Chapter 19 Emphasis on agriculture and accepting advice

In the second year of Emperor Wen's Yuan Dynasty, Jia Yi, who sat there all day thinking about writing a memorial to the emperor, finally produced a memorial.This memorial makes people look past it, the sour taste of Confucian scholars is not too strong.The content of the memorial is more like the words of a political strategist or a legalist figure. It is said that only when the common people have no worries about food and clothing can it be possible for the common people to obey the orders of the king.Therefore, the core suggestion of the memorial is to persuade Liu Heng to encourage private agricultural production.Jia Yi gave Liu Heng the following content:

"In "Guanzi", it is said that 'the granary knows the etiquette, and the food and clothing are sufficient to know the honor and disgrace.' It has never been heard of such a thing since ancient times that the common people can't eat enough to listen to the monarch. Your Majesty, what do you want? To govern the country well, you need the people to be obedient to you. Only when you have enough food and clothing will they be your obedient citizens, and then you will have the so-called 'people of farming and warfare' to drive you, so that the people Willingly shed blood for your regime.

"The ancients said, 'If a man does not farm, he will suffer from hunger; if a woman does not weave, she will suffer from cold.' Everything should be produced in an appropriate amount according to the specific season and other conditions, and there will be a situation in which the supply exceeds demand without restrictions. The ancients Talking about governing the country is always thoughtful and pays attention to agriculture, so the warehouses are full. But looking back at the current society, there are too many people who do not farm but do business, and many people live in luxury. These speculative businessmen are the scourge of society, but there is no People limit them; the country's legal system is lax, and severe punishments are lacking, but no one can restore this situation; the whole world has fewer people engaged in agricultural production and more profligate people. How can the world's wealth not be exhausted?

"It has been nearly forty years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, but there is no savings in the treasury, and the savings of the common people are also small. It is not that all the property has evaporated, but there is no one at all. This situation is really sad. Now as long as there is a drought in a place, the local people will be in panic. In bad harvest years, the people have to sell their titles and children in exchange for food. Your Majesty must have heard a lot of this kind of thing, I am surprised Now, how can you be indifferent and not shocked at all after hearing this!

"Agricultural harvest is a natural law. Xia Yu and Shang Tang have experienced it. If unfortunately there is a large-scale drought with a radius of two to three thousand miles, and the country usually has no savings, what will be used to relieve the people at this time? Suddenly When a war breaks out, hundreds of thousands or millions of soldiers will be recruited. What will the country use to supply its military supplies? If war disasters and droughts happen at the same time, the country will have no financial resources to deal with them, and the world will be in chaos, and restless people will gather in the mountains and forests, causing chaos on one side. ; There will be poor people who have to change their children to eat, and their lives are miserable.

"Honestly speaking, the world is not very stable now. Foreign princes and minority regimes may take advantage of the chaos to invade at any time. At that time, the tragic situation will be irreparable. The government's savings are the foundation of managing the world. With money and food, everything can be done. Only in this way can we be invincible in battle and make the enemy surrender. "If we guide the people to actively farm now, imprison the people with the land, and allow businessmen and lobbyists to farm, then the country's reserves will be increased, the world will be stable, and the common people will stay in the fields one by one. What refugees have been endangering public security all day long. Why didn't Your Majesty do this, I sincerely feel sorry for Your Majesty's inaction in private!"

After careful analysis, Jia Yi's words are right and wrong.According to common sense, there is nothing wrong with strengthening the country's savings, but commercial activities cannot be completely abolished.Jia Yi's idea of ​​imprisoning and controlling the people through agricultural production is even more absurd and shameless. Jia Yi discovered problems with Confucianism and solved them with Legalism.Both Shang Yang and Han Fei advocated emphasizing agriculture and restraining business, but their reasons for doing so were very practical, that is, to strengthen the army and cultivate "people who cultivate and fight", thereby consolidating autocracy.The same is true of Jia Yi, but his statement has added a hypocritical side: he pretends to be sympathetic to the lives of the people, but in fact he is serving the social and ideological imprisonment of the people by autocracy and Confucianism.

However, Jia Yi's words finally moved Liu Heng.The emperors in ancient times had their eyes lit up when they saw tricks that could help them centralize power.On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month when Jia Yi entered the admonishment, Liu Heng issued an edict to the whole country, saying: "Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and we should open up open fields. I will personally cultivate the fields and set an example for the people of the whole country to be active in farming. The grain is dedicated to the ancestral temple." In September, Liu Heng once again issued an edict: "Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and the people rely on it to survive. However, some people do business instead of concentrating on farming. This behavior is really reactionary, and it also makes life difficult for other honest people in the world. I am very worried about this, so now I personally lead a group of ministers to cultivate, hoping to raise people's attention to agriculture, beat those profiteers, you can weigh it yourself. In order to encourage farming, this year only collect land rent from the people all over the world half."

