A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 641 Five Opinions of Six Prime Ministers
Taiji Palace, Lizheng Hall.

Empress Changsun had a big belly and was talking to several noble ladies.

These people were Li Jing's wife Dai Guo's wife Zhang, his sister-in-law eldest grandson, and his niece and granddaughter Li Sanniang, the head of Yongle County, etc.

"The cherries this year are so beautiful, red as agate, shaped like beads, watery and sparkling, small and exquisite, and bright red." The nine-year-old Princess Changle County happily praised beside her mother, "The cherries donated by various families in Chang'an are still from the Wu family. The best.”

Several noble ladies came into the palace today, especially to offer cherries.
The Wu family has [-] cherry trees in Xiudefang, west of Chang'an City. There are various varieties, not only early-maturing varieties, but also grafted with peach, apricot, plum, pear and other trees. The taste, color, shape and size have been improved.

The cherries from the noble families in Chang'an are not ripe yet, and the ones from the Wu family are the first to ripen. As Princess Li Lizhi of Changle County said, these cherries are not only ripe early, but they are also as red and big as agate.

Queen Changsun looked at Li Qing, who was also pregnant, and said, "Sanniang should be giving birth soon, right?"

"Giving birth this month,"

"I am also born in this month. Is your baby a boy or a girl?"

"Erlang said it was a girl."

"Same in my belly."

The two talked happily. This was the fifth child of Empress Changsun. She had three sons and one daughter. Now she has a daughter. The empress was very happy.

"They are two lovely girls, maybe they can even have children and in-laws," the queen said with a smile.
Li Lizhi said from the side, "Then let's be sisters. The county chief's aunt also wants to give me a sister."

······
When the emperor came to the Li Zheng Hall, his face was not very good. When he saw that the queen had guests here, he put on a smile.

Zhang Chuchen and others went to pay their respects to Li Shimin.

They are not strangers at all. Li Keshi’s wife is the eldest son of Sun, who is the cousin of Li Shimin’s wife. Li Sanniang was even recognized as his adopted sister and granted the title of Lord of Yongle County. Li Jing’s wife Zhang Chuchen is of course no stranger either.

"The cherries from Xiudefang of the Wu family are ripe. Sanniang specially came to deliver the cherries. She also brought a lot of fresh bamboo shoots, as well as Huzhou new tea Gu Zhuzi bamboo shoots." The queen said with a smile.

"Aye, look at how beautiful these cherries are, big and red, and delicious. Please try it, Aye." Princess Changle County fed the cherries to her father with her own hands.

Li Shimin laughed and opened his mouth to take one. The flesh was tender, juicy, sweet and delicious.

It's April, the peach blossoms in Chang'an have all fallen, and the cherries are beginning to ripen.

This season is the time when the nobles go on an outing and have cherry feasts to taste fresh bamboo shoots. It is also the time when the annual imperial examination results are released.

Even now, every year there is a lively competition to catch a son-in-law, followed by a flower parade and a cherry feast in Qujiang for the newly admitted Jinshi, Mingjing and other talents named on the gold list.

"What you just said was so happy and laughing, I heard it from a distance outside."

Empress Changsun said that Li Sanniang was also pregnant with a girl, and the birth dates of the two were similar. She said that when the child was born, they would be sisters, and the empress and Li Sanniang also recognized their children as goddaughters.

"Okay." Li Shimin smiled while eating cherries.

"Is Huaiyu okay at home?" Finally, the emperor asked Wu Huaiyu. Although this name made the emperor angry these days, the emperor gradually calmed down.

"Back to Your Majesty, Alang was impulsive. Now he feels deeply guilty and is thinking about his mistakes behind closed doors at home."

"Hmph." Li Shimin thought to himself, what is the impulsiveness that makes me really think that I am Hou Junji and have no brains?He didn't know what Wu Huaiyu's thoughts were, or even Li Jing's slap.

Forget it, he didn't care too much.

If you really want to calculate it, ten heads of these guys are not enough for him to chop off.

His wife had a guest here, so Li Shimin didn't sit there for long. He turned around and returned to his palace, Ganlu Hall, with a basket of fresh cherries.
After eating a few cherries, the waiter presented Wen Yanbo's rice wine and asked him to start playing.

The reason is that the political affairs hall is discussing the handling of the Turks again today. As a result, there are now six prime ministers left, but they have five opinions, making it difficult to argue.

