Chapter 44 2. If the scar is not healed, forget the pain

185 AD, spring, February. A terrible plague spread crazily on the land without spring.Obviously, Liu Hong has had a bad time.On February 10, a fire broke out in Nangong Yuntai, Luoyang, the capital, and burned down Liu Hong's pleasure base. In the Han Dynasty, every time a fire broke out in the palace, it was never resolved.Including this time, no one tracked down what happened to the fire. On the contrary, some people suggested that the palace be rebuilt.But who doesn't know that building the palace requires money, and the Han Dynasty had no money. If Liu Hong was asked to pay for the repairs, it would be different from robbing him of his money. He would not do it even if he was killed.

However, to Liu Hong's relief, some people said that the money for building the palace should not be paid by the leaders, and someone would naturally pay. It was two people who said this.They are Liu Hong's father Zhang Rang and his mother Zhao Zhong. Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong said that the money spent to repair the palace should be apportioned to the localities.If there is an increase of 10 yuan per mu in the whole country, this should be almost the same. No matter how hard it is, you can't suffer the emperor. Liu Hong likes this and agrees to add a tribute.However, when they heard that the emperor added money to build the building, some people became anxious.

The guy who was going to spoil Zhang Rang's good deeds was called Lu Kang, who was the governor of Le'an County at that time.He quoted scriptures, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, from the metaphysical to the metaphysical, and summed it up in one sentence - when the country is in crisis, the money cannot be increased. As soon as Lu Kang's memorandum arrived, Zhang Rang and a group of eunuchs rushed over after hearing the news and attacked.Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others also used all kinds of bad words in the world, saying that Lu Kang had malicious intentions and committed the crime of disrespect.

The so-called crime of disrespect is a capital crime. Soon, Lu Kang was loaded back to Luoyang in a prison van and thrown into prison, ready to be executed.But he didn't die, but was played, and his life was saved from Zhang Rang's knife.Exemption from death penalty, expelled back to his hometown. We know that Zhang Rang was really cruel to Wang Yun before.When you get out of prison, you will be punished as usual, so that people change their names and surnames, and have to withdraw from the arena.But this time, Zhang Rang didn't chase Lu Kang to the end, but just let him go. why?I think his purpose of beating people has basically been achieved.

Wang Yun's memorial was to kill him; Lu Kang's memorial was just to block his way of making money.Although the one surnamed Lu escaped, at least Zhang Rang could use this as a warning to those who don't know how to praise and want to block his way of making money, so don't blame him for being rude. Isn't Lu Kang just trying to stop Liu Hong from spending money randomly?How did it get involved with blocking Zhang Rang's fortune? As long as you see the following scene, you will know why Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong are fighting against Liu Hongxiu's palace.There are not only well-behaved flattery, but also profitable economics.

After the construction of Liu Hong's palace was launched, the tasks were assigned to the local states and counties, and they were responsible for purchasing timber and rocks on behalf of the royal family. Today in the 21st century, not to mention purchasing agents, even guiding toilets is a profitable business.So we thought, the states and counties contracting this huge project of the central government will more or less have to make some money. When the task was first issued, the chiefs of the states and counties all thought so in their hearts.However, when they actually contracted the work, all of them regretted it.

The reason is that they were all fooled, and all of them were fooled by the eunuchs, but they dared not speak out. The situation is like this, the states and counties send the purchased timber and rocks to Luoyang, the capital, to pay.A group of eunuchs were in charge of the purchase. They inspected the goods in a serious manner, saying the same thing to every deliverer—there was a problem with the quality of the goods, and they refused to sign for them if they were unqualified. When the local government heard this, their hearts turned cold.At that time, there were no planes, no trains, no trucks that drank oil, only horse-drawn carts that ate grass. It was not easy to transport such a heavy thing to Luoyang, and they were all sent back, saying they failed?

The local governments have been depressed for a long time, wondering whether the eunuchs want to get a card and bribe them to make some money. If they want to think this way, they seem to be right, but they are not entirely right.In fact, the eunuch is ready to make money, that's right.But it's not that the local government can send them away with a little bribe. The way they make money is not as simple as the magistrate thought. Soon, the eunuch told the local government who delivered the goods, saying: "The task of purchasing on behalf of you is still very heavy. Hurry up and sell the goods in your hand and go back to complete the task."

Local government officials said: "We all want to go back, but you don't accept it, how can we go back?" The eunuchs said: "It's easy to handle, your quality is not up to standard, so I will accept it at one-tenth of the original price." , and then you can go back to work." one tenth?In other words, out of ten pieces of wood, only one is qualified? They finally understood that the eunuchs called forced buying, and there was no room for negotiation.If you fight against them, it is estimated that one tenth of the price will be gone.Therefore, everyone had no choice but to part with their loved ones and sold them to the eunuch at one-tenth of the market price.

It is estimated that the gods did not expect that just when the local government officials were about to go back, the representative of the eunuch came out to speak. They said, if you go back and forth like this, you will definitely not be able to complete the task.I know where there is good quality wood, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can definitely pay. Local procurement officials think about it, it is not bad to spend money to eliminate disasters. If they go back to cut trees, it will be one-tenth of the next time. Cutting down a hundred-year-old tree will not be enough to make up the amount in the contract.

