The Tang Dynasty started from saving Empress Changsun

Chapter 452 Untitled
At the end of the first day, the imperial court announced a new round of enfeoffment lists, and a total of thirteen powerful families were entrusted.

Among them, the most eye-catching one is Lingnan Feng's, the actually largest separatist force in the Tang Dynasty, finally chose to exit with dignity.

Anyone with a little knowledge of the inside story can't help admiring Feng An's sensitivity. It really is the best time to choose.

The largest of the many feudal kingdoms is Feng's Yue Kingdom, whose area is still larger than that of ordinary kingdoms.

This is not surprising, many duchies are actually larger than kingdoms.

The reason is very simple. The kings were basically granted titles based on their clan status, and they did not have much merit for Datang.

Which one of the princes has made great achievements, and the area of ​​the feudal country is too small to commend their achievements.

This can also be regarded as a kind of care for Li Shimin to Kai Guo Venture Group.

After being convinced that Feng's exit was decent, the officialdom became lively, and various factions took action one after another, trying to gain some benefits.

Li Shimin can't stop this situation, he can only acquiesce.

As long as the plans of the imperial court are not disrupted, everything is fine.

Then the imperial court announced the Lingnan construction plan, dividing it into two areas with Guangxin as the boundary.

They are Lingnan East Road and Lingnan West Road.

Two ad hoc governors are in charge of military and political power, and the candidates for the two governors are Cen Wenwen and Yu Wenjie.

After that, there is the appointment of officials at all levels, which is also something that various factions compete for.

After arguing for more than half a month, a specific list was finally compromised.

Of course, officials can't just take office in a daze. How to accept and govern Lingnan is the most important thing.

Liao people would not be so obedient to accept the rule of the Tang Dynasty, even with the help of Feng An, the local emperor of Lingnan, it would be difficult.

If Datang does not have appropriate policies to stabilize the local people's hearts, there will inevitably be a major turmoil.

I am not afraid of turmoil, but what I am afraid of is that this place will become a prison again.

The history of how dangerous the use of troops in the South has long given the answer.

The first emperor sent people to attack Lingnan for the first time, 30 people were defeated, and the main general died in battle.

Later, Zhao Tuo led 50 people into Lingnan, and he completely conquered this place.

No one knows which is stronger between the combat effectiveness of the Great Tang army and the Great Qin army that just pacified the Six Kingdoms.

But it is impossible for Datang to accept such a loss, not to mention hundreds of thousands, even tens of thousands of people are unwilling.

What everyone wants more is a peaceful takeover, rather than a turmoil that wastes money and people.

So it depends on the sincerity of the court.

The sincerity of the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty did not think it was enough, Li Shimin immediately announced the exemption of all exorbitant taxes in Lingnan for three years.

Distribute land, farm tools, improved seeds, etc. to each family of people who are naturalized in the Tang Dynasty.

The announcement of a series of policies to benefit the people allowed people all over the world to see the sincerity of the court, and also let officials know the court's determination to manage Lingnan.

No one can spoil this matter, otherwise the consequences will be very serious.

But Li Shimin's big move was far more than that. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he announced several big innovations one after another.

The first, finally officially announced, the complete abolition of the poll tax.

All citizens of the Tang Dynasty will no longer be subject to poll tax from this year.

After a history of more than 1000 years, this tax, which was levied from the Western Zhou Dynasty, finally went extinct.

As soon as this news came out, Chang'an was boiling instantly, and the voices of the people shouting long live could be heard in Daxing Palace.

Then this news spread to the world at the fastest speed, and if it didn't spread to any place, you would be grateful for it.

Wangyuetan and Shuoyuetan published special issues one after another to introduce this matter.

Despite the highly repetitive content, sales of this special issue reached new highs.

Many illiterate people will buy a copy and plan to collect or offer it up.

Although Datang has not collected poll tax in recent years, this non-collection is carried out in the form of amnesty.

That is to say, whenever there is a happy event, Li Shimin will issue an order to exempt the poll tax.

Everyone is naturally worried, if the emperor is unhappy one day, will it be unavoidable?

Now it is completely abolished as a national decree, and the meaning is completely different.

You no longer have to worry about whether this matter will change.

What?You said what if one day the emperor re-levies?
Hehe, do you really think the common people are lambs?Rabbits will bite people when they are in a hurry.

Anyway, as soon as this decree came out, the people all over the world shouted long live.

Li Shimin's status in the hearts of the people is close to that of a god.

