A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 873 I, Li Shimin, am qualified to be enshrined in Zen and Mount Tai

"Thanks to Li Chunfeng this time,"

In Luoyang, in the Ziwei Palace, Wu Huaiyu entered Luomian Sheng, and the emperor and Yuan Cong were filled with sighs.

"Li Chunfeng's newly made Huntian Zodiac Instrument looks very powerful." Huaiyu said.

In fact, the emperor didn't know much about the Huntian Zodiac. He only knew that it existed in the Han Dynasty.

Li Chunfeng changed the previous two-layer armillary sphere into a three-layer one, with the outermost being the Liuhe Sphere, the middle being the Three-Chen Sphere, and the innermost being the Four-Way Sphere. The previous armillary sphere was only equivalent to two levels: the four-sphere sphere and the six-sphere sphere, but this time the ecliptic latitude and longitude, the equatorial latitude and longitude, and the horizon latitude and longitude can all be measured.

"Your Majesty, does Li Chunfeng have any current position?"

When the case of Wu's prophecy occurred, Li Chunfeng was involved in it and was used as a gunman by Du Jingai. Although it was finally found out, Li Chunfeng was also removed from the doctorate of academic studies and demoted to a general official, retaining only the rank of ninth grade.

In the past few years, Li Chunfeng has been working in the Taishi Bureau, but he is a temporary staff without formal establishment and is still under observation and retention.

"I plan to promote him to the position of Chengwulang, and grant him the title of Taishi Cheng. He will be in charge of astronomy, calendar, and celestial instruments."

Huaiyu was a little surprised when he heard this. This official was a bit stingy. Cheng Wu Lang was only a junior official from the eighth rank, and although Taishi Cheng was the second officer of the Taishi Bureau, he was only a junior from the seventh rank, and the county magistrate. One level.

However, heavy rains and floods were forecast, which was also the job of the Taishi Bureau.

Li Chunfeng, who was under observation, was promoted from the ninth rank to the eighth rank. From the seventh rank, he was actually promoted many levels, and his official position was directly promoted to the ninth level.

"This flood in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and Huainan, and in thirty states, caught the imperial court by surprise,"

The Guandong region was once the most prosperous region in the Sui Dynasty, but it was also the most severely damaged region after the chaotic wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty. It was only in the fourth year of Wude that Wang Jianchong made an forced surrender and captured Luoyang, while Dou Jiande in Hebei Province was defeated and captured in Hulao. Liu Heitai also rebelled against the Tang Dynasty twice, and was not captured and executed until the sixth year of Wude.

Xu Yuanlang of Shandong was not wiped out until the sixth year of Wude.

The rebellion of Fugong Er of Jianghuai was not put down until the seventh year of Wude.

There have been many years of chaos in the Guandong Plain, and the armies of Wang Shichong and Li Mi in Henan have endured repeated battles. Luoyang, the most prosperous eastern capital, was beaten and cannibalized, and food was worth ten thousand yuan but had no market.

At that time, many large counties in Guandong had 20,000 to 300,000 households per county and a population of over one million.

However, after Zhishilang Wangbu started the uprising by singing the death song of Liaodong at Changbai Mountain in Qizhou, Guandong was in chaos for more than ten years before settling down.

In the prosperous Central Plains, there were piles of bones abandoned on the roadside and no one stopped them. Even when Wei Zheng inspected Shandong in the early days of Zhenguan, he wrote a letter saying that many places were sparsely populated and overgrown with bushes, especially in coastal areas.

In fact, at the beginning of this year,

Li Xiaogong, the famous king of the clan, wrote a memorial asking the emperor to enshrine Mount Tai.

After the King of Hejian's memorial was published, many ministers followed suit and petitioned for the title of Mount Tai.

Fengchan Taishan,

In the era of imperial power, this was undoubtedly extremely tempting for the emperor. Not every emperor could be granted a title if he wanted to. He had to have enough merit to be granted a title on Mount Tai and go to heaven.

Li Shimin felt that he was actually qualified.

Now there are only two of them, the emperor and his minister, and Li Shimin does not hide anything from Huaiyu.

"At the end of the Sui Dynasty, when we were separated and fierce enemies competed with each other, I held a three-foot sword and conquered the four seas in a few years. This is what my martial arts has determined.

