The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 625
The night is deep, and the icy cold wind seems to have snowflakes flying.The Imperial Study Room of the Wude Palace was brightly lit. It was a delicate situation, and Emperor Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty seemed to have found the energy he had when he was young, so he was busy very late every day.

In the study, Prince Li Jiancheng was reporting the recent government affairs to his father, only to hear Li Yuan beaming with joy and glowing red.

Li Jiancheng mainly talked about the Tang Dynasty's finances and people's livelihood issues. From the end of the year, the Great Tang Exhibition began to destroy the Buddha, and got a lot of fertile land and people named in the temples. These people were all incorporated into official status. The next thing is to divide the land evenly. Li Jiancheng is in charge of this matter and sent a censor to supervise the implementation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.During this campaign to exterminate the Buddha, a large amount of money, food and rare treasures were also seized. In order to enrich the national treasury, Li Yuan ordered that all the Buddha statues in Jingxiang, Bashu be turned into yellow Kaiyuan Tongbao, which really made Li Yuan rich.

In fact, there are many reasons for earning.

The original Buddhism was similar to Taoism. They neither collected wealth nor real estate. They preached the teachings with one monk and one bowl. In order to attract more people, the temples were built to shine, and the euphemistic name is: Buddha Light Purdue.Over time, they took up a lot of land and wealth, and they didn't have to pay taxes. This also means that the more temples, the less financial revenue the court has. What's even more abominable is that the monks openly issued "usury loans", which made the court's finances a mess ...

Buddhist monks do not serve corvee or military service. With this special treatment, there are more and more monks. When the court fights, it cannot even recruit soldiers.Moreover, because in the past hundred years, the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Four Dynasties of the Southern Kingdom and the Great Sui Dynasty all believed in Buddhism, which led to the prosperity of temples all over the country. It's amazing, and those monks with shiny faces are strong in physique. After training, they are much stronger than the scrawny ordinary people.

This also made Li Yuan's intestines green with regret. If he knew that exterminating the Buddha could make a lot of money, he should have done it as early as in Guanzhong, but now it's all cheaper for Yang Tong.

After Li Jiancheng finished his report, he also talked about the situation of the land equalization. Li Yuan, who was still interested, paid attention to it. He pondered for a moment and asked: "I asked you to have a banquet with Fang Xuanling that day. Mu tax system?"

"I have indeed discussed these issues with Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Cen Wenwen, but they have no hope for my direction, and said that if we also implement it, it will be harmful to the present, and the merits will be good for the future. They agree with the direction I am heading. , but don’t think I’m going to be able to succeed.”

"How do you say this?" Li Yuan held back the discomfort in his heart, and asked suspiciously: "Why can't we do it when Yang Tong can do it? What is it that means harm in the present and merit in the future?"

"The key is that our Tang court controls too little land. Even if we win the Buddhist land, the proportion is still not as large as that of the family. "

"This is the truth." Li Yuan agreed.

"Occupying the land and hiding the population during the war is a major method for the rise of the aristocratic family and local tyrants. Once natural disasters and man-made disasters happen, they will incite the hearts of the people, devour nearby villages and towns, and incorporate them into their own power. The situation of the world is clear, so they accepted the imperial court's appeasement, but the imperial court mostly acquiesced in their occupation of the population and land for the sake of local stability. Over time, it will evolve into a powerful force one by one. The young and strong domestic slaves will be trained a little If a powerful army is not restricted, and there is an ambitious person in a certain family, chaos will inevitably occur. The reason why Yang Tong was able to succeed is because he took advantage of the chaos of war and used strong means to rule the family. The wealth, land, and population of the country were taken away. His country was built inch by inch, and he fought it thoroughly, so all his policies can be carried out to the end. However, every government order we have needs to compromise with the powerful family, and in the end it is beyond recognition. However, if it is carried out without regard to the opposition of various forces, it will inevitably arouse strong resistance from the family and the family, and the world will be in chaos."

Li Jiancheng's words made Li Yuan nod silently.In today's troubled times, in fact, as early as the birth of the imperial examination system, the foreshadowing had already been laid.Just because the imperial examination system replaced the "nine-rank Zhongzheng system" in which talents were recommended by aristocratic families, it was based on the premise of sacrificing the world's aristocratic families. Therefore, the Guanlong nobles, the Kanto gentry, and the southern gentry also opposed it. Although they did not make it public, many grassroots There are shadows of various forces behind the head king, such as Lu Mingyue from the Lu family of Fan Yang, Gao Shida from the Gao family of Bohai...