So if we look at it from the perspective of the historical process, is the impact of Liu Heng's actions on the society of the early Han Dynasty positive or negative? It is right that Liu Heng attaches great importance to agricultural development.In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the quality of life of ordinary people was indeed very poor. Many people did not have enough to eat and did not wear warm clothes.The ruling class is busy fighting among themselves all day long, which is a major feature of traditional Chinese politics in ancient times.People in the nest choke each other, and the people at the bottom wear more and wear less, eat enough to eat less, birth, old age, sickness and death are all put in a secondary position, and power seizure is the primary.

In view of this, on the one hand, Liu Heng hopes to keep the economic and social development of the people in a free and relaxed range; Stable development has laid a good foundation. What we can see is that during the entire Western Han Dynasty, industrial and commercial workers were hit the least during the Wenjing period.In the early Han Dynasty, Confucian despotism prevailed over the entire social system, and one set of policies was based on agriculture.In the Central Plains Dynasty, farming could become the foundation of traditional society.However, agriculture and industry and commerce, one emphasizes "steadiness" and the other emphasizes "movement". The core ideas are different, and competition and exclusion are inevitable. Liu Heng can't control the development of the situation.However, Liu Heng maintained the relative freedom of the development of the folk economy with the old man's tricks and ruled by doing nothing, and took efficient agricultural production as its cornerstone. This approach is undoubtedly correct.

