Wentang

Chapter 779
Send troops to plant trees?

Li Shimin frowned and said, "Is it really necessary to do this?"

Judging by his attitude, Yue Shan knew that this matter was useless, and he knew it after thinking about it. Talking to them about protecting the environment and preventing desertification is playing the piano against the cow.

They simply cannot understand.

Not to mention Li Shimin, even if Li Chengqian can't do it, Li Xiang is the only one he can really count on, and he has to be instilled in him about environmental changes since he was a child.

In the previous life, dozens of sand seas were created due to excessive reclamation and grazing. 960 million of the 130 million square kilometers of land are deserts, accounting for 13.00% of the total area.

Quite exaggerated data.

In the previous life, China started too late and had to take the road of destroying first and then repairing. However, Datang is the strongest on earth, and has enough resources to complete the accumulation and transformation to the next stage.

Therefore, we should make a more reasonable plan for the future development of Datang, and try not to engage in destructive development if possible.

Of course, just try not to do it, not not to do it.

After all, development is the only way out for human beings. If it is necessary to destroy it, it must be destroyed. Just wait until there is a chance to go back and repair it.

Before he crossed, the Mu Us Desert was basically wiped out, and the Loess Plateau, which used to have thousands of ravines without even a root of grass, also put on green clothes again.

So never underestimate the self-recovery ability of nature - human beings cannot destroy the earth, only themselves.

These truths cannot be explained to Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, and they cannot understand these things with the education they have received.

So there is no need to talk to him about afforestation, just tell him that there are too many people in Liuhu Prefecture, and some of them need to be relocated.

Sure enough, when he changed his rhetoric, Li Shimin's attitude changed immediately: "The local officials have already played what you said many times."

"It's just that they didn't directly say that the local population is too large, but that there are frequent occurrences of herdsmen competing for pastures and herdsmen opposing farmers to reclaim wasteland."

"I think it should be caused by too many people and insufficient land."

Yue Shan said: "A few years ago, the imperial court was indeed a bit eager for success, and too many nomadic tribes migrated to that area."

Li Shimin was a little embarrassed, he decided to do this.

The Turks surrendered?Move over.

Xue Yantuo's people surrendered?Move over.

Has another tribe surrendered?Move over.

In addition to the Han people who migrated from the Central Plains, more than a million people were resettled in the large area of ​​Danwan, so it is no wonder that there are no problems.

"Isn't that a temporary solution?"

Yue Shan also knew what was going on, so he didn't want to slap Li Shimin in the face too much, so he followed his words and said, "I understand that at that time the imperial court didn't have much choice to appease."

"Fortunately, after more than ten years of assimilation, many nomadic tribes have given up nomadic farming and changed to farming, and their living habits have also changed to the way of the Tang Dynasty.

"This part of the population can be moved away to free up some space to reduce the environmental pressure on Liuhu Prefecture, and it can also enrich the population of the vassal states."

Li Shimin said: "Let's move people from Liuhu Prefecture, and then move some people from other places, which should be able to put up the shelf of the princes first."

……

"There is one more thing about the tax-free privilege." After this matter was finalized, Yue Shan talked about another matter.

"You want to move? It's too early." Li Shimin objected.

"I am not going to disturb the privileges of those with vested interests, but to limit the privileges of new officials. Now, as long as you take the imperial examination, you will have the privilege of exempting from corvee and tax." Yue Shan explained:

"At present, hundreds of people are elected every year, and in the long run, there will only be more and more. At that time, a new privileged class will be formed. When they gradually grow, it will be difficult for the court to take them back."

Li Shimin nodded and said: "That's the truth, what can you do?"

Yue Shan said: "The privilege of tax exemption has different effects on different people. For wealthy families with fertile farmland, the annual tax exemption is enough for their lifetime salary."

"But for those officials of civilian origin, tax exemption is too tasteless, and it is more of an honor."

"Now more and more children of ordinary people become officials through the imperial examination. These people have little assets in their families. For them, tax exemption is far more attractive than real salary."

"We can encourage these civilian-born officials to write a letter, requesting the abolition of tax-free privileges and higher salaries. I believe many people will be willing."

"At that time, once the topic is hyped up, the imperial court will have room to display it. Of course, the privilege of exempting from corvee must be preserved."

