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

Chapter 1768: Land Inventory and Imperial Examination Reform

On February 2, the emperor personally ploughed the field.

On the north bank of the Wei River is the Xiannongtan.

Li Xuan, dressed in a bright yellow crown, walked out of the sacrificial hall, then changed into a round-necked robe with a black background and gold thread in the Jufu Hall, and then brought his ministers to the one-third acre of land in front of them.

Yes, it is Li Xuan’s own piece of land.

Of course, further north of this acre of land are the registered fields of the prime minister, the minister, the vice minister, the temple minister and all the civil and military officials in the court.

Although these registered fields nominally belonged to civil and military officials, in reality they only came here once a year. The rest of the time, the people from the Sinong Temple were in charge of the area.

After each year's harvest, the people from the Sinong Temple would take a portion of the harvest and give it to the relevant officials.

It's actually rent money.

Li Xuan didn't care about these things. In the end, the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture took a portion of the grain they grew, and the bulk of the rest was sent to the emperor.

That is, in Li Xuan’s hands.

……

Li Xuan stood in front of his own one-third acre of land, looking at the bare fields, feeling inexplicably relieved.

On his right followed the Crown Prince Li Zhizhao, the Crown Prince's Left Assistant Wang Yinke, the Crown Prince's Secretary Di Renjie, the Crown Prince's Junior Secretary Xing Wenwei, the Crown Prince's Central Sheren Li Jiao, and the Crown Prince's Left Eunuch Li Ne.

On the left followed Lu Yuanfang, the Shangshu Zuo Pushe, Pei Judao, the Minister of Revenue, Le Sihui, the Minister of Honglu Temple, Chen Yi, the Minister of Sinong Temple, Dou Xiao, the Junior Minister of Sinong Temple, and Cheng Xingmou, the Magistrate of Wugong County.

"Someone, bring the plow." Li Xuan waved his hand, and Chen Yi and Dou Xiao had someone bring a wooden plow harnessed to an old ox to Li Xuan.

"Prince, follow me and hold the plow handle!" Li Xuan turned sideways and looked at Li Zhizhao.

"Yes!" Without any hesitation, Li Zhizhao followed immediately.

Even though Li Xuan's hands were steady, the wooden plow still swayed a little. Li Zhizhao followed Li Xuan step by step, plowing the entire one acre and three mu of land.

All the other ministers were watching from the sidelines, and no one said anything.

After everything was over, Li Zhizhao sat down on the ground feeling a little tired.

Li Xuan smiled softly, looked at Li Zhizhao, and said, "Prince, you must remember that starting from this year, every year on this day, no matter if it is windy or rainy, you must come here and plow the fields. Do you understand?"

"Your son has remembered this." Li Zhizhao quickly stood up and bowed.

"Sit down, take a rest if you are tired." Li Xuan did not ask for too much, he just sighed softly: "It would be nice if Sanlang was still here."

All the ministers fell silent at the same time, and only Lu Yuanfang spoke up, "Your Majesty, do you remember what happened in Taozhou?"

Li Xuan nodded, then looked at Lu Yuanfang and said, "Back then, I just made a suggestion, and my uncle took Sanlang to run around the fields. He basically knew everything about farming. And Di Qing, you were there at the time. You were the one who taught Sanlang the criminal law of Taozhou, right?"

"Yes!" Di Renjie bowed slightly and said, "Although Emperor Zhongzong was a bit absurd when he was young, he is very receptive to advice when he is older."

"Yeah!" Li Xuan nodded with some sadness, then he looked at Li Zhizhao and said, "Did you hear that? Your father, I, the left prime minister, and Di Qing, the three of us used farming methods to teach Emperor Zhongzong, who was not yet a crown prince, to learn about folk affairs. It was because folk affairs, especially those in the fields, are the foundation of world affairs."

"Your son will remember this." Li Zhizhao quickly stood up and bowed.

Li Xian is Li Zhizhao's cousin in terms of seniority, and Li Zhizhao has met Li Xian more than once.

Although Li Xian was not a tough person, he was honest and kind, and was a role model for him to learn from.

