Tiantang Splendid

Measure the world
A minister worried: "If we forcibly promote the population inventory and measure the acres of land, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the elites in various places. If someone uses this to attack the imperial court, slander His Majesty, or even rise up, the world will be in chaos!"

Fang Jun, who had never said anything, asked back: "You keep saying that you shouldn't check the population, measure the acres of land, and show all kinds of bad things, but why don't you ask the opinions of the leaders of the world's aristocratic families?"

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and some people couldn't help but panic.

At present, only Yuwen Shiji, Xiao Yu, and Cui Xin can be called "leaders of the world's aristocratic families". Yuwen Shiji has already been imprisoned.

But now that Xiao Yu and Cui Xin are involved in the serious crime of treason, although His Majesty will not punish them severely verbally and is willing to let them live, what if they go back on their word?At this time, Xiao Yu and Cui Xin were asked about their opinions on the population check and the measurement of the acres of land. Even if they were unwilling in their hearts, how could they dare to say "no"?

As long as the Jiangnan clan and Shandong aristocratic family do not object to this, others cannot stop the will of the imperial court.

Obviously, the whole thing was planned long ago, and the court is bound to win...

However, it concerns the interests of all parties, how can we back down?
Let Xiao Yu and Cui Xin come here to see what they say, but even if they allow the court to check the population and measure the acres of land, they will definitely not agree...

After a while, Xiao Yu and Cui Xin were brought to the Hall of Martial Virtue, they took two steps forward, knelt down, and said in unison: "The sinful minister has an audience with Your Majesty."

It is not necessary to kneel and salute above the Great Tang Dynasty Hall, but it is not forbidden to do so under some extreme circumstances. To be forgiven by the emperor...

Li Chengqian looked indifferent, and asked: "Just now Xu Shangshu advised that a detailed inventory of the world's population and farmland should be carried out so that the imperial court can formulate various national policies reasonably... What do you two think?"

Xiao Yu knelt on the ground, hesitated a little, and then said: "Your Majesty, the advice of Xu Shangshu is indeed beneficial to the country and should be implemented. However, we should still consider the current situation. At present, various places are experiencing turmoil, and management is extremely chaotic. In Shandong and Jiangnan, even the local officials and aristocratic families are not sure about the population numbers. It will take a long time for the imperial court to send people to investigate rashly. In my humble opinion, it is better for the imperial court to promulgate a written document and distribute it to all states and counties in the world, ordering all localities to first investigate all kinds of hidden populations, lost populations, and slave populations. .”

Cui Xin nodded in agreement: "That's right. Most of the household registration registers in various places are inherited from the former Sui Dynasty. Although they have been sorted out after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there are still great discrepancies in general. Let the localities correct and check first, and then the court advances. Severely punish those who do not lend money, and they will surely get twice the result with half the effort."

Seeing that these two men with steel knives on their necks dared to protect the interests of the aristocratic family, many people felt their confidence and morale were high, and they all expressed their support.

In any case, it is absolutely impossible for the imperial court to check the population...

Li Chengqian was noncommittal, coughed lightly, waited until the eunuch who maintained the order of the court stopped the noisy ministers, and then continued to ask: "Then what do you think about the matter of measuring the fields?"

"This..." Xiao Yu paused for a moment, then hesitated and said: "This is not a problem, the field is placed there, and you can measure it however you want. The guilty minister will definitely let the family cooperate fully, and there will be no disturbances in the whole Jiangnan. .”

In fact, this is the "talking technique" that Fang Jun discussed with him and Cui Xin earlier. The purpose of the court is not to check the population at all, but to measure the acres of land.At first, Xiao Yu thought that the imperial court feared that the aristocratic families from all over the world would oppose the population investigation too loudly and fiercely, but later she realized that this was Fang Jun's strategy at all.

The interests of the aristocratic families are basically at odds with the interests of the imperial court. If the imperial court wants to increase taxes, it must cut off the income of the aristocratic families, and the aristocratic families want to continue their life of Zhongming Dingshi and continue to control their own places. It can cut off the control of the imperial court, so no matter whether the imperial court wants to check the population or measure the acres of land, as long as it is proposed, it will inevitably be opposed.

But Fang Jun first proposed to check the population, and then proposed to measure the acres of land with a feint shot. It's not easy to take a drastic reaction on the matter of measuring the acres of fields...

This is not an earth-shattering scheme, but it has captured everyone's psychological weakness, and a small means has achieved the real goal.

Cui Xin, who was on the side, also said: "It is really difficult to check the population. It cannot be obtained without more than ten years of work, but if it is to measure the acres of land, the Shandong family will fully cooperate."

Checking the population is simply digging out the foundation of the family's survival. If all the population is counted, everyone will have to pay the "poll tax", and the economy of the family will collapse instantly.

