The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

When the collection books of the various counties and states were delivered separately, Xun Yu looked at them one by one, and when they were all delivered, after counting the totals, he came to report to Xun Zhen.

Xun Zhen asked Xun Yu to move the seat below, and the two sat facing each other.

On the top of the two thick piles of documents is the general book compiled by the state government.

Xun Zhen put the booklet she had just read on the side of the case, picked up the general booklet, flipped through it, and asked, "How is the overall situation?"

Xun Yu knew all the data by heart, and replied: "The five counties have a total of more than 350,000 households and more than 1.9 million mouths."

Xun Zhen knew the situation in Guangling, so she was mentally prepared for the population situation in the whole prefecture. Hearing this, she couldn't help but sigh.

The first record in the general book is the total number, and the following is the population of each county. As he looked at it, he sighed: "Tao Gongzu did not spare the people's efforts, abused them like tigers, and many people fled, so that today is the mouth of one state. It’s not as good as the three counties in the past.”

Xuzhou's population was in Taiping, and the total registered population was about 2.7 million. Today, it is less than 2 million. Since the Yellow Turbans rose, the population has dropped sharply by 700,000 to 800,000 in the past ten years, and some of them died in the war. Some died of epidemics, some rose up, some became thieves, and some abandoned their homes and fled because they could not bear the burden of taxation, that is, they became refugees.

Xun Yu said: "Many people are in exile. Comparing the situation in Guangling with the whole prefecture, it should be the same as in Guangling. There are many powerful people who have died in the county councils and do not report their household registration. many."

"I'm afraid it won't be much." Xun Zhen put down the general book and said, "But the matter you said about the hiding of the deceased, the prefecture really needs to come up with a countermeasure, and these exiles must be re-registered, and they must not be allowed to. By it."

"Yu and Ming Gong agree."

"Have you come up with a solution?"

"There are only two strategies: one is to comfort him, and the other is to punish him."

"How to caress? How to punish?"

"The prefectural government has passed down the county and county. Those who have escaped and returned to their hometowns will be exempted from rent, remuneration, and more for one year, and they will use false public land, loan crops, and food. This is sustenance. Those who hide the deceased and those who are guilty of the same crime, and those who are enslaved and without citizenship, are punished."

"Returning to the hometown to register" means to go back to the hometown to register. "Exemption from land rent, calculation and payment for one more year" means that no rent tax and per capita money will be collected for one year, and no labor servitude will be levied. "Fake public fields, loan crops and food", the fake ones are borrowed, and the refugees return to their hometowns to re-register. If the land is not used, the county can lend the public land to him and sign a "rice field lease" with it, that is, The lease agreement, the contract order to collect the land rent, and the loan of grain and food to them, when they have a harvest, will add a certain interest to recover it.

These items are all old methods used since the Han Dynasty to urge refugees to return to their hometowns.

"Abandoning the deceased and convicting the same crime, and enslaving the homeless are punished." These two punishments are also methods that have been used since the Han Dynasty.

Xun Yu went on to say: "In addition to this, the prefectures can reward and promote those who have been evacuated from the prefectures and counties."

"Following" means "getting refugees". If there are refugees who are really unwilling to return to their hometowns, or their hometowns are too far away, they can also be resettled on the spot. "Flow" has always been an important indicator for the superior officers to assess the political achievements of the subordinate officers. Those who have "received" a large number of people are often rewarded and even promoted.

Xun Zhen nodded and said, "You will be able to spread the word to the prefectures and counties tomorrow, and the prefectures must be ordered to act according to the orders. When the officials in this autumn and winter, the number of household registration should be the most important, and the number of households will be small, and there will be no increase. , that is, all items are excellent, and it is also a palace. If the household does not increase but decreases instead, it will be exempted from officials."

"Autumn and winter class officials" is the practice of this dynasty. Because the county and the state have to send the master planner to the capital in October every year, the time for the county class examination for the county needs to be earlier. moon.

The county government exams the county magistrates, and the main content includes several major items such as household registration, land reclamation, money valley, and justice. Those who are rated as "best", the county magistrates will work on the main hall in front of the county magistrates, and those who are rated as "hall" will be called to Hou Cao, that is, the Cao Cao behind the main hall of the county government. the office, and reprimanded and criticized individually.

