Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 733 Change
"Ahh~"

Cao Shuang rubbed his nose and sneezed.

He Yan put down the wine cup and said with a smile, "General, did you catch a cold?"

"Maybe it's because the weather is getting colder, and I feel it occasionally."

He Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, and said wretchedly: "The general is caused by too much work on the bed, and the bed needs to be kept warm for a while."

"Hahaha!" Deng Yang, Ding Mi and others couldn't help laughing out loud.

Cao Shuang's cheeks were slightly red, and he said with a smile, "I'm just joking, there are only a few old people, so I'm already bored."

As he said that, Cao Shuang raised his wine bottle to the crowd and said with a smile, "Today is to celebrate the death of Mr. Zhuge, and to celebrate the prosperity of our Great Wei Kingdom."

Hearing this, He Yan rolled his eyes, and with fruit in his heart, he toasted with everyone and said, "Thank you, General, and congratulations for my Great Wei!"

"color!"

In the general's mansion, there was a staggering of toasts and cups, and everyone celebrated together.

At the same time, a carriage was driving from Puyang in Dongjun to Yecheng, and the carriage was running on the official road outside Yecheng.

On the carriage, Xia Houxuan flipped through the information he had collected from the local area, combined with this year's countdown tables of various states and counties, his expression was not very good.

Since the first emperor Cao Rui ascended the throne, Cao Wei has never conquered or fought at any age.After his death, he was handed over to Cao Shuang. Cao Wei had already been strong outside and capable in the middle. He seemed to occupy China with a vast land and abundant resources, but in fact the treasury of the Cao Wei court could not make ends meet.

In the process of fighting the Shu Han, the elite Chinese army lost a lot. In order to form a new Chinese army, the military expenditure was heavy and the number of officials was serious.Going out to fight all year round, the people's corvee is also heavy, and the family is also in hardship, unable to make ends meet.Moreover, as the Shu Han annexed the three states of Cao Wei, Cao Wei's treasury was reduced again.

When Xia Houxuan first entered the Central Committee, he hadn't fully understood this problem, so he thought it would be easy to solve.Now that he has assisted Cao Shuang in dealing with state affairs, he has gained an in-depth understanding of internal problems, and now he has gone out to visit the people again.After some exploration, he has realized the seriousness of the financial problem. If this problem is not resolved, it will completely restrict Cao Wei's development.

After staring at the official document on the case for a long time, Xia Houxuan picked up his pen and wrote the thoughts he had been thinking for a long time on the scarf, ready to submit it to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi.

As the carriage moved forward steadily, Xia Houxuan's pen and ink flew down.After a long time, when the carriage entered Yecheng, Xia Houxuan's masterpiece had been completed.

After a while, the carriage stopped slowly, and the driver said: "Patriarch, the General's Mansion has arrived."

Xia Houxuan blew on the scarf on the small case, put it in his cuffs, adjusted his clothes, got off the carriage, and entered the court under the guidance of his attendants.

In the court, Cao Shuang just finished drinking with everyone, and sat on the couch drunkenly, chatting with He Yan and others.

When Cao Shuang saw the well-dressed Xia Houxuan, he greeted loudly: "Tai Chu, Shuang just had a big banquet with everyone, you are too late!"

Xia Houxuan sniffed the strong smell of alcohol in the hall, frowned, and said: "If Yixuan's memory is correct, it's the time when the prefectures and counties are making plans, and it's not a day of great joy. I don't know why the general is celebrating?"

Cao Shuang leaned on the table and said with a smile: "At the beginning of Tai, I didn't know something. Now I heard that Zhuge Liang, the thief, died of illness. Zhuqing is very happy. I have a special rest for a day to celebrate."

Xia Houxuan looked around the hall and saw that everyone was still in such a posture. Thinking of the difficulties of the country, he couldn't help but sneer and said: "Xuan thought today was the day when our army conquered Jingzhou, and the general held another banquet to celebrate."

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the noisy hall fell silent. Knowing that the situation was not good, He Yan, Deng Yang and others got up and left one after another, leaving room for Cao Shuang and Xia Houxuan.

Cao Shuang was quite displeased, and said, "Today is a day of celebration, why is Taichu so disappointing?"

Seeing Cao Shuang's indifferent attitude, Xia Houxuan took a deep breath and said, "General, the people of Shu have pacified Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, increased their population by more than one million, and greatly increased their power. But our country has an army of [-], There are countless corvees, Henan is exhausted, but there is no merit. How can the current situation of the enemy and us be changed by the death of Zhuge Liang?"

"And our country has been conquered every year, and the people are running around, refining the army, spending hundreds of millions, and the treasury is nothing. Now that the generals ignore state affairs, but drink and have fun here, is it a blessing for the country?"

Cao Shuang didn't dare to answer resentfully, he still had a lot of admiration for Xia Houxuan, and it was indeed his own fault in this matter.

Sipping sober tea, Cao Shuang asked modestly: "Since Taichu has asked this question, he should think about it. I don't know if Taichu has any suggestions, but he can submit them to Shuang. If it is feasible, Shuang will do it."

