Great Tang princess

Because of the need to improve the law, Di Renjie basically went in and out of the princess mansion frequently during this period.

Although he is a retired old man, after all, he was once the chief minister of the cabinet, and his every move will still attract the attention of many people.

As for the upcoming establishment of the University of Political Science and Law, it was not deliberately kept secret, so after many inquiries from interested people, although this matter has not been officially announced in the court, it has already spread among the ministers.

Hearing this, the first reaction of many ministers was to not believe it.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has dominated the world, and now they want to re-enable Legalism?

But it's not impossible if you think about it carefully. After all, who is Princess Taiping?

From childhood to adulthood, she has done so many things, how many of them are in line with Confucianism?
And many of them still thought of one of them, that is the way of the emperor.

The only core of the emperor's mentality lies in checks and balances. For so many years, the emperors of all dynasties have worked hard on this matter.

But is it actually going to start weighing Confucianism now?

The first reaction of many ministers was to report to the emperor. Taking advantage of the fact that this matter has not been fully implemented, they quickly asked the emperor to dispel this idea.

But there are also many people who see an opportunity in it.

Restarting legalism means that a large number of legal talents are needed, and this means opportunities for advancement.

As for whether they themselves have learned the legalism, that is not important at all!

Nestorian believers can go to temples, and Zoroastrian believers often go to Taoist temples, so why can't I, a Confucianist, turn into a Legalist?
In the final analysis, whether it is a belief or a sect, it can be changed at will, especially the people living in this land have known the importance of flexibility since ancient times.

So in the following time, many officials came to the princess mansion to ask for an audience.

After coming over, I didn't say anything, just drinking tea.

In the process of drinking tea, from time to time, I would chat with Di Renjie next to me, or put forward some opinions of my own.

We had a good chat today, and we will continue the next day.

Gradually, there were more and more people in the Princess Mansion, and the main hall was full of voices almost every day.

Li Yuechen lay helplessly on his rocking chair and muttered to himself: "My princess mansion has always been quiet, but now it has become like that vegetable market."

Princess Xuancheng on the side smiled slightly and said, "This is what a princess mansion should look like!"

In fact, what she said was indeed correct. The princess who founded the mansion should have a leadership team.

Not only to participate in the political affairs of the court, but also to sit in the princess mansion every day to discuss the countermeasures of the court and various matters.

After opening a mansion like Li Yuechen's, it is not normal that there is almost no one in the princess mansion.

But now with so many officials coming in and out every day, it looks like a real princess mansion.

"Forget it, it's only been like this for a while anyway." Li Yuechen shook his head, and didn't bother to continue talking.

Anyway, after the University of Political Science and Law is established, they won't have to come here every day.

Although Li Yuechen is indeed a character who likes to be lively, it is better to be quiet in his own home.

After speaking, he stood up and waved his hands to Xiaodong: "Tell the people below, if they run out of tea, remember to add some."

As Li Yuechen's personal maid, Xiaodong actually manages all the other servants in the princess mansion.

After agreeing, he followed Li Yuechen to the yard and prepared to take a walk.

Although the weather in August is still a bit hot, it is somewhat cooler than two months ago.

If you sit in the pavilion by the pond, blowing the breeze that slides over the water, it can be regarded as a kind of enjoyment.

However, as soon as he walked out of the gate, Li Yuechen's eyes widened, and there were already people in the pavilion.

In fact, it doesn't matter if there are people. Li Yuechen has never been a domineering character. It is normal for these people to want to sit in the pavilion to enjoy the shade.

But the key point is that the person sitting in the pavilion is leaning against the pillar with a face of enjoyment, with a lit scroll between his two fingers, and he is still puffing.

"You ride a horse..."

Li Yuechen's eyes widened, and he strode towards the pavilion with big strides, yelling as he walked, "Get out, old lady!"

The sudden roar startled the people in the pavilion, they trembled all over, and half of the cigarette in their hands fell to the ground.

When he turned his head to look, Li Yuechen had already arrived in the pavilion.

This person was about to salute, but Li Yuechen grabbed the back of his neck and lifted him up.

After stamping out half of the cigarette on the ground, Li Yuechen walked out of the pavilion carrying him.

