The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 327 Second Development

As the morning court session approached, Li Chengqian sat at the gate of the East Palace looking through files.

Ning'er asked Xiaofu to arrange for the palace maids to clean the East Palace. They were very busy in the early morning.

Now Xiaofu seldom does anything other than cooking, and she only does it for His Highness's family. As for cooking, it is left to other women in the palace.

The Eastern Palace is not as busy now as it used to be, as the princes have all grown up.

Xiaofu felt much more relaxed instead.

A palace maid came over and said anxiously, "Your Highness, it's time for the morning court session."

The Crown Prince was seen still looking through the files. These files were brought from the Secretariat, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been looking through them frequently these days.

Li Chengqian put down the files in his hand and said, "Send these to Xingqing Palace."

"Here."

After saying this, the prince went to the morning court.

When I walked out of the East Palace, it was already bright. The court officials were already waiting in the Taiji Hall. As I walked along, I found that the area outside the hall was very empty.

When the prince arrived at the Taiji Hall, everyone stopped discussing Su's martial arts.

Just as the prince stood still, His Majesty also happened to arrive.

Li Tai stood aside with a frown on his face. His brother came a little later than usual, and his father came even later.

Now that the political situation is stable, the people in the court have been replaced one after another, and there are no wars on the borders. It seems that recently, both my father and my brother have become a little lax.

Thinking this in his mind, Li Tai continued to stand there in silence.

Today's morning court went on as usual. The first thing discussed in the court was the governance of the Western Regions, and a Sogdian named An Yuanshou was also mentioned.

Cen Wenben held up the memorial and said, "Pei Duhu of Anxi Duhufu has submitted a memorial, saying that these white-clothed Hu merchants are willing to serve the Duhufu, but since they do not belong to the Western Regions, please approve it."

Speaking of the Protectorate of the Western Regions, it was the current crown prince who strongly recommended Pei Xingjian to be the protector, and he also asked Liang Jianfang to assist him. Many people in the court looked towards the crown prince.

Yu Zhining stood in the court and said, "Your Majesty, I have read in historical records that the so-called white-robed Hu merchants are descendants of the nine Zhaowu clans long ago."

After hearing what he said, Li Chengqian had an impression. In the history of the Tang Dynasty, it was rumored that An Lushan and Shi Siming were also Sogdians.

Xu Yushi, who was promoted to the position of the Minister of Civil Affairs, stood out from the court and said, "Your Majesty, since the Jin Dynasty, the Sogdians have made a living by doing business. They are the most fickle. Even if they serve the Protectorate now, they will rebel in the future."

The newly appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was the top-ranked Jinshi in the imperial examination that year. He survived an assassination attempt and continued to serve in the court.

Xu Yushi, the learned Jinshi, began to show his knowledge to the officials in the court.

The Sogdians have always been called white-clad merchants. They were also merchants traveling on the Silk Road, and they were a group of very wealthy people.

For them, as long as they can get enough wealth, they can be Uighurs, Tibetans, or people from a country in the Western Regions.

When the Tang army was conquering Tianshan, An Yuanshou did send a group of troops to support the Tang army.

Now the reason why An Yuanshou came to help can be temporarily attributed to the fact that he felt that the Tang people were very powerful, and that Yu Gushe would undoubtedly be defeated in the battle of Tianshan?

So, they have a good vision.

Yu Zhining added: "Pei Duhu wrote in his memorial that An Yuanshou's army was composed of Persians, Tocharians, or some tribes in the more remote west. It was just a team hired by An Yuanshou, not his army."

Li Shimin asked: "So, they cannot be accepted by the Protectorate?"

Cen Wenben said: "I think it can be used, but I will not accept it for the time being."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, agreeing with the idea.

After the morning court session ended, Li Shimin planned to go and see the new puzzle made by the Ministry of Works. When he walked past the Taiji Hall, he saw a group of civil officials following Cheng Qian.

"What is he going to do?"

The eunuch at the side replied, "When the morning court session ended, His Highness left Fang Xiang and the others behind, saying that there was something important to discuss."

Li Shimin just took one more look and went to Ganlu Hall to see the newly made puzzle.

The earliest puzzle in the palace was a portrait of the whole family. At that time, Cheng Qian was still young, and Li Zhi and the others were also young, so this puzzle was hung on the wall of Ganlu Palace.

