The Great Tang General

Debates like the one at Mingyue Tavern happened everywhere in Chang'an.

Eliminating lowly people and promoting virtue is absolutely the right reform from the perspective of conscience.

But there are always people whose interests arise from it.

Who doesn’t know the importance of land imbalance?

Theoretically speaking, as the population grows rapidly, there should be more and more farmland in the world.

At present, the amount of farmland in the country has been reduced by half, some of which have become unregistered land, while others have been falsely reported and hidden by powerful families.

Before the movement to eliminate low status and promote virtue was launched, Li Xuan had already launched a crackdown on members of the royal family.

Survey the imperial farms and return the land to the people.

The emperor was strict with this royal family, let alone a powerful family.

Set an example and be supported by the people.

Under power politics, dissenting voices will be drowned out sooner or later.

When it comes to decisions that affect historical progress, he alone is enough.

In the 3454th year of the Chinese calendar, the imperial examination of Qianyuan Yuanzai began in August and was carried out in succession.

This year is the Ding Si year, and the most important Ding Si examination will be held on September 1st.

On June 10, Li Xuan ordered the Minister of Rites Wei Jiansu to prepare the examination paper for the Dingsi year, with the theme of "Eliminating Lowliness and Promoting Virtue".

Eliminating inferiority and transforming into virtue is a long-term process, not something that can be achieved overnight.

Capable officials were selected through the imperial examination system to serve as local county magistrates, continuing to safeguard the elimination of lowly officials and the promotion of good people.

In the process of eliminating lowly people and promoting good people, there are many county magistrates who will be dismissed from their posts.

New blood will be brought into the place.

If counties and prefectures are well governed, the whole country will be at peace.

The martial arts examination begins on September 15th and lasts for half a month.

Participants include active military personnel, civilians, and children of aristocratic families.

In addition to the military scholars, there were more than a hundred military candidates.

Once admitted, he will become the first officer of the Central Military Academy.

After completing his studies, he was directly appointed as a low-level general in the army without having to go through the selection process of the Ministry of War.

Or become a grassroots backbone of Tiance Mansion.

In the Central Military Academy, the ideas of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism and military quality education are as important as strategic and tactical vision and the ability to deploy troops.

In the years without war, the basis for promotion was graduates of the Central Military Academy who were taught by the emperor himself.

Nowadays, outstanding soldiers and low- and middle-level generals in the army will also be selected to become students at the Central Military Academy.

……

Southeast of Chang'an, Lantian County.

The imperial edict first arrived in the capital area.

Hearing that it was an edict written by the current emperor himself, many people crowded in front of the notice wall. Those who could read coughed lightly, straightened their backs, and read slowly.

"I rule the world, and I hope that the world will be peaceful..."

As the reciter's voice grew, more and more people gathered.

The civilians immediately understood what was happening.

"Eliminate the lowly and become the good..."

For ordinary people, it was a matter of tears of joy.

For example, people who lack mulberry fields and permanent farmland are likely to benefit from this.

Those who are temporarily free but have to become tenants of powerful families are 100% the beneficiaries.

The onlookers cheered loudly, and some even had tears in their eyes and prostrated themselves in the direction of Chang'an.

"Oh, the Most Holy One, the Most Holy One!"

"He is a saint sent from heaven, a blessing to the common people..."

"Once the transformation from lowly to virtuous is completed, even the ancient sages cannot compare to it. The virtue of the Supreme Being is thicker than Mount Zhongnan."

"I am grateful to the Supreme. If I can get some land, I will die without regrets."

"We must support the Supreme One in eliminating the lowly and bringing good to the people..."

In the eyes of ordinary people, the interests of the powerful and wealthy families can be ignored.

Their thoughts are simple and pure. As long as they can live a good life, they will regard Li Xuan as a god.

Soon after, people from all over Lantian County beat drums and gongs to announce the good news.

