People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1393 Li Xian takes action to compete for official support and public opinion

In Penglai Hall, the atmosphere is gentle.

Li Zhi, wearing only a blue singlet, sat behind the curtain. He put aside the memorial in his hand and asked sideways, "What is the prince doing?"

Wang Fulai immediately raised his hands and said, "Reporting to your Majesty, the prince has been asking about farm affairs recently."

Li Zhi smiled and said with satisfaction: "Follow each step and learn very quickly."

Wang Fulai lowered his head and remained silent.

"Pass the order." Li Zhi's expression became sharp. Wang Fulai immediately handed over his hand. Li Zhi said calmly: "Let the prince show his presence and cultivate the land for me personally on the first day of the year."

Wang Fulai looked solemn, cupped his hands and said, "Here!"

……

Li Xian held the imperial edict in his hand and looked at the ministers in the Mingde Hall with some confusion. He asked in confusion: "Father has not plowed the land for many years. Why did he suddenly think of it today and order him to go?" ?”

Yao Lingzhang stepped forward and cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, the gift of personal plowing is a major national event and has been in existence since the Shang and Zhou Dynasties."

Li Xian looked up and saw Yao Lingzhang explaining everything.

"In the ritual system, the emperor has a thousand acres of land and the princes have a hundred acres. Before spring plowing, the emperor and the princes will work on the land three times or one time, which is called the "gift ceremony" to show the importance of farming."

After a slight pause, Yao Lingzhang continued: "For thousands of years, when the emperor personally plowed the fields, he would also sacrifice to the gods related to agricultural production, that is, Shennong."

Xue Yuanchao nodded and continued: "In recent years, His Majesty has been uneasy, so the ceremony of plowing has been abandoned, but he still feels uneasy in his heart.

Now that His Majesty is close to farming, it is natural that he should work on His Majesty's farmland and offer sacrifices to Shen Nong. "

Li Xian raised his head and nodded thoughtfully. He could hear the meaning of Yao Lingzhang and Xue Yuanchao's words.

Plowing the land for the emperor is the second most important thing. The most important thing is to offer sacrifices to Shennong for the emperor.

Three Emperors and Five Emperors, the surname Li originated from Huangdi.

Although the Li family in Longxi has Laozi as their ancestor, tracing back to their roots, they are descendants of the Yellow Emperor.

Therefore, every year on the third day of the first lunar month, the emperor would worship the sky in the southern suburbs of Yuanqiu, which would be mainly to worship God Haotian, and the Yellow Emperor as a supplement; while in the northern suburbs, the emperor would worship the earth as a main sacrifice, with Shennong as a supplement.

Although the emperor's health has been poor in recent years, he personally performed the sacrifices to heaven in the southern suburbs and to the earth in the northern suburbs.

Nowadays, Li Xian worships Shennong on behalf of the emperor, which is second only to worshiping heaven and earth on behalf of the emperor, which has great symbolic significance.

"Well, in that case, everything is ready, Commander Zhan Shi." After a slight pause, Li Xian said: "In addition to the ministers in the court, let Dou Chi, the magistrate of Wugong County, also come with us."

"Here!" All the ministers raised their hands.

When Li Xian summoned the Wugong County Magistrate before, he discovered that Dou Chi, the Wugong County Magistrate, was actually the brother of Dou Xiao, a former soldier of Prince Yong's Mansion.

Dou Chi served as the magistrate of Mei County in his early years, and now he serves as the magistrate of Wugong County.

Wugong County is Ji County, and the Wugong County Magistrate is Zhengliupin.

Coupled with this relationship, Li Xian is very close to Dou Chi.

Of course, Dou Chi is a core member of the younger generation of the Dou family, and is very close to King Xiang.

At least it's much closer than Dou Xiao.

……

Li Xian, dressed in a black python robe and a nine-pin crown, stepped onto the Xiannong Altar with a solemn expression.

Under the watchful eyes of the ministers and officials, they solemnly offered sacrifices to Shennong.

After the sacrificial ceremony, Li Xiancai rushed to the emperor's land and began to "take one-third of an acre of land" personally.

The emperor owns a thousand acres of land, so it is naturally impossible for the emperor to cultivate it himself.

Now that Li Xian is plowing the land on behalf of the emperor, it is natural and impossible for Li Xian to plow a thousand acres himself.

What Li Xian personally cultivated was only three plots of "one-third of an acre of land".

"One third of an acre of land" was divided into twelve equal plots, of which the three in the middle plots were to be "cultivated" by the prince, and the remaining nine plots were cultivated by the princes and ministers.