Originally, the paintings and calligraphy hung on the wall were all by famous artists, but because Princess Changle requested this, this family painting has been hanging until now. His Majesty also often stares at this painting for a long time.

In the Xingqing Hall, sitting in front of Li Chengqian were his teacher, uncle, Yu Zhining, Chu Suiliang, Qingque, Li Ke and a group of people.

Except for his two younger brothers, Zhang Xingcheng and Cen Wenben were all important figures in the Secretariat.

Just as he was about to speak, Li Chengqian said, "Close the door to prevent anyone from disturbing you."

It was not until the heavy door of the hall was closed that the room became a little darker and the candlesticks on the side were lit.

Li Chengqian sat down and had a pile of files distributed, saying, "These are 351 volumes of county chronicles and 67 volumes of prefecture files collected from various places in Shandong. I have been reading these these days."

Changsun Wuji reached out to take the file handed to him by the eunuch, opened it and looked at it. He found that there were many annotations on it. He thought that the prince had read such a large number of files by himself.

Li Chengqian said, "I usually read these files when I have nothing to do, such as fishing or before going to bed."

Cen Wenben remembered that these files were delivered this summer. They were confiscated because of the incident involving Prince Teng. At that time, it was thought that they were collected to find evidence of guilt.

I almost forgot why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted these files.

Li Chengqian said, "This year, the emperor's decree also said that hidden households in various parts of the Central Plains should be returned to the household registration. The decree has been issued for three months. Recently, I have seen the reports from various places and found that there are not many responses from various places." Zhangsun Wuji said, "You can ask Jingzhao Prefecture to send people to investigate, but the various places will still deal with it. Just investigating will not bring much change."

Fang Xuanling lowered his eyes and whispered, "The more hidden households there are, the less taxes will be collected. In all dynasties, whether it is land annexation or hidden households escaping, the central government and the local governments have always been in a state of decline in these two matters. If the court does not ask, annexation will be serious, and if the court asks, the local governments will restrain themselves."

Zhang Sun Wuji nodded in agreement and said, "Among the nobles and the aristocrats, in times of disaster, they would become hidden households in order to avoid heavy taxes. Of course, there were also noble families who used all kinds of despicable means to force some villagers into hidden households, so that when the villagers lost their land, they had to choose between selling themselves or starving to death. Often, they had no choice..."

In the words of Duke Zhao, everyone heard many means, various ways of setting traps, and various despicable behaviors.

Once they become hidden residents, it would be very difficult to restore their household registration.

It is said that more money means more business. People who have nothing often cannot see far into the future when faced with people who have a lot of wealth.

Yu Zhining thought of some words. His Highness once said that if a farmer who had never been to school debated right and wrong with a knowledgeable person who was good at debate, the farmer would have a chance of winning.

The simple words of ordinary farmers are no match for those of eloquent and knowledgeable people who can even turn black into white.

In the end, what kind of choice will the farmer's helplessness and instinct for survival prompt him to make? They don't even know what is right or wrong, but their minds have been distorted.

Most of the things mentioned here were seen in files and memorials, or were heard from others.

I'm afraid that when the property of Prince Teng was being checked and the Tengwang Pavilion was being sealed, many infuriating things happened, but these things were only mentioned in a few simple sentences.

However, the population lost in the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty has not yet been recovered in the short twenty years since the establishment of the Li Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, during the Wude period, when the retired emperor was still in power, he advocated that monks return to secular life and work on the land to pay taxes, but it still had little effect.

When talking about the issues of land annexation and taxation, Li Ke immediately became interested and listened attentively with his ears pricked up.

Li Chengqian asked the eunuchs to prepare some tea, which was wolfberry and honeysuckle tea, with some cassia seeds added.

He signaled to the eunuch to serve the tea, and each person had a bowl of tea in front of him.

When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was about to close the palace door, everyone realized that what His Royal Highness was going to say today was very important.

Apart from governing the country, there must be only one other reason. He summoned so many ministers and had a talk behind closed doors. Most likely, they were plotting a rebellion, right?
But the prince was only half a step away from the throne, and everyone quickly dispelled this view.

This conversation in Xingqing Hall may concern the direction of the country.

Li Chengqian said: "I often think that if I had the appeal of my father, maybe I would be able to do things more easily in the future."

