Chapter 263 (Large Chapter) Tianhan Year
On the steps, Shangguan Jie’s mind was full of question marks.

Doubt your ears.

What did he hear? The Prince’s tutor came to the palace urgently and asked His Majesty to let Princess Wei Chang go to the vassal state?
crazy?

All the ministers in the court had left, and now the hall was filled with people from the Weihuo family.

Now we must concentrate our efforts on making plans for the Han Dynasty to unify the world.

At this time, is the prince forcing the emperor to abdicate? !

Shangguan Jie even felt that he could hear His Majesty’s furious roar while he was on the stairs.

At this time, Bao Shengzhi came quickly down the stairs.

Bao Shengzhi is someone who has climbed up the police system over the years.

In history, Bao Shengzhi was originally an embroidered robe envoy, but his fate completely changed in this timeline.

However, the way he became famous was still chasing down bandits.

In the timeline of his previous life, Bao Shengzhi wore brocade clothes and held a huge axe while chasing and hacking at bandits, scaring the bandits from nearby states and counties so much that they disappeared.

No one dares to mess with such a powerful person.

In this life, Bao Sheng became famous because of his ability to deal with bandits and road thieves.

As a county police chief, he would never work at the grassroots level.

However, the Yelang area under his management was rampant with bandits and robbers.

So, Bao Shengzhi rode in a horse-drawn carriage every day and went to places where bandits were rampant.

Whenever he was stopped, Bao Shengzhi would not waste time talking to anyone and would just pull out his gun and shoot them.

As time went by, he not only became famous locally, but was even featured in the Dahan Daily.

The local bandits and bullies did resist.

Some people even met Bao Shengzhi and a group of people were ready to kill him.

Bao Shengzhi brought two men, three guns, and three knives. That guy killed a group of people.

This incident directly shocked the nearby states and counties, and the news was sent directly to Chang’an.

Some people believe that the victory was too violent and the means were too extreme, and it will be difficult to quell public resentment without taking action.

On the other hand, many people believe that Bao Shengzhi could have just been lying down and drinking tea at the state and county police station, but he rushed into battle and dealt with the problem on the front line, and he should be rewarded.

Finally, local merchants and transporters were given an umbrella.

This umbrella has become the item that determines everything.

In the end, the court directly transferred Bao Shengzhi to the Judicial Police and made him a deputy.

During those years, the convoy traveled all over the country, but Huo Hai was not investigating any cases at all. In fact, it was Bao Shengzhi who had been raising criminal charges.

In the past three years, due to his outstanding abilities, he was transferred to the position of police chief.

The original police chief Huangfu Hua has now been transferred to Guanglu Xun to guard the palace.

Although Bao Shengzhi was the chief of police and one of the Nine Ministers, he did not usually come to the court. So, was he here to arrest someone?

Everyone looked at each other.

Your Majesty can’t possibly order Shi Qing to be arrested.

As everyone looked at each other, Huo Guang glanced at Sima Qian.

Now Huo Guang is Taichang, which means the Heavenly Official, and Taishiling is an official under Taichang.

Sima Qian has now taken office as the Grand Historian.

Unlike the previous Taichang who was in charge of music and etiquette, Huo Guang’s Taichang was in charge of people’s livelihood and maintaining stability in the court.

Therefore, the official position of Grand Historian also underwent corresponding changes.

Originally, the main task of the Grand Historian was to read the official documents sent to the court from all over the country. After reading them, he would send them to the Prime Minister, who would then send them to the Emperor.

This ensures that the official documents sent by the prime minister to the emperor have not been modified by the prime minister.

So he was deliberately placed under the command of Taichang.

Now, he has three more tasks to do, including reviewing news, reviewing parliamentary issues and court issues.

Even though it is just a review and they neither make any decisions nor say a word, their nature is different. They are the real reserve nine ministers.

Sima Qian worked in this position and worked with Huo Guang, and he has withstood the test. Now he is much stronger than the previous Sima Qian.

Sima Qian used to be just a pen-wielder, but now he is a pen-wielder with brains.

Sima Qian immediately lifted up his skirt and walked towards the palace.

Wait for Sima Qian to enter the court.

At this time, Shi Qing remained silent.

The newcomer Bao Shengzhi stood aside before he could even speak.

Only Huo Hai was speaking.

Huo Hai: “Nowadays, the population of the Han Dynasty is increasing rapidly. The average number of people in a household in various places has changed dramatically compared to 20 years ago. Counting the number of households is no longer sufficient for the needs of court administration.”

