Prosperous Tang Blood Blade

Chapter 916 I, Wei Xuancheng, have always convinced people with reasoning
Chapter 38 I, Wei Xuancheng, have always convinced people with reason

The assassinations against Chen Ying, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Gao Shilian all failed. Although Fang Xuanling and Gao Shilian's guards from the Yuan Sui Imperial Army did not survive, the assassination of Wei Zheng and Chen Ying, But left alive.

Dai Zhou is well aware of the depth of the water inside, but he is definitely not a fearful official. Although he did not use torture, there are some things that cannot be denied. The assassin who assassinated Chen Ying was one of Feng Deyi's concubines, who had the blood of Mohe Snow Nu.

Although Chen Ying didn't know Xue Nu, there were many people in Chang'an who knew Xue Nu. This Xue Nu was good at singing and dancing. Feng Deyi often showed off Xue Nu to the dignitaries in Chang'an.

As for the assassin who assassinated Wei Zheng, under Dai Jia's interrogation, he confessed the person behind the scenes.

Li Jiancheng hosted a banquet for Chen Ying, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Gao Shilian suppressed the surprise, during the meeting Li Anyan came to report: "Your Majesty, the assassin has confessed, he was hired by Feng Daomao, a son of the Feng family, to assassinate Wei Zheng. The person who assassinated Chen Xiangguo was none other than Feng Deyi's concubine..."

Li Jiancheng was taken aback and said, "The Feng family?"

Li Anyan said: "Your Majesty, it is absolutely true that the assassin's accomplice who confessed has been caught.

Li Jiancheng was furious and said: "I just gave so many rewards to the Feng family, and they dare to kill my humerus minister? Come on, send all the children of the Feng family to prison, find out who is involved in it! "

"Wait a minute!"

Li Jiancheng looked around and saw Chen Ying making a sound.

Wei Zheng looked at Chen Ying suspiciously.

Chen Ying smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, if you can not kill people, try not to kill people!"

Li Jiancheng said: "If you don't kill such rebellious officials and thieves, it won't be enough for the common people to be angry!"

Chen Ying looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "May I ask Your Majesty, how many people and households does Datang have today?"

Li Jiancheng said without hesitation: "The four major guardians of the Tang Dynasty have 360 ​​seven prefectures, with a total of 97 households, a population of 2000 million and more than 43 people."

"Your Majesty, the current territory of the Tang Dynasty is more than twice as large as that of the previous Sui Dynasty!" Chen Ying said with a wry smile: "Since ancient times, the Dingkou of the Great Dynasty has been counted, and only the strong Han has been prosperous. The household registration counted, some prefectures and counties, Officials pretended to be political achievements, or deliberately increased their household registration. In some prefectures and counties, officials deliberately reduced their household registration because of hidden taxation. This was reported layer by layer, and finally the household department would summarize it. According to the needs of the bureau, it will be revised, added and deleted, and the final figure recorded in the annals, that is, reported to the emperor on the same day, this number can only be used as the emperor's participation in prison, and cannot be regarded as the original number."

Li Jiancheng was shocked when he heard this.In fact, when Datang captured Guanzhong from Hedong, did he realize that now that the world has been unified, the number of registered households is less than one-third of that of the previous dynasty, and more than two-thirds of the population has disappeared.

Where did these people go? Chen Ying was relieved when he thought about the census practices of later generations. In fact, in the era of strict family planning, almost every village had black households.This is still the case after a thousand years, how can we demand the ancients who are far behind in statistical technology?

Chen Ying looked at Li Jiancheng and explained: "Generally speaking, if politics is lenient, the household registration will gradually appear, and if politics is harsh, the household registration will gradually disappear. Why? Political lenient, registered household registration is upright, can be protected by the law, has proof of business, and joins the army There are more meritorious services, so the household registration gradually becomes more prominent; politics is harsh, the law does not protect the people, the path to officialdom is not smooth, and those who are registered as household registration are exploited, and there are more disadvantages, so the household registration gradually disappears."

Li Jiancheng was shocked. Although wars were frequent at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, in fact, the statistics of all wars in the world showed very limited casualties. The war was a major defeat since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, but the number of soldiers lost in the five battles was as high as 20. However, the population of Guanzhong has decreased from the peak population of 500 million to the current 300 million, and nearly 200 million people disappeared in the middle. , while other states and counties lost even more people.

