Chapter 401: New Policy of the Han Family
Xun Yu and Xun You did not expect that some officials who were restless were not afraid of the abolition of the Three Dukes, but were afraid that after the abolition, there would be no other official positions that could show their difference from others.

Hearing the requests coming one after another throughout the hall, Xun Yu was worried that the King of Han would send someone to inquire about the reason, so he immediately ordered the waiting soldiers to wave their whips again to quiet down the hundreds of people.

Xun Yu then stood up, bowed to everyone, and then walked down the hall, carefully explaining: “Abolishing the three dukes is a must. In addition to the three dukes, the positions of Grand Marshal and General, which are often held by foreign relatives, will also be abolished. I will also issue an edict to the world that the Han Dynasty will never establish these positions again.”

“After the Emperor was filial, the adopted sons of eunuchs could inherit the title, which aroused years of disputes between the relatives of the emperor and the eunuchs. Some people were even more greedy and tried to sow discord between the eunuchs and the relatives of the emperor in order to gain the upper hand.”

“He also relied on the power of the Three Dukes to win over the generals of the border army and quietly recruited them as gatekeepers. Dong Zhuo’s followers took advantage of this and rose up, which led to the ten years of decline of the Han Dynasty. The powerful ministers usurped the throne, murdered the emperor and the empress dowager, manipulated the government, used seals and imperial edicts for private purposes, and sent troops to rob tombs and burn ancestral temples and palaces.”

“The number of people who lost their lives because of this is not just a million. The number of people who died from the suffering is countless.”

“Dong’s traitors killed loyal and upright people, wrongly imprisoned innocent people, and exploited the people. Hundreds of thousands of people died tragically in Sili. The four counties of Henei, Henan, Hedong, and Hongnong were all in disgrace. The number of people who suffered from defeat in the war, harsh laws, famine, and epidemics was even greater than tens of millions. The dead were exposed and no one covered them. The living fled and were scattered. The common people, children, orphans, and women were enslaved by the tyrants. This act was like burning the whole world with iron irons.”

“Many of you have also seen this scene. The ancients said: If you see good, you should move on; if you have mistakes, you should correct them. Your Majesty, if you see the shortcomings, you should correct them. What’s wrong with that?”

“Where you are standing now, the corpses of civilians and officials are still buried. Aren’t you afraid of repeating the same mistakes?”

When Xun Yu came to the end, he couldn’t help but asked angrily in a loud voice.

All the officials who met Xun Wenruo’s eyes blushed, with a subtle look of conflict and regret on their faces. Guilt lingered in their hearts, and long sighs escaped from their lips.

They have all experienced it firsthand, so how come now that the world has been pacified, they start thinking about their own gains and forget the pain of the chaos that occurred all over the world? How long has it been since then?
As an official of the country, one should appoint officials based on their abilities, establish policies with propriety, care for the people with benevolence, and treat neighbors with trust.

It seems that all the years of reading Confucian classics have been in vain. I only think that if the three officials are abolished, everyone will leave their names in history, but it is a pity that I cannot catch up with my ancestors in official positions.

They forgot the disaster caused by eunuchs, the disaster caused by external relatives, and the disaster caused by three officials in four generations that scholars found difficult to talk about.

The first two are easy to explain, but the latter is difficult for the gentry to explain clearly. Why would Yuan, the descendant of a good official selected by the court and repeatedly appointed as one of the Three Dukes, commit such a heinous crime?

Moreover, there were also nobles and powerful families who received Han salaries and actively attached themselves to the Han Dynasty, which was completely contrary to the Confucian ethics they followed.

You must know that after Emperor Xiaozhang’s Baihuguan Conference, the Han Dynasty used Confucian etiquette to require the empress dowager, the emperor, and ministers, and also put forward moral requirements for many scholars and officials.

The emperor’s commendation and the praise of public opinion undoubtedly made many virtuous officials dream of becoming role models for the world, and they were willing to maintain a clean and upright style and pass it down from generation to generation. They would never waver even if they were persecuted to death by the powerful.