The Turks are strong and powerful, and the world has changed. Now they have adopted my clothes and become my ministers. There are different kinds of people in different places, and they are all in harmony with each other. This is my culture and education.

When the Turks are destroyed, the king and his ministers are taken prisoner, and the feeling of peace and security is the same as that of a child, this is the way of my benevolence.

Linyi offered tribute to Ningniao, and Silla offered female music. They showed pity to Liben, and ordered them all to return to their country. This is my Dunben.

Rewards for meritorious deeds must be based on rewards, and punishment for crimes must be based on punishment documents. To separate those who are dear to you, to put aside your suspicions, and to promote the principle of justice, this is what I believe in. "

Huaiyu listened quietly,

Li Shimin's words sounded a bit pretentious, and he said it very straightforwardly in front of him. I, Li Shimin, no matter in terms of civility, martial arts, benevolence, Dunben, Chongxin, etc., among the historical emperors They are all the best among the best, and I am very qualified to go to Mount Tai to become a Zen monk.

Li Shimin, who was in an unfair position, always wanted to prove himself.

After achieving great achievements, he even wanted to be enshrined in Mount Tai and ask for recognition from heaven. He wanted to join the ranks of Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han.

However, although Li Xiaogong, the king, took the lead in requesting Zen status, the prime minister, Warrior Xun, also wrote a letter of support.

But Wei Zheng was very ruthless and objected immediately.

After the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the household registration had not been restored, and the warehouses were still empty. The chariots and chariots patrolling the east, with thousands of horses and horses to pay for their daily labor, were too heavy a burden.

Moreover, if you, the emperor, enshrine Mount Tai, then all the nations will gather together, and the rulers of distant barbarians will all serve as your retinue. But now, from the east of Yi and Luo to Hai and Dai, the fireworks are still sparse and the bushes are thick. When the time comes, if these foreign kings and envoys see how poor we are in the hinterland of the Central Plains and know our weakness, won't they feel ambitious? At least I won’t respect Datang that much.

The barbarians are afraid of power but not moral. This is what you said yourself, the emperor. It is very disadvantageous for ambitious people like Xue Yantuo, Goguryeo, Tuguhun, Western Turks, and Gaochang to see through our reality.

It's not worth it for your false reputation as emperor to waste people and money, and to expose the details of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin originally couldn't listen and wanted to be granted Zen status, but now there is a flood.

Let Li Shimin wake up from his dream.

Floods in thirty states,

With timely warning and prevention, the damage caused by the disaster is not that big, but that is also relative. Thirty states were hit by floods, and the court had to reduce or reduce rents and allocate money and food for relief.

There will be a big hole,

What's more, millions of people were affected by the disaster, and the court had to find a way to resettle them. Winter was coming soon, and there was not much time. If the resettlement was not done well, so many victims might become refugees, and many of them might even be forced to become robbers. thief. At this time, of course Li Shimin couldn't bring up the matter of Feng Chan.

I was actually very depressed.

Huaiyu comforted Li Shimin, "Your Majesty has great merits and virtues. China is safe and the barbarians are in submission. The harvest is abundant and the fortune is coming. His achievements are comparable to those of the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty. He has long been qualified to be enshrined in Zen and Mount Tai."

It's just that things are complicated nowadays, and it's the same whether your Majesty seals you early or late.

In the future, it would be more perfect to conquer Tuyuhun, reopen the Western Region, stabilize the Lingnan, Qianzhongnan and other areas, and then go to Mount Tai to report to heaven. "

Li Shimin liked hearing this and felt a little better.

"I originally planned to attack Tuyuhun this year to clean up this capricious bastard, but now that there are floods in thirty states, the imperial court has to do its best to provide disaster relief, so we can only temporarily suspend the plan to attack Tuyuhun."

"It doesn't matter if we let Tuyuhun jump for two years first. Anyway, they are no more than autumn grasshoppers and can't jump for a few days. The side of Longyou and Hexi is enough to defend the border against the enemy."

Rather than dealing with Tuyuhun, Wu Huaiyu seriously suggested to the emperor that at the same time as relieving the victims, the court should also start to formulate a comprehensive river control plan, and first give priority to the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, two rivers prone to flooding. Cure.

Otherwise, the harm will be endless and disasters may occur every year.