“So, the court needs a new department at the level of the Nine Ministers, the Ministry of Civil Affairs.”

“The Ministry of Civil Affairs has three main tasks. The first is to count household registration and population.”

“Second, we need to count the quality of the population, that is, their education, culture, and work details.”

“Third, statistics on population flow, that is, population migration.”

“These three things are the main ones, and there are some minor ones, such as counting marriages, establishing a welfare system for orphans, caring for the elderly and lonely, paying respects to disabled soldiers who have retired from the front lines, and caring for the families of fallen soldiers.”

“A person at the Nine Ministers level must have three characteristics.”

“First, he has a high status and no one in the country dares to stop him.”

“Second, he is proficient in scientific statistics and has rich ability to lead subordinates.”

“Third, being in charge of civil affairs and loving the people is the most important thing.”

After finishing speaking, Huo Hai cupped his hands and said, “I think this job belongs to the eldest princess.”

The others were thinking about it, and Shi Qing quickly objected: “Your Majesty, no! How can a relative of the clan serve as a Nine Ministers?”

Liu Che: “Are you getting old and confused? Isn’t Zong Zheng one of the Nine Ministers?”

Sima Qian immediately realized that the provisions proposed by Huo Hai seemed to be intended to conduct more accurate household statistics and manage household registration.

In fact…it is to abolish slavery, completely abolish slavery.

Apart from this, Sima Qian himself couldn’t understand what other purpose it had.

But Sima Qian knew that what Huo Hai did was definitely not just that simple, and it must have more important significance.

In fact, the most important thing about this household registration survey is to form a traceable file.

Anyone who commits a crime can be traced.

Perhaps, among ten thousand or tens of thousands of people, there is one person who has great connections and can use various methods to bypass this file, but the rest of the people are in the file.

In this way, the number of people in the Han Dynasty, which has a population of over 100 million, who are no longer under the control of the imperial court will not exceed 10,000 at most.

Moreover, once a special event occurs, the imperial court can immediately identify which group of people have the ability and motivation based on the corresponding event.

It can complete the rapid response to emergencies.

It’s just that Sima Qian came in late and didn’t hear the whole thing.

Liu Che thought for a moment and said, “Such an important position cannot be one of the Nine Ministers, but one of the Three Dukes is not appropriate either. This position should be independent from the court. In the future, this position will be held by a member of the imperial clan, just like the Chief of Imperial Clan.”

“Let’s call this position… Guozheng.”

“Ministry of Civil Affairs, Guozheng.”

“The village has a village chief, the township has a township chief, the county has a county chief, and the royal family has a clan chief. Now that Huazhou is divided into the Central Kingdom, the Central Kingdom should also have a national chief. Of course, there will be no court chief. Because the court chief is me.”

This position…Everyone present took a deep breath.

What is the difference between this position and the previous emperor?!
The previous emperors governed the Thirteen Prefectures of the Han Dynasty.

The current emperor is about to rule the world.

Therefore, the original thirteen states needed a direct person in charge who was accountable to the emperor.

This person is Guo Zheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs.

No! To be precise, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has more power than the previous emperor!

Because the combined area of ​​the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty was only about 3 million square kilometers and the population was only 40 million.

The current Central Kingdom has an area of ​​at least 30 million square kilometers and a population of at least over 200 million!
This is still the case now. By the time the baby boomers reach adulthood, the population of the Han people will quickly approach 500 million.

Shi Qing was stunned.

He didn’t expect that he came here to find a way to send Princess Wei Chang out of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty and eliminate the hidden dangers for the prince to ascend the throne.

As a result, Princess Wei Chang has now been sent to a terrifyingly high position.

Shi Qing suddenly burst into tears and kowtowed: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty! If there is a righteous country, how will the prince cope with it? How will he cope with it?”

“Your Majesty, not just now, how will the future crown prince, the crown prince of the next dynasty, and the crown prince of the next dynasty cope with it?!”

Wei Qing spoke up: “Master Shi, what you said is wrong. With the position of Guozheng, the prince can’t handle himself? In the past, the Han Dynasty had so many princes, could the prince handle himself?”

“The prince is still the prince.”

“It’s the crown prince.”

Huo Hai interrupted: “Speaking of this, Your Majesty, I think we should abolish the taboo, otherwise it will be difficult to name the future emperor. Otherwise, if the name coincides with the name of a scientific theory, won’t scientists be able to understand the literature when they look it up in the future, and will have to consult historians?”

