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

Chapter 773 Moving the Capital
It's already the latter half of next month.

Today is Minor Cold.

It is said that the Lesser Cold falls during the second or third nine-day period of winter, when the weather is freezing cold and you'll shiver. During this penultimate solar term of the year, the cold has already begun.

But this year, it hasn't rained yet.
It hasn't rained in Guanzhong for almost four months.

"Has the pond frozen over?" Li Yi asked while eating mutton soup.

"There was some frost last night, but not much, and the pond didn't freeze."

After eating a bowl of mutton soup, I felt warm all over.

When I went outside, I found Li Shu playing "Eagle Catches Chicks" with her younger siblings in the yard. They weren't afraid of the cold and were having a great time.

The children are still singing the "Counting the Nines" song.

"In the first and second nine-day periods, don't take your hands out of the pockets; in the third and fourth nine-day periods, walk on the ice; in the fifth and sixth nine-day periods, watch the willows along the river; in the seventh nine-day period, the river thaws; in the eighth nine-day period, the swallows return; in the ninth nine-day period plus one more nine-day period, plowing oxen are everywhere!"

The little girl had a loud voice and a good memory, so she sang the "Counting the Nines" song quite well. Li Cong and the others sang along, but they still made mistakes.

"Father, come and play!" Li Shu, with her sharp eyes, spotted him and immediately waved.

Li Yi looked at the girl's flushed face.
"Father is going out. You guys play, and then come back inside after a while."

He then called to the wet nurses and nannies watching from the side, "It's not too cold today, so let them play outside a little longer. But remember to put a towel on their backs to prevent their clothes from getting wet and they from catching a cold."

Li Shu ran over, grabbed Li Yi's arm, and insisted that he act as the mother hen and play for a while.

"Alright, alright, I'll play with you for a little while."

Li Yi stood at the very front, arms outstretched.

Li Shu and Li Cong, along with a group of other children, all followed behind each other, forming a long line.

"Who will be the eagle!"

The children didn't want to be eagles, so Li Yi called for his concubine, Dugu Yujingxian, who was watching the commotion from under the eaves.

"If you want to protect these chicks, I can't catch them."

Balang's mother, Lady Dugu, then called over Zheng Rou Niang, who was pruning a pot of chrysanthemums nearby.
"Let's go together."

Zheng Rou Niang said, "Even the two of us combined are no match for A Lang. If we bring a few more people with us, we can attack from all sides, and A Lang won't be able to protect so many people."

So they called on two more members of the Pei family.

The two Peis were quite different. One was Pei Renji's daughter, whom the retired emperor bestowed upon her after the fall of Luoyang. The other was originally the wife of a merchant surnamed Tian from Beiping, but her husband was killed and she was taken as a concubine by Li Yuan, the Prince of Lujiang. Later, when the court investigated her, Li Yuan presented her to the new emperor, Li Shimin.
Because of her excellent pipa playing skills and beautiful appearance, Li Shimin wanted to keep her by his side, but Wang Gui dissuaded him. In the end, because Pei had nowhere to go, the emperor bestowed her upon Li Yi.

So the four concubines transformed into eagles.

Chicks were snatched from all sides.

Li Yi blocked them from the left and right, while Li Shu and the other little ones clung tightly to the clothes of the person in front of them, dodging and weaving, screaming excitedly.

After playing for a while, Li Yi created an opening, allowing Zheng and the others to rush to the back and each grab one or two chicks, which made the children scream even louder.

Li Yi, like an old hen, failed to protect his mother, leaving only Li Shu clinging tightly to him.

"Alright, I have to go out now."

Li Shu and the others were still eager to play more, and Li Yi promised to bring them candied hawthorns when he returned before they let him leave.

It's not particularly cold yet.
Li Yi put on a mink cloak, rode out on horseback.

Upon arriving at the Inner Palace Gate,

The stove in the government office was already lit, and the room was quite warm.

The prime ministers were discussing their plans to dine in Luoyang.