And the loud roar just now made the officials in the main hall run out one after another to check what happened.

As soon as he came out, he saw a young official, with one hand in Li Yuechen's hand, just coming out of the pavilion.

Then Li Yuechen threw him on the lawn with a wave of his hand, and rolled around on the spot several times after landing.

The officials who came out all looked confused, not knowing what happened to make Li Yuechen so angry.

You must know that Princess Taiping has always been known for her kind personality, so it is certainly impossible for her to get angry for no reason.

Li Yuechen didn't care so much, and said to the group of ministers in front of him: "In the future, if anyone dares to smoke in the princess mansion again, my mother will peel off his skin!"

After finishing speaking, regardless of their expressions, they turned around and left.

Only the stunned ministers were left, most of them didn't know what the smoking meant, and they deserved such a big anger from the always kind Princess Taiping.

On the other hand, Li Yuechen rode straight out of the princess mansion and headed straight for the medical school.

Arriving at the medical school, Li Yuechen jumped off his horse at the door and walked straight in.

The guards behind him also followed behind him and walked in quickly.

Seeing Liu Shenwei, Li Yuechen immediately asked, "How many people did you give the tobacco to?"

Seeing her expression, Liu Shenwei could guess that she was probably here to ask her guilt.

He replied with some helplessness: "I didn't give too much... I hope His Highness will learn from you. Sometimes people ask me, but I am too embarrassed not to give..."

While speaking, there was some aggrieved expression.

For this, Li Yuechen did not continue to reprimand him, but nodded helplessly.

After all, that's the way the human society is, and sometimes people feel embarrassed not to give them what they want.

After all, this thing is not currently a prohibited item in law.

Li Yuechen can also understand that although she is not willing to promote this stuff in the country, what she has to admit is that from the moment cigarettes were invented, they have always been one of the important strategic materials.

So this thing will definitely become popular in the future, and what I can do is to reduce the number of people who smoke as much as possible.

Moustache's smoking ban was not completely successful back then, so one can imagine how difficult it was.

"Forget it, you don't have to worry about this matter, and set up a tobacco bureau alone." Li Yuechen waved his hand and said that it was not Liu Shenwei's fault.

In fact, this is also the result of desperation. Sometimes reform means compromise.

……

The news of Li Yuechen's anger reached the emperor the next day.

In Jixian Hall, Wu Zetian sat on a recliner and said, "You said that you usually look kind, how can you make a big fuss over such a trivial matter?"

It's not a big deal for a dignified princess to teach officials a lesson, but picking her up and throwing her out in front of the public is a bit out of character.

But in fact, for the officials who saw this scene yesterday, it was not too light.

You know, this princess had a record of tearing people alive on the battlefield back then, and she could directly tear off people's arms.

There were still many people who saw this scene with their own eyes back then, and there was no exaggeration at all.

"Hey, what did the boy do to him?" Li Yuechen waved his hand indifferently.

In the final analysis, it is just a smoking problem, and it will not tear people apart because of this.

"But speaking of it, I plan to set up a Tobacco Bureau, which will be responsible for the production and sales of tobacco in the future."

Now that it has started, it is not so easy to stop this matter.

It is better to say that it is better to be blocked than to be blocked. In this case, Li Yuechen intends to bring the sales and production of tobacco into the management of the imperial court.

First of all, in terms of pricing, the price of tobacco is slightly higher. At least in this era, people who are middle-class and above must be able to afford it.

As for the method, because most of the current cotton is supplied to the army, there is no surplus to make filters, so Li Yuechen plans to make pipes.

I have seen many people who still use pipes to smoke in the countryside.

Compared with cigarette filters, pipes have some advantages. First of all, they are not wasted and can be used repeatedly.

Secondly, according to the standards of the kind of pipes I have seen in the countryside before, a pot of cigarettes will be finished in about two or three puffs, which can reduce the frequency of smoking.

As for the army, the rules must be clarified.If a soldier's training performance drops due to smoking, he will be directly expelled from the military without any compensation.

Senior military officers can apply to the Ministry of War to receive some free tobacco every month. If there is not enough, they can buy it outside with their own money.

In addition, young people under the age of 20, regardless of gender, will be sentenced to one year in prison if they are found smoking.

