Chapter 340: Taoist Rule of Non-action
Fu Sheng, Peng Min, Tang Bing and others who were assigned to be county magistrates each left with their followers to take up their new posts.
There were more than a hundred people who were not assigned the position of county magistrate but felt they were capable enough to be the head of a county. Most of them rushed into the county magistrate's office.
There were about a hundred small low tables placed in the open space of the county magistrate's mansion. There were cushions in front of the tables, and there were pens, ink, paper and inkstones on the tables. There were ten pieces of paper under the inkstones.
Qiang guided everyone to take their seats.
Everyone held up the papers and looked at them. On each piece of paper there was a question:
1. There has been a long drought in Korea, and the crops have been poor. As the old saying goes, when droughts are gone, locusts will come. What if locusts cover the sky next year?
2. Bandits are still rampant, kidnapping merchant caravans, attacking civilians, and running away when they hear about the army. How can we stop them?
3. Please briefly describe the prosperous scene and social structure in your mind.
…
"The exam has begun. The timer is one hour. No whispering, no cheating, no peeking. If you violate this rule, your score will be invalidated and you will be expelled from Korea."
In the inner room, Ying Chengjiao sat alone with his hands on his knees, listening to the sound of the brush scratching across paper and taking a deep breath.
"Let a hundred schools of thought contend and see where the road leads."
Half a day later.
"You seventeen can serve as county magistrates."
Qiang said to the scholar personally selected by Ying Chengjiao.
"History of Qin": In the second year of the reign of Emperor Qin, the governor of Chang'an County, who was stronger than Xinzheng County, took the first test. One hundred and thirty-three people responded, and seventeen passed.
Handi, Yewang County.
Since the peasant uprising, the nobles here have been completely cleared out.
In the initial chaotic state of beating, smashing, looting and plundering, it was the Lu's Chamber of Commerce who selected local respected people to clean up the mess.
The people of Yewang were very grateful to the Lu's Chamber of Commerce for allowing them to have enough food to eat, and they were very supportive of Chang'an Jun who was promoted by the Lu's Chamber of Commerce.
When Yewang County regained some order and people's lives were on the right track, most people were satisfied with it and had no objection to the leadership of the Lu's Chamber of Commerce.
But a few people had different ideas.
Shan is an iron digger in an iron mine. He is a helper of the Zhou family, the largest family in Yewang County, and he is quite strong.
In this sudden, life-and-death war, Shan was lucky enough to survive.
This luck continued to his father-in-law Guo.
Guo Zaiyewang has a nickname, "Blacksmith Guo", and has been making iron all his life. He is honest and hardworking, and his iron tools have always been praised by his neighbors.
In the war with the nobles, many common people rushed forward with hoes, shovels, and rakes, crying and shouting, and swung their weapons with their eyes closed.
After the war, Guo was one of the virtuous people who restored order in Yewang County, selected by the Lu Chamber of Commerce and recommended by the people of Yewang.
With the temporary power of the pot, when food is distributed, Shan is always the first to receive it. When houses are rebuilt, Shan's houses are the first to be restored.
This is the first time that I, who only knew how to mine, have inherited my father's honest and honest nature and experienced the taste of power. It's really good.
After the situation stabilized, Guo no longer wanted to maintain order, as he still liked to forge iron. So Shan inherited Guo's position and became a virtuous man, representing the people of Yewang, although most of the people of Yewang were unaware of this.
Their lives are getting better day by day, and the people of Yewang are immersed in joy and have no time to think about external things.
The few who paid attention to this matter were mostly smart people. They gathered around Shan and formed a small group with Shan as the core.
As more and more people gathered around Shan, he was no longer satisfied with assisting the Lu's Chamber of Commerce in maintaining order, and began to take the initiative to do things, asking the Lu's Chamber of Commerce to store all the captured grain elsewhere, and he would distribute it to the people of Yewang.
The Han people around Shan supported Shan and asked Shan to distribute the food. The relatives and friends of these Han people were secretly bribed with an extra bucket of grain per meal, and they also asked Shan to distribute the food.
When the other Han people saw this, they thought of Shan's usual kindness and honesty, and thought that Shan was from Yewang like them and was closer to them, so they also said:
"Is it okay to be good at hair?"
Shan was pleasantly surprised to find that he received support far beyond his expectations.
Shan, who didn't even know how to write the word "great trend", gained great trend.
If you stand in the right place, even a pig can fly to the sky.
Yewang's Lu Chamber of Commerce agreed to Shan's request and gave all the food to Shan, who distributed it.
These chamber of commerce elites who are temporarily in charge of Korea and are drawn from all over the country are good at business, not governing. Most of them do not realize the consequences of doing so.
Or rather, they simply didn't think deeply about it.
