Ji Tang

Chapter 1456 Conversation and Transaction

"Emperor, you have to remember that businessmen are available because they contributed a lot of tax revenue to the Tang Dynasty, which can reduce the burden on the people. They cannot be beaten to death with a stick. But at the same time, they are also restricted. Those who are businessmen cannot be officials, and those who are officials You are not allowed to do business. This will be written into the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Once discovered, you will be dismissed from office immediately and will not be allowed to hold office for three generations!"

"You must not be careless about this matter and let them take advantage of it."

Li Shimin's words shocked everyone. Those who are businessmen cannot be officials, those who are officials cannot do business, and they must not be officials for three generations. Isn't this punishment a bit too severe?

However, Li Chengqian had no objection. When he was the prince, he might have weighed the pros and cons and hesitated a little, but now, as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he couldn't sit with his butt crooked.

Anything that is beneficial to the Tang Dynasty is the object of his firm support, even if it means killing a river of blood, the previous merger of scholars and merchants is his warning to the people of the world.

"I obey the decree, and I will not let such a small cholera spread throughout the Tang Dynasty!" Li Chengqian was determined to cut the ironwork.

"Ok!"

Li Shimin nodded, looked at everyone and said softly: "I know that some of your dear friends have businessmen in their families, and I can't kill them with one blow, but I have made up my mind, so you can take care of yourself!"

"If you want to be prominent in front of others, take care of your family affairs well. If you want to be rich, I will help you by becoming a rich man. After all, I am not a heartless person when it comes to the relationship between king and minister."

Li Chengqian couldn't help but fell to the ground, hugging Li Shimin's legs, and shed tears.

Ji Song, who was about to leave, gave a wry smile, glanced at the man with mixed expressions, lowered his head and said, "No!"

"Wei Zheng and Awei Zheng, now that I think about it, I hated him, was fed up with him, and even wanted to kill him. But now I have to admit that when he was around, I felt most at ease."

"Because when you are fighting against the world, you know who your enemy is. As long as you are firm-willed and courageous, you can move forward. But it is different when you are in the world. Some ministers will only obey your orders. They may seem loyal, but they may not be true in their hearts. Some ministers can make you angry to death when they speak, so as not to save face for the emperor, but it is people like this who are the backbone of the Tang Dynasty. If all the civil and military officials in the dynasty become sycophants, the Tang Dynasty will be finished."

"My son is strong!" Li Shimin smiled happily, took Li Chengqian's arm, and said with a smile: "I am old and don't care about this. I have suffered a lot over the years for some posthumous reputation, but now my father wants to let go. Future generations will comment on what happened after death, so what does my reputation in the history books have to do with me?"

Good guy, can I hear this? You just want to teach your son the knowledge of emperors in a place where no one is around. Isn't it a bit too much to do it in front of me, a minister?

"My son, don't cry. I was a little strict with you in the past few years, even to the point of scolding you if you made the slightest mistake. But you must also understand your father's painstaking efforts. It is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to sit on it. Now I understand it deeply!”

Li Chengqian looked a little moved and said: "My son is already capable of handling these matters and is not afraid of being stigmatized. Why should you bear some stigma?"

"You also think that I have gone too far? After all, they are veterans who have followed me to great heights. I'm afraid they are all scolding me for being unkind, right?" Li Shimin said with emotion.

After saying that, he waved his hand to indicate that everyone could leave.

"Jisong stays!"

Whenever he wanted to find an excuse to leave, Chen Shou, the bastard, stared at him, and Changsun also stared at him, preventing him from moving.

"Let's think about it carefully when we get back!"

Li Chengqian listened quietly, while the eldest grandson happily refilled the tea for the two of them. Only Ji Song was sitting on pins and needles, eager to leave immediately.

After everyone left, only he, Changsun, Li Shimin, and Li Chengqian were left.

"."

"Father, you don't have to be like this!"

"You have to remember that when you look at people, you don't care about their heart. When it comes to their heart, no one is perfect. Don't look at what he says, but look at what he does. If sometimes you can't see clearly, then slow down. Although time is cruel, it is It can reflect a person’s heart.”

"Father!"

"Because he dared to tell the truth. The truth hurts people but it can cure diseases and cure the stubborn diseases of the Tang Dynasty."

"But my son is different. Yours is a successor. What you need is an upright and benevolent king. A mean and ungrateful person has a bad reputation. If I dare to do it for you while my father is still alive, all my sins will be added to the pile." As for me, just be a pure and pure person and be a saintly king respected by future generations."

As if he saw Ji Song's predicament, Li Shimin turned back to look at Ji Song, who was restless, and said angrily: "Do you have a needle in your butt or something? If you don't want to sit, just stand."

Ji Song stood up without saying anything. Just as he was about to say goodbye, he was interrupted.

