July in the seventh year of Taixing.
Chang'an.
Chengnan Station.
There are three Chang'an Post Stations, both east and west except the north, while the Chengnan Post Station handles letters, official documents and other objects from all over the country, and some are closer to post offices in later generations.
Chang'an is a big city. Not only is there many residents in the city, but there are also many people in the tombs. Of course, these people also have the need to contact relatives and friends from afar, so there are a lot of letters, bamboo slips, wooden slips, etc. sent out every day.
At present, most of these "people" who write letters are still children of the gentry.
Although Feiqian has developed paper with lower price and better quality, these two "comparisons" are only relative to previous papers. For most people, even for the children of the gentry, bamboo slips and wooden slips are still simple and can be used everywhere, and they don't even need to spend money, so there are still a large number of people using them.
Because in the feudal dynasty, most people were illiterate, so even if they wanted to send letters, it was not easy. They needed to find scholars who could write letters, spend some money first, and then they had to find the right people or institutions. At the same time, because the people were illiterate, the official rarely said that there were special places for people to send letters to remote areas. Institutions such as stations must be found in cities, or even large-scale cities.
If you want to send a letter, you have to spend money to write a letter first, then ask someone to take it from the countryside to the city, then spend money to deliver it from a certain city to a certain city, and then finally spend a sum of money to send it from the inn to someone's home. Each process requires expenses. Although the price is not too high, it is not cheap either.
Ordinary businessmen would be willing to carry letters along the way, ranging from dozens of cents to hundreds of cents.
Large-scale queues such as the canal transportation will also carry letters, and the fees are generally around a hundred words.
And because most people in the feudal dynasty did not leave their hometowns, it was actually a very accidental thing to find a suitable person. Maybe even if they spent money to write a letter, they could only keep it at home until the ink of the letter was stained and the paper turned yellow, they still couldn't send it out.
It is precisely because of this and that, in ancient times, ordinary people almost didn’t send letters. When they really missed someone, they might just stand in the wind and murmur a few words, which would be considered as entrusting their hearts to the east wind.
The letters processed by the Chang'an City South Post Station are basically letters between the children of the gentry. The postmen at the post station also like to deliver letters from these children of the gentry, because as long as the letter is delivered, they will have some errands and some errands, ranging from a few or a dozen or more, or even hundreds of them, or even some wine and meat, which is simply wonderful.
"Li's letters! Li's letters! Maoling's!" The clerk in charge of distributing the letters came out with a bunch of letters, then put them on the table, picked up one, and shouted.
"Hey! Give it to me! I just happened to go to Maoling!" The pawns around him listened with their ears. When they met the way, they hurriedly raised their hands to signal, and then stepped forward to receive the letters they needed to deliver.
"Wei, Wei's letter! Who is going to go? Hey, aren't you all trying to send it to you before?" The little official picked up another letter and called for a long time but no one answered it. He couldn't help but frown and said, "Forget it, let's put it here first... Next, Zhang, Zhang's family in the south of the city..."
"Ah! Zhang family in the south of the city, right next to my house! I'll go, I'll go!" An older postman came up, and the other two postmans who had originally wanted to go forward looked at him and retreated.
"Old Zhang, aren't you too lazy to send these letters on weekdays?" The little official also smiled and joked, "Register it yourself!"
The old postman, Old Zhang, smiled, "That's right, I don't have good legs and feet on weekdays, and it's not easy to compete with you young people in the distance, for fear of delaying trouble for others... But this Zhang family is from the same Lifang and the same street as my house, so I took it home... Last time, Zhang's people asked me if there were any letters. If there were letters, I wouldn't I take them there. Then I would feel embarrassed when I met..."
The little official nodded and made a favor, "That's... Then I'll give you all the letter from Zhang's family in the south of the city next time."
"Then the relationship is good!" Old Zhang smiled and took the letter, which was a piece of wooden slip.