In addition to emphasizing agricultural production, Liu Heng also opened up his voice at the beginning of his administration, which is reflected in three aspects. First, after the two solar eclipses occurred in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wen issued an imperial edict. In addition to explaining his own faults, he also expressed his desire to speak out. Second, in May of the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wen issued an edict to abolish the crimes of slander and false speech. Liu Heng said: "In ancient times, when Ming emperors ruled the world, they would set up special banners in the court to encourage loyal words, and used them to write suggestions. This is to ensure the integrity of the court and encourage people to give advice. Now, the court has established the crime of lying and slander, so that the ministers and the people cannot express their inner thoughts to their heart's content, and the emperor cannot know My own fault. The imperial court didn’t even have a suggestion box, so how could it attract talents from all over the world; how could it gather the hearts of the people and promote the coordination and orderly progress of the government’s work! I declare that these regulations that block the mouths of the common people should be abolished! " Liu Heng's abolition of the slander and gossip orders means that the restriction on speech has been lifted.Now the common people dare to say anything, can say anything, and there will no longer be any "monster words" or "slanderous" statements. These statements hurt the enthusiasm of the common people too much.Liu Hengguang's openness of speech actually also expressed his generosity and confidence in being a king.There is no ruler who is not afraid that the people will talk nonsense to him at will. Liu Heng dared to do this to tell the people "I have confidence in you". The emperor "winked", and the scholars and capable people immediately accepted it among the people.There were a lot of talents in the imperial court for a while, letters of opinion were flying in and out of the court hall all day long, and the peak season of the year for the express delivery company came. Third, Liu Heng listens to useful opinions from others. Simply speaking out is not enough.You just let the big guys "contend among a hundred schools of thought", and after the contention is over, they will be wiped out. This is a completely insidious approach.Liu Heng is different. He not only "listens" to suggestions, but also "takes" good ones.Here is an example of Liu Heng's acceptance of Yuan Ang's several suggestions. Yuan Ang is a native of Chu, Zisi, who was born in a robber family with a strange family background.This person used to be Lu Lu's retainer, and later became a doctor on the recommendation of his brother Yuan Kui. When Zhou Bo was the prime minister, every time he went to court, he was always arrogant, but Liu Heng always treated him humbly.Every time Zhou Bo turned and left after accepting Liu Heng's audience, Liu Heng looked at him affectionately, looked at him, and held back his anger. Yuan Ang saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. It is the duty-bound responsibility of ministers like them to share the worries of their master since childhood!Yuan Ang, who had the king in mind, wanted to give Liu Heng some advice, so he asked him: "What kind of person does your majesty think the prime minister is?" Liu Heng replied: "I am an important minister of the country." Yuan Ang said: "Your Majesty's words are wrong. Zhou Bo is just a minister who has meritorious support. How can he be regarded as an important minister of the country. An important minister of the country must be able to advance and retreat with the king. However, when Zhu Lu was in chaos, Zhou Bo held The heavy troops did nothing; after the death of Empress Lu, it was the general trend to destroy the Lus. Zhou Bo just followed the trend and could only be regarded as a hero. Now the prime minister is taking credit for his pride, and he has a faint intention of not paying attention to you. Look at him The ugly look is obviously pushing the nose on the face - making an inch of it. If you blindly accommodate him, you are breaking the etiquette between the emperor and his ministers. You are the emperor and he is the minister, so he can't be arrogant in front of you, which is inappropriate." In fact, people today can make a bold guess: Yuan An is jealous of Zhou Bo, why should we both be Liu Heng's slaves, you can have more dignity than me in front of the master!Yuan An's remonstrance was not only for Liu Heng's sake, but also jealousy may be at work. After listening to Yuan Ang's opinion, Liu Heng thought that what he said was very reasonable, and it would be a matter of time before he attacked the heroic group.Yuan An's suggestion was accepted by Liu Heng, and Liu Heng became serious to Zhou Bo from then on.Zhou Bo was not happy, he complained to Yuan An in private, and said to Yuan An: "Your brother Yuan Kui and I are close buddies, why are you so short-sighted, and you squeeze me in front of the emperor!" Yuan An ignored it, and the two Since then, people have grudges. Later, when Liu Heng went up the mountain from Baling and wanted to ride down the steep slope to the west, he was stopped by Yuan An.Yuan Ang stepped forward and took the reins of the carriage, but Liu Heng taunted him and said, "Why, general, are you still afraid?" Yuan Ang replied: "I heard that 'a son of a thousand pieces of gold can't sit still'. A wise monarch will never take risks lightly, joke about his own life, and never hope that an adventure will be fine. .Now His Majesty is letting his six horses gallop down from the high mountain. If the horses are frightened and damage the car, Your Majesty will be self-deprecating, how can he be worthy of Gao Zu and Gao Empress?" As soon as Liu Heng heard that it made sense, his life is the most important thing, and he will think about it later if it is exciting or not, so he immediately stopped this matter. There is also one thing recorded.It is said that Empress Dou later lost her eyesight due to illness, so Liu Heng turned to favor his Mrs. Mei Jishen and Yin Ji.When Mrs. Shen saw that she was favored, her tail cocked up. She paid attention to ostentation and wanted to replace the empress. Therefore, she often sat on the same mat with Mrs. Dou at banquets in the palace. However, when Dou Yifang and Mrs. Yin came to Yuan An's residence, Yuan An intentionally placed Mrs. Shen's seat at the back of Dou Yi's room.Mrs. Shen was furious and felt aggrieved. She was usually spoiled by Liu Heng, so she refused to sit down.Seeing his concubine being bullied, Liu Heng secretly scolded Yuan Ang for not being good-looking, and also left.Yuan Ang saw that Liu Heng was angry and the expected effect had been achieved, so he took the opportunity of running to admit his mistake to the emperor and said to Liu Hengjin, "I heard that 'the order of the superior and the inferior makes peace between the upper and lower levels', Your Majesty, you have established a queen long ago. , Mrs. Shen is just a side room, how can the side room and the main room sit together! Your Majesty, if you really love Mrs. Shen too much, you can reward her a lot. But what you are doing now will only bring you Disaster. Have you forgotten the tragedy that Empress Lu made Dingtao Qiji into a "human pig"!" Liu Heng then came to his senses, turned his anger into joy, and rewarded Yuan An with fifty gold, and used Yuan An's The truth persuaded Mrs. Shen. In addition, Yuan An also advised Liu Heng on the issue of favoring the eunuch Zhao Tan.Zhao Tan felt that he was favored by Liu Heng and always pushed Yuan An out.Yuan An's nephew, Yuan Zhong, advised his uncle, "Uncle, you are so talented, find an opportunity to humiliate him in the court, so that the emperor won't listen to him if he speaks ill of you to the emperor in the future. " Once Liu Heng went out, Zhao Tan sat in Liu Heng's car to accompany him, and Yuan An knelt in front of the car and said to Liu Heng: "According to the rules of the country, only people with insight can be qualified to accompany the emperor in the car. Our country Even if there are no more capable people, Your Majesty, there is no need for an eunuch to accompany you in the car." Liu Heng smiled after hearing this, guessing that what Yuan Ang was thinking was that Yuan Ang's mind was too small, anyway, he let Zhao Tan get out of the car in the end.Zhao Tan left silently with tears in his eyes, and never had an appointment with Liu Heng again. The reason why Liu Heng tolerated Yuan Ang's offense many times was not only his own generosity, but more importantly, it was to show the world a good image of him actively accepting advice.The incidents recorded in any history books are just the tip of the iceberg in the long river of history, but they must be the most representative things done by the emperor in a certain aspect.In particular, the selected content is very representative, and it is the most influential move made by the emperor, in order to express the attitude and thoughts of the emperor in a certain aspect.These actions of Liu Heng are recorded by Sima Guang in it, which shows that this is a very influential "show". "Showing off" here is not a pejorative term.Liu Heng has insisted on "showing off" all his life. This kind of "showing off" is very painful, and he can't do whatever he wants at all.Liu Heng has reason to reject the unhappiness brought about by this "show", but he has silently endured it all his life and accepted advice all his life. To sum up, Liu Heng encourages production, spreads the word, and actively accepts advice. All these methods are to clean up the bad image left by the government in the hearts of the people during Liu Bang's period.The common people realize the benevolence of the government only when they have enough food and clothing, and only when intellectuals can freely express their opinions can they show the government's tolerance. In the final analysis, Liu Heng's "Dream of the Han Dynasty" is to eliminate the burden and fear of the people, establish a new image for the government, and change the government's operating status from "fighting the world" to "defending the world". "To enhance the overall national strength. Liu Heng clearly understands that all external problems are related to internal problems.At the same time, Liu Heng's work is not to deny one and establish another, but to choose to preserve the old things that are not harmful while implementing new things.He encouraged production, but did not severely crack down on the development of industry and commerce. This is the real farsightedness.Things that hinder development for a while may not necessarily hinder development forever, Liu Heng understands this well.