A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1318 Overturning the verdict
Daming Palace,
Purple Palace,
It was late at night, but Wu Huaiyu was kept in the palace by the new emperor. Cheng Qian insisted on sleeping on the same bed with his teacher, with their feet touching.

"Teacher, the Minister of Revenue Gao Xingfu reported that another 150,000 households were added this year. Teacher, do you know how many households there are in the Tang Dynasty now?"

This was not the first time Wu Huaiyu slept on the dragon couch. She had slept on Li Shimin's dragon couch before, and even slept with her feet on the emperor's belly until dawn.

The new emperor's dragon couch, known as the Thousand-Worker Bed, is made of golden nanmu wood and took thousands of royal carpenters the trouble of craftsmanship. Not only are the materials good, but the craftsmanship is also extraordinary. It has a mortise and tenon structure, and the various carvings are also extremely exquisite.

The whole bed is like a suite.
Lying on this couch, you feel very energetic. Outside the couch, there is a place for palace maids and eunuchs to sit and watch.

"There should be eight million households, right?" Huaiyu replied. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the country had not yet been unified, and the population was only about one million households. It was not until the seventh year of Wude that the country was initially settled, and the population was only 2.19 million households.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he also issued an edict in the first year of Zhenguan, ordering officials to persuade common people to get married in time. Among other things, it was stipulated that after the death of their husbands, widows must remarry after the mourning period was over. If the widows were unwilling, the local government had to go to their homes and force them to remarry.

Even the remarriage of widows is included in the performance evaluation of officials.

The people were required to marry and have children early, and if they were unmarried over the age of marriage, the government would arrange marriages for them.

These policies are aimed at restoring the population as quickly as possible.

Wu Huaiyu also contributed many strategies to this end, such as the cleansing of the Taoist monks and the investigation of the hidden households of the noble families, etc.

During the twenty years of Zhenguan, the country continued to fight foreign wars, which also absorbed countless people.

In addition to the court's changes in household registration management and the implementation of new regulations on principal households and clients, many escaped and hidden households were cleared out, and the number of households in the world has been increasing.

From more than two million households in the seventh year of Wude, it quickly increased to more than three million households after the Eastern Turks were destroyed in the fourth year of Zhenguan. Then, for another twenty years, the population continued to increase rapidly every year.

There had been no wars or major famines in the Central Plains for many years, and the population recovered very quickly.

Cheng Qian said excitedly, "During the peak of the Sui Dynasty, there were 8.7 million households and nearly 50 million people. Now, our Tang Dynasty has 8.8 million households and the population has long exceeded 50 million."

A large population base is the foundation of a country's strength.

With 8.8 million households, the Zhenguan Period of Prosperity is truly worthy of its name.

Wu Huaiyu was not surprised by this number of households. After all, since the Zhenguan Dynasty, household registration management has been strict. The country has ended the turmoil and the people have been able to recuperate. Especially since foreign wars have been victorious, the war dividends are huge and the people have also received many dividends. For example, the poor and landless people can also be granted land in the frontier and become self-cultivating farmers.

Many soldiers and tenants who had been severely exploited and oppressed by the landlords finally had their own foundation for survival.

Under the country's two-tax system, taxes were low and levies were light, so there were no large numbers of people escaping or hiding their household registration. With the control of Buddhism and Taoism, there were no longer any cases of temples and monasteries occupying large amounts of land and enslaving the people. Even the old tricks of taking refuge in temples and monasteries, hiding land, and evading taxes were no longer feasible.

Of course, the increase from more than 2 million households in the 7th year of Wude to nearly 9 million households in the 25th year of Zhenguan is still very exaggerated. A large part of the new population came from external expansion and conquest.

This included destroying the Eastern and Western Turkic states, the Tuyuhun states in the Western Regions, developing Lingnan, Qianzhong, and Nanzhong, occupying Ryukyu and developing Hainan, and conquering Goguryeo and Baekje.
Both brought a large number of new population to the Tang Dynasty.

Even from many vassal tribes such as the Xi and Qi, many people fled to the Central Plains every year, migrated and settled down, and became citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

The water flows to the lower places, and the people go to the higher places.