If we fail to hold on and break the embankment and change the route, we will really regret it.

The emperor was very annoyed.

There was still more than a month until his wedding to the Queen and his eldest daughter, Princess Changle, but now so many things happened.

Originally, his plan was to hold an extremely grand wedding for the princess, but now that there is a great disaster in Kanto, it would be inappropriate to make it too grand at this time.

The monarch and his ministers talked a lot.

We talked about the floods in the thirteen Yellow River prefectures, and the other seventeen prefectures that were also affected by the disaster. We also talked about Shifengjiang Prefecture, Lingnan, Yizhou, Zhuyazhou, etc.

Wu Huaiyu presented the emperor a memorial with many numbers on it. The emperor felt much better after reading it.

Even a little surprised, "This year the six prefectures and ninety-six prefectures in Lingnan can bring so much tax, and the thirty-six Jisu prefectures on the left and right sides of the river are actually willing to pay so much tribute?"

Even if the tax is divided into three parts,

Only one-third of the taxes in Lingnan were paid to the imperial treasury, but this figure was still astonishing.

Before Zhenguan, there were no taxes at all in Lingnan, only tribute. At the beginning of Zhenguan, the imperial court only controlled a few states such as Jiaoguang and Guangxi. The income tax was basically used in Lingnan, and there was no excess to pay.

But now, Wu Huaiyu can hand over so much real money.

"Is this the share that is paid after the tax is divided?"

"Yes, Lingnan's two tax laws have basically been fully implemented now. The local tax and household tax revenue are not outstanding, but the tax revenue there from customs duties, industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, monopoly, buy, and government-run taxes are pretty good. "

The tax payment situation in Lingnan is very good. The key is Wu Huaiyu's observation and management to make the tax management good. With so many soldiers and horses in his hands,

Now the troops are well-fed and well-trained, howling and screaming,

Each branch of the army took turns to patrol and suppress bandits.

Wu Huaiyu did not waste words arguing with those wealthy chiefs, slang commanders, wealthy households, and bosses who engaged in tax resistance, tax evasion, smuggling, etc.

Directly bayonet them, accuse them of treason, banditry, and other crimes, and directly send troops to suppress them. Those powerful families all live together in clans. They are big clans in the local area. They have a large number of people and are indeed powerful.

But compared with the imperial army, it is not worth mentioning.

When large armies invade, they usually uproot people. They won't be polite to you and will be strict with you. If you want to hide your land, evade taxes, smuggle, or open black mines, then I won't be polite to you and accuse you of being a traitor. , collaborating with bandits and other serious crimes, that is the serious crime of confiscating the family and exterminating the clan.

Your fields, property, mines, and even your people, wives, children, and livestock will all be confiscated.

They can't play hard with Wu Huaiyu.

It only took less than a year. Anyway, one crop of thorns had been cut off, and the rest were either scared or lacked the strength, so now everything is being implemented smoothly.

They surveyed the fields, registered household registrations, opened mines and built workshops, and they all registered and obtained licenses honestly and paid taxes obediently. Although the taxes in Lingnan were still a bit chaotic, at least no one dared to openly confront the envoy anymore.

Pay taxes or die, choose one.

Smart people know how to choose.

Lingnan now has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and they are not vegetarians.

In fact, the tax rate has indeed increased a lot as a result of the tax reform and the various industrial and commercial miscellaneous taxes, monopoly taxes, mining duties, etc.

The emperor held the Lingnan financial and taxation report and was very satisfied with it.

"I didn't choose the wrong person. I chose the right person to let you sit in Lingnan and observe the strategy."

The emperor knew very well that the reason why Lingnan levied so many taxes was not because of Wu Huaiyu's excessive collection, but because of his strong execution. Wu Huaiyu and his officials in Lingnan, in particular, were very ethical and did not take advantage of the Emperor Tiangao's distance to act recklessly and take advantage of the opportunity to commit corruption. Corruption or something.

It says that one-third of taxes should be turned over to the central government, then turn it over to the central government.

"I was previously troubled by the Huanghuai flood this year, which affected thirty states. There is a huge hole that I don't know how to fill. The taxes paid by the six Lingnan prefectures, plus the tribute from Jizu, can just fill the hole. Even a little rich.”

"You have solved a big problem for me."

(End of this chapter)