As a result, the Runan Yuan family, which was only a superficial family, and the aristocratic families who assisted the tyrant were willing to serve him.

Such an action might not matter in the future, but at this moment it completely shattered the three views of the people, making many scholars feel as if the sky had fallen.

Is it that Confucian ethics cannot save the world, or is it that someone is using the name of Confucianism to disrupt the world?
Therefore, once some positions were tainted with dirt, the officials who made the world regain the Confucian values ​​of loyalty and filial piety and followed them would find it extremely irritating.

There were even some cases of overcorrection. For example, officials such as Lu Zhi and Cui Yan wrote directly to Liu Bei, asking for the abolition of all official positions that had too much power and prestige in the court, and at the same time, to stop eunuchs from causing trouble.

The mistakes of the Han Dynasty must not be repeated. Liu Bei summoned many trusted officials, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Fa Zheng, etc., and wrote letters to Qian Zhao, Jian Yong, Lu Su, Chen Deng, Mao Jie, Kong Rong, Chen Gui, Man Chong, Zhou Yu, Gao Rou. After learning the opinions of the majority in detail, Liu Bei decided to abolish the positions of Grand Marshal, Grand General, and Three Officials, and to add other official positions to share power and handle affairs.

“Mr. Xun, I don’t know what the Shangshutai, Yushitai, and Zhongshutai are responsible for. Can you explain it to us in detail?”

After feeling ashamed, one official immediately corrected his mistake, bowed humbly and asked.

Never mind, just abolish the Three Dukes. Serving in the Three Ministry’s Offices and sharing the emperor’s worries may sound better than being a Three Duke.

Someone was muttering to himself.

Xun Yu was relieved to see that everyone was able to correct their mistakes, so he continued in a gentle tone, “The Secretariat is responsible for writing various proposals and imperial edicts, and is responsible for providing advice to the emperor. Its chief official is the Secretary-General.”

“The Secretariat has not changed much since Emperor Guangwu’s time. The chief official is the Shangshu Ling, who handles the affairs of the six ministries and the nine ministers.”

“The officials of the Censorate are responsible for impeaching officials who violate laws and disciplines. Regardless of their status, the Censorate treats them equally. Those who dare to act lawlessly and recklessly will be reported to the emperor.”

“In addition, the Censorate also points out mistakes in the court’s decrees and presents them to the emperor.”

Xun Yu’s patient answer opened many people’s eyes.

Just from a simple description, we can tell that the Censorate seems to be higher than the Shangshu Tai and Zhongshu Tai, especially in that it can supervise officials all over the world. This is equivalent to a walking Chief Censor!

The provincial governor could only supervise one province, but the Censorate could supervise the entire world, just like the county inspectors, which sounded very impressive.

As if he had seen what everyone was thinking, Xun Yu reminded them, “Inside the Censorate, there are also officials who are specifically responsible for supervising and reviewing the affairs of the Censorate. Anyone who dares to falsify and slander his colleagues will be severely punished if he brings harm to his wife after investigation.”

“At the least, he will be exiled to a remote county, at the worst, he will be beheaded and thrown into the streets.”

“In addition to these changes, the whole country will also add a new examination system, which will formally incorporate the four-level examination system of prefectures, counties, and townships that has been in place for many years into the law, and gradually abolish the uneven selection of filial and honest people.”

“At the same time, several official schools were set up in Chang’an and Luoyang. Anyone who was familiar with Confucian classics, state governance, and the six arts of Confucianism, regardless of their background, could take the unified examination from the township to the county, prefecture, and state and go to Luoyang.”

“If you are from an official school, you can start the examination from the county level.”

“The selected scholars can be village officials, county officials, or county officials. They can only become officials after passing the examinations set by the prefectures and the capital.”

“This is the King, who adopted Zuo Gong’s legacy and selected the best talents in the world to serve the Han Dynasty, hence the name of the imperial examination.”

At this point, Xun Yu could not help but perk up and explain the measure of measuring talents that was about to be implemented throughout the country.

(End of this chapter)