People will naturally go to where there is stability and prosperity.

The 150,000 new households added this year actually refers to the increase in the first quarter. The statistics for the second quarter have not yet been compiled, but it will definitely not be less than this number. In a year, the number of households added will be at least 600,000.

This is because there haven't been any major external events this year.

A few years ago, the imperial court conquered Goguryeo and Baekje, and gained nearly one million households.

Households and population not only mean taxes, but also the source of soldiers, etc.

"Your Majesty, I have a suggestion. At the beginning of the Zhenguan period, the late emperor stipulated that men over 20 and women over 15 should get married as soon as possible. A widow should remarry after three years of mourning for her deceased husband, and a widower can remarry after one year of mourning for his deceased wife. Men over 30 and women over 20 who are unmarried can be forced to marry through official matchmakers.

Later, the marriage age was lowered to 15 for men and 13 for women, advocating early marriage and early childbearing. I think it is too early for women to get married at 13. Women are not fully grown yet, and if they get married early, it is easy for them to have difficult births. The marriage age should be changed back to the early Zhenguan period, which was 20 for men and 15 for women.

Cheng Qian agreed with a smile.

To him, it was just a small matter.

Wu Huaiyu felt that some of the laws and regulations regarding marriage in the Tang Dynasty were not bad. For example, if a man was over 30 and a woman was over 20 and still not married, then they would be considered as leftover men and women, and the court would have the obligation to provide a safety net and send official matchmakers to arrange marriages.
Each person can introduce someone three times, and the couple must get married after three times, otherwise they have to pay a fine, which is equivalent to the bachelor tax.

Widows and widowers are also required to remarry unless they are past childbearing age.

In the Tang Dynasty, marriage was based on the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. Children were not allowed to object to an arranged marriage by their parents, otherwise they would be beaten with a stick 100 times.

"Today, there are still some poor people. Men cannot afford betrothal gifts and women cannot afford dowry, making it difficult for them to get married. The court should help these people and provide betrothal gifts and dowry for those who are too old to get married."

The betrothal gift and dowry will definitely not be much.
But it is also reasonable to help those older single men and women to find partners and give them some gifts and dowries.

For those older bachelors, the imperial court could arrange for them to marry barbarian women from the newly conquered territories.

From household registration to marriage age, and then to widows remarrying, matchmaking for older single men and women, and giving dowries and gifts,
The two of them talked further and further away.

Although we haven't seen each other for eight years, it seems like we are back to the old days. In fact, we have been exchanging letters frequently during these eight years.
Li Chengqian, who had been the crown prince for twenty-five years, finally became emperor. He originally thought that he would be the crown prince for another ten years.

But no one expected that his father, who had personally led two expeditions to Goguryeo and even invaded Pyongyang a few years ago, would die of a sudden dysentery.

Although a brave man cannot withstand diarrhea three times, the death of the great Khan from dysentery in the Jiucheng Palace where he spent the summer was indeed unexpected to everyone.

Of course, a comprehensive and in-depth investigation was conducted afterwards, and it was confirmed that the emperor did die of illness, not poisoning. In the final analysis, the emperor's dragon body had been hollowed out long ago, and although he was only 55 years old, he could not withstand a sudden serious illness.

Cheng Qian, who ascended the throne at the age of 33, had complicated feelings at this time and was even a little unprepared.

But now he has been crowned with the imperial robe,
"Teacher, what do you think I should do now? There are so many things to think about, I don't know where to start."

"Your Majesty, don't worry, just do it one by one. The late emperor left behind this prosperous Zhenguan era, and Your Majesty has a lot of capital."

When the new emperor Cheng Qian ascended the throne, he wanted to do some big things.

But I don’t know where to start.

New king, new policies.

As the son of Li Shimin, Cheng Qian also wanted to achieve great things.

"Teacher, should we let Qingque and the others return to the court to attend the funeral?"

After much hesitation, Cheng Qian finally started talking about the matter. He knew in his heart that the cases of treason that Zhangsun Wuji had committed back then were not actually about treason by Li Tai, Li Ke, Li Yuanjing and others.