So everyone asked the eunuch: "Where can I buy the good things you mentioned?" The eunuchs told them calmly: "The good things are in our warehouse, as long as you pay the money, you can send them back." God, what kind of world is this.The eunuch just bought it by force, so is he going to sell it again?That's right, the eunuchs just sold the things they just bought from them to them by force.Of course, the price is not one-tenth of the previous price, but sold at full market price. I have seen a profiteer, but I guess I have never seen such a profiteer.However, after much deliberation, they finally figured it out, saying that the eunuchs wanted to earn nine-tenths of their price difference, so they should treat it as a bribe.As for the loss part, we will figure out a way later. However, they soon realized that they were wrong again. The eunuch's greed had surpassed human thinking. Local government officials bought all the goods at the price of the eunuchs, and then handed them over at the amount of the state and county.The eunuchs collected the money, looked back at the wood and said, "I'm sorry, your product is not up to standard, we really can't accept it, so let's go back and get some fresh goods to pay for the job." What's the point of this, I just bought it from you, and now I resell it to you, so it's unqualified?It may not be too dark. The eunuchs are a bit dark, but they are not wrong.The goods received by the local government from them are now resold to them, and most of the timber is already substandard.Because the wood that has been tossed and tossed is already rotten, and the palace cannot be repaired at all. The sky has no eyes, the emperor is fatuous, he wants to cry but has no tears. Seeing that they could not complete the task, all the states and counties cried anxiously.After crying, they had to wipe away their tears and return to the local area to gather the people to cut down trees.The wood sent up is still the same as the camera, leaving tragically and returning tragically. In this way, Liu Hong's beautiful palace was delayed for a long time without starting construction.On the contrary, the keyword palace has become a cash cow for eunuchs. Seeing this, I finally understand.It is estimated that Lu Kang did not expect that he stepped forward to stop Zhang Rang's wealth, and it turned out to be such a prosperous way.As long as the palace is not completed, their wealth will overflow like the water of the Yangtze River, flooding and uncontrollable. The eunuchs just wanted to get rich and didn't want to build palaces, which really made Liu Hong anxious.As I said, no matter how hard it is, you can't suffer the emperor.He has waited for so long, and the palace hasn't started construction yet, what's so amazing about it. So he was ready to be held accountable. The object of Liu Hong's accountability is not the eunuch, but the local states and counties.He sent cavalry guards to rush the mission.Seeing all this in front of them, the states and counties were filled with infinite sorrow, but they had nowhere to say it. People scolding the place are all dog officials who can bully people.But if they stand in this position, should they call Liu Hong a dog emperor?After scraping layer after layer, they still bite people everywhere, making you howl like ghosts and wolves, screaming that you should not respond every day, and the ground is not working. It was time to scold, and I scolded in my heart.But what about scolding?Still can't solve the problem, and the problem is getting worse. Because at this time, Liu Hong issued the latest punishment regulations.It is said that all governors and county chiefs, who are promoted or transferred to work, must first pay the palace repair fee. The head on bastard Liu Hong's head is really not covered.Under the control of the eunuch, he geniusly told the magistrate that paying the palace repair fee is not a one-size-fits-all.States and counties with a lot of oil and water must pay more, even if they pay 20 to 30 million yuan, he will not think too much.Where there is less oil and water, it is understandable to pay less. For this reason, Liu Hong specially set up an organization called "Xiyuan Mansion" to collect money for the repair of the palace. He asked local officials to go to the Xiyuan mansion to negotiate a good price before taking office, and they can take office after a deal is made.If you don't speak well, you can't resign, you have to take up the post.You must take office, which means you are forced to pay. Those officials who do not accept promotions are mostly clean people.They are honest officials and have no money, so they can't afford to pay. This is the first; honest officials and rich families don't want to pay this money, which will make the world's famous people laugh at it. This is the second. But those who have no money to pay, or those who have money and don’t want to pay, must accept government appointments. What will happen? Soon we will see a result - people are killed. Sima Zhi, a native of Henan, was transferred to be the head of Julu County at that time. He has a good habit of not collaborating with others, and he stands alone in the world with his innocence.The eunuchs also knew that nothing could be squeezed out of such a person.So I sent someone to tell Sima Zhi hypocritically: I know you have no money, so I give you special treatment, as long as you donate three million yuan, you can take office. Sima went directly to the letter of appointment, and when he saw the transaction price, his head became hot.Melancholy, he said to himself: As a parent and official, he does not do things for the people, but caters to the dirty world for his own sake. How could this be done by humans? Sima Zhi decided to resign.The Shangzuo declared that he was ill and could not take up his post.However, after the memorial was handed in, it was quickly rejected by the higher authorities.There is no reason, even if you are sick, you have to accept the job. Play is unspoken rules.In other words, no matter whether you become an official or not, you must hand over the three million yuan. Sima Zhi had no choice but to go on the road. He set off with a tragic mood, sighing all the way, the time flies, and the mountains and rivers are ruthless.In an era without ideals and values, choosing to resist is like moths to a flame, leading to a dead end.Not resisting is also a dead end.Could it be that in this world, the roads provided to scholars are either black or dead? If it is death, I would rather sue the emperor in the posture of death.Sure enough, Sima Zhi wrote a memorial, scolding Liu Hong from beginning to end.After scolding, he committed suicide. Sima Zhi scolded the book, and Liu Hong read it.Being scolded by this, it was as if he had received a basin of cold water, and he suddenly regained consciousness.An edict was issued to temporarily suspend the collection of "donations for repairing the palace".Caiping Yellow Turban, man-made disasters are not over, natural disasters come again.Liu Hong seems to understand again, the scar is not healed, and the pain cannot be forgotten. Yes, Liu Hong seemed to have discovered his conscience again, but soon after his conscience was discovered, he was swept away to nowhere.The classic prodigal son, the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, will be lost in the hands of such a bastard.