“If the taboo is removed, the word ‘Jun’ is actually very suitable for girls’ names. Like Bijun, Wanjun…”

Liu Che glared at Huo Hai.

At this moment, all the young royal family members in the court were dumbfounded.

There are actually people in the world who dare to joke with Your Majesty, and such a joke!

Huo Hai shrugged.

This is the honest truth.

Fortunately, Liu Ju had not yet become emperor.

When Liu Ju became the emperor, “take it for yourself” should be changed to “occupy it for yourself”. What should it be changed to? What should it be changed to based on the evidence of big data?
If people want to quote from the classics, they have to… Oh, sorry, we can’t quote from the classics, because we can’t use the word “据”.

Liu Che: “Let Guo Zheng of the Ministry of Civil Affairs discuss this matter.”

Shi Qing was still unwilling: “Your Majesty!”

Liu Che: “Guo Zheng does not necessarily conflict with the Crown Prince.”

“The Crown Prince also has another position that is not included in the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers but is higher than the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, which is Regent.”

“The Crown Prince is the Regent, and the Princess is the Ruler. Isn’t that perfect?”

“If there is no princess in a certain dynasty, then another outstanding member of the royal family will be selected, or the position will be left vacant.”

Many clan members looked at each other in bewilderment.

Now there is the position of Guozheng.

The Minister of State and the Regent are obviously positions of the same level.

In the past, the eldest princess was only noble but had no political ability. Now that the eldest princess has political ability, what is the difference between her and the crown prince?
Besides, the crown prince, the heir to the throne, is in a weak position.

Because Guozheng always has real power, while the regent only has responsibilities when the emperor is on tour.

In recent years, Liu Che has become fond of going out to explore. Anyway, the ten days or so he spent hunting and resting in Shanglin Garden in the past are now enough for him to inspect Luoyang.

What’s wrong with taking a look around?
Therefore, the Crown Prince’s identity as regent did play some role.

Or, to make it sound more pleasant, we can call the regent the regency in accordance with the term used in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Then, the positions of state governor and regent are very symmetrical.

But it just sounds symmetrical.

If Princess Wei Chang takes the position of Guo Zheng, she will be superior to the Crown Prince and become the director who has overall control over state affairs.

Liu Che was no longer prepared to waste words on this matter. He looked up at Bao Shengzhi and said, “Bao Shengzhi, what do you want?”

Bao Shengzhi hurried out and said, “Your Majesty!”

……

Everyone on the stairs was stunned.

“Ministry of National Affairs? Ministry of Civil Affairs?” This Ministry of Civil Affairs is called the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but it is not the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is a department formed by the former Minister of Agriculture, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the State Affairs of the modern country.

This right is so great that it defies the heavens.

Bu Shi smiled and said, “There have always been smart people who think they have figured out a way to kill with one strike and go looking for trouble with Lord Wu Hou. But every time, Lord Wu Hou would kill his opponent with a single move. And the method he uses is never to follow other people’s ideas to solve the problem, but to directly flip the table.”

Zhao Guo added: “The most important thing is that every time Lord Wu Hou takes advantage of such things.”

Sang Hongyang said sternly: “Since you have the position of Guozheng, it means that Your Majesty wants to shift his focus completely to conquest and is truly determined to unify the world.”

In order to unify the world, His Majesty is ready to hand over all affairs of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty, and even all affairs of the current Huazhou base, to Princess Wei Chang.

What’s the difference between this and directly handing all power to Huo Hai?
No one really thinks that Huo Hai hasn’t returned to the court for ten years, and he just brought up this matter, and then Your Majesty agreed without thinking, right?

This must have been discussed between Your Majesty and Marquis Wu!

What is this rift between the emperor and his subjects? Is it all just a show for everyone to see?
At this moment, Huo Guang stood there in a daze.

Huo Guang finally understood why he could never defeat his second brother.

Huo Guang had always wanted to become the Grand Marshal and General, and the head of all civil and military officials in the court.

One even has to make world-renowned achievements so that later generations will not be able to reach the position of Grand Marshal or General.

Huo Guang believed that he could become the most powerful official in the country.

But now Huo Guang suddenly understood.

You may be able to do it right, but you will always be walking the path that others have walked and succeeded on.

Therefore, the greatest success I have ever achieved is only slightly greater than the greatest achievement of my predecessors, and that is already the best.

But my second brother is different.

My second brother has never bothered to compare his success with others.

Perhaps, in the future, people will not call success success, but call it “you are mighty”.

It’s like if you are the best at something now, you are not the first, but the champion.

Huo Guang paused and looked up at the sky.