Some were happy while others were sad. The powerful families in Lantian County had already received the news a day ago.

Some powerful families were so anxious that they didn't sleep all night.

What they were most worried about happened.

Before, when An Lushan rebelled and Tongguan was lost, the powerful families had already prepared to surrender to An Lushan. However, An Lushan's army was defeated and beaten by Li Xuan, and they didn't even dare to cross Tongguan.

When Li Xuan was prime minister, the powerful families had already experienced the power of Li Xuan.

A new Changping Law almost cut off the way for the powerful and wealthy to "cleverly seize" the land of the common people.

In a place where the sky is high and the emperor is far away, if you fail to take by trickery, you can still rob by force.

But under the emperor's feet, most of the powerful families did not dare to do so and could only endure it.

Finally, Li Xuan was dismissed from his post.

When the Five Yangs were at their most powerful, they ate everything they could.

But they had to spit it all out at once, and they were very unwilling to do so.

In addition to the imperial guards, Chang'an also had troops from the Fengxiang Military Governor's Office.

The most unfortunate thing was that the Lantian Army was stationed in Lantian County.

The new magistrate of Lantian County was Huangfu Zeng, who was a Jinshi in the 12th year of Tianbao and also a famous poet.

Huangfu Zeng was sent by the imperial court to suppress the land annexation of powerful families and stabilize the prices in the city.

It is conceivable that they will firmly carry out the orders of the court.

Therefore, the powerful families who owned more than a thousand acres of fertile land gathered together to discuss how to deal with it.

In order to prevent Huangfu Zeng from discovering, they sent slaves to contact them secretly.

Little did people know that after Huangfu Zeng received the news from the court, he began to discipline the county soldiers and contact the Lantian army to prevent the powerful families from inciting the tenant farmers.

In the capital area, near Chang'an, we must set an example by eliminating the lowly and promoting the virtuous.

Once a major disturbance occurs, the previously dormant opposition will revive and advise Li Xuan.

It will also affect the elimination of inferior people and the promotion of good people in counties and prefectures outside the capital area.

In Lantian County, the six most influential families are Wei, Li, Chen, Liu, Zhang, and Yuan.

From their surnames, we can tell that they are from a big family.

But the big family has countless branches, and there is no connection or kinship between them.

At this time, a group of big surnames and some small clan heads gathered at the Wei family's house.

“I thought it was to curb mergers, but who knew it would be like this.”

"Now the Supreme Lord wants to eliminate the lowly and make us good, and he wants us to release the serfs and hand over our family lands. This is truly a great disaster. What can we do?"

In the silence, the head of the Wei family asked the other family heads.

He saw this as a disaster, as the land was their lifeblood.

It has been passed down from generation to generation and is hard to give up.

For example, if a family of scholars loses their fame and success in one generation, they can still rely on the land to support themselves and avoid decline in a short time.

"The Supreme must have believed the slander and lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong."

"We have been managing this land for generations, and all this land is the result of our hard work. How can we just abandon it? I will never hand it over!"

"I won't give it to you either! The law doesn't punish everyone, so why do you want our land?"

"As long as we unite to resist, this will definitely end. Huangfu Zeng is a rookie, how dare he touch us?"

All the family heads talked at once, and none of them was willing to accept it.

The imperial decree was that all the big families had to accept government scrutiny one by one.

And the first article is to unconditionally release the serfs.

Then check the land outside the registered capital.

Then check the account book information and all arable land information.

Then ask the local people for evidence.

Then ask the slaves in the tribe.

Review the case files to see if there is any tax evasion or tax avoidance.

Who can withstand this series of combined punches?
Therefore, no powerful family was willing to surrender directly.

When the wall falls, everyone pushes it. If any bullied citizen jumps out to accuse them of their crimes, they will most likely be killed as an example to others.

"All right!"

