Wentang

Chapter 723 Duke Xia

The scope of this wave of rewards is very wide, involving far more people than the heroes of the Battle of Zhenggao, and many people who have made outstanding achievements in ordinary times but did not participate in the war also received rewards.

It is even more grand and larger in scale than the award of meritorious officials when Li Shimin first ascended the throne during the Xuanwu Gate Change, comparable to the great award at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty.

Changsun Wuji changed his title to Zhao Guogong, who was Qi Guogong before.Although he is also the Duke of the State, Zhao's ranking is ahead of Qi, which can be regarded as a promotion of personality.

Cheng Yaojin was changed from Duke Su to Duke Lu, Yu Chigong was changed from Duke Wu to Duke E, and Qin Qiong was changed from Duke Yi to Duke Hu...

General Niu Jinda of Wanqi was named Duke of Langya, General Su Dingfang of Wanqi was named Marquis of Linqing, Commander of Dizhou Navy Liu Rengui was named Marquis of Lecheng, General Shenwei Han Dongjin was named Marquis of Yicheng...

Other civil and military officials have been conferred and promoted as many as a hundred people, so hundreds of people have been conferred and promoted, and millions of dollars in property have been rewarded.

This wave of generous rewards was very inspiring, and the civil and military ministers were as excited as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, wishing that one person could serve the country as ten envoys.

Li Shimin also really bought a circle of people's hearts and strengthened his position.

Yue Shan's title was naturally awarded the title of Jin, and he surpassed the Duke of the County and directly became the Duke of the State in one step.And the title is not ordinary, Xia Guogong.

As soon as this title came out, it caused a huge sensation.

Xia, Shang and Zhou are collectively referred to as the three generations, and they have a very special status in the history of Chinese civilization. The most important thing is that they belong to the suzerain state.

You must know that the imperial court generally uses the titles of vassal states when drafting titles, including Qilu, Zhao Jinyan, Han Hu, etc. are all vassal states.

Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han were all the titles of the suzerain country, and they were conferred with the title of the suzerain country... As far as the Tang Dynasty is concerned, Li Shimin was once named the king of Qin.

But Li Shimin is the prince, and Yue Shan is just a foreign minister.

Not to mention foreign ministers, even Yue Shan himself couldn't accept it and hurriedly submitted a request for a replacement. Other memorials requesting him to change his title flew to Yong'an Palace like flakes.

If it were an ordinary emperor, he might change his mind under the pressure of his officials, and even if he didn't change his mind, the ministers would dare to take drastic measures to force him.

But Li Shimin was not an ordinary emperor. After the demise of Goguryeo, his prestige reached an unprecedented peak, and the great reward made him gain the hearts of the people.

He can withstand all pressures, and no one dares to use unconventional means to force him.

So no matter how many people objected, he insisted on going his own way, determined to give Yueshan the title of Xia Guogong.

Qi... No, Zhao Guogong's mansion, study room.

Changsun Chong said puzzledly: "Duke Xia is something that a minister can enjoy, why don't you persuade him?"

"It's not that you don't want to be persuaded, but that you can't be persuaded." Changsun Wuji shook his head and sighed.

"Why?" Chang Sun Chong asked.

"If you can guess why the sage insisted on making him the Duke of Xia, then you know why you can't persuade him," Changsun Wuji said.

"What exactly does a saint mean?" Changsun Chong asked.

"You can guess." Changsun Wuji said.

The eldest grandson stopped asking, he knew it was his father who was testing himself again.

Doesn't the sage know what 'Xia' represents?Impossible, it is impossible for the talented and bold Emperor Zhenguan not to know this kind of common sense.

Then it must be meaningful.

What is the meaning?
If it is a subject who asks the king to give him such an usurped title, it means that he has the heart of disobedience.But now the emperor forcibly confers on his subjects, could it be...

He thought of an unbelievable possibility, and said with a shocked face: "Could it be that the saint wants to..." He didn't say the following words, but just stretched out his palm and gestured.

The eldest grandson Wugou said with satisfaction: "Although I didn't hit all the marks, it's not easy to think of these things in such a short time. You didn't let me down."

Chang Sun Chong could no longer care about the joy brought by his father's praise, and asked quickly: "How is this possible? Wasn't it fine before? Why did the saint suddenly have such thoughts."

Changsun Wuji said: "So you haven't figured out the real intention of the saint. He didn't want to touch Yueshan, but put a shackle on him to force him to retire."

"Shackles? Retire? Why? Is it because of his great achievements, or his status as a child of a fairy?" Chang Sun Chong asked.

