The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 74 Changchun Palace

On their way to work, Wang Congxun and Zhazhu met Zhang Jide, the chief military officer of the Cavalry Division, and Mo Zangqiqi, the deputy chief military officer, and they chatted for a while.

According to the division of power between the cavalry and infantry departments of the Imperial Guard.

Take the Infantry Division as an example. Wang Congxun, the instructor, led the instructors of the Infantry Division and was responsible for teaching the officers and soldiers of the Infantry Division martial arts and battle formations. Zhazhu, the Du Yuhou Division, was in charge of daily military discipline. The Zhengjiang Division led the Dutou, the commander, the Shi, the Youyishi, the Kongmu, the judge, the censor and other civil and military officials. The military leaders became idlers who punched in and went to work - the power of training, commanding and supervising soldiers was shared by the three divisions.

In the future, when there is a war, the sage will issue an edict to a certain person in a certain department to order him to go to war. Then he will go through the process - assigning officers, taking over soldiers and horses, and collecting baggage. It is not like before, where warriors have their own power and authority, and whether to fight depends on loyalty and mood. Although it is still impossible to completely eliminate the rebellion of warriors due to the atmosphere, at least the threshold for rebellion has been raised from the institutional level, and great restrictions have been imposed.

A general of Wang Congxun's level will never have the opportunity to lead troops into battle unless there is a major war.

Little Wang is fine. He joined the army at the age of fifteen and is now twenty-nine. He has been fighting and killing for fourteen years. He is tired and afraid. He doesn't even have a son at this age. He is afraid that he will not have an heir. Now his new wife is pregnant. He just wants her to give birth to a son safely. The future will come slowly. Now the sage has let him lead the training department alone, with a monthly salary of 140 strings of cash. With the rewards during holidays and wartime, 2000 strings of cash a year is more than enough. This is a salary according to the standard of Jiedushi. Although the sage did not say it, Little Wang understood.

As long as the saint is still sitting in the seat, there is no need to rush.

Zhazhu was different. He was a dowry from Taiyuan. He was originally a horse slave in Li Guochang's mansion. Although Li Keyong promoted him to be a guard after he came to power, it was difficult for a slave to rise to prominence, especially in Hedong where there were so many powerful generals. So Zhazhu placed his hopes on the saint and was very enterprising. But after staying in Chang'an for so many days, he found that the saint had many ruthless men under his command.

It is difficult to stand out and gain the attention of a saint, or even be granted the power to lead troops into battle.

"Don't worry, you are relatives by marriage, and there are plenty of opportunities." Wang Congxun comforted them.

"No match for you." Zhazhu shook his head with envy in his eyes - according to gossip circulating in the Infantry Department, Concubine He Yuqing's second brother He Chuyu had a banquet with Wang Congxun some time ago. After getting drunk, he learned that Wang's wife was about to give birth, and said frankly that they hit it off at first sight and wanted to arrange marriage.

He Chuyu has a son and a daughter, both of whom were born as children. In other words, no matter whether Wang Congxun gave birth to a boy or a girl, as long as Wang Congxun agreed, the two families could become relatives. If he married into the He family, who could shake Wang Congxun's position with the help of Concubine Shu?

Zhazhu really wanted to ask Wang Congxun if he had agreed. After all, with Wang Congxun's weight in the heart of the saint and his influence in the army, he would inevitably feel anxious for his wife if he married into the He family. I hope my wife can give birth to a son, and with everyone's help, in the future...

As for the home in Daibei, the Turks have no home. Wherever they go, that is home. When they go to Li Zhenwu's mansion, the stable is home. When they go to Taiyuan, the military camp in Yangqu County is home. When they go to Chang'an, the small house in Guangdeli is home. Zhazhu is not attached. There are also people who go further, some serve as soldiers in the Black Arabs, some live in Bohai, and some become slaves to the Tibetans... The Great Turkic State has perished, but the Turks still have to live.

After saying goodbye to Wang Congxun, Zhazhu patted his mount and came to Bashang.

In the village, the saint was sitting under a mulberry tree, and two skinny women were standing there with pale faces.