"What we need is a solution, not a fight with the court. Haven't you seen the hundreds of lonely souls bleeding on the city wall by the sea? Besides, he was just an envoy at that time, but now he is the king of a country with a million troops at his command. If we resist, the Lantian army will pounce on us like hungry wolves and tear us to pieces."

The head of the Wei family slammed the table to stop the other family heads from shouting and yelling in a mess.

There's no point in being stubborn here.

I called everyone here to come up with a solution.

Just like when the Single Whip Law and the Kaocheng Law appeared in the eighth year of Tianbao, it was their concerted efforts that made Li Xuan the prime minister.

Although Li Xuan is now the emperor, they believe they still have a chance.

"Alas! When the land tax was distributed, I felt that something was going to happen, and now it has indeed happened. In my opinion, we should think of a delaying tactic."

The head of the Yuan family, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

"Brother Yuan, please tell me in detail. I am all ears!"

The head of the Wei family said immediately.

The other family heads also looked at the head of the Yuan family.

"Pretend to obey, release a few slaves, and give them a hundred acres of small land to satisfy the responsibility. As for the rest, secretly change the deeds and hide them under the names of relatives, and perhaps most of them can be saved."

The head of the Yuan family expressed his thoughts.

"Forty years ago, when we were checking households and expanding fields, this was perfect. But things are different now, and it's hard to get away with it. It's hard to get past Huangfu Zeng."

The head of the Wei family replied.

The decree to eliminate the lowly and promote the good was too strict, and it was almost impossible for them to implement it at the foot of the imperial city.

Rebellion means the extermination of three generations of your clan, which is a dead end. Don't even try it.

"We can only bribe Huangfu Zeng."

The head of the Yuan family also knew that this time the campaign to eliminate the lowly and restore the good was so thorough that it was impossible to find loopholes, so the only way was to start with the corrupt county magistrate.

"Huangfu Zeng's elder brother is Huangfu Ran. They are famous scholars and poets, very noble."

A family head said: "He didn't even accept the jade pendant I gave him."

"It would be better to bribe the nobles in the court and ask them to intercede for us, saying that if the land is in our hands, we can use it to build water conservancy projects, prepare for famines, and fill granaries. It will also be of great benefit to the country, and perhaps we can save it."

The head of the Li family agreed and thought that the dignitaries in Chang'an should be bribed.

It was just like bribing Wu Yang before.

"The only noble relatives at present are Pei and Jiang, and the prime minister is not what we have seen. The supreme ruler is so powerful that they dare not fool him."

The head of the Yuan family thought that bribing the royal family was a fantasy, and times had changed. He insisted on his own ideas and said to the other family heads: "As long as we pay enough gold, Huangfu Zeng will definitely bow his head. If we want to conceal the truth, we can only keep Huangfu Zeng stable."

"How is the visitor from Jingzhao Prefecture?"

The head of the Wei family asked again. "Keep bribing."

Now we can only pay a large sum of money, give up part of the land and keep most of it.

I hope Li Xuan will stop after seeing the results.

"There is no better way. Resistance will lead to death. We can only use our wits to overcome the difficulties. We should unite as one and reject this order. As a prominent family in Lantian, I will offer two kilograms of gold and send it to Huangfu Zeng."

The head of the Wei family was very wealthy and took out two kilograms of gold in one breath.

"I'll offer two kilograms of gold! Plus a pair of beautiful jades!"

"I'll give you two pounds of gold!"

"My family is poor, and I can only offer one pound of gold."

Finally, the powerful families in Lantian County pooled together and took out 20 kilograms of gold to bribe the county officials.

The powerful families near Chang'an were all very wealthy.

That night, the head of the Wei family brought twenty taels of gold to the county government to pay a visit to Huangfu Zeng.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

After some polite questions, Huangfu Zeng said directly, "Please tell me why you are here. It is getting late, and I have important things to do tomorrow."

"Your Excellency has been working hard for the county's major events, and I deeply respect you. On behalf of all the gentry in Lantian, I have prepared a small gift for you, and I hope you will accept it."

