Chapter 119: Treating the People with Generosity
The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang was attracted by the new information in this passage: "Prime Minister Guan Ying?" Wasn't it Zhou Bo before? After Chen Ping died, Zhou Bo became prime minister again... He was still wondering how long Zhou Bo would serve, but he didn't expect that it would become Guan Ying.

Moreover, Guan Ying was obviously more trusted than Zhou Bo. Even the power of the Grand Commandant belonged to the Prime Minister, which meant that Guan Ying was in charge of both military and political affairs. When did Guan Ying gain such trust? Why didn't he realize it before?

As for Zhou Bo, did he have a flash of inspiration, discover the problem himself, and resign from the position of prime minister again, or was he driven out by Liu Heng in some way?

Most likely, he was removed by Liu Heng for some unknown reason. Liu Bang really didn't think Zhou Bo had the brains to do that.

Xiao He took a look and said, "The kings need to go to their own fiefdoms and govern their own states." If that's the case, how can they stay in Chang'an for a long time?

Qin Dynasty.

Even though he knew that the Qin Dynasty had perished, Ying Zheng's face still darkened when he saw that the Linguang Palace had now become the Ganquan Palace of the Han Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

The princes were very disdainful of Liu Xingju's timing: "This Jibei King spent so much time choosing the right time, it would be better if he didn't choose at all."

Zhu Gang sighed: "Intelligence work must be taken seriously, and it is never too much to pay attention to it." Otherwise, Liu Xingju's choice of timing would only make him a laughing stock and leave his name in history. "Even Song Taizong's intelligence work is far inferior to it."

Zhu Su still had some good intentions and advised: "After all, the King of Jibei rebelled against a vassal king with the same surname. This is the first case in history. After all, there is no one to refer to, so it is normal to do so." Although his ability was really not good enough.

Ok……

Is there something wrong?
Why did they start discussing the rebellion of princes with the same surname? And why did they mock each other for their bad timing and poor intelligence work?
The brothers looked at each other for a few seconds, then shut up and ignored the topic, and began to praise Liu Heng instead.

"Emperor Wen knew how to use people and valued kindness..."

[After learning that Liu Xingju had rebelled, Liu Heng ordered Guan Ying to return to Chang'an to defend the rebellion, and sent Chai Wu, Marquis of Jipu, as the general to lead 100,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, while Liu Heng himself rushed to Chang'an.

After returning to Chang'an, Liu Heng issued an edict that those officials and civilians who had stabilized themselves before the arrival of the army and those who surrendered would be innocent and their official titles would not be affected; even those who rebelled with Liu Xingju would be innocent as long as they returned to the right path in time.

Soon, Liu Xingju was captured and committed suicide, and his country was abolished.

Liu Xingju, who started the rebellion, died, and the pressure once again fell on the group of meritorious officials, especially Zhou Bo. 】

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang was a little surprised. Zhou Bo had already returned to his fiefdom, so what else could happen?
He selectively ignored what he had done after the princes returned to their fiefdoms. How could it be the same as it was now? He had to do it reluctantly because the princes were restless.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but say: "My son is kind and tolerant to everyone. Zhou Bo must have done something to put him in a bad situation."

"..." Lü Zhi and the others were speechless. Not only was he so shameless, but he was also "my son".

Liu Ying felt the pain of being treated differently. In the past, he only felt this pain when facing Liu Ruyi: Why didn't his father praise him? Wasn't he kind and tolerant enough?
[We mentioned earlier that after Chen Ping's death, Zhou Bo once again became prime minister, but soon the prime minister became Guan Ying.

This is because, more than ten months after Zhou Bo became prime minister, Liu Heng decided to weaken the power of the meritorious officials again. He said to Zhou Bo: "Some time ago, I asked the marquises to return to their own fiefdoms, and some of them made excuses not to go. The prime minister is someone I value, and he should set an example."

As a result, Zhou Bo was dismissed from the position of prime minister and sent to his fiefdom.

However, Zhou Bo was not able to enjoy his old age in peace after arriving at his fiefdom. Whenever the governor of Hedong County and local officials at all levels arrived in Jiang County, Zhou Bo would often wear armor and ask his family members to hold weapons to meet the governor and the county lieutenant - because he was worried that these people were there to kill him.

Later, it is very likely that because of this behavior, someone wrote a letter to accuse Zhou Bo of plotting a rebellion. Liu Heng handed the matter over to the court, who then handed it over to the government office in Chang'an, who arrested Zhou Bo.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Even Liu Bang was silent for a moment.

Why did Zhou Bo go to meet the governor and the lieutenant in full armor? Because he was afraid that he would be killed.

Why did Zhou Bo have such an idea? Apart from the coup they staged to kill the Lü clan and Lü Zhi's actions against the Liu clan princes in order to consolidate her rule, the most fundamental reason was of course Liu Bang's various actions.