Li Zhizhao is already eight years old, and now that he is the crown prince, he has gradually matured in many things.

Li Xuan's words just now have made it very clear that the method he is teaching him now is the same method that he, Lu Yuanfang, and Di Renjie used to teach Li Xian.

This method has been tried once and has been effective. Now that it applies to him, he just needs to follow the steps.

……

Seeing that Li Zhizhao had memorized everything, Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "The Guanzi says, 'When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. Etiquette is determined by farming. The affairs of the world are only sacrifices and wars. Tools help, criminal laws restrain them, and then the imperial examinations govern the world. This is the affairs of the world."

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao didn't quite understand what this sentence meant.

Di Renjie bowed slightly and said, "Only when the granaries are full can one study, and only when one studies can one learn etiquette, and etiquette and war are inseparable, so tools are needed to assist in farming and war, and criminal law is used to constrain the internal affairs, plus the imperial examinations, so that all the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works are included in it."

"Your Majesty is wise." All the ministers bowed in unison.

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly, looked at the field in front of him, and said softly: "Agriculture is the foundation of the world. Prince, come again during the Grain Rain and Grain in Ear this year and take a good look at this three-acre piece of land. This is what I will pass on to you in the future."

"I'll remember this, son." Li Zhizhao bowed seriously.

Li Xuan turned to look at Dou Xiao and said, "After the autumn harvest this year, the first bag of wheat was sent to the palace. The prince and I personally ground it into flour, and then the queen went to the kitchen to make some food, and I and the sons all ate it."

"Yes!" Dou Xiao accepted the order solemnly.

Li Xuan turned around, looked at Le Sihui and said, "Le Qing should have heard it. I will appoint Dou Qing as the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture. He has been in charge of agricultural affairs for many years, and it is time for him to reach this position."

Le Sihui was slightly stunned, then he clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty means that Chen Siqing will be transferred to the position of Honglu Temple Qing."

Le Sihui himself is the former Minister of Sinong Temple, and he was transferred from the Minister of Sinong Temple to the Minister of Honglu Temple. In other words, the current Minister of Sinong Temple Chen Yi will follow his path, being transferred from the Minister of Sinong Temple to the Minister of Honglu Temple, while Dou Xiao will be promoted to the Minister of Sinong Temple.

"That's right!" Li Xuan nodded and walked towards the Jufu Palace, saying, "Wang Dali, the governor of Shezhou, requested to retire at the beginning of the year, and I have already agreed. However, I will transfer him to the court to serve as the Left Palace Attendant, and wait for a while until the end of the year. However, the governorship of Shezhou is finally vacant, and I have discussed with the Left Prime Minister and others and decided to transfer you there."

"Governor of Shezhou?" Le Sihui looked at Li Xuan with surprise.

Li Xuan nodded and said, "You are now in the court. If you move up, you will basically be the Minister of Revenue, but this is not easy. You don't have enough qualifications and merits. If you go to Shezhou and develop Shezhou properly, then after one term, I can transfer you back to Chang'an."

Le Sihui suppressed his excitement and said, "May I ask your Majesty, what does it mean to develop properly?"

"I have also put some effort into farming over the years, as you know." Li Xuan looked at Le Sihui.

Le Sihui nodded and said, "Your Majesty had already made a report on the location, season, and distance between wheat and rice, and the nutritional supplement. Emperor Gaozong ordered it to be implemented between Huaihe and Sihe."

"General Wang is old, and his subordinates are not doing a good job on many things. I need you to serve as the governor of Shezhou and implement these things smoothly. When the per-acre yield of the people in Shezhou exceeds 50% of the current level, you will return to the court." Li Xuan raised his head slightly.

"Five years." After all, Le Sihui was the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture before. He quickly deduced that the time given by Li Xuan was actually a little bit of spare time, roughly about a year.

If Le Sihui was more serious, this period of time might even be advanced, but if he happened to encounter a disaster or storm, then this period of time would be delayed.

But Le Sihui knew in his heart that Li Xuan was the one who was most unwilling to postpone the time.

