The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 39: We are both fallen people at the end of the world

The tenth day of the third month in the first year of Jingfu.

After consultation between the sage and the Grand Commandant Du Rangneng and others, the Secretariat issued an edict:
Farmers in the 22 counties within the capital will be exempted from paying the green seedling tax this year.

It also required powerful landlords in the capital who had embezzled public land to register within one month and return the privately occupied land. The Minister of Agriculture Li Qun would re-register the tenants and hooligans and grant them land.

When the imperial edict was issued, the public was outraged.

Many of the powerful people in the capital were families of officers and soldiers formed over the years by the military personnel of the Shen Ce Army, and they had been enjoying various extra-legal privileges since the Zhenyuan period.

The officials dared not ask about the crimes committed by the family members, the supervisory censors were unwilling to enter the country for inspection, and the Jingzhao Yin acquiesced to their annexation of land. How could they be willing to surrender and be punished when they heard the news? Most of them ordered their servants to strictly guard Wubao.

At this time, Du Rangneng's house was also filled with guests and guests.

"If there were no rebellion and brutal warriors, why would the people flee to our gates? The so-called occupation of public land and household registration is completely fictitious. We had no choice. Now the land has been cultivated for many years..." Wei Jia, the former Wannian Wei and a native of Xianyang, sat at the bottom. He bowed to Du Rangneng and urged him in an urgent tone: "The Taiwei Jian is in the emperor's heart and holds great power. He is admired by the court and the people. He should advise the sage and speak for the people."

Du Rangneng knew that these people had great wealth, with crisscrossing fields, servants and goods, and they also ran shops. Now that the saint wanted to take back their illegal gains, it would be like cutting a bone out of them.

But no matter what the reason, Du Rangneng didn't want to associate with these powerful people.

In public, when the former emperor fled to Fengxiang, Confucius called on all the ministers to go to the rescue, but these people were unmoved, and even rushed to curry favor with Zhu Mei. In Du Rangneng's eyes, this was an act of treason and selling out the saints, so he naturally had to draw a clear line in his behavior. Even when Yang Fugong wanted to sentence these people to death, it was he who persuaded them in every possible way, and put the overall situation first, so that Yang Fugong, the butcher, gave up his mind.

Otherwise, how could these powerful people sit here and talk to him?
Personally, he treats the emperor like a teacher, an elder and a father, and his heart is filled with only devotion towards the little emperor who is being bullied in the cage.

As long as what the emperor does is right, he will of course do his best to respond. How can he abandon his benevolent policies because of personal feelings?

Du Rangneng originally did not want to meet Wei Jia, but representatives from more than a dozen wealthy families including Xiao, Chen, He, Wang, Luo, and Zhu also arrived. In addition, there were some royal family members and relatives who were involved in the incident. They were all waiting for Du Rangneng to express his position, or to force him to show leniency.

The Du family rose to prominence since their ancestor Du Ruhui, and countless people have become dukes, generals and ministers. As a powerful family that has risen to power for three hundred years by stepping on the seven surnames and five families, the land that the Du family has annexed in the capital is really insignificant compared to the family's honor, disgrace, survival and demise. As long as the Tang Dynasty continues to flourish, the Du family will never die out.

Therefore, before the imperial edict was issued, Du Rangneng immediately ordered his brothers, nephews and nephews to register the annexed lands and hand them over to the envoy so as not to lose the big picture for the small.

But the Du family, who share the same fate with the country, does not care about the gains and losses at the moment. But for branches like Wei Jia and other emerging powerful people, how will they survive in the future once they lose their land and household registration?
That is why they came together and asked the highly respected general to do justice.

"We understand that the Grand Commandant is in a difficult position, but this matter involves the livelihoods of hundreds of families in the capital. If the Saint ruthlessly deprives them of their wealth, I wonder how many people will lose their wealth and their families. The Saint has the magic sword in his heart and is quite ambitious to revive the country, which is a blessing for the country, but after all, he has not been in office for long, and it is inevitable that he will make mistakes in his administration. The Grand Commandant needs to persuade him more."

"Please forgive me, sir."

At this point, everyone bowed to him and said, "Please forgive me, sir..."

