu could conscript 15,000 laborers every year to work for 20 days, and so on - these were red lines drawn based on the population, land, and wealth of the vassal states.

Once this red line is crossed, even if it is just recruiting one more person or working for one more day, it would constitute a crime that is more serious than treason for the clan princes.

——To force the people to violate the law.

This one, along with incest and destroying ancestral temples, is known as one of the three red lines for the Han Dynasty's vassal states.

And it’s a high-voltage line. Whoever touches it will die, and even gods can’t save it!

Compared with these three high-voltage lines, treason, independence, and even assassination of the king were the second-level serious crimes for the princes and vassal kings - at most they would be punished by death;
And the probability is that he died of illness or drowning, rather than being executed by legal means.

Therefore, the clan law of the Han Dynasty - or the "family law" of the Liu family - stipulates that when clan members and princes want to impose labor on the people, they must issue a formal decree and seal it with the princes' golden seal as a witness.

As for what the use of doing this is, we have to talk about the really interesting part that the princes of the Han Dynasty levied labor on the people.

According to inertial thinking, the princes would recruit tens of thousands of people at a time and have them work for dozens of days;
Even if they collect more money and have to work a few more days - at least if they manipulate the number of people a little, it shouldn't be that easy to detect, right?
In fact, it’s very easy to check.

Because when the princes wanted to collect labor from the people, they did not just issue a royal decree stating "collect x number of laborers and require x number of days of labor", and then copy hundreds of copies intact and distribute them throughout the country.

Instead, a targeted royal decree was issued to each place, similar to: 300 in this county, 500 in that county, 80 in this township, 20 in that pavilion…

As the royal edicts were issued one after another, no matter how dumb or stupid the common people were, they would be able to count the number of people from their own village who were required to work, and whether they were the twenty or thirty people written in the royal edicts.
As for whether the total number of these scattered royal edicts exceeds the limit on the number of people, that is the job of the court censor.

Once the number of people exceeds the limit, or the labor often exceeds the limit, the hat of forcing the people to work beyond the law will be put on, and even if they are as noble as relatives of the clan, they will end up in jail.

The evidence is the royal decrees with the golden seal of "King of the Han Dynasty" printed on them.

——You were the one who recruited the 300 people from this county, right?

——You also recruited the 500 people from that county, right?
——Also, this township, that pavilion…

...

——Since you have collected all these, what else do you have to say?

——All together, there are more than several thousand people!

As for the working hours limit, there is even less room for maneuver.

If you write "labor for forty days" in your royal decree according to the rules, then if the people are not dismissed on the forty-first day, a civil uprising might break out!

The common people are not stupid! They agreed on 40 days. Do you really think we don't know how to count and won't lose the days?

As for writing eighty days or one hundred days directly on the royal decree - again, if it is not sealed with the golden seal, no one will recognize it;
Once the golden seal is stamped, it will be ironclad evidence that you are 'forcing the people to break the law'.

So we can say this;

——The emperor’s seal is the purest power and is almost unsupervised.

The golden seals of the princes are both the embodiment of royal power and the cage of royal power.

In the cage, the king can run wild;
But once you touch the edge of the cage, even if you are a noble prince, you are just a bird in a cage touching a high-voltage wire.

Further down: the gold seal.

When talking about gold seals - especially the difference between "seal" and "seal", we have to mention the ribbon.

The so-called ribbon is a cloth belt that passes through the hole on the top of the seal and is used to hang the seal around the waist.

The difference between the seal and the imperial seal lies in the position where the ribbon passes through the hole on the top of the seal and the imperial seal.

——The seal has another half carving on the square base.

For example, the famous imperial seal has five dragons on the upper part;

The upper part of the golden seals of the princes were often decorated with a tortoise-shaped knob, namely "Xuanwu", and occasionally with mountain carvings.

Whether it is the emperor's imperial seal or the golden seal of the princes, the hole for the ribbon to pass through is located above the carving.

That is: seal characters are engraved on the lower part of the base, the upper part is carved, and holes are left above the carvings.

The seal, on the other hand, has no upper or lower part - it is just a square block of metal with words engraved on the bottom and a protruding nose button on the flat top.

As for the content of the inscription, the "seal" is the same as the golden seal of the princes: it represents the position of the holder.

For example, the Prime Minister's Gold Seal and Purple Ribbon refers to the gold seal on the Prime Minister's waist, which is hung on the waist with a purple ribbon.

There are words engraved on it: Prime Minister/Xiangguo of the Han Dynasty.

The same is true for the Grand Marshal - the Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty.

The situations of the General of Chariots and Cavalry, the General-in-Chief, and the Generals above, front, rear, left, and right were basically similar.

Below the gold seal are the silver seals and blue ribbons for those above the rank of 2,000 stones and above, and below the rank of middle 2,000 stones.

It is easy to understand: the seal is made of a mixture of silver and lead, and hung around the waist with a blue ribbon.