Lao Zhang touched the tail of the Mu Du with his fingers, and then his eyes moved, but soon he felt like he was fine and he put the Mu Du in his arms.
Because the words on the wooden slip are written directly on the wooden slip, all the people in charge can see what they write. Therefore, the letters on the wooden slip are actually very simple, but the simpler the thing is, the less simple the information may be hidden.
Old Zhang got off duty and went home with a wooden note. He greeted the people he knew along the way, and there was nothing unusual at all. It was not until he arrived at the small courtyard of Zhang's family in the south of the city that he showed a little seriousness on his face.
Lao Zhang shouted and opened the yard gate, then took out the wooden slip.
The wooden slip was taken into his hand by another person, and then he reached out and touched the end of the wooden slip, showing a serious look...
Immediately, Mu Du did not stay in the small courtyard of Zhang's family in the south of the city. Those who came in from the front door walked directly from the back, turned a few alleys, entered the back corner of a shop, and handed it over to the person in charge.
The person in charge also touched the tail of the wooden slip, then took the wooden slip into the dark room, and according to the prior guidance, the hot water to dissolve the fish glue was arranged, and the wooden slip was soaked in the water.
Fish glue is rich in protein, so in some special ways, you can boil glue with more stickiness, which can even be compared with later generations of 502. However, this sticky fish glue is afraid of water and heat, so it will lose its stickiness when it encounters hot water.
Because the wooden slips are written on them, normal people will naturally keep the wooden slips away from water. If the wooden slips are wet and the words are stained, then who can see clearly what they are writing? Moreover, fish glue is not something that ordinary people can use. Therefore, people in Wenshi use this simple wooden slip to convey some information that is not very urgent.
The bonding of the wooden slips quickly separated, revealing the real letters sealed with wax inside.
Soon, the original wooden slips and the letters inside were quickly packed into a new box, and then delivered directly to Youwensi's back door, and the minor official sent them to Kan Ze.
Kan Ze looked at the information in his hand and couldn't help but reach out and rub his eyebrows.
The staff of the Wenshi Department are gradually being laid out, and the news is naturally increasing. Moreover, because Pang Tong left Chang'an, some relevant information naturally gathered here to Kan Ze, which has made Kan Ze very busy for this period of time, and almost spent every day from morning to night.
This is a letter sent by Zhang An, the supervisor of the Western Regions, which talks about the issue of the administration of the Western Regions, and it mentions the incident of the councillor of the Emperor's supervisor being forced to die...
This is a big problem.
Counselor Wang himself is not very important, but the problems reflected by this matter are very important.
This is like the feudal dynasty sent people to the place to investigate, but they fell off the cliff and died on the way, or the boat capsized while riding a boat...
That's such a coincidence?
Kan Ze doesn't believe there is any pure coincidence in this world.
Based on some of the things reported before, he could almost infer that the counselor Wang from the Zhiyinjian must have known something and was killed by someone.
To put it in a small way, this matter is called murder. If it is to put it in a big way...
Then it's hard to say.
Kan Ze was silent for a while, and then first called the old employed person in charge of the file to prepare the information, and then hurried to the Shangshu Desk with the information. Of course, the meaning of preparing the file does not mean that this piece of information should be copied and copied for the old employed person, but records some basic information of the information, such as where it came from, who was the handler, etc. As for what the main content of the information is, it is generally not recorded, but that the content must be registered until the information is out of date.
Because Kan Ze is still affiliated with the Shangshutai, he first found Xun You.
Xun You was also very busy during this period. Although there were the most officials in the Shangshu Desk, there were also the most affairs in the Shangshu Desk. This was because Fei Qian gave the relatively high autonomy authority in various regions, so many incidents need to be handled. After all, it is still a great Han Dynasty and the degree of centralization is not very high.
If the centralization of the feudal dynasties in later generations was as high as that of the feudal dynasties, and the local government had to report all major and minor matters, the matters that the central court had to deal with every day could be imagined. In the case of so many things, the emperor would never be able to review so many memorials by himself, which naturally gave birth to the cabinet organization and then had a ruling minister.
