A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 484: Ginger is old and spicy

"During the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty, the Hebei Plain east of Taihang Mountain was prosperous. Mulberry leaves covered the plains and rivers, and the Liyang Granary stored grain from various prefectures in Hebei, with a total storage of three million shi (a unit of dry measure).

Weizhou, Liyang.

Li Yi and his party traveled by boat along the canal to Liyang. Looking at the Liyang Granary City at the foot of Liyang Mountain, everyone was filled with emotion.

When Wagang rose to power in the Central Plains, it was by capturing the two major granaries of Luokou and Liyang that they were able to command the various rebel armies in the Central Plains.

Liyang is geographically important and has been rich in water resources since ancient times. The Yellow River, Qi River, and Wei River flow through the area, making water transportation well-developed. Yuan Shao stored grain in Liyang at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later, Cao Cao built a canal system centered on Ye City, connecting the Yellow River in the south to the border in the north, which greatly enhanced the ability of Liyang Granary to absorb grain from Hebei granaries.

From the Han to the Tang dynasties, granaries were built on the northern slope of Mount Dapi in Liyang.

"This location is excellent. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with the Yellow River running through it. Liyangjin, located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River's bend, has always been a strategic location fought over by military strategists and a vital transportation hub between the north and south."

Since the Han and Wei dynasties, Liyang has always been an important military town.

Historical records show that countless wars took place here.

Liyang Cangcheng is only two miles away from Liyang County. It was built on the southern slope of Dapi Mountain, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. After Emperor Yang of Sui opened the Yongji Canal, Cangcheng was located west of the Yongji Canal and east of the Yellow River, making water transportation convenient.

Li Yi and his party entered Liyang Granary City.

Cangcheng still exists.

But there was no food left.

At its peak, Liyang Granary stored three million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain. It had numerous underground granaries, which offered significant advantages for grain storage in the local climate, protecting against wind, rain, rodents, birds, water, fire, and theft.

Stored millet can last for ten years.

The Liyang Granary, located on Mount Dapi, has dry and pure soil, which is convenient for transportation and also provides excellent storage conditions.

"When we were conquering Liaodong, even grain from Jiangnan was transported here, with grain ships stretching for hundreds of miles along the river."

Those who personally experienced the three campaigns against Liaodong cannot help but sigh whenever they mention it.

The Sui Dynasty during the Great Cause was incredibly powerful.

The country had tens of millions of bushels of grain stored in its major granaries and a million soldiers, yet it stubbornly fought a deadly battle against Goguryeo in Liaodong, which eventually led to widespread public resentment and the sudden fall of the kingdom.

The millions of shi of grain that were once stored in the Liyang granary

On the contrary, it later became the foundation for Yang Xuangan, Li Mi and others to rebel and raise troops.

The Sui Dynasty was truly wealthy back then.

Only then was Yang Guang able to wage wars in the east and west, build the eastern capital, and dig canals.

Emperor Wu of Han reigned for decades, exhausting his life and nearly bankrupting the country, yet he only accomplished one thing: a northern expedition against the Xiongnu.

Emperor Yang of Sui reigned for over ten years, during which he undertook countless monumental projects.

Ma Zhou pointed to the empty underground granaries and said, "When the Liyang granary is filled with three million shi of grain again, the world will truly return from chaos to order."

Yun Dingxing felt that it was both very difficult and easy.

"Back when Emperor Wen of Sui first ascended the throne, the country was not yet unified, having endured over three hundred years of great division. Yet, he unified the Central Plains in a relatively short time, then launched a northern campaign against the Turks, diligently governed, and implemented a series of reforms."
Soon, the whole country was at peace, the population increased greatly, granaries were full, people in both the north and south were able to rest, and society prospered like never before, ushering in the prosperous era of the Kaihuang reign.

"Emperor Wen spent eight years unifying the north and south. For twenty years, the country was at peace, the seas were calm and the rivers were clear, the court and the people were happy, and the people were prosperous."

The situation the Tang Dynasty is facing now is much better than it was under Yang Jian's rule.

After all, although the end of the Daye era was chaotic, it didn't last for many years. It also experienced the prosperous Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty, and the early and middle periods of the Daye era were also very prosperous.

