Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 26 I am the State!

The next day, in the Jiade Hall

All officials above the rank of 2,000 stones in Luoyang, the capital, gathered here. Compared with previous grand court meetings, this number of participants was rare.

However, as the three "highly respected" officials, Sikong Zhang Ji, Taiwei Yang Ci, and Situ Yuan Wei were obviously accustomed to similar scenes.

Yuan Wei and Yang Ci looked at each other, but saw that the other shook his head, so they turned their eyes to Zhang Ji.

All the old ministers in the court who had served as the three highest officials had basically guessed the reason why the prince had convened such a large-scale court meeting. Especially when they saw Liu Yan's calm appearance, their guess was confirmed.

The three officials are exempted from disasters!
Since Dong Zhongshu's theory of the correspondence between heaven and man came out, the monarchy and divine power were combined into one, which consolidated the emperor's rule but also brought many hidden dangers to the emperors of later generations.

One of them is to blame natural disasters and man-made disasters on the king's lack of virtue.

If a disaster befell the heavens, the emperor of that day would have to issue a self-blame edict, begging heaven not to punish the people but to punish him alone, which is the so-called "If all the people are guilty, the fault lies with me."

However, during the reign of Emperor Xiaoai, the emperor who inherited the throne from a vassal king was particularly unhappy about issuing the edict of repentance.

When I was the King of Dingtao, I had to admit my mistakes to Taifu Wang. Now that I am the emperor, I still have to admit my mistakes to the people of the world. Then, isn’t my reign as emperor in vain?

Therefore, with the cooperation of the modern literary school, Emperor Xiaoai blamed the three officials for the natural disasters, citing the "Shangshu Dachuan" that "If the people are not close to each other and the five ranks are not disciplined, the Si Tu will be held responsible; if the barbarians are cunning and the bandits are treacherous, the Sima will be held responsible; if the ditches are blocked and water harms the people, and the vast fields are not cultivated, the Si Kong will be held responsible."

However, it was not until Empress Hexi of the Later Han Dynasty, Deng Sui, took the throne as regent in the name of "female monarch" that the "exemption of three officials due to disasters" was finally formally institutionalized, becoming a highlight of the Later Han Dynasty.

Liu Yan was the Minister of Rites, and as the head of the Nine Ministers, he had priority in being promoted to one of the Three Dukes.

But in fact, the old ministers in the court don’t really care about these things, especially the current three officials. Yang Ci has served as Sikong once, Situ twice, and now Taiwei. Who hasn’t served as one of the three officials a few times?

It is enough to have this honor once. They thought about this day when they became the Three Dukes.

Although I still feel a little emotional when I really face this day, I am not too worried about gains and losses.

Yuan Wei looked at this scene and it couldn't be more familiar.

In June of last year, at the grand court meeting, he replaced Si Tu Chen Dan, who was dismissed in April due to the severe drought, as Tai Chang Qing and became one of the Three Dukes.

Yes, almost everyone cares about which of the three highest officials will be dismissed this time, rather than what kind of disaster has occurred in the local area and how to carry out disaster relief and relief afterwards.

No matter how serious the disaster is, won’t it just be a poor harvest or even a total loss of harvest?

My family is quite big... well, we have plenty of food and land. All you untouchables need to do is abandon your registered residence, sell your land, and become slaves of my family.

This is clearly a great thing!
"The Grand Historian observed the wind, clouds, and celestial phenomena at Lingtai and predicted that the drought demon was approaching."

The ministers could not help but whisper to each other when they heard this. It was indeed a disaster, and the next step was to dismiss the three ministers according to the procedure.

In the past, the process of dismissing the Three Dukes was that the emperor would issue an edict to indicate that a disaster had befallen the world, and therefore dismiss one of the Three Dukes. However, starting from Emperor Xiaohuan, perhaps to make up for the Party and Faction Persecution, the dismissal of the Three Dukes was changed to the Three Dukes admitting at the court meeting that they were unworthy of their positions and had caused the disaster to befall them, and voluntarily resigned. The emperor would not allow it, and after the three dukes had resigned three times, the emperor would reluctantly approve their resignations, in a disguised way, to buy reputation for the resigning Three Dukes.

Of course, the decision on who would voluntarily resign was a matter of prior private "discussion" between the emperor and the three ministers he was deposing, not a single one of them actually willingly leaving their position. Yang Ci and Yuan Wei frowned as they looked at Zhang Ji. They had just exchanged glances, and neither had been summoned privately by the crown prince. Therefore, the one who would voluntarily resign was undoubtedly Zhang Ji, the Minister of Works.