Liu Bang's words sounded so good back then! But what happened later? How many of the old people died or became useless?
Is the emperor of the Liu family trustworthy? Zhou Bo obviously has no confidence in this.

Maybe he didn't think so when he first felt that Liu Heng was easy to control, but after several years of contact, Zhou Bo finally saw clearly what kind of person Liu Heng was and what his methods were. Naturally, he could no longer think that Liu Heng was a harmless person.

After all, he is Liu Bang's son.

Liu Bang cleared his throat and said firmly: "How could my son be the kind of person who wrongly accused a meritorious official? Zhou Bo's story is obviously not true. In this case, I will definitely clear his name. How could I let him die with a stigma?"

[Zhou Bo was imprisoned and felt uneasy, and was bullied by the jailer. He had no choice but to give the jailer gold, and the jailer reminded him to let the princess, Liu Heng's daughter and his daughter-in-law, testify to his innocence.

Zhou Bo gave all the rewards he received for his increased title to Bo Zhao. Bo Zhao made suggestions to the Queen Mother Bo and won her approval.

So the Queen Mother blamed Liu Heng: "Marquis Jiang did not rebel when he was holding the seal bestowed by the emperor and in charge of the northern army. Now that he is in Jiang County, are you planning to rebel?"

Liu Heng had seen Zhou Bo's confession and had the Queen Mother's words, so he sent an envoy with a seal to release Zhou Bo and restore his title and fiefdom. Afterwards, Zhou Bo returned to his fiefdom and lived there until his death in the eleventh year. He was posthumously named Wu Hou.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

The more Liu Bang watched, the more satisfied he was with the methods of his son Liu Heng: "Be clear about your own situation, show weakness first, then use both kindness and force, wait for the opportunity to strike, and hit the target with one strike... The affairs of the world are here."

He did not get carried away after ascending the throne, nor did he become cowardly and uneasy because of his lack of power. Instead, he was calm and composed, and used various methods to first stabilize himself, and then created or looked for opportunities to deal with these arrogant and rude groups of meritorious officials.

In the end, we managed to suppress these people without causing unrest, which was a really good job!
This is Naigong’s son!
As for Zhou Bo's gift to Bo Zhao and asking Empress Dowager Bo to speak for him, Liu Bang didn't care. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal. Liu Heng had already known about it at the time. The Bo family was just expected. Besides, the Han Dynasty's relatives were like this, which was different from those dynasties in later generations.

He relaxed his body. It seemed that now that the Han Dynasty was handed over to Liu Heng, he had nothing to worry about. The problem now was still the same: if he could not live a few more years, what would happen to the Han Dynasty during the period when Liu Heng grew up?
When Lu Zhi turned her head, she saw Liu Bang staring at her. She looked indifferent and had no interest in talking to Liu Bang for the time being - it was just about what happened after this person died, and it wouldn't be too late to talk about it after the curtain fell.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che expressed great admiration for his grandfather Liu Heng: "Emperor Wen has always been benevolent and generous, and has worked hard to reduce prisons. Marquis Wu is a meritorious marquis. How could he suffer an unjust accusation?" Although he himself was not a fan of Huang-Lao, he still agreed with Liu Heng's behavior of implementing a lenient policy at the time.

The Han Dynasty's way of governing the country should not be limited to one person's opinion, but should be used according to the appropriate ones.

However, Zhou Bo's gift of a thousand gold coins to Bo Zhao proved another point in Liu Che's eyes: the family of maternal relatives was sometimes very useful. In particular, some matters that the emperor was not suitable to directly appear or speak about could be handled through the maternal relatives. If the empress dowager or the grand empress dowager appeared, it would be even more convenient with the banner of filial piety.

Unlike Emperor Liu Che, the civil and military officials present, after seeing these stories about Liu Heng, reminded themselves once again in their hearts that they must be careful in their words and actions, and not be complacent and lose sight of the situation.

Although they also knew about Emperor Wen, they only learned about it from their elders and some texts, and the impact they received was far less powerful than the picture directly displayed on the sky curtain. In the picture, whether it was Zhou Bo's panic and armed appearance when he was enfeoffed, or the scene of him being trapped in prison and bullied by the jailer, the ministers present kept using it as a warning to themselves.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen was the most lenient, benevolent, and sentimental emperor - ah, Emperor Hui doesn't count, but even Emperor Wen would take action against those who threatened him or were not in line with his wishes, completely inheriting the style of Emperor Gao, not to mention the current emperor?

Zhou Bo was lucky enough to escape the disaster, but what happened to his son Zhou Yafu?
Compared with the previous emperor, your Majesty is even more terrifying.

[Through a series of measures, Liu Heng successfully suppressed the once arrogant group of meritorious officials, consolidated his throne, and strengthened the central power of the Han Dynasty.

While engaging in politics, he did not forget to handle government affairs.

When Liu Heng handled government affairs and made decisions, he basically followed one principle: putting the people's safety first.

