Ji Tang

Chapter 925 The New and Old Contest

Seeing the emperor running away, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui looked at each other, with a hint of joy in their eyes, but they quickly hid it, looked at each other and went about their business.

In fact, when it comes to whether to increase the number of officials, they are inclined to agree. After all, the two ports contribute so much tax to Datang every year. It would be strange if they don't give it.

But this is not the real reason for their headache, but that they have encountered many difficult decisions during this period. Although they have plans, after all, it is related to the development of Datang, and they are really not good at making decisions.

It's not that they want to trouble the emperor, but they can't do it without trouble.The imperial court set up six prime ministers. In fact, only three of them were actually doing things, but it was these three emperors who kept reading the sand.Some things are not negotiable, but simply impossible to negotiate.

The three provinces supervise each other, Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province, and Menxia Province. As long as one party disagrees, a decree can be delayed. This is checks and balances.

But some things cannot be delayed at all, just like the brain drain problem mentioned by Yao Chang. If this is not solved immediately, when the three provinces discuss a result, the talents may all run away. By then, it will be agreed. What's the use? ?

Therefore, in order to get a quick response, they had no choice but to come to the emperor for a ruling, and no one would have an opinion at that time.But another problem arises here, that is, the emperor spends a longer time dealing with political affairs and becomes busier. This is the reason for Li Shimin's headache.

Back in the back hall, Li Shimin was lying on the couch, frowning.

"Has Wang Xuance set out?"

As if he had thought of something, Li Shimin suddenly asked Chen Shou, who was standing by.

"Reply to Your Majesty, because you originally said you would send them off in person, but you were too busy during this period, so they delayed it, and now they are waiting for your order!"

Chen Shou did not dare to neglect and said quickly.

Li Shimin smiled bitterly when he heard this and said, "That's right. I've been so busy during this period that I really can't take care of them."

Then he thought for a while and said: "In this case, if you go and tell them, it means that I will see them off outside the west gate tomorrow. You will then go and tell the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Du and the others, and ask them to accompany them."

He sighed: "Although they have learned from Xuanzang's mistakes, they have to cross the plateau. I don't know when they will come back from this trip. If I don't go to see him off, I will feel uneasy!"

"After all, I sent them there!"

Chen Shou bowed in response, then hesitantly said: "What about tomorrow's political affairs...?"

No wonder Chen Shou was hesitant, the emperor's schedule was really full during this period. When to see which minister, what time to do, these were all arranged. If this was suddenly disrupted, it would have to be rearranged. .

"Go to the back row!"

Li Shimin waved his hand with a headache and said: "Political affairs can be done at any time, but they can't delay it. Autumn is about to begin. If they can't get to Tubo in time next spring, it will be delayed for another half a year."

"Slave, this is the arrangement!"

Chen Shou also understood the emperor's concerns. Hearing this, he stopped talking and turned around and went outside!

"See Empress!"

Chen Shou, who was just about to go out, suddenly saw the queen coming and saluted quickly.

"Has your Majesty ever rested?"

Chen Shou said with some heartache: "Back to you, Madam, it's not yet yet. You should advise Your Majesty. In this short period of time, I sleep less than three hours a day. It's not okay to continue like this!"

"Chen Shou, why are you mumbling if you don't go to work?"

Hearing the emperor's roar, Chen Shou was excited, saluted the queen and hurried out.

The eldest grandson smiled and asked everyone else to go out. When only he and the emperor were left, he walked in.

"Why are you here if you don't go to bed?"

Li Shimin's heart warmed when he saw the queen. Although he knew why she didn't sleep, he still blamed her.

The eldest grandson rolled his eyes and said angrily: "You don't care about your body too much. Why can't you take it easy? If it doesn't work, just let them do it. Why do you have to do it yourself? The Tang Dynasty is so big, and there are countless people every day. If you do it all by yourself, what will happen?"

She was very clear about the emperor's affairs during this period. She went to bed in the middle of the night every night and got up before dawn.But apart from blaming the emperor for not caring about his body, she really couldn't do much.The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, this is her requirement for herself.But seeing the emperor's tired look, it would be a lie to say that he didn't feel distressed.

"I think about it too. You see, it was fine before. I am not so busy every day. But since some time ago, I can't finish the daily political affairs. But I have to deal with them, otherwise there will be a big mess. .”

