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

Chapter 1629: Completely Condemning Empress Wu’s Regicide
The ministers had no objection to the appointments in the army and Chang'an City, as these were originally Li Xuan's business.

Li Xuan turned to look at Li Hui who had just returned in the morning, and said, "Chang'an is always short of food and grass, so the Council of State Affairs decided to appoint Li Hui, Duke of Hejian, as the Pacifier of Jiannan Road, to command and organize all the soldiers in Jiannan Road, and at the same time transport food and grass to feed Chang'an."

"I obey your command." Li Hui bowed solemnly.

Li Xuan bowed to Li Hui earnestly and said, "My Lord, please be careful. We will dispatch 3,000 men from the Left Guard to the south to guard Hanzhong and occupy Yizhou. At the same time, we will keep an eye on Jingzhou and contact Yangzhou. My Lord, you have a heavy responsibility."

Li Hui smiled and said, "Although my son has gone to Yangzhou, he is still serving as a military officer in Yizhou, so everything will not be difficult for him."

Li Hui's eldest son Li Rong was a military officer in the Yizhou Grand Marshal's Office, but not long ago, he was transferred from Yizhou to Yangzhou together with Wu Zetian and Li Xiaoyi.

Of course, although Li Xiaoyi was the chief commander of the expedition to Yangzhou, he, like Li Hui, was just a puppet.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "Panzhou Governor Yao Yi was praised by Emperor Gaozong in the past. Now he can be transferred to the post of Chief of Yizhou Grand Military Governor's Office and Deputy Envoy of Jiannan Road. With him assisting the county lord, everything will go more smoothly."

"Yes!" Li Hui bowed again.

Li Xuan continued to look at the ministers and said, "I have already resigned from the posts of Pacifying Envoy of Luoshui Road, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Luoshui Road, Governor of Changzhou, and Governor of Changzhou. Now I will promote Deputy Pacifying Envoy of Luoshui Road, Heichi Changzhi, to the posts of Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Luoshui Road, Pacifying Envoy of Luoshui Road, Governor of Changzhou, Governor of Changzhou, and Ambassador of Pacifying Northwest Road at the same time.

Fanchang, Ganliang, Shasu, the troops, horses, grain and grass are all under his control, and the Right Army General Hua Dazhi is the deputy envoy to assist him. "

"Yes!" Li Bi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, bowed in response.

Li Xuan looked at the ministers and said, "Since the Luoyang Palace Incident last year, the world has been in chaos. This prince has followed the will of Emperor Gaozong to clear the world. At the beginning, I also discussed with Emperor Zhongzong to expand the positions of censor, secretary, and secretary, and now we must continue.

If you have any candidates you can recommend, please recommend them to the Political Affairs Hall. They will be dispatched to Longyou, Jiannan, Bingzhou, and Youzhou to inspect the autumn taxes, names, and imperial examinations in various counties and prefectures, and ensure that the government is clean and fair and that the world returns to order. "

"Yes!" All the ministers in the hall bowed at the same time with serious expressions.

They understood clearly what Li Xuan meant.

Since Empress Wu moved to Luoyang, many government affairs in the world were not sent to Chang'an, but to Luoyang.

Although Li Xuan has now occupied Chang'an, it is hard to say how many people are willing to obey the imperial edict.

This requires someone from the central government to go to the local areas, tell them about the changes in the court, and ask them to send those who should be sent to Chang'an to Chang'an.

If they refuse to submit to Chang'an, then naturally the army will be sent in to purify the place.

Li Xuan took a deep breath and continued, "I know this is a difficult matter. It is inevitable that the prefectures and counties will pretend to obey but secretly disobey. But this is exactly what you are working hard for. Now that the central government is vacant, the local governments will inevitably be like this in the future. The Ministry of Personnel should be more attentive. It depends on whether you can find out what abilities your colleagues have."

"I obey your command." Zhao Chen immediately stood up and bowed.

There was a fiery look in the eyes of the ministers in the hall as they looked at Zhao Chen.

Li Xuan smiled with satisfaction. Although he had taken Chang'an now, he was still a long way from unifying the whole country.

He needed to tie more men to his chariot.

Liu Rengui, Lu Yuanfang, Cui Zhiwen, Li Yiyan, Zhao Renben, Wang Fangyi, Xiao Siye, Wei Jia and so on and so forth.

There are three hundred states in the world. With Li Xuan's current ability, he would be lucky if half of the one hundred states he conquered were willing to obey his orders.

