A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1164: Hitting the Blade

The Anxi soldiers acted quickly, ransacked the house and arrested people.

Zuo Chongxi looked at Zhao Chounu who was leading the way and stepped forward puzzledly, "Mr. Zhao, what is this?"

"Zuo Chongxi, do you know your crime?" Zhao Chounu looked at this person, feeling both guilty and resentful. He felt guilty that he took the money but failed to do the job, especially that he took the other person's daughter as a concubine. The young and beautiful girl was gentle and considerate, and Zhao Chounu liked her very much. Especially since the Zuo family was a wealthy family in Gaochang, and Zuo had been learning music, chess, calligraphy and painting since he was a child. For a rough man who came from a poor family behind the mountains of Youzhou, these were quite attractive to him.

But when he thought about how he was demoted from captain of the Yabing Corps to deputy captain because he accepted money from the Zuo family and married the Zuo family's daughter, and was looked down upon by the Minister of War, he hated the Zuo family again.

It's all his fault for using his money and his daughter to seduce me.

Li Keyong came forward, Fei Yaer looked at him expressionlessly, then took out a piece of paper and read out a long list of charges on the spot.

When Zuo Chongxi heard that the final punishment was beheading, his head would be sent to the three prefectures of Yixi Ting, his family would be sent as slaves, and his property would be confiscated, he was stunned.

Regardless of how the Zuo family reacted, the Anxi army immediately began to search the house and arrest people.

All members of the Zuo family were taken away this time. Males over the age of twelve were sent to military settlements to open up wasteland and cultivate the land, while women worked in the government-run cotton spinning workshops in Xizhou. As for those under the age of twelve, they were sent to Liangzhou for resettlement.

Check the account books and count the property.
In particular, the grain shops and granaries of the Zuo family were the main targets of the search and seizure this time. All of the hundreds of thousands of shi of wheat, millet, soybeans, etc. stored in their family were confiscated and put into the military warehouse without a single grain left.

I copied for several days.
There are more than a dozen account books for registration.

The property seized from the Zuo family was indeed a lot, even a bit shocking. There were more than a dozen stones of silver and money in their family. Several underground silver cellars were also discovered. There were even two underground workshops in their family that imitated Persian silver coins.

A lot of gold was also seized.

In addition, there are many kinds of pepper, jade, etc.
The amount copied out was several times more than what Li Keyong had originally found. The Zuo family was not worth ten thousand taels, but one hundred thousand taels.

"I didn't expect the Zuo family to be so rich. How many years will it take for us in Xizhou to collect taxes from the people, merchants, and foreigners to collect 100,000 strings of cash?"

When Li Keyong reported to Wu Huaiyu, he was filled with emotion.

"I'm not that surprised. After all, the Zuo family has been in Gaochang for three or four hundred years."

"We also seized many loan books. The Zuo family lent a lot of money, many of which were old debts that could not be repaid with interest compounded. Some people sold their wives and daughters, houses and land, but still could not pay back the money. They were forced to become slaves of the Zuo family. Some people ran away when they could not pay back the money."

"Sort out these loan accounts."

"Those who have already paid back the principal can write it off, and they don't have to pay back the rest."

"For those who have not yet paid back their principal or have been in arrears for a long time, we only need to recover the principal."

After all, those accounts were all loans. Although Zuo was a loan shark, the government took over his property, so these loans belonged to the Protectorate.
The Protectorate could settle these loans and make concessions, but the capital still had to be recovered.

"Issue a notice to publicly execute Zuo Chongxi in three days, and let all the wealthy families in Xizhou who have not yet moved to Xizhou go to watch the execution. After the execution, send Zuo's head to the three states of Yixiting."

Since the purpose is to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, the execution must of course be watched by the monkeys.

"One more thing,"

“Those who had gone bankrupt because of borrowing from the Zuo family at high interest rates, and who even sold their wives and daughters as slaves to the Zuo family, or even sold themselves as slaves to pay off their debts, were all released and made free.

The Han people among them were given equal land, with each family receiving 50 mu of land.