"What makes me wonder is that these recent things are very strange. Many of them have never been encountered before, and they have not been mentioned even in history books. Is my Tang Dynasty different from the previous dynasty?"

Yes, a lot of things have happened during this period. Yao Chang's matter is relatively easy to solve. If it's not just to increase the establishment, then increase it. As long as it can collect more tax revenue for the court every year, this is what it should be.As for other officials, will they have any objections?hehe!If you can make the people under your rule have enough food and clothing and collect more taxes, I will give you more.

But if nothing has changed under one term of administration, and tax revenue has not increased, do you still want the treatment of the two ports?Phew, where is your face?
But other things are more difficult. There is no precedent to draw from, and there is no preparation. Sometimes it feels like there is no way to start when it is in his hands.

Just like the report from the governor of Xuanzhou, in order to integrate Xuanzhou's business and reduce the price of overseas goods, he hoped to choose a place called a special zone in Xuanzhou.

The thing is also very clear. The purpose is to manage local business faster and better and attract foreign businessmen to settle or invest locally.All of this is fine, but what about giving these people some tax breaks in the District?Do we need to expropriate local agricultural land?Finally, I asked the court about the standards for compensation to the people?What are these?

There is also a memorial to the governor of Yangzhou, which talks about a series of benefits of Yangzhou, such as its geographical location, convenient canals, products and local specialties, etc.At the end, he turned around and said that the imperial court favored Mingzhou, Dengzhou, and strongly supported Xuanzhou, and Yangzhou became an unwanted child?

After that, I got to the key point, which was to establish a material transfer base for the Tang Dynasty in Yangzhou, which could connect the north through the Grand Canal and radiate the advantages of many places in the south. I wanted to persuade the imperial court to give Yangzhou some preferential policies.

Well, the question is very novel and very thoughtful. Although I don’t know this official very well, he is also a capable and enterprising official.

But the problem is that the court has never heard of these things, and even the history books have never mentioned them at all. If this is implemented, it will be good to say that it will not only develop the local area, but also increase the court's tax revenue.But what if it doesn't work?When the time comes, there will be nothing but chicken feathers on the ground, and the court will have to clean up their mess, so why bother!
Then came Dunhuang in Longxi. He was really jealous when he saw the dividends of the southern port, but they relied on geography, so he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to learn.

So after thinking hard, I came up with a way.

With the continuous prosperity of the Silk Road and the continuous exchanges between the East and the West, Dunhuang has become an important node on the Silk Road.All business trips to the west or east will be reorganized in Dunhuang.

As a result, a large number of business travelers gathered in Dunhuang every day. They bought or sold a large amount of materials here, which brought sufficient cash flow and manpower needs to Dunhuang.

In just a few years, the local population has more than tripled.

The Dunhuang County Magistrate had a sudden thought, isn't your south close to the sea?Okay, we really can’t do anything about this, but Dunhuang is not bad either. You can build a port, but we can’t build a land port?

Dunhuang is located at the junction of the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and its geographical location is extremely important.Once the imperial court agreed to establish a management organization in Dunhuang to collect materials for transportation, storage, distribution, and trading, it would be able to develop quickly by relying on the large amount of animal power in the northern grasslands.

But when the matter reached the court, it became a focus of contention among all parties. Young officials were educated in academies, had flexible minds, and were willing to try new methods.But the veterans were just the opposite, thinking that there was no need for Dunhuang to do this. Wasn't it good before?What are you fussing over!

So the parties couldn't argue, and finally it was given to themselves.

Similar to the problem in Yangzhou, local officials are all good ministers and they are all for local prosperity.But he hesitated. Once it started, it couldn't be completed in one or two days.This requires the court to control and dispatch, and it also needs to send knowledgeable people to investigate.It takes a lot of time to come and go. There are so many things in the court every day, and there are no manpower!

But although these gave him a headache, it wouldn't be like this.What alarmed him was that young officials had already begun to attack the senior ministers.

The reason is very simple. They think that these veterans can no longer adapt to the Tang Dynasty at this time. In today's rapidly changing world, their old ideas can no longer lead the Tang Dynasty to run quickly and effectively. Their existence will only affect the progress of the Tang Dynasty into a prosperous age. .