Many ministers in the court now believe that as long as the chaos is rectified, the golden age can be restored.

Abolish Emperor Yang's chaotic policies and restore the policies of Emperor Wen of Sui.

From the change from the prefecture-county system back to the state-county system, and then to a series of policy adjustments in law, military affairs, diplomacy, and domestic affairs, they felt that they could get back on track.

The land rent system, the military service system, the equal-field system, the prefecture-county system, and the imperial examination system are all readily available; we can simply copy them.

As a high-ranking local official

If Li Yi had simply followed that path, it would have been very easy, and he might have even achieved political success.

However, whether Li Yi was in Hedong or in Shannan and Henan, the policies he adopted during those brief periods of pacification, although they were temporary wartime measures, already showed a significant difference from the old system.

For example, the basic tax system of the Sui and Tang dynasties was the rent, labor service, and tax system, which was based on taxation of the number of people and households. However, Li Yi took a different approach in several places, reducing or exempting rent and labor service while levying two taxes: a household tax based on the level of family property, and a land rent based on the amount of land owned.

Li Yi's temporary two taxes, compared to the traditional rent, labor service and tax system, were able to collect money more effectively, avoid oppressing the poor, and alleviate unrest, but they undoubtedly affected the middle and upper classes.

Furthermore, this two-tax system is more difficult to implement than the system that only taxes the number of males. After all, the household tax requires first determining the nine classes of households, and the land rent requires first conducting a general survey and inventory of the land, and none of these are easy tasks.

In particular, it is prone to fraud.
Local clerks were often from powerful local families or were in cahoots with them.

Li Yi had only implemented this as a temporary measure. He had troops at his disposal and used the method of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" to kill some clerks and powerful figures. As long as he could collect some money and grain, he didn't have such high requirements.

It's all just a stopgap measure anyway.

But now, when someone truly governs a region, things are different.

Hebei today, like the Liyang Granary, has been hollowed out.

Even if Li Yi has a way to issue bonds and borrow a large sum of money, it's difficult to know whether this money can be used for the benefit of the people and whether the efficiency can keep up.

Yun Dingxing rose through the ranks from the bottom, not from a prestigious family and only knew how to write.

He admired Li Yi's boldness and decisiveness, but he still felt compelled to offer a word of advice: at his age, he was following Li Yi around because he saw Li Yi's youth, high position, and great ability, hoping to make contributions for the new dynasty.

He wasn't just thinking of himself, but also of his children and grandchildren. Unlike Yang Gongren, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Dou Kang, Zheng Shanguo, Pei Shiju, and others, who all came from prestigious families and had once chosen the wrong side, he now had to actively make amends.

"With so many things to consider, where does the Grand Steward intend to begin?"

"What suggestions does Master Yun have?"

Yun Dingxing was also very straightforward: "It seems that the bond issue is feasible now, which is a good start."

However, whether borrowed money can accomplish anything depends on the people involved.

It could be said that the problem lies not so much with the officials, but with the clerks.

Su Wei once told Li Yi that the most important aspect of local governance is the management of officials.

Ultimately, success depends on human effort.

Even the best policies need someone to implement them; a good scripture can be distorted if a crooked monk recites it.

It is very possible that policies will be distorted, even deviated from, or worsened during implementation.

The situation in Hebei is now more unique.

The officials were almost all replaced by those from the central government, but the clerks were still mostly from Hebei.

Will the policies of Li Yi, the superior official, be implemented by the group of lower-ranking officials?
Hard to say.

Especially when major reforms occur, they will inevitably affect many vested interests, and some people may deliberately cause trouble and outwardly comply but inwardly resist.

"Master Yun must have had a good plan all along, right?"

"These are just some old clichés. As Your Majesty's advisor, I'll offer a few points to spark discussion. Your Majesty petitioned the Emperor in Chang'an to reduce the Mingzhou Grand General Administration from eight prefectures to three, and to merge and reduce the number of counties to twenty-eight."
I think this step is excellent.

Next, we will return to Mingzhou and then immediately begin to implement the merger of prefectures and counties.