Xia Houxuan was also helpless towards his cousin, and handed over the scarf in his sleeve.

Cao Shuang took it with a silly smile, spread it out and browsed it carefully.Halfway through reading, Cao Shuang suddenly sobered up when he saw the content on it, his face was covered with cold sweat, and his face was full of shock.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Cao Shuang slowed down and asked tentatively, "Is Taichu a joke?"

"The general thinks so!" Xia Houxuan replied seriously.

Cao Shuang shook his head again and again, and said, "Tai Chu, this matter may be difficult."

Although Cao Shuang is the second generation of a rich family, he is not an idiot!The measures proposed by Xia Houxuan have already gone beyond his ability.

In Xia Houxuan's scarves, apart from the clichés of resting with the people and reducing corvees, there is also an extremely important content, that is, the abolition of the county as a governance unit.

Xia Houxuan believes that in today's places, on the one hand, the county guards are the most important, and on the other hand, the establishment of governors is the most important thing.The content under the jurisdiction of the county guard conflicts with the content under the jurisdiction of the governor of the state, and the population of the people has been declining due to wars all year round. The official position of the county guard can be reduced and only the governor can be established.

In this way, tens of thousands of officials at the county level can return to farming in the fields, create new tax revenue for the court, increase food production, and save a lot of expenses for the court.

That is to say, the governance system has changed from three levels to two levels, and then counties-states-central government.

And Xia Houxuan said that some county magistrates are talented enough to be prefects, and they often have disputes with the county magistrates and have different opinions.The credit for governing the local area is often taken away by the prefect, but the most tedious affairs are handled by the county magistrate, so officials who are familiar with local civil affairs are often left behind and are not easy to be promoted.

If the post of county sheriff is abolished, the disputes between officials in counties and counties will be reduced, and they can directly discuss with the governor at the state level.

Of course, Xia Houxuan also proposed a county-level governance method. Large counties with more than [-] households are called county guards; counties with more than [-] households are called captains; county magistrate or magistrate.

These county guards, captains, county magistrates, and county magistrates are all appointed through the imperial court's evaluation and promoted according to their political achievements. Over time, the local population will also increase accordingly. This is a system that allows local officials to display their talents.

The above is Xia Houxuan's reform of Cao Wei's local governance system. If the reform is successful, it will not only clean up a large number of redundant officials for Cao Wei, save the treasury, but also add money and food to the local area, which will facilitate the promotion of local officials.

This move can be said to kill three birds with one stone, but it also has its drawbacks!
Reducing more than [-] officials at the first level of the county and letting them go home to work in agriculture will not harm the interests of more than [-] families. How many small and medium gentry will be alienated from Cao Wei, or how many gentry will abandon Wei and vote for Han.After all, I don't eat your Cao family's food, how dare you ask me to be loyal.As for whether these more than [-] officials will rebel, it is not known.

No need to describe too much, everyone can basically feel that the reform of the local governance system introduced by Xia Houxuan is so difficult!
Needless to say Cao Shuang, as far as the current Shu Han is concerned, Liu Chan would also have a headache to implement such a system.Regardless of whether Cao Wei or Dahan enforced this system, it would naturally affect the interests of countless gentry and powerful people.

In order not to upset Xia Houxuan, Cao Shuang comforted him by saying, "Taichu's policy is a great plan for the country. If it can be promoted, it will be beneficial to the country. However, the lack of coolness and virtue is not enough. If Taichu wait a few years, It's not too late to carry out this strategy with coolness, kindness and power."

"As for the deficit of the national treasury, Shuang has already thought about it. From now on, if Shu does not attack me, we, Great Wei, will not send troops. We should rest and recuperate."

Xia Houxuan sighed, feeling that all his hard work was in vain, Cao Shuang still lacked pride and was too timid.

Seeing that Xia Houxuan was unmoved, Cao Shuang continued: "At the beginning of Taichu, it is better to send this book to the Taifu. If the Taifu thinks it is feasible, it will not be difficult to do it with his prestige and power!"

Cao Shuang's words were kicking the ball. Although his talent was shallow, he also knew that Sima Yi cherished feathers, and it was impossible for him to support Xia Houxuan in doing so.

"That's all!"

After leaving, Xia Houxuan was quite disappointed, but with his last hope, he sent the scarf to Sima Yi.

However, what waited for Xia Houxuan was Sima Yi's perfunctory again.Sima Yi's letter described the development of the state and county system, saying that the state and county system still has value, otherwise the Shu thieves would not have always used the county-county-state-central three-level governance system, and today's It is inconvenient to change the political situation easily, so it is better to wait for His Majesty to come of age and implement it according to the situation.

The content on it is exactly the same as Sima Yi's reply to Xia Houxuan's proposal to rule the place with the clan, only a few terms have been changed.Xia Houxuan's heart was hit again. In desperation, he could only put his body and mind into his own job to rectify the Cao Wei Zhongjun.

(2/3)

(End of this chapter)