Chapter 2 Centralization

On the evening of that day, Zhang Liang received a Fusu edict ordering him to enter the palace. Zhang Liang did not dare to neglect him, so he quickly changed into court clothes and rushed into the palace.

When he arrived at Nan Study, he saw that there were already several people sitting in the room. In addition to Fusu, there were Ying Ji, Xiao He and Fan Tianshi, three important officials in the court. Zhang Liang was very proud of his heart, and knew that what he was discussing today must be quite a bit!

"I Zhang Liang saw that the emperor was late, please forgive me!" Zhang Liang hurriedly gave a bow. "Military advisor, please sit down!" Fusu said with a smile.

Zhang Liang stood up, signaled Ying Ji and others, and sat with Ying Ji and faced Xiao He and Fan Tianshi!

Seeing that everyone was together, Fusu nodded and said, "You are all recruiting you today, just to discuss how I should govern this great country after the official establishment of the country! You are all wise and the best in the world. Please speak freely and don't worry about it!" In fact, Fusu Zhao's four people came to have selfish intentions. These four people are all selfish, all respecting the country, loving the people, and selfless. Let them help formulate some important national policies. One can hear the truth, and the other can also achieve practical results!

The four of them looked at each other and exchanged their eyes familiarly. Xiao He said first: "Your Majesty, the world is in chaos, there are three things to do first!" "Oh, what three things? Xiao Qing said!" Fusu looked at the stern look!

Xiao He said: "1. Restore the living order in various places. The world has been in chaos for more than a year. Many places are deserted and people are not farmed, but some places are densely filled with refugees and have no land to plant. Therefore, if you don't find a way to let refugees have land to plant as soon as possible, you may be afraid that if you don't eat and don't cover your stomach, you will inevitably cause disaster again!"

Fusu nodded and said, "Xiao Qing's concern is true. In two days, I will issue an edict to all provinces and counties to find ways to absorb the refugees stranded in each county as soon as possible. The county cannot accept the repatriation of their hometowns. If there is difficulty in returning their hometowns, I specifically approve that new land can be properly cultivated for refugees to farm, and the court can also appropriately withdraw some funds for repatriation and resettlement of refugees in various places! Xiao Qing, Fan Qing, and you must do a good job in specific arrangements, and do not let governments in various places be superficial!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Xiao He and Fan Tianshi nodded.

"The second point is to clear out the bandits in various places! Now there are no rebels in the world, but there are many small bandits gathering in the mountains and forests everywhere, especially the Xinding Land in Guandong, which is the most serious. If the bandits are not solved well, I am afraid that the people will find it difficult to farm with peace of mind!" Xiao He continued.

Fusu nodded and agreed: "Yes, without a peaceful environment, the people cannot live with peace of mind. This bandit crisis must be suppressed, but I think there must be many refugees in these bandit crisis, so we cannot completely use violent means to solve the problem! In this way, I will issue an edict as soon as possible: In line with kindness, in addition to the habit of criminal bandits, a general amnesty for bandits in all parts of the world, and the decree will be submitted to governments in various places within one month from the date of the decree. If there are still bandit patients in all counties and counties, the garrisons in various places will be dispatched immediately, and they will be suppressed, and they will be killed. A year later, I will send multiple teams of patrols to patrol the whole country. If you find a serious bandit crisis, the county's first chief will be dismissed on the spot and escorted to Xianyang for interrogation! What do you think?"

Zhang Liang smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise, it is very appropriate to deal with this!" Fusu smiled and said, "Look, the military advisor has flattered me again!" Everyone laughed.

Xiao Heyi smiled and said, "After the first two things are done, the lives of the people in various places will be basically guaranteed! But if the people want to live a better life, the third thing must be solved: cracking down on unscrupulous merchants. Now the world is now determined that many materials are scarce in various places, especially food is even short of food, because many black-hearted vendors have accumulated strange places, buying lows and selling highs, and exploiting people from all over the world who are already poor due to the war. If such bad apples are not eliminated, the people will find it difficult to convince. I have received many paper-related complaints from all over the country, which is really shocking!"

Fusu smiled bitterly when he heard this, "There are always profitable merchants who make money from the country and war money. It is understandable that merchants are seeking profit as their nature, but if it is too much, they must be severely punished! Let's do this, I immediately issue an order to all counties and counties to stabilize prices and crack down on speculators. Anyone who dares to commit crimes against the wind will be punished first according to the commercial law, and all the materials involved will be taken back to the national treasury. Use heavy punishments in troubled times, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve miraculous results!