"Don't think I just told Cheng Qian, I also told you."

"Me?" Ji Song pointed at his nose and said in disbelief.

"That's right, you are just a lazy bastard. If you don't pay attention, you can escape from the golden cicada. If you don't watch you closely and wait for me to leave, you will keep me safe and run away, for fear of getting into trouble. What trouble!"

Ji Song wanted to argue, but found that what he said seemed to be right. If he didn't run away at that time, when would he wait? Who wants to wade into this muddy water?
"Look, this bastard doesn't even bother to defend himself now. He's just a white-eyed wolf!" He pointed at Ji Song and cursed Zhang Sun and Li Chengqian.

"Father, since Ziyi doesn't want to stay in the court, don't force him."

Before Li Chengqian could finish speaking, Li Shimin glared at him and suppressed the rest of his words.

"You don't understand. I'm relieved of you, but you still have a narrow vision. The current Tang Dynasty is different from any previous dynasty. It has a huge territory, a large population, complex people's hearts, and many tribes and aristocratic families. Now Plus the group of businessmen and scholars.”

"In the past, there was no way. There were only so many scholars, and even fewer were talented. But things are different now. Taibai Royal Academy is the first in the world to recruit students. Rich families and businessmen from all over the world are opening academies locally to compete for talents. ”

"You also know many things in Taibai Academy. How dare you think about those things before? According to statistics, as of the second year of Yuan Tong, the number of scholars in the Tang Dynasty has exceeded three million. These are scholars who have received orthodox education and those who came from wild backgrounds. There are also quite a few. In the past, I felt that there were too few scholars, but now, there are more scholars, but people’s hearts are also mixed.”

"You must not only manage the livelihood of the people, but also manage the hearts of the people. You cannot let the hearts of the people scatter. I am impeccable in terms of government affairs. You have the ability, perseverance, and responsibility. But you are still far from good in governing the hearts of the people!"

Li Chengqian was thoughtful, thinking of what Ji Song had done and the various signs, he suddenly understood something and looked at Ji Song dumbly.

"Yes, the set of ideas left to us by our ancestors can no longer help us govern the world. We need a new set of ideas to guide the hearts of people in the world." Ji Song did not deny that he came back this time to Do this.

Although he had many plans before, most of them were forced by circumstances. Whenever a problem occurred, he was like patching it up, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the results were not always the same!

During this period of wandering, he saw a lot, and finally calmed down and thought a lot. Rather than tinkering, it would be better to tear down and rebuild.

As Li Shimin said, because of his arrival, the Tang Dynasty was different from the Tang Dynasty in later history books. The economy, military, and system have all undergone great changes.

As the number of scholars increases, people's hearts are wandering. Many people may have discovered the problem, but they don't know where the real problem lies!
Kong Yingda may have known about it back then, but he was unwilling and unable to expose it, so he left the court and established the academy. Li Gang, who watched the academy grow into a towering tree step by step, also knew about it, but had no way of talking about it.

As time goes by, more and more people in the court find that their previous knowledge and insights no longer allow them to handle government affairs handily, so they seek outside help. Western ideas were introduced into the Tang Dynasty, which gave many people a glimmer of hope.

However, different and even opposite ideas made them shaken. The emergence of the Mayan civilization allowed them to see the benefits of integrating different civilizations, so they tried their best to obtain external knowledge.

But the reality went against our wishes. Although there was some help, it was just scratching the surface and did not get to the root of the problem!
The courtiers were confused, confused, and didn't know what was wrong. They asked the sages for advice, but they could never get a reasonable and seemingly perfect explanation.

Therefore, he and Li Shimin, who was also confused, had a tacit understanding and both moved forward in confusion. The establishment of the Tang Dynasty Library was just the beginning. The great ideological debate and the confusion of changes unseen in a thousand years were their purpose. That was to find an idea for the Tang Dynasty that could guide them to move forward.
"Every change is painful and helpless. If it were possible, I wouldn't want to change, and neither would anyone in the world. But it's a pity that not changing is waiting for death."

Li Shimin said in a low voice: "Shang Tang's revolution is a change, Zhou Gong and Zhou Rites are a change, always forgetting to fight against the barbarians is a change, riding and shooting in barbarian clothes is a change, a gentleman's war becomes the use of all possible means, Shang Yang Reform is a change, the First Emperor's writings are in the same text, the cars are on the same track, and the unified city's measurement is also a change."

"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism. He deposed hundreds of schools of thought and reinterpreted the Analects. The four books were all changes. Changes came and went. In the Jin and Jin Dynasties, everyone realized that the changes were not enough. They were even confused. They indulged in the mountains and rivers, and the scholars were wild. Unruly, hide in the mountains and forests."