"It is difficult for Yi and Huo to ask the emperor to withdraw the already decided policy. I dare not obey your order." Seeing these people's firm attitude, Du Rangneng said helplessly: "It has been a common practice since the Qin and Han dynasties to organize hooligans into households, strengthen farmers to cultivate their own land, cultivate land for war, and seize the power of the powerful. Moreover, the king is weak and the country is in turmoil. It is not reasonable for me to stop the saint. I am sorry that I can't help you with your request!"

Seize the power of the powerful!
This made Wei Jia and the others feel horrified. What does it mean?
If we don't obey, will the sage be like those mean emperors of the Han Dynasty, turning his back on us, stripping us of our titles with bribes, imprisoning our ancestors, and demanding payment of taxes...?
Great, I didn’t expect that the Prime Minister is still as bold as ever!
After failing to deal with the local military governors and the eunuchs, they are now targeting the common people?
Then, an old man asked again tentatively: "The land is cultivated by the rogues, and we servants are also cultivated, and it is not that we do not pay taxes. Instead of asking the saint to take it back and re-register the households and distribute the land, it is better to give it to us, and save a lot of trouble."

Du Luyi, the youngest son of Du Rangneng, who was serving at the side, sneered at what he said, "It is a world of difference to directly levy the burden on the peasants rather than to collect it from you. The sage said that it is not easy for men to farm and women to weave, and what the sage should do is to reduce the burden on his people."

The old man blushed with shame after being ruthlessly pointed out by Du Luyi.

After all, they are all people of honor, why are they speaking so bluntly? Even Du Rangneng couldn't help but frown and scolded: "Get out of here, you brat."

At this time, the old man raised his head and said, "The people of Guannei are the foundation of the country... The emperors have all been tolerant and kind, taking wealth from the rich areas of Hebei and Henan and building warehouses. Liu Yanzhi also consulted Jianghuai when he changed the finances, which shows that he knew the difficulties of the people..."

"Mr. Chen!"

Seeing that the old man's words were becoming more and more dangerous, Du Rangneng could not help but slam the table and said, "Today, the world is one family, the four seas are one surname, and the inside and outside of the Great Wall are one body. How can there be a saying of the people of the country! The whole world belongs to the king. The land and households occupied by the powerful landlords belong to the emperor in the final analysis. The emperor can give it to whoever he wants, so how dare we bargain? Moreover, if the saint only wants you to hand over the illegal annexations, how can we lose everything?"

"You must know that the one who wants you is supreme!" Du Rangneng issued a warning.

The old man still did not give up, and asked with a sad face: "Is there no other way?"

Du Rangneng stood up and gave a final reminder: "It will be too late to regret if you provoke Ximen Chongsui to jump out and debate with you."

Everyone suffocated.

"The eunuchs and villains are acting arrogantly, relying on the might of the military!" someone complained indignantly.

After saying that, he turned away.

Seeing that the general was determined not to oblige everyone, everyone had no choice but to leave.

The hall became quiet again.

Du Luyi leaned over to his father and whispered, "Now that the world is in turmoil, father should also unite the imperial guards and the foreign vassal states to consolidate his power. Even the saints have sighed that the sword handle can cut out the supreme..."

Du Rangneng raised his hand to hit him: "Shut up."

How can you not have any thoughts at all? If having a strong army and powerful horses can make you an emperor, then is the saint still worthy of sitting on that position now?
"Father, have you not seen the examples of Wei Zhaodu, Zhang Jun, Xu Yanruo, and Kong Wei? They had no military power and were controlled by the eunuchs..."

Du Rangneng was speechless and sighed, "Those who bring disaster to the world are those who seek power and raise armies. The one who will destroy the Du family in the future will definitely be Sanlang!" "I know I was wrong." Du Luyi didn't dare to say a word.

Cui Yin, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel who came to the palace to ask for instructions on official business, finally found an opportunity to persuade the commander and took over the conversation, saying: "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary things. The sage is constrained both internally and externally. The Taiwei is both a minister and a member of the Three Dukes. For the sake of the country, he is trying to make friends with the vassal states to defend his authority and plot against the eunuchs."

Du Rangneng glanced at him with displeasure.

This kind of people play power games, carry out cunning schemes, and often come up with dangerous and radical ideas.

Seeing that the general did not say anything, Cui Yin said slowly in an inaudible voice: "The attacker should first take control of the army."

Du Rangneng waved his sleeves and shouted: "You only know that those who attack and conquer must first obtain military power, but don't you know that those who establish the country must first follow the king's rule? We, as foreign ministers, cannot hold weapons of destruction."