Li Shimin said disapprovingly, "You're thinking too simply. I'm afraid most of the officials will rise up to resist. Relying on these officials who were born as civilians won't be of much use."

Yue Shan said: "Of course they will resist. Officials who come from ordinary backgrounds are definitely not opponents of high-ranking families, but don't forget the powerful class."

Li Shimin asked in confusion: "What does this have to do with the powerful?"

Yue Shan said: "It's a big deal. The rich and powerful will seal the country in the future, and once the country is sealed off, all privileges will be revoked, and their products will have to pay high taxes if they want to sell their products in the Tang Dynasty."

"It's different for those rich and powerful households who are not eligible to close the country. They have tax-free privileges, and the cost of their goods is cheaper if they don't pay taxes."

"They can seize the market with lower prices and goods from the princes, and then the princes and kings' things will not be sold."

"As long as we make this point clear, what do you think those powerful and powerful people who are eligible for the closure of the country will do?"

Li Shimin slapped the table excitedly: "Well, Yue Shan, you've become so vile after you haven't seen him for a few days. Don't tell me about this kind of thing in the future, I don't know anything."

Yue Shan: "..."

The group of princes and kings who had just won the feudal kingdom were about to go crazy, and the words they talked in their dreams were 'people, people, people'.

The common people who are usually nothing in their eyes have become treasures. Even if a beggar on the side of the road wants to go to their feudal country, they welcome them with both hands and feet.

However, even though they offer various favorable conditions, not many people are willing to go.

At this time, the imperial court suddenly issued a decree calling on the high-ranking households to release their servants.This time the wording is stronger, if the slave voluntarily leaves the master's house, he must not stop him.

At the beginning, everyone didn't take it seriously. The imperial court issued such an edict every year, so it was useless.Who will take the initiative to free the slaves?Which servant dared to offer to leave?Tired of life?
At this time, no one realized the true intention of the court until Li Chengqian invited those brothers who sealed the country to have a meal.

These princes seem to be crazy enough to grow up the servants of the rich and powerful, as long as they are willing to follow, they promise to give them the status of common people and help them redeem themselves...

Not only did they do it themselves, but they also publicized it everywhere with drums and gongs.It was even a little too much, to find out which house had more servants, and directly put the recruited team at the gate of the house.

Then those high-ranking families found that their servants were fidgeting like hair growing in their hearts, and soon the redemption documents were placed in front of them.

They were naturally unwilling to sign, and then the princes and kings brought officials from the government to block the door.The imperial court has ordered that those who voluntarily leave shall not be obstructed. Do you want to resist the order?

It wasn't until this time that they knew that the imperial court's decree was actually a 'concealing evil intention', but it was too late.

However, the number of the first batch of princes and kings who won the feudal kingdom was still too small, and the strongman wars only occurred in local areas.

The high-ranking families in other places took it as a joke when they heard it, and even gloated.

Until the crown prince Li Chengqian once "leaked the mouth", three months later the list of the second batch of closed countries will be announced.

This time, the scope of coverage is wider. Unless the marquis or above holds an important position, they are basically included in the ranks of rewards.

As soon as this news came out, it was like adding fuel to the fire. All the dignitaries who thought they could get the seal of the country joined the ranks of this robbery.

They saw with their own eyes how the first batch of princes and kings worried about the population. They didn't know when it would be their turn before, and they could still sit still.

Now that I know that there is a high probability that I will be able to obtain the closure of the country in three months, how can I sit still, hurry up and grab it, or it will not be my turn if it is too late.

At worst, grab it back and put it at home to raise for two or three months, that's better than finding no one, no one wants to seal the country and own eggs.

The first batch of princes and kings were only distinguished, and most of them had no real power. They could only use the power of the government to pay for slaves.

This second batch of princes and kings is different. They are people with real power, and they will directly block the doors of high-ranking and powerful families when they encounter people who are not particular about their work.

Hand over all the servants and ask them one by one if they are willing to follow them. As long as they are willing, they can become white immediately, and they will return the land when they go to the feudal country.

For a while, the whole country was in a bit of chaos, and people were robbed everywhere.

For this reason, many tragedies have occurred. For example, some wealthy families hid their servants, and when they found someone who wanted to leave, they beat them half to death or directly to death.

Some dignitaries went too far, breaking into people's homes and robbing them, beating them to death.

All the ministers came up one after another to ask the emperor to stop this matter.