Right now is an extraordinary time, and the people's hukou is the most important thing. No one can do anything, so Xun Zhen issued a strict order. When this year's class examination, if the hukou increase is small or not, it will be rejected by a single vote. Anyone who dares to make the population of the county and county not increase but decrease will be dismissed from office.

Xun Zhen had seriously considered how to increase the population when she was in Guangling. With Xuzhou, the pressure on her shoulders was even heavier.

Over the past few days, he has been thinking carefully, looking for the ones that are suitable for the current situation and can be adopted from the good laws in the past. After every official business, even when he is eating, he is thinking about it. So far, there have been several relatively mature idea.

He said to Xun Yu, "I don't think it's enough just to make the refugees return to their hometowns to register and make the county to be displaced."

Xun Yu asked, "What other good strategies does Duke Ming have?"

The best and immediate good strategy is to imitate the story of the Han family, to make the tyrants and powerful families free slaves for the people.

Slaves and maids are not organized into households, and they are not registered as citizens. They are the property of the main family. They are collectively referred to as "a number of small slaves", "a number of large maids", etc., and then indicate how much they are worth. , such as two small slaves, worth 20,000 yuan, one big maid, 20,000 yuan, and so on, listed in the property column of the main family's household registration, from the former Han Dynasty to this dynasty, the imperial court issued many edicts, ordering the release of slaves as civil.

"Freeing slaves for the people" is the most effective way to rapidly increase the registered permanent residence.

In the time of Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty, in order to supplement the country's use, there was a "Accounting Law", "缗" means the calculation, it was a tax that was implemented at that time, including vehicle and vessel tax, etc., mainly levied on merchants, "縗" It is to encourage people to report tax evasion and tax evasion. Anyone who evades tax and tax evasion will be punished by guarding the border for one year and confiscating all the goods and property. The informant can get half of the confiscated property, because the informers are all over the world. Most of the time, the court obtained tens of millions of property and tens of millions of slaves and servants. Not to mention money, only slaves, "tens of thousands" of slaves, this may be a bit exaggerated, but the scope of this complaint is limited to businessmen above the middle family, nobles, and big landlords, which are not included. This is also enough to see how many slaves there are in the world.

Not to mention, this is still an old story of the former Han Dynasty. This dynasty was built with the power of powerful landlords. The power of the wealthy family was far superior to that of the previous dynasty, and the number of slaves and servants controlled by the wealthy family in the sea is feared to be more than tens of millions.

Take Xuzhou as an example, the families of the powerful and powerful families in the state often have more than a thousand or thousands of servants, or even the Mi Zhu family, with thousands of children. There are more than 60 counties in the five counties of Xuzhou, and the total population is 190. There are more than 10,000, and each county is equivalent to 30,000 or 40,000 people. This 30,000-40,000 person is the average number. Counties have different sizes. More than 10,000 households are large counties, and less than 10,000 households are small counties. Small counties have a small population of one or two. ten thousand people,

In other words, that is to say, the slaves of the Mi Zhu family reached the people of half the county.

For example, if the prefectures and counties are passed on, the tyrants will release slaves, and if the order is successful, Xuzhou will immediately be able to increase at least 100,000 households of Qimin.

However, this is just an illusion. After all, if Xun Zhen wants to stay in Xuzhou, Xun Zhen cannot do without the support of the local surname.

Of course, having said that, although we cannot do without the support of the big surnames, appropriate suppression is possible and necessary, because if we do not suppress these big surnames and tyrants, we cannot truly control Xuzhou.

It should be noted that the powerful and powerful surnames have money, land, and slaves. They build manor walls to support themselves, and gather clansmen and villagers to show their power. They are the "separate forces" in the countryside, and at the same time they hold real political power from the state to the county. From the prefecture to the county, only the chief officer is the life officer, and the rest of the prefectures, the county and county Caoyuan, and even the lowest-level calligraphy officers, pavilion chiefs, and villagers, according to convention, must use local people. Among the subordinate officials, there are indeed cold scholars, but there are very few.

Let me ask, the tyrants are "separate from the village", some people have money and strength, and the people in the clan manipulate the real power of the state, county, and county. If they don't suppress them, how can they really get Xuzhou into their hands? Xun Zhen actually quite understands Tao Qian's "pro-little people, far-flung gentlemen", but any senior official with a little ambition will not be willing to be a "puppet" manipulated by local scholars. The monopoly of the political power means that you must use your own cronies, just as Xun Zhen is now sending people to Yingchuan to recruit scholars, this is the same reason, the only difference from Tao Qian is: Yingchuan is a famous person, Xun Zhen Many of the Yingchuan scholars who were summoned this time were well-known. Since they were famous, even if Xun Zhen used Yingchuan more often, it was not a "pro-villain", but a "virtuous person".