Their roots are not in Korea, so coming to Korea is like a business trip, and they will have to go back to work one day.
Distributing food every day was a routine for them. As they were not interested in Yewang, they were very happy that someone was distributing food for them.
Shan easily took control of Yewang's food and mastered the most important thing of this era.
Shanzai Yewang is gaining power.
When I first took charge of grain, I didn't dare to do more for the people around me. I distributed grain as usual, and only gave one more bucket of grain to my relatives and friends.
Three or five days later, Shan came with the food belonging to the people of Yewang to recruit workers to build a house for himself.
Ten days later, Shan's mansion was built.
Ground was also broken for more than a dozen mansions, which belonged to the people around Shan.
Twenty days later, Shan wanted to expel the Lu Chamber of Commerce from Yewang and take charge of all affairs in Yewang. He used the same routine as last time - put forward a demand, have the crowd second the motion, and have the friends and relatives second the motion again.
Shanben thought that this time the people of Yewang would stand on his side just like last time, but in the end, few responded.
Shan didn't understand why this happened, and someone around him suggested:
"You can promise that if you rule Yewang, you will distribute twice as much food every day as before."
The book burning order and the book holding law were issued a long time ago.
The Lu Chamber of Commerce set out from Han to publicize the situation in Han. Many knowledgeable people along the way knew that nothing was banned in Han, so they all came over.
These people are not great or powerful, but they are literate, knowledgeable, and good at giving advice.
Shan suddenly realized.
"This is the same as mining at night. Mining at night is hard to see and more difficult than working during the day, so we were unwilling to do it. But the Zhou family offered to pay double the money at night, so we rushed to do it."
That day, Shan distributed twice as much food to the people of Yewang, and promised to give the Queen of Yewang the same amount of food every day.
On the second day, all the people of Yewang stood on Shan's side.
But this time, the Lu Chamber of Commerce did not agree, and they had not received the order to leave.
But it was from this day that Shan's control over Yewang became stronger and stronger. When the people had conflicts, they began to look for Shan to seek justice. When they had problems, they began to look for Shan to solve them.
Shan was busy with more and more things every day, and he couldn't handle it. So he asked people around him to share the burden, including relatives and friends. Some were responsible for hearing cases, while others were responsible for distributing food...
The Lu's Chamber of Commerce used Qin law to judge cases, while Shan used Han law to judge cases. In this comparison, Shan seemed more lenient.
He was good at listening to advice, inciting the people, and saying that Qin laws were harsh, in order to drive the Lu Chamber of Commerce out of Yewang.
If it weren't for the less than a hundred elite Qin soldiers stationed in Yewang, Shan would have wanted to launch a mutiny.
Not only that, Shan also closed the Daqin School in Yewang County, which was also the advice of his advisers.
Shan himself asked his advisors to teach him calligraphy and reading every day. He wanted to understand things he didn't understand, and he could only find the answers from the classics.
Yewang County is a microcosm of the counties and prefectures in the Han Dynasty.
Yiyang, Yangcheng, Shangdang, every county has one or more Shan.
They were very nervous and worried, not knowing when Qin would send officials here.
As time goes by, they gradually relax, time can smooth out everything.
"Men of insight" also told them that Qin would not send officials, as Qin did not have so many scholars. If it could send officials, it would not have allowed the Han land to be managed by the Korean nobles.
Reassured, they began to test the bottom line of the Qin State, from biased judgments to forcibly abducting women, from not paying food for a day to not paying food if the person did not work.
They found that except for major incidents like killing people in the street, everything was fine.
After testing Qin's bottom line, they were wandering around the edge of the circle. The timid ones only built three rooms, while the brave ones assassinated dozens of people.
They thought they could continue to act tyrannically and unrestrainedly, and they became the aristocrats they hated before.
At this time, Ying Chengjiao issued a call for talents, and the Lu Chamber of Commerce withdrew.
They were even happier and did more and more excessive things. They believed that the withdrawal of the Lu Chamber of Commerce symbolized their victory.
The banquet lasted for three days and the beauty had sex in the street.
This was the scene that Taoist Wu Shi saw when he entered Yewang County.
Right in front of Wu Shi, a woman with dust on her face was surrounded by a group of men, who were forcing her to wash her face with clean water.
"spread!"
Wu Shi led a group of followers forward.
The fat and strong men who blocked the road paid the price with their blood under the sharp Qin swords held by the Taoist disciples.
In the chaotic times of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, none of the various schools of thought that could be spread were soft persimmons. Without force, you can't reason with others.
The rescued woman's bellyband was torn open, and her face, which had been washed with clean water, was wet with tears, which had its own beauty.
"My name is Qiong, and I am a retainer of Master Shan. Who are you?"