"Talk without pragmatism is madness and helplessness under confusion!"

"I thought that the unification of the former Sui Dynasty and the founding of the Emperor Wen Emperor Yang Jian would give birth to new ideas, but everyone was disappointed. There were many powerful families all over the country, controlling the government, and the people were miserable."

"The Tang Dynasty has only been a country for more than 50 years. I thought that such a thing would happen a long time later. But no one expected that the Tang Dynasty developed so fast. It is difficult to describe the rapid changes!"

"So, Chengqian, the germination and exploration of new ideas fell upon you and me, father and son, but unfortunately, I didn't see the way forward."

Li Shimin looked at Ji Song and said sadly: "I originally thought that with Ji Song's broad vision and ability, it would be possible to succeed. But now that you have seen it, you still haven't found it."

Li Chengqian frowned. He also discovered the problem, but he still didn't know where the problem was. But today, he suddenly understood. He just didn't understand why his father didn't say anything, and even Ziyi didn't say a word!

"I'm very confused as to why Ziyi and I didn't tell you?" Li Shimin said with a smile.

Looking at Li Chengqian, he nodded and said: "There are some things that you have not seen clearly. If you experience it personally, you will not really understand it. The reason why I don't tell you is that I hope you can experience it yourself during the process of governing. Only you can really understand it." , Only then can we understand the crux of the problem, think about it, and explore it.”

Li Chengqian was thoughtful, he understood.

He raised his head and said, "Father, I believe that I can definitely find a path suitable for the Tang Dynasty. Just wait and see!"

Looking at Li Chengqian with firm eyes, Li Shimin's eyes showed relief. Although these may be words of comfort, it is not bad for him to be able to say such words without fear of hardship.

I'm worried that if he doesn't understand and pretends to understand, and then messes around, that will be the disaster of the Tang Dynasty!

"Ziyi will rarely enter the court in the future, so you don't have to worry about anything. I believe that with his broad mind, he will not protect some people."

Hearing this, Ji Song cupped his hands and said, "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. Sometimes if you don't do anything, some inexplicable people will gather around you. Although I protect you, I don't know right from wrong. As long as they deserve what they deserve, Your Majesty will do it." The solution is not to care about the minister’s face.”

"In front of the great Tang Dynasty Wanshi Yongchang, what does my humble face mean?"

Li Shimin laughed loudly when he heard this and said: "Hahahaha. Okay, this is my Ziyi!"

Li Chengqian also smiled and said: "Well, I had some concerns before, but now that you have said it, I will not be polite. To be honest, the officials in Mingzhou and Dengzhou are almost in a group. The imperial court sent The officials simply couldn’t fit in.”

"Xuanzhou is okay. After the great purge a few years ago, now there is another purge by the governor of Xuanzhou, Li Yifu. Even if there are some problems, they are nothing to worry about!"

"But you can rest assured that Ji's contribution to the Tang Dynasty is seen by me and my father. To put it bluntly, as long as she does not rebel, Ji's family will live together with the Tang Dynasty!"

Ji Song heard this and bowed down: "My lord, Ji Song, thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

"If one day comes to me, I will have nothing to say!"

At this time, Changsun stepped forward to help Ji Song up, complaining a little: "What are you talking about? We have watched Ziyi grow up, how can you still not know who he is these years?"

"In order to protect Mingzhe, he gave up the business routes of the Western Regions and broke up the family. Last time, Ji Ze could have been punished lightly, but he insisted on going his own way and took him to the sea."

"And I heard that his third son became a disciple of Immortal Sun?"

Ji Song smiled and said: "That's right, that boy has been close to Daochang Sun since he was a child, and Daochang Sun also loves him very much. Maybe it's because of hearing and seeing that he can't get into reading, but he is very serious about medical skills. I heard that Daochang Sun still has some talents. of."

"That's good. With your Ji family status, no matter what the child does, he won't have any worries. With your support and our support from behind, he may be able to inherit Daochang Sun's mantle in the future."

"In this way, if there is a flaw, let him go to Tai Hospital to have a good look. He can see whatever medical skills he wants. It is rare for a junior to study medicine, so he must support whatever he says. Even if he sees a doctor in the future, he can feel at ease with his own people, right?"

What Chang Sun said was interesting, and all three of them laughed. Li Chengqian also said: "There are many orphan copies there. I will ask Xiao Xizi to send them to him later. I hope it will be helpful to him."

"I have nothing to give as a gift, and I don't like to see medical skills. So, the royal family has a medicinal garden in the Qinling Mountains, so I gave it to him."

Ji Song quickly thanked him and said, "Then Weichen will thank Your Majesty for him. If that student doesn't learn from Daochang Sun well, let's see how Weichen will deal with him when he goes back."

Everyone looked at each other and laughed.
(End of this chapter)