Chapter 971 The Eagle Raises the Five Ridges
Qin Lang managed the south of the Lingnan, and also took control of the southern middle of the Lingnan. In addition to the three provinces in the south of the Lingnan, he also added the two provinces in the middle of Yunnan and Guizhou. This is absolutely unique among the officials of the Tang Dynasty. At least since Zhenguan, there has been no Which courtier can monopolize the five military and political powers by one person.
However, the key to the fact that this edict was able to pass the consent of Zhongshu's disciples so smoothly is that the Nanzhong region has not been on the right track.
In the past, it was said that Lingnan was wild, but the Nanzhong area was even more alienated.
Yunnan has been controlled by the Cuan clan for four hundred years, while central Guizhou is located on a plateau with dangerous mountains and rivers, and lacks a large plain basin, making it even more powerful.
Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the central plains imperial court’s development of the central Guizhou area has only concentrated on the flat land near the established county offices and the main traffic routes.
A large number of mountainous areas are called Xidong by the court.
These Xidong areas are also dominated by the big surnames of the Hao family.
Just as there are eight major surnames such as Cuanmeng in Yunnan, there are also many major surnames in central Guizhou, and most of these are huge clan forces established after generations of Han people who went south.
For example, the Tian family has long controlled Chen, Guizhou, Si and other places in the northern part of the Wujiang River since the Han Dynasty.
The Zakexie clan, also from the Han Dynasty, has controlled the central and southern Guizhou region for hundreds of years.
The surnames of these wealthy families are actually no different from the Cuan family, the only difference is that they are not as strong as the Cuan family.
"At the beginning, when I served under the command of Shi Wansui with Zhang Gong, when we conquered the Cuan family, Tian Luoju, the leader of Qian'an, blocked the Qingjiang River and disrupted the Yiling, causing the people of the counties to respond. But the Xie family never obeyed China, and had tens of thousands of victorious troops. The Zhao family also has 20,000 victorious soldiers."
After all, Jia Wuben was a person who fought in the Nanzhong area, although it was thirty years ago.
"Since Zhenguan, the imperial court has begun to rule over central Guizhou. At the beginning of Wu De, it was win-win, and all the powerful leaders were conferred the titles of governors. Zhenguan began to adapt to local conditions and adopted more flexible and diverse strategies. For example, in the old prefectures and counties In the gap between the prefectures and counties, the creeks and caves were incorporated into the prefecture and county system, and the barbarians were managed through the household registration system. In places far away from prefectures and counties, the local chieftains were recruited to appoint duty orders and the system of court visits. , to manage it.”
Qin Lang nodded. In fact, the policy changes towards Central Guizhou since Zhenguan were all led by Qin Lang. Of course, he himself is quite aware of these backgrounds.
However, this policy is only a matter of the past few years, and it has not been implemented very smoothly in central Guizhou.
Take the Wuxi area as an example. Wuxi is an area that was developed earlier in central Guizhou, but the Wuxi barbarians active in the prefectures and counties often disturb the local area by relying on dangerous mountains. During the Southern Dynasties, Wuxi and Ten Caves have always been a disaster.
Faced with this situation, Qin Lang suggested at the beginning that everyone should build with little effort.
To put it bluntly, it is said that through granting titles, the old states and counties are divided, big states become small states, one becomes two, and even three becomes four, in order to reduce the strength of these streams and caves.
For example, Chenzhou under the control of the Si family was divided into five prefectures: Chen, Xu, Jin, Xi, and Prize, and the leaders of the five major forces in the territory were respectively appointed as governors, and the original five counties were increased to twenty counties. Twenty Xidong leaders were assigned as county magistrates, turning the one state under the Si family's management into five states and 20 counties.
In this way, these prefectural governors and county magistrates are directly conferred by the imperial court, instead of the Si family's enfeoffment in the past. By letting these Jimi governors come to Beijing to meet, pay tribute, grant titles, etc. every year, the relationship between the imperial court and them has been enhanced.
It also further suppressed the differentiation of Si's power.
The same is true for the Xie family in Qiannan. At first, Nan Xie and Dong Xie were bestowed, and finally Xi Xie had to go to Beijing to see him.
However, all of this is not the ultimate goal of the imperial court. The imperial court is not reconciled to only implementing the policy of confinement in Qianzhong Road.
In the end, it was all for the barbarians to recognize the Tang Dynasty, and then the Tang Dynasty could send troops to station, open up post roads, and then gradually emigrate.
If Qin Lang hadn't made such a big change due to Qin Lang's mission in Lingnan, central Guizhou would only continue to progress and evolve slowly, and perhaps the final plan of the imperial court might not be achieved in hundreds of years.
However, the earth-shaking changes in Lingnan and Yunnan will inevitably affect the central Guizhou area. The establishment of the Dongning Dudu Mansion by the imperial court will further expand its influence to central and southern Guizhou.
The establishment of Qianzhou Dudufu and Bozhou Dudufu in the north has accelerated this process.
Princes like Li You, the king of Qi, were enfeoffed, and the famous general Zhang Shigui was guarding them, which also put a lot of pressure on these wealthy barbarian chiefs in central Guizhou.
From the time when Li Xiaogong was the consolation ambassador of Shannan Province to comfort the mountain lizards in Wude, to Zhang Shigui in Zhenguan now guarding the middle of Guizhou, the most common trick they use is actually building the city.
As the imperial court further strengthened its control over central Guizhou, the imperial court began to abolish the old practice of directly appointing local chieftains as state and county officials by the Dudufu, and replaced it with a more standardized official selection system, the southern election.
