The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 718
Luoyang has changed a lot. Since it was recovered by the Sui Dynasty and designated as the imperial capital, its status has been countless times higher than that of the Daye period. After all, the two capitals system was implemented before, but now, it is the unique first city, far from the accompanying capital Daxing, Yecheng, Zhuojun, Taiyuan, Jiangdu can reach.Because of Luoyang's dominance in the world, a large number of wealthy households have moved here one after another. It is not an exaggeration to say that it has changed three times a day.

Nowadays, as the Silk Road goes further, exquisite glass products, silk, porcelain, paper, tea, and fine wine are favored by Hu merchants. The Persians who smelled business opportunities from them formed caravans to compete for more profits. Prime Ministers came, and the Persian rugs they brought were also very popular.

However, food is the most important thing for the people, and agriculture was always the top priority of the Sui Dynasty. In order to ensure that people would not starve to death in the year of catastrophe, the majority of people engaged in agriculture have always been engaged in agriculture. However, due to the rise of commerce, those who want to make quick money The National People's Congress is there, that is to say, in order to ensure that the food will not decrease, Yang Tong must ensure the income of the farmers. Otherwise, the common people will stop farming, and the land will eventually fall into the hands of a few people. It is equivalent to holding the lifeline of the court.

In the early morning of this day, the Ministry of Commerce, Sinong Temple, and Taifu Temple jointly made a statement, claiming that the summer grain harvest in various places caused a sharp drop in grain prices, and suggested that the court provide a solution.

"In order to adjust grain prices and store grain in preparation for shortages in the past dynasties, Changping warehouses were set up to supply food for the government and the people. Whenever the grain price was low, the imperial court raised the grain price appropriately and made large-scale purchases, which not only filled the imperial warehouse with grain, but also caused the The counties are also full of warehouses. When the price of grain soars, the price is lowered to sell. It not only avoids "low grain hurting farmers", but also prevents "high grain hurting people", which plays a positive role in calming the grain market and stabilizing people's hearts." Looking at the many courtiers under the throne, Yang Tong frowned and said, "In this dynasty, I also set up a supply and marketing cooperative to stabilize the prices of grain, salt and other daily necessities. Over the years, it has done a good job. The supply and marketing cooperative Why not accept it this year?"

"My lord, it's not that the supply and marketing cooperatives don't accept it." Ling Jing, Shangshu of the Ministry of Commerce, came out and said: "The supply and marketing cooperatives are mainly for the benefit of the people. It has been losing money, which is also the reason why Changping positions have been intermittent in the past dynasties."

"It means that the supply and marketing cooperative wants to collect grain, but they have no money, right?" Yang Tong understood.

"Exactly." Ling Jing replied.

"I've come up with a way, which is to give the supply and marketing cooperatives the capital for buying and selling." Yang Tong said.

"The Holy Majesty's move is indeed an excellent solution." Yang Shidao, Minister of the Household Department, said: "However, the population of each county and county is different. If the imperial court uniformly allocates the capital, not only will a large number of coins be withdrawn from the warehouse, but there will also be a large number of coins. Large counties are not enough, and small counties are moldy."

"Your Majesty, I suggest restoring the hierarchy of counties and counties, and allocate capital to each supply and marketing cooperative according to the size of the counties and counties, so that there will be no problems that Yang Shangshu worried about." Wei Zheng said.

When Yang Tong heard this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.

At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, there was a strict classification of counties and counties under the jurisdiction. The standard of the administrative unit of the county was "anyone with more than [-] households is an upper county, those with more than [-] households is a middle county, and those with less than [-] households are a lower county"; For counties, "upper counties with more than [-] households are upper counties, middle counties with more than [-] households, and lower counties with more than [-] households." Different ranks of county and county officials have different ranks, different rations, and different salaries.

However, when Yang Tong took over Jizhou, his political vision was far worse than it is now. In order to motivate officials, he abolished the scientific and reasonable hierarchy of counties and counties. The official ranks and salaries of Chinese officials are exactly the same.

It wasn't until later that Yang Tong discovered that the sheriff in charge of '[-] households' was extremely busy, while the sheriff in charge of 'less than [-] households' was terribly idle, but they both received the same salary and enjoyed the same treatment. It is undoubtedly unfair. It is okay now. If it continues, there will definitely be a series of bad events such as those who are busy are disgusted with politics, and those who are idle are lazy.This also makes Yang Tong feel stupid and short-sighted about abolishing the hierarchy of counties and counties.