Seeing that there was no one around, the head of the Wei family struggled to pick up a box and put it on the table.

"When the Supreme ascended the throne, he announced to the world that frugality was advocated and extravagance was prohibited. Any official was prohibited from accepting any gifts or money. Violators would be severely punished. Don't show your things to harm me, please go back!"

When Huangfu Zeng saw that the head of the Wei family wanted to send a gift, he immediately ordered him to leave.

From the moment the head of the Wei family stepped into the room, he knew what he was going to do, and he just chatted with him out of politeness.

Now the truth is revealed, there is nothing much to say.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll know at a glance!"

The head of the Wei family was not in a hurry. He smiled slightly and slowly opened the box.

Under the candlelight, there was a flash of golden light, and it turned out to be a box of gold.

The gold made all the officials excited.

"Do you know what it is to bribe an official of the imperial court with a large sum of money?"

Huangfu Zeng took a deep breath, put his hands behind his back, and questioned the head of the Wei family.

The momentum of eliminating lowliness and promoting virtue is so great that no one can go against it.

He didn't expect that the head of the Wei family would be so presumptuous in front of the emperor.

"Our honor and disgrace depend on your decision. I chose to come at night so no one will know. Please rest assured."

The head of the Wei family pretended to be calm.

He thought Huangfu Zeng was pretending. Who wouldn't like gold?
"Don't you know that Yang Zhen fears the four people who know him? Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know."

Huangfu Zeng stared at the head of the Wei family and said, "Your Majesty once said that corrupt officials are fools who lose the big picture for the sake of the small. Do you think I am a fool?"

Gentlemen love fortune, in a proper way.

No one would regard money as dirt, but he knows the principle that birds die for food and knows how to make choices.

If he accepts this gold in Lantian today, he will become an example of someone who has been transformed from a lowly person to a good person tomorrow.

"That doesn't make sense. This is twenty pounds of gold. It means you will be rich and prosperous."

The head of the Wei family was extremely anxious and wanted to persuade him again.

"The more you kill the inferiors, the more land you give me, the more wealth and glory I will have. Since you are stubborn and stubborn, don't blame me for being rude."

Huangfu Zeng shouted, "Come here, take him down."

A constable quickly rushed into the main room and clamped down on the head of the Wei family.

"Mingshou, it was unintentional, please forgive me."

Knowing that Huangfu Zeng was a bastard who was determined to do something, he softened his words and begged for mercy.

"It's too late, take him away!"

Huangfu Zeng didn't want to let the head of the Wei family go.

Things have come to this point, and we can only use this as a breakthrough point to eliminate the lowly and promote the good in Lantian County.

That's all. The head of the Wei family failed to bribe and fell into the trap himself.

That night, Huangfu Zeng took the initiative and dispatched county soldiers and constables to invite the heads of these powerful families to the yamen.

And began to compile statistics on the account books and farmland of each family, big and small.

Over the course of several days, more than 200 serfs were freed and more than 3,000 tenant contracts were burned.

The arable land obtained was converted into good land according to the documents of the serfs, and the household registration was added, with 50 mu of mulberry fields and 20 mu of perpetual land.

The tenant farmers supplemented a total of 60 mu of mulberry fields and 20 mu of permanent farmland.

Although it was not as good as the previous equal-field system, the imperial court needed to count the cultivated land, reserve land for rewards based on military merit, and distribute the land to new citizens.

Farmers can rent government land at a 10% rent, and one household can rent up to 50 mu.

Generally speaking, there are not many serfs in the capital area, and the powerful families have to be more restrained.

There are even fewer of them than the untouchables in the royal farms of the royal family.

Next, Lantian County began to investigate powerful families such as the Wei and Yuan families.

If there are crimes of disregarding human life and bullying men and women, they will be dealt with according to the law and the assets of the entire family will be confiscated.