Li Jiancheng nodded with no choice but to admit, "In the past few years, the household registration has gradually disappeared."

"Yes!" Chen Ying said without hesitation: "The original number of Dingkou in Guanzhong was at its peak in the first year of Wude. At that time, not only the people in Guanzhong, but also moved more than [-] households from Hedong to Hedong, and more than [-] households from Luoyang. During the seven years since Zong Luohu entered Jingyang in the first year of Wude, Dingkou became more and more prosperous, and political affairs became worse and worse. The law did not protect the people. Three ways."

Li Jiancheng was silent.

He understood Chen Ying's hidden meaning.Although Guanzhong has not experienced war, its population has decreased sharply. In just seven years, it has reduced by a full 200 ​​million people. These people were not killed or starved to death at all, but hid.The root cause of population hiding is actually very simple, that is, major cases and frequent occurrences of critical issues, Wu Dechu, the founding father Liu Wenjing's rebellion case, Li's conspiracy case, Dou Jiande's rebellion case, Xuanwumen, and now the Feng clan, such big cases Once an important case breaks out, tens of thousands of people will be involved. Even if these people are not killed on the spot, they will find ways to escape.

When Chen Ying said this, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Gao Shilian were all silent. They were full of imagination, and looked at Chen Ying with a slightly different look.

Li Jiancheng frowned and said, "Could it be that Wu Delu is just a decoration?"

Chen Ying shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, heavy codes should be used in troubled times. Now is not a troubled time, so if you can kill as little as possible, kill as little as possible. Even if it is a heinous crime, you should be pardoned and let them use their actual actions to atone for their sins!"

Chen Ying's purpose is still very simple, it is for the population. It is too difficult to migrate the population to the Western Regions, Liaodong, etc. Now the population in Guanzhong is far from saturated, and it has not exceeded the bearing capacity of the land. Holding the stereotyped thinking that people leave their hometown and be cheap, they refuse to stay away from their homeland.

However, new lands like the Western Regions and Anton must be immigrated to Shibian, otherwise they will not be able to hold on.

Finally, Li Jiancheng nodded heavily.

……

Chang'an City, seal the mansion.A large group of imperial guards surrounded the Fengfu, and the soldiers of the imperial guards surrounded the Fengfu with three floors inside and three floors outside, and it was impenetrable.

A waiter held the sacred decree and read it in front of the hall: "...the crime is unforgivable, and it should be executed. If you read it first, you will be tested for meritorious service, so you will be punished for serious crimes. Jianmen Zhige, Yangwu general post, dispatched to the Western Regions, I hope you will learn lessons in the future and take them as a warning...

Feng Daoyan clenched his fists tightly, and a gleam appeared in his eyes.

The nephew of the Feng family was tied up and escorted out of the mansion.

There was a burst of crying in the Fengfu.

The people in the surrounding neighborhood stood on high ground to watch.

An audience member who looked like a scholar sighed: "The elders of the three dynasties, when they were prime ministers, their families were locked up by the court before their bones were cold. The court and the emperor are a little too inhuman."

Several people in the same industry around him also echoed.

……

In Chang'an City, in Qujiangfang by the Qujiang Pool, in an unremarkable courtyard, at this time in Chang'an City, all the influential figures of the Guanzhong family were invited to come. Son, lawyer Pei.

The representative of the Changsun family in Luoyang is Changsun Anye.

Luoyang Yuanshi represents Yuan Hongren.

Jingzhao Webster represents Wei Shen.

The Hedong Liu family represents Liu Yannian.

The Dugu family in the cloud represents the cultivation of virtue alone.

The Tianshui Zhao family represents Zhao Mu.

The Yu family in Luoyang represents Yu Gongquan.

All the representatives of the Guanlong family gathered together, and everyone was whispering.At this moment, Yu Wenhua and his birth were in the lobby, and the eldest grandson Anye hurriedly got up and said: "Everyone be quiet, please have a lecture!"

Yu Wenhuaji slowly scanned the crowd with his gaze like a poisonous snake.

Everyone lowered their heads unconsciously, and no one dared to look at Yu Wenhuaji.