Moreover, as soon as this decree came out, it also brought about an unexpected effect.

Countless hermits and black households took the initiative to stand up and ask for naturalization, and the people of Siyi also changed their ways to become naturalized in Datang.

It can be said that just the policy of canceling the poll tax has added at least one million people to Datang's books.

The second government decree is the Land Reclamation Order.

No tax will be levied on newly reclaimed land within five years, half tax will be levied after five years, and normal tax will be levied after ten years.

Many people are puzzled by this decree. Why is it tax-free for five years and five-and-a-half years?

For example, Wu Shu didn't understand at all.

Chen Jingke didn't laugh at her for breaking away from the common people. This kind of problem is not only her, but many people have it.

Just as ordinary people cannot understand how luxurious the life of the powerful is, the powerful also cannot understand the sufferings of the people.

That's what it means to separate from top to bottom.

As a couple, what he has to do is not to laugh, but to help her understand the problem:
"Badlands tend to be barren and overgrown with weeds. It takes years to build up fertility and eradicate most of the weeds."

"For a piece of newly reclaimed land, it is not bad if the input and output can be equal after three years."

"There will be a slight surplus within five years, and it will take about seven or eight years to become mature land, and some may not be mature in ten years."

"The imperial court will not levy taxes for five and a half years within five years, so that the people will not lose money in reclaiming wasteland, so that more people will be willing to reclaim wasteland."

Wu Shu suddenly realized, and said: "So that's the case. Before I went out for an outing, I wondered why there are so many wastelands, why the landless people don't cultivate them, so the problem lies in this."

Chen Jingke shook his head repeatedly and said, "The situation in Chang'an is special. The wasteland here is not cultivated because the people are unwilling, but these lands are owned by the owners."

"The owners of these lands are either rich or noble. A little bit more land and less land will not affect their wealth, so they just put it there and don't care about it."

"But if someone wants to move the land here, they will definitely jump out and make trouble."

Speaking of this, Chen Jingke said helplessly: "You really should pay more attention to the lives of the people at the bottom."

"Taoism is all about dealing with the people. If you, the acting leader, don't know anything about the people below, how can you formulate a way to attract the people?"

Wu Shu said with some shame: "I know, let's find out now."

Don't think that the people are ignorant and do not want to make progress, they also have an upward heart.

In the past, it was just that the conditions did not allow it. Now the imperial court has issued a wasteland reclamation order, and the mountains and plains are full of people looking for unowned wasteland.

In particular, many people with little land or even no land are more active than each other.

In order to compete for the wasteland with a better location, fights and fights skyrocketed, and even killed people.

For this situation, the princes of the DPRK and China celebrated with each other.

The more active the people are, the more it means that their policy is correct and it is good governance.

It will be another highlight in the history books in the future.

There are several other decrees, but they pale in comparison to these two.

After the Shangyuan Festival, these decrees officially came into effect.

The officials who went to Lingnan also set off one after another, and Datang entered a new chapter.

At the end of January, Li Shimin suddenly called Chen Jingke to the palace and said, "I'm going to leave Chang'an and go to Dizhou and Qingzhou for inspection."

Chen Jingke guessed his purpose immediately, and said, "Is the expedition team to Shangzhou ready?"

Li Shimin nodded and said: "It's ready, I happened to see them off on the way, I asked you to come over to ask if you want to go with me."

"Me?" To be honest, Chen Jingke was a little moved.

After traveling to the Tang Dynasty, he really hasn't been to many places.

In the first half a year, I followed Sun Simiao around the foot of Taibai Mountain, and later I was left here in order to come to Chang'an for my birthday.

He also wanted to see the great rivers and mountains of ancient China with his own eyes.

But after thinking about it, he shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm in love with home, and I probably want to come back in a few days."

"Besides, if I leave for three days, little Si will be seriously ill."

Of course, there are other reasons, such as Zhang Ping's request has not been completed, how can he escape.

It's just that these reasons obviously cannot be told to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin originally just felt that locking him in Chang'an every day was not an option, so he wanted to take him with him while he was on a tour.

Seeing that he doesn't want to go out now, he naturally didn't force him, saying: "If that's the case, then forget it."

Then he said sourly: "Little Si, this daughter is raised for nothing."

Chen Jingke rolled his eyes and said, "You are sad here, I'll go and see the little one."

After speaking, he ran away.

……

At the beginning of February, Li Shimin left Chang'an, entered the Yellow River along the Guangtong Canal, and went all the way east to Dizhou.

