The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

After the chaos, the population of the Central Plains dropped sharply. Now there is more arable land, but fewer people.

When the population increases, there will be more people and less land.

If a family can cultivate ten acres of land, then with the curved plow, the efficiency of arable land can be increased to twelve or fifteen acres.

With more land, the grain output will also increase.

If the people can eat enough, the people will be at peace. Isn't the purpose of the Tang emperor's ruling a series of goals to make people feel at peace?

When people feel at peace, the population will grow.

"Leave this matter to the people of the Ministry of Works, and do it as soon as possible." Li Shimin said: "Spring plowing is imminent. Not to mention the distant ones, but the near ones around Chang'an City should be promoted and popularized to help the people with spring plowing."

"Yes."

The Minister of Works bowed and responded.

"Everyone." Li Shimin's eyes swept over the people in the court.

"Everyone present here is the pillar of the country and an important official of the court. I hope that everyone will not forget their original intentions, be able to work for the welfare of the people, always keep the people in mind, and stick to the bottom line. The difficulties and problems of the people are the difficulties and problems of the court. When dealing with these problems, the attitude must be sincere. The court must be responsible for the people and the country. The law must be upheld. The court's laws constrain the people and officials.

I also know that being in a high position may have many temptations, but people are fair and have the courage to face temptations."

Li Shimin pondered for a while. In the imperial garden, the words that Shitou said were really appropriate for some people in the court.

Especially... the stubborn old official of Wude.

In the blink of an eye, it was the second day of February. Li Fu also came to Chang'an City the day before, waiting to participate in the celebration of the Farming Festival together.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Agriculture have made preparations. Today, Li Shimin will take Empress Changsun and Crown Prince Li Chengqian to perform the ceremonies of plowing and silkworms.

There is a manor to the west of Chang'an City, which belongs to the royal family. There are also people who specialize in managing the manor. The celebrations and rituals of the Farming Festival are all completed here.

At the time of Si, the first plowing ceremony began.

The ancient music of Zhuangzi was played loudly, and the official of the Temple of Heaven walked to the front of the stage.

"The emperor ordered that agriculture is the foundation of the world. When the fields are opened, I will personally lead the plowing..."

In front of the altar, Li Shimin raised the wine jar and offered sacrifices three times, then rolled up his trousers, held a wooden plow in his hand, and went to the field to dig the ground.

At this time, the curved plow was tied with red silk and was waiting on the side.

After the emperor finished digging the ground, he personally supported the curved plow, and the yellow ox in front pulled the curved plow back and forth to plow.

The emperor did so, and the officials who came to participate in the ceremony did the same.

This happens every year.

It's like when Li Fu's farm is about to start construction, Li Fu himself takes a shovel tied with red silk to dig the first shovel of soil.

This is no different from the final roof of a building, when the leaders on the rooftop take a shovel to shovel two shovels of concrete.

Li Fu also wants to do the same, and he also has a curved plow in his hand.

There are also people around the imperial farm, but today the emperor is going out, and the Qianniu Guards around have been arranged in advance. Even if there are people watching, they will not come too close.

However, some sharp-eyed people still saw that the plows used by the emperor and the ministers in the court are different from their plows.

Although the yellow cattle used in the ceremony are stronger than those of ordinary people, the people holding the plows behind them do not seem to be struggling, and the speed of plowing the land is much faster than them.

Taking advantage of the Farming Festival, the people of the Ministry of Works also took action. They specially arranged people around to explain the curved plow to the people who came to watch.

"Is the curved plow really that useful? It's more labor-saving and easier to control than a straight plow?"

"Of course." The official from the Ministry of Works said, "You see, even people who don't farm much can easily control it, not to mention farmers who deal with the land all day. Now the court has begun to arrange the promotion of the curved plow. Soon, the counties around Chang'an will have movement."

"If that's true, the court has really done a great thing."

"Your Majesty has always been thinking about the people. He got the blueprint the day before and handed it over to the Ministry of Works the next day, asking the officials of the Ministry of Works to quickly implement it."

The farmer looked at the man next to him suspiciously when he heard this.

"How do you know so clearly?"

The man sighed slightly, "Because I am from the Ministry of Works. Don't look at me standing here now. After the Majesty's plowing ceremony is over, I will go back to work immediately and I won't even be able to catch a bite of the banquet."

"So you are the minister of the Ministry of Works. I'm so sorry." The farmer bowed his hands.

"Don't be polite, brother."

The two of them walked towards each otherAfter the ceremony, they stood together and chatted again. The topic was nothing more than the curved plow.

The curved plow had been sent to the Ministry of Works a long time ago. The craftsmen under the Ministry of Works studied it overnight and made the second and third plows according to the drawings... Only in time for today's personal plowing ceremony.

Otherwise, I am afraid that only the emperor can use the curved plow, and other officials will still use the old straight plow as before.

Your Majesty is still thinking about promoting the curved plow after the personal plowing ceremony, so how could the Ministry of Works delay this matter?

After the personal plowing ceremony, the emperor will give a banquet as usual.

The banquet will be held in the palace. Li Fu went to the palace with the large group. When he returned to the palace, it was just time for dinner. The Shangshi Bureau had already prepared it. When people came back, they could sit down and start eating directly after arriving at the place.

In the afternoon, Li Shimin asked Li Fu to go to the emperor's place and told Li Fu openly and secretly that Pei Ji had forgotten about Daxing Palace again. Every time Pei Ji went to Daxing Palace, the emperor's attitude would change for two days afterwards.

How could Li Shimin, who was so smart, not know what Pei Ji was going to do in Da'an Palace?

Therefore, Li Fu still needed to take some action to deal with Pei Ji in front of the emperor.

"When talking about the law in the court, Pei Ji kept talking. He wanted to stick to the old system and thought that it was unnecessary to amend the law." Li Shimin said, "But when talking about Quyuanli, none of the old ministers said anything. Do you think they value the government? Actually, it's not entirely true. Because I asked Zhangsun Wuji to revise the law, it touched their interests, so they had to speak out, but Quyuanli had nothing to do with their interests, so they just stood by and watched. Such people can no longer be allowed in the court."

Privately, there were only Li Shimin and Li Fu, so the conversation was more casual, and there was nothing to hide.

Li Shimin wanted to deal with the old ministers of Wude, and everyone in the "Tian Ce Mansion Interest Circle" knew it.