Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 635 Public Execution
The rain kept falling and the atmosphere was not very harmonious.

In the lobby of the Bianzhou government office, Li Lin sat on the so-called "dragon throne" with a gloomy expression.

And Crown Prince Li Wei, who was standing on the right "listening to government affairs", also had a gloomy expression and no one knew what he was thinking.

Of course, the reason why they were unhappy might have something to do with Hou Mochen's messy crotch incident.

"Right Prime Minister, today's court meeting can begin."

Li Lin looked at Fang Chongyong and said weakly.

When I came to Kaifeng County today, I saw that the fire at Daxiangguo Temple had not been extinguished yet, and thick smoke could be seen from a distance.

Of course he knew why this happened.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

A young civil servant stepped out; he was a stranger and had never been seen before.

"Right Prime Minister, this is..."

Li Lin asked doubtfully.

This was the downside of his not caring about government affairs. It took Li Lin a long time to learn the specific situation of who was new or missing in the central government.

The reason is simple. If you don't take care of the matter, it is impossible to obtain first-hand information in the first time.

"Li Kui, now serving as the Chief Censor, passed the imperial examination in Chang'an and also served in the Ministry of Rites.

Both his ability and character are reliable."

Fang Chongyong explained.

Li Lin nodded slightly without commenting.

Needless to say, this person must be another one of Fang Zhongyong's confidants, otherwise he would not have been "promoted beyond his status". As for his ability and character, Li Lin did not want to delve into it, it was meaningless.

In the current imperial system, censors like the Chief Censor are of little use. They are mostly used by Fang Zhongyong to place his cronies in the fold.

It can be considered a talent reserve.

Just because it’s useless now doesn’t mean it won’t be useful in the future.

Li Lin had no way out and could not intervene at all.

Because most of Li Lin's confidants were so-called "close ministers of the emperor", such as "Zuo Shiyi". Similar official positions can only be effective if the emperor is the real emperor.

If the emperor is just a puppet, then the people who hold these official positions, that is, the puppet's running dogs, are of no use!

Li Lin's ability in power struggles was still a little lacking, and he did not understand that the "system" itself was the greatest weapon in the struggle. Fang Chongyong controlled the "right to change the system" to ensure that Li Lin could not place his cronies in key positions in the court.

Over time, close friends will become disunited and no one can continue to work for love for a long time.

"Lord Li, what do you want to say?"

Li Lin forced a smile and asked casually.

"I, your humble servant, beg Your Majesty to dismiss the eunuchs, dismiss the palace maids, and reduce the expenses of the imperial palace! The money saved can be used by the court to recruit more soldiers as military expenses, and unify the world sooner!

Your Majesty, the court is still in its infancy and now is surrounded by powerful enemies. You must not be complacent! "

Li Kui knelt on the ground, performed a profound worship with his whole body prostrated, and knelt for a long time without getting up.

"Your Majesty, I beg you to reduce the expenses of the palace!"

In the hall of the government office, all the court officials knelt on the ground instantly, with Fang Zhongyong at the head!
how so!
Li Lin looked terrified and held tightly to the armrests of the so-called "dragon throne" with both hands.

Even Gao Shang, who usually kept his emotions secret, had beads of sweat on his forehead.

Fang Qing’s move was too cruel!
Gao Shang sighed secretly in his heart, but he had no idea what to do.

Why do you say that?
Because in this government hall that served as a temporary imperial palace, everyone except Li Lin himself truly thought so!
Even if we assume that these people are not Fang Zhongyong's confidants at all, it will be the same and there will not be much difference.

The reason is very simple.

Emperor Li Lin spent less money, so the officials had more budget.

When the regime was just starting out, the salaries of officials were not what people cared about the most. Because no matter how much you made, if the makeshift team collapsed, all the money you made would be used as a warehouse for those who came after you.

These officials have begun to perform various functions of the central government of the imperial court. They have endless tasks to do, and everything requires money.

Li Lin spent the money, so they had no money to do things. Without money to do things, there would be no political achievements and no chance of promotion.

So, it was not that Fang Zhongyong forced these people to obey the orders of him, the right prime minister and commander-in-chief, but that these people originally had this need.

"I, I didn't spend much money. I have no more than a hundred eunuchs, no more than a hundred palace maids, and dozens of concubines. How can that be too much?"

Li Lin asked back somewhat unwillingly.

Fang Zhongyong stood up, looked Li Lin in the eyes, and said bluntly: "Your Majesty, why not release these eunuchs and palace maids and let them make a living on their own? There is a lack of labor in the people anyway. These people can do something for the country. Let them earn their own living and save the country's wealth. Why not do it?"

He was confident and showed no sign of giving in.

