History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 682: Later Zhou Kuanzheng
2. The three pillars of the new policy reform
Although the Later Han Dynasty existed the shortest, it was the most abnormal of the "Five Dynasties". Its administration, economy, and judiciary were on the verge of collapse in all aspects. It cannot be said to be horrible, but at least it was unbearable to look at.

Guo Wei was getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, and his most urgent task was to rescue the working people from the reactionary rule of the Liu family group of the Later Han Dynasty, who were suffering from dire straits.

2.1 Civil Service System Reform
When Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin were in power, in order to strengthen central power, they implemented a system similar to the "staff selection system", that is, the central court selected professional talents for the inspectors and governors of each circuit, such as the Du Ya Ya (in charge of ceremonial guards), the Kong Mu Guan (in charge of documents and archives), and the Nei Zhi Ke (in charge of diplomatic reception).

According to their explanation, since most of the local heads (Jiedushi) were heroes who had made great contributions to the founding of the country or royal relatives, although they were in charge of a certain area, they did not know much about specific administrative affairs. Therefore, the court selected professionals in various fields from the central government and assigned them to local areas to assist in governance.

This sounds very high-sounding, but what about the reality?
The Du Ya Ya, who led the guards, was responsible for the security of the Jiedushi, to prevent him from getting into trouble, and also to prevent him from getting into trouble;
The censor, who was in charge of documents and archives, was like an X-ray of the local area. The Jiedushi was naked in front of him, and there was no secret at all.

The Neizhike, the daily reception and sending off of local Jiedushi, was all under his control. Whether the Jiedushi wanted to form cliques in the local area or plant spies in the court, nothing could escape his eyes.
In addition, financial work that is relatively professional will also receive help from the central government...

In a word, the central government exercises strict supervision over local governments (especially meritorious generals and royal relatives), and the real power in the local governments is held by these "special envoys".

To some extent, this can be regarded as a victory for the imperial court in reducing the power of the feudal lords, and in fact laid a certain foundation for Zhao Kuangyin's "releasing military power with a cup of wine" in the future.

These special envoys were nominally subordinates of the local Jiedushi, but in reality they became local emperors, with actual power far exceeding that of the Jiedushi and other local leaders.

After Guo Wei ascended the throne, he immediately abolished this system; at the same time, he announced that the princes and vassal states in the world could appoint their own relatives as local officials. This move was similar to Emperor Wu of Han's "Enfeoffment Order" and was actually gradually disintegrating local forces.

With these two approaches, Guo Wei won the unanimous support of the feudal lords and consolidated the new regime. Guo Wei now had no power to reduce the power of the feudal lords, but only the need to win the recognition of the feudal lords.

2.2 Fiscal Reform
The reform of the civil service system is the root of Guo Wei's reform. It is very important but also very secretive and will not be easily discovered by the general public. The financial reform is the main trunk. It is obvious and is closely related to the working people, has the most intersections, is the topic that is most concerned by the people, and has the most prominent contradictions.

2.2.1 Tax reduction and exemption
The summer and autumn taxes of the first year (948) and second year (949) of Qianyou, and the summer tax of the third year (950) were all exempted; the autumn tax of the third year (950) of Qianyou was also exempted for the counties and cities in Hebei that were ravaged by the Khitan.

2.2.2 Abolition of excessive taxes
The terms "省耗" and "省陌" invented by Wang Zhang, the former Three Departments Commissioner, were all abolished; similar fictitious terms such as douyu and chenghao were also immediately abolished.

2.2.3 Stop the donation

In his accession edict, Guo Wei personally took the lead in advocating frugality and simplicity:
"All useless things and non-urgent matters should be stopped. The way of an emperor is to put virtue first. I do not accept empty reputation."

Guo Wei made his position clear and then put forward several specific requirements:
The royal court must not use anything extravagant, but must be simple and plain.
Reduce meals; prohibit offering rare animals, eagles, dogs, auspicious animals, etc.

Offering rare animals and auspicious signs to the imperial court is actually a very laborious and costly thing, but corrupt local officials never tire of doing it. Because whenever there is an offering from the local area, they have to extort money from the local people in the name of offering, because this is a way for the county or state to express their gratitude to the emperor, so how can you not pay?

The county and the state have been searched, and the escort team will extort money along the way. On the surface, they want the counties along the way to provide transportation costs and security, but secretly they are extorting money. Do you dare to let this thing be lost or damaged in your small piece of land? If the emperor blames you, can you bear it? Pay up, pay up.

Therefore, whenever a new emperor ascended the throne, corrupt officials from all over the country would rush to make tributes to the central government.

The prohibition on presenting auspicious signs, rare treasures and exotic animals, like the reduction of excessive taxes, is a manifestation of cherishing the people's strength, and a manifestation of the emperor's diligence in state affairs and his determination not to indulge in material things.

Guo Wei was determined to correct the unhealthy trend of advocating extravagance and pursuing pleasure. He was definitely not just issuing one or two edicts for show. He was serious and hardcore:

A few days after the issuance of the edict of enthronement, Guo Wei said to Wang Jun: "I was born in poverty and have experienced all the sufferings of the world. In this chaotic era, I suddenly became an emperor. How dare I forget my roots? How can I oppress the poor people for the sake of my own extravagance and debauchery?"

Then, another imperial edict was issued to stop tribute from all parties, mainly targeting local specialties. For example, the fine wine and seafood in Liangzhe, the white sand sugar in Hunan, the pears in Zhenzhou, the chestnuts in Yizhou and Dingzhou, the musk and bear gall in Huazhou, etc., "although they are all local products, some are taken from the people... they are carried by laborers, driven on the road, and accumulated in the officials, which is very useless."

In order to show off, the emperors before him would at most issue an edict to stop offering rare animals, hawks and dogs, and it was just a show, saying one thing in front of others and another behind their backs. For example, Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan also said on the surface that he would not play with hawks and dogs, but secretly accepted white hawks from the Western Regions as tribute, and then secretly took young eunuchs to hunt, and told them not to let An Zhonghui know.

Guo Wei not only stopped using useless things, but also stopped using useful things. There is no need to eat hairy crabs from Yangcheng Lake. There are people buried in the loess anywhere. Just make do with what you have and save manpower.

A few days later, during a morning court session one day, the civil and military officials were surprised to find that the floor of the hall was filled with jewels, jades, gold and silver knots, precious bed tables, and other gorgeous and exquisite royal items.

Everyone thought that the theme of today was a commendation meeting and that the officials would be rewarded, so they were very excited and shouted "Long live the emperor" particularly loudly that day.

However, Guo Wei had a solemn expression on his face, and ordered his servants to smash the treasures in front of him on the spot. Then he said to the stunned ministers: "What use is there for an emperor to have such things!" He immediately issued another edict, saying that from now on, all such toys and appreciation items would not be allowed into the palace!
The emperor lives so simply, who dares to show off or compete with others for wealth? Serve the people wholeheartedly.

(End of this chapter)