The sky is vast and the sea is vast, and my elder and second brothers have unrestrained imagination.

No one can defeat him on the battlefield.

A man who leads the world to be unrivaled.

And myself…

Huo Guang was only defeated for three seconds.

Huo Guang knows himself too well.

Huo Guang knew that his life was his own life.

Second brother’s imaginative life is second brother’s life.

Pursuing the success that others have already achieved is also a kind of life, and it is your own life.

The Grand Marshal, the Great General, is still my target!

Huo Guang looked firmly at the clouds in the distance, and then sighed: “My life…”

Wang the eunuch came out in a hurry and interrupted Huo Guang. Wang the eunuch hurriedly said, “Gentlemen!”

Everyone looked back.

Wang Nei Shi’s face was extremely ugly: “The Yellow River burst its banks! The Yellow River burst its banks!”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately ran towards the palace.

Liu Che had just issued an order to recall all officials. He went in to urinate, and when he came out, all the officials were present.

“Um?!”

The story of the Yellow River bursting its dikes began more than 30 years ago.

Tian Fen’s fief was located in Dian County, Shandong, on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Thirty-six years ago, when the Yellow River broke its banks on the south bank of Huzi, the flood flowed southward, leaving Du County on the north bank of the river unaffected. Tian Fen, out of selfish interests, was worried that the Yellow River would be diverted northward after the diversion of the diversion would threaten his own fiefdom, so he opposed river control.

Tian Fen’s reason was the theory of destiny, “The bursting of rivers is a matter of nature and cannot be blocked by human power.”

At that time, Liu Che did not understand science and believed in his nonsense.

When Huo Hai arrived in Chang’an, Tian Fen’s body was already cold.

Later, with the development of science, Liu Che realized that he had been tricked.

So, after Liu Che became rich, he launched a paid corvee to fill the gap.

Historically, the disaster that was supposed to last for twenty-three years and affect sixteen counties, causing cannibalism in the later stage, was controlled within ten years.

Why did the counties south of the Yellow River, especially the wealthy places like Luoyang and Wancheng, have 60,000 victims rush to Chang’an at the slightest natural disaster?
You have to know that there were actually tens of thousands of people who were displaced at the time. Tens of thousands went to Shuofang, tens of thousands came to Chang’an, and many died on the way.

The reason was that more than a dozen counties south of the river were affected by the disaster and there was no grain output at all.

After this incident, Liu Che began to think of ways to control the Yellow River.

To be honest, Liu Che’s management of the Yellow River was much easier than the Yellow River that Huo Hai had seen in his previous life.

After all, the Yellow River is not that yellow yet.

However, in the first few years, when people did not understand science but development was rapid, a lot of land was reclaimed from Longxi to Shuofang.

Land reclamation will lead to soil erosion.

There was nothing wrong with the Yellow River originally, but the gap has been flooding for ten years and no one has taken care of it. The gap is like… a tear in a pair of leather pants.

As we all know, leather pants are new as long as they are not torn, but if one part is torn, they are completely torn.

Over the years, soil erosion in the upper reaches has caused the lower reaches to rise.

After the elevation, a moderate flood is equal to the previous major flood, and a major flood is equal to the previous extreme flood.

So, the hole broke again.

Fortunately, the people in the entire area have suffered from floods for ten years, and the older generation who had experience at the time are now only in their thirties or forties and are in good health.

So the flood broke out, but the nearby residents ran faster than rabbits.

The number of people affected was not large. The flood affected three counties in total, but only destroyed thirty houses.

However, hundreds of people are still missing.

Many of them are young people who work alone.

When he heard that it was a flood, Huo Hai was not as relaxed as usual, but became serious.

In his previous life, one year Huo Hai went traveling and heard that there was a very famous flood level monument in a place.

So I went to the riverside in the city to ask where the monument was.

The people on the river bank pointed “that way” in the direction of the city.

Huo Hai went to the city to ask again.

The people in the city pointed toward the outskirts of the city.

People in the suburbs pointed towards the mountains.

Huo Hai was confused. How could a flood memorial in the mountains be famous?

When we reached the foot of the mountain, the villagers pointed up the mountain.

Huo Hai didn’t believe it, but he asked several people and got the same answer from everyone, and finally he climbed up the mountain.

Near the top of the mountain, Huo Hai overlooked the entire city. He looked back at the water level monument and was stunned for several minutes.

The flood that year submerged the area, leaving only a small piece of the top of the mountain.

This is the flood.

However, after reading Bao Shengzhi’s detailed report, Huo Hai breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s not very serious, it’s just a rise in water levels.