If the Tang Dynasty implements the land equalization system and the per-mu system, then the precarious Li and Tang Dynasty may immediately be full of swords and soldiers, and the aristocratic families and even the representatives of interests can go directly on their own.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan already understood, "Fang Xuanling means that I am too impatient and too violent, that's why I say that it is bad for the present and good for the future?"

Li Jiancheng nodded, "That's what he said. Yang Tong broke the historical phenomenon of 'the emperor and the family ruled the world' in a bloody and violent way, so he didn't need to compromise with anyone, and he could penetrate the policy into every family." Among every household. The Jingxiang area we occupy is not bad, because many aristocratic families fled into Bashu for fear of the flames of war. After experiencing great turmoil, small troubles could not affect the occupation of the population and land by the aristocratic family, and even some civil strife were provoked by the aristocratic family, with the purpose of occupying more land and hiding more people, and peacefully merged into the Sui Dynasty. The land of Xiao Xian also has this kind of problem, so Yang Tong plans to let the military minister Pei Renji sit in Nanjun, encourage the local people to sue the local tyrants, and then kill them one by one. This is also due to the strength of the Sui Dynasty, they are not afraid of The local tyrants rebelled, and even wished they could, so there was a reason to wipe them out. In the end, it was Yang Tong who wanted to exchange a lifetime of chaos for hundreds of years of peace. The mu system is neither realistic nor will cause serious problems."

"What's the problem?"

"Our local officials and military generals are almost controlled by the aristocratic family. If we forcefully push, we will first target the aristocratic family. I am afraid that it will cause a strong backlash from the local officialdom, and it will cause problems such as the resignation of local officials and the rebellion of the army."

Li Yuan felt really uncomfortable, he snorted coldly: "They are standing and talking without back pain. If Yang Tong can give me a year or two, I can still use violence to solve the problem."

Li Jiancheng smiled wryly when he heard the words: "Father, the Sui army is waiting for the next day, and the tiger is watching for a while. It may attack the Tang Dynasty at any time. My son is worried that the nobles of Guanlong will be moved, and a huge turmoil will inevitably occur. The result is to make a wedding dress for Yang Tong. Now that we have obtained hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile land, as well as a large population, monks and soldiers, should the issue of Guanlong nobles be eased..."

Before Li Jiancheng could finish speaking, Li Yuan waved his hand and interrupted him, saying: "It is precisely because we have tens of thousands more monks and soldiers and tens of thousands of new recruits that I am sure to guard the door and solve internal problems with peace of mind. The conflict between us and the nobles of Guanlong has reached the point where we have to resolve it, so let’s not talk about it anymore, no matter how turbulent the place and the army are, we must never give up halfway to solve the internal problems!”

Li Jiancheng also knew that the arrow was on the line, so he had no choice but to stop persuading, and suggested: "Father, I feel that I should discuss with a few more people. With all preparations, the turmoil can be minimized, and the loss will not be too big. If it is handled properly, the internal troubles can be resolved even before the Sui army reacts."

"The emperor's words are very true!" Li Yuan followed the good advice.

"Father, my son has one more thing to say."

"Emperor, tell me!" Li Yuan was quite satisfied with this mature, stable, general-minded heir.

Li Jiancheng said in a deep voice: "Father, the source of troops is not a problem for the time being, but a large number of troops must be supported by corresponding national strength. There are enough armors in stock, but we lost too much in the Eastern Expedition last year, and now we have a sudden increase in troops, and there is a serious shortage of armors. If this problem is not resolved, how will the soldiers fight?"

Li Yuan was taken aback. Before that, he only considered the issue of soldiers and money, but ignored the issue of soldiers.

Li Jiancheng went on to say: "The reason why the armor is so consumed is that, in addition to the disadvantages of the war, the most important knife can only participate in two wars at most and cannot be used. It needs to be recast; the problem of armor is even more serious. Not only is it cumbersome to build and organize, but there are also problems such as easy damage and difficult repair. We have also built a large number of soldiers over the years, but my Tang Dynasty has never had a truce since it started in Jinyang, so the consumption is too great, even if there is no day It can’t be replenished even if it’s built overnight.”

Li Yuan asked with a serious expression: "I want to know, how far are we from now?"

"After the Eastern Expedition ended, we successively recruited about 16 new recruits. From the current point of view, we are short of [-] sets of soldiers."

Li Yuan was furious: "What does Dugu Huai'en eat? Did he do it on purpose?"