It hasn't rained in Guanzhong for four months, and it's only rained a few times in Guandong as well. Apart from Daibei and Liaoxi, there hasn't been any snowfall.

At this point, everyone had stopped hoping for a lucky break.

Everyone knows that next year's spring drought will be more severe, inevitably leading to reduced wheat yields or even a complete crop failure.
With such a widespread drought, there will definitely be famine next year.

The Guanzhong Plain, in particular, is experiencing the most severe drought, and the famine will be even more intense.

"His Majesty has made up his mind to move to Luoyang for food and spend the New Year there this year. He will consider returning next year after the famine has subsided."

The Left Minister Fang Xuanling has recently developed a few streaks of white at his temples.

Although the Ministry of Personnel no longer wields the same power as the Secretariat-Chancellery, its affairs remain heavy. Fang Xuanling is like an old ox pulling a plow, working tirelessly.

The Emperor's will is now made.

The next step is how to execute it.

palace,

All government offices and departments of the imperial court

There were also the guards and imperial guards from the Northern and Southern Offices.
In addition to the families of officials, and even students of the Imperial College.

Whether it's a complete relocation, a partial relocation, or a phased relocation.

The distance between Chang'an and Luoyang is eight hundred li, which is not a short journey.
If we walk slowly, it might take half a month.

Although it's not cold yet, it's already the coldest time of winter.

Du Ruhui suggested that the imperial court, the various government offices in the capital, and the troops of the Southern and Northern Offices in Chang'an should all be moved away if possible. "There will be a great famine in Guanzhong next spring, so it would be better to move them to Luoyang for food as soon as possible."

Luoyang is located in the center of the country, with convenient water and land transportation. In particular, the Grand Canal connects the north and south, making it easy to transport grain. Unlike Guanzhong, where the Three Gates of Shaanxi block the canal transport, not only is the transportation cost high, but the transport capacity is also severely limited.

In normal years, Guanzhong is not self-sufficient and needs to transport a lot of grain from outside the pass every year, which is very costly.

In the event of a major famine, the shortage would be even greater, and there would be nowhere to transport supplies, nor could supplies be wasted there.

If there is a shortage of food, and the food cannot be transported, then people will chase after the food.

Go wherever there is grain. Wen Yanbo even suggested,
"Now that the world is unified, Luoyang is actually more suitable as the capital. This is also an opportunity. Your Majesty should lead the officials to Luoyang. Once things are settled, we can simply move the capital to Luoyang."

The words of Wen Yanbo, the Grand Secretary, were supported by several prime ministers, including Wang Gui.

In fact, whether Chang'an or Luoyang was more suitable as the capital city had its own advantages and disadvantages.

In the long run, Chang'an is indeed not suitable as a capital. Guanzhong cannot even support Chang'an now, let alone in the future when there is a long period of peace and a large population.

Moreover, Chang'an is located in the west.
But the southeast has greater development potential now.

Emperor Yang of Sui built the Eastern Capital and moved the capital to Luoyang. In fact, he had a long-term vision. However, he was too impulsive and short-sighted, which led to the downfall of the country.

However, this does not mean that Yang Guang's construction of the Grand Canal and relocation of the capital to the east were all wrong.

However, now is not a good time to move the capital to Luoyang.

The end of the Sui Dynasty was a time of great chaos.

Luoyang was a battleground fought on all sides.
Luoyang and its surrounding areas suffered severe damage from the war, while Guanzhong and Chang'an were relatively stable during the chaos of the Sui Dynasty and recovered the fastest.

Although Chang'an still has many inherent defects, its current conditions are still much better than those of Luoyang in Guandong.

Moving from Chang'an to Luoyang at this time would undoubtedly be inappropriate.

But in twenty or thirty years, when the world is completely stable, or even restored, Luoyang, the center of the world, will certainly be more suitable as the capital than Chang'an, which is located in a remote corner.

“We can discuss the relocation of the capital later. Let’s talk about the immediate issues first,” Li Yi interrupted Wen Yanbo.

Fang Xuanling asked Li Yi, "What suggestions does the Minister have?"