The characters engraved on them are also positions, such as Minister of the Imperial Household, Minister of Grain, Minister of the Imperial Court, and Imperial Censor.
One thing worth mentioning is that Marquis Che also has a gold seal and purple ribbon.

Therefore, even though the Nine Ministers at the level of Middle Two Thousand Stones, and the Grand Censor who was also at the level of Middle Two Thousand Stones, had their official positions matched with silver seals and blue ribbons; but in the current Han Dynasty, under the premise that most of the Nine Ministers held the title of Marquis, most of them also had gold seals and purple ribbons around their waists, exactly the same as the prime minister's.

But the difference is that these purple ribbon gold seals hung around the waists of the Nine Ministers are not engraved with their positions;

But a title.

For example: Han Weiqi Hou, Han Gonggao Hou and so on.

Of course, there are also people who have a gold seal and a silver seal on their waists - these are the Nine Ministers with the title of Chehou;

Perhaps there will be someone with two gold seals around his waist, and he may be the prime minister or general with the title of Chehou.

But in most cases, officials in the court would not show off by hanging two seals around their waists.

Those who have some dignity, even if they have the title of Marquis Che, would put away the Marquis Che's gold seal, and wear the silver seal and green ribbon to court. On weekdays, they would appear in informal occasions as "Marquis Che", and then wear the Marquis Che's gold seal and purple ribbon for fun.

The more shameless ones only hold the posts of the Nine Ministers or the Imperial Censor, but they wear the golden seal of the Marquis of Che around their waists, as if by doing so, they can be on an equal footing with the Prime Minister...

I'm talking about you, Imperial Censor Weiqi Hou Dou Ying!
Of course, Liu She was going to retire, and Dou Ying was really going to become the prime minister.

From now on, as long as Dou Ying doesn't really hang two golden seals around his waist, no one will say he is shameless...

Let’s talk about Gongsun Hong.

At this moment, Gongsun Hong still wore the copper, silver and yellow ribbon around his waist, which symbolized the salary of 200 shi and above and below 600 shi.

But after Liu Rong said "draft the edict", Gongsun Hong stood up leisurely, walked forward, and sat down at the foot of the imperial steps, facing Liu Rong who was sitting on the imperial couch, as well as the ministers and officials in the hall.

Almost at the same time, the pen, ink, cloth and inkstone arrived;

Gongsun Hong held his pen in mid-air and then turned his gaze to Liu Rong, who was sitting upright on the imperial couch.

Then, there was a draft of the imperial edict for reward, which once again shocked all the officials in the palace...

“I have heard that history is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of nations; people are a mirror that can help us understand our gains and losses.”

“——Those who use history as a mirror will not forget the past and will learn from it for the future.”

"——Those who use others as a mirror are loyal and upright ministers who dare to speak out against the emperor."

"The previous Emperor Xiaojing died in his prime, and I came to power at a young age. As a result, the ruler was young and the country was in doubt, and the foreign barbarians looked down on me."

"Fortunately, there is a family servant, named Tao Houshe;"

"He has been a prime minister for five years, working diligently, taking care of everything, and making great contributions."

"Now that he is old and begging for his bones, I will not let him go, nor will I bear his toil."

...

"He was then ordered to enter Taohou She and become the emperor's tutor, with a rank of ten thousand stones."

"Give Taohou a house: no need to name when praising or bowing, no need to bow when entering the court."

"——Entered into the family tree, granted royal status."

"As long as Chang'an is not facing enemies on all sides, Tao Houshe can enter and leave the Forbidden City and meet the emperor without being summoned. There are no taboos."

As soon as he finished speaking, except for Liu She who stopped crying and was stunned, the entire Xuanshi Hall and its surroundings were in an uproar.

Enter the Emperor's tutor!
No need to name your name when praising or worshipping, and no need to bow when entering the court!
Enter the family tree and be granted palace status!
Enter and leave the forbidden area, see the emperor without being summoned, and have no taboos!

The first one goes without saying - he was just an honorary tutor to the emperor, not actually teaching Liu Rong.

But he is also the Emperor's tutor!
One of the Three Dukes of Ancient Times and the Three Teachers of the Emperor!

The undisputed imperial teacher!
The second rule is even more exaggerated - no name is given when praising or worshipping, no bowing is required when entering the court;

All he needs is a sword, shoes and a palace, and he will be on par with Prime Minister Xiao He and Prime Minister Cao Shen!
Article 3: Enter the family tree and be granted palace status.

What do you mean?
——In the past, the Taohou lineage was merely "granted the surname Liu", that is, they were just surnamed Liu, and were not considered members of the Liu family at all;
But from now on, the Taohou family will be the genuine Han clan and the Liu royal family!

If nothing unexpected happens, the Taohou family has a great chance of being enfeoffed as clan princes!
In the most extreme case, the Taohou family, as descendants of the Xiang family, may even have the right to inherit the throne of Liu Han...

"Sigh~"

"This fellow Liu She..."

"Is it really worthy of Your Majesty...?"

...

"Your Majesty, are you really willing to do this?"

(End of this chapter)