"It's all there. It's more complicated than you think." Changsun Wuji gave him a detailed analysis of what happened from the expedition to Goguryeo to the triumphant return to Beijing.

The people regard him as a living god, and the Siyi vassals respect him as the head of the world. He has a strong influence on Wanqi, which is equivalent to directly controlling the Dizhou Navy, and his prestige in Dizhou exceeds that of the imperial court...

With such a courtier, any monarch would feel uneasy in his dorm room, and the sage was already broad-minded if he didn't touch him directly.

"Originally because he had a good relationship with the saint's wife, he married the eldest princess. Although the saint was worried that he would not be able to tolerate him, Yan Yin became the last straw that broke the camel's back."

Reputation, military power, financial power, if he is allowed to enter the political affairs hall and take over the administrative power... Li Shimin can still hold him down when he is alive, but Yue Shan is too young.

If no measures were taken to let him continue to accumulate strength, Li Chengqian would definitely not be able to suppress him when Li Shimin was gone.

"Duke Xia's title is not only a commendation of his achievements, but also a warning, as well as a kind of compensation and appeasement."

"No one knows how many magical things he still holds in his hands. Datang needs these things to fight for world supremacy, so the saint doesn't want to make their relationship too rigid."

"So I can't persuade and I won't persuade him. His retreat behind the scenes is the best result for Datang, himself and all of us."

Chang Sun Chong was dumbfounded, he knew Yue Shan was very powerful, but he didn't know that he was so powerful.

And there are many things in it that are beyond his understanding, and a note written by hand can be used as money.Are those businessmen fools?
He finally understood why the emperor chose to confer Yueshan as Xia Guogong at this time, and he also understood that his father did not dissuade him.

This kind of thing can't be persuaded. If you really persuade, it will harm Yueshan and bury hidden dangers for the world.

It took him a while to recover from the shock, and said: "So that's the case, I understand. But can Yue Hou figure out the reason behind it and take the initiative to retire?"

"It doesn't matter whether he can think of it, someone will remind him, it depends on whether he is willing or not."

……

Is Yue Shan willing?
He smiled wryly. This situation is equivalent to "parents voluntarily go to school to help with work" and "workers voluntarily give up social security" in previous lives. It is a "voluntary" without choice.

At the beginning, he really didn't see through Li Shimin's thoughts, and even submitted a memorial to ask for a change of title. Fortunately, Ma Zhou reminded him.

No, it should be said that Li Shimin has calculated everything, whether he can see through or not, Ma Zhou will come to remind him.

"King Xie Bin reminded me that I know what to do."

"Hey." Ma Zhou seemed to want to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, only let out a sigh.

It wasn't just Ma Zhou who came to remind Yue Shan, Ning Chun and Tian Xuechen came to visit after a while, but they didn't say anything directly, they just hinted.

Then Wang Ji also sent someone to send a letter, which only had one word, back.

What really surprised Yue Shan was that Yuan Gai Suwen actually wrote him a letter, which contained only one sentence: A sage does not stay stuck in things, but can move with the world.

This sentence comes from Chu Ci · Fisherman, and Qu Yuan's noble temperament is expressed through the dialogue between Qu Yuan and the fisherman.

On the surface, it seems that the great sages and sages don't look at things rigidly, so they can change with the world.

However, looking back at the whole article and combining the current situation, it can be regarded as a warning: the emperor is afraid of you, so hurry up and find a way.

It can be said that once this letter is leaked, it will be very unfavorable to Yuan Gai Suwen, a surrendered general, and even arouse Li Shimin's suspicion, but he still took the risk to write it.

Yue Shan also had to sigh with emotion, the world is impermanent.

At the beginning, he wrote "Chinese Civilization" to better complete national integration, and praised Yuan Gai Suwen to remind Li Shimin to beware of this person.

Unexpectedly, the mistake caused him to have a misunderstanding, so that he regarded himself as his confidant, and even took the risk to warn himself.

Of course, it is not ruled out that he wants to find a backer in Datang, but no matter what the situation is, Qing Yueshan is willing to accept it.

Now that he knew Li Shimin's plan, Yue Shan naturally knew what he should do.

Moreover, he is really not interested in being an official. Inventing and creating, writing down what he learned in his previous life, accelerating the development of Chinese civilization and promoting social progress are what he wants to do most.

Anyway, his status is high enough now, and he is not short of money, so there is no need to jump into the muddy hole of the political arena to work hard.

So he wrote two memorials to Li Shimin, one was to continue to ask for a change of title; the other was to resign on the grounds that he had no ambition to be an official and wanted to devote himself to research, teaching and educating people.

On the same day, Li Shimin typed back both memorials, not allowed.