This is the headquarters of the East China Sea Fleet.

All the officers and soldiers of the East China Sea Fleet, as well as officials from Dizhou, Qingzhou and other places, gathered together to welcome the Holy Cross.

Li Shimin didn't like this kind of extravagance and waste, so he severely reprimanded him.

However, after visiting the actual situation in each state, I also praised them for their good work.

In Dizhou, Qingzhou and other places, due to the severe salinization of the coastal land, only places close to the river can barely grow crops.

Later, Chen Jingke came up with the salt drying method, and the imperial court reclaimed salt fields here, and several states in this generation suddenly became rich.

In a few years, it became the first-class wealthy place in Datang.

With popularity, merchants flock to it.

Dizhou was originally prospered because of salt, but now it has evolved into a city full of flowers and has become a veritable commercial city.

Its prosperity is no less than that of Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and other places that prospered due to the Grand Canal.

It is precisely because this place is rich that the imperial court put the East China Sea Fleet here.

The reason is simple. When the place is rich, the cost of purchasing various materials for the Navy is lower.

For the Navy, a big gold swallower, any cost savings is a huge number.

Three days later, all the crew members of the entire East China Sea Fleet were in place, and all the ships weighed anchor, but none of them moved, and they were all quietly waiting for something.

And in the center of the square, a group of people in navy uniforms were watching all this excitedly and nervously.

Soon Li Shimin, wearing a dragon robe, appeared on the square, followed by all the generals of the East China Sea Fleet.

Seeing him appear, there was a little commotion in the group... After all, this is the emperor, an emperor who changed the fate of everyone.

Looking at them, Li Shimin was also moved with emotion.

Exploring Shangzhou (America) is a long-established plan. In the past few years, Datang's fleet has been exploring northward, and the furthest footsteps have touched the Arctic Ocean.

And set up a supply station there.

Although due to the order, no one crossed the strait and went to the legendary Shangzhou.

But everyone knew that Shangzhou was just around the corner.

Today the imperial court formed an expedition team to go to the opposite side of the mainland to explore the legendary Shangzhou.

The size of this fleet is not large, with only five ships and more than [-] people.

But although sparrows are small and complete, everyone can say that they have special skills.

Doctors, cooks, soldiers, merchants, craftsmen...even Taoist priests.

The materials and equipment are also very complete, and books, medicines, entertainment facilities, etc. are all the best.

The most important thing is to have canned food, which is many times better than the conditions of the great European voyages.

But even so, this kind of pioneering expedition is extremely dangerous, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is close to death.

That's why Li Shimin saw them off in person. Regardless of the final result, their deeds should be remembered by all Chinese people.

It is indeed inspiring to see the emperor off in person.

After Li Shimin's impassioned speech, everyone's morale was high.

But just verbal encouragement certainly cannot show the sincerity of the court, and it is not enough to support these warriors to go through various hardships.

What is really useful is the reward:
All those who participated in this operation, regardless of whether they made meritorious service or not, were all canonized as the fourth-class Xiaoqiwei.

If you make corresponding contributions, even Shangzhu Kingdom will not be stingy.

For everyone, this is the most tangible thing that can make people work hard.

At least this group of warriors was satisfied, and then set foot on the ship of the long voyage.

Li Shimin stood on the shore and watched them leave.

Dozens of warships from the East China Sea Fleet escorted them, and hundreds of artillery pieces fired in unison to see them off.

The accompanying grandson Wuji persuaded: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the warship will escort them to Liugui Country all the time."

"There are also many supply points left by us on the road thousands of miles behind, and we will not encounter any trouble all the way to the Shangzhou Strait."

Li Shimin said: "What I'm worried about is that after they reach the other side, I hope those descendants of Yin and Shang will not be too barbaric."

Changsun Wuji didn't know what to say. One can only imagine how dangerous it would be to travel across the ocean to meet a group of complete strangers. He could only pray that they would come back alive.

Fortunately, Li Shimin is not the kind of sentimental person, he recovered quickly, and then turned around in the military port.

Li Shimin said: "How about it, is this place not bad as a fleet base?"

Liu Rengui, who has been promoted to the general of the East China Sea Fleet, complimented: "Return to Your Majesty, the Bohai Sea is a natural seaport, and it is most suitable to place the fleet here."

"The wind and waves here are relatively small, and it is also the most suitable place for recruit training."

Li Shimin nodded and said: "That's good... What's the situation in the Wonu country now?"

(End of this chapter)