Zhongshu ordered Wen Yanbo to invite the emperor to preside over the decision on this important military and state matter.

Li Shimin frowned, really couldn't relax for a moment.

"The Wude Hall listens to the government and asks the prime ministers to come,"

After a pause, "Call the prince and young master Xiao Yu to come too."

"The six ministers have also been summoned."

Wude Hall,
When the emperor came in with the big basket of cherries, all the prime ministers arrived, as did Xiao Yu and the six ministers. They were already quarreling again and it was fierce.

"Gentlemen, these are early-maturing cherries this year, and they are a new variety. The cherries are big and sweet. Gentlemen, please give them a try."

The emperor asked his chamberlain to give cherries to the ministers, one plate per person.

The prime ministers took the lead in expressing gratitude and suspended the quarrel.

After eating cherries, the mood changed a bit.

"Tell me what's going on." Li Shimin rubbed his head.

Zuo Pushe Fang Xuanling stood up and said, "We defeated the Eastern Turks and captured Jieli Khan alive. We, the Tang Dynasty, have avenged our previous humiliation. However, now the Eastern Turks are in chaos. Some people have fled to Mobei Tiele Xue Yantuo, and some have gone to the Western Regions to Gaochang, Western Turks, etc." , there are also those who went south to join the Tang Dynasty, and there are still those who still lead their troops to occupy Hetao, Modong and other places.

Regarding how to deal with these Turks, the political hall was still controversial and asked the sage to make a decision. "

Six prime ministers, five opinions on disposal,
It is simply difficult to agree.

"Then come one by one," Wen Yanbo asked to speak first.

"Your Majesty, the king is responsible for all things, and the heavens and the earth have covered everything, leaving nothing behind. Now that the Turks have come to me, how can I abandon them without caring...
Give them a livelihood and teach them etiquette and righteousness. After a few years, they will become our people. "

This prime minister, who had been captured by the Turks and herded sheep for more than a year, actually had the gentlest attitude towards the Turks. He said that he should be tolerant and kind and treat them as one of his own. The specific policy was to move them all to the interior of the Central Plains. Go, let them stop being nomadic and herding without a fixed abode, but teach them to farm the fields, teach them the etiquette of the Chinese Han family,

We will organize the people into households, pay taxes and serve in the military. In a few years, they will be assimilated by us and completely become our people of the Tang Dynasty. They will even become Han people in the future.

Well, there is some basis for it. For example, the Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu, and the Northern Wei Dynasty also had the Xianbei Tuoba. They started outside the Great Wall, and later went south to the Central Plains, and even unified the north, and took the initiative to sinicize. Nowadays, there is no Xianbei, not all of them have become Zhu. It's summer.

The eldest grandson Wuji in the court, his family used to be a Xianbei noble, but now there is no trace of the barbarian.

The Central Plains experienced the Sui Dynasty and the population was greatly reduced. Now the Turks are resettled in the interior. This can not only eliminate border troubles, but also increase the population and strength of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin stroked his beard,
Wen Yanbo's opinions can be summed up in nine words: moving to the inland, changing to farming, and assimilation.

Faced with his suggestion,

The servant Wei Zheng sneered.

"Xiang Wen, the Turks have been bandits in the past, with human faces and beasts' hearts, and they are the enemies of the people. Fortunately, they are destroyed now. Your Majesty has surrendered them and cannot bear to kill them all. It is better to allow them to return to their homeland and not to stay in China.

Rong and Di are beasts. Hundreds of thousands of them have surrendered today. In a few years, the number will be doubled. There will definitely be heartache and heart disease. You must not regret it. "

Wei Zheng also gave an example. The five indiscriminate chaos in China and the painful lessons left only 300 million Han people in the north.

Almost destroyed the country and the species.

Of the two prime ministers, one said that they should move inland to cultivate and assimilate, while the other said that the Turks were all white-eyed wolves and would be a trouble in the future and must not stay.

Both of them cited an example. Wen Yanbo cited Xianbei Tuoba as the Sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty, while Wei Zheng said that the Five Husties disrupted China and almost wiped out the Han race.

"You Pu She, what do you think?"

Previously, there were five opinions among the six prime ministers in the court, but one prime minister remained silent, and that was Li Jing.