"Your Majesty, do you want to overturn their verdict?" Wu Huaiyu rested his head on his arms and spoke slowly.

"I just think it's a bit inhumane not to let them come back for the funeral. Besides, it's a bit far-fetched to say they were treasonous based on what happened back then."

Wu Huaiyu sighed in his heart that Cheng Qian was still a little soft-hearted.

If he was a qualified emperor, he would never mention this old matter at this time, and would not take the initiative to reverse the verdict for these royal brothers and uncles.

Because even if these people were wrongly accused back then, they were still his potential opponents. It was safest to keep them in the Western Regions thousands of miles away.

"They were all exiled to the Western Regions for treason. According to the rules, they cannot return to the court at this time. If Your Majesty allows them to return, it will bring a lot of unnecessary trouble.

If Your Majesty still wants to overturn their verdict, wouldn't that mean that the late emperor wrongly accused the innocent and abused the punishment?

Even more, how will we deal with the uncle of the state, Chang Sun, who presided over the trial of this case at that time? "

The case was overturned.
That means the son is blaming his father. The late emperor's coffin is still in the Taiji Hall and has not been buried yet. It is inappropriate to overturn the verdict at this time.

Furthermore, the person in charge of the case was Zhangsun Wuji, the emperor's uncle. If the case were to be overturned, Zhangsun Wuji would bear a heavy and unshirkable responsibility.

How to deal with Uncle Zhangsun then?

Wu Huaiyu didn't intend to protect Zhangsun Wuji. In fact, if he could overturn the old case, Wu Huaiyu could attack Zhangsun Wuji and even kill him. There was also the Liu Li case. If he could overturn the Liu Li case, he could also kill Chu Suiliang.

But the timing wasn't right.

Li Shimin has not been buried yet.
The new emperor began to review old cases, which was considered unfilial in the eyes of people today, but the Tang Dynasty was based on governing the country with filial piety.

If Wu Huaiyu supports the emperor in overturning the verdict, he will be regarded as unruly by everyone and war will begin.

He was not afraid of war, but now was not the time.

"I don't want to reopen the case, but what if I grant Qingque and the others amnesty and let them return to Beijing?"

"Your Majesty, there is no need." Wu Huaiyu reminded him that even if he did not want to overturn the verdict, there was no need to grant amnesty. If you pardon them, it would be seen by others as overturning Taizong's verdict, which would mean the son is denying his father.

"The late emperor also rehabilitated Liu Wenjing." Cheng Qian said.

"That happened in the third year of Zhenguan." Huaiyu said. This was also a reminder to Cheng Qian that even if he wanted to overturn the verdict, he couldn't be in a hurry.

Three years later, everything has settled down and the political situation is stable. It doesn't matter even if Cheng Qian wants to overturn the verdict, but it is not appropriate now.

If the verdict is overturned now, Changsun Wuji will definitely try his best to stop it.

He also didn't want to cause any conflict because of this matter. Now was not the right time.

Besides, why did they call back Li Tai and other brothers and uncles? It would be better for them to stay in the Western Regions. Don't talk about whether it is unfair or not. The stability of imperial power and safety come first.

"Teacher, I think Chu Suiliang framed Liu Li with bad intentions and poor moral character. I don't want him to stay in the court as prime minister any longer."

Although Liu Li supported the King of Wei in the past, he was later won over by Wu Huaiyu and became a member of the Eastern Palace Prince's Party. He assisted Cheng Qian for many years and performed well. Cheng Qian had a good impression of him. However, he was wrongly accused to death by Chu Suiliang, and Cheng Qian always remembered this.

"Your Majesty, please don't worry. Let's talk about it after the new era next year."

Now is a transition period, the most important thing is stability, stability overrides everything.

The fact that Cheng Qian was able to recall Wu Huaiyu, Zhangsun Wuji, Li Ji and others to serve as prime ministers at the first opportunity shows that he was still very prudent, although he already knew that this was the suggestion of Zhang Xingcheng and Yu Zhining.