Yue Shan knew the stalk of giving three times and giving up three times, so he rewrote the two memorials every day for the next two days.

Sure enough, on the third day, Li Shimin agreed to his resignation with great regret, but the title of Duke of Xia was a reward for his achievements by the imperial court, and it would not be taken back, so he could keep it with peace of mind.

Only then did Yue Shan gratefully accept the title of Duke Xia.

The smart people in the court were not surprised by this result, and the people who knew it later finally figured out what was going on.There are also some unresponsive people who are still unaware and have no idea what happened.

But no matter whether he guessed it or not, Yue Shan resigned from office, and it was not good for others to hold on to Duke Xia.

The little turmoil about Yueshan passed away.

On the day when he resigned to accept the title of Duke of Xia, the eldest grandson Wugou personally came to the mansion of Duke... Duke Xia.

"I hurt you. I didn't expect this matter to be so serious."

Looking at the remorseful eldest grandson Wugou, Yue Shan said indifferently: "It doesn't have to be like this, you know I've never been interested in officialdom, now it's the best. I can study what I like, and I can also stay at home with Lizhi and the children. "

Afraid that she would continue to struggle with this matter, he changed the subject and said, "I was just about to ask my mother, what happened to Yan Yin?"

The eldest grandson Wugou said: "A few years ago, the manager of the commercial firm told me that some merchants privately used the salt notes issued by you as coins for transactions. It was very convenient and easy to use, and suggested that the commercial firm issue such bills."

"After I learned about it, I also think this method is good. It eliminates the inconvenience of carrying gold and silver for large transactions. The Royal Commercial Bank has a lot of large transactions, and this kind of thing is most needed."

"In the beginning, I really wanted to use the name of a commercial bank to issue bills, but I was opposed by most of them. Firstly, this thing is too dangerous, and secondly, the people will not approve it."

"Later, I thought that I could take some salt from you for bulk trade. As long as the quantity is controlled within a reasonable range, there will be no problems. At that time, I thought too simple and didn't think so much."

"I didn't know that the salt quotes issued by you would have evolved into this way among the people. If I had known this, I would never have done this."

"So that's the case, so I can rest assured." Yue Shan breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't grow angry with Sun Wugou, but he was afraid that she would be fooled by someone who didn't understand, now it seems that this matter was purely a coincidence.

"Paper money is too dangerous. It's best not to touch it right now, especially not to issue paper money in the name of the imperial court."

In the previous life, Jiaozi appeared in the Song Dynasty, but it soon collapsed, and countless people in the banknote pit that appeared in the Ming Dynasty were destroyed.

It is an honor that China was the first country to use banknotes.However, it is nothing to be proud of, because there are countless human lives behind it.

Yue Shan knew that banknotes were an inevitable trend in history, but until the productivity and economic level reached a certain level, and until enough economic talents were cultivated, they must not be touched.

The eldest grandson Wugou said: "I know, people have started to take back the salt tickets."

Yue Shan hurriedly said: "Don't worry, if this kind of thing is too hasty, it may cause riots among the merchants, it's best to take it back silently."

The eldest grandson Wugou said: "I will tell them to be careful."

……

Although he resigned, Yue Shan did not leave Chang'an to live in Sixingping. Given his current status, his involvement is too extensive, and it is not easy to retire. There are too many things to deal with.

Besides, the new year is coming soon, and the court has destroyed Goguryeo. This new year will definitely be very grand, and he, the Duke of Xia, must be there.

Otherwise, Li Shimin would really be unable to tolerate him, and would have to take him under the knife.

This year's New Year in the Tang Dynasty was indeed very lively. Dozens of vassal states came to make a pilgrimage, the number doubled from previous years, and the size of the envoys was several times larger.

No way, the mighty Goguryeo was wiped out like a rotten one. The deterrent force was too great, and all the Siyi vassal states trembled.

The grand occasion of all nations coming to court greatly satisfied Li Shimin's vanity, and the smile on his face never disappeared.

However, the transfers in the court are still going on, and the most concerned one is that the privy envoy Li Jing resigned on the grounds of old age. Li Shimin couldn't keep the rich property and rewarded him with the title of Prince and Taifu.

After Li Jing's resignation, Li Shimin appointed Li Ji, who worked hard in the battle of Zhenggao, as the privy envoy, and Liu Hongji as the deputy privy envoy.

Other civil and military officials have also been transferred, but none of them have such a big impact, so I will skip it here.

After the New Year, Yue Shan finally returned to Sixingping's home with his wife and children.

The first thing to do when you get home is to check the situation at the steam engine factory.

(End of this chapter)