People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1839: In the fourth year of Kaiyuan, the tax revenue of the whole country was million guan

It is deep winter in the twelfth lunar month and the weather is extremely cold.

In the Taiji Hall, Li Xuan sat on the imperial couch, reviewing the memorial in his hands, and even made special comments on some places.

There are three hundred provincial governors in all corners of the country.

To be honest, among the three hundred officials above the fourth rank, there are only about a dozen or so who are truly wise, and the rest are mostly people of ordinary qualifications.

These people are able to maintain integrity and implement the laws of the court, which is enough for Li Xuan.

Those who cannot even be honest and enforce the law are Li Xuan's targets.

Of course, these people are hiding very deeply and cannot be found easily.

However, Li Xuan was not in a hurry. He could always find some clues from the taxes collected in each state and county every year.

There were also local recorders, Gongcao, and Sigong military officers who were helping Li Xuan to watch over the place.

The most important thing here is the annual inspection.

Of course, there are also connections between local students, families of poetry and literature, and the court.

But even so, it is difficult to completely eliminate it.

The rest depends on personal ability. What Li Xuan can see is the changes in local taxes and public grievances.

There is no public resentment, taxes are within normal range, and even various matters and aspects are not reported. If one can conceal them, then he must be an outstanding person.

Li Xuan couldn't help but smile bitterly. For a person like this, who is in a lowly position, it's better to be a little corrupt than to harm the people.

Suddenly, Xu Lu's voice sounded beside Li Xuan: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue Pei Judao wants to see you."

"Pass it on!" Li Xuan nodded solemnly.

"Here!"

……

"Your Majesty, the total tax revenue for this year is 17 million guan in the fourth year of Kaiyuan." Pei Judao bowed to Li Xuan and said, "Your Majesty, the world is prosperous."

"The whole world is prosperous." Li Xuan murmured and chewed on these words. Then, he immediately woke up and looked at Pei Ju and said, "Mr. Pei, this year, Hebei, Qi and Lu had severe droughts, Bingzhou, Shannan, and Huainan also had minor droughts, but the taxes in the whole world actually increased by 3 million strings of cash."

"In fact, Your Majesty, except for Hebei, although there is drought in other places, the situation has not affected this year's autumn harvest. Even in Hebei, although the drought is serious, the autumn harvest is only slightly affected due to the efforts of various departments. There is even a small surplus... Of course, everything depends on Your Majesty's early planning." Pei Judao bowed seriously.

Li Xuan waved his hand slightly and said, "I know the specific situation. Disaster relief is probably only one of the reasons. The real reason for this great prosperity is probably the stability of the people's hearts."

With just one sentence, Li Xuan saw through the reason for the changes in the world.

Li Xuan was in power for four years, and there was only one war between China and the Turks during those four years, but a great victory was achieved in mid-January.

After that, the prime minister patrolled the country every year, and there were fewer cases of officials and aristocratic families oppressing the people. The people were at peace and worked hard, which led to a good harvest.

"Well done." Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Pei Judao and said, "Mr. Pei, I want to ask you a question. How much is the annual salary expenditure for officials in the world now?"

Pei Judao looked at Li Xuan in surprise, and then said directly: "Your Majesty, in the fourth year of Kaiyuan, the annual salary of officials in the capital was about 15 dan, and the salary of officials outside the capital was about 97 dan, totaling about 122 million dan; the salary of officials in the capital was about 20 guan, and the salary of officials outside the capital was about 80 guan, totaling about 100 million guan."

Li Xuan nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "If I want to take out 300,000 strings of cash to double the salaries of all officials at the end of the year, is that possible?"

"All officials in the world, all of them?" Pei Judao couldn't help but ask.

"No." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "It's just the officials who have positions. And the officials in the Ministry of Revenue, local governors, county magistrates, chief secretaries, household officials, county magistrates, and the Ministry of Revenue system will be paid three times as much, and other officials will be paid twice as much. As for those officials who don't have actual positions, they won't get a penny more."

"Your Majesty is going to treat it as a reward to the officials in the court for the prosperous harvest this year." Pei Judao accurately stated Li Xuan's purpose.

Li Xuan nodded slightly and said, "I know that the Ministry of Personnel will naturally make some assessments if the country is prosperous, but I still hope that all officials in the world can see my desire for peace in the country. If the country is prosperous again next year, I will issue this reward next year... If the country is not prosperous next year, this money will be gone."

Just think of it as dividends.

This is actually a bit like the salary for maintaining integrity that Yongzheng set up, but Li Xuan has no interest in maintaining integrity at all.

Under him were the secret guards, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, local recorders, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Law, the county lieutenants, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, and even a prime minister who toured the country every year.

If someone can hide something from him under the supervision of this entire system, it is also a skill.

Integrity is the basic moral code, and the real reward for dividends is for capable officials.

