Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

The "Regulations on Preferential Treatment and Exemption" officially promulgated in the early years of the Retired Emperor's reign formalized and expanded the system of preferential treatment and exemption for officials and gentry.

For example, a first-rank official in the capital was exempted from 30 shi of grain and 30 adult males; a second-rank official was exempted from 24 shi of grain and 24 adult males.

The three ranks are exempt from 20 shi of grain and 20 ding of manpower, decreasing in that order.

This is not "preferential treatment for the scholar-officials" at all, but a blatant institutional privilege.

And all of this was driven step by step by the civil service group.

Even worse, local officials have repeatedly exceeded the limits for preferential treatment during implementation, resulting in a situation of "excessive preferential treatment".

Many government officials now own tens of thousands of acres of tax-exempt land, which were either donated or concealed by others!

Nowadays, when these officials shout "no taxation if you don't do official duties," they never mention the exemption limits, nor that there was such a large-scale exemption system during the reign of Emperor Taizu.

When Jia Jing invoked ancestral rules to refute them, Fang Congzhe and the others were at a loss for how to respond.

Ancestral rules have always been their pretext for limiting imperial power, and no one has ever torn off this fig leaf to openly point out their selfish motives behind upholding ancestral rules.

It has to be said that this situation really caught them off guard!

In fact, even when Zhang Tingyu and others refuted the old party, they would never say that upholding the ancestral system was for personal selfish reasons.

Because they also belong to the civil service group, they have benefited from many of the advantages, so naturally they can't let their good fortune slip away!

Only a military officer like Jia Jing, who held a high position and was favored by the emperor, would dare to point out the civil officials' differential treatment of ancestral rules!

This single point means that Jia Jing has placed himself on the opposite side of the entire civil service!

Of course, Jia Jing was also very clear about one thing: the struggle between civil and military officials has existed since ancient times!

In fact, ever since his great victory in the Northwest and his becoming the top military hero of the Han Dynasty, he has inevitably become a thorn in the side of the civil officials!

Furthermore, his recent agreement with Emperor Jingsheng to lead the army south of the Yangtze River has completely contradicted the views of the civil officials!

Therefore, he was not afraid of offending more people at this time. Instead, he thought of taking this opportunity to thoroughly punish the old civil officials and buy time for the later cleanup of the military officials in Shenjing and the consolidation of military power!

Only when civil officials are preoccupied with their own affairs can they be too busy to engage in factional strife or keep their eyes on him.

Moreover, his act of speaking out for the emperor and father, almost like "acting as a loyal subject," must have been very much to Emperor Jingsheng's liking!

As expected, Emperor Jingsheng looked pleased and said to Jia Jing:

"Zijie's words truly resonate with me! Those who spout ancestral precepts and the words of sages, only Heaven knows their true intentions!"

"Please speak freely without reservation. I am very interested to hear what kind of cruel methods are being used!"

Jia Jing paused for a moment, then faced the throne, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and spoke in a low but firm voice:

"Your Majesty, I have three points to make."

"It is proposed to expel those who are forcing the emperor to abdicate. The crowd gathered outside the Meridian Gate, regardless of whether they are officials or scholars, shall be immediately dispersed by the Imperial City Guard."

"Officials who disobey orders and refuse to leave their posts shall be arrested and dismissed from their posts; scholars who disobey orders and refuse to leave their posts shall have their academic qualifications revoked and shall be barred from taking the imperial examinations for life."

"Anyone who dares to incite trouble or speak disrespectfully will be imprisoned and await trial."

"The second proposal is to severely punish the ringleaders. Xu Zhuo, Xie Jishi, and Lu Shengnan colluded with officials, gathered a crowd to force the emperor to abdicate, incited the people, and disrupted the court. This is not remonstrance, but rebellion."

"According to the 'Traitorous Party' clause of the Great Han Law, those who form cliques and disrupt the government shall be beheaded; all three are guilty and cannot be pardoned."

"I intend to arrest him immediately, imprison him, subject him to severe interrogation, confiscate his property, and then publicly execute him in accordance with the law, sending his head to Jiangnan as a warning to others."

"The three deliberations immediately launched a major purge to investigate the associates of the faction."

"These three men were able to connect with dozens of officials and incite more than a hundred scholars in a single day. They must have planned this in advance. There must also be gentry from Jiangnan colluding with them behind the scenes."

"Your Majesty may order the Imperial City Guard to thoroughly investigate this case and punish those involved according to the severity of their involvement in the rebellion."

"Those who deserve execution should be executed, those who deserve exile should be exiled, those who deserve dismissal should be dismissed from office, and those who deserve stripping of their titles should have their titles stripped. We should wipe them out completely, uproot them, and leave no future troubles."

Jia Jing paused for a moment, then lowered his voice slightly and said:

"Your Majesty, the problems with the government do not lie in the new policies, but in the mutual deception between superiors and subordinates, the unclear rewards and punishments, and the unfair promotion and demotion."

