Tiger Guards

Chapter 108: Provincial Council Meeting
At the gate of the county government, Zhao Yan dismounted.

Tang Xian hurried forward to greet him, whispering, "Lord Zhao, Minister Zhao has entered. The hundred Tiger Guards in the palace have been replaced to guard the Forbidden City."

Zhao Yan asked, "Can the ministers be harmed?"

At this time, two Tiger Guards came out dragging a dead body, and Zhao Yan couldn't help but sigh.

Tang Xian immediately summoned him for questioning, and one of his guards replied, "The Emperor has issued an edict that any traitor who prevents Minister Zhao from entering the court must be executed with the Imperial Sword by Minister Pei. This thief insulted Minister Zhao and then drew his sword to strike. After Minister Zhao dodged, Minister Pei killed him with his own hands!"

Seeing that it wasn't Zhao Ji who took action, Zhao Yan ordered, "Hang your head at the north gate and issue a notice to let the officials and the people know!"

"Here!"

Several Tiger Guards agreed, and Zhao Yan was about to walk up the stairs. Zhao Lian wanted to follow him, but Zhao Yan pushed him away and said, "Go to the military camp in the city and keep the Tiger Guards company."

"...here."

Zhao Lian was unwilling to give up the opportunity to meet the emperor. Even the raindrops scattered by the emperor were enough for him to struggle for a lifetime.

Since Zhao Yan did not allow it, Huben would naturally not let him go. He could only watch Zhao Yan and the Minister of the Court who came to greet him leave.

Then Zhao Lian jumped on his horse, reunited with his companions, and rushed towards the military camp in the city.

Along the way, we saw teams of five Tiger Guards patrolling the streets and maintaining public order.

At the very least, they would be scolded, but those who dared to resist with weapons on the spot would be killed and beheaded.

"Counselor Zhao Yan enters the palace~!"

As the name was being passed down and chanted, Zhao Yan took off his boots, entered the hall, and bowed deeply: "Your Majesty, I, Zhao Yan, am late in coming to your aid. Please forgive me."

"What crime has Lord Zhao committed? Please take a seat."

Liu Xie sat upright. After Zhao Yan sat in the front row, Liu Xie asked, "Just now, Mr. Zhao proposed to reward each army. What do you think?"

Zhao Yan looked around the hall and saw that Zhou Zhong, the three ministers, Huan Dian, and Yang Qi were nowhere to be seen. Only Yang Zhong, the Chief Censor, who was one of the three sitting alone, was sitting at the last seat and was almost squeezed out of the hall.

The Minister of the Court, Liu Ai, replied, "I think we can try out the system of three departments to judge this matter."

Zhao Yan was confused. Liu Xie looked around the hall. Currently, Liu Ai, Tai Chong, and Ding Chong were wearing Diao Chan crowns. Another person wearing Diao Chan crown, Yang Qi, was detained, and Zhao Ji was wearing a golden helmet.

Of the five Shizhong, only four were present; Zhao Yan must be added to the Shizhong to exercise the right to participate in and discuss politics.

But Shangshu Pei Mao sent another message, and it seemed that Zhao Ji also wanted Pei Mao to be the Shizhong.

This made Liu Xie hesitate. The fewer Shizhong there were, the greater their power would be; the more Shizhong there were, the less conducive it would be to focusing on government affairs.

While Liu Xie was pondering, the Ministers Tai Chong and Ding Chong straightened their backs and bowed, "I second the motion."

Seeing this, Liu Xie turned his head and looked at the people in the Secretariat: "Draft an imperial edict to appoint Zhao Gong as the Minister of the Court."

Zhao Yan did not refuse. When he stood up and saluted, several attendants exchanged a few words and then moved the low couches to form a row on the right side of the hall.

Zhao Ji helped Zhao Yan sit at the head of the table and said to the other three, "We are all ministers of the emperor. Our seats should be arranged according to age. I will sit at the end."

"also may."

Liu Ai agreed, and Tai Chong and Ding Chong did not object. They were eager to try out this system to see if it worked.