"Of the eight prefectures, only three can remain. Who will be promoted, who will be demoted, and who will be transferred?" Yun Dingxing smiled. "Your Majesty can take this opportunity to conduct a major personnel reshuffle in Mingzhou Prefecture."

The capable ones go up, the mediocre ones go down.

Those who understand the King's policies can stay; those who don't can leave.

Similarly, this opportunity should be used to conduct a major reshuffle of officials in various prefectures and counties, dismissing some, replacing others, and promoting a number of outstanding individuals.
This adjustment is equivalent to selecting the best officials from the eight prefectures to fill the remaining three prefectures.

Reform begins with improving the administration. Su Dingxing truly deserves his reputation as a man who once rose to the rank of Grand Commandant, a position even higher than Li Yi's current position as Minister of Works.

They definitely have some skills.

Li Yixian first thought of issuing bonds, which provided the basic conditions for his new reform policies, while Yun Dingxing went straight to personnel matters.

Good policies are important, but good officials are also needed to implement them.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to abolish prefectures and merge counties,
From the officials of the eight prefectures, three prefectures were selected for their capable and obedient officials. The same applied to the twenty-eight counties below them, with officials being dismissed, transferred, or even newly recruited.

We need to break the old system.

Only by streamlining the administration at the prefecture and county levels and properly managing the officials can one truly delve into the grassroots villages and deal with those powerful landlords and wealthy families.

Of course, in terms of specific implementation,

There will definitely be a struggle involved, but given Li Yi's power and status, he has his own personal guards, and he can also mobilize the central army stationed in the local areas, as well as local militia and village militia.

With such a powerful gun in hand,
If anyone doesn't know what's good for them, then it's inevitable that we'll kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys.

It is also inevitable to select some people who are pragmatic and even those who have been underappreciated in the past to give important positions, in order to set an example.

Li Yi's first move upon taking office was to issue bonds, using the administrative power of local officials to exchange benefits with powerful and wealthy families. These low-interest bonds, with an annual interest rate of five percent, served as fuel for the development of Mingzhou.

When Yun Dingxing came to Hebei, his first policy proposal was on improving the administration of officials.

The two of them have a pretty good rapport.

Li Yi didn't care whether Yun Dingxing had offered his daughter to Yang Yong, the crown prince of Sui, to gain power, nor did he care that Yun Dingxing later devised a plan to kill Yang Yong's sons, not even sparing his own grandson.

He didn't care that Yun Dingxing had once been Wang Shichong's Grand Commandant.

Yun Dingxing is now his senior advisor. What he values ​​is whether Yun Dingxing can provide him with advice and strategies, not whether he is morally upright.

Yun Dingxing had three sons and five grandsons, all of whom held official positions in Luoyang. His three sons were all third-rank generals, and his grandsons all held fifth-rank official positions.

But now they have submitted to the Tang Dynasty.
Yun Dingxing was only granted the title of Duke of Guide County and appointed as a friend of Li Yi, the Prince of Wu'an. His descendants are still idle.

Li Yi smiled and told Yun Dingxing to send a letter to his family in Chang'an, asking them to bring his three sons and five grandsons to Mingzhou to help him out. He said that once they achieved something, he could recommend them to the emperor.

"Send messengers to Mingzhou and Xingzhou to inform all officials of the ninth rank and above in the eight prefectures to come to Mingzhou City." Li Yi readily accepted advice and decided to address the issue of officials first. "I will give them an exam first."

The exam included both written and oral tests, as well as assessments of their past tenures. He would use this exam to decide who would stay and who would leave.

It determines who gets promoted and who gets demoted.

After the officials of the eight prefectures were examined, the prefectural clerks were examined next, first those in miscellaneous positions and then those in minor posts, while the minor clerks and servants were not considered for the time being.

After passing through layers of tests, only those who are capable and competent are selected.

After the officials in each prefecture have been examined, the officials in each county will be examined next.

Only after the officials are properly organized can we move on to the next round.

Li Yi said to everyone in his shogunate, "This assessment needs to be quick and cannot be delayed for too long. I am the chief examiner, and you all need to assist me."

(End of this chapter)