If not, they will be severely punished for crimes such as bribery, embezzlement of land, and concealment of household registration.

In the movement to eliminate low status and promote virtue, Li Xuan was also given a break.

The big families who have committed only minor crimes, not major ones, are only fined, not executed.

To eliminate the lowly and promote the good, only the powerful and wealthy were eliminated, and the wealthy families were forced to release their land and slaves.

No matter how others define it, in Li Xuan's heart, those who disregard human life, bully the people, and bully men and women are all tyrants!

Let the civil and military officials feel at ease, after all, they are the largest aristocratic group.

Among the powerful people, the main culprit was executed and his family was exiled to the Western Regions.

In the end, the Yuan, Wei and other families were defined by Huangfu Zeng as powerful families in Lantian County.

During the final interrogation, Huangfu Zeng said to the Yuan family and other heads of the family in the court: "Will you admit your guilt?"

"You are truly innocent! But there are only a few Lantian counties in the world."

The head of the Wei family made an unwilling sound.

It means that in remote areas, officials will be bribed by powerful families and it will be impossible to eliminate the lowly and turn the people into good people.

I only regret that my family wealth is in Lantian County, otherwise I would not have come away empty-handed.

"There are many Lantian counties in the world that can follow a king with great talent and strategy, like Yao and Shun. You, the powerful, should bear the consequences."

Huangfu Zeng replied.

Li Xuan changed the thinking of many literati, making them willing to move in the direction of "the way of the great way is to make the world public".

For someone who is identified as a tyrant like the head of the Wei family, after the final interrogation, he must be referred to the Dali Temple for a review before being sentenced to death.

When the evidence was irrefutable, it was useless for them to deny it and they could only sign the confession while cursing.

In just one month, Lantian magistrate Huangfu Zeng sent all the documents including gold, assets of powerful people, documents of charges against the guilty, documents of improving the status of inferiors, and documents of resettlement to the imperial court.

This was the first county to completely complete the process of eliminating low status and turning people into good people.

Li Xuan admired Huangfu Zeng's efficiency very much and praised Huangfu Zeng as the contemporary Yang Zhen.

And let the reporter from the Tang Monthly interview Huangfu Zeng and publish it in the next issue of the Tang Monthly.

There is no harm without comparison. In the Guanzhong region alone, unpleasant things have happened.

For example, Qishan County in Guanzhong.

Similar to the situation in Lantian County, the powerful people gathered together to discuss and then took a bag of gold to bribe the Qishan Order.

An hour later, the plainclothes guards of Qishan County watched Haoqiang walk out of the county government office with a smile on his face, and the gold was gone.

This meant that the county magistrate could not resist the temptation of gold and thought he could conceal the truth by relying on the fact that he was not in the Jingzhao Prefecture.

If you don't know, you can do nothing.

After Li Xuan received Liao Zhengrong's report, he immediately dispatched the Palace Attendant Censor Qian Qi to lead his subordinates to thoroughly investigate the Qishan Order under the protection of the Tiance Guards.

Not long after, Qian Qi reported to Li Xuan that the Qishan magistrate had collected five pounds of gold, a jade pendant and a golden turtle from the powerful.

At the same time, the Qishan magistrate was prepared to help the Qishan tyrants conceal their farmland, serfs, and tenants, and falsely report that they had eliminated the lowly and made the good.

Li Xuan was furious and ordered the Qishan Ling to be escorted to Chang'an and immediately executed in the East Market to deter the villains.

Li Jiayou, Zuo Shiyi, was then appointed as the magistrate of Qishan to continue the campaign to eliminate the lowly and make the good people good.

Li Jiayou was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Tianbao, when Li Xuan reformed the imperial examination system.

At the same time, the matter of Qishan Order will also be the front-page headline of next month's Tang Monthly.

Coincidentally, when the Qishan magistrate was dismissed for accepting bribes, Sanping County in the north of Jingzhao Prefecture reported the results of eliminating lowly officials and making them good people.