So the first thing to be voted on since the establishment of the Menxia Province was their seating arrangement. Zhao Yan didn't understand why, but he definitely supported Zhao Ji on such a small matter, and with Liu Ai seconding the motion, the resolution was passed smoothly.

The five attendants sat on the right side of the hall according to their age. The first on the left was Fu Wan, the auxiliary general of the Yitong Sansi, followed by Liu Song, the Guanglu doctor, then Liu Qubei, the right virtuous king, and last was Yang Zhong, the chief censor.

The other ministers were either on diplomatic missions in Hebei, or on diplomatic missions when Yuan Shu was not in the court, or were detained by the armies of Zhao Ji and Zhao Yan, or were recovering from injuries sustained in their broken legs.

But on both sides of the hall, there were also ministers kneeling on the ground, such as the Shangshu, Huangmen Shilang, and Yiluan, who were just filling in the numbers and serving as consuls.

Liu Xie sat upright in the upper seat, looked at the five attendants on his right, and said, "My dear ministers, you may now discuss the matter."

Zhao Ji sat at the end of the table, bowing slightly along with the others. However, the three in the middle remained silent, so Chief Zhao Yan asked, "The rewards for the various armies will require a considerable amount of money. How much is appropriate?"

The second-in-command, Ding Chong, said, "I suggest that each soldier in the army be rewarded 3,000 coins, and each soldier above him in rank should receive an additional 1,000 coins, so that every hundred soldiers will receive 10,000 coins."

After saying this, he turned to look at Liu Ai on his right. Liu Ai shook his head and said, "It's too much. Each army has different combat capabilities and different levels of merit. How can we talk about them all together? Do we have to give each member of the Wenxi volunteer army 3,000 coins as well?"

Have we only had a few good days?

Without the Wei family's treasury, with Ding Chong's free and easy personality, he would have proposed to default on the debt.

Liu Ai didn't see Ding Chong refute, so he turned to look at Tai Chong on his right.

Tai Chong considered it carefully and said, "The state is in a difficult situation. We will give each volunteer soldier from Wenxi 500 coins. The next higher ranks will receive 800 coins, such as the Huben auxiliary soldiers and county soldiers. The Hedong knights and Xiongnu volunteers will each receive 1,000 coins, and the Huben and Yulin soldiers can increase their rewards to 2,000 coins."

After saying this, he turned to look at Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji naturally didn't want to withhold the reward money: "But according to the Minister of the Interior, we can't value military officers more than soldiers. The number of 100-man supervisors is twice that of their own soldiers. The increase for team officers is 50%, and the increase for squad leaders and sergeants is 30% and 20% respectively."

Liu Ai spoke at this time: "I agree."

No one needed to look at Ding Chong and Zhao Yan. They had already voted three times. Ding Chong's objection was invalid, and Zhao Yan would definitely support it. At this time, Liu Xie said, "Temporarily appoint Zhao Rui, the counselor, as the Minister of the Central Secretariat to draft the imperial edict."

"only."

Zhao Rui, who was kneeling on the side, stood up and bowed deeply, then walked to the people in the Secretariat, officially taking away the power of the Secretariat to issue imperial edicts.

Based on the discussion results of the Shizhong, Zhao Rui reorganized his words, picked up his pen and wrote quickly. After a draft of the edict was completed, he personally brought it to Liu Xie's desk for review.

Liu Xie glanced at them, then observed Zhao Yan and Zhao Ji. Seeing that they showed no particular emotion, he said to Zhao Rui, "Anything that is discussed and voted on by the Ministry of Personnel can be issued by the Ministry of Central Secretariat."

That being said, when it comes to some key imperial edicts, this is definitely not the case.

"only."

Zhao Rui returned to the table holding the imperial edict and turned to look at Fu Baolang: "Use the seal."

"Here."

Fu Baolang is a young man with an imposing bearing. It is unknown from which noble family he belongs.

He stepped forward holding the imperial seal and stamped it.

Zhao Rui took the imperial edict to the Minister of Civil Affairs, Feng Shuo, and handed it to him: "Immediately select the officials to go to each army to calculate the bounty."