This can be said to be a major principle that has been basically followed since Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, and then to Lu Zhi, Liu Heng, and Liu Qi. After all, people's livelihood in the early Han Dynasty was really desolate, which also led to the weakening of the national strength in the early years of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, for the rulers of the early Han Dynasty, protecting people's livelihood and promoting the recovery and development of the people were the top priorities.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

Liu Heng accepted this principle as a matter of course. Yes, this was one of the biggest principles of his governance.

Just like after he ascended the throne, he repeatedly rewarded the Liu princes and nobles in order to let them fight against the groups of meritorious officials. The reason why he adopted such an approach, in addition to his own lack of strength, was also because he did not want the world to be plunged into war again - the Han Dynasty really could not afford it!

He worked diligently and conscientiously. He was reluctant to even build a palace and did not allow his concubines to wear fancy clothes. His only goal was to restore the people's economy, not to give way to those ambitious people.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

Li Shimin also nodded and said: "The people are like water, and to value the people is to be righteous." Since this concerns the people of the world, no matter how much attention is paid to it, it is not excessive, not to mention the situation in the early Han Dynasty when everything needed to be rebuilt.

The same was true of his Tang Dynasty. Since he ascended the throne, he had always placed taxation on people's livelihood as the most important part.

Wei Zheng took the opportunity to speak: "In the past, during the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the people were respected and loved, and the country prospered and everyone was happy. Later, they indulged in pleasure and became greedy and licentious, without caring about the people. The country suffered, resentment was boiling in all directions, and the empire began to fall apart. Your Majesty should be careful about this."

Li Shimin nodded quickly, thinking about what he had done in the past few days... What had he not done? Since the miracle appeared, he had been busy from morning till night every day, without even a chance to take a break, so how could he have time to have fun.

I see. Xuancheng just seized the opportunity to speak for himself!
[The economic situation in the early years of the Han Dynasty was quite bad.]

When Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, due to years of war, the situation had reached the point where "the emperor could not even afford a team of four horses, and generals and ministers had to ride in ox carts, and the common people had no money to store goods." Under such circumstances, merchants still hoarded goods and "prices soared. A stone of rice could cost ten thousand coins, and a horse could cost a hundred gold coins."

During Lu Zhi's reign, although the economy had gradually recovered, it was still in a relatively difficult state.

During the reign of Emperor Liu Heng, he wanted to build a terrace but gave up because it would cost hundreds of gold coins. His favorite concubine, Lady Shen, was also required to maintain a frugal lifestyle, “her clothes were not allowed to drag on the ground, and her curtains were not allowed to have embroidered patterns.”

This is certainly because Liu Heng cherished the people's strength, but it is also a reflection of the economic situation of the Han Dynasty at that time.

Qin Dynasty.

The First Emperor fell silent.

Was the Qin Dynasty so poor that it couldn't even afford to build a terrace or a carriage for the emperor? Obviously not.

The Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were separated by only one Hu Hai, and a few more years of war at most, but the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that several generations of emperors had not yet recovered - Hu Hai!
Ultimately, it is Hu Hai's fault.

However, this did solve one of his problems, which was the question of why the Right King of the Xiongnu had invaded the Central Plains. The economic situation was so bad, and the external situation was probably not much better.

Fusu was in high spirits at this time: This is an example of paying attention to the people. I will find a chance to talk to my father about it later. After his observation, after the sky fell, Ying Zheng's attitude towards some things seemed to be slightly different.

How can we restore the people's strength? The most fundamental thing is taxation.

During the reign of Empress Lü, the land rent tax rate was reduced to 15%, and land was distributed to all Han people. Even criminals who had been released after serving their sentences could get half a hectare, which promoted the recovery of the Han Dynasty's economy.

Liu Heng went a step further. The land rent was no longer one-fifteen, but one-thirty, in order to stimulate the enthusiasm of farmers. In the thirteenth year, the land rent was completely exempted.

In addition, the tax was reduced from 120 coins per person per year to 40 coins per person per year.

After dealing with taxes, there was still corvée labor. Liu Heng stipulated that "adult males performed corvée labor once every three years". This greatly reduced the burden on the people and left sufficient population for agriculture.

In addition to policies on farming, Liu Heng also took measures in the field of currency business.

Due to the problem of ill-gotten gains in the early Han Dynasty, Liu Bang formulated a policy of severe suppression of commerce, "forbidding merchants to wear silk and ride in carriages, and imposing heavy rents and taxes to humiliate them"; during the reign of Empress Lü, because the country was just beginning to be settled, "the laws on merchants were relaxed again", and restrictions were slightly relaxed;
Liu Heng also took another step forward, opening up all the mountains, forests, rivers and lakes that originally belonged to the state, allowing private mining, and the use and development of fishery and salt resources.

Such policies greatly relaxed restrictions, encouraged merchants to actively participate in various economic activities, and promoted the production of sideline businesses by ordinary people, as well as the development of the salt and iron industries.

(End of this chapter)