Li Shimin said that he should be restrained, but in fact he ordered those who killed people to be punished, and he still ignored the normal behavior of buying slaves.

Naturally, Yue Shan didn't have to worry about someone rushing to his house to rob him, and he wouldn't dare to appear in front of him even if they had a hundred guts.

But he has been paying attention to this matter.

According to statistics, more than [-] slaves were liberated in just over half a month, and many families were afraid of trouble and even started to release slaves on their own initiative.

But this turmoil of buying slaves will not recede easily, or as long as the vassal states cannot solve the population problem, this turmoil will not recede for a day.

And when the turmoil really subsides, Datang dare not say that the class of 'untouchables' will be completely eliminated, at least the number of people can be kept to a minimum.

Of course, servants will still exist, and those who are rich and powerful want to order others.

But at that time, if you want to order others, you will have to pay a lot of money, and the signed contract will no longer be something like a bond of sale, but more likely an employment contract.

It may take ten or twenty years or even one or two generations to get to this point, but it doesn't matter, as long as you keep working hard in this direction, you will be able to achieve it one day.

Another noteworthy thing happened in this redemption turmoil. A little rich man took this opportunity to go to the brothel to redeem his girlfriend.

This lover is the top card of that brothel, and this brothel has background, rejected his request for redemption several times, but this time it really succeeded for him.

After this incident spread, many people were reminded.

In the future, if you go to Fengguo, you will be the lord of a country, so enjoy it.It is unrealistic to recruit folk women from the people. There are not many people in the first place, and they will run out if they mess around.

The best way is to buy.

Brothel girls have been trained since they were young, and they are good at playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and they can serve themselves or reward the people below when they buy them.

So these brothels became the next targets of looting, and every day they went to redeem themselves, and they really saved many women.

Although it is also bought, it is better than selling oneself in a brothel, and it can be regarded as a destination.

This turmoil of robbing people lasted for a month before the imperial court officially ordered the relocation of some people from Liuhu Prefecture to the vassal states.

This time the hearts of the princes and kings are considered to be in their stomachs, and the court will not ignore them, and will still migrate the population from the mainland.

But soon they discovered another problem. The number of people migrating from the imperial court was still not enough, so they could only barely put up a shelf.If you want to do the next step of development, you need more people.

Come on, let's continue to rob slaves with the rich and powerful.

At this time, Nanyang was not as peaceful as the court and princes and kings thought.

Li Shentong and his family are all dignitaries. Counting the people on the other side of Li Shenfu, there are a total of eight kings and seven dukes, all of whom are in the ranks of entrustment this time.

Moreover, their family has real power and a strong family background, so they first organized a group of people to go to the fiefdom.

On the one hand, it is to check the situation, and on the other hand, it is to establish an outpost first. Li Xiaoyi is the leader of this advance team.

He went directly to the Nanyang Navy Yamen, found the governor Cai Yang, and sent a letter from Yue Shan.

After confirming that it was Yue Shan's handwritten letter, Cai Yang's attitude immediately became enthusiastic.

"I have long heard that King Huai'an has a son who is rare and talented. He was praised by Xia Guogong as a commander-in-chief. Today, seeing him is really extraordinary."

Li Xiaoyi said politely: "The chief inspector praised you absurdly. It's all the headmaster's love. I'm ashamed of it. You are the role model for my generation of soldiers. I have admired you for a long time."

"You won at least 20 years of peace for the Tang Dynasty in the war in the country of Wa, and it has been listed as a classic case by the military academy. Every time I replay this battle, I can't help but yearn for it."

Hearing him mention his most proud battle, Cai Yang has a three-point favor for him: "Haha, it's a fluke."

Then he said sternly: "As for the matter of your sealing the country, since there is a letter from Duke Xia, we are not outsiders and I will not hide it from you. It may not be so easy to take over here smoothly."

Li Xiaoyi frowned, and said: "This is the territory of the imperial court, who else dares to disobey the order?"

Cai Yang shook his head and said: "Nominally it is the territory of the imperial court, but before the closure of the country, this is an area where no one cares. It is inevitable that there will be some big rats lurking here."

"Your appearance is definitely something they don't want to see. Naturally, they dare not openly resist the court, but it is always inevitable to cause trouble in private."

Li Xiaoyi said angrily: "How courageous, who dares to act recklessly like this?"

(End of this chapter)