Li Jing slapped Hou Junji hard in the palace a few days ago, severing the teacher-student relationship with him, and was only fined twenty kilograms of copper afterwards.

However, when he entered the political hall and served as the right servant, he rarely spoke like Qin Qiong.

Everyone was quarreling, but he didn't say a word.

Now the emperor asked Li Jing directly.

"Your Majesty, I think what everyone said makes sense."

Li Jing still didn't say what he suggested.

"Zhang Liang?"

Zhang Liang, the imperial censor, stepped forward and said, "We still request that the Governor's Mansion be set up in Dingxiang to control the situation. Just like Wu Huaiyu's previous example of setting up the Governor's Mansion in Anbei, this is also a long-term strategy for Anbian."

Zhang Liang’s policy is also quite good.
"Is this your idea?" Li Shimin asked.

"My lord, my lord, this was mentioned first by Li Baiyao, the minister of the Ministry of Rites," Zhang Liang did not dare to hide it. Li Baiyao was the Li family of Zhao County, and Zhang Liang had divorced his first wife and married the Li family of Zhao County. The relationship between the Li family is very close.

"Li Baiyao, tell me the specific method."

Li Baiyao stepped forward. He believed that Wu Huaiyu's previous treatment of Tuli's subordinates was worth learning. He still placed Jieli's tribe in the Dingxiang area and set up a governor's office directly there. For example, hadn't the saint already let Huaihua County Wang Li Simo is appointed as the governor of Yunzhong. This arrangement is already very good. There is no need to relocate them to the interior within the Great Wall or rush to Mobei. They can be left where they are to guard the border for the Tang Dynasty.

However, he also made some suggestions, that is, it is okay to let Li Simo be the governor of Yunzhong, but under the governor of Yunzhong, there should be multiple states, maybe six to ten states, and the large tribes can be split into two, and the small tribes can Several unified states,
Each appointed governor to achieve the purpose of dividing them and preventing them from uniting together.

Fang Xuanling adopted the suggestion of Yan Sigu, the minister of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who believed that it was possible to divide the Turkic tribes, but they could not stay outside the Great Wall.

It is best to move them all to Hebei. Hebei's current population has been greatly reduced and it is in urgent need of population to restore production. The Turks can be treated like Li Tu Diji, Fuyu and other Mohe tribes.
The two Mohe tribes were attached, and the Tang Dynasty moved them from western Liaoning to Youzhou. Over the years, they have been loyal, farming and herding, and they are still elite and brave warriors guarding the border of the imperial court. This Northern Expedition and the previous battle at Yehuling , Zheng Beishan Xi and others also contributed a lot.

The suggestions of Yan Sugu and Li Baiyao both believed that the Turks could be accepted, but the various tribes should be divided. The difference was that one thought they should move to Hebei, and the other thought they should stay outside the Great Wall.

"Dai Zhou, what do you suggest?"

"Your Majesty, I agree with the suggestion of Dou Jing, the governor of Xiazhou. The nature of the Yi and Di is like an animal. Leaving China alone will do harm rather than gain. We should divide their land and analyze their tribes so that their power is divided among the weak and the weak, so that they can be controlled easily. For the vassal state, we will always protect the frontier."

Dai Zhou and Dou Jing had the same attitude. They felt that the Turks could never be trusted. If they could not kill the snake, there would be endless dangers, so now they wanted to take advantage of his illness to kill him.

We must take the opportunity to sow discord, unite the weak and separate the strong, let the Turkic tribes attack each other and cause internal strife. The dead Turks are the best Turks.

Wen Yanboyan and Yan Sigu advocated moving inward to the Central Plains, Li Baiyao and Dou Jing advocated garrisoning at the frontier, and Wei Zheng believed that we should rush back outside the Great Wall.
As for how to deal with this issue, Wen Yanbo and Li Baiyao agreed and felt that they could be assimilated.

Wen Yanbo, Dou Jing, and Wei Zheng felt that it should be divided and conquered, and Li Baiyao also agreed.

Every minister has something to say.

Fang Xuanling supported Yan Sigu's move to Hebei, while Dai Zhou supported Dou Jing's plan to attack and cause internal friction. Wei Zheng believed that he should go as far as he could and could not stay south of the desert.

While talking, the ministers started to quarrel again, and Li Shimin had a headache.

(End of this chapter)