But it’s okay to measure the acres of land. Every mu of land has a legal title deed in hand.

It is a matter of court credit, His Majesty will definitely not do this, because such a move will inevitably involve the reform of the currency system that will be carried out later. How can a court that has no credit and can confiscate private legal land at will be trusted by the people of the world to promote the currency system? What about reforms...

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked around at the ministers in the hall: "These two have agreed to cooperate with the imperial court in measuring the world's acres of land. Do you have any objections?"

The ministers looked at each other in blank dismay. Although there is an essential difference between measuring the number of acres and counting the population, because it does not involve the taxation of each family, but the court wasted so much manpower and material resources with such a big fanfare, is it really just to grasp the exact number of acres in the world?
Feeling uneasy...

But the matter has come to this point, two of the three largest factions in the world have bowed their heads, and one is about to be destroyed, so where is there room for others to object?
Whoever dares to object may become the target of the next imperial court's all-out attack. After all, suppressing the powerful is a national policy that Li Chengqian would rather lose the throne.

"The ministers have no objection."

"It's just that in this way, the imperial court will consume huge manpower and material resources, so please ask the Ministry of Civil Affairs to make preparations in advance."

"Yes, since the Eastern Expedition, the local finances have been almost unsustainable, and it is absolutely impossible to support such a large-scale action."

How much land is there in the whole world?No one has a certain number, but everyone knows that this must be an astronomical figure.It would take a long time to measure such a large number of acres of fields, not three or two years, and five years at the earliest.

The time is long, the task is heavy, and there are many people. It is inevitable that countless money and food will be consumed. If the imperial court assigns this consumption to the local government, then the local government will have to lose their pants. Once the county-level government cannot guarantee this A part of the money and food had to be apportioned to various aristocratic families within the jurisdiction.

Everyone has the same purpose: we can't object to the measurement of acres, we can only cooperate, but if we want to use this to consume the wealth and wealth of each family, I'm sorry we can't do it...

Li Chengqian pointed to Xu Jingzong: "Xu Shangshu will take full responsibility for measuring the world's acres of land, so let Xu Shangshu talk about it and clear up your doubts."

Xu Jingzong did his part, straightened his chest, and raised his chin slightly: "This measurement of the world's acres is a long-term plan of the empire for a hundred years and a thousand years. The whole country must fully support it. Whoever dares to obstruct, there will be 'Hundred Knights' and others." Joint investigation by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, if the evidence of the crime is convincing, the crime will be aggravated and severely punished!"

These murderous words made the hall even more silent, and the cold wind blew in from the window. Many people felt chills in their hearts and couldn't help shivering.

We all know that His Majesty wants to suppress the powerful people in the world. If anyone falls into His Majesty's hands because of obstructing the measurement of the fields, it is no wonder that His Majesty makes use of it. The miserable end is almost predictable...

Zhang Liang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, frowned. He didn't know about this matter beforehand, and now Xu Jingzong suddenly brought the Ministry of Justice out, which made him very dissatisfied.Although the current situation is that the aristocratic family can only bow their heads, it is conceivable that there must be many conflicts in the whole process of measuring the acres. Xu Jingzong will face the whole world's criticism and criticism, and it will be difficult to have a good end. He is not willing. Bound with Xu Jingzong to offend people everywhere.

But now that His Majesty is here, he doesn't dare to say anything against him, and he has made up his mind that he will meet His Majesty to shirk this errand. Worth mentioning...

Seeing the trembling ministers, Xu Jingzong felt more and more the comfort of being in power, and continued: "As for the money and food needed during the period of measuring the acres of land, it will be provided by your majesty's internal funds. But there is one thing to explain first, your majesty's internal funds can be used Money and silk, but many places are too far away, transportation is difficult, and food is difficult to arrive in time, so it is necessary for local governments to purchase food, and then it will be paid from internal funds, do you have any objections?"

When everyone heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief, but they were also secretly astounded at the abundance of His Majesty's money.

The cost of this task of measuring the world's acres is simply astronomical, and it can be fully paid by His Majesty's internal funds... How much profit has the Royal Navy made in maritime trade in the past few years?

It's appalling...

"If death is like this, the local governments will naturally have no reason to shirk."

"As long as the money and silk arrive in the account in time, purchasing food is a trivial matter, and we definitely dare not delay the important affairs of the court."

"Anyone who dares to corrupt ink and get involved will be severely punished!"

Relying on the prestige of great victory, Li Chengqian finally carried out this matter smoothly...

Seeing that there were no more objections from the ministers, Li Chengqian was in a good mood, nodded and said: "This matter is settled here, the imperial court will issue an official document later, and all localities are actively preparing. Officials from the third rank will step down for now."

The next step is the re-appointment and removal of officials from various ministries of the imperial court. For the officials in the palace, this is the most important thing.

(End of this chapter)