A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 898 This is the Stone of the Pillar Kingdom that I left for you.

"Do you know why I let Li Daliang and Ma Zhou worship the ministers into the political affairs hall instead of using Changsun Wuji and Wu Huaiyu?"

On the carriage, the emperor asked the prince.

Cheng Qian immediately thought of the sentence in what his father had just said, that a person with great merit should limit his power, but not lower his level.

Changsun Wuji and Wu Huaiyu both have meritorious deeds now. It’s not that they are superior to their masters. No one in this world can resist the idea of ​​starting an army at the age of sixteen, conquering the east and west for great achievements, and even seizing the throne through palace changes. Emperor Zhenguan,

But in the court, these two men were indeed very successful, covering half of the court.

But he is still relatively young,

Li Shimin rarely talked about these imperial skills today, just because he wanted to teach the prince well.

"Both your uncle and your teacher have made great contributions to the country. I don't doubt their loyalty. However, you should be careful when controlling people. They are still young. Your uncle is about the same age as me, but he is only in his early thirties. Wu Huaiyu He is only twenty-six,

If I keep them in the center of the court, they will inevitably become powerful ministers over time.

I want to preserve the friendship between our monarch and our ministers, and also preserve their wealth and honor, so I can only use it now. Your uncle is unwilling to leave the capital, so I keep giving him more titles. First he was Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and now he is Sikong.

If your teacher invites you to go there, I will let him go to Lingnan to show off his skills.

When the emperor entered the city, he told Cheng Qian another thing.

His father's heartfelt words were indeed beyond Cheng Qian's understanding.

After much deliberation, I recalled the nine kings to the capital first, and waited for them to reach the age of twenty-one before joining the vassal state. They should first take up the hereditary posts and experience them for at least three or four years, and then consider conferring the posts of governor, governor, etc. If you don’t perform well in your job,

"Now you can understand why I want to use Li Daliang and Ma Zhou as prime ministers instead of Changsun Wuji and Wu Huaiyu?"

"But you must remember that if they are still around a hundred years from now, you can give them great honors, high titles and generous salaries, but you can never let them take over the central power,"

Can you understand my painstaking efforts? "

They are still too young and have nothing to do. They leave the town too early and indulge.

"Just understand. They are all people with great achievements and talents, but I have to do this. Don't think I am unfair.

This is the stone of the Pillar Kingdom that I leave to you,"

Li Shimin put it bluntly. These high-achieving and talented ministers can be retained to control the country, monitor the officials, and balance the court, but they must not be allowed to take over the power of the government, otherwise they may lose control.

Just don't give him the job yet. "

"Before, I enacted the system of world-level governors and entrusted your nine imperial uncles and imperial brothers to various places, but now it seems that it was indeed a bit too hasty, especially your brother Li You, who is simply doing nonsense in Qi Mansion.

"There is also Li Ji of Bingzhou. He is half of the army, so you should be careful. You don't have to worry about the other heroes. People like Li Jing, Qin Qiong, Fang Xuanling, Chai Shao and Wei Zheng will all be old or gone by then."

Especially when Cheng Qian inherits the throne, he may not be able to suppress these two people.

The convoy arrived at the foot of Chang'an City.

"In ten years, Wu Huaiyu can work in Lingnan with peace of mind for ten years. After ten years, the court will have to move a place for him. By that time, Lingnan will be almost developed, and someone can take over the management.

Ten years later, Wu Huaiyu can be given the title of Three Dukes. "

Although Wu Huaiyu has been in the political affairs hall three times, it is no better than before. In the past, Wu Huaiyu had a shallow foundation, so the emperor used him to worship the prime minister. Its more power now.

Cheng Qian nodded half-understanding.

"I appreciate Huaiyu's ability and loyalty very much. Lingnan is a good place where Huaiyu can make full use of it.