……

"Sage, there is news from the Hedong Jinzouyuan." Zhao hurried into the Penglai Palace and said to Li Ye who was looking at the map, "Junrong is planning to ask for the daughter of the Prince of Longxi for the Sage, so as to form an alliance between Qin and Jin to fight against the Bian people. The Hedong Jinzou official reported to Taiyuan, and Li Situ was overjoyed when he heard the news. He has sent an envoy to the capital to discuss important matters with Junrong."

Overjoyed?

Li Ye pondered over this word, and Li Keyong sent people to the capital so quickly, it seemed that life was very difficult.

In fact, you can know it just from the news you heard at the court meeting.

Li Keyong's current situation is extremely similar to that of the imperial court, with powerful enemies on all sides.

To the north, they were at odds with the miscellaneous Hu tribes on the grasslands such as Helian Duo, and their home in Yanmen was in danger of being attacked at any time.

In the south, Li Cunxiao fought with the people of Bian for Ze Lu. Last year, he was defeated by Ding Hui and tens of thousands of people were beheaded, which was a serious blow to his life.

The towns in Hebei province to the east believed that their neighbor Li Keyong was not a good person, so You, Ding, Zhen, and Wei formed an alliance to attack Jin with all their might, with more than 100,000 soldiers fighting each other.

If he was not careful, Li Keyong would have to flee to the desert to escape like he did during the Qianfu period.

The imperial court needed allies, and Li Keyong needed them too, and urgently. I vaguely remember that in history he went around recruiting sons and sons-in-law, and married off the girls in his family wherever possible. Among the more famous sons-in-law were Wang Zhongrong's son, and Meng Zhixiang, the founding emperor of the Later Shu Dynasty...

"We are all wanderers in this world." The saint sighed quietly.

In this case, this political marriage is no longer something that Li Ye and the girl can decide.

Even if he is a fool and has pockmarks, I will still marry him and keep him as my treasure.

At this moment, Li Ye suddenly understood Gao Huan’s unspeakable secret back then.

The woman was ugly, fat, smelly, and didn't take a bath. Gao Huan couldn't afford to offend his father-in-law, so he had to blow out the lights and hold his nose...

There is also Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong. The Turkic princess was "ugly and unloved", and when she arrived at the palace, she still followed the living habits of the grassland, which made Yuwen Yong so upset, but what could he do? He still had to pretend to be a caring and warm man.

Lady Chen still smells better!

Forget it, for the sake of bigger things, I’d better be patient for now!
"There is one more thing." Zhao reported again: "Jun Rong sent someone to say that we need to prepare a gift list to give back to Li Situ. Jun Rong said that Li Situ is not good at production and is short of money. It would be best to send some wheat, millet, and rice to help with the spring emergency."

Spring ploughing has begun one after another, and Li Keyong has to get seeds for the people. However, the Hedong soldiers are already in such a predicament while on the march that they have to slaughter corpses and eat meat to fill their stomachs.

Where did he get the seeds for the people's spring farming?
If there is no management this spring, the Crow King will have a more difficult time in the fall.

Since he's going to be my son-in-law, we should help him if we can, especially since it was Ximen Chongsui who suggested it.

However, Ximen Chongsui could handle this matter himself. Han Quanhui, the inner manor envoy, should have a large amount of wealth in his account. Most of the 270,000 pieces of silk, 100,000 buckets of salt, and 20,000 shi of grain offered by Zhu Quanzhong went into the inner treasury. When Wang Jian asked for the governorship before, the tribute was also quite rich.

Could it be that Ximen Chongsui and Han Quanhui had a falling out?
But he didn't hear the news.

Moreover, he hadn't seen Ximen Chongsui enter the palace for several days.

"What has Junrong been busy with these days?"

"He..." Zhao said in a low voice, "Junrong caught a cold and has not recovered from his illness yet. He is still lying sick at home."

!!!

Li Ye immediately recalled the famous words of Emperor Yang of Sui who asked his ancestor: Ah, what is the disease? Will I die?

"Prepare the carriage, I want to go see Junrong!"

After changing into a yellow casual suit, the saint, accompanied by the imperial physician and some followers, went to visit the patient at the residence of Chongsui at Ximen in Yanshouli, escorted by the General of the Central Army.

(End of this chapter)