Great Tang princess

Chapter 326
At the first court meeting after the Shangyuan Festival, the Queen of Heaven did not speak the whole time, but the new emperor Li Xian announced two things!

First of all, after discussing with the ministers, the name of the first emperor was given to the temple, just like in history, Gaozong!

The second thing is of course the mausoleum. The late emperor's body will be buried in Guanzhong. The Taishi Bureau will first send people back to find a suitable geomantic treasure site, and then make preparations for the construction of the imperial mausoleum.

As soon as this matter was notified, the brochures from the Ministry of Industry and Zongzheng Temple were sent over the next day. Simply put, it meant the same thing, asking for money!

To build the imperial mausoleum, Zongzheng Temple is responsible for drawing up the design drawings, and the Ministry of Industry is responsible for the construction. Of course, money is needed!

Whether it is material costs or labor costs, it is a huge expense.

I don't know why, but the amount of money requested this time is much larger than that of Taizong's Zhaoling.

In the Hall of Renshou, Wu Zetian slammed the memorial on the table, leaned on his forehead and sighed: "They really dare to speak, is it so easy to blackmail the royal family's money?"

Li Yuechen added tea to her at the side, then took a look at it, frowned slightly and said: "This amount is more than twice that of Emperor Taizong's Zhaoling!"

"The excuse is already prepared!" Wu Zetian replied casually, "There has been no shortage of food in recent years, and it is impossible to recruit workers at the previous price..."

"Hmph, I guess it's because my business is getting bigger and I want to make the royal family bleed?" Li Yuechen grinned, she could still see the essence behind this matter.

Everyone knows that the princess's business has reached the whole country, and various products such as glass, soap and lotion have extremely strong technical barriers, which have not been cracked so far!
How profitable is it to monopolize a business?Everyone knows, but no one can tell the exact number.

Not to mention outsiders, even Li Yuechen doesn't know how rich he is now, anyway, there must be no shortage.

In addition, the princess's business does not need to pay protection fees to anyone, and the profits are simply unimaginable.

It is also because of this that she can support the newspaper office that is losing money every month and the mighty Qianniuwei!

"Hum..."

Wu Zetian suddenly sneered twice, and said as if talking to himself: "Just after the late emperor left, this group of people dared to jump around, as if I couldn't kill people..."

Hearing this sentence, Li Yuechen was slightly startled. My mother is worthy of being a ruthless person with a fierce reputation in history. She really killed as soon as she said she wanted to, without hesitation at all.

She thought for a while and said, "You don't need to be like this. The construction of Grandpa's mausoleum doesn't need to be handed over to the Ministry of Industry. The captives held in Qianniuwei and the engineering troops can do this. Besides, the captives don't have to pay wages, and at the same time It can also exempt the people from corvée.”

To put it simply, corvee is to do work for the country for free, and it is mainly divided into handy labor and forced labor.

Handymen are generally young people from 15 years old to 20 years old. Generally, they will not arrange too tiring work for them. Basically, they are things within their ability, but they are just troublesome and take a long time. Maybe when He was called to work.

Forced labor is generally over 20 years old and under 56 years old. This period is relatively short. The law stipulates that there are only [-] days a year, but all of them are hard labor, which is extremely torturous.

Be it the Great Wall or the Daming Palace, they were all built by these people.

Of course, corvee is not enough. After all, the construction of the imperial mausoleum cannot be completed in [-] days, so you have to spend additional money to recruit people to do the work. This is what the Ministry of Industry said about the recruitment money.

Another thing worth mentioning is that when the country is relatively peaceful, or when there are not so many major national projects to be done, you can turn in some money or silk to exempt from corvee if you don’t want to work.

Li Yuechen, a future man, hated this system very much, and made it one of the systems that must be abolished in the future.

Of course, it will not be completely abolished, because in her opinion, there are some commendable aspects in the corvee system.

For example, the paternity system.

For the elderly over 80 years old and those who are seriously ill, the state will send people to take care of their daily life, and the people sent to take care of them are also counted as corvee.

The candidates for servants are generally selected from the direct descendants first, that is to say, taking care of the elderly at home and performing filial piety is also a kind of corvee.

As for those who have no children under their knees, as long as they meet the requirements, the state will send other people to take care of them.

From Li Yuechen's point of view, this is a kind of endowment system unique to the Tang Dynasty, and it should be worth preserving.

It's just that this system has just begun, and it has not yet been written in the law. If there is an opportunity in the future, it can be improved.