Zuo Shi was to be killed as an example to others and to establish his authority by using his head. As for those who owed money to his family, even his slaves, the interest was waived to reduce the debt, and they were even released as free men and given land.
This is to show grace.

Since the imperial court's policy was to remove all the upper class in Gaochang, drastic measures were necessary. As for the remaining common people in Gaochang, they would naturally be given kindness.

The best favor is to distribute land equally.

Even if a household was only allocated 50 mu, 20 mu of permanent land, and 30 mu for each household, it was a great blessing for countless lower-class people in Gaochang.

They must be extremely grateful to the imperial court and must support the Protectorate that distributed their land. As for the original Gaochang Kingdom, the Gaochang royal family, and the former nobles and powerful people, who would care about them?

The Zuo family might have once held a high position in Gaochang, but he had no capital to resist the Tang Dynasty and the Anxi Protectorate.

Was Zuo wronged?

It's a bit unfair, but it's just his fault for not knowing the current situation.

The Holy Emperor of Chang'an is merciful, but if there are people in the Western Regions who are ignorant of the current situation, then Wu Huaiyu, the Grand Protector General, will have no choice but to carry out the punishment from heaven.

The Anxi Army posted a notice,
Three days later, Zuo Chongxi was publicly executed.
The notice also announced the Grand Protectorate's disposal of the Zuo family's debts and the disposal of the Zuo family's slaves.
It can be said that the news spread immediately throughout the entire Western Province within hundreds of miles, and it shocked the whole country.

Especially those powerful and wealthy families who were still thinking of ways to move to the Central Plains were struck by lightning.

Zuo Chongxi was one of them. The Zuo family and Zuo Chongxi were also quite famous in Gaochang. It was heard before that he had hooked up with a captain of the Anxi Army, who was once Wu Huaiyu's personal soldier.

I didn't expect that their house would be raided and the whole family would be wiped out suddenly.

Countless people were trembling.

"Call Zhao Chounu." Zhao Chounu, a giant like an iron tower, looked a little haggard these past two days.
Wu Huaiyu threw him a piece of contract.

"Take this slave contract and go to the Xizhou government office to pick up the person."

Zhao Chounu was illiterate and was at a loss holding the contract.

Li Keyong cursed, "Why don't you thank Prime Minister Wu, you bastard? This is the official slave deed of your new concubine Zuo. Prime Minister Wu bought her with his own money and now I'm giving it to you. Take the deed and pick her up. Remember to transfer the ownership and change the deed at the government office."

"This this,"

"What the hell! Since Zuo is your concubine, can you bear to see her end up in a music school or a workshop? Don't worry, after you took Zuo away, the Prime Minister Wu specifically ordered someone to take care of her."

"Also, Zuo is pregnant, bring her back quickly."

Zhao Chounu was stunned for a while. His favorite concubine Zuo was found again and she was pregnant. This was really good news. But he was a little hesitant. "I, I brought people to raid her house and caused her father to be beheaded. Can she still be with me?"

"No one can be blamed for that matter. Zuo Chongxi used you in the beginning and caused you to be demoted. Zuo Chongxi's current fate has nothing to do with you. It was the decision of the Grand Protectorate, and he deserved it.

If you can take Zuo back, how could she blame you? She and the baby in her belly are grateful to you. Otherwise, her life will be completely over."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Wu, thank you, Yanei,"

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "Every failure makes you wiser. You should be more careful in the future. This incident can be considered a lesson." After saying that, he took out another piece of paper and gave it to him.

Li Keyong knew that he was illiterate, so he said, "This is a land deed. It is a 500-mu land in Chonghua Township, Gaochang County, Xizhou. It was originally owned by the Zuo family. Prime Minister Wu paid for it. This is the land deed. I'm giving it to you now. You can take it to the government office to transfer the ownership and exchange it for a new one."

"How can I accept this?"

"You were herding sheep and hunting for people behind the Youzhou Mountains. I selected you to join the army. You first became my guard. Later, I let you stay with Fei Yaer. I punished you before because I was enforcing the law impartially. But you are mine. These 500 acres of land are for you to work peacefully in Anxi and not make mistakes for money in the future.
Besides, since you are taking a concubine and are about to have a child, this can be regarded as a small gift from me to you, so please accept it."