Li Xuan turned to look at Liu Rengui, and said with a folded hand: "Left Prime Minister, Xuan has something else to ask. While all the officials are here today, please discuss it with the ministers in the Political Affairs Hall."

"Please speak, Your Highness." Liu Rengui nodded and looked at Li Xuan seriously.

Li Xuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Xuan intends to ask the emperor to exempt Yongzhou Prefecture from this year's autumn tax."

As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, the ministers in the palace started to make some noise.

You know, the autumn grain from the south of the Yangtze River cannot be delivered to Chang'an, and the salaries of all officials in Chang'an are all provided by taxes from Longyou and Jiannan, not to mention the problem of military rations for the army's conquest.

Li Xuan wants to win the hearts of the people by exempting taxes. Isn't this going too far?
Many people have begun to doubt Li Xuan's intentions.

"Your Highness, are you thinking about the grain prices in Chang'an?" Lu Yuanfang walked out, looked at Li Xuan with a puzzled look and bowed.

The officials in the palace were stunned. The autumn tax in Yongzhou and the grain price in Chang'an were exempted...

Many people have already reacted.

Li Xuan nodded and said seriously: "Now that Luoyang is isolated, the grain from Jiangnan cannot be delivered to Chang'an. The grain price in Chang'an will rise. In autumn, this is the trouble we are waiting for..."

When Li Xuan said this, many people in the hall didn't take it seriously.

Li Xuan looked at Lu Yuanfang and continued, "In fact, the people of Chang'an, no, the people of Yongzhou are not short of food, but after the autumn tax, the food will be a little insufficient. At that time, we will need to take out a part of the food transported from Jiannan Road to provide relief to the victims. In this way, the matter of pacifying the Central Plains will be delayed."

At this time, many people in the hall were listening to Li Xuan's words carefully.

In fact, there is no shortage of food in Chang'an.

If all the grain in Chang'an was released, it would be enough for the people of Chang'an to use for three years.

But the problem is that most of the grain is in the hands of the aristocratic families. How is it possible to ask these families to release the grain to save people?

When grain prices were high, taxes were forcibly levied, and then officials and aristocratic families took advantage of the situation to manipulate the situation. In the end, very little money actually reached the court and Li Xuan's hands.

Afterwards, Li Xuan had to use part of the military rations to provide relief to the people.

The autumn tax he collected was not as much as what he used to give to the people.

So Li Xuan simply stopped collecting taxes.

Without taxes, the people will naturally have food in their hands, and the price of food will naturally drop.

Of course, the time of famine during the autumn harvest is when food prices are the highest.

There would always be officials and wealthy families who would trick the people into buying grain at this time. After all, sometimes, even after the autumn harvest, grain prices might not fall.

Autumn taxes have always been the most concerning issue in the world.

If one is not careful, it is common for a family to be broken up and even dead.

Therefore, due to intimidation and deception, it is common for grain prices to remain at low levels for a long time after the autumn grain is put on the market.

People fear the most about having no hope. When in panic, they can do anything.

Selling children is also common.

But now, Li Xuan directly exempted Yongzhou Prefecture from the autumn tax for a year, and the people's hope suddenly came. Even in the autumn famine, they could see the beautiful scene after the autumn harvest in the future. At this time, no matter how difficult it was, they could get through it with a little bit of grit.

As a result, food prices will be difficult to increase and may even fall faster.

The faster food prices fall, the fewer people will buy them.

In this way, the world will become more peaceful and the people will become more stable.

This is what Li Xuan wants.

In this way, we can not only win people's hearts, but also avoid the trouble and loss in the middle.

How beautiful it is.

Naturally, where some people benefit, others suffer.

The officials who have been sucking the blood of the people by relying on taxes, and the aristocratic families who have exploited the people by raising the price of food, will suffer huge losses.

And those people are inextricably linked to everyone in the court today.

Li Xuan sneered in his heart.

……

Li Xuan raised his head, looked at everyone calmly and said: "At this moment, pacifying Luoyang is the top priority. Everything else must give way to it. Do you agree?"

"Of course it is so." Wei Juyuan was the first to jump out, looking at the ministers fiercely and said, "It must be so."

The ministers' eyes flickered, and then they calmed down.

The Wei family and the Du family are the two largest families in Chang'an.

Weidu in the south of the city, go to Tianchiwu.

The Wei family and the Du family are the two largest local wealthy families in Chang'an, and they own the most land in Chang'an.

However, they paid little taxes to the court.

Especially the Wei family. Ever since Empress Wei became the Crown Princess, and especially the Empress, they have found more ways to evade taxes by using various honors and titles.