After a long time, Yu Wenhuaji slowly opened his mouth and said: "Since the change of Xuanwumen, the emperor has no way, trusted his ministers, poisoned the family, forced the old ministers to death, and oppressed the bereaved family. Now people are swords and I am fish. Do you sit and wait for death or stand up?" Come out to defend the country?"

The representatives of all the families and clans shouted in unison: "On the side of the Qing emperor, punish the treacherous ministers!"

Yu Wenhuaji raised a dagger angrily, and roared fiercely: "Who is the faint king?"

All the representatives shouted in unison: "Li Jiancheng!"

Yu Wenhuaji asked again: "Who is the traitor?"

All the representatives shouted in unison: "Chen Ying!"

As the saying goes, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents.Originally, the aristocratic family in Guanzhong took advantage of the severe drought in Guanzhong to drive up the price of grain in Guanzhong, originally wanting to make a fortune.Unexpectedly, Chen Ying used his own way to repay him.Chen Ying also set up a bureau, this bureau was set up more cleverly than theirs, and all the aristocratic families in Guanzhong were included in it at once.

They bought nearly 200 million shi of grain from Chen Ying at a high price. As a result, Chen Ying suppressed the price of grain to ten yuan per bucket, and a net loss of seventy to eighty yuan per shi of grain. Their original stock of more than 500 million shi of grain lost as much as 400 million guan , almost [-]% of Datang's annual tax revenue.

The collective property of the entire Guanzhong family has shrunk by one-third, and the fields, houses, and shops passed down from their ancestors were all auctioned off by Chen Ying in Chang'an City.In just half a year, Chen Ying poached at least seventy-eight million pieces of flesh from aristocratic families in Guanzhong.

At this time, if you want to ask who the family members of the Guanzhong family hate the most, in fact, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, who have dismissed officials, are not yet on the list, and the number one target is Chen Ying.

The representatives of the aristocratic clans shouted again: "There is also Wei Zheng! Fang Xuanling..."

Yu Wenhuaji thrust his dagger into the desk and looked at the crowd and shouted: "Today, our families and clans have made an alliance with blood, we will advance and retreat together, live and die together!"

All the representatives shouted in unison: "Advance and retreat together! Live and die together!"

……

In the mansion of the king of Yi'an County in Chang'an, dozens of people including the princes, princes, and lords of the Li clan gathered together.

Huai'an King Li Shentong looked at the clans and said with grief: "Now I can see that there is nothing to say, Dalang is just another Yang Guang, the country conquered by the Supreme Emperor is about to be defeated by him. "

Li Xiaochang said angrily: "He is not even as good as Yang Guang. After Yang Guang became emperor, he would not persecute the clan, mutilate his siblings, let alone cut off his own wings."

Li Shentong looked around at the Li family members who were sitting around, and said slowly: "Everyone present here is a prominent figure in our Li family family. Now the titles of each family have changed from county kings to county princes. Maybe after a while , will continue to surrender, and the next step will be ransacking and beheading..."

Li Zhan, the King of Shu, said angrily: "This old man has already buried half of his body in the ground, and he is not afraid of His Majesty, who will put a knife on the old man's neck. To put it plainly, I will force the emperor to abdicate and welcome the Supreme Emperor to return."

Shu Wang Li Zhan is Li Yuan's second elder brother.

The relatives of the Li family clan immediately echoed emotionally.

Li Shentong got up and gestured for everyone to be quiet. After a long time, Li Shentong continued: "Everyone, be safe and don't be impatient."

Li Xiaochang was puzzled and said: "Prince Huai'an, what are we waiting for?"

Li Shen said: "Now everything is ready, the only thing we owe is Dongfeng, as long as there is one more person from our Li family willing to join, the big thing will be done!"

Li Zhan asked, "Who else is missing?"

Li Shen said: "Hejian County King, Li Xiaogong!"

……

In the morning light, a dense crowd appeared at the gate of the Nanya official department hall. These people were wearing their own official uniforms. In the front row were thousands of small officials of the eighth and ninth grades wearing blue official uniforms and sapphire stones on their heads. The second is the sixth- and seventh-rank officials in green official uniforms and silver ornaments on their heads.