The prince supported the grass with his right hand and held a whip with his left hand. With the assistance of ministers and farmers, he began to perform the plowing ceremony.

The emperor plowed the fields in front, and there were special officials in the back responsible for sowing.

Of course, those who really contribute are those farmers who are basically invisible to others. They are the main force in farming.

The other princes and many princes and ministers were just going through the motions.

However, even though it was just a formality, Li Xian also seemed particularly interested.

Chen Yi, the young minister of Sinong Temple, and Dou Chi, the magistrate of Wugong County, were both called to inquire about relevant matters.

"...In our Tang Dynasty, there were many slave horses, so there is a saying that the horses gallop and the slave horses plow the fields."

After a slight pause, Dou Chi continued: "Wugong County is located on the side of Chang'an. On average, every ten households can have one horse, which is basically enough for spring plowing."

"Basically enough?" Li Xian frowned suddenly, looked at Dou Chi and said, "Which word of average is wrong? People are poor and rich, every neighborhood and village is poor and rich, and there are just as many rogues as there are. How can we do that?" To be honest, how many households can have a group of rogues for ordinary people? "

Dou Chi was silent for a moment, and finally said: "Your Highness is a wise man. To be precise, there can be a rogue horse in twenty households of ordinary people."

"In other words, half of these rogue horses are not in the hands of the people?" Li Xian asked in one sentence, and Dou Chi had to nod: "It is true. Wushu is close to Chang'an, and half of the land is in the hands of nobles and powerful families. There are many people renting horses every year, but the price is high. "

"Ma, where are the fields?" Li Xian suddenly raised his head and asked abruptly: "How many of these fields are rented to the people?"

Dou Chi said bitterly: "About 60%." "There is still 40%. Did they grow it themselves?" Li Xian chased after him.

"Some are grown by themselves, and some are..." Dou Chi passed by and then said: "Wugong County only collects taxes. As long as there are enough taxes to pay during the autumn harvest."

"Enough tax?" Li Xian sneered and said, "I'm afraid the real nobles and wealthy families don't have to pay taxes."

Dou Chi fell silent. What could he say? The national policy and the law were like this. Nobles and powerful families had extra-legal rights.

Seeing Dou Chi's silence, Li Xian didn't know what he was thinking. Shaking his head, Li Xian said: "I don't care about taxes and horses. As long as this year in Wugong County, all the land that needs to be grown will be planted with grain." , my father will be enthroned early next year, I want to celebrate this."

"Here!" Dou Chi immediately raised his hand.

Li Xian glanced at him and said: "You don't have to be embarrassed about this matter. Yongzhou Prefecture governs all counties. This is the case. All the land that should be planted with food must be planted with food. But if there is a vacancy, no matter who you are with, Tian, ​​Yongzhou Prefecture will all take it back."

"Here!" Dou Chi's expression suddenly became excited.

"Let's go, tell all the ministers and ministers about this matter." Li Xian turned around and walked towards the high platform not far away.

Nowadays, although Li Xian takes the lead in plowing the fields and even the ministers dare not go elsewhere, they are a bit older after all and they stand casually most of the time.

Li Xian walked to the high platform, and several prime ministers, ministers, and temple ministers quickly gathered together.

……

"My father has granted me the title of Zen, and I plan to do my best to promote the planting of grain in all the places in Yongzhou." After a slight pause, Li Xian said with a cold face: "If anyone deliberately leaves the field vacant, the Yongzhou Prefecture will take back the land, no matter who it is. The same goes for merit."

If it were just a matter involving the Yongzhou Prefecture, Lu Yuanfang and Su Liangsi could handle it, but since many distinguished officials in the court were involved, some caution was needed.

The prime ministers couldn't help but paused. They could understand Li Xian's desire to contribute to the emperor's enthronement. However, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to granting land to the people, most of them used tax collection as a means to encourage the people to grow more food.

After all, for ordinary people, they wish they could grow ten grains of grain on every acre of land, but for families with meritorious deeds, they just need to pay taxes and don't care about anything else.

Now, in order to enshrine the emperor, Li Xian is doing formalism and punishing the families of Kongtian's meritorious relatives, which is somewhat arousing criticism.

At this time, Duan Baoxuan said quietly: "Yonghui Law: Anyone who abandons or destroys official and private belongings and destroys trees and crops is considered a thief."

