Thief Emperor

Chapter 1064 Giving Money Is Too Difficult!

The Tang army has established a firm foothold in Jinchuan Prefecture. Even if it doesn't capture it immediately, it's only a matter of time.

The Tibetans have been weak in recent decades, and their national strength was already inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, and perhaps not even comparable. Now, Emperor Li is very wealthy, with a full purse.

Military operations in the Northwest are not a major issue. Chen Da will soon be able to quell the unrest in the Northwest and begin to reorganize the Longyou Circuit.

The war between the Northeast and the Khitans will soon come to an end.

In other words, Li Yun could completely free up his hands to deal with the Tibetans. He could even forgo the taxes of the entire Jiannan Circuit and focus all the resources of Jiannan Circuit on Jinchuan Prefecture. Even if he couldn't take it in three or five months, he could definitely take it in a year or two.

Therefore, the King of Yue deserves great credit for this victory; it can be said that he was responsible for half of the success in conquering Jinchuan Prefecture.

With such great merit, and already a prince, there was nothing more that could be bestowed upon him. Apart from granting him the privilege of hereditary succession, it seemed that all Li Yun could do was to find him a good wife.

As a prince, it is not appropriate for him to marry a powerful military general, but Zhao Cheng can.

Because Zhao Cheng, although he was one of the two generals of the Jiangdong Army, had been working in the Ministry of War for more than ten years before the founding of the country. He had never been in contact with military power. His former subordinates, who remembered the friendship from back then, naturally had to go up to him and say a few polite words to their old superior.

But to say that he still has any military power is a stretch.

People leave and things cool down; if things don't cool down after six months, it's already considered nostalgic, let alone ten years.
Therefore, Zhao Cheng can now be classified as a civil official.

After muttering a few words, Li Yun suddenly remembered something. He paused for a moment, looked at Consort Liu, and said with a wry smile, "I've been confused. I've forgotten what happened back then."

Zhao Cheng and the Liu family have a long-standing feud.

Back then, Consort Liu's parents died at his hands, or rather, they died directly at the hands of his subordinates, not indirectly.

This matter happened a full twenty years ago, far too long ago. Engrossed in daily affairs of state, Li Yun had completely forgotten about it. Only when he saw Empress Liu's expression change did he suddenly remember it.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Consort Liu with great apology.

"This was my fault. I was only thinking about the eligible men in the court and completely forgot about this matter."

The emperor personally apologized, and Empress Liu quickly shook her head, saying, "It's not Your Majesty's fault."

She remained silent for a while before quietly saying, "What happened back then, what happened back then..."

She took a deep breath and couldn't help but lower her head: "It's been too long, and it has nothing to do with Erlang. Erlang's marriage is entirely up to His Majesty to decide."

Li Yun stroked her hair and shook his head, saying, "Erlang is our son, and he is also inextricably linked to his maternal grandfather. Let's just let this matter go, let's just let this matter go."

His Majesty the Emperor rubbed his temples and said with a wry smile, "I seem to really be getting old."

Empress Liu wiped away her tears and said, "Twenty years have passed. Your Majesty has too many things to do every day, and it is common for you to forget for a moment."

She sighed and said, "I often forget things these days."

Emperor Li looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and continued, "In a few months, when the matter in Jinchuan Prefecture is settled and the child's injuries have healed, let him return to Luoyang and arrange his marriage."

“When I have some free time, I’ll take you to visit Yao Zhong’s house and see what his daughter is like.”

Yao Xiangong served steadily as the second prime minister for over a decade.

Moreover, he was the only prime minister in the court besides Prime Minister Du who had his own faction. He was arguably one of the highest-ranking civil officials in the court. If she could find such a father-in-law for her son, Empress Liu would naturally be happy.

Hearing Li Yun's words, she quickly nodded: "Okay, I will listen to Your Majesty."

Li Yun kissed her on the cheek and said with a smile, "Alright, Erlang is fine, so you don't need to worry. I rarely have time today, so I won't leave. The three of us will have dinner together later."

"I want to see just how picky a little Afu is about food."

Consort Liu nodded, forcing a smile: "Alright, I will personally prepare some food for His Majesty tonight."

…………

The following day, Yu Ye's official report of victory was delivered to the court. His Majesty the Emperor was overjoyed and ordered the Central Secretariat to announce it throughout the capital.

After the court assembly, Emperor Li gathered several prime ministers from the Secretariat, several officials from the Ministry of War, and several officials from the Privy Council in the Ganlu Hall.

