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

Chapter 1815: The City is Broken, and He Dies for His Country

In the Taiji Hall, Li Xuan sat high on the imperial couch, and Li Zhizhao sat behind the left column. All their eyes were on Zhang Jianzhi.

Zhang Jianzhi sat up straight and said solemnly, "During my time in Jizhou, I handled a total of 2,346 cases of embezzlement of civilians' land, involving more than 3,500 households. I arrested more than 400 noble slaves and more than 70 noble family children. All of them were sent to the Jizhou Governor's Office for trial, and more than 200 of them were sentenced to death..."

Li Xuan's expression turned cold, and then he said, "I have remembered the number Zhang Qing said. If the report sent by the Jizhou Governor's Office is not consistent, I will dismiss Xue Jichang from his post as governor."

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Jianzhi breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "This incident involved the Feng family of Jizhou, the Zhang family, the Zhao family of Qinghe, the Cui family, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Wei family of Xiangzhou, the Liu family, and the Gao family of Bohai, a total of more than 20 families. Afterwards, a total of more than 250,000 acres of farmland were cleared and returned to the people."

"Well done." Li Xuan nodded with great satisfaction.

"These are what I have found out. In addition, before I arrived, I found that the noble families in various places had returned nearly 100,000 acres to the people." Zhang Jianzhi showed a rare sense of relief, and then said: "I have not investigated these in detail, and basically no people have complained about these."

"Very good." Li Xuan smiled and nodded, then looked at Zhang Jianzhi and said, "To be honest, I am a little worried about you, Zhang Qing. There are nearly 400,000 acres of land. If those people go crazy, they will kill people."

"I am not afraid." Zhang Jianzhi raised his head solemnly.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "You are not afraid, but I am. Come, tell General Zhou Qian of the Left Thousand Bull Guard to dispatch ten people to guard Zhang Qing every day. Also, promote him to the Inspector of the Crown Prince's Left Yude. I will really use him after the new year."

As Assistant Censor and Inspector of the Prince's Left Tutor, Zhang Jianzhi had already reached the fourth rank in the imperial court.

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace." Zhang Jianzhi kowtowed heavily, but there was still some regret in his heart.

The Assistant Censor and the Inspector of the Prince's Left Tutor, so it would never be his turn to be the Chief Censor.

"That's all for today. I have prepared a lot of honeycomb coal this year, and your family has also sent a lot. When you go back later, I'll have someone send another batch over. Remember to pay attention to ventilation." Li Xuan smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhang Jianzhi kowtowed again and said, "I will take my leave."

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded and said, "You all should go back and rest. That's all for today. Crown Prince, come with me to Lizheng Palace."

"Your Majesty, we respectfully bid farewell to you!" All the ministers in the hall stood up, bowed their heads and clasped their hands.

……

At the Xianchun Gate, Li Xuan, wearing a bright yellow sable cloak and holding Li Zhizhao in his arms, sat on the imperial sedan chair and headed towards the Lizheng Palace.

"How much did you understand about today's events?" Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao with some curiosity.

Li Zhizhao relaxed his expression, and then said in a distressed tone: "I don't quite understand what the world is like in Father's eyes."

Li Xuan smiled and raised his hand slightly, and the imperial carriage stopped immediately.

He looked at Li Zhizhao and said, "You can ask this question, which shows that you have some talent, Luo Nian."

The imperial carriage immediately fell down silently.

Li Xuan held Li Zhizhao's hand, then calmly stepped down from the imperial carriage and walked into the snow. Li Xuan bent down and used all his strength to pinch a snowball out of the snow.

With the round snowball in front of him, Li Xuan said calmly, "Look, this is the entire world. As for the emperor, he is at the top."

After saying that, Li Xuan lightly cut the snowball with his right palm. The next moment, nearly one-third of the snow cover on the top of the snowball was cut off.

Li Xuan held the snow cover, looked at Li Zhizhao, and said, "This is the emperor. He owns one-third of the world, and he is also the judge of the remaining two-thirds of the world, so he will cover everything."

Li Zhizhao asked in surprise: "Only one third?"

"Only one third." Li Xuan nodded confidently and said, "Don't underestimate this one third. If one person occupies one third of the world, he is already the Son of Heaven."

After a brief pause, Li Xuan put down the snow cover, then cut the remaining snowball in half with his palm, pointed to one half, and said, "This is the people."

Then he gently twisted the remaining half of the snowball, facing Li Xuan and Li Zhizhao, and then cut it with his palm, splitting it directly into two halves.

"This half is the world's aristocratic families, this half is the world's royal family, this is the entire Tang Dynasty." Li Xuan turned to look at Li Zhizhao and asked, "Do you understand?"

Li Zhizhao was completely stunned. He had not expected the world to be like this.

What book says, All under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the four seas are the king's subjects? This is totally not the same thing.

Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao with a puzzled face, and then said: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand now, just remember it. Even your father didn't fully understand these things until he was 20 years old."