The leader who molested the woman had his chest half exposed and questioned Wu Shi with a fierce look on his face.
Wu Shi ignored the poverty and, like an ordinary old man, he gently comforted the frightened and crying woman.
His disciple came forward holding Qin Jian, frightened Qiong back half a step, and said in a deep voice:
"My teacher is the magistrate of Yewang County."
Qiong's face changed drastically. He led the group of perpetrators away and went to report to his master, Shan.
Wu Shi put a piece of clothing on the woman, asked his disciples to send the frightened woman home, and took the remaining disciples to the Yewang County Magistrate's Mansion.
Along the way, Wu Shi's face became increasingly gloomy because of his joy at being able to govern a region.
The Wild King was different from what he had imagined.
"Find the county lieutenant."
This was the first order Wu Shi gave to the clerks in the county magistrate's office after he entered the office.
"only."
Wu Shi's youngest disciple said in confusion:
"Didn't the teacher say that we should govern by doing nothing and try not to interfere with the development of Yewang County?"
Wu Shi said nothing and began to look through the detailed records left by the Lu Chamber of Commerce.
The eldest disciple Guanshan answered the questions of the younger disciple on behalf of the master.
"Governing by doing nothing means that everyone performs their duties and everything runs naturally. As a superior, if you do not interfere because of your own likes and dislikes, you will destroy the way of heaven.
"However, what we have seen along the way is full of evil deeds, but we have not seen anyone stopping the evil deeds. How can the teacher turn a blind eye to this?"
A quarter of an hour later, the Yewang County Lieutenant arrived.
Wu Shi didn't hesitate and asked directly:
"Can you really mobilize your elite soldiers?"
The county lieutenant replied:
"I have received the military order and will cooperate with you in all matters. There is only one thing: after you mobilize the troops, I will record the reasons and results of the mobilization in detail and submit a memorial to Xinzheng."
"good."
Wu Shi, who advocated the principle of governing by doing nothing, nodded and stood up.
"General, please mobilize all the soldiers and follow us."
On that day, Shan and everyone around him were arrested and imprisoned.
Upon hearing the news, the blacksmith Guo, who was working in the blacksmith shop, hurried to the county magistrate's office and begged Wu Shi to spare his son this time.
"The rebellion of Yewang started with good intentions and originated from you. It is against the will of heaven."
The truly virtuous blacksmith Guo was also sent to prison by Wu Shi and locked up with his son.
Wu Shi dealt with Shan and his vassals according to the local laws, that is, the laws of Han itself, which were accepted by the general public.
Then, establish the personnel structure of Yewang County as quickly as possible.
All government agencies in Yewang County were established, and everyone was clearly informed what they should do.
The eldest disciple Guanshan ran around, busying himself for his teacher for seven days.
The homes of Shanhe and his followers were seized, along with countless grains and properties.
Wu Shi kept a portion of the money for the operation of the government, kept another portion as reserve money and grain, and then distributed the rest.
"Teacher, what should we do next?"
It was visibly that Guan Shan, who had lost weight, was not tired mentally, and he said with excitement.
In Yewang, his teacher's power was unprecedentedly great. Even the county lieutenant who was supposed to be at the same level had to be under the teacher's command. This made Guanshan very excited, who could only listen to the teacher's lectures in the Doctoral Office in Xianyang.
"You take a rest. Your junior brother will do the rest."
"I'm not tired."
"If you continue to do this, I will lock you up."
Wu Shi stopped writing and looked at his eldest disciple seriously.
Guan Shan was a little confused and looked at Wu Shi blankly.
"Your current appearance is the original appearance of those imprisoned people. We follow the way of heaven and the way of humanity, governing things instead of governing people. Do you understand?"
Guan Shan was sweating profusely. He hit his head hard and said regretfully:
"The disciple knows his mistake."
"You, Junior Brother, do not understand what it means to rule by inaction. You understand the principle, but you do not apply it. This is worse than not understanding the disaster."
The next day.
The county magistrate's office issued a decree.
1. The wealthy people who had fled could return to Yewang and register as citizens, and their land and houses would be restored and they would be exempted from rent and taxes for six years.
Second, those who had become slaves due to famine would regain their freedom and work in the fields. At the same time, prisoners sentenced to death or below would be pardoned and allowed to return to the fields.
3. Reduce land rent and implement a 15% tax rate.
Fourth, merchants are not allowed to wear silk or ride in carriages, and their taxes will be doubled.
…
The decree was announced by the government and reached the ears of every citizen of Yewang.
When the people saw the extra food in their homes and heard that they would not have to pay so much tax in the future, they all cheered.
The feeling of working for yourself and working for others is completely different.
The dilapidated Yewang County suddenly came back to life in one day.