And if people from the Tobacco Bureau dare to sell cigarettes to young people under the age of 20, they will start directly in five years.

Don't ask if this is reasonable, this is a feudal society!
The princess said that smoking is a punishment, so it must be a punishment!

Wu Zetian had no objection to this, so she simply let her go.

And then changed the subject: "Speaking of which, I haven't heard of any propaganda personnel being intercepted and killed recently."

"With the well-trained Jinwu Guards and the weapons specially used to cut down unarmored people, if something like this happens again, don't say it's under my hands." Li Yuechen said with a slight smile.

The Nepalese machete he made for the Jinwu Guard is not small, and even slightly longer than an adult's calf.

This kind of weapon is used to cut people, which is basically a one-shot thing.

With the deepening of the propaganda work, those troubled villages gradually quieted down.

In Chang'an, Dongdu and nearby states and counties, the policy of distributing the land into acres has been confirmed and implemented.

As long as there are no problems in the next few months and it is determined that this policy can increase national tax revenue, it will soon be extended to the whole country.

……

After chatting with my mother for a whole day, Li Yuechen returned to the princess mansion at night. After dinner, Pei Qingwan asked aloud: "Didn't you collect wool a while ago? Now everything that can be collected in Chang'an and Dongdong has been collected. Some The merchant asked if he wanted to go to the steppe..."

"Not urgent……"

Li Yuechen waved his hand lightly. Let's talk about this matter after Li Chongrun's northern military division is fully established.

But now it is really time to start preparations, and the factory should start construction.

It's just that there is still a prerequisite for this matter. When the factory opens, it will be tantamount to triggering an industrial revolution.

When the factory is running at full capacity, not only wool, but all kinds of fabrics such as silk will also drop in price.

So before that, at least Chang'an and Dongdu must be guaranteed to use banknotes as daily currency.

Otherwise, once the price of silk and other things fluctuates violently, it will easily cause economic instability.

To do this, a lot of money must be printed, and this process also costs a lot of money.

Because the current currency production cost is actually high.

However, from Li Yuechen's point of view, this is actually a good thing, at least it can be regarded as an anti-counterfeiting method.

After all, if it costs 120 yuan to make a counterfeit banknote of [-] yuan, then there is no point in making counterfeit banknotes.

So under Li Yuechen's order, the Academy of Engineering became busy again.

The first is the construction of the fabric factory, and the address is chosen outside Chang'an City.

The other is the Imperial Royal Bank. Considering its special confidentiality and security, it chose the address at the foot of Mang Mountain, not far from the military area.

In fact, this is not a bank at present, it can only be regarded as a banknote printing factory.

In the future, real banks will definitely be placed in cities.

After this period of time, the Academy of Engineering has made changes to simple machine tools, and it has been possible to use manual and mechanical methods to print money.

And Li Yuechen also began to look through the list of the Ministry of War. After all, in a special place like the banknote printing factory, it is best to use veterans as employees.

Various wars in these years have also caused many disabled soldiers in the army to be injured and unable to continue to serve.

They can be arranged in the banknote printing factory to solve their employment problem.

Similarly, the families of those who have died can also be prioritized in future fabric factories.

Such a policy can at least solve the worries of soldiers to a certain extent, and it can also make more young people willing to serve as soldiers.

Construction was about to start outside the city, and officials from nearby counties soon came.

As usual, these are all here to extort corvee.

However, today is different from the past. Among the prefectural and county villages that have begun to implement the policy of distributing the land to the mu, new notices were issued very quickly.

Recruit civilians to work on the construction site, take care of food and housing, and get paid!

Upon hearing such a condition, peasants from many villages came to sign up one after another.

Anyway, it's not yet time to harvest autumn grain, and the mother-in-law at home can also do the work in the field.

And this new construction site not only provides food and housing, but also wages, which is an unimaginable condition.

The key is that the place is not far away, just at the foot of Mang Mountain, and you can come back anytime.

All of a sudden, the nearby prefectures and counties were boiling, and a large number of people signed up one after another. The gang of officials who were in charge of corvee labor could only choose some of them who looked tall, strong and powerful, and recruited based on merit.