Among them, the most important thing is to stabilize the grain price. Xiao Qing and Fan Qing, I will immediately use the "Qin Feng" to send a letter to you with a letter from Fei Ge to inform you of the normal grain prices and current grain prices. Based on these news, you will set a guide price for the prices of grain in various places, and strive for fairness and rationality. You must not let the people suffer losses or make unprofitable businessmen! In addition, quickly transfer grain from Bashu and Jiangnan to the north, while providing relief to all counties with owed grain, while suppressing the grain prices in various places! You can also properly solve the remaining scarce materials such as salt, iron, and cloth according to my methods, so as to achieve results in half a year and achieve success in one year! Is there any problem?"

Xiao He and Fan Tianshi looked at each other in a daze, and suddenly laughed. Fan Tianshi said happily: "Your Majesty is such a god. It seems that there is something difficult. There is a wonderful method when you have a sudden idea. I am anxious about this matter and have no good plans. I didn't expect that Your Majesty will solve it easily now!" Fusu secretly said in his heart: "Nonsense, do you think the books I have read for so many years in my previous life were useless, but I am a double master!" But he said happily: "Fan Qing is here to flatter me too!" Everyone laughed!

Fusu took a sip of tea, moistened his throat and said, "These three things Xiao Qing are very important, which can ensure that the world can be settled as soon as possible and restore normal living order! But this is just governing the people and has not yet involved governing the country, so please continue to speak freely!"

Fan Tianshi and Fusu have known each other for many years, but they are a close friend. When they hear the string song, they know the meaning of elegance. Then they slowly said: "Governing the country is more complicated than governing the country. I also have three things to talk about, but the general meaning is four words: centralization!"

Fusu was excited when he heard this, nodded and said, "What Fan Qing said is very good, so why not explain it in detail!"

Fan Tianshi also drank some tea and moistened his throat and said, "First, it is military power and military strength. As it is decided today, there are many generals who hold heavy troops to divide the country. This is very bad! Although with Your Majesty's prestige, there will be no trouble for the time being, if it is allowed to develop, it will probably be too big. Therefore, we must quickly find a way to take back the military power! Moreover, now that the country has been decided, there is no need to maintain a million troops. It is better to cut some of the soldiers and return them to various places to supplement the people, so that the burden on the country and the people can be smaller!" Ying Ji and others dared not speak for a while after hearing this. This question is too sensitive!

Fusu was silent for a moment and said, "This is very good, but will the people in the world think that I am trying to hide all the birds and keep the rabbits and cook them with dead dogs?" Fan Tianshi said seriously: "For the country's plan, Your Majesty must do this! As long as Your Majesty treats the generals well and slowly cuts down his military power. With Your Majesty's prestige in the army, no one can say anything unless he wants to rebel!"

Fusu thought to himself: "With his prestige in the army, and with Meng Tian, ​​Li Xin, Han Xin and other generals are either friends of life and death, or people who are promoted by themselves, who dares to rebel! Besides, it is legitimate to adjust military power after the world is determined. The army and the people are confused for a long time, and it is impossible to rebel with the generals!" Then he looked at Ying Ji and said, "Second brother, what do you think?" Ying Ji thought about it for a while, then looked at Fu Su's face and said, "I think it's so appropriate. Although it's a bit difficult, some things must be done, and it must be done as soon as possible! Your Majesty can take advantage of the opportunity of disarmament to reorganize the soldiers from all over the country, and the generals will be re-distributed; some veteran generals can be ordered to retire, and their empty seats will be replaced by your Majesty's confidant. In addition, the old tiger talisman system should be restored as soon as possible to avoid changes in generals!"

Fusu resolutely made up his mind and said, "Okay! That's the decision. I must not leave any future troubles in the iron camp and flowing soldiers!" He asked Zhang Liang again, "Zifang, how many registered soldiers are there in various places now?" Zhang Liang hurriedly said, "I remember, there are about 1.5 million people, but there must be many unregistered people!"

Fusu gasped and said, "When my father was there, the population of the world was about 24 million. Now, after more than a year of war, Kanto suffered serious losses. It is estimated that the national population is about 170 to 80 million. Wouldn't it be ten people to raise one army? It's really necessary to reduce it!" After considering it, he said, "Let's do this, there are currently about 40 counties in the world. Depending on the population, geography and other conditions, one to twenty thousand people are stationed, and strive to reduce the local guards in various places to about 600,000 within one year, and use these forces to suppress the land.

Bandits and maintaining public order should be enough! In addition, the central government has left an imperial guard as a mobile force, which is about 200,000 people! The rest are border guards, with 300,000 people in the northern border and 100,000 people in the southern border. In this way, the total number of troops in various places is about 1.2 million! I estimate that almost 30% of the current troops will be reduced, which will greatly reduce the burden on the country and the people, and also allow the army to cultivate while garrisoning, which will save a lot of expenses. It is estimated that with such troops, the country will still be able to bear it for the time being!"