Now is not the time for infighting.

"We have been fighting the Arabs in Persia for three years. Teacher, should the court send more troops to the Western Regions to destroy the Arabs in one fell swoop?" Cheng Qian asked again.
Before Taizong's death, the war with the Arabs was one of the few major foreign wars after the destruction of Goguryeo. It lasted for three years but was never ended.

Wu Huaiyu was also relatively familiar with the war in Persia, because the one who was in charge of this war was his brother Huaiyi. Huaiyi often wrote to him about this war and often asked him for advice.

The old Persian Sassanid Empire was severely damaged in the war with the Byzantine Empire and then destroyed by the emerging Arab Empire.

The last Sassanid emperor of Persia, Yaddegerd III, fled to Tokharistan with his sons Arohan and Peroz and others and asked the Tang Dynasty for help. At the suggestion of Wu Huaiyi, the Tang Dynasty established the Persian Protectorate and appointed Yaddegerd III as the Protectorate-General of Persia.

The Tang Dynasty sent troops to the Khorasan region northeast of Persia, starting a three-year war with the Arabs.

Although the fighting lasted for three years, the Tang army had the upper hand overall.

At the beginning, Khorasan was basically occupied by the Arab army, but after the Tang army sent troops, it quickly seized this place of origin in the northeast of Persia.
After repeated tug-of-war, the Arab army did not gain any advantage and was conquered along the way. In the end, they could only withdraw with the eagle flag and abandoned the Khorasan region.

Although the Arab army still continued to harass and try to retake the Khorasan region, they were defeated time and time again and could only fight harassment wars, sending troops to plunder from time to time, but were eventually driven back.

They could no longer gain a foothold in Khorasan, let alone spy on Tocharistan and Transoxiana.

This year, the last Persian emperor was assassinated and his eldest son also died in battle. The court appointed Prince Peroz as the new Protector General of Persia and added the title of General of the Right Guard.

However, this Persian Protectorate had already lived in Chang'an. The Persian Protectorate was the government office that actually controlled the Khorasan region, and it was now presided over by Wu Huaiyi, the commander-in-chief of the Persian Road.

The present-day Persia, or Khorasan,
Many elite troops from the Anxi and Beiting regions of the imperial court were stationed in important towns and cities, in addition to soldiers from the Western Turkic, Tocharian, Khazar and other tribes who assisted in the defense. Together with the tribal chieftains of the Khorasan region of Persia who had surrendered and the armed forces of local nobles, it can be said that Khorasan had been firmly under control.

From this year,

Wu Huaiyi, following the advice of his brother Huaiyu, had begun a counterattack against the Arab army west of Khorasan, adopting the tactic of fighting and looting, and retreating to Khorasan after looting, constantly harassing and looting.

We have basically completely grasped the strategic initiative and can switch between offense and defense.

During the three years of war, the Tang army not only used the Arab army for training, but also took the opportunity to integrate the forces of various tribes in the Western Regions, further strengthening its control over the Western Regions.

The Western Regions controlled by the Tang Dynasty were now divided into several major areas, namely the Anxi Protectorate south of the Tianshan Mountains, the Beiting Protectorate north of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Tocharian, Transoxiana, Khazar, and Persian Protectorates.

Six protectorates, from the Tianshan Mountains to the Pamir Mountains, from the Seven Rivers to the Dayuan Basin, from Transoxiana to Tocharistan, to Khorasan, and to the Khazars around the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea.

Under the leadership of Wu Huaiyi, the Tang army even opened up a road to the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea.

"Your Majesty, as long as the court controls Khorasan, it will have the strategic initiative and can attack or defend. Moreover, the Khazar Khanate and Tocharistan, vassal states of the Tang Dynasty, are sandwiched between the eastern and northern Persia controlled by the Arabs..."

Wu Huaiyu believed that there was no need to leave the strategic location of Khorasan and go deep into the heart of Persia to fight against the Arab army. As long as Khorasan was controlled, the gateway to the Western Regions would be guarded.