Huo Hai: “There are three urgent matters.”

“The first thing is, of course, disaster relief. It’s best to send the army directly to do disaster relief. Strong soldiers are many times more powerful than local disaster relief forces, and they are better than local forces in terms of physical strength and ability. Now that we have railways, we just need to send trains there.”

“The second is to stop logging in the upper reaches. From today on, we should ban indiscriminate logging, start protecting the ecology of various places, and establish laws to protect the vegetation of the Yellow River.”

“Third, we need to establish a complete fast-growing forest system and giant tree felling rules in appropriate places to supply the Central Plains. Of course, we also need to protect the local ecology and not cut down the original forests, otherwise it will become like the Yellow River in the future.”

The solution was reached before the ministers even started discussing it.

Liu Che: “Since the Prime Minister has spoken, let’s do it.”

Huo Qubing: “Since you are sending a large army to rescue the disaster, I will volunteer.”

In the crowd, Zhongjun felt that his life was worth it. The Grand Marshal and General of the Cavalry actually used the allusion of volunteering himself.

Then he stood up and said: “I am willing to go and assist the Grand Marshal, the General of Cavalry, in providing disaster relief.”

Liu Che thought for a moment and nodded: “Okay.”

Since both of them took the initiative, that’s just fine.

“Let’s calculate how much money and food, how much manpower, and how long it will take.”

After the group of people finished calculating, Liu Che was puzzled: “Just this little money? I will pay for it myself, go ahead and do it.”

Huo Hai stood up and said, “Your Majesty, times have changed. Disaster relief will no longer be the same as before.”

Everyone was stunned.

Huo Hai: “In the past, disaster relief efforts would try to keep half of the victims alive, and then exempt the agricultural tax in the area for the next few years or ten years. That was the best we could do.”

“And now that society has prospered to this extent, are we just going to let them survive? The disaster has affected the development of the entire region for more than a decade. Wouldn’t this place be a huge pit in a few decades?”

“We should provide disaster relief, but the end of disaster relief does not mean the end of everything. The next step is reconstruction.”

“At worst, we want to restore the local people’s original living standards. Of course, we mean average living, not giving money to a wealthy family that has been ruined to make them rich.”

Some people nodded, some shook their heads.

How much does this cost!
Huo Hai continued: “The planning of various places is actually very poor, but as time goes on, our court’s planning for various developments is becoming more and more regular, better and more efficient.”

“After a disaster, we need to provide disaster relief and reconstruction. Shouldn’t we take advantage of the fact that the disaster destroyed infrastructure and cities and towns and plan cities, towns and roads to conform to the latest current planning?”

“Once the reconstruction of the entire region is completed, it will directly become an economic highland for the surrounding areas. On the one hand, it can make up for the damage caused by the disaster. On the other hand, in this process, the people in the core areas of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty will have stronger ability to resist disasters, and their trust in the court will increase.”

“The more trust everyone has in the court, the more prosperous the economy will be and the faster it will develop.”

No one was expecting what Huo Hai said.

So, the disaster turned into a good thing?
Huo Hai knew what they were thinking: “No one would actively seek out disasters for the sake of the court’s post-disaster subsidies. If there is, then let that place become a permanent example.”

Huo Hai never underestimates the evil of human nature.

Liu Che: “Let’s calculate again.”

After finishing the calculation, Liu Che took a deep breath.

With Liu Che’s status, he even called out to the expert: “How about… forget it?”

Huo Hai: “We don’t have to do our best, but we will try our best. As the Han Dynasty becomes richer and richer, we will do better and better in the future. Then everyone will remember today’s decision, your majesty’s decision.”

When Liu Che heard this, he looked up and said, “Let’s calculate it again.”

There is still time before we can actually send out troops.

Huo Hai also needs to familiarize himself with the court.

Princess Wei Chang also needs to be familiar with the position of Guo Zheng.

After the calculation, Liu Che said: “Since we have scientific thinking, we should shout the slogan that man can conquer nature.”

“Now that the world is changing, the Han Dynasty must lead the development of the world, and the Han people must lead the development of the world.”

“From now on, we will change the era name.”

“Change Taichu to Tianhan.”

Everyone knows that Tianhan means the Han people of the Celestial Empire.

But Liu Che can say whatever he wants.

The era has changed and a new cycle has arrived.

Next comes the expansion cycle!

The expansion cycle was accompanied by another expansion of the population, and the real great development of the Second Industrial Revolution had just begun.

(End of this chapter)