"Here."

Feng Shuo agreed, but did not leave in a hurry, as this task could not be completed in one day.

At this time, Zhao Yan spoke up, "The Wenxi volunteers are connected to each other, so they should be sent back as soon as possible. Immediately close the Sushui wooden bridge and transport money from the city. After rewarding the Wenxi volunteers, they can return home to avoid delaying farming."

"Seconded."

"Seconded."

Before Zhao Ji could speak, he heard Ding Chong and Liu Ai second the motion. Now the Minister of Civil Affairs Feng Shuo could no longer sit still. He immediately led several officials out and bowed to Liu Xiechang, saying, "We shall take our leave."

"allow."

Today is really special. Normally, the three provinces would not gather together, and there would not be an emperor like him watching, so it would not be so urgent.

Seeing that his words were so effective, Zhao Yan immediately asked, "What will happen to the family and wives of former General Bai Bo?"

Second-in-command Ding Chong had fewer concerns and said directly, "They've all been imprisoned."

Tai Chong and Liu Ai thought in silence, as if waiting for Zhao Ji's attitude, so as to avoid misunderstanding and being classified as former ministers.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ji said, "When the emperor was trapped in Hongnong, the Baibo generals coordinated with the Right Wise King to lead a volunteer army to aid him, resulting in the loss of many officers and soldiers. Later, when the court was in dire straits, many of the generals' followers also defected. With nowhere to go and no way to advance or retreat, they had a reason to rebel. I think it's better to punish the generals themselves and recruit their sons and daughters as imperial guards. Each of the four families should be given an annual fief of 100 households to support their families for ten years. After ten years, their sons and daughters will be strong enough to support the family."

Tai Chong beside him sighed: "Minister Zhao is generous, I think it is feasible."

Liu Xie also nodded slowly. The Baibo generals had really saved the court and fought bravely.

They could have stayed away from coming, but because they did, their troops suffered heavy losses, and those who remained in Hedong either defected or were annexed, cutting off their roots.

Now that Qubei is still alive, Huben has incorporated the fleeing Baibo army, and it is not surprising that he gives appropriate rewards to the four generals of Baibo.

Several other ministers who had experienced the bloody battle of Dongjian also spoke up in support.

Seeing that no one objected, Zhao Yan looked at Zhao Rui and said, "The merits and demerits of the Baibo generals are clear, and their flaws do not outweigh their merits. Therefore, I will draft an edict based on this."

"Here."

Zhao Rui went to draft the document, but this time he did not ask Liu Xie to look at it. He handed it to Zhao Yan, who read it and passed it to others.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Zhao Rui took the draft document back and asked Fu Baolang to seal it.

Several of the attendants were unwilling to discuss the past affairs of the nobles. Before Zhao Ji could offer any advice, Liu Ai spoke up, "The Hedong clan thieves are rampant. What should we do about them?"

This is a very offensive matter. If it is not handled properly, bandits will soon appear in all counties.

Even Zhao Yan didn't want to speak rashly, so he listened to Zhao Ji say: "Investigate the land and register the households. Based on the number of households and acres, pay ten years of land tax and fodder tax, and another ten years of head tax, and the matter will be over."

The opportunity is given to the powerful people in Hedong, and whether they are willing to cherish it depends on these people.

Anyway, due to continuous famines, many dry fields have become abandoned and are no different from wild land.

If you want to acknowledge it, just pay the land tax; but it is easy to pay the land tax, but where will you get the fodder?

In the Han Dynasty, the head tax coefficients were different. The highest was for unmarried women of childbearing age, followed by merchants, sons-in-law, servants, etc.

Only self-cultivating farmers and tenants are subject to the original coefficient of poll tax, while everyone else has an increase.

Seeing Zhao Ji's solution, those who did not want to be bad guys also agreed and refused to provide other solutions.

Zhao Yan was silent. He knew that Zhao Ji's method of dealing with the problem was not severe, but for the powerful, charging even one more penny would mean a huge loss!
(End of this chapter)