Wu Zetian slightly raised his head and thought for a while: "Speaking of which, all the captives now add up to more than [-]?"

"En!" Li Yuechen nodded, "If the Engineering Institute cooperates with using explosives to open the hole, the construction period should be completed within two months."

These days, the construction time of imperial tombs is often very long, and some emperors have been under construction intermittently for more than ten years after they were buried.

The main reason is that the structure of the emperor's mausoleum is very grand. Although the tomb below is already very spacious, the key lies in the top. A huge mausoleum will really be built!

Among them are pavilions, towers, pavilions, steles and portraits... everything that one expects to find, and nothing will be missing.

But this is mainly because there are often only a few people in charge of construction in a year, and they will not be working all year round.

But if you want to use those captives and engineering troops, it will be different. Li Yuechen is sure to complete the imperial mausoleum in the shortest time.

"Okay, then leave this matter to Chen'er!" Wu Zetian nodded, "After the Taishi Bureau has selected a location, let's start working. Anyway, it is much more convenient to travel between the two capitals now."

"Well, don't worry, Ma'am!" Li Yuechen nodded in agreement.

……

In the court hall at the end of the first lunar month, everything was quiet.

The ministers below raised their heads slightly, looking at the emperor on the dragon chair and the queen of heaven sitting behind the bead curtain, they felt unusual again.

It's so strange, it's okay for the mother and son not to talk, but there is no interaction in the eyes at all, as if the other party doesn't exist.

Li Xian, who was kneeling on the dragon chair, looked at the quiet ministers below, and asked slowly, "Do you have anything else to play? If nothing..."

His voice caused an echo in the empty and high space, echoing in the hall.

Hearing his words, the minister also slightly moved his uncomfortable tibia, and was about to get up and salute to go back.

However, unexpectedly, Li Xian did not announce his withdrawal from the court in the second half of his sentence.

"If nothing happens...then let me talk about it."

Li Xian twisted his neck: "Presumably all the ministers have used the Hu bed, and also used the chair invented by Taiping...how do you think it feels?"

Hearing his question, the ministers all looked at each other, but no one answered immediately.

After all, according to common sense, every word the emperor said contained various meanings in it, and if he didn't understand the meaning implied in the words and answered casually, there was a high possibility of problems.

Hearing that no one spoke, Li Xian began to roll the roll: "What do you think of Mr. Pei?"

Pei Yan, who was still thinking about the intention behind these words, was a little surprised when he heard the question.

First of all, he raised his head and glanced at Wu Zetian behind the bead curtain, and found that she had no expression.

Li Xian, who was waiting for his answer, suddenly remembered that his mother had said that he should behave differently in front of outsiders, so he frowned on purpose, pretending to be unhappy.

Seeing the emperor's frown, Pei Yan was startled, quickly bowed his head and replied: "Return to Your Majesty, I think this thing is comfortable to sit on!"

After a few seconds of silence, Li Xian asked, "That's all?"

"May I ask Your Majesty, isn't this enough?" Pei Yan asked back, "It's just a tool, and it's enough to sit comfortably."

"Hmm... makes sense!" Li Xian nodded slightly, then suddenly changed the subject, "I think this dragon chair is uncomfortable to kneel on, so it's better to replace it with the one invented by Taiping... What do you think?"

As soon as this sentence came out, the ministers below suddenly raised their heads almost at the same time, and looked at the expressionless Li Xian in surprise.

They now understood what the emperor meant, and this was a signal that they planned to seize power from the Queen of Heaven!The horn of the charge is about to be launched!
It's no wonder they think so, after all, the Emperor Xian did something similar once before!
And now, the new emperor seems to be planning to follow the example of the first emperor!
But this is too sudden, right?Almost no symptoms at all!

Besides, the enthronement ceremony hasn't even been held yet, how long has it been since you came up?Is the form clear?
For a while, many ministers were beating drums in their hearts, feeling that the emperor was still in a hurry and should wait.

But no matter what, now that the emperor has the idea of ​​seizing power, many ministers who oppose the empress dowager's monopoly feel that they see hope!
If he can help the emperor seize power successfully at this time, with the blessing of Conglong Gong, the future will be bright!
But they didn't show it right away. After all, today's future is so powerful that even Zhongshuling Pei Yan is the loyal lackey of Tianhou, so we still have to wait and see the situation.