Lingnan is a hot land that is in great need of development. Wu Huaiyu is there. The court must give enough trust and delegate power. I know that there are many people attacking Wu Huaiyu. Regardless of whether it is public or private, there is no need to pay attention to it for the time being. But again, the court Wu Huaiyu can be given sufficient rights and trust in Lingnan, but only in Lingnan.

The imperial court can give him titles and rewards, but it cannot allow him to enter the political hall."

"My son understands."

Although Li Shimin did not doubt their loyalty, he would not test people's hearts.

Although Li Shimin covered up the matter of King Qi Li You for his son, the court actually knew a lot about it, and it was impossible to hide this matter from everyone.

Li You hit Li Shimin hard in the face.

This son is so disappointing.

But he could only deal with Yin Hongzhi, Yan Hongxin and others severely, and announced to the outside world that Li You was ill and returned to Beijing to recuperate.

Li Shimin was also a relatively responsible emperor. After reflection, he felt that the younger brothers and princes of the vassal were still too young.

The youngest is twelve years old, and the oldest is only sixteen. At this age, he is the governor and governor, what can he know?

Not only did it fail to play its central role in the Ping vassal, but it actually caused a lot of trouble.

After learning from the painful experience, we simply called them all back to Beijing.

Cheng Qian listened with no expression on his face, but he was actually very happy. He had always supported Huaiyu's enfeoffment law and opposed the emperor and Xiao Yu's enfeoffment law, but he had no say in this matter.

"Has Huaiyu sent you Zizhi Tongjian recently?"

"Well, the teacher has been writing. Every time he finishes writing an article, he will send it to my son."

"Read it carefully. Wu Huaiyu's general guide to governance is the most suitable for your age. There is nothing new in the world. The things that happened in the past dynasties have been going back and forth. You should learn from it, Huaiyu The analysis is very clear, you have to read more and understand it thoroughly."

Li Shimin reads Tongjian every day now. Wu Huaiyu does not write very fast, and there are not many chapters published now. However, Li Shimin reads it over and over again. Every time he thinks carefully after reading, he can always gain new insights.

······

Brother Seng returned from the fields,

Chun Sanniang has already prepared breakfast.

Under the rising red sun, the autumn morning is a bit cold.

There are three thatched houses, surrounded by bamboo fences, with a yard in front and a vegetable patch in the back. Under the careful care of Chun Sansanniang, this simple courtyard is very neat and clean.

"The meal is ready, hurry up and eat."

Brother Seng put down his hoe and said with a smile, "I went around in the fields. The fields are dry and the rice is ripe. I asked the boss. It will be good weather. God is willing. I can harvest with the sickle and harvest as soon as possible." The valley took advantage of the good weather to dry out in the sun for three days."

Chun Sanniang was also full of joy after hearing this, "Is it really a good weather? That's great."

Seeing the rice in the field getting more and more yellow, everyone was very happy to see the heavy ears of rice, but they also looked forward to good weather during the harvest.

During the late rice season, the sun is not strong in autumn, so the rice needs to be dried in the sun for two or three days. If there is no good weather, this bumper harvest of rice will be ruined. The worst thing is that it coincides with continuous rainy days.

If the rice is not harvested in time, it will sprout directly on the rice ears.

Even if they are harvested quickly, if there is no weather, they will still sprout and mold.

"They say there will be a bumper harvest on the island this year."

Brother Seng wiped his sweat. This man who once worked as a coolie under the docks of Jiangzhou has been living in Jiangzhou for many years and has no land of his own. He has neither a field nor a house, and he is just living blindly.

And since he mustered up the courage to confess his love to Chun, a widow who runs a tavern for thirty years, and got her permission, the two of them, along with their whole family, young and old, applied for the Wu family's recruitment, bid farewell to Jiangzhou Pier, and came to Zhangquan. The Heron Island in the middle,

This island at the mouth of the Kowloon River is very beautiful, with the river on one side and the sea on the other.

The island is also quite big.