Southern selection is not only the official selection system for central Guizhou, but also the official selection system implemented in Lingnan, Fujian, and Yunnan. selection and appointment.
The selection and appointment of officials of the fifth rank and above belonged to the Ministry of Officials.
In addition to the election of the governor, the local governor directly appoints the local native chiefs, while the southern election is that the imperial court sends a selection envoy and a censor to the court to assess the appointment and dismissal, and it is only limited to officials of the sixth rank and below, and officials of the fifth rank and above. You have to go through the court officials.
The southern election system was first implemented in Lingnan, but today's Lingnan has begun to abolish the southern election system. Because the imperial court now has a strong control over Lingnan, everything is on the right track.
On the contrary, Yunnan and central Guizhou, because the control power is still weak, have just abolished the election of the governor, and only then began to enter the southern election stage.
The core of the change in the official selection system is still that the imperial court brought the power of personnel to the central government. By controlling personnel, the rich and local chieftains were placed under the effective control of the state. It was necessary to ensure that the local natives had the opportunity to participate in local governance and ensure that the imperial court The absolute control of the government, especially through the appointment of officials, has continuously bridged the political gap caused by cultural differences from an institutional perspective.
The land reform is the ultimate governance plan for these border areas, but it is not easy to achieve this step and can only be implemented slowly.
"My goal is to first abolish the hereditary and irreplaceable local governance rights of these powerful local chiefs. Whether it is the Cuan family in Yunnan, the Nanzhao family in Erhai Lake, or the Xixie Xizhao or Si family, they have been since the Qin and Han Dynasties , mastering one side, monopolizing local control for hundreds of years, no matter how the dynasty rises and falls, their status remains the same, so they dare to disobey China and repeatedly resist and rebel against the court, so their privilege must be abolished first."
"Those who are capable, let them serve as governors and county magistrates first, but their sons do not have direct inheritance rights. They can obtain the right to be selected as officials according to the court's yin system. What positions they can achieve in the future depends entirely on Personal ability, but the states and counties are no longer their private territories, and state and county officials are not their worldly titles."
Old Jia laughed when he heard this.
"On the one hand, the imperial court enshrined the royal family and honored relatives, made them the governors and governors of the frontier, and enshrined Yongzheng forever, and their descendants will not replace them here. On the other hand, they reformed these barbarian hereditary leaders in the frontier. It's very interesting. .”
Qin Lang was a little taken aback when he heard that.
Immediately smiled.
"After all, there is still a difference. The royal family and the founding of the country are bestowed by the imperial court. Everyone seals the frontier, which is a bond with the country. Naturally, they are loyal to the imperial court and screen the Central Plains. But these barbarians are different. Their status is different. They were not awarded by the Tang Dynasty, so they will not be loyal to the Tang Dynasty. Of course it is right for the imperial court to replace these barbarians with a group of clans and relatives who are loyal to the country."
Lao Jia just smiled and didn't say much.
From the current point of view, there is nothing wrong with the imperial court's approach, but from another point of view, today's great Tang clansmen and relatives seal the frontier, how many generations or hundreds of years later?
At that time, the Tang Dynasty may have died, and a new dynasty had changed, and these clan ministers who had been entrusted to the frontier may not have died along with it.
By that time, for the new dynasty, maybe the ministers of the imperial family who were entrusted by the previous dynasty will have the same status as the barbarians now?
Qin Lang also understands this, it's just a matter of the future, let's talk about it in the future.
Maybe the new dynasty will clean up the vassals of the old dynasty like them, maybe those vassals will be loyal to the old dynasty to the end, maybe they may switch to the new dynasty, who knows for sure.
"I'm an old guy, let me give you a suggestion. Although Guizhou is small, it is more remote and mountainous than Yunnan. Nanzhong is no more than Lingnan. It has a core like Guangjiao and Guizhou, and it is not coastal. Nanzhong is dangerous and remote. The reform of the system should also be carried out slowly, and it must not be used too forcefully. This method in Lingnan may not work in Nanzhong."
Qin Lang listened carefully.
"Mr. Jia is right. Adjust measures to local conditions and seize the situation. I will go there to inspect it first, and then make a decision based on the actual situation."
Reforming the land and returning it to the people is the general direction and ultimate goal, and it will not change, but the road ahead will definitely not be smooth sailing, and there may even be twists and turns, Qin Lang is also psychologically prepared.
Sometimes, you may have to face compromises, but as long as the final direction is good.
"If you want to straighten out the Nanzhong region, you just need to focus on the big and let go of the small. Nanzhong Cuan, Qianzhou Si, Mingzhou Zhao, Yanzhou Xie, if you can control the four barbarian chiefs , and the rest will naturally be accepted.”
Qin Lang silently added Dali Nanzhao in his heart, the Nanzhao king who was born in the Ailao Xielong royal family, although he is not very revealing now, according to the information Qin Lang collected, this can be forced The king of the enemy country asked his daughter to marry him and begged for peace. After marrying his daughter, he still killed him within a few years. The guy who forced the old man to give him the throne is really a cruel person.
This time on the west tour, I hope to see this guy with my own eyes. If there is a chance, I must eradicate it as soon as possible to avoid future troubles.
"Okay, I'm getting older, and I feel my waist is sore and my back hurts after sitting for a long time. I have to go back to rest. You can continue talking." Jia Wuben patted his buttocks and got up.
Qin Lang got up and walked to the door, Lao Jia said at the door, "Now you are in charge of five military administrations, remember to keep a low profile, don't just keep your head down and do things, you have to look back and look around occasionally."
(end of this chapter)