How many eunuchs and palace maids did Brother Ji have back then?
There were countless of them, not to mention the eunuchs. There were at least 10,000 palace maids alone, at the lowest number.

Li Lin now has more than a hundred palace maids around him. Is that a lot?

Not much at all.

Not only is there not much, it's even quite shabby!

Thinking of this, Li Lin just couldn't accept it! He wanted to slam the table and stand up!

Why does Fang Qing have the luxury of fine clothes and delicious food? Uh... Li Lin suddenly remembered that Marshal Fang seemed to be a very simple person and had very few servants.

Well, let's get someone else to compare it.

As a result, he thought about it and found that these civil and military officials were all just starting out in their careers. None of them had a mansion at home, let alone a large number of servants.

The truth is still the same, it's not that they don't have to endure the hardships, but that they have no use at all!

With separatist regimes and powerful enemies all around, no one can guarantee that they can keep their territory. Once defeated, everything will belong to others. Instead of playing these fancy things, it is better to focus on your career and strive to "pass the game"

Li Lin then came to his senses and wondered why Fang Chongyong was able to gain such a strong appeal and get so many people to respond.

It was because he, as an emperor, did nothing and yet had a large number of servants and concubines serving him, which made others unable to bear it!
Whether Li Lin is frugal or not depends on who he is compared with. If compared with Brother Ji, it is not an exaggeration to say that Li Lin is a beggar. But compared with people like Fang Zhongyong, Li Lin's pomp and expense are really not small.

"Your Majesty, it is difficult to offend the public anger."

Gao Shang leaned close to Li Lin's ear and whispered.

He was getting a little anxious.

Why do I say so? Because the situation faced by Li Lin and Ji Ge back then is different.

Brother Ji has a "small treasury", which is the Taifu Temple. He is not short of money, and he is also good at making money.

But Li Lin had nothing. All his expenses were funded by the Bianzhou government. Li Lin himself had no means of making money.

Even if there is, some people won't indulge him.

If you rely on others, you naturally cannot be tough.

Fang Zhongyong said that if the funding was stopped, then it could be stopped directly. The current court meeting was just a way to build momentum.

When outsiders start to talk about it in the future, it will be said that it is what the people want, not that Fang Chongyong is abusing the emperor. Gao Shang quickly winked at Li Lin.

"I, I also think that the number of eunuchs and palace maids can be reduced appropriately."

Li Lin said with some entanglement, unwilling but helpless.

"That's great. The Ministry of Revenue will formulate a regulation as soon as possible for Your Majesty to review."

Fang Chongyong said calmly that he didn't want to argue with Li Lin at all about how many people should be laid off and how many donations should be reduced.

Today's court meeting was just a warning to Li Lin. Especially after what happened last night, Fang Zhongyong discovered that Li Lin had quite a few tricks.

"Well, so be it."

Li Lin nodded slightly and compromised. He had no choice but to compromise. Seeing this scene, no one spoke up for him.

"Your Majesty, I have my own report to make."

Yan Zhuang slowly stepped out and handed the memorial to Gao Shang.

“In the upcoming imperial examination, the Ministry of Personnel has tentatively decided to admit 200 Jinshi candidates, who will be granted official positions next year.

Twenty more people will be selected from among the Jinshi candidates and given priority. They will take up their posts at the end of this year and all of them will serve as local officials.

Then, after the Lantern Festival next year, officials will be selected from local officials to fill vacancies in the central government.

The specific strategies are all written in the memorials.”

After saying that, he slowly retreated back to his original position.

Yan Zhuang did not ask Li Lin whether he wanted to hold the imperial examination, but asked how many people to admit and how to place them. It seemed that he was fulfilling his duty, but in fact he was slapping himself in the face.

You say it, you say it, say that you don’t agree with the imperial examination!

Look in this hall, will someone drown you with spit?

Yan Zhuang was shouting wildly in his heart, but his face was a fake smile.

Li Lin looked at Gao Shang helplessly, only to see him shaking his head helplessly, trying hard to hint to him not to be impulsive.

"I'm sure."

Li Lin squeezed out three words from between his teeth, feeling that all the strength in his body had been drained.

Next came some topics that he thought were boring.

For example, the "Learning 500 Characters Method" was to open some "public schools" of the lowest level and invite local intellectuals to teach as annual corvée. Farmers with or without land, or even peddlers, could pay a symbolic fee and sign up to learn to read.

As long as you have learned 500 characters and can read and recognize them (you don’t need to be able to write them), you can get a certificate. In the future, only people with certificates can participate in certain special, relatively easy corvee labor.

For example, working as a temporary clerk in the government, guarding the city gate, working temporarily under the local county lieutenant, etc.