"Xu Zhuo and others dared to stage a coup because they had powerful backers; the court officials dared to participate because they believed that 'the law does not punish the masses.'"

"Therefore, I request Your Majesty to take this opportunity to implement the capital inspection plan, and to examine the merits and demerits of all officials in accordance with the performance evaluation method."

"The virtuous and capable will remain, the mediocre and incompetent will be dismissed; the diligent will be promoted, the lazy will be removed. Whether the new policies can be implemented depends not on debates in the court, but on whether the officials can carry them out."

"If this can be used to rectify official corruption and clarify rewards and punishments, then I need not say more; the new policies can be implemented on their own."

Jia Jing's words shocked everyone present!

The other points were all fine; whether it was the proposal to expel the prisoners, to severely punish them, or even to conduct a thorough investigation in the capital, none of them were entirely unexpected.

But to everyone's surprise, Jia Zijie proposed to use the case of factionalism to start a major purge.

You must understand that instigating a major prison is no child's play!

Each major prison crackdown is a catastrophic political purge for the civil service.

It brought not only dramatic changes to the lives, honors, and disgraces of dozens or even hundreds of officials, but also a potentially devastating blow to the entire civil service system of the Han Dynasty.

Historically, the investigations into several "factional cases" during the Han Dynasty often resulted in widespread implication and heavy killings.

A major case during the reign of Emperor Taizu could implicate tens of thousands of people.

If this were done, it would not only create a terrifying atmosphere where everyone is in danger, but it would also result in a lot of deaths and severely damage the civil service!

Fang Congzhe's eyes flashed with a mixture of shock and anger, and he immediately shouted:

"Your Majesty! This proposal is unacceptable! Duke Jing is too bloodthirsty. If a major purge is launched, it will inevitably lead to chaos in the court and the country will cease to exist."

"This would be extremely detrimental to Your Majesty's reputation and the stability of the nation. Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

How malicious this child is! He wants to wipe out and completely eliminate the old party!

Zhang Tingyu and the other members of the New Party also looked at Jia Jing with solemn expressions. Although they wanted to take this opportunity to force the emperor to abdicate, they still wanted to strike a blow against the Old Party.

But they never thought of using the Imperial City Guard to start a large-scale prison, because if a large-scale prison were to be started, their New Party would easily suffer a backlash.

In other words, there are limits to the power struggles among civil officials.

This practice of creating large-scale prisons could lead to officials implicating each other under intense pressure, a self-destructive tactic that would only be used as a last resort!

Emperor Jingsheng remained calm; he wasn't too surprised, but rather somewhat moved.

He knew that Jia Jing's vehement remonstrance was perhaps motivated by a desire to protect him.

Zijie couldn't bear to see him forced to abdicate by those treacherous officials, which made him somewhat indignant. This was entirely due to his sincere loyalty to him!

Otherwise, given Zijie's current status, why would he need to utter such words in court, which would inevitably offend countless civil officials!

After all, if these words were to spread, Zijie's reputation among the civil service would be completely ruined!

Just as the hall fell into a brief silence, Xu Zhuo, who was standing to the side with cold sweat pouring down his forehead, suddenly shouted:

"Your Majesty, the founding emperor established a system where civil and military officials are separated, each fulfilling their respective duties. Military generals command troops, while civil officials govern the country, thus maintaining checks and balances on each other. This has been an unchanging law of our ancestors for over a century."

"Now, Jia Zijie, as a military officer, holds military power, commanding twelve battalions of troops and holding the title of Minister of War;"

"If we were to follow his lead and launch a major purge of civil officials, then the fate of the entire army and the officials would be entirely in his hands. Your Majesty... surely you are aware of the case of Huo Guang?"

Lu Shengnan's forehead veins throbbed, and he quickly followed suit, shouting:

"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty suffered from the calamity of regional military governors, and the Song Dynasty learned from the story of 'releasing military power over a cup of wine.' The excessive power of military officials is no longer a blessing for the nation."

"If we were to follow his lead again today and persecute civil officials through a major purge, who in the world would be able to control his power in the future?"

"Your Majesty... military officials should not be allowed to handle literary matters, for if they are, they will inevitably harbor disloyal thoughts. This is an immutable truth throughout the ages!"

"Your Majesty, military men bring ruin to the country. Jia Zijie's wolfish ambitions are blatantly obvious and must be carefully observed!"

The two of them were genuinely scared at this point!

They still harbored a glimmer of hope that Zhang Tingyu's remonstrance would lead to his death!

But if Jia Jing were to initiate a major prison sentence and send someone to the Imperial City Guard, then that would truly be a situation where one could neither live nor die!

Not to mention, Jia Jing even advised that they should be severely interrogated, their property confiscated, and their heads sent to Jiangnan in a public execution!

This child is vicious and cruel; he is truly not a human being!