My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 513 There are policies from above and countermeasures from below

In the impression of most later generations, wars in the feudal era often attracted widespread attention.

It is just like in the feudal era, whether it was active external conquest, passive defense, or internal suppression and quelling of rebellions - as long as a war broke out, everyone's attention would be attracted to the war.

However, in fact, wars in the feudal era often did not attract too much attention.

To be precise, what can attract widespread attention from society is often only the results of the battle.

It’s like a farmer. If you tell him that the country is at war, he will tell you: Just fight, right?
The country should fight wars, and I should farm the land, right?

What?
If the country is at war, farmers don’t have to farm anymore?
What kind of logic is this?
Therefore, when a war breaks out, apart from the political arena and power decision-makers who will pay attention to the progress of the war from beginning to end, other groups and classes will only wait for one result.

And he didn't just wait there, but was busy with his own things - farming when he should, reading when he should, while waiting.

Among them, especially for the lowest-level farmers, even the outcome of the war is not that important.

Firstly, in the feudal social physique and system, farmers, as the lowest level of society, face enormous pressure to survive.

Worrying all day about what to eat and what to wear, I had no energy to pay attention to the war going on thousands of miles away.

Secondly, the degree of participation of peasant families in the war has little to do with whether the war is won or not.

Because for peasant families, having their sons and nephews join the army is not only a way to make achievements and receive military honors, but also can bring benefits to the family.

——It would be best if you could get off the battlefield alive and get rewarded safely.

But if that doesn't work, then we can settle for the next best thing - if you lose an limb, the government will give you disability allowance, or if you die in battle, the government will also issue a pension.

For farming households, the only difference between the two is whether to lease or buy out the property in one go.

To achieve meritorious service or to be rewarded is like a farmer's son being leased to the court or the army, and then the lease ends.

The pensions received by the disabled and those killed in battle were like the government buying out the farmers' children at a lump sum price.

It may be cruel to say this.

But this is also the cruel reality.

——Of course, farmers hope that their children can return safely from the front line.

But this is something that is out of control.

Therefore, the farmers could only change their hope from the safe return of their children to at least the return of their money.

Be it rewards for meritorious officials or compensation for casualties - it will eventually come back.

However, the victory or defeat of the war is not directly linked to whether a farmer's son makes great achievements or loses the country's sovereignty.

Even if we win the battle, many farmers' children will still die.

Even if we lose the battle, it doesn't necessarily mean that no one will survive.

Therefore, in most cases, compared to the victory or defeat of the war, the lower-class people are more worried about their own children, whether they have fought bravely and established military merits, or whether they have been injured and disabled, and will be taken care of by the government for the rest of their lives.

Of course, if the war is won, the victorious side will naturally have fewer casualties and more military merits; if the war is lost, the losing side will have greater casualties and fewer military merits.

Therefore, out of the most simple desire: hoping that their children would return safely and achieve great things, the people prayed for the Han soldiers and asked God for protection so that the Han family could win the battle.

But they would never be like modern people in later generations, who pay attention to the real-time developments of the war every day, or listen to others analyze the direction of the war.

The lower class people have a hard time surviving.

Under the premise that one's family was not drafted to fight, it was already the limit for one to pay a little attention to the existence of this war and have the thought of "hoping for victory" in one's mind.

At other times, most of the public's attention is still focused on life itself.

In fact, since the current Emperor Liu Rong ascended the throne, the Han Dynasty has been fighting the Huns almost continuously and uninterruptedly for nearly four years.

From the initial Battle of Chaona, to the later Battle of Hetao-Mayi, and then to the Battle of Gaoque in early winter.

Some people even say that since the current emperor came to power, there has been almost no cessation of fighting between the Han and the Huns. Either they are fighting or they are on their way to the battlefield to start a war.

However, in fact, in the past few years, most of the attention of people around the world is still focused on their own life IQ.

It’s time to plow in spring and harvest in autumn, it’s time to plant the land.

When the news of the victory in the Battle of Chaona came, we had a few drinks to celebrate - after all, this was the first victory of the Han Dynasty and the first time that the Huns were kept out of the country.