In a word, it is necessary to properly suppress the powerful family name, but it is also because the power of the powerful family name is too strong, so Xun Zhen has just acquired Xuzhou, but he can't do it yet, and he must be patient. It is said that when you release slaves, the tyrants will have their opponents.

Since Xun Zhen came to this era, what he has seen for many years, the poor have no land, a family of five, work for a year, and can't get enough food, the rich go to the fields, cross the prefectures and cross the prefectures, brocade clothes and plain hands, Zhong Ming Ding food , is already injustice. Nowadays, in the wars at home and abroad, many people die, they are displaced, and they even change their sons to eat, but they cannot live. The rich are still more powerful than before, or they gather crowds to separate their territories, or manipulate states and counties. Not only are they still able to be arrogant and arrogant, but they are even more injustice than before!

When Xun Zhen was a pavilion chief at Fanyang Pavilion in his early years, he couldn't bear to see the disparity between the rich and the poor, but at that time he was only a pavilion chief and could do nothing. Later, he became the county governor and now he is in charge of Xuzhou. , Compared with before, the gap between the rich and the poor has become wider and wider. To be honest, he has long been intent on eradicating the tyrannical and helping the poor and the weak. However, the political foundation of this dynasty is the surname of the tyrannical, but how can he be eradicated? ? He starts to shovel today, and he doesn't have to wait until tomorrow, or even wait for the tyrants to rebel. Many of those civil and military officials under his command will betray him. He hated the injustice in front of him, but he couldn't do without the support of the powerful and powerful family. He couldn't fight hard, so he decided to make the poor people in the world happy, and his emotions and reason conflicted endlessly.

There is no way to pour it, but you can only focus on reality.

Seeing that Xun Yu asked himself what other good strategies to increase the household registration, Xun Zhen said: "There must be some people who do not report when they occupy their own households in the county or county, or those who use men as women, so that the county does not have to wait until August. , and now send officials to the countryside, carefully compare the case, and whoever hides and fails to report, or who is a man as a woman, will be punished."

This "self-possession and not reporting" is different from the "big and powerful surname that hides the deceased" just now.

The tyrants hide their surnames, and those who hide are refugees. "Hiding and not reporting" means that the head of the household does not report the household registration to the family members in order to avoid taxes and labor. It is like the behavior of later generations without reporting the household registration of infants to avoid superbirth. It is said that they have become "black households". In addition, there will be cases where the age is underreported, or it is a man who is reported as a woman, etc. This is in order to pay less fortune and avoid corvée service. Because the records of household registration are "self-occupied" by the common people, that is, the head of the household first reports it, and then the county temple checks it according to this, that is, "case comparison", so this kind of hidden population and non-reporting to the county are very common.

For these situations, the Han family has a legal response.

For example, in the two cases of underreporting age or male reporting as female: "Self-reporting, accounting for children, and the same birth year, if it is not true that they are over three years old, they are all resistant." On being a scoundrel". "Nei" means shaving off the temples, and "Sikou" means two years of hard labor.

For those who do not report their concealed accounts, the punishment will be heavier.

As for "it is not necessary to wait until August for the counties and counties, but now the officials will be sent to the countryside to compare the cases carefully", but according to the Han system, the "case comparison" in the county and temple is in August every year. The case is compared again, so it is called the change to the present, and the county and county are called to immediately send the officials to the case for comparison, and it is not customary to wait in the county temple and wait for the households to go by themselves, but to go to the village to conduct an on-site inspection.

Xun Yu nodded in agreement and said, "Yu will spread the word to the counties and counties today, and order the counties and counties to send officials to the countryside on the same day, and compare the cases in detail."

"In terms of increasing the population immediately, there are only these methods. Today, the war is endless, and I will save it. In a few years, more people will die in the war. , I think now it is necessary to encourage folk birth and breeding, and prohibit infanticide."

"Prohibition of infanticide is a good policy. It should be pushed hard."

Infant killing has existed in ancient times, and there are many reasons. As far as the Han family is concerned, there are three main reasons.