“I think we can relocate them in batches. First, we can draw a group of soldiers from the Twelve Guards of the Southern Prefecture and send them to Luoyang to garrison. We can also send troops to garrison along the 800-mile route.”

The various government offices in the capital should also each select a group of officials as advance envoys to Luoyang…

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui both agreed with Li Yi's proposed plan.

"One point,"
The imperial court should allow people to go out to eat; during special periods, checkpoints may be waived.

When famine struck,
The imperial court is absolutely unable to take care of all the people. At this time, loosening control and allowing people to go out and escape famine is a hundred times better than continuing to confine them to their villages.

If the imperial court cannot provide food relief and forbids them from going out, they will starve to death.

Releasing restrictions at this point is a last resort.

"In recent years, the imperial court has built granaries along the route between the capital and Luoyang to transport grain. Now these granaries are just right to supply the officials and soldiers going to Luoyang."

After some discussion,
Everyone thought it would start immediately.

Each department immediately drafted an advance team list and set off.

"The matter of government-purchased grain must continue. Before the spring famine arrives, the imperial court needs to control more grain."
That way, we can better allocate resources to provide relief to the people.

Two bushels of millet will be purchased per mu at the market price. This is to prepare for the famine next spring. Anyone with more than 100 mu of land will be subject to purchase.

No purchases will be made for areas less than 100 mu.

Many people are now complaining about this policy, but Li Yi can't care about that anymore.

In addition to levying two bushels of grain per mu from the landlords
Li Yi also suggested borrowing grain from temples, nobles, and powerful families.

They were persuaded to lend grain to help the country with disaster relief.

One buys, the other borrows.
The goal was to collect food.

If the grain is controlled by nobles, powerful families, or even temples, these people will only distribute a small amount of porridge to relieve famine, but will take the opportunity to lend out most of the grain, or even hoard it and make a fortune from the disaster.

Throughout history, nobles, powerful families, and even temples have often used famine as an excuse to force people to sell their land or even become slaves.

In order to survive, people had no choice but to sell their houses and land at rock-bottom prices, and even their wives and daughters.

For the nobles and powerful families who held vast amounts of land, grain, and money, every disaster was an opportunity to annex and amass wealth.

It was a feast for the senses.

Ordinary people suffer the most; when a disaster brings famine, they have little ability to withstand the risks.

Whenever there is a disaster, they incur debt, and then become so burdened by debt that they cannot recover. In the end, most of them go bankrupt and become tenants or even slaves.

at night,

During the family dinner,
Li Yi spoke of the emperor's intention to move his capital to Luoyang.

"I will also have to accompany the emperor to Luoyang, and I may have to go ahead of him."

There are several pregnant women in the family now.

Princess Du Shiniang's belly was already showing; she was more than five months pregnant.

"You should stay in Chang'an."

The emperor led his officials to Luoyang to seek food, but it wasn't impossible to stay in Chang'an next year.

He led officials, soldiers, and civilians to move the capital to Luoyang, also to alleviate the food shortage in Chang'an.

Moreover, even if there is a great famine in Guanzhong,
The nobles wouldn't lack that little bit of food.

What nobles and powerful families feared most was a situation like that at the end of the Sui Dynasty, when the world was in chaos, refugees were everywhere, even Luoyang was besieged and became a dead city, all the grain was forcibly requisitioned, and eight or nine thousand coins couldn't even buy a bushel of grain on the black market.
That's true equality for all, even nobles can despair.

Du Shiniang wanted to go to Luoyang with them.
“You’re all heavily pregnant. How can you possibly travel 800 miles in the dead of winter?”

“But we’re worried about Alang going to Luoyang.”

"Don't worry, Luoyang may not be as good as Chang'an now, but it was the former capital of the Eastern Capital. Besides, we're not going to fight a war, so you can stay in Chang'an with peace of mind."

Du Shiniang touched her bulging belly and said, "Alright, but Ah Lang can't be without anyone by his side. Pick out as many concubines and servants as you can take with you."

(End of this chapter)