Tibet.

Chapter 1370: Zhang Hao, a loyal minister
Li Ye did not have much contact with Zhang Hao, but Zhang Hao left a deep impression on Li Ye on a small matter. During the reign of Li Heng, Qi Wang Li Zhen launched a rebellion which was suppressed, killing a group of people and implicating many ministers, including Zhang Hao.

Why was Zhang Hao implicated? Zhang Hao was renting a house from Li Zhen. As the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, he had to rent a house, which shows that he was honest and could not afford a house in Chang'an. At that time, Chang'an had just been recovered and rooms in Chang'an were the cheapest.

The powerful and wealthy businessmen were all selling their houses. During the Tianbao period, a good piece of land cost several thousand strings of cash per acre, but at that time it could be bought with a few hundred strings of cash. However, Zhang Hao could not afford it because he was an honest official and had no wealth at home.

Secondly, it also shows that this person is upright. In times of war, it is not easy for a prime minister to get a house. If he likes a house, he can find a reason, such as serving the rebel army, and demote the owner to Lingnan as a soldier. Then he can confiscate the house and auction it at a low price, and then he can get the house.

But Zhang Hao never did so, which shows that he was an upright person. He was known as Zhang Tietou and dared to contradict the emperor.

To be honest, Li Ye did not like people who were too upright. Yan Zhenqing and Zhang Hao were both known for their stubbornness, but Li Ye needed such loyal and upright ministers. If they opposed a policy, there must be something wrong with it.

Of course, Li Ye also treated Zhang Hao well and arranged an official residence for him. The salaries of court officials were also very generous. In addition to the normal monthly salary of official rank, they also received rice and feed money. The monthly salary was the salary, the feed money was various subsidies, and the rice was the year-end bonus.

There are also various benefits, including money for cooling off in the summer and money for keeping warm in the winter. The salaries of staff can be reimbursed, and there are also distributions of physical goods during festivals. For example, during the Chinese New Year, the prime minister will receive benefits of 200 sheep and 200 shi of rice, and of course there are also various local specialties from local officials.

For example, Zhang Hao was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Zhengshi Hall, with a monthly salary of 80 guan, while his monthly allowance was as much as 120 guan, and there was also a year-end bonus, which used to be rice allowance but is now converted into 1,000 guan.

The salary paid by Li Ye was different from before. In the past, the court paid less money but more rice, and also provided subsidies for official land. However, Li Ye received more money but less rice and no land. In other words, officials no longer had official land. For example, Zhang Hao, the prime minister's monthly salary in the past was only eight strings of money, and various subsidies were three strings of money. However, the prime minister had 1,200 acres of official land. In total, he had an annual income of about two thousand strings of money.

Now, it is calculated that the prime minister has an annual income of 3,500 strings of cash, which is a 70% increase.

If Zhang Hao retires, except for the salary, his other monthly salary, year-end bonus and benefits will remain unchanged.

Of course, the expenses of the Prime Minister's Mansion are also high. The monthly salaries of maids, servants, servants and staff can be reimbursed, but not all of them. There is a limit. Li Ye stipulates that the prime minister's staff is limited to five people. Based on ten strings of coins per person per month, fifty strings of coins can be reimbursed. If one wants to invite seven or eight staff members to entertain guests, then the excess will have to be borne by oneself.

But what if you only hire three staff members? Of course you can, but the money saved will not be given to you. This is reimbursement, actual expenses.

Li Ye believed that important officials should have staff. In order to prevent senior officials from not hiring staff and using the staff's money for other purposes, no subsidies were given. Instead, the staff's qualifications and background had to be reported to the Ministry of Personnel for filing. This was also to prevent officials from making up excuses, such as using their own sons as staff, to defraud subsidies from the court.

In addition, if an official does not make mistakes and works diligently throughout his life, he will not only receive a normal salary after retirement, but also a sum of land for recuperation. The prime minister has a thousand acres of fine land, which can be regarded as an inheritance left for him.

Zhang Hao and his two companions came to the imperial study. Li Ye asked them to sit down and asked Zhang Hao with a smile, "It's not easy to settle the population of Liaodong!"

Zhang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "It's not bad. Most of their young and strong men died in the battle. The rest are women and the old and young. According to your majesty's request, the young women were given to the Liaodong soldiers and the Western Region soldiers to marry."

Li Ye nodded and asked Wei Jiansu, "Have all the women who were to be married off to the Western Regions been sent away?"

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "They have been sent away a long time ago. They should be in Anxi and Beiting now."