It’s still time to farm and work.

News has come that the Hetao-Mayi Campaign was won, which could be celebrated with greater ceremony.

After all, Hetao was recovered.

Not to mention expanding the territory, especially expanding such a special piece of land.

With Hetao, the Han Dynasty no longer lacked cattle and horses, and the people might be able to use oxen to plow the fields like they did in the Qin Dynasty.

The army will also be able to form cavalry and will no longer be treated like dogs by the Huns' cavalry.

But after the celebration, we still have to live.

When the news of victory in the Battle of Gaoque came, even though the entire city of Chang'an was filled with a strong sense of joy and happiness, it was ultimately just a celebration.

After the celebration, people will no longer think about or mention this war all day long.

survive.

The lower class people must do everything they can to ensure their own survival.

The victory of a war cannot bring significant benefits or life assistance to a specific person - an individual who did not participate in the war - in a short period of time.

In fact, it is not just the lower classes who are like this.

In fact, similar situations existed to varying degrees in the official county governments and even in the Chang'an court.

Of course, this does not mean that the government and the imperial court are also having a "difficult time surviving" like the common people at the bottom of society. They need to devote more energy to survival and therefore have no time to pay attention to the war.

It is because the government and the court have many things other than war that still need attention - or even should pay more attention to.

It is like a county that has to maintain local public order, handle local criminal and civil cases, collect taxes, dredge canals, and maintain roads.

You ask him why he doesn't pay attention to the Battle of Gaoque?
I really don't have time...

This is the case for a county, let alone a higher-level prefecture or even the central government in Chang'an.

Almost every day, the central court in Chang'an receives a massive amount of events from all over the world, requiring decisions to be made.

To put it in a bigger way, someone is plotting something bad and intending to rebel.
A disaster has occurred in a certain place and disaster relief is needed~
Or maybe an "apocalypse" event happened to a certain person or place, and the central court in Chang'an was needed to interpret the specific content of the revelation from heaven.

To put it simply, a certain county in a certain prefecture wants to open a new canal or build a new road.
Some people in a certain place are dissatisfied with the local government because of something~
and many more.

There are a huge number of things that need to be paid attention to, solved, and decided by the Chang'an court. And it is not just a huge amount that has accumulated, but it is increasing at a huge rate every day.

It is no wonder that Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng was so busy that he could only sleep for two hours a day. He repeatedly picked up and put down the bamboo slips when reviewing memorials, and finally his shoulders were tired.

In short: the Chang'an court was very busy.

As the center of the court, there is no way to focus all attention on a war.

In most cases, the attention of the Chang'an court to a war was limited to: before the war broke out, officials and ministers would discuss how to fight, who to send, when and where to fight.

After everything is discussed, the Shaofu will be responsible for the specific allocation of materials, and the war can begin.

After it started, everyone went about their own business.

When I was busy and tired, feeling dizzy and with sore waist and legs from working, I would take the opportunity to stretch and ask the officer next to me: How is the fight going?

That's the end.

Then, the war is over, and good news or bad news comes back, and everyone makes targeted arrangements based on the situation.

If victory is achieved, how should the celebration be arranged?
If it fails, how to minimize the subsequent impact and how to make up for the defeat in the war and the political blow it will bring to the Han Dynasty.

And: Whether we win or lose, there will be rewards for meritorious soldiers and pensions for soldiers killed in battle.

From this perspective, for the central government in Chang'an, war is also just a part of the work of officials.

Just like the officials of the court, whose job is to try cases and punish crimes;
The officials of the Taifu Department were responsible for the management of horses throughout the country, as well as the emperor's ceremonial carriage, etc.

The responsibility of the Chang'an court is to make corresponding responses when any changes or emergencies occur in the Han family, or to plan and guide in advance to make the situation develop in a direction that is beneficial to the Han family.

And war is just one of the relatively more important ones among the countless events that need to be resolved and the massive decisions that need to be faced in the central court of Chang'an.

Moreover, the establishment of war decisions, as well as the final direction and victory or defeat of the war, will have a greater and more direct impact on the political situation.