However, their family had the most officials in Chang'an and Yongzhou.

They are also the ones who suck the most blood from the people.

But there are other families.

Now, in order to pacify Luoyang and welcome Empress Wei back to Chang'an, Wei Juyuan must ensure that Li Xuan can move forward without hindrance.

In the future, these families will inevitably have conflicts with the Wei family.

Seeing that no one came out to refute for a long time, Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's it."

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

"Your Highness!" Wei Juyuan turned around, looked at Li Xuan with a serious look, and said, "Please forgive me for being so rude, but may I ask Your Highness, when will you send troops to Luoyang?"

Wang Fangyi had already led his men to Hangu Pass, so the person Wei Juyuan was asking about now was naturally Li Xuan.

Many people in the hall looked at Wei Juyuan with surprise. Wei Juyuan's question was a bit too much.

Li Xuan nodded gently to Wei Juyuan and said, "Three days later, I will go to Qianling Mausoleum to offer sacrifices to Emperor Gaozong, and then chase the army to Hangu Pass. Then I will see who Luoyang has sent to lead the army."

"I think no one in Luoyang can stop the prince." Wei Juyuan couldn't help laughing.

Li Xuan shook her head calmly and said, "There are still some talented people in the court, and the most important thing is the Yellow River. It is not easy to cross the Yellow River and settle in Henan. Otherwise, when the country was founded, Emperor Taizong would not have had such a difficult time. Today, the empress is in Luoyang, and she is not Wang Shichong."

"Yes!" Wei Juyuan looked serious.

Empress Wu's prestige in the world was far beyond what Wang Shichong could compare to. There were quite a few talented people among the sixteen guards in the court.

Not to mention the countless supplies of food and fodder, and the difficult Yellow River defense line, especially in the areas of Shanzhou and Guozhou, where the terrain is narrow and the Yellow River is turbulent, making it extremely difficult to advance.

Even during the Qin Dynasty, the Qin State was blocked by this terrain for an unknown period of time.

Li Xuan looked up at Wei Juyuan and said, "For food and fodder, the army will use the granary, and the Ministry of Revenue will coordinate. For crossbows and catapults, the Ministry of Works will also need to call on them. For war horses, the Imperial Household Department needs to do its best. The Ministry of War needs to properly mobilize the troops, and the Ministry of Personnel will assess them."

After a brief pause, Li Xuan said, "Yongzhou will be exempted from autumn taxes this time, but as for the military personnel, each prefecture and county should do its best. If there are people with outstanding performance, they can be transferred to the court."

"Yes!" The ministers bowed, and many of them had excitement in their eyes.

Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Then there is only one thing left. I hope the court can re-select a mausoleum for Emperor Zhongzong. After all, Zhongzong was the crown prince designated by Emperor Gaozong and has been on the throne for half a year. It is inappropriate to bury him in Gongling."

All the ministers looked up immediately, and many of them had heard something different.

It was Empress Wu's idea to bury Li Xian in Gongling. Li Xuan wanted to move Li Xian out of Gongling because he was dissatisfied with the way Empress Wu placed Li Xian's body.

In other words, Li Xian was killed by Empress Wu.

Yesterday outside the city of Chang'an, Ma Sizong made it very clear before his death that Li Xian was killed by the imperial guards on the orders of Empress Wu.

Li Xuan is doing this now with the purpose of making this matter spread faster.

He wanted to nail this matter to the ground.

"Also, it's not appropriate to bury Prince Yong in Bazhou. The Ministry of Rites should plan a time to transport him back and bury him in Qianling Mausoleum." Li Xuan looked up, then shook his head and said inexplicably, "Forget Qianling Mausoleum. I still hope that I can be buried with Emperor Zhongzong in the future. I think the emperor will agree."

Hearing what Li Xuan said, all the ministers in the hall fell silent at the same time, and a trace of sadness flashed through their hearts.

"Forget it." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Palace will select a location first. Today... oh, I almost forgot one thing, Yuan Changshi."

"I'm here." Yuan Jiazuo, the chief officer of Yongzhou, stood up.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "This is my first time back in Chang'an. There are some troublemakers in Chang'an City. There are 500 wounded soldiers in the army who need to be withdrawn. This king thinks that they should all go to Yongzhou Prefecture. Chang'an and Wannian counties, if there is any trouble in the future, please report it to Yongzhou Prefecture first. Later, Yuan Changshi will be very busy."

The ministers in the palace immediately smelled something different.

(End of this chapter)