Standing at the back were hundreds of officials of the fourth and fifth ranks wearing scarlet official uniforms and carrying whitebait bags.Even at the end, there are dozens of third-rank officials wearing noble and purple official uniforms and hanging goldfish bags.

All the officials raised their arms and shouted: "Why should we be eliminated?

"If the Tang Dynasty wants to stabilize the world, doesn't it need talented people?"

"Flying birds are gone, good bows are hidden, cunning rabbits are dead, and running dogs are cooking!"

"Is this a human thing?"

"Are you really not afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling are treacherous ministers and rebellious parties who have harmed the country and the people."

Fang Xuanling was ruthless enough. There were more than 800 officials in Chang'an, and he abolished a full 3000 of them in one go.

More than 3000 civil servants gathered outside the Ministry of Officials, questioning and cursing in unison.

The huge sound wave startled a large flock of crows and birds.

A secretary Lingshi came in with a sad face and reported: "Wei... Xiang... Xiangguo can't get out. Those civil servants who made trouble blocked the front and rear gates."

Wei Zheng put down the documents, got up and stood at the window looking out.

With a pale face, Gao Shilian tugged at Wei Zheng's sleeve and said, "Xuancheng, it's not like there will be any deaths, right? Why haven't you seen the Imperial Army come to protect us?"

Wei Zheng patted Gao Shilian on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, this is such a big scene, what should we do, Xuan Ling and I, go out and meet them for a while."

Fang Xuanling smiled slightly and said, "That's exactly what I mean!"

Thousands of civil servants blocked the door of Shang Shuxing passionately.

Everyone was cursing, beating their chests and stamping their feet, or crying.

The door opened slowly, and Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling appeared in front of everyone hand in hand.

More than a dozen Lingshi brought out two desk tables and a large number of documents from the hall.

Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling remained calm amidst the loud and cursing of the crowd.

Let the historians arrange a few cases.

Wei Zheng and Fang Xuanling sat down straight.

Wei Zheng shouted loudly: "Anyone who thinks the court's treatment is unfair and wants to argue, come here one by one. Xuanling and I will stay with you to the end."

The officials who were clamoring suddenly lifted their spirits.

An official dressed in scarlet stepped forward and stood in front of Wei Zheng.

"The imperial court treated me unfairly."

Wei Zheng gave way without changing his face: "What is your surname? Where do you work? What grievances?"

The scarlet official said: "Qiao Yong, Shang Shuxing, a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, Wailang."

Wei Zheng quickly searched for Qiao Yong's files among the stacked documents.

Fang Xuanling's face darkened, and he shouted in a cold voice, "What's wrong with you?"

Qiao Yong snorted coldly and said: "Fang's participation in politics is a matter of knowing. Qiao has served in the Ministry of Civil Affairs since the incident in Taiyuan. , worked for the imperial court for ten years. According to my seniority, I, Qiao, could have been promoted to be a doctor in the Ministry of Finance long ago, but I dare not take the credit and be proud, and still fulfill my duties. Instead of encouraging me, the imperial court wants to remove me from the official position. Xiangguo, You Cheng , May I ask which court law I, Qiao, violated? Which law of the court violated? Is it because I, Qiao, did not go to worship the mountain gate to vote?
All the officials in the back immediately shouted and cursed in an uproar.

Wei Zheng pulled out a document, threw it in front of Qiao Yong and said, "Look for yourself."

With a look of disdain on his face, Qiao Yong picked up the document, and after reading two lines, his face changed drastically. The more he read, the paler his face became.

Wei Zheng shouted: "Qiao Yong, as the head of the Ministry of Finance, your daily duties are to be in charge of the gifts of officials, military towns, and foreign guests. You have repeatedly deducted the rewards given to officials by the court. Among them, the rewards given by Du Fuwei, king of Wu , was almost completely swallowed by you. In order to cover up the crime, you and Ling Shi, your subordinate, conspired with each other. The imperial court dismissed you today, and tomorrow the criminal officer of Dali Temple will come to visit."

Qiao Yong's face turned pale immediately.

Fang Xuanling said blankly: "Next."

The officials were a little hesitant.

PS: I need to catch a train today, Lao Cheng’s laptop hard drive is broken, and I don’t have the money to buy a new one for the time being, who is proficient in computers, please help me in the group, which laptop is the most cost-effective.

(End of this chapter)