Therefore, the court in Chang'an would be more cautious and careful in its response.

But still the same sentence.

Everyone is busy~
Farmers are busy farming, merchants are busy trading, craftsmen are busy forging iron, officials are busy embezzling...ahem, busy governing the people.

The imperial court in Chang'an was always busy with all the affairs of the world, big and small.

As the saying goes: Three lives are unfortunate, and the county magistrate is attached to the city;
Three lives do evil, attach to the provincial capital;
He is full of evil and is even exiled to the capital city.

If this statement is taken as the case, then the court in Chang'an would be filled with people who have committed so many evil deeds that they have angered God, who has been punished by God in this way.

For these people, many times and many things are out of control.

For example, the Empress Dowager of the East Palace and the Emperor of the West Palace might suddenly do something unexpected.

Not only did they not achieve anything, but they even caused trouble. They just kept their necks down and ended up having to clean up the mess in court.

For another example, the promulgation and implementation of certain policies often result in some "counterproductive" situations.

Just like the imperial court in Chang'an, a decree was issued with the emperor's permission: In order to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday, taxes will be exempted throughout the country this year!

As a result, when it reached the counties and prefectures below, the words were most likely "spread" or understood as: This year, the Eastern Palace Empress Dowager celebrates her birthday.

Everyone, don't you want to express your opinion?
Ordinary people naturally don't need to "express".

But what about the officials?

It’s the Empress Dowager’s birthday. No matter how high or low your official rank is, you can’t really just not express anything, right?

Of course it needs to be "expressed".

And it means that it costs money.

Where does the money come from?

Therefore, the decree issued by the Chang'an court became the following when it reached the local counties: In order to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday, this county will collect an additional xx tax this year, xx money per person and household.

The common people and farmers, who originally did not need to "express" anything, were confronted by officials with responsibilities that were not theirs.

As a result, the money was spent, but in the end it was not the expression of the people and farmers, but the local officials, who represented the local people and farmers - or even directly represented themselves, to "express" to the Queen Mother.

Spend the people's money, do your own business, and use your own personal connections.

But in the central court of Chang'an, there is still no way to deal with it - there is a high probability that it cannot even be discovered.

The court in Chang'an only knew that the order had been issued, and that the government and the treasury had indeed not collected any taxes or levies.

The court in Chang'an was well aware of this, and the emperor and the empress dowager were also mentally prepared to a certain extent.

However, they could only use methods such as collecting censors and supervising censors to make the officials below restrain themselves.

But it also proves the saying.

There are policies and measures to counter.

Here, Emperor Rong Gang had just established a system to reduce slave taxes for foreign slaves, hoping to guide the Han landlords and wealthy households to use more foreign slaves in order to save costs - at least for heavy physical labor, to use more foreign slaves rather than Han people.

As a result, soon after the system was established, the underlying "countermeasures" were already prepared.

——Foreign slaves?
There is no good thing at a cheap price!
Not only is he lazy and stupid, he also can't understand what people say!
As for the Han people, there is a reason why they are noble - they are down-to-earth, hard-working, submissive and easy to communicate with.

But the slave tax of Han slaves is more expensive than that of foreign slaves!
How to do?
simple.

Just let the Han slaves "transform" into foreigners.

The specific operation method is also very simple.

The powerful and wealthy have a need to bribe officials, and most of them even have intricate relationships with local officials in terms of transferring benefits.

Just find an official at the county magistrate level and ask him to do you a favor and change the names of your Han slaves to foreigners in the slave register.

As for whether doing so would expose the truth?

Originally it wouldn't.

The Korean slaves in the northeast of Yan State, the Baiyue slaves in Lingnan, the Yi slaves in the southwest, etc., mostly looked no different from the Han people.

It is impossible to tell from appearance alone whether a slave is a Han Chinese or a "foreign" slave from the Pan-Chinese cultural circle.

Until one day, a Han slave who was changed to a "foreigner" suddenly ran to the gate of the official service and sued his slave owner!

It was originally just a very insignificant episode, but due to a series of coincidences, it led to an unprecedented anti-corruption storm in the center of the Chang'an court...

(End of this chapter)