"The imperial court could send an envoy to Constantinople to sign an offensive and defensive alliance with Byzantium to jointly deal with the Arabs militarily and strengthen trade along the Silk Road."

Cheng Qian was very satisfied with Wu Huaiyu's suggestions.
"In that case, the court will appoint Song Guogong Huaiyi as the Protector General of Persia. The court will draw 50,000 elite infantry and cavalry from Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, Longyou and other places to garrison Khorasan permanently. Another 100,000 Turks, Sogdians, Tiele, Tocharians and other places will be relocated to Khorasan for nomadic life, ready to be called upon at any time to assist in defense and combat.
The Khorasan Persian armed forces were also under the command of the Duke of Song, and the troops of the three protectorates of Transoxiana, Tokharistan, and Khazar were also under the control of the Duke of Song.

A new large military region was established.
Although Wu Huaiyi did not have the title of Jiedushi, he already had the de facto status of Jiedushi.

In recent years, the imperial court has relocated millions of people to the Western Regions. Gaochang, Yanqi, Shule, Qiuci, Khotan and other places south of the Tianshan Mountains have now become the main prefectures of the Tang Dynasty. Those oases are also full of immigrants from the Tang Dynasty who migrated westward.

Even places like Yili and Suiye in the north of the Tianshan Mountains are filled with immigrant settlements from the Central Plains, and even the Hezhong region has many Han immigrants.

However, in such a vast land, there are still too few Han immigrants.

The main reason is that the imperial court has conquered too much land in recent years and needs immigrants everywhere. Goguryeo and Baekje, which were destroyed in the past few years, are an immigration black hole.

These days, although immigrants to newly conquered lands have many benefits, such as land distribution, various interest-free loans of oxen and seeds, and even resettlement allowances,

But now that a large number of people from the Central Plains have immigrated to the border areas, it is not so crowded anymore. Even with the development of industry and commerce, even if you don’t have land, you can still find a good job and support your family without any problems.

After all, after the new two-tax system, there were no heavy taxes and labor service, and the burden on the people was much lighter, especially the previous head tax and labor service, which locked people to the land.

However, the current two-tax system, as well as the system of equalizing the land tax and other labor service systems, have provided very good conditions for urban handicrafts and have enabled countless former tenants and landless people to find stable jobs and earn a good income.

Under such circumstances, many people are now actually not willing to leave their homes and go to remote frontiers, and distributing land is not so attractive anymore.

After destroying Goguryeo, the imperial court recruited people and distributed land in Liaodong. A family of six or seven people could often get two to three hundred acres of land or even more, but not many people went.

The imperial court now had no choice but to establish military settlements.

The garrison troops and their families were moved there, and the troops were allowed to settle down there and be allocated land.

Now, on the newly conquered lands on the frontier, it was the nobles and powerful people who were running around to grab land, set up commercial settlements, and recruit slaves to farm and open mines.

Even many people in the Central Plains would rather accept the employment of these nobles and wealthy families and go to the border areas to cultivate land than immigrate there on their own. These people also had simple ideas. They accepted employment, whether they were paid or profit-sharing, they would have a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood, and they did not need to invest at all. They could save some capital after working for a few years, and then go home to marry and have children, or buy land, without any risk.

Besides, it is hard to leave one's hometown, and few people are really willing to immigrate to the border areas. They all plan to work hard for a few years and then go home to live with their wives and children.

The current border military system of the imperial court has become a de facto border military vassal state. If this continues, there will definitely be hidden dangers. However, over the years, this system has become increasingly stable.

The effect is also very good,
Therefore, after Cheng Qian succeeded to the throne, he did not think of changing it, but instead planned to carry forward this system.
For example, in the Persian Protectorate, he plans to officially station 50,000 elite Tang troops there. In time, the families of these 50,000 Tang troops will be able to move in hundreds of thousands, and the court's control over Khorasan will be more stable.

Wu Huaiyu lay there, knowing that this would become a hidden danger sooner or later, but in the end he did not speak out to remind him, because at the moment, this was indeed the best choice.

As for the future,

We’ll talk about it in the future.

(End of this chapter)