"Father, I don't know if Dugu Huai'en did it on purpose. But the craftsmen did try their best. Many craftsmen haven't been home for a year. They live and eat in the workshop."

"Why is there such a difference?"

"We don't have any pig iron anymore, and now Zuo Zangku can't even find a catty of pig iron."

"..." Li Jiancheng's words really made it hard for Li Yuan to accept, his face turned gloomy all of a sudden, his eyes seemed to be bursting with anger, and the imperial study room was silent, as if it was the calm before the storm.

At this time, Li Jiancheng said again: "The shortage of soldiers and armor can actually be solved."

"Go on!" Li Yuan's face softened a little.

"My son knows that there are more than [-] sets of armor in the Badong treasury. This is what Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty prepared for the extermination of Nanchen. We can use it."

Li Yuan also remembered that in the seventh year of Kaihuang, Yang Su built warships such as "Wuya" and "Huanglong" in Badong County to strengthen the navy. supplies.

"But it's been 40 to [-] years, can it still be used?" Li Yuan asked a little worried.

Li Jiancheng said: "Even if the quality is not good, you can use it for the imperial army first, and then give the armor of the imperial army to the combat army. Although this is an expedient measure, it can at least solve the urgent need. If the Sui army invades, it will not Let our soldiers have no armor to use."

Li Yuan nodded: "Leave this matter to the emperor, and it must be done as soon as possible!"

"Father, don't worry, my son will be transported to Xiangyang tomorrow!"

Li Yuan pondered for a while, then said with a sad face: "Although [-] sets have met the needs of some soldiers, it is far from enough. I think the key lies in the pig iron. If there is not enough pig iron, there will be endless troubles."

"In order to solve the problem of pig iron, Erchen reviewed a lot of materials and found that during the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a record of large-scale iron ore mining in Bashu. The mines were located in Longshan County and Meishan County. Although there is no detailed record of the specific address of the mine, but I believe that there must be records in the local chronicles, as long as we get the county chronicles of the two counties, it should be easy to find the mine location, and as long as we restore the mines in Bashu, the problem of insufficient pig iron will be gradually resolved.”

Although Li Jiancheng had a solution, Li Yuan still said frowningly: "The emperor's idea is good, but it will take about a year at least to restore the mine to smelting and ironing. Counting the time to become a soldier, then It will take longer. How to solve the gap and loss of armor during this period of time?"

"The temple's iron tower, iron bell, and iron Buddha are one source. They are currently transported to Xiangyang. If the craftsmen work hard, they can fill in some gaps, and the damaged weapons can also be returned to the furnace."

Li Yuan interrupted Li Jiancheng and said: "The problem of pig iron is urgent. You have to do everything possible to solve this matter. Even if you take back the iron from the people, you have to make up the gap. Our army is not as good at fighting as the Sui army. Without armor, we are bound to lose."

"Your servant obeys the order!" Li Jiancheng bowed to the order.

Li Yuan took a few steps forward, and said coldly: "Dugu Huai'en, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, even asked the dignified prince of the country to ask every detail about the issue of pig iron. It is really remiss. With this ability, I still want to be Xiangguo? There is no door."

Just as Li Jiancheng was about to speak, there was a burst of brisk footsteps outside the door, and an eunuch said outside the door: "Qi Zou Shengshang, the Dugu Mansion sent a report, saying that the minister of the Ministry of Industry was assassinated and died in the mansion."

"..." The father and son looked at each other in blank dismay.

There was a deathly silence in the imperial study room.

"Understood, back off."

"As ordered!"

"Why did he die? It's so strange!" Li Yuan seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to be proving his innocence to Li Jiancheng.

Li Jiancheng didn't like this at all, he just frowned at his pretending father.

Although he and his father held the same idea on the issue of dealing with the Dugu clan, there was neither a clear and safe solution nor sufficient preparation for dealing with the issue of the Guanlong nobles. He took the bow with a taut string, but it is still unknown whether the long arrow is pointing at the Tang Dynasty or the Wei State. He feels that he has to wait until the Sui army takes action before thinking about it.

Well now, if there is a major civil strife in Datang at this time, it will just give the Sui army a great opportunity.When will the father's old habit of eager for quick success and instant benefit be corrected?
At this time, Li Yuanji, who had not entered Shu to take office, hurried in. Seeing his father and brother in the room, he immediately asked, "Father, I heard that Dugu Huai'en died. Did you send someone to do it?"

"No!" Li Yuan said angrily.

"Who else could it be?"

"Check! You idiot."

(End of this chapter)