However, Yang Tong has never been the kind of person who "deathly wants face and suffers", let alone pay for the worthless "face" of the great Sui government. Seeing that everyone mentioned this, he asked: "My dear family, Wei Shangshu What's the deal?"

As the head of a hundred officials, Yang Gongren has long realized that the "equality system of counties and counties" is unfair to hardworking officials, but the restoration of the "hierarchy system of counties and counties" involves the vital interests of the officials of the middle and lower counties. The place is in turmoil, so he thinks about the unification of the world before he mentions it again, but Wei Zheng has mentioned it now, and Yang Tong also has this thought, and more importantly, he is also worried that a minor illness will turn into a serious illness, and when he thinks about Yang Tong's control over the world, he will He went out and said: "My lord, there are only so many positions at all levels in the imperial court. If the 'equality system' continues to be implemented, how can there be so many county guards for the county magistrate to promote? When each county magistrate feels that there is no hope of promotion, it is inevitable that they will be lazy. Government, inaction, thinking about eating and dying for a lifetime, the final victims are the local people, and the reputation of the imperial court is also ruined by these people one by one. The county and county hierarchy is different, which can generate more levels of competition. In order to be promoted to be the magistrate of Zhongjun, and the magistrate of Xiaxian County, in order to be promoted to be the magistrate of Zhongxian County, the magistrate of Xiajun must be diligent in administration and love the people."

"My lord, what Zuo Pushe said is very true. Our Great Sui Dynasty is like the Qin Dynasty in ancient times. It is a dynasty of major reforms. The various systems created by our Great Sui Dynasty will have a far-reaching impact on the future, and it is definitely not weaker than that created by Qin Shihuang. system, changing the currency system, writing with the same script, running in the same way, using the same track with vehicles, county and county systems... In order to ensure the orderly continuation of the Sui Dynasty, we should not turn a blind eye to the unreasonable system, and we should change it in time to strive for perfection." Wei Yunqi Also stood up.

"The younger brother seconded the proposal."

"My minister agrees."

"My minister agrees."

"My minister agrees."

"..."

Yang You, Du Ruhui, Kong Yingda, Liu Zhenghui, Jiang Xingben and others also expressed their agreement one by one. The advantages and disadvantages of the 'county-level system' and 'county-county equality system' have already emerged, and everyone can't turn a blind eye to it, let alone Yang Tong. He is not the kind of emperor who doesn't listen to good words, so everyone dares to speak out the pros and cons boldly.

"No, absolutely not." Xu Kuang, the minister of the school, came out and said, "The 'equality system of counties and counties' was created by the Holy One. How can it be changed overnight? If it is reformed, where will the authority of the Holy One be placed?"

Xu Kuang, whose courtesy name is Wenyuan, has read the Five Classics extensively, especially in "Chunqiu Zuozhuan".Dou Wei, Yang Xuangan, Li Mi, Wang Shichong and other influential figures are all his students.

During the Daye period, Xu Kuang was appointed as a doctor of Chinese studies and a national son offering wine.Later, when the world was in chaos and there was a famine in Luoyang, Xu Kuang went out to look for food outside the city, but was captured by Li Mi's men. Li Mi asked Xu Kuang to sit facing south, and gave him the gift of a disciple.But Xu Kuang kept asking Li Mi to surrender to the Sui Dynasty and let him be good.Li Mi was very annoyed by the trouble, saying that he had broken Yu Wenhua and surrendered with Wang Shichong. As a result, Wang Bodang lost Luokou City, and Xu Kuang was captured by Wang Shichong.

Xu Kuang, as a contemporary master of Confucian classics, Wang Shichong dare not neglect, but Xu Kuang always regards himself as Yang Tan's Sui official. When he is happy, he calls Wang Shichong a villain, and when he is unhappy, he calls Wang Shichong a thief who steals the country. Finally, Wang Shichong is angered. But he didn't kill him, but cut off Xu Kuang's supply, trying to make Xu Kuang surrender, but Xu Kuang was almost starved to death and didn't let go. After teaching at the Imperial College, he went out to collect firewood for his family.

Later, when Luoyang was recovered, Yang Tong heard the name of this Confucian scholar who had read poetry and books but was strong, so he invited him to do his old job.Xu Kuang is different from the witty Liu Xuan, he is more pedantic; however, Hu Feng has been popular in the world for hundreds of years, and the social atmosphere is extremely open, so the pedantry of Confucian scholars in this era is only compared to Wei Zheng, Kong Yingda, and Yang Shidao. Xu Kuang said that although he has a tough mouth, it does not mean that he is unreasonable. As long as you persuade him, he will have no second thoughts.

