History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 213: New Policies of Later Liang
At the beginning of the establishment of the Later Liang Dynasty, in addition to the routine operations of changing the reign title, rewarding meritorious service, and changing place names (violating the taboo of the emperor), many reforms were also carried out to eliminate the malpractices of the previous dynasty and let the people of the world enjoy the grace of the new dynasty:

1. To redress the injustice done to officials who were demoted and expelled from the previous dynasty.

All those who enjoyed public-funded tours to Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan Island, and Vietnam during the Tang Dynasty would be reinstated and immediately report back to Beijing. The counties along the way would provide appropriate travel expenses to help them return to Beijing. Anyone who had unfortunately passed away would be allowed to be buried in their hometown.

2. Release the palace maids of the previous dynasty.

They were allowed to return to their hometowns and marry honest men; the financial burden on the country was reduced; and the emperor took the lead in eliminating the lifestyle of extravagance, debauchery and wasteful enjoyment.

3. Reform the civil service system and select officials based on their talents.

In reality, it was a matter of changing the emperor's administration to his own, discovering a new generation loyal to the Later Liang Dynasty to fill the power vacancy left by the previous dynasty and creating a group of new nobles to make them loyal to the Later Liang Dynasty.

4. Reduce consumption of three public items.

In particular, the travel expenses and reception expenses of civil servants were severely regulated. Different levels were set according to the distance of the journey and the actual traffic conditions, and the round-trip time was stipulated.

In fact, the Tang Dynasty had strict regulations on officials' travel. For example, a first-rank official could enjoy eight horses at the post station, while a seventh-rank official could only enjoy two. Another example was that officials could not stay in post houses along the way for more than three days, and the government would only reimburse the official's food and lodging expenses. His family and other accompanying personnel had to pay for their own expenses, otherwise the impersonator would be charged with theft.

According to the "Tang Liudian", anyone who travels on official business must hold a "frank ticket" issued by the relevant government department to enjoy the convenience of public travel. There are one-way and round-trip trips, and post stations and checkpoints must strictly check and verify the relevant information of the holder. Losing the frank ticket is a crime, and if you dare to forge it, you will be sentenced to death.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty had a high-pressure and zero-tolerance policy against "using public vehicles for private purposes" and other forms of corruption. However, by the end of the Tang Dynasty, chaos arose, and the system and regulations became a dead letter, and people on business trips "did not return to the palace for more than a year."

After Zhu Wen ascended the throne, he stipulated that those who traveled to Liangzhe, Guangdong and Guangxi, Fujian, Annan and other places would have to travel within one month; those who traveled to the two lakes would have to travel within 60 days; those who traveled to Hebei and Shandong would have to travel within days; and those who traveled to other places would have to travel within three to five days. He required that people travel two post stations a day, and in principle, they had to travel li a day. If they were delayed due to illness or natural disasters, the local government had to issue an official document to report to the court.

5. Rectify social atmosphere.

The trigger was an ordinary girl from Putai County, Dizhou. She was so sad over the death of her parents that she "cut off two of her fingers to sacrifice to her parents", using self-mutilation to express her filial piety.

At that time, this was a very popular "feat". Whenever their parents died, filial sons and daughters would "cut off their fingers and thighs". Before that, this behavior was highly praised by the government and the people. The prefectures and counties where they were located would report this to the court to show their merits in education and count it as a major achievement of the local officials. This was most popular in Shandong and Hebei at that time.

When Putai County in Dizhou reported the incident of a woman cutting off her finger, Zhu Wen said to those around him, "If she really did it from the bottom of her heart, it could be called filial piety. But what's the point? The only use is to avoid corvee labor."

At that time, the disabled enjoyed social benefits such as exemption from corvée and tax reduction. Zhu Wen pointedly exposed the beautiful lie of filial piety, saying that excessive grief was just a pretext to evade corvée. Are you trying to trick me? I won't buy it!
Zhu Wen issued an edict: From now on, if anyone in the counties or prefectures cuts off fingers or thighs, it is not necessary to report it to the emperor.

It is no longer counted as an official's achievement, there is no commendation from the court, no honorary titles such as "the most filial son" or "the most beautiful daughter-in-law", and there is no subsidy or reward. It is up to you to cut it or not.

As a result, the imperial edict was issued, and there were no more "filial sons" who cut off their fingers and thighs. In fact, in addition to bringing financial burdens to the government, this behavior of cutting off fingers and thighs is also a kind of unhealthy trend. Self-mutilation after the death of parents has become an invisible moral shackle that kidnaps all living beings. The government must not vigorously promote this as positive energy. The media should pay attention to the guidance of public opinion, and should unswervingly follow the party, and not lead the trend.

6. General Amnesty

In addition to overturning the verdicts of officials who had been demoted in the previous dynasty, Zhu Wen also pardoned fugitives under the "Badui Zhan" system.

When talking about Zhu Wen's rise to power, we mentioned his establishment of the "Ba Dui Zhan" system, which was to tattoo the faces of soldiers. If a company commander died but his soldiers survived, all the soldiers would be beheaded; if a soldier died in battle but his commander survived, he would be killed. In short, comrades either live together or die together. This order made the combat effectiveness of the Bian army explode, and largely avoided the phenomenon of desertion in battle.

However, the disadvantages were also obvious. Once the leader was killed in battle, the soldiers dared not return to the camp and fled. However, because of the tattoos on their faces, they dared not go home either. They could only gather in the mountains and become bandits.

The "Badui Zhan" campaign not only improved the combat effectiveness of the Bian army, but also spawned a large number of bandits, causing rampant banditry in the country, which in turn affected the rule of Zhu Wen's group.

Therefore, Zhu Wen issued an edict to pardon the deserters who were "killed by the Badu Army" and allow them to return to their hometowns without any punishment.

7. Tax reduction and exemption

Years of war had increased the burden on the people. Zhu Wen issued an edict to reduce rent and taxes to allow the people to recuperate, which greatly increased the people's enthusiasm for production and promoted social productivity (when people heard this, they all forgot their tiredness).

8. Posthumous recognition of martyrs

Cheng Li was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor, and Du Hong was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Preceptor. A temple was built to commemorate them. Their descendants and clansmen enjoyed the treatment of martyrs' families and were employed as officials.

When Yang Xingmi of Huainan attacked Du Hong of Ezhou, Cheng Li of Jingnan was ordered to support him, but he was betrayed by his ally and stabbed in the back. Cheng Li was defeated and committed suicide by jumping into the river; Du Hong was captured and taken to Huainan, but he remained loyal and unyielding. He angered Yang Xingmi with his words "I can't bear to let Mr. Zhu down", and he died heroically.

Zhu Wen established the two as models of loyalty because they "both died loyally in the service of the king". This became a must-mention example in his lectures, and he called on local military governors to learn from Cheng Li and Du Hong. Whenever Zhu Wen visited the troops or gave lectures, he would always tell them about their loyal deeds.

In addition, because Cheng Li's surname violated Zhu Wen's father Zhu Cheng's taboo, he was given the surname Zhou, so some historical books call him "Zhou Li". Regardless of his former name "Guo Yu" or posthumous "Zhou Li", this book follows convention and always calls him by his real name "Cheng Li".

Afterwards, all the soldiers who died on the Luzhou front were posthumously named martyrs, and the government paid pensions to the martyrs' wives and daughters.

Deceased ministers represented by Cheng Li and Du Hong were posthumously honored and given titles, and their descendants were treated well, which enabled members of Zhu Wen's faction to gain a sense of identity and belonging, strengthened their beliefs, unified their thoughts, and enhanced the cohesion of the group.

(End of this chapter)