In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the most basic Li Zheng was mostly elected by the people, while the Tingchang and Xiangyi were mostly appointed by their superiors. Of course, most of the officials were still elected by the people, but this election followed the ancient practice, which was imperfect in many places and could easily be used by corrupt officials.
Liu Heng's election system, which had a complete set of systems, procedures, and laws, made up for this deficiency.
It was fairer and more just to replace the election with a secret vote. It could also better reflect the true intentions of the electors and avoid retaliation afterwards.
Using the law to fix the election procedures and the criteria for the confirmation of candidates could ensure that the election was carried out in an orderly manner.
Xun Yu showed great interest in this new law. He repeatedly discussed the details with Liu Heng and often visited to understand the hearts of the people.
On the 21st of April, the three counties began to undergo earth-shattering changes.
For the first time, the commoners heard that they could use a single vote to choose the chief of the village and the chief of the pavilion in their hearts. Some of them could not believe it, some were ecstatic, some were at a loss, and of course, there were still some who remained silent.
As people repeatedly studied the election system and procedures, many smart and learned people saw hope for the future and an opportunity to realize their ideals and aspirations. Therefore, they applied to the county government to participate in the election. People of fame everywhere could not wait to start their selection activities.
According to the guidance of the prefecture government, they toured the village to give speeches and canvass for votes.
Some people relied on their friends, relatives, and students to canvass for votes, while others relied on the policies they had formulated to canvass for votes.
Even though Liu Heng thought that this was childish, it was a good start.
With the election, corruption, bribery, threats, intimidation, and other despicable and illegal means often appeared. For the future, Liu Heng issued a strict order: Strictly crack down on the use of money to buy tickets, use power to threaten, intimidate other candidates, or illegally canvass votes. Several lawbreakers were arrested and executed in succession to ensure that the election atmosphere did not deviate from the right track.
Before April 25th, according to the " election law ", all applicants were required to submit their names and resumes to the prefecture for the record. They could only participate after passing the examination.
In the meantime, the candidates had to work hard to gain the support of the people.
During the election period, Xin Bao also set up a special campaign column according to Liu Heng's instructions, giving candidates a place to express their thoughts, opinions, and campaign platforms.
On May 10th, the election was completed in one day. The citizens were very enthusiastic about participating, and the candidates 'publicity played a crucial role.
Many people voted for the candidates they supported in order to live a good life.
When registering the votes, the literate people could fill in the names of the candidates themselves, while the illiterate people had to register with the officials and verbally participate in the election.
After the election, all the information would be sealed and could only be viewed with the approval of the prefecture.
The vote-reading process was carried out in an open environment. The citizens and candidates could go to the county government to listen.
After that, the officials of the villages, pavilions, and villages were selected one by one. After the prefecture re-examined and confirmed, the appointment documents were issued. The next day, an announcement was made that all the officials would go to Xuantu Prefecture to participate in the unified training and officially take office on June 1st.
Liu Heng took this opportunity to carry out the ideology education, personally teaching them, trying to teach them the concept of diligent government, loving the people, and governing the country according to law.
On the first day of the sixth lunar month, along with the new officials taking office, the prefecture government issued a new law. Under the condition that it did not directly conflict with the laws of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it implemented laws that were beneficial to its own development and only implemented in the three prefectures.
The first was the Commercial Code. Liu Heng made full use of his innate condition as a student of the University of Finance and Economics to change the legal provisions that were conducive to business development in his era into laws that were in line with social productivity at that time.
It mainly included contract law and tax law.
For the first time, the form of a contract was proposed. It required both parties to sign a standard contract that was jointly approved by the government and the corresponding institutions.
The first sentence of the general rule clearly stated: Only by signing a contract that complied with the regulations could one obtain the protection and recognition of the prefecture. Both parties to the contract were bound by the same laws.
Apart from the business contract, it was also the first time that an employment contract was proposed. The content was the same as modern labor contracts, mainly to protect the legal rights of workers. This employment contract was fully supported by the union and used as a bargaining chip. It treated strikes as a form of protest rather than illegal acts.