After all, even if the emperor fails to seize power, he can still be a puppet, occupying the name of the emperor and playing with women in the harem every day, but they will all be the targets of liquidation at that time.

Many ministers turned their heads and looked towards Yushitai.

Regardless of the meaning behind this matter, at least on the surface it is a decision that violates the ancestral system. At this time, Yu Shitai must first come out and spray it.

The current imperial censor is Wei Xuantong, the former Minister of the Household Department, and he is a proper opponent of the Queen of Heaven, but it is not certain whether he will support the emperor.

Many people are well aware of his temperament, and they all know that he doesn't hate the Queen herself, but hates the fact that women are in power.

Moreover, under the circumstances that the Empress hates it, being able to get mixed up with Dr. Yu Shi, in itself shows that the ability is not simple.

All kinds of eyes with different meanings came from all directions, Wei Xuantong felt a little uncomfortable, and couldn't help but secretly reached out and scratched his thigh.

Then he turned his head slightly, looked at Di Renjie beside him, and gestured with his eyes.

It probably means that he has a tough life, so he can spray a few words first to test the situation.

Besides, it's not the first time that Di Renjie didn't give the emperor face. It doesn't matter if he sprays it tentatively, let's touch the form first.

Seeing the look in the eyes of his boss, Di Renjie thought for two seconds, then looked up at Wu Zetian behind the bead curtain.

She had no expression on her face, just half-closed her eyes, as if she didn't care about it.

Seeing this scene, Di Renjie got up and walked out, respectfully saluted: "Your Majesty, sitting upright is a ritual that has been passed down since ancient times, and it is of great significance..."

Li is a very important concept in Confucianism.

But at this time, when he heard that Di Renjie started to popularize science etiquette to himself, Li Xian frowned slightly, and thought to himself, it really is this nonsense again, if you agree, agree, if you don't agree, say you don't agree, babble for a long time What are you doing?
Just as he was about to find an excuse to stop him from talking, Di Renjie suddenly changed the subject: "However, the late emperor once said: If everything had been true since ancient times, there would be no Tang Dynasty today! I think that since Your Majesty has such an idea, it is better to give it a try." fan!"

After the words fell, the officials all turned their heads to look over.

Good guy, I never thought you were on the emperor's side?

Is it really appropriate to express your stance immediately when you still have a clear idea of ​​the form?If the emperor fails to seize power, you will definitely be liquidated!
But while thinking this way in my heart, I also remembered that the first emperor once suppressed the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty and forcibly let the princess enter the court as an official!
And the princess did not disappoint the first emperor. Although the current household department does not see the shadow of the princess, the accounts are clear and clear over the years, and there has never been a problem!If you want to be picky, you don't have to pick!

Li Xian didn't seem to expect that Di Renjie would show his support, and immediately smiled with satisfaction: "What Di Aiqing said is true, so let's change it, just right, it can also make Tianhou feel more comfortable..."

Having said that, he turned his head slightly, as if looking back.But then he thought of his mother's warning, and immediately turned his head back.

Standing in the passageway, Li Yuechen crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning his shoulders against the wall, and asked in a low voice to Shangguan Wan'er next to him, "Did brother seem to be provocative just now?"

Shangguan Wan'er, who was in charge of recording, shook her head: "In Wan'er's opinion, His Majesty's eyes are full of filial piety!"

"Well...it's a pity that they may not be able to see it from their angle..." Li Yuechen replied as if talking to himself.

"correct!"

Li Xian who was on the dragon chair suddenly said again: "I have discussed with Tianhou, let Taiping handle the matter of the late emperor's mausoleum! Yu Gong, Taiping has always done things properly; Yu private, after all, I am busy with national affairs, so I can also take care of it on my behalf." Do a filial piety for my brother..."

Li Yuechen in the passage couldn't help but want to laugh a little while seeing the third brother sitting on the dragon chair with a book of nonsense.

All the memorials were secretly sent to my mother for review, and the state was busy...

She knew it, but the courtiers didn't know it. In their view, this matter was either the result of a compromise between both parties, or it was an olive branch offered by the emperor to the princess!

Many ministers began to think about it. Today's Princess Taiping is also a proper military leader. If she joins forces with the emperor, there is still a great hope of success in seizing power!
However, the princess may not know the reason. This princess has been very close to her mother since she was a child. It may not be so easy for her to join hands with the emperor to deal with the Queen of Heaven.

It seems that we still have to take a good look at the form behind!

(End of this chapter)