"They are born of the same mother and are from Guocheng, Fengxiang. Their husbands were bought and eaten by bandits during the Zhonghe period. After fleeing to Chang'an, they were granted ten acres of straight farmland in Heigouqu, which was divided among three evil armies to cultivate." said a clerk under Wang Gui, a messenger under Li Qun, the Minister of Agriculture.

Perhaps worried that the saint would not know the truth, Han Wei, a Hanlin scholar from the "Human-Shaped Library", continued: "In the second year of Zhonghe, Wang Duo stationed his troops at Linggan Temple, Jingshi stationed at the west of the capital, Ding and Putu stationed at the north of Wei, Bin and Qi stationed at Xingping, Xia people stationed at Weiqiao, and Chen people stationed at Wugong, surrounding the city from all sides. The people all went into the mountains to protect themselves, and a dou of rice in the capital cost thirty strings of cash. The Chao thieves sold people to the soldiers in various towns as food, and the Qi people also captured men and women who had fled from the chaos and sold them, with the price determined by fatness and thinness, and each person was worth hundreds of strings of cash. In the twenty-two counties within the capital, hundreds of thousands of people were eaten by the soldiers, and the slaughterhouse in the city was full of blood--"

"That's enough." The saint raised his hand to interrupt.

In the battle to recapture Chang'an, there were more than 200,000 soldiers from various regions, plus the bandits, so the number of men and women eaten was probably more than the "hundreds of thousands" mentioned by Han Wei. If they ate "hundreds of coins" worth of people, there must have been no civilians left to capture. Obviously, the husbands of these two women suffered misfortunes in those years of disaster, but I don't know how they escaped. Perhaps there was also a poem "Eating People Lament" in the Tang Dynasty - "A husband and wife died together in the war, it is better for someone to go to the market as a warrior."

When the two women heard this, they glanced at the guards, as if they remembered some horrible events in the past and had a stress reaction. They sat down with a thud, their teeth chattering, and yellow urine flowed out of their trouser legs, soaking their bare feet.

"Don't be afraid." Du Rangneng pulled them up, took a piece of silk and put it in the eldest's hand, and said gently: "Keep the production in good condition. If there is any oppression, just go to the capital and sound the alarm drum on Zhuque Street, and I will take care of it for you."

The two women knelt there blankly, neither speaking nor moving.

"Let's go." The saint's face turned livid, and he turned and strode out of the dilapidated thatched courtyard. The two women had been frightened into half stupidity, and the idea of him visiting the people in their homes to ask them was futile, so he decided to go and see for himself.

"Because they only have two women and an eight-year-old boy, they are granted ten acres of land according to the law of gangsters for many years." The clerk led the way and pointed to the gurgling canal and said, "This is the black canal of the Bashui River, which was opened by the evil army."

Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the evil army, more than 600 canals of varying lengths were dug in the rivers near Chang'an City during this period. Some were several miles long, while others were several hundred steps short. Many abandoned canals in the Bashui River section passing through the north city were also dredged, and more than a dozen water storage ponds were built. The evil army worked day and night for this, and warriors died of exhaustion every day. There were less than 2,000 evil soldiers left out of more than 3,000.

The evil army was too busy, so the Feng, Jing, Chan, and Weibei areas were busy with the thugs who were settled down by the Li Qun-the expansion of the evil army was urgent, this was the saint's subconscious thought. The war had to be fought as soon as possible,

"Your Majesty, please look." The clerk paused and pointed to the canal and said, "The canal is the boundary on the left and the thatched cottage is on the right. From this point on, to the peach tree, it is the ten acres of straight land granted to the two women. It is next to the black ditch and is easy to irrigate. The rule is that five feet is a step, and 240 steps is an acre. Your Majesty can send someone to walk around to verify it."

"You go." Upon hearing this, Du Rangneng pointed to an official.

"Here."

"What kind of land did you record for this family?" the sage asked the clerk while watching the official walking.

"Your Majesty, according to the rules, able-bodied men and middle-aged men are given one mu, the seriously ill and disabled are given forty mu, and widows and concubines are given thirty mu. If they are households, an additional twenty mu is given. Two-tenths of the land granted is hereditary, and eight-tenths is for the family. If the hereditary land dies, the successor household will be given it. The Minister of Agriculture called a meeting with us and said that circumstances change, and the granting of land does not have to be in accordance with the ancestral law, but should be adapted to local conditions."