A good ruling minister can indeed reduce the burden on the emperor, but is a bad ruling minister...
Any policy is actually like a sword, with both sides of the sword. If you accidentally see blood, can you blame it all on the sword?
Xun You saw the information brought by Kan Ze, sighed slightly, and then said to Kan Ze a little, which accelerated the speed of reviewing and processing the writings himself. Then, before the next batch of writings were delivered, he stood up and went to the Cavalry Palace Hall with Kan Ze.
In feudal dynasties, officials often work on their conscience.
This is not only in the central court, but also in the local area.
Because it is difficult to have a fixed indicator.
Even though Fei Qian now put forward the idea of ​​performance appraisal of officials, how to implement it, how to clearly guide the direction of local officials, as well as more grassroots codes of conduct and let every official abide by it, Xun You and Fei Qian cannot do it, and it is still difficult to do it even after a thousand years.
When Xun You and Kan Ze arrived at the festival hall, not only Fei Qian, but Fei Zhen was there.
There is a saying that children of poor people become officials early, but there is also the same saying that children of rich people early manage money and children of officials early become officials early.
When Fei Zhen saw Xun You and Kan Ze coming, she subconsciously stood up, saluted Xun You and Kan Ze first, and then retreated to the inner hall.
Xun You and Kan Ze returned a half-hearted salute, and then sat down at Fei Qian's instructions.
Fei Qian looked at Xun You and Kan Ze, and then asked: "What's the matter?"
Of course, Fei Qian asked a nonsense. If it was okay, Xun You and Kan Ze would not come together, but Fei Qian still had to say this, just like the scenes that they said most of the time.
Xun You nodded to Kan Ze.
Kan Ze took out the information from his arms and delivered it to Fei Qian's table. "This is a record of the experience sent by the Si Western Regions..."
Fei was silent for a moment, his eyes stayed on the information, his movements were a little hesitant, but he quickly picked them up, read them once, and then gently put them down. "What do you guys think about this?"
Xun You turned his head slightly and signaled Kan Ze to say first.
This is not because Xun You shirks it, but because Kan Ze discovered and reported it, so naturally Kan Ze needed to talk about it first.
"I have reported to the lord, in the Western Regions, the administration of officials has been defeated, the laws are not followed, and the laws are not subject to them. Although the people have not yet been in chaos, they are only resentful. If they look at it, they will be filled with anger." Kan Ze did not contain the lake and said jokingly, "This matter must be observed. You should ask the master of the Western Regions! You should choose the capable officials and change them! The Western Regions Protectors are also the Han territory. You should follow the Han laws. You should use the Longyou method to operate in the Western Regions!"
What Kan Ze said was pointing to the key points.
He believed that there were major problems in the assessment system of officials in the Western Regions, so that corruption among officials became popular. This matter not only concerns daily administrative efficiency, but also may affect the people's support in the Western Regions. For the future development of the Western Regions, it is also time for the Han Dynasty to govern.
Xun You interjected on the side, "Han Feizi said, "A wise ruler governs officials but not people." The Western Regions officials are in chaos, and their ruler is responsible."
Xun You's words were also very direct, not only pointing out Lu Bu's problem, but also indicating that this was Fei Qian's problem. After all, Fei Qian is to some extent, Lu Bu's "his master".
Does speaking frankly sound good? Most of the speaking frankly are not good, but whether it is Xun You or Kan Ze, they know that they say this directly. Fei Qian will not be angry about his ministers' bluntly speaking, so they dare to speak frankly.
Fei Qian pinched his beard and smiled bitterly.
He knew that there would be problems in the Western Regions, but he didn't expect that there would be problems so early. Lu Fengxian, did you not read the Zuo Zhuan I gave you? No matter how you want to read the beginning? You must know that the beginning of Zuo Zhuan is "Zheng Boke Duan"!