It's just that Xu Kuang is protecting Yang Tong's reputation now, and other people are not good at speaking out, so Yang Tong can only do it himself. He shook his head and said, "Xu Shilang, as the saying goes, how can the ancestor's law not Is it true for all ages? No matter how powerful an empire is, it should not stick to the rules and stand still. Instead, it should maintain a humble and prudent heart and keep pace with the times, so that it can always stand proudly on the top of the world. This is true for the country, and so is the king. We can't always know that it is If you are wrong, you still have to govern the country in the wrong way, right?"

"In the name of the Holy One?"

"What is the name of a person compared with the vital interests of thousands of people in the Sui Dynasty?" Yang Tong looked at Xu Kuang and said with a smile: "Since ancient times, all good filial piety has been the first, and I have restored the civil and military emperors. The implementation of the 'Government and County Hierarchy' can also be regarded as the method of restoring the ancestors, which is filial piety."

Yang Gongren, Wei Yunqi and others secretly said 'beautiful'. .

"..." Xu Kuang was speechless.

"Okay, the merits of the prefecture and county level system are in the present and benefit in the future, so it is imperative." Yang Tong said firmly.

"Saint is wise."

The ministers responded with a bang.

Xu Kuang thought for a while, and said no more.

"My lord, what is the standard for classifying?" Yang Gongren asked.

"The ranks of prefectures and counties are implemented in accordance with the standards of the former emperor. In terms of official ranks, the third-class sheriffs are from the third rank, the upper rank of the fourth rank, and the lower rank of the fourth rank; The county magistrates are respectively the fifth-rank lower, the sixth-rank lower, and the sixth-rank upper; the third-level county magistrates are the sixth-rank upper, the seventh-rank upper, and the seventh-rank upper; the third-level county magistrates... starting from autumn, the salary will be released according to the Standard distribution." After setting one by one, Yang Tong said again: "After the dynasty is dispersed, first announce to the world; the Ministry of Civil Affairs must draw the county level according to the household registration book of the court in the shortest possible time, and after verification, distribute it to each county. , the prefects of each county will notify the counties in Zhishang to let them know which level the county belongs to."

"Here."

Zuo Pushe Yang Gongren, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and Yang Shidao, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, responded in unison.

Yang Tong thought for a while, then returned to the original topic, and said, "The capital of the supply and marketing cooperative is [-] guan for the upper county, [-] guan for the middle county, and [-] guan for the lower county; They are full of private pockets, and there is no supply and marketing agency at the county level for the time being...but during the harvest season, they must go down to the county to buy...unified transportation to the official warehouses of each county. .”

"Here." All the ministers felt awe-inspiring.

"Report to the Holy Majesty, the right servant has sent an urgent letter." At this moment, the news of the delivery of Yang Shanhui's letter came from outside the hall!
"Send the letter quickly." Yang Tong said.

"Here." A guard entered and handed over the letter directly.

When Yang Tong showed the letter, the smile froze on his face, completely shocked by the battle report of 'Yang Shanhui'.

This action made the ministers of His Royal Highness very anxious, thinking that something happened to Yang Shanhui.

Yang Tong picked up the battle report again and again to read it, and suddenly said with a smile: "This is a battle report that has nothing to do with our Sui Dynasty."

Yang Gongren's mind was moved, and he asked: "Could it be that it belongs to the puppet Tang Dynasty and the Beizhen Army?"

"Exactly." Yang Tong laughed loudly: "The afternoon before yesterday, the Beizhen army killed [-] soldiers of Liu Hongji in the northern suburbs of Gucheng County; that night, Li Shimin and Dou Cong besieged Gucheng. The Beizhen army broke the embankment and flooded Gucheng, and [-] soldiers were killed, almost all of them died. In other words, the Beizhen army achieved a brilliant record of annihilating [-] to [-] soldiers of the Tang army in less than a day."

"Sigh~"

For a moment, all the civil and military officials in the hall couldn't help gasping, the shock in their hearts was indescribable.Although the Great Sui Dynasty won many brilliant victories, there were only a handful of battles in which so many enemy troops were killed in one day.

"This Beizhen Army Commander Dugu Yanyun is very lucky."

"Just this one battle, Dugu Yanyun is enough to leave his name in history."

"The real name is also."

"It's a pity that it's not my Great Sui General, what a pity."

"..."

The ministers who didn't know what was going on were all amazed.

Yang Gongren and a few other insiders laughed lightly with a meaningful look on their faces.

"That's all for today, Sanchao."

"Congratulations to the Holy One."

(End of this chapter)