The clerk bowed his hands, and when the sage nodded, he said, "I have noticed that these two sisters are weak and mentally retarded, and have no husband, so I will grant them ten acres of land near the canal, and include their share in the family. If they find a husband or have a strong son, I will add more according to the regulations."

"Yes." The saint agreed with this approach. The land is divided among the people, which means that the land is collected after the death of the people. In the eyes of the petty officials, these two women have poor risk resistance, so they were given ten acres of land. The land has been plowed by the evil army and is just waiting for sowing.

Is it enough? It is enough - the land is indeed fertile. The dead bodies that fell around Chang'an in recent years have melted into the land, and the huge amount of feces produced in the city has been transported to the suburbs. In three or two years, the land will not be barren. And if the "stupidity" of the two women is a protective color against the warriors, they can also go to the city to find some manual work to supplement the family income.

It's not enough, but it's not enough. The upper limit of crop yield is there, and one person needs at least 300 kilograms of food a year to avoid starvation. Well, let's give a discount for women - 200 kilograms. Then this family of three needs 500 kilograms a year. Can 10 acres of land produce 500 kilograms of food? Yes, but we have to consider heavy rains, locust plagues, and droughts. People may suddenly die or flee. What if warriors rob... There are too many influencing factors, and the small peasant economy where men farm and women weave is so fragile.

Even if everything went well, the people still had to pay taxes to the sage - land tax, household tax, and seedling money, which were the obvious ones. Small levies were generated by renting oxen and farm tools; and the people also paid taxes on monopoly commodities such as salt, iron, and tea when they consumed them, which was hidden.

Apart from this money, even if the officials did not embezzle and the court did not impose additional taxes, the people would still have a few left. If the warriors came again, they would wipe out all the food, livestock, and people, and wipe out the whole family. It is easy to do military farming, but it is difficult to do it for a long time. This is the difficulty. In later generations, warriors came to Chang'an every few days to ask for money. Even if the court offered the best conditions - free livestock and no money, the people would not do it.

Why didn't Li Keyong do it? Was there no wise man in the Hedong government? Even if Li Keyong didn't stir up trouble everywhere and act like a miser, would his neighbors give up? Last year alone, the towns of Heshuo beat him three times. They just don't like you and want to do it to you. What can you do? Li Keyong wanted to resist. But the people of Hedong didn't care whether he was active or passive. The people only knew that the government would demand food when there was a war.

If there are too many, and people can’t see any livelihood from farming, will they still farm?

Farming also requires capital.

"Your Majesty, the share has been checked and it is indeed ten acres of straight land." The official came back panting and reported.

"What's your name?" the saint asked, patting the clerk's shoulder gently.

"I am Wang Xiaoyuan, a native of Wannian, and I am a subordinate of Minister Sinong and a calculating officer under Wang Gui. I was hired by Minister Sinong two months ago." The clerk replied.

"You are quite organized. I will reward you with three pieces of silk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wang Xiaoyuan bowed down hastily. With joy, his eyes rolled around and he didn't know what to say to flatter the emperor: "With Your Majesty's divine power and wisdom, and the ministers working together, we will surely be able to restore order and restore the sun and moon to their former glory!"

"Lucky minister." Du Rangneng scolded, "Focusing on farming and not letting the common people leave is the greatest reward to the saint."

"How dare you not be careful!"

Next, the sage visited two more households, and his mood became increasingly heavy - just like raising a baby, he had to take care of them with great care, but all it took was a defeat in a battle and the military governor would invade the capital, and all these seemingly thriving businesses would be ruined.

"Why should we be so discouraged?" Zhao rode up to the sage and rode with him, "My brother Changfu has sent me a letter saying that he has led his troops to escort the treasures and supplies out of Qinzhou and will come to the court soon."

"Good." The saint nodded absentmindedly and said, "I have never been stingy with the rewards given to my relatives."

These aristocratic families are really real! The Zhao family is from the Tianshui Zhao family. Zhao Chongguo, who supported Emperor Xuan of Han, Zhao Rong, one of the eight lieutenants of Xiyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhao Can, the concubine of Sima Yan, Zhao Ju, the Shangshu Ling of the Former Qin Dynasty, and Zhao Gui, one of the eight pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty, are all from this family. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who were appointed as prime ministers, such as Zhao Renben, Zhao Jing, and Zhao Chang. At this time, the privy envoy Zhao Ruxin was also sent to the palace by them a few years ago. After that, they were like dead people, but the children who joined the vassal towns were like crucian carp crossing the river.