Yang Ci and Yuan Wei were not only relatives, but also leaders of the Modern Literature School. Naturally, they would not hide this information from each other.

This was not the case with Zhang Ji. Although he was once a friend of Yang Ci and was recommended by Yang Ci to become Liu Hong's lecturer, and lectured Liu Hong in the Huaguang Hall, Zhang Ji and Xu Yu later joined the eunuch group and persecuted many upright scholars and virtuous officials, and the two of them severed their friendship.

Therefore, after Yang Ci and Yuan Wei confirmed that neither of them had been summoned by the prince, they both agreed that the three officials the prince wanted to dismiss was Zhang Ji, the prime minister.

But although Zhang Ji took refuge with the eunuchs for his official career, he was definitely not the kind of guy who was stupid enough to refuse to move his position. So it seems that the prince did not summon any of the three ministers?
Seeing that none of the three ministers left their seats and resigned voluntarily, the ministers below the stage couldn't help but feel puzzled. Could it be that the prince didn't know the procedure?
The eyes of all the court officials fell on Liu Yan, the Minister of Rites. According to the rules, the Minister of Rites had the responsibility to answer questions for the Crown Prince. Whether for public or private reasons, it was impossible that Liu Yan had not confirmed with the Crown Prince about the dismissal of the Three Dukes.

Feeling the gazes of the ministers, Liu Yan felt confused and innocent. When he made the report that day, he had hinted vaguely that the crown prince should dismiss the three ministers due to natural disasters, and the crown prince also said that he understood the procedures.

But since the prince knows everything, what is the situation?
"Ah."

Liu Bian chuckled, took in the expressions on the faces of all the officials, and sneered inwardly.

"Let's discuss how to reduce the losses caused by the drought and provide relief to the victims. What kind of regulations should the court come up with?"

Liu Bian temporarily suppressed the doubts in the officials' minds and turned the topic to disaster relief.

Yesterday he looked through the palace Chinese history books and other archived memorials and records, wanting to see how the court had dealt with droughts in the past.

Do not check, I don’t know, I’m scared.

Since Emperor Xiaohuan till now, there have been disasters everywhere almost every spring, summer, autumn and winter!
Earthquakes, locust plagues, pestilence, droughts, and floods are almost endless, and the scale of these disasters is always huge. Often, one disaster will trigger another.

And in recent years, no one knows how much of the national treasury and the internal money have been spent on disaster relief. For a moment, Liu Bian couldn't help but understand. No wonder Liu Hong has fallen from a king who was determined to revive the Han Dynasty to what he is today.

However, as Liu Bian asked the question, the officials in the court did not quite understand. The court had fixed regulations for dealing with disasters, so what was there that needed to be discussed by the officials?
What Liu Bian did not expect was that the first person to stand up and make suggestions was Taizhong Doctor Gai Sheng.

Gai Sheng was the former Colonel of Cavalry and an old friend of Liu Hong when he was still a vassal king. That was why he was appointed Colonel of Cavalry and later promoted to the position of Grand Secretary.

"Your Highness, the imperial court has its own disaster relief regulations. The most urgent task should be to reduce punishments, grant titles, and select talents to appease the wrath of heaven. There can be no delay!"

Gai Sheng's meaning was also the idea of ​​the vast majority of court officials in the Jiade Hall. There was a drought at this time last year. We should just follow the rules. At that time, the court and local governments will provide relief to some of the victims, and the rest will be absorbed by us, the nobles and wealthy families, for the court.

What the prince should do at this time is to quickly dismiss one of the three ministers to appease the resentment of God, then issue a general amnesty, and grant official titles to virtuous and wise men in exchange for God's forgiveness.

But these things seemed too absurd to Liu Bian. Should a group of criminals who had violated the law be released when a disaster occurred, and should titles be granted to those who were called "virtuous and wise men" by the scholars?
It seems that the main victims of the disaster are not the common people but this group of scholars, and they still have to pin their hopes on the illusory God instead of relying on manpower and technology to save the disaster?

What Liu Bian wanted to do with this drought was to sever the connection between disasters and the virtues of those in power. Therefore, his first step was to no longer follow the system of "exempting the three officials from official duties due to disasters."

Or to put it more bluntly, the reason is that he wants to place royal authority above everything else, and even divine authority must prostrate itself under his royal authority!
I am the state!

(End of this chapter)