First of all, under normal circumstances, one starts to pay the bill at the age of seven. Before the age of fifteen, each person has to pay twenty-three dollars a year. However, during the period of frequent wars, such as when Emperor Wu, the civilian child had to start paying the bill at the age of three. In recent years, after the Yellow Turbans, there have been continuous military affairs, Dong Zhuo's government has been chaotic, and the Guandong campaign has been endless. Some prefectures and even babies start collecting money when they are one year old. For the "poor" and "severely poor" poor, they have to raise children and pay money, and the burden is too heavy to support.

Secondly, there is the evil custom of killing infants among the people. Babies born in the first month and May, or those born in February, May and the same month as their parents, are considered to kill their parents, so babies born in these months are generally killed or killed. Abandoned, for example, the pre-Qin emperor Mengchang was almost killed by his father because he was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Fortunately, he was secretly supported by his mother; there were also triplets, who thought they were "like six animals", and they also had sons. Babies who can open their eyes when they fall to the ground, and babies born with sideburns, also think that they are restraining their parents. This custom has been perpetuating evil, and the famous general Wang Zhen'e in Jin Dynasty was also sent away because he was born on the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifth month. Make it impossible for parents.

The genus of Qianghu in Zhiruo frontier is even more barbaric. Because of the chaotic marriage, in order to prevent the eldest son from being born to the father, there is a custom of "eating the first son", and the eldest son is killed and eaten as soon as he is born.

Again, it is patriarchal.

All in all, infanticide and abandonment of infants are common in both the north and the south, as well as in Xuzhou.

Since Xun Zhen and Xun Yu were well aware of the reasons for infanticide and abandonment among the people, they could prescribe the right medicine to curb this evil.

Xun Zhen said: "If you want to curb this evil, the Han family has its own good governance, you can trace the previous dynasties and the dynasties, and follow suit. I want to pass the prefectures to the prefectures and declare that the county: if a person has a child, it should not be counted as two years old. , this is one of the two; those who are pregnant are given the fetus to nourish the grain, the person is three hustle, and the husband is not counted as one year old, this is the second; infanticide, and murder is the same crime, this is the third. What do you think? "

"Calculation" means fu, "don't count three years old", no fu for three years. "Rehabilitation" means reinstatement, exempting from tax and corvée.

There are two main taxes in the Han family, one is land rent and the other is head tax. The poll tax is divided into account and calculation. From the age of seven to fourteen, the pay is paid, and the fifteen-year-old can already be a labor force. It is considered an adult, and if the tax is over fifteen, the calculation is 120 yuan per person per year.

The three methods mentioned by Xun Zhen to curb the evil vulgarity of infanticide are all commonly used by the Han family, especially the second one, which is the "decree" of Emperor Xiaozhang's time. This decree can be said to be very civilized and very popular. Sexualization, Xun Zhen now brings it up again, just as an emphasis. Of these three articles, the first two can reduce the burden of raising children in poor families, and the latter can curb infanticide and abandonment of infants due to superstition or preference for boys over girls.

Xun Yu said: "These orders are all moral policies that have been effective in the past. As long as the counties and counties implement them steadfastly, they will be effective."

Xun Zhen's fellow, Jia Biao, a native of Wuyang, Yingchuan, who is as famous as Xun Shuang, was the county magistrate in Xinxi. Because of the poverty of the people, he often did not adopt children. Jia Biao strictly stopped him. There are thousands of people who adopted children, and they all said that the baby was "the director of Jia's father", so the son was named "Jia Zi" and the daughter was named "Jia Nu". It can be foreseen that after Xun Zhen and Xun Yu's policy is implemented, perhaps a few years later, there will be many babies named "Xunzi" and "Xunnu" in Xuzhou.

Xun Zhen said: "I had a discussion with Fan and Wu Erye when I was in Guangling earlier, and I tried to discuss the matter of women giving birth. I briefly listed a few matters, which have been implemented in Guangling. If you die young, you can ask the two of them to send their disciples to the remaining counties in this state to teach them locally."

"Fan and Wu Eryu" are Fan A and Wu Pu, both of whom are now appointed by Xun Zhen as the shogunate physician Cao Ye.