In addition, there were also related requirements for the retail segment. The tax law clearly stipulated the basis and principles of tax calculation for several basic tax items, which were divided into three parts: income tax, agricultural tax, and commercial tax.
The specific details would have to wait until the time was ripe to be issued.
Liu Heng first began to levy a third of the net income tax on merchants within his jurisdiction. At the same time, all other taxes were abolished.
The second was the Criminal Code. Liu Heng used the laws of the time as the foundation and added some parts of modern law that he knew better.
Including civil law and criminal law. Liu Heng vaguely revealed the concept of equality in these two codes.
Among the various laws, the contract law and tax law were the most direct and effective, and they received the full support of merchants.
The contract law stipulated that only contracts signed under the conditions of equality and willingness of both parties would be protected by the county government, and the county government had the obligation to recover the lost interests for the merchants.
The civil law stated that personal property was sacred and inviolable, and even the emperor had no right to do so.
It was not a crime to hurt others by accident because of protecting oneself or one's property.
At the same time, it also stipulated that everyone had the obligation to protect their country. It told them that if the country was gone, no one would protect their lives and their property.
It was also stipulated that the inheritance could be designated to a child, and if no one was designated, it would be inherited by the eldest son.
The new officials took office and the implementation of the new law laid the foundation for the further development of industry and commerce.
Therefore, in order to increase taxes and hide wealth among the people, Liu Heng decided to auction off the three major technologies of brick, paper, and textile to stimulate the development of local industry and commerce, promote the transformation of the rich families who relied on land, and cultivate the first batch of merchants.
The opening of factories and workshops could attract immigrants. Because the aristocratic families and merchants urgently needed to start production after purchasing the technology, the population of the three counties was limited and could not guarantee a sufficient number of workers to participate in production. Therefore, they had to recruit from other places.
Craftsmen brought their families to the three counties, and refugees rushed to the border to obtain land.
Of course, someone would definitely report to the emperor. After all, the strange movements of the refugees were often a bad sign.
In the imperial court of Luoyang, Situ Wang Yun encouraged Chen Rui, Zhang Zhao, and Li Wan to write a letter accusing Liu Heng of recruiting troops and taking in refugees in Xuantu County.
The Minister of Agriculture, Chen Rui, shouted in the court,""Your Majesty, according to my investigation, Liu Heng has secretly executed nearly a thousand Great Han officials in the three counties. He even tampered with the laws of the Great Han Dynasty without authorization and issued the so-called Civil Code and Commercial Code.”
"Not only that," Zhang Zhao added,"I heard that Liu Heng even reorganized the county soldiers privately. His intentions are unknown!"”
The Han Emperor, Liu Hong, looked at the memorial and let out a long yawn. Although his face was expressionless, he was very unhappy in his heart. He remembered that when he had issued an edict asking the border counties to build their own county soldiers, these old things had blown their beards and glared at them in opposition. At this moment, they had become even more aggressive. He lazily asked,"So that Liu Heng is definitely going to rebel?”
"This…should have this intention!"
Liu Hong was a little angry. He looked at the three people kneeling in the hall and said,"What do you mean by 'should'? Liu Qing's family worked hard in Xuantu County, so that there were no more bandits to harass them, and Wuhuan did not dare to invade and plunder the border.
As for the private army, it was permitted by my decree. The Civil Code and the Commercial Code were nothing more than increasing taxes for the people.
Are you going to say that I'm plotting a rebellion? The tax paid by Xuantu Prefecture was the same as five years ago, and it was one of the best in Youzhou! I ask you, who can do it?”
There was silence. After a long time, Liu Hong continued,""If we don't recruit refugees, how can we increase taxes? To think that you're so familiar with the books of the sages that you don't even understand this logic!
Humph! Seeing that others had a little merit, they attacked them in groups. When it was time for you to govern, you all hid far away.”
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