"When Li Wenyou was still there, he used the old laws of Western Liang to impose the Western Regions..." Fei Qian sighed and said slowly, "The way of the Western Regions is Wenyou's last wish..."
As the ruler of the actual affairs of the Han court, Li Ru also had imagined how to establish a political system that he thought was appropriate and the laws and regulations of the officials. The Western Regions were a new attempt to re-plan the new ideas given by Li Ru in the Han Dynasty after he was unable to implement his ideas within the Han Dynasty.
In Li Ru's concept, it is also a very important point in the laws of the Western Regions. It is to appoint Hu people, whether it is a Hu mercenary group or appoint local states in the Western Regions, its attitude towards Hu people is much wider than that of the Han Zhongyuan. This is the influence brought to Li Ru by life in Xiliang, and it is also the influence Li Ru has on the Western Regions.
The exclusion of the Hu people in the early Han Dynasty and the discrimination against the Han people living on the border left a profound impression on Li Ru's growth and learning process. Therefore, when Li Ru obtained the stage to display his talents, he was constantly looking for the path. He advised Dong Zhuo to accept Hu Bing, and even Lu Bu, that he hoped to establish a more tolerant and harmonious Han Dynasty that blended with Hu and Han. Even in the late stage of his life, he was trying to realize his youthful ideals in the Western Regions until the last moment of his life.
The reason why Fei Qian respects Li Ru is not entirely because Li Ru has kindness to Fei Qian. A large part of it is because Fei Qian saw the spirit of courage to reform, try, break through, and change in Li Ru. This spirit is rarely seen in Shandong gentry, and perhaps this spirit makes Li Ru and the old-fashioned and conservative gentry incompatible with Shandong gentry.
Times will change, and the Han Dynasty needs innovation. If a dynasty is strictly blocked by classes and cannot be circulated from top to bottom, it means it has reached its end.
"The affairs of official administration are the importance of the country." Fei Qian paused for a moment and continued, "The ancient Shun Dian had three years of evaluation and evaluation. After three tests, the promotion and demotion of the Youming and Ming were promoted and demoted. Therefore, the chaos in the Western Regions was the basis of official administration, and the assessment of official administration should be carried out. Follow the six strategies and the eight methods of evaluation."
The "Six Strategies" mentioned by Fei Qian refers to six aspects: "Integrity, integrity, integrity, integrity, law, and defense". The "Eight Laws" are the assessment of administrative agencies and departments, mainly examining whether the affiliation between departments is clear, whether the scope of departmental responsibilities is strictly observed, whether the communication between departments complies with relevant regulations, whether the department's routine affairs are handled properly, whether each department is in accordance with the rules, etc.
These "Six Strategies" and "Eight Methods" were not created by Fei Qian, but were already in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is said that they were created by the King of Zhou. Of course, the creation of this King of Zhou may be slightly different from that of most Kings of Zhou, but at least during the Warring States Period, relatively complete laws and regulations have been formed.
Even in Qin State, a special code of conduct for officials such as employee manuals and official ape rules was issued, called "The Way of Being an Official". It stipulates that officials have "five good deeds", namely "trust, respect the superiors, honest mothers, slander them, and be cautious in doing good deeds, and be generous in Gong Jing." If "five things come, there will be great rewards"; there are also "five mistakes", namely "promote for good deeds, value for great deeds, and good at cutting, and the superiors do not wisely harm them, and the lowly men are valuable for goods and shells."
At the same time, he repeatedly emphasized to the officials, "When you are wary, you must not return your talents; when you are cautious, you must not leave your plans; when you are cautious, you must not pursue your words; when you are strict, you must not reward your food." When you see these rules and regulations, Fei Qian felt that even China was leading the entire world at that time!
In that early years, China had already thought about the administration of officials, and had even put forward relevant regulations and formulated relevant laws, but...
Chapter completed!