Emperor Li distributed several documents from the Nine Departments, as well as the documents sent back by Chen Da, to them. After everyone had read them, Emperor Li smiled and said, "Jinchuan Prefecture has yielded results. Once it is completely occupied, the initiative in our dealings with the Tibetans will be in our hands."

"This time."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "The Chengdu Army has done a great job. Later, you departments should draft a reward document to properly reward these soldiers who fought on the front lines." Upon hearing this, all the generals smiled.

Minister Du looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "The battle at the front is going smoothly, but I'm afraid the Ministry of Rites is in some trouble. They just reached an agreement with the Tibetans on a marriage alliance, but war broke out. The Tibetans insist on sending envoys to cause them trouble."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Jinchuan Prefecture was originally the territory of the old Zhou Dynasty. It was seized by the Tibetans when the old Zhou Dynasty was weak. I inherited the throne from the old Zhou Dynasty, so Jinchuan Prefecture is rightfully mine."

"It's perfectly reasonable to take it back."

At this point, Emperor Li lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and said with a smile, "If they really want to argue, let the Ministry of Rites argue with them. If they still want to keep arguing about Jinchuan Prefecture, then we'll wait until we take Jinchuan Prefecture."

His Majesty the Emperor sneered, "In a few years, what we'll want won't just be Jinchuan."

Su Sheng thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "I have heard that ordinary people are not used to living in the Tibetan territory, and their territory is too large. Even if we take it over, I am afraid we will not be able to manage it."

His Majesty the Emperor said calmly, "We will simply adopt a policy of appeasement, cooperating with some local leaders in Tibet and granting them official titles from the court."

After a brief discussion about Tibet, Emperor Li waved his hand and said, "The matter of Tibet is settled once we have taken over Jinchuan Prefecture. The most important thing now is to pacify the Northwest and open up the Western Regions."

His Majesty the Emperor spoke, “You have already seen the documents. After Chen Da arrived in the Northwest, he has already achieved an initial victory, and has made a good start in opening up the Western Regions.”

For emperors, conquering the Western Regions was a professional achievement, and one that every emperor wanted to achieve, and Li Yun was no exception.

From the current perspective, there is already a very good chance.

The topic of the Western Regions was discussed for more than an hour before Emperor Li changed the subject and said, "Now that the old Zhou territory has basically returned to the hands of the court, the next issue is governance."

"I have a new idea now."

The emperor looked at Du Qian and said, "Throughout the country, we must rebuild official roads and ensure the smooth flow of post roads and trade routes."

“All prefectures, counties and districts should also begin to suppress local bandits and let the people live in peace.”

Upon hearing about the "bandit suppression" matter, several people present showed strange expressions, but Minister Du quickly recovered and bowed to Li Yun, saying, "Your Majesty, at this time, the war is not yet over. Shouldn't we cherish the people's strength...?"

“I cherish the people’s strength, of course I cherish the people’s strength.”

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "The repair of official roads in various places need not be paid for by corvée labor; the imperial court can simply pay the people to do the work."

Du Qian still frowned, and he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, if this is really the case, I'm afraid someone will try to take advantage of the situation and obstruct things at every level."

The emperor shook his head and said, "We cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater."

"This matter is not something that can be resolved in a year or two. First, let the Ministry of Works send people down to roughly estimate the cost of repairing the official road. Then, the Ministry of Works will sign a contract with the local government, and the amount will be determined accordingly."

"After the amount of money was determined, the Ministry of Works was responsible for supervision, and the local government was responsible for the specific construction."

Yao Xiangong shook his head slightly: "Even if the price is fixed, the local government can still keep it and not distribute it to the people and laborers who are doing the work."

Upon hearing this, the emperor frowned deeply and tapped the table with his hand: "Then let the Censorate send people down to inspect."

He said angrily, "Do we really have to make the people do corvée labor? Is it so difficult to spend some money on the people?"

Originally, this matter could have been completed by the local government through corvée labor after the imperial edict was issued. However, Li Yun's idea was to distribute some of the imperial funds through infrastructure construction.

In this way, people's income can increase, money can circulate more freely, and perhaps the whole society can develop faster.

Businesses can also flourish more quickly.

However, such a simple thing has encountered many obstacles.

Prime Minister and Imperial Censor Xu Ang sighed silently: "Only by imposing corvée labor can we cut off the path for local officials to embezzle. Even with corvée labor, local officials can still squeeze some money out of the people."

Upon hearing this, His Majesty the Emperor remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Then let's do this: instead of having the local government take the lead, the Ministry of Works will send people down to hire local people to do the work themselves."

He looked at everyone, frowned, and asked.

"What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)