The old people think that young people are eager for quick success and instant success, and are too eager to take on big responsibilities.

Anyway, they are arguing with each other, and no one can defeat the other.

If anyone else dared to do anything here, they would have been driven out of the court by these old foxes.But today's young officials are different. These people are basically the first three batches of college graduates.After more than ten years of growth, he has already occupied half of the middle and low-level official positions in the court.

And there is another thing that makes these old people very helpless, that is, most of the students who graduated in the first few batches are nobles and children of aristocratic families.Either they are children from poor families with good foundation. These people have the support of large and small forces behind them. Some of them are simply the nephews of the current bosses.

These young officials were led by Qin Huaiyu, the eldest son of Hu Guogong, Du He, son of Cai Guogong, Yuchi Baolin, son of E Guogong, and Fang Yizhi, son of Fang Xuanling.After being the founding heroes of the country, they all have made considerable achievements.Privately they were father and son, even if they were beaten half to death when they returned home, they still deserved to be supported when they returned to the court. They didn't give him the dignity of being a father at all, and the old man was punished several times to the point where he couldn't get off the stage.

The court was once again dominated by Chang Sun Chong and Wei Shuyu, and now there was added Ji Qing who had just returned from outside.Now the three of them cooperate with each other inside and outside, and are connected by officials from the academy as a link in the court. They have gained a firm foothold in the court, and sometimes they dare to fight against their own father.

I remember the last time Changsun Chong beat his father into silence. Although he was beaten very hard after returning home, it was still the same the next day. Changsun Wuji was so angry that his teeth itched with hatred, but there was nothing he could do.

Now the big guys in the court feel a little guilty, these boys have all watched them grow up.It would be false to say that I am not happy to see them achieve this, but it is really annoying to have to expose these bastards all day long.

If anyone knows them best, apart from their old rivals, they are the only ones.Every time he hits a vital point, he still makes them suffer. This is simply a lack of martial ethics and is extremely shameless.

After listening to the emperor's chatter, the eldest grandson was astonished.Although her brother mentioned this matter in front of her, she thought it was just because the child had grown up.But after hearing what the emperor said recently, she finally came to her senses.

How is this a trivial matter?It is obvious that the children think that they already have the ability to run the Tang Dynasty, and they are just showing their abilities by constantly challenging the old man.

She was shocked in vain when she thought of this. Changsun Chong was like this to them, but what about Cheng Qian?Is he also ready to attack the throne?
"Your Majesty, support him."

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and then he understood what the queen meant.He smiled and said: "That's not enough. Now that boy is finalizing the "Zhenguan Grand Ceremony", how can he have time to do this?"

"However, after he finishes this matter, I also want him to slowly take over some government affairs. Now I am really busy. If I hadn't known that the prince was busy, I would have pulled him over to share the burden for me. .”

"That's good. Chengqian has been very busy with the "Zhenguan Ceremony" these years. Seeing that he is exhausted every day, I exempted her from going to the palace to see him. But the child still comes at least once a month. Two or three times. Sometimes I also take my younger brothers and sisters to play in Furong Garden, and by the way, I also accept the teachings of those gentlemen, but it saves me a lot of trouble!"

Li Shimin also laughed when he heard this. He was so satisfied with this prince. He had been doing his own thing all these years, ignoring things he shouldn't care about and not asking about things he shouldn't.

But then you think he has plunged into the pile of old papers?It would be a huge mistake to think so.Nowadays, who out there doesn’t give a thumbs up when mentioning the prince?

Do you really think that those masters and scholars are just idiots?It seems that they are alone, but they have many disciples, and they are all over the world. The prince's reputation has long been known to every household through the publicity of their disciples.

If that day I had the idea of ​​​​changing the prince, I would probably have those old guys and their disciples blocking the palace gate before I said it.

These people may not seem to have much energy, but they truly represent the hearts of the world.

They live a semi-secluded life in the local area, but their influence on the local area means that the aristocratic families have to lower their profile to maintain good relations, let alone the local people.

If it is absolutely necessary, no one would want to provoke this hornet's nest, because if you bucket it, you are likely to be spitted by scholars all over the world, and maybe you will be infamy for thousands of years.
(End of this chapter)