Xun Zhen, based on what she knew in her previous life, discussed with them when she was in Guangling, and based on their medical knowledge and what could be done in accordance with the current conditions, she formulated a few hygiene items that women should pay attention to when giving birth. As well as matters such as the parenting methods that need to be paid attention to after the baby is born, they are implemented in Guangling, which reduces a lot of dystocia and the infant mortality rate.

Xun Yu replied, "Yes."

Xun Zhen said: "Except for the exception, I want to make the state government pass it on again."

"He Xu also?"

"Women from fifteen to thirty do not marry, ten counts."

According to Han law, women who do not marry when they are fifteen to thirty are originally punished by "five calculations", that is, they need to pay five times the calculation. However, in order to strengthen the strict order on marriage at the right age, Xun Zhen decided to punish Raised to ten counts.

Xun Yu said: "The 'Five Calculations' is a law enacted by the imperial court, and hastily changed it?"

"In extraordinary times, don't stick to the rules."

"Your Majesty's words are very true."

In terms of increasing the household registration and the birth rate, Xun Zhen can only take these into consideration. He has discussed and discussed with Xun Yu the policies and methods he has come up with since he was in Guangling until now. After that, it is decided that the county will implement it immediately, and the household registration matters will be mentioned here for the time being.

Xun Zhen picked up the general book summarised by the prefectural government, turned to the end of the household registration item, and looked at the state's statistics on the number of men, women, the number of people over 80, over 90, and under the age of six. Statistics on the number of people who have been stabbed.

After watching, Xun Zhen said: "I am in the prefecture, and the military and politics are busy, but I have never cared about the elderly. This is my fault."

He thought for a moment, made a decision, and said: "Now that the number of elderly people over 70 in each county has been counted, the prefecture can pass on the county to the county: from the date of receipt, the county must follow the "monthly decree". "And follow it. Those who don't do it will be punished. This month, the rice meat/silk flakes will be doubled. It has been rare since the age of seventy. From this month, the elderly who are over seventy will also be given rice and meat, which is halved according to the number of the eighty-year-old."

"Yue Ling" is an imperial decree issued by the former Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty to respect the elderly and provide for the aged. The edict stipulates: "The elderly over 80 will be given rice, one stone per month, 20 catties of meat, and five liters of wine; those over 90 will be given silk, two kilns, and three catties of glutinous rice." Gifts for the elderly should be personally inspected by the county magistrates, and then delivered by the county chief or county magistrate. Counties that do not comply with the requirements shall urge them.

Xun Zhen first came to Xuzhou, and it was his original intention to work **** respecting the elderly, and it could also help him win some people's hearts. He transferred to too many counties, and he knew that many places did not follow this order at all, or that although it was followed, it was perfunctory. , so he asked the county to strictly follow this order, and the elderly over 70 also gave rice, meat and wine, but it was halved compared to the elderly over 80.

——From the former Han Dynasty to the present, although the imperial court does not give rice, meat and wine to the elderly over 70, it will grant the king's stick to show respect. The reason why the head of the staff is decorated with doves and birds, so the staff was set up in the early Han Dynasty, and it was too long ago, and people at that time are not very familiar. Those who wish to be old do not choke." Nine feet, the contract is two meters for future generations. The reason why the king's rod is so long is to "make the people see it", and it can be seen from a distance. This rod is "comparable to the festival". Anyone who dares to scold, beat and insult the old man holding the king's stick, regardless of the officials or the people, will be regarded as disobedient and abandon the market. Of course, it is not within the scope of respect for the elderly over 70 who are disrespectful.

What Xun Zhen said were all virtuous politics, Xun Yu had no reason to object, and immediately agreed.

Xun Zhen added: "This month, I will also give wine and meat to the three old people of the township, the three old people of the county, and the three old people of the county. The amount of wine and meat will be given to you. You can decide."

The three elders at the county, county and township levels all have high local prestige. The county elders are “teachers but not ministers” to the county chiefs. The county and township elders also have similar political treatment, and the imperial court also exempts the three elders from corvée. Wine and meat are given every October. Now in March, Xun Zhen ordered the county to give wine and meat to the three old men, apparently to win people's hearts.

Xun Yu agreed.

After flipping through the general household registration book, Xun Zhen picked up the names of the clan, officials, family members of officials and soldiers, fields and soldiers, and the city. After understanding the specific numbers of officials, family members, soldiers, merchants, etc., they put these name books aside, and picked up the book below, it was the field book.