"Are there any problems on the road?" Li Ye asked again. "It went very smoothly. We prepared several thousand carts. There are more than 70,000 women this time. Anxi and Beiting don't need so many, so Longyou, Shuofang and Hexi all got some. The feedback from Longyou and Hexi was very good. They said that we solved their long-standing problem and the soldiers can get married and start a family."

Li Ye saw Zhang Hao's embarrassed expression and said with a smile: "This is the first time that you, Mr. Zhang, have done something like this!"

Zhang Hao sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you can't feel it. When we announced it, those women cried out to the sky, some wanted to hang themselves, some wanted to jump into the river, and some wanted to fight to the death. I beat dozens of women who were too violent in public with fifty boards, and those women didn't dare to make trouble anymore. It was obvious that they didn't want to, but there was nothing we could do. I don't know whether this is a sin or a good deed."

Zhang Li said with some dissatisfaction: "These women will definitely get married. Can we let them be widows and support them? Can that place bear it?"

Li Ye waved his hands and smiled, "Their resistance comes from the fear of the unknown. Once they remarry, have a new family, or even have children, they will completely adapt. For them, it is a good deed. This shows that we Han people have morals and treat them well. If the Hu people plundered Han women, more than half of them would have died before they reached the grassland. However, we gave them a chance to be reborn and did not even let the army collectively invade them. From ancient times to the present, I am afraid that this has never been heard of!"

Zhang Hao nodded, "This is also what I admire most about Your Majesty. You captured 170,000 women, but you were able to restrain the soldiers from violating them. This is unprecedented. Of course, it was also because you announced in advance that these women would be given to the soldiers as wives, so the soldiers had expectations. I was a little resistant at first, but then I figured it out. The needs of the soldiers are the most important. They have to get married anyway, so it's better to marry the soldiers guarding the border than marrying the farmers in the Central Plains."

"Lord Zhang, do you have anything important to report to me?"

Zhang Hao bowed his head and said, "I want to report on the issue of administrative jurisdiction. Currently, Liaodong is divided into Yingzhou and Yanzhou, Liaoxi is divided into Xizhou, Songzhou and Liaozhou, and Bohai is divided into three prefectures, Longquan Prefecture, Bohai Prefecture and Binhai Prefecture. Gao Hongwei, Yang Chengqing and Wang Jian are appointed as governors respectively. These are not big problems, but I think that we should still set up a prefecture and an observation office. This will be more effective in controlling Liaodong, especially monitoring the Bohai region. After all, the army cannot interfere in government affairs."

Li Ye nodded, "This is a very good suggestion. I have also considered setting up Liaodong Road. Prime Minister Wei, please discuss with the Political Affairs Hall and come up with a specific plan!"

At noon, in the Wanxue Courtyard of Danfeng Restaurant, Li Ye invited Wei Jiansu and the other two to dinner. For the first time, Li Ye did not order the usual three dishes, but asked for rice and mutton soup, and a pot of wine.

The Tang Dynasty still had the separate dining system, with everyone eating their own food. Even if they sat at the same table, they would not eat together. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that it was officially changed to today's communal dining system.

As for whether or not to talk while eating, it depends on the individual. Rich families are more particular about rules and do not talk while eating. They only start chatting during tea time after the meal.

Ordinary families don’t have so many rules. They just eat, drink, chat and laugh, which is more down-to-earth.

After lunch, the palace maid brought tea, and the four of them drank tea while chatting about Silla.

This is equivalent to a kind of informal discussion. It is not a formal discussion of government affairs, but just a casual chat. However, from the casual chat, one can also understand the emperor's intentions and attitudes.

Li Ye took a sip of tea and said slowly: "A country that is small but does not humble itself, has little power but does not fear the strong, is rude and insults its big neighbors, is greedy and stubborn and does not make friends well, it deserves to perish. This is what I mean by Silla. If it had not been rescued by the Tang Dynasty in time, it would have been destroyed by Baekje and Japan. After being rescued, it did not know how to be grateful, and constantly harassed the Tang army, secretly instigated the remnants of Baekje to rebel, and finally forced the Tang Dynasty to leave, and took advantage of the An-Shi Rebellion to annex the Andong Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty. Such a small country deserves to perish."

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Didn't your majesty say that you were going to use the Nanzhao model against Silla?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "The Nanzhao model is just a transition. The reason why we didn't destroy Nanzhao is because the ethnic situation there is too complicated. We need a local regime like Nanzhao to sort out the relationship for us. This doesn't exist for Silla. If we wipe out the Silla army on the battlefield, we can destroy Silla at any time."

(End of this chapter)