"Of course, this money needs to be discussed with the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate. If the official is not good enough, the Ministry of Revenue will decide whether to reduce or exempt it." Li Xuan smiled and said, "My dear, why don't you make a bet with me? If this is the case, then by next year, as long as the disaster is not more serious than this year, the annual income will definitely be more than this year."

Pei Judao couldn't help but look outside the hall.

Li Xuan followed his gaze, then nodded and said, "Fortunately, the weather this winter is normal. There is a snowfall every ten days or so, some heavy and some light, and it is not too warm, so probably next year will be a normal year. The rest is about the situation during my inspection tour of Hebei. However, with the affairs of Jingzhou, the affairs of Hebei should be more stable."

"Yes!" Pei Judao bowed seriously with a solemn expression.

The entire court had never thought that the Xu family would actually attack the emperor and rebel, and they had never thought that the Xu family would actually report themselves. This left many people who suspected that it was the emperor's coercion completely speechless.

"That's it." Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "After the various departments have made their decisions, they will submit them to the Council of State Affairs to see what the prime ministers think."

"Yes!" Pei Judao immediately bowed and said, "I will take my leave."

Li Xuan smiled and nodded, then looked to both sides and said, "It's the same for you, your salary will be doubled this month, but don't let the news spread too early, otherwise it will be difficult for the Ministry of Revenue."

"Yes!" Yang Jiong, Du Shenyan, Su Weidao and others all bowed with solemn expressions, but there was still a hint of excitement in their eyes.

Although the emperor also gave many rewards at the end of the year, it was never as gratifying as doubling the salary.

Li Xuan looked serious, looked at Su Weidao and asked, "Su Qing, how are the preparations for next year's martial arts exam going?"

"More than twenty warriors have registered at the Ministry of War, but His Majesty said that the military examination will be after the civil examination, so the registration deadline is the end of January." Su Weidao bowed seriously.

"Yes!" Li Xuan nodded gently and said, "Send an order to the Ministry of War to hold an internal military examination next April. Those who pass the examination will be promoted to a higher rank immediately."

First grade, not level one, if it is fourth grade, it can be directly upgraded to third grade.

"Of course, those above the rank of captain are not allowed to participate," Li Xuan added.

Su Weidao immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

"That's all for today. Go back and have a good rest. It's the end of the year, so prepare more firewood at home." Li Xuan smiled and said, "By the way, all salaries will be distributed before the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, so buy more things."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone bowed.

Li Xuan smiled, turned around and left the hall.

……

In Qianyi Hall, Li Xuan sat in front of the bed, teasing the two-month-old Prince of Zhao, Li Zhijing.

Zhang Sunyue next to him looked at him with gentle eyes.

Her father inherited the title of Duke of Zhao, and her son was named King of Zhao. She inexplicably felt that her life was complete. All that was left was to watch her son grow up, and then get married and have children.

"Next year, I will patrol Hebei. Shiyilang is too young, so he should stay in Chang'an. I will take Prince Yan with him." Li Xuan looked up at Changsun Yue.

"I will obey your majesty." Chang Sun Yue's face was full of smiles, as if she didn't care at all.

Li Xuan smiled, nodded and said, "In four or five years, when I visit Hebei again, I will take you with me."

"Yes!" Chang Sun Yue nodded slightly. After four or five years, her son should be grown up.

……

Walking out of Qianyi Hall and in front of Ganlu Hall, Li Xuan suddenly heard the sound of women shouting and fighting.

When he got closer, he finally saw that his daughter, Princess Fuchang, was actually teaching Princess Anle how to use the sword.

Although Princess Anle was only a five-year-old girl, she could wield the small wooden sword quite well.

Li Xuan was slightly stunned, then walked up with a smile.

"Father!" Xia'er immediately bowed to Li Xuan.

Princess Anle also followed suit and saluted in a baby voice: "Uncle!"

"Yeah!" Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction, then picked up Princess Anle with one hand and looked at Xia'er and said, "How is it? Are you not cold?"

"It's not cold." Xia'er sheathed the long sword in her hand, then looked at Princess Anle and said, "Father, finally someone is here to play with my daughter."

Li Xuan has given birth to eleven sons so far, but only one daughter, Xia'er. Now that she is getting older, she needs to play with people of the same age, so Li Xuan asked someone to bring Princess Anle over.

After all, Li Chongjun also started studying in the inner study hall, but Li Xuan separated the people.

When Li Chongjun arrived at the palace, Princess Anle felt a little lonely staying alone in the Daming Palace.

"You!" Li Xuan smiled and said, "You will have many younger sisters in the future."

"Yeah!" Xia'er stuck out her tongue cutely.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "Next year, the emperor will hold a martial arts exam. If you are interested, you can go with the emperor to have a look. It will be very lively."

Xia Er immediately became alert and looked at Li Xuan and said, "Father, didn't Mother tell you something?"

"What?" Li Xuan was slightly stunned, then said speechlessly: "What nonsense, my emperor just wants you to see more of the world, but your marriage should also be prepared."

(End of this chapter)