Hearing the prince's somewhat disappointed words, everyone smiled helplessly.

"But there is only one father in this world. Even the prince in front of you, me, can never be like the father."

Upon learning that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in such a state of mind, Fang Xuanling smiled with relief.

His Highness had already had this understanding many years ago. As far as Fang Xuanling could remember, this was the first time that the Crown Prince had spoken so openly.

Li Tai sat aside and drank warm tea.

Cen Benwen asked, "Your Highness, what is so particular about this tea?"

"You all have worked hard for the country. This tea is used to replenish qi and blood. My sister has been studying medicine with Dr. Sun for several years." Li Chengqian smiled ashamedly and said, "I have a sister who studies medicine at home. She will always take care of things."

Everyone understands this feeling very well. It's like having a wife at home who manages the money and keeps track of everything that needs to be spent.

It is always a good thing for the emperor to have a princess who studies medicine.

Of course, there is another older sister who is even more remarkable. She has already begun to get involved in the production development of Guanzhong, but she has not yet come into public view. When she comes into public view, it will be a different scene.

Everyone chatted a little more. Fortunately, those present were all civil officials from the Secretariat and there were no military generals, otherwise it would really look like a rebel group.

When the hall was quiet again, Li Chengqian said to everyone: "The production in Guanzhong has always been managed by Jingzhao Prefecture. Now the county workshops are developing into individual workshops. In the next few years, the county workshop system will be gradually abolished."

After walking back and forth for two steps, Li Chengqian continued, "Jingzhao Prefecture has been in charge of the construction of Guanzhong for seven years. During these seven years, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but there were still many problems. Of course, these problems should have been exposed long ago. However, in the process of repeated foreign wars and Guanzhong's continuous extraction of resources and treasures from the Western Regions, some problems that should have appeared and should have been faced long ago have been alleviated by the wars."

"It made up for the shortcomings in the management of Jingzhao Prefecture and the flaws in the construction of Guanzhong. It's like a tree that is about to die and suddenly gets a rain. In the process of absorbing nutrients, some branches don't grow well, some leaves grow in the wrong place, or there are insect pests. All kinds of problems are blocked by the dense branches and leaves."

Governing a country requires cohesion, especially in times of war, which requires extremely strong appeal. My father, the Khan in the eyes of the world, has his own unique grand narrative, and this ability cannot be replicated by the subsequent emperors of the Li Tang Dynasty.

Li Chengqian continued, "Because the development in Guanzhong was like driving a donkey to pull a mill, it was fine in the past few years, but now it is in urgent need of a change. The initial construction of Jingzhao Prefecture ignored the people's hearts."

"People can be active in production, but they can also be passive and lazy. Therefore, in the operation of workshops in various counties, if management is rigidified for too long, various contradictions will inevitably arise. And within a few years, the contradictions will become irreconcilable, and the whole place will be in chaos."

"So, the workshops will need to change their management methods in the future. The Jingzhao Prefecture is currently carrying out such changes. In short, the workshops will be handed over to the individuals, and each household will be given the autonomy to choose production and the profits from their operations. After paying taxes and paying costs, the remaining profits will all be given to the working villagers."

"In other words, there were six workshops in a county, with 20 people in each workshop, all working individually for a common business, but these six workshops were demolished."

"Let the 120 people in these workshops develop on their own. Even if three families cooperate, they can increase to 40 workshops. They can run their own business and make their own profits and losses."

"And these forty workshops can recruit ten times more workers than before, that is, nearly two thousand workers. Each worker pays taxes. The county remains the same, but productivity has increased tenfold, and the taxes in the court can increase by more than five times."

"In other words, when farmers are a group, they are just a group, but after the group is dissolved, the number of tax-paying farmers can increase by thousands as individuals."

Everyone listened quietly. Li Ke was confused again and even felt sleepy. He looked at Li Tai beside him and found that he was listening very attentively.

Li Ke turned around and looked at the crowd. Everyone in the hall was listening attentively.

Jingzhao Prefecture had been in charge of production and construction for so many years that everyone present was aware of it and understood the prince's words very quickly. The eunuchs had already provided pens, ink, paper and inkstones to these people at some point, and some people started taking notes on the spot.

Immediately, someone in the hall raised a question: Can the goods be sold?

(End of this chapter)