dognovel Chapter 623 Suggestions for Governing Funan
Chapter 623 Suggestions for Governing Funan
Although the walls of Funan were higher than those of other cities, they were still only slightly higher. Lü Dai had a day to build siege equipment after arriving at the city, and then it only took him two hours to break through the city and enter.
After entering the city, Lü Dai captured all the princes and nobles, including King Fan Shiman's eldest son Fan Jinsheng, second son Fan Chang, and nephew Fan Zhan. He also confiscated all the grain and wealth in the city and temporarily designated Funan as Funan County, with Mi Wei temporarily acting as the county governor to guard Funan.
Appointing Mi Wei as acting governor was merely a temporary measure; the specific governance of Funan would have to be reported to the court for Liu Bei to decide.
After receiving Lü Dai's appointment, Mi Wei immediately took Lü Dai's order to his second uncle, Mi Fang, and through persistent persuasion, managed to get all of the more than two thousand remaining soldiers of the General Shi Hui into his own hands.
Lu Dai only approved half for him, but half was far from enough to satisfy Mi Wei's appetite; he wanted it all.
Mi Fang really didn't want to give it to him, but what could she do? He was her own nephew; blood is thicker than water.
Out of desperation, Mi Fang not only reluctantly gave all of Shi Hui's remaining troops to Mi Wei, but also borrowed several thousand strings of cash from his father-in-law to give to Mi Wei as start-up capital. In the end, after calculating, Mi Wei not only did not lose money after being robbed by Shi Hui, but actually made a lot of money.
Meanwhile, Lü Dai, having abducted all the princes and ministers of Funan and seized all the city's supplies, and after making proper arrangements for the aftermath, escorted the prisoners and supplies back to Jiaozhou. At the same time, he ordered Dai Liang to go ahead and rush to Jiangling as quickly as possible to report the situation to Liu Bei.
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According to the old system, a new emperor could not immediately change the reign title after ascending the throne. Instead, he would continue to use the old reign title to show respect for the previous emperor. Only after the New Year could he use the new reign title.
Therefore, although Cao Pi and Liu Bei ascended the throne one after the other last year, they still used the 26th year of Jian'an. It wasn't until after the New Year that they started a new era with a new era name. Liu Bei's era was the first year of Zhangwu, and Cao Pi's era was the first year of Huangchu.
The New Year has passed, and the first year of Zhangwu has begun. With the new year comes a new look, and the most important thing Liu Bei faces after the New Year is spring plowing.
Food is the most important thing for the people. Eating has always been the top priority for the whole society. If Liu Bei wanted to consolidate his power and prevent a major upheaval like the Yellow Turban Rebellion from happening again, he had to solve the problem of feeding the people.
Therefore, as soon as spring plowing began, Liu Bei led his civil and military officials out of the city to hold the plowing ceremony.
The so-called Gengji Ceremony was a ceremony held by the emperor before spring plowing, in which the emperor personally plowed the fields to show his importance to spring plowing, with the aim of encouraging agriculture and praying for a good harvest.
Moreover, this year's plowing ceremony was different from previous years because Liu Bei received Champa rice seeds presented by Fu Shiren.
To observe the rice seedlings, Liu Bei carefully selected a fertile field outside the city and ascended an altar by the field to offer sacrifices to Heaven. While praying to Heaven, he renamed the Champa rice as Xingguo rice, hoping that this rice would bring lasting prosperity to the Han Dynasty.
After the sacrificial ceremony, Liu Bei went down to the field to plow, Guan Yu led the ox, and the emperor and the general personally began to cultivate the land before them under the watchful eyes of the officials.
Such an important meeting naturally wouldn't be a quiet affair for the three idiots of the Han Dynasty. Liu Shan, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao swung their hoes, reaching into the corners the plow couldn't reach. All three were energetic young men with nowhere to expend their energy, and they swung their hoes with great enthusiasm. The official in charge of recording the proceedings smiled with satisfaction and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince values agriculture so much; he will surely be a wise ruler in the future."
Around noon, Liu Bei and Guan Yu finished plowing a row of land and sat down to rest on the edge of the field. Both of them came from humble backgrounds, and while resting, they naturally chatted with each other about the hardships they had endured while farming with their parents. Just as they were getting into the conversation, a fast horse came galloping up. The rider jumped off his horse at the edge of the field and ran to Liu Bei, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, Dai Liang, the Prefect of Jiaozhou, requests an audience. He says he has come on the orders of Governor Lü Dai to report on the situation of suppressing the rebellion."