"Yes!" Although Li Zhizhao nodded, his eyes were still on the four halves of the snowball. Li Xuan gently lifted the snow cap representing the imperial power that occupied one-third of the world, and then said: "The emperor must have enough power to maintain the balance of the world, and this balance of the world depends more on the people who only account for one-third of the world. They are the most miserable in the world. There are tens of millions of people, but they only account for one-third of the world. They are weak, but they are always oppressed and exploited by the aristocratic families and the royal family."

Li Xuan gently cut off a small piece of the snow representing the common people, and then squeezed it onto the noble families and royal clans, and then said: "This is encroachment. The common people are encroached upon and become weak. If this continues, the noble families and royal clans will threaten the imperial power."

Li Xuan picked up the snow blocks representing the aristocratic families and royal families, and then gently pressed down on the snow cover representing the imperial power. The edge of the imperial power immediately began to be torn and fell down at the same time.

Li Zhizhao's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Li Xuan smiled.

……

"So, the power of the imperial power is to use the people and the royal family to cut off the land occupied by the aristocratic families and then return it to the people." Li Xuan looked at Li Zhizhao and asked, "Do you understand?"

"What about the royal family?" Li Zhizhao looked up at Li Xuan and asked, "What if the royal family oppresses the people?"

"Just follow the law. Don't worry, the aristocratic families will not let the royal family go." Li Xuan smiled gently. The royal family was the one they didn't need to worry about the least.

"Then what about the common people? What if they occupy the land of the noble families and royal families?" Li Zhizhao then asked another question.

"Then you are the only wise ruler in the world in the past three generations." Li Xuan couldn't help laughing, his eyes full of bitterness.

"Father?" Li Zhizhao looked puzzled.

“The people of the world are the weakest. Without the help of the imperial power, they will only be oppressed little by little. They are like this ball of snow. Once they are squeezed tightly, it will be very painful when they hit people. They can even kill people directly if they hit their vital parts. Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was killed in this way, and his country was finally destroyed.” Li Xuan held the snowball tightly in his hand and finally stuffed it into Li Zhizhao’s hand. The snowball was terribly cold.

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao nodded vigorously and said, "Although I don't understand, I will remember it."

"This is the secret art of imperial power." Li Xuan hugged Li Zhizhao and walked forward while whispering, "Today, your father passed it on to you. Tomorrow, it will be passed on to your son, and his son, and it will be passed down from generation to generation."

"Yes!" Li Zhizhao bit his lips tightly.

Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He was not worried that Li Zhizhao would go astray, because he grew up outside the palace. However, it was hard for Li Xuan to predict what would happen to his son in the future.

"Let's go. Just remember these things in your heart. Today your mother is hosting a banquet for your fourth aunt and fifth aunt in Lizheng Hall. Let's go together. Changzhou just happened to have sent a batch of young lamb..." As Li Xuan spoke, he hugged Li Zhizhao and walked into the depths of the snow and wind.

……

The wind and snow had just stopped, and the prince was still holding court in the Liangyi Hall. In addition to Xing Wenwei, there was also Zhang Jianzhi beside him.

All the officials understood that Zhang Jianzhi might not be able to keep his title of Imperial Censor.

The Right Eunuch of the Eastern Palace was originally more inclined towards giving advice and remonstrances, and his powers and responsibilities somewhat overlapped with those of the Attendant Censor.

Therefore, next year, Zhang Jianzhi will be removed from his position as Imperial Censor and transferred to another fourth-rank official position.

However, Zhang Jianzhi did not care about these. He just sat calmly beside the prince, his eyes fixed on Lin Renji, the Minister of Taichang Temple, who was sitting opposite him in the Taiji Hall.

With a light "pa" sound, Xu Lu placed the memorial in front of Lin Renji, then took a step back.

The emperor's voice rang out on the Danbi: "No, I have already said it last time. When the crown prince is the crown prince, his name will not be changed, in order to achieve harmony among brothers. I am following the example of Emperor Gaozong. The sons of Emperor Gaozong were in harmony with each other, far from the fratricide during the reign of Emperor Taizong, or even Emperor Gaozu."

"But your majesty, the world must avoid taboos..." Lin Renji had just finished speaking when he was immediately interrupted by Li Xuan. He looked behind the curtains on both sides and said loudly: "Pass the decree, my sons and heirs are not allowed to change their names before they ascend the throne. Their names must be of the same generation as those of their brothers, so that the world will be harmonious."

"Yes!" He Zhizhang and Chen Ziang bowed together.

"Your Majesty is wise." Lin Renji immediately knelt down and kowtowed solemnly.

Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then he understood and said softly: "Lin Qing, why are you doing this?"

"Your Majesty, I am already old." Lin Renji bowed and then said with a wry smile: "There is no hope for advancement in my career, so it is better for me to retire and rest."

Li Xuan looked at Lin Renji, closed his eyes slightly, and then said: "I understand what you mean, but I really can't give you the six ministers. How about this, I will use you as..."

"Thump, thump, thump!" A burst of hurried footsteps sounded from outside the palace, interrupting Li Xuan's voice. Then, a Qianniu Guard rushed into the palace, exhausted, and knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, an urgent report from six hundred miles away, the Li people in Lingnan rebelled and attacked the city of Annan. The city was broken, and the Annan Protector General Liu Yanyou died for his country."

"What?" Li Xuan stood up in horror.

(End of this chapter)