Zhang Liang nodded after hearing this and said, "Your Majesty is very thoughtful. Now that the chaotic times have just been decided, the troops must not be cut too much, otherwise once there is a change, it will be difficult to react in time!"

Fusu nodded and said to Fan Tianshi: "Fan Qing, what about the second thing?" Fan Tianshi said: "The second thing is to attack the powerful. There are two types of powerful people. The superior is the court officials: I think that in the future, the lord, the marquis and other titles can no longer be placed, and only a false reputation can be left. This can prevent their tail from being big, and the other can also prevent them from bullying the people by relying on their power. The subordinates also recommend that they also change it to the salary system; the subordinates are local gentry and gentry: These people have mixed forces in the local areas, and it is difficult for local officials to check and balance. If they do not want to weaken it, it will cause great trouble to the country's governance!"

Fusu thought for a moment: "In the old year, although the father no longer enfeoffed the princes, the fief system was still preserved, because each fief only gave the financial power to the captive master, and the military power and the regime were still controlled by the state, which is very different from the feudals! However, I also considered it. If you want to change it, just change it thoroughly. For the long-term stability of the country, the fief system must be completely abolished and changed to the salary system. I think if you are not a person with unpredictable intentions, you should have no complaints! As for the local tyrants, you should temporarily take advantage of the fact that "Qin Feng" will temporarily take advantage of some of the most illegal ones and shock the rest of the people. When the time is ripe in the future, and then slowly deal with them, stability will be the priority!" Everyone realized that if they were forced to force themselves, they might be afraid that the local tyrants would take advantage of the initial determination of the world and the dissatisfaction of the people!

Fan Tianshi also said the third thing: "In addition, the country needs to strengthen the management of local officials' history. Nowadays, most of the officials' history in various places are old people from the old Qin Dynasty. Many of them rely on money, relationships, or brags to climb to a high position. How can these people manage the place well? Therefore, I suggest that you immediately select talents and gradually replace those incompetent officials with various excuses. This is one of them; secondly, Your Majesty can secretly order the "Qin Feng" to strengthen the local area.

If there is any dereliction of duty, the surveillance of the official history shall be promptly returned and severely punished once verified. Third, Your Majesty shall take back the appointment and removal power of the main officials in various places. In the past, when the Emperor was the first emperor, he only had to directly appoint and remove the county-level chief officials. The minister thought that Your Majesty should go further. Even the important positions of the county magistrate, the county Sikong, the county Sima, etc. must be reported to Your Majesty personally for approval. In this way, the country will greatly strengthen the control of the local officials' history, which can effectively solve the problems of inefficiency and lack of responsibility among officials!"

"Well, Fan Qing's idea is also very good, which is very beneficial for strengthening centralization! But I have two other ideas: First, officials are not allowed to serve in their hometowns, which can avoid collusion between officials and gentry and exploit the people to a certain extent; Second, with three years as a term, the court will evaluate the appointment of the main officials of each county and county: If they are determined to be incompetent, they can be punished with demotion; if they have excellent grades, they can be transferred to other places; if they have mediocre grades, they should try to transfer to other places to avoid becoming uneasy after they become popular locally! I have nothing new to these two points, and they should cut off the opportunity of officials as much as possible to the people! I wonder what you think?" Fusu considered it and told some of the experiences of later generations!

Ying Ji and others thought it made sense. Fan Tianshi said, "Although what Your Majesty said has never been implemented before, it is quite reasonable. I think it is worth a try!" Fusu was very happy to hear this, "Okay, today's discussion will end here. All the officials will go back. The military advisor is responsible for military affairs, Xiao Qing and Fan Qing are responsible for government affairs, and draft the specific implementation methods of the constitution discussed today and submit it to me for review tomorrow night. If there is no problem, an edict will be issued nationwide! Second brother, you can arrange it and help the three of you!" "Yes, Your Majesty!" Ying Ji and the other four received the order!

After a few days, after discussing with Ying Ji and others, Fusu issued several laws in succession with thunder and began to rectify many domestic unrest. Under the suppression of Fusu's lofty prestige, coupled with strong military power and the support of enlightened military and political officials in the court, the implementation of laws in various places was somewhat bumpy, but overall it was relatively smooth. Because Fusu's reform was beneficial to the vast majority of people in the world, and it did not touch the fundamental interests of the gentry and gentry class, although there were some oppositions, they could not make any big waves and were quickly suppressed!
Chapter completed!