Liu Bei stood up and laughed, "It seems Shi Hui has been captured. It's a good thing to receive good news on the day of spring plowing. Quickly, summon Dai Biejia over."
All the officials were delighted upon hearing this, except for Shi Xie, whose brows were furrowed with worry. Although he had expelled Shi Hui from the family register, he was still his own son. The family register could be removed, but the blood ties could not be severed.
Under the watchful eyes of the emperor and his ministers, Dai Liang strode up to Liu Bei and bowed, saying, "Your subject Dai Liang, Prefect of Jiaozhou, pays his respects to Your Majesty..."
"Minister Dai, please rise!" Liu Bei gestured with both hands to help him up, then asked impatiently, "Quickly tell me how the suppression of the rebellion is progressing?"
Dai Liang took out Lü Dai's handwritten letter and presented it, saying, "Thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, Shi Hui's rebellion has been successfully quelled, and the Funan Kingdom, which assisted Shi Hui, has also been destroyed. King Fan Shiman of Funan and his entourage are on their way to the capital. What should be done with these people, and how should Funan be settled? Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."
After reading the battle report, Liu Bei handed it to Guan Yu, who then passed it to Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang. After everyone had read it, Liu Bei smiled and said, "This matter is not urgent. Let's continue with the plowing ceremony. We can discuss the Funan issue after the ceremony."
The small town of Funan was naturally not as important as the spring plowing of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei would not let such a small matter delay the important matter of spring plowing.
Upon receiving the news of victory, the emperor and his ministers were in high spirits and all went to work in the fields. They were busy until evening before returning to the city. After entering the city, Liu Bei ordered the other officials to go home and rest, and only summoned Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Xing to the palace to discuss important matters.
After months of hard work, the new palace, government offices at all levels, and even the residences of aristocratic families have all been completed, and Jiangling City is no longer the barren scene it was last year.
However, the newly built houses are too damp and need to be aired out for a while before people can move in. Therefore, the emperor and his officials are still living in tents. They have been living there for more than half a year, so it won't hurt to stay for a few more months.
Once seated in the study, Liu Bei finally couldn't contain his excitement and said, "I never imagined that Lord Lü would not only capture Shi Hui in this battle, but also incidentally destroy Funan and enhance our national prestige. This is a good thing, but..."
"Destroying a country is good, but how to govern it is a problem. Should we support a new king in Funan to continue governing, or should the court appoint officials to take direct control?"
This is indeed a difficult problem. Supporting a new king is just a change in name only, no different from the current situation. The Han court has a strong desire for control and dislikes things that are easy to get out of control.
However, sending officials to govern would be too costly and beyond their reach, so Liu Bei was undecided and had to turn to Zhuge Liang for advice.
Zhuge Liang calmly smiled and waved his feather fan, "Then let's hear Anguo's opinion and learn from the solutions of later generations. Anguo, you go first."
Isn't that why we called Guan Xing over? Guan Xing is now the court's database. If you're ever unsure about something, it's always right to consult Guan Xing before making a decision.
Guan Xing said, “The disadvantages of the tributary system are very obvious. Compared with the tributary system, it is naturally more appropriate to abolish the native chieftain system and allow the court to control it. However, the abolition of the native chieftain system is a long process that requires the relay of several generations or even hundreds of years. Therefore, in my opinion, we might as well follow the Ming Dynasty’s approach to governing Yunnan.”
"When Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, conquered Yunnan, Yunnan had been separated from the Han Dynasty for six or seven hundred years and had formed an independent culture and even a writing system. After conquering Yunnan, Zhu Yuanzhang burned all the books and destroyed everything that was different from the Han Dynasty. He ordered his adopted son Mu Yingshi to govern Yunnan and at the same time relocated the Yunnan barbarians to the interior on a large scale and relocated the people from the interior to Yunnan on a large scale. After hundreds of years of effort, Yunnan was finally completely incorporated into the territory of the Han Dynasty and became an inseparable part of the Han Dynasty, just like the Central Plains."
"Therefore, my suggestion is to send a Duke to govern Funan in his past life. While guarding Funan, he can gradually influence Funan with the culture of the Han Dynasty and spend two or three hundred years to completely integrate Funan into the Han Dynasty."