Chapter 24: Petitioning for the People

  A large army passed through the city gate of Bazhou and arrived at the foot of Jiangzhou City. Yan Yan and the civil and military officials of Jiangzhou came out to greet them. Liu Zhang looked at these officials on horseback, their attitude was quite respectful, and called out Yan Yan, asking in a low voice: "Who has come?"

  Yan Yan bowed his head and replied, "All civil and military officials above 200 stones in Jiangzhou have arrived, only...". Yan Yan paused for a moment, hesitating to say: "Only the famous and influential families in Jiangzhou, except for the Fei family, all the others did not come."

  "They have no obligation to come." Liu Zhang said lightly, making a gesture for the officials to rise, and rode into the city. Zhang Ren looked at the streets of Jiangzhou and said to Liu Zhang: "My lord, as the largest city in southern Shu, why does this Jiangzhou look even more dilapidated than Fucheng? Zhao Wei's exploitation of the people is too rampant."

  Fa Zheng said, "General Zhang is unaware that the prosperous areas of Western Shu are mainly concentrated around Chengdu, while the south, north and east sides are relatively barren. Especially the north and south sides, where we often clash with Zhang Lu's bandits, and the southern barbarians cause trouble, so the economy is declining. This can't be entirely blamed on Zhao Wei."

  Fa Zheng finished speaking and glanced at Liu Zhang, feeling a bit apprehensive. The Battle of Fu Castle had made him acknowledge Liu Zhang as his lord, but pursuing Zhao Wei and pacifying the Wu Creek barbarians had initially made Fa Zheng feel reverence for this lord. Now saying these words that were clearly biased towards Zhao Wei, although they were true, he couldn't help but fear that Liu Zhang would become enraged, especially after telling Liu Zhang about the actions of the Jiangzhou aristocracy, Fa Zheng had always felt that Liu Zhang was suppressing his anger.

  But Liu Zhang's expression was calm, occasionally glancing at the streets on both sides. The land of Shu was relatively peaceful, and these common people, although not wealthy, were still living a happy life, only occasionally poking their heads out from the door cracks, with eyes full of numbness. Liu Zhang looked ahead and said to Fa Zheng: "Xiao Zhī, you said you have an idea for rectifying the government of Jiangzhou, tell me about it."

  Fa Zhengdao said, "The reason why the officials in Jiangzhou are lawless is that they have strong clan support behind them. The clans are our biggest obstacle to rectifying Jiangzhou, so as long as we appease the clans, rectifying Jiangzhou will be easy..."

  "Get to the point." Liu Zhang interrupted Fa Zheng's words.

  "Has milord heard of the Decree of Talents?"

  Liu Zhang hesitated for a moment before saying: "Cao Cao's decree to attract talents, are you trying to recruit men of humble origin to replace these aristocratic officials?"

  Fa Zheng shook his head and said, "No, if we recruit sons of humble families to replace the sons of aristocratic families, it will definitely lead to backlash from the aristocratic families. My method is to issue a decree to recruit sons of aristocratic families, using new sons of aristocratic families to replace old ones. This way, we can achieve the goal of punishing corrupt officials while also showing favor and intimidation to newly appointed officials. The governance of Jiangzhou will surely be renewed."

  The sound of horseshoes echoed on the bluestone floor, Liu Zhang lowered his head in contemplation, and after a long time, he sighed to Fa Zheng: "Xiao Zhi, treating the symptoms but not the root cause, you say that the sons of aristocratic families are lawless because they have the support of their families behind them. You use new aristocratic families to replace old ones, can't new aristocratic families also have family support?"

  Indeed, we punished a batch of officials, which is awe-inspiring, and promoted a batch of officials, which is gracious. With both awe and graciousness in place, the governance of officials will naturally be revitalized. However, this is only temporary, because those newly appointed officials ultimately still have to serve their families and obey their family's will. Their nature has not changed. Moreover, if we issue a decree to recruit talents, but only attract sons of aristocratic families, it would not only disappoint the hearts of those from humble backgrounds, but also, if the aristocratic families do not cooperate, we would not even get a chance to try.

  "The problem of the coordination of the aristocratic families, Your Excellency need not worry. Today, only the Fei family came to welcome you. We can promote more young men from the Fei family and create a situation where the various aristocratic families in Jiangzhou compete with each other. None of them want their own family to decline, so they will naturally flock to your call for talents. As for future matters, we can use strict laws to restrain officials."

  Fa Zheng really didn't think his method was inappropriate and couldn't understand why Liu Zhang brought up the issue of officials following their family's will, but this was indeed a fact. In this era, family interests often outweighed personal interests, and the entire Han Dynasty was like this. The imperial court would not blame individuals for serving their family's interests; at most, it would only use strict laws to restrain them.