But Li Xuan was very dissatisfied with the results delivered by Sanping County. It was far behind that of Lantian County. Not even a single powerful person was captured. Moreover, the serfs and tenants released, as well as the arable land obtained, were only one-tenth of that of Lantian County. How was this possible?

Li Xuan believed that a county magistrate could govern a county and suppress the powerful.

But I don’t believe that a powerful family in a county can only release this little land.

So he asked Liao Zhengrong to investigate secretly.

The Jinyiwei reported back that Sanpingling had an average reputation and was not a highly regarded county magistrate.

Moreover, the people dared not speak out against the powerful Wang and Li families in Sanping.

The serfs disappeared, making it difficult for the Jinyiwei to track them down, but they did find clues from the tenants. The powerful and wealthy families still had fields stretching across the country, and there were many fields outside of their registered residence.

Li Xuan didn't waste any time and sent Pei Huang as the Censor-in-Chief to conduct a thorough investigation in Sanping County.

There is no need for much evidence. The fact that the powerful families still occupy the majority of the land is enough to convict Sanping Ling of the crime of deceiving the emperor.

Li Xuan immediately dismissed the lieutenant, magistrate, and chancellor of Sanping County and took them back to Chang'an for trial.

The county magistrate and county lieutenant who had completed the task of eliminating lowly officials and turning them into good people in Lantian County were promoted to county magistrate.

A few days later, three large families from Anding County, upstream of the Jing River, deceived serfs and armed slaves to resist the pursuit of the Anding Order. They killed the Jinyiwei who had killed and injured more than a dozen county soldiers, and fled north with their families.

At this time, the Ninth Battalion of the Qishan Army of the Fengxiang Military Governor's Office was stationed in the upper reaches of the Jing River.

The Qishan Army had already received military orders from the Fengxiang Military Governor's Office and could pursue the enemy depending on the situation.

The Tian Ce Mansion gave military orders to all the troops to act appropriately in eliminating the lowly and promoting the good.

Then one hundred cavalrymen from the ninth battalion of the Qishan Army went to pursue the three major tribes of Anding.

They caught up with the three major clans of Anding at Qingshiling, killed the leader of the bandits, and the rest surrendered.

These three clans were directly charged with treason and their assets and land were confiscated.

In Pengyuan County, downstream of Maling River, there were also powerful people trying to escape, but they were discovered in advance by the professional Jinyiwei. A hundred Jinyiwei gathered the Jinyiwei in advance, set up an ambush at Ping'an Bridge, and successfully captured the head of the powerful family.

The magistrate of Baima County even conspired with powerful people to rebel. They arrested the Jinyiwei in the city, defended Baima City and put up a desperate resistance.

The general of the Weishui Army personally led two thousand soldiers to attack Bai Ma.

As the troops approached the city, Bai Ma Ling's head was taken. The Jinyiwei hidden in the city mobilized the people in the city, opened the city gates, and welcomed the Weishui Army into the city.

The rebellious tyrants were easily put to death.

Knowing that their crimes were unforgivable, the powerful people were determined to fight to the death.

Although the situation was not as bad as in Baima County, the Fengxiang Army assisted county magistrates from various parts of Guanzhong in dealing with powerful people more than twenty times.

More than seventy county soldiers, constables, and Jinyiwei were killed, and more than 180 were injured to varying degrees.

If the county magistrates fail to meet their targets, they will be subject to strict investigation and will not dare to disobey them. They will do their best to implement the policy of eliminating low status and promoting virtue.

The news that kept coming in shocked Li Xuan. This was just Guanzhong, at the foot of the imperial city.

He believed that it would be even more difficult to eliminate the lowly and turn them into good people in Henan and Hebei.

The Jiangnan region is mountainous and has many rivers, and the officials and soldiers there are no less than participating in a war.

(End of this chapter)