"I obey your order." Le Sihui bowed solemnly. It was not like he had never been a local governor before, so he was confident about this.

"Very good!" Li Xuan nodded and said, "Be serious. How far you can go in the future depends on these few years in Shezhou."

"I obey your command." Le Sihui suddenly became serious.

Li Xuan stopped and turned around and said, "Did you hear that? Le Qing is transferred to Shezhou Governor, and Chen Qing is transferred to Honglu Temple Minister. Chen Qing, I know you are not good at dealing with people, but Honglu Temple itself is dealing with people, and they are the most difficult foreign tribes to deal with. You should do your best. With me and the Tang Dynasty as your backing, you can be more reckless."

"I obey your command." Chen Yi bowed seriously. He was a technical official and the path to promotion was narrow, but such a path had already appeared in front of him.

From the Minister of the Ministry of Rites to the governor of a local area, and then to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Le Sihui had already paved a way out for him.

"Mr. Dou has been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture." Li Xuan looked at Dou Xiao and said directly, "You know how much I value land. When Emperor Zhongzong promoted you to Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, it was because of my recommendation. Don't let me down this time."

“Yes!” Dou Xiao bowed solemnly. He could see that Li Xuan transferred Chen Yi away for his sake this time. He knew very well what Li Xuan wanted to do.

Li Xuan smiled, then said in a cold voice: "Transfer Wang Bo to be the Shaoqing of Sinong Temple, and take up the post immediately. Set off immediately to various places in Yongzhou to supervise the spring planting. No matter what happens, there must be something wrong."

"Yes!" Lu Yuanfang stood aside and bowed with a serious expression.

Only he understood that the real killer behind Li Xuan's series of actions was Wang Bo.

What Wang Bo wanted to do was to supervise the spring planting and check the fields all over the country.

……

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Xuan put down the golden pen in his hand, stood up and walked out from behind the desk.

The Zhongshu Sheren and Jieshi Zhong, who were behind the curtains on both sides, made very soft sounds.

Li Xuan walked to the front of Liangyi Hall, looked at the entire Chang'an City in front of him, and asked in a low voice: "How many real and fake leakers are there in Chang'an City now?"

"There are thirty-seven people in total, and they are all under surveillance." Li Mo walked out from the shadows and bowed solemnly.

"Go ahead, arrest these 37 people and the people behind them, and then send them to the Dali Temple for strict interrogation." Li Xuan's expression turned grim.

"Yes!" Li Mo bowed, then turned and left quickly.

Li Xuan opened his mouth and continued, "I will issue an order. For this imperial examination, all the censors in the Censorate will stop their work and go to the examination room. They must keep an eye on every official and every candidate in the examination room. I want a clean imperial examination."

"Yes!" Hu Yuanfan, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, stood up immediately and walked quickly towards the Secretariat.

Li Xuan continued, "Issue an order that all candidates in Chang'an may report each other. If there is any fraud in the imperial examination, they may report it to the Censorate immediately. During the imperial examination, they may also report it to the inspecting censors... If it is a malicious accusation, the qualification to take the imperial examination will be permanently disqualified."

"Yes!" Yang Jiong, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, immediately stood up and walked out.

Watching Yang Tong leave, Li Xuan could almost imagine what kind of uproar his order would cause.

But, to correct a wrong, you have to go too far.

Last year, it was because of his manipulation in the imperial examination that Li Chongjun completely lost the throne. Li Xuan didn't want to be tricked in the same way by others.

Li Xuan raised his head, looked forward and said, "Send the audience to Minister Ouyang Tong."

"Yes!" Xu Lu immediately bowed and then walked quickly towards the Secretariat.

Li Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. There was a special person in this imperial examination, Lu Xiangxian.

Lu Xiangxian, the son of Left Prime Minister Lu Yuanfang and an old friend of Li Xuan's childhood.

So Lu Yuanfang needs to avoid suspicion, and Li Xuan also needs to avoid suspicion.

Therefore, let the reform of the imperial examination start from now on.

(End of this chapter)