"The crime of abandoning farmland?" Pei Yan was the first to react. He had been the Minister of the Ministry of Justice for many years and immediately understood Duan Baoxuan's thoughts.

Cui Mi, the imperial censor, stood up and raised his hands: "Your Highness, this crime is too far-fetched and harsh."

"What the imperial censor said is indeed true. The imperial court does not care whether the land is abandoned or not cultivated. As long as they can pay enough taxes after the autumn, it is enough. But these people do not pay taxes, which means that he and the imperial court have no choice. Restrain them." Su Liangsi walked out and looked at Cui Mi calmly with stern eyes.

"It's not necessarily impossible, right, Magistrate Dou." Di Renjie stood aside and spoke softly.

Dou Chi forced a smile. At this time, there was no place for him to speak.

Cui Mi suddenly frowned.

Di Renjie's words are true, because local dignitaries and nobles will inevitably violate the law. If they really insist on picketing, no one will be able to avoid being unlucky.

Duan Baoxuan obviously wanted to support Li Xian. As the Minister of Punishment and the former minister of Dali Temple, if he really wanted to intervene, he would be in trouble.

"Why fight?" Liu Rengui finally said, and all the ministers turned around at the same time and looked at Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui turned to look at Li Xian, cupped his hands and said: "In addition to congratulating His Majesty on the Zen Ceremony, Your Highness is probably also worried that the floods in summer and autumn this year will damage agricultural food, so he requested as much variety of food as possible. In this way, if there is a disaster, Chang'an and Luoyang will have enough food to survive the disaster year."

Li Xian raised his hand and said respectfully to Liu Rengui, "I'm just worried."

"Your Highness's thoughts are correct. In this case, he will speak out and take action, ordering Yongzhou, Huazhou, Shaanzhou, and Luozhou to fully prepare food this spring and summer to prevent floods. I am worried about those who are slacking off, regardless of the government or meritorious officials. , they will be severely punished, their property will be confiscated, their titles will be revoked, and they will not be forgiven."

"Just as Zuo Xiang said, the East Palace, Sinong Temple, and Yongzhou Mansion will submit the report together, and the Ministry of Cabinet will review it." Li Xian breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Here!" All the ministers raised their hands at the same time.

Li Xian's eyes fell on Dou Chi and said: "Wugong County has a shortage of livestock for farming. Donggong will pay a sum of money to buy livestock and lend them to Wugong County. They will take them back after the autumn harvest. If there is a shortage, Wugong County will make up for it."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Dou Chi's face was filled with joy. Although Li Xian wanted to take it back, it was just to avoid waste and misappropriation. This was a good thing.

"Yes!" Li Xian nodded, looked at He Yiqiu and said, "Wugong County is located in the upper reaches of the Wei River. Watering is also important. The capital water supervisor will send someone to assist."

"Here!" He Yiqiu handed over his hand.

Li Xian turned to look at Cui Mi and said, "Everything in Wugong County is complicated, so Yushitai sent people to monitor it."

"Here!" Cui Mi suddenly felt bitter, and at the same time cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, the Yushitai is short of manpower."

"Tell someone." Li Xian looked sideways at Bi Jing and said thoughtfully, "You remember that Bi Gou has been a secretary for two years, right?"

"Yes!" Bi Jing raised his hands in surprise.

"How about the censor who has been transferred to the imperial censor and appointed as the supervisory censor? I remember that he has enough qualifications and was ranked second in the rankings that year." Li Xian suggested calmly, but looked straight at Cui Mi.

"Yes!" Cui Mi's mouth twitched slightly, and his eyes were bitter.

Bi Jing, who came from a poor family and was appointed as a doctor in the household department, was originally promoted by the queen. In fact, even if the prince had not said so, Cui Mi would have given Bi Jing this honor.

Not to mention that Bi Gou is the candidate recommended by Princess Taiping. He has already made up his mind and will only be transferred after some time.

But now the prince suddenly intervened, leaving him at a loss for a moment.

Li Xian smiled softly, then looked at everyone with a solemn face and said: "Although this year's floods are in the Taishi Bureau's forecast, the Taishi Bureau has not changed it so far. All departments must be fully prepared for flood prevention. The central government should also order all states and counties to act in accordance with the order without delay.”

"Here!" All the ministers held their hands together with solemn expressions.

At this moment, there was a "pop" sound, and a drop of water suddenly fell from the sky, hit the ground, and split instantly.

The old farmers around suddenly cheered with joy, but the officials had already looked solemn.

This year, I’m afraid it will be a stormy year!
(End of this chapter)