Li Keyong laughed and scolded, "Why don't you thank me now, you bastard?"

Zhao Chounu hurriedly thanked him.

"We are family, there is no need to be so formal. Work hard, and you will have a bright future. You will get fame and fortune right away. You can earn a title and a wife and children, and you will be worthy of being a real man."

"Yes, I will remember the teachings of the Minister of War."

After Zhao Chounu left,

Wu Huaiyu asked Li Keyong, "How is the inspection of military discipline going?"

“There are a lot of problems.”

"Our inspection this time is an internal audit. Our original intention is to cure diseases and save lives, so we will deal with everything we find quickly. We will give you a chance this time. Since it is your first offense, we will mainly give you a warning. If you accept bribes or gifts, please return them actively.
Of course, there are some bad ones, and we must catch a few examples, especially those who dare to embezzle money and grain from government offices and military garrisons, and deal with them severely. "

The Anxi Protectorate commanded 32,000 soldiers, and there was also a system of civil officials in the three states of Yixiting. They were all newly built teams, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were a makeshift team.
Some things will definitely be messy at the beginning and require a process of formalization.

"Aye, many monks have come to visit us recently,"

After listening to Li Keyong's report, Wu Huaiyu just smiled and said, "It seems that these monks are not only devoted to chanting scriptures and worshiping Buddha, but also care about the outside world. They also know that our Tang Dynasty has been cracking down on illegal suppression of Buddhism and Taoism since the Zhenguan period.
We don't care how Gaochang worshipped Buddhism and had rituals in the past. Now that Gaochang has become a Western Prefecture directly under the imperial court, Yiwu and Shanbei are also Yi Prefectures and Ting Prefectures under the imperial court.
Then everything must be done according to the court system and policies.

Existing temples need to apply for a license issued by the court, and monks also need to take an exam. Those who pass the exam will receive a certificate of ordination. Temples that fail to obtain a license will be abolished. Monks and nuns who fail to obtain a monk certificate issued by the court will be required to return to secular life.

From then on, the establishment of temples and the ordination of monks and nuns required first applying to the imperial court and obtaining approval.

Also, from now on, temples and monasteries are not allowed to engage in business, lend money, mortgage, annex land, or employ slaves. Monks in each temple have quotas and are not allowed to exceed them. Each monk in the temple can own a maximum of 20 mu of land..."

These are policies that were already implemented during the Zhenguan period and have been perfected over the years.

But for the monks in the temples in the Western Regions, this might be a major earthquake.

"As for the Zoroastrian temples of the Sogdians, they are treated equally, with the same policy as in the Central Plains. Sogdian Hu believers in Zoroastrianism must register with the government and pay a tithe tax..."

The Western Regions are not a lawless place.
Yi, Xi and Ting, the three prefectures in Shandong today, are now directly under the imperial court, so everything naturally has to be connected with the Central Plains.

The monks were no exception. No matter whether they were Mahayana or Hinayana Buddhists, Sogdian Zoroastrians, or even Roman Nestorianists, they had to follow the court's policies in the three prefectures of the imperial court.

As for Yanqi, Qiuci and other Anxi vassal states, the imperial court has no control over them for the time being and can ignore them for now.

Wu Huaiyu did not intend to give privileges to the monks. There were many temples and monks in the three states of Yiwuting. The temple economy was also very strong. They owned a lot of land and a large number of slaves. They even ran lending and mortgage businesses, opened mills, oil mills, and even coach houses. These people were a force that could not be ignored in the Western Regions.

It was not enough to simply relocate the Gaochang royal family and the powerful families; they must also be cleaned up and rectified.

Wu Huaiyu was once Li Shimin's pioneer in cracking down on the illegal suppression of Buddhism and Taoism. How could he care less about these temples and monks in the Western Regions now?

They are not worthy enough to be Wu Huaiyu's opponent.

"After the rectification, the money and grain collected from the temples will be enough to provide food for the soldiers this winter and next spring."

(End of this chapter)