They chose to become partners of the Wu family's village. They farmed the land together. The Wu family provided seeds for farming and fertilizer for the cattle, while Brother Seng and the others provided people. The harvest was the three-one method, with the Wu family getting two thirds and the Seng brother one third. .

They also agreed on the four-six methods for gardening crops, six points for the Wu family and four points for Brother Seng.

In addition, the Wu family and farm laborers like Brother Seng also agreed that after five years of cultivation on the reclaimed land, they would give the farm laborers who farmed the land permanent tenure rights, and they were allowed to withdraw but not to take them away.

That is to say, the farm bones belong to the Wu family and the farm skins belong to the tenants.

The ownership of the land belongs to the Wu family, but the right to cultivate the land belongs to the tenant. The tenant can cancel the lease, but the landlord cannot take it back on his own initiative. The tenant can even sublet and become the second landlord.

These agreements gave these recruited employees great protection rights.

For example, Brother Seng took a fancy to these conditions and chose to rent a piece of land to farm instead of going to the shipyard to work and build ships. Now he, Chun Sananniang and a family of five children have come to settle here. Although it is quite hard, it is It feels hopeful.

This year's rice harvest is bumper, so even if I can only get 30% of it, it's still pretty good. After all, the seeds, farming tools, cattle, fertilizers, etc. all come from the Wu family, and even the land also belongs to the Wu family.

If they were not of the same kind, it would be difficult for them to establish a foothold here and cultivate wasteland with almost nothing.

After five years of farming, the land will belong to him. After gradually accumulating some wealth, he can buy farming tools and cattle, etc., so that he can use them without the Wu family and reduce the rent.

You can even buy your own land in the future.

Brother Seng feels that he is still young and has plenty of strength. As long as he works hard, the future will be bright.

Breakfast is porridge with salted fish.

In the spring of 30th year, I specially scooped out a drier dish for Mongo and two hard-boiled eggs.

"Why are you doing so much fishing for me, and you are just boiling eggs for me? What does this look like? The elderly and children at home can eat them all."

"You have a big belly now, so you can keep this egg to eat."

Brother Seng looked at Chun Sanniang's pregnant belly with gentle eyes. At this age, he finally had a woman and a family, and now he would also have his own son.

His brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and three children were actually very nice to him, but they were not his own children after all.

After Chun Sanniang became pregnant, he was extremely happy and worked extra hard.

"After harvesting the rice and digging potatoes and sweet potatoes, I plan to go to Quanzhou on the other side to cut sugar cane. After cutting the sugar cane, I will cut down trees. I can make a lot of money this winter,"

Brother Seng had no intention of working in the shipyard. First of all, he had no skills. The wages of temporary workers in the shipyard were actually less than those of cutting sugar cane or logging. Cutting sugar cane and logging are all more labor intensive. The harder you work, the more money you earn.

There are so many young and old in the family, and Spring Thirty Mother has a child in her belly, so he plans to give it a try.

"It's too hard to cut sugar cane and log, especially since logging is quite dangerous. How about we open a tavern at Ludao Wharf. There will be nothing to do in the winter, and we can make some money by operating it all winter. I don't worry if you're not around. "

Brother Seng peeled two hard-boiled eggs, gave one to his wife, divided the other into portions, and gave one portion to each of his three stepchildren. Then he gave the thicker porridge in the bowl to his wife's brother-in-law and aunt, and he divided it into portions. I went to scoop up a relatively thin bowl and drink it.

"When the rice is harvested and the rent is paid, we won't have to worry about food and drink like this. Then we can cook sweet potato rice and potato rice with the sweet potatoes, and our whole family will eat dry food."

"The tavern is not open anymore. How about we make some wine from sweet potatoes? Madam, you know how to make wine. Come and teach me. When we're done brewing it, we can sell it to the dock."

When she heard that her husband was willing to stay at home and not cut wood, Chun Sansanniang was very happy and nodded repeatedly.

(End of this chapter)