Simply put, it is to make more ordinary people literate. They don't need to learn a lot, 500 words are enough, similar to a "crash course". If anyone wants to learn more in the future, that's their own business and they can solve it themselves.

Li Lin thought that this bill was ridiculous. He didn't think it was necessary for those peasants to learn to read, as it was simply a waste of time.

For example, Fang Chongyong proposed the establishment of the "Imperial Medical Bureau" and the "Military Medical Bureau", one specifically for training government medical officers and the other specifically for training military medical officers.

Under the Imperial Medical Bureau, there is Anjifang, which was set up mainly to respond quickly to the plague. On weekdays, it is used as a temporary place to treat minor illnesses. Trainee medical officers provide free consultation and treatment to poor people, and sell some common medicinal materials at cost price.

The Military Medical Bureau has a nursing home under it, which is usually used to house the orphans who have no one to rely on in the army. If there are refugees coming to the local area, the nursing home will be responsible for temporary reception and resettlement to avoid causing social unrest in the local area.

The government will allocate a portion of public land to the nursing home as the basis for its operation, which will play a certain role in social security.

Of course, to some extent, it can be considered as preserving public land.

Li Lin had no feelings about this bill. He just thought that Fang Zhongyong was too nice to those peasants. It was completely unnecessary and a pure waste of money.

With this little money, it would be better to recruit more soldiers.

However, since it had little to do with him, Li Lin was too lazy to waste his energy on such trivial matters. He basically just nodded to whatever Fang Zhongyong and his men said.

A court meeting that Li Lin thought was very boring ended just like that. He didn't listen to what the ministers said at the end. The failure of the attempt to depose the queen made him a little discouraged and he didn't want to bother anymore.

……

"General, with so many laws being implemented at once, the money in the treasury is running low. Even salt permits cannot be issued casually."

In the study, Liu Yan reported to Fang Zhongyong.

It has to be said that Marshal Fang is capable, ambitious and resourceful.

What we lack now is just time.

Even though there are a lot of public fields, these lands cannot be converted into cash immediately, and the grain and fodder produced from the fields have to wait until autumn.

"There are still too many wealthy families in Bianzhou. We need to call on these people to donate money for charity.

Shouldn't they donate some money to charity, such as Anjifang, nursing homes, and academies?"

Fang Zhongyong asked confidently.

This is the truth, but no one would be willing to pay money to throw it into the water. Those poor people, those disaster victims, are living well. Mr. Huang in Bianzhou and other places just hope that those people will die far away and not let themselves see it.

Liu Yan just smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“For those who don’t donate, hang a plaque on their door lintel with four words on it: Rich but Unkind.

Those who donate money will also hang a plaque on their door lintel with four words written on it: Home of Goodness.

Let Cui Qianyou take the tax police to go door to door and ask which sign they want to hang. From now on, the sign will be changed once a year!"

Fang Chongyong sneered.

Does this work too?
The honest man Liu Yan pondered for a moment and found that this way of playing was really fucking feasible!

“After the incident at Daxiangguo Temple, let Cui Qianyou take people to check all the temples in Bianzhou to see if they are tolerating evil.

See if we can take back some of the land and use it as public land for the nursing home."

Fang Chongyong's mind worked quickly and he immediately thought of setting a trap for the temple.

Anyway, just ask them if they wear hats.

They eat vegetarian food and chant Buddha every day and do nothing, and they occupy so much land. If we don't beat these bald donkeys with iron fists, it would be a waste of the martial virtue of the silver spear and the military!
"I will do it. The policies formulated by the Right Prime Minister may not be effective in the short term, but they will definitely help improve people's livelihood within one or two years at the least, and five years at the most.

When the time comes, we won’t have to worry about fires at home when we want to send troops to any place.”

Liu Yan said with a smile.

Although what Fang Zhongyong mentioned cannot be converted into money in the short term, as long as it is running normally and social security is strengthened, it will reduce natural land annexation. Moreover, many things are related to military logistics, such as military doctors and the welfare of military families.

Such an army with centripetal force and no worries is born to win battles.

Things went so smoothly thanks to Li Lin's very low level of government affairs. Even if he wanted to find fault, he didn't know where to start.

Just as Liu Yan was secretly complaining about Li Lin, Yan Zhuang pushed open the door and handed a letter to Fang Chongyong, saying, "Li Guangbi sent someone to say that he wants to attack Guangzhou and create a buffer zone, and he wants to ask the Marshal for his opinion."

Attack Gwangju?
Fang Chongyong was stunned. He hadn't figured out where Gwangju was exactly, because this place was not part of his strategy in the short term.

(End of this chapter)