  At this thought, Fa Zheng suddenly remembered a terrible possibility. He recalled the look in Liu Zhang's eyes outside the city of Ba County, that chill only seen once before in Fu City, and that time, more than ten heads fell to the ground, including Yu An's. Was Liu Zhang going to make his move against the Jiangzhou aristocracy this time?

  As soon as Fa Zheng thought of this possibility, his back turned cold. If Liu Zhang really took action against the aristocratic families, what would be destroyed was not only the hearts of the aristocratic families in Western Shu, but also the trust and hope of the world. In the future, whoever emerged from Western Shu to contend for dominance over the world would inevitably face resistance from the aristocratic families all over the land. This outcome was too terrifying.

  Fa Zheng hastily wanted to advise, but Liu Zhang waved his hand and said calmly: "It's useless for us to talk about these things now. Let me meet those officials first, maybe they're not as bad as I thought."

  A large army was stationed outside the city, and 3,000 soldiers followed Liu Zhang into the city. Liu Zhang arrived at the provincial government office, but did not go to the main hall. Instead, he gathered all the senior officials of Jiangzhou in a small room.

  The room was not large, with soldiers on both sides, and the officials stood somewhat cramped. Liu Zhang did not want to sit on a cushion, so he sat directly on the tea table, rubbing his sore legs that had been rubbed by the horse's back, and said casually: "I invited you all here today for two reasons: first, to reward your diligence in governance and benefiting the people of this region; second, to ask if there are any difficulties or hardships in Jiangzhou that require my attention."

  A group of officials immediately kowtowed and said: "These are all matters within our subordinates' duties."

  Household Minister Zhang stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, as for the difficulties in Jiangzhou, there is indeed one. Every year, our region suffers from the incursions of the Southern Barbarians and the Five Streams Barbarians, causing the people to suffer greatly. Recently, with excessive rain, I fear that the rice will rot in the fields before it can be harvested, resulting in a reduced yield. Please consider reducing the taxes for Jiangzhou."

  Liu Zhang sneered inwardly, did these officials still think they were the puppets guarding the provincial governor's mansion as before? Even if the Five Streams Barbarians and the Southern Barbarians were formidable, could they reach Jiangzhou? The rain causing the rice to rot was a huge joke; if it were autumn, there might be a possibility, but now it was only midsummer, and the rice was still green, able to absorb plenty of rainwater. Where did the rot come from? If he were really Liu Zhang, who had grown up with a golden spoon in his mouth and became the provincial governor without leaving the mansion, he would have been deceived by these people.

  Liu Zhang rubbed his temples and closed his eyes, saying: "Director Zhang is indeed sympathetic to the people's feelings and has made a request for the people. Alright, I will consider the issue of reducing taxes. What other difficulties do you have? Continue speaking."

  Other officials heard that Liu Zhang had agreed so quickly, and they all smiled in their hearts. They originally thought that the foolish governor had changed his ways, but it turned out to be the same old thing, and they couldn't help but come forward "to petition for the people".

  Gong Cao Shi hastily stepped forward and said: "The barbarians invade every year, but the rebel leader Zhao Wei's rewards and punishments are not clear, so many meritorious civil and military officials in Jiangzhou cannot be promoted. Among them are Zei Cao Shi Jiang Qi, Wu Guan Lang Zhong Feng Xu... (omitting twenty or so names)...

  Gong Cao Shi had just finished speaking, when the Wu Guan Jian stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, Zhao Wei has disrupted the government, and the rituals and laws are not being upheld. The heavenly and earthly sacrifices to the worthy ancestors have been neglected and abandoned. I request that Your Excellency allocate funds to rebuild the altar for the ancestral sacrifices and restore the images of the former worthies."

  Zuo Shi said: "Zhao Wei is recruiting soldiers and ignoring local defense. Please allocate military funds to the lord and rectify Jiangzhou's defenses."

  Jin Chao Shi: "Zhao Wei loves grandeur and likes to achieve great things, often going on military campaigns year after year. The treasury is empty, income does not cover expenses..."

  Cao Yuan: "Roads leading to various counties and towns in Jiangzhou have been washed away by heavy rains..."

  Zuo Cao Shi, Fu Ku Ling, Fa Cao Shi, Wei Cao Shi, Five Departmental Directors, Zei Cao Shi, Jue Cao Shi, every official who came from Jiangzhou spoke with spittle flying everywhere about their difficulties, as if not speaking out would be a great loss. Finally, even the county recorders came forward to say that there were not enough bamboo slips for use.

  Fa Zheng looked gloomy and furrowed his brow, feeling very worried. Although Liu Zhang now had a smiling face and was affable and easy to get along with, Fa Zheng knew that Liu Zhang had already become angry.