Seeing the destruction of Qi, Bin, and Hua, they immediately came to the court. The person who came was Zhao Ruxin's brother Zhao Fu - the result of repeated discussions among those old guys, right? The court was slightly revived, Zhao Ruxin was appointed as the Privy Councilor, and became the saint's concubine. Wouldn't she seize this opportunity to invest in the company?
Alas, I can’t really blame anyone else.

You are worthless and I see no hope in you. Why should I help you?
"The capital is now peaceful, so my brother will not go back. There will be more brothers in the family who will come to the capital and serve everyone." Zhao paused and continued.

"Good news." The sage could not help but think of the scene when Li Yuan started his business. After Emperor Gaozu conquered Chang'an, he sent a letter to the world. Then, from Shangluo in the east to Bashu in the south, county officials, bandit leaders, and Di and Qiang chieftains all sent their sons and daughters to see him and ask for surrender. The officials replied with hundreds of letters every day. The world was in turmoil, all for profit, nothing more than this.

Now that the Zhao family is in favor and the imperial court is on the rise, it is reasonable for the Zhao family to want to form a community of interests.

Zhao was pleased. Her elder brother was convinced - he was well-read in classics and military strategy, and was familiar with the family tradition accumulated by our ancestors for thousands of years. He was also good at archery and horse riding, and he brought more than 700 soldiers with him. If the sage was willing to trust him, it would not be difficult for him to find a future. If she gave birth to another son, the relationship between the Li and Zhao families would be stable.

The saint remained silent.

He Yuqing is asking his two younger brothers to make friends with heroes, Zhuxie Wusi's people are actively seeking advancement, and the Zhao family has also invested in the company... - He has a hunch that the court under his rule will gradually develop into a powder keg - with the help of his wife's family, he may become more and more courageous in external affairs. But internally, all parties maintain a fragile balance, and it all depends on him, the emperor and husband, to mediate. If he gets sick one day and makes a wrong move...

Also, what if this country really revives and the time comes to divide the cake?

But now, the number of officials that can be supported by the economic strength of the court is limited. If others want to come in, someone must naturally leave. He doesn't want to be a complaining person who feeds rotten things with food, especially ministers who have no loyalty at all, play both sides, and secretly wag their tails to the Jiedushi - if he wants to vacate his position, will these rotten people still have face?

"Humph."

Tongzhou, Changchun Palace.

In the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Hu built Jincheng. Because it was surrounded by cliffs on three sides, facing the Yellow River in the east, facing Pujin Pass, overlooking Taihua and Zhongtiao Mountains, and overlooking the Yellow River, Luo River, and Wei River, and with lush flowers and trees, it was renamed Changchun Palace. In the thirteenth year of Kaihuang, more than 300 palaces were built. Li Shimin became the king and guarded here, commanding the troops of the two rivers to fight against Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande and others.

But at this time, Changchun Palace was in chaos.

Some Bing soldiers were setting fires and shouting something like a ghost. Large areas of the palace were engulfed in flames, and black smoke billowed up into the sky.

A large group of warriors in white clothes rushed down the slope, rolling and crawling, carrying large and small bags, some with their hair in their hands. The palace maids who were dragged along were vomiting blood and screaming miserably - it didn't make any difference whether they were the palace maids or concubines of the previous emperor, because they were all toys in the eyes of the warriors.

There were chaotic soldiers everywhere, and it was impossible to tell whose subordinates they were.

"Kill them!" Wang Xingyue's hair was disheveled, and an arrow had hit his face, bleeding profusely. The Tongzhou Defense Commissioner was in a state of panic, covering his face as he stumbled out of the palace.

"Shoot! Kill these people!" Several teams of disorderly soldiers passed by and saw that others had robbed the concubines. They were furious and rushed forward with knives to fight.

The soldiers fought in a group.

The palace maids and concubines were killed among the flowers. Meng Cairen was holding a sword and was about to commit suicide when she was slapped in the face by a chaotic soldier. She was stripped of her clothes on the spot and left pale.

(End of this chapter)