Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 16 Xue Rengui's Memorial

Outside the side hall, there were two rows of sword-wielding Qianniu guards standing by.

When Wu Meiniang came outside the palace, she just heard a woman's voice coming from inside.

"Thank you so much, Saint, for your grace."

Li Zhi's voice followed: "Alright, go ahead, Xue Qing, send someone to take them back."

With a creaky sound, the palace door was pushed open, and Xue Rengui walked out with several women. Everyone was surprised when they saw Wu Meiniang.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen." Xue Rengui bowed.

The women were frightened and knelt down to pay their respects.

Wu Meiniang waved her hand and said, "No need to be so polite. General Xue, please take them there."

Entering the side hall, Li Zhi was sitting on a chair in a daze.

Wu Meiniang tiptoed up behind him, stretched out a pair of hands painted with scarlet nail polish, and gently massaged his shoulders.

"Everyone, have you interrogated the Lu family members?" she asked.

Li Zhi felt very comfortable with her pinch, closed his eyes and nodded.

"What did they say?"

Li Zhi said: "Everyone confessed honestly, saying that Lu Botao was forced to commit suicide by the head of the Lu family's Nanzu Fang family."

Wu Meiniang said happily, "We can investigate this matter thoroughly and deal a heavy blow to the Fanyang Lu family!"

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "I have already promised Lu Botao's wife that I will not pursue this matter."

Wu Meiniang was stunned and stopped moving her hands.

Li Zhi glanced at her sideways and said, "Think about it, if I punish Mrs. Lu for this, how will Lu Botao's family survive in the Lu family in the future?"

Wu Meiniang nodded: "Everyone is very considerate. Lu Botao is dead, and they are orphans and widows. It's really pitiful."

Li Zhi patted her hand, stood up and said, "I am very happy that the Queen thinks so. I am going to attend court now, you can return to the palace."

The court meeting ended at 2:15 pm.

After the meal in the corridor, Li Zhi never mentioned Lu Botao again, and Han Ai and others did not dare to mention it again, as if the matter had been forgotten by everyone.

After this court meeting, Li Zhi sat for most of the day, his buttocks ached and his head felt a little dizzy.

He couldn't help but worry. If he continued to attend court so often, he was afraid that he would really suffer from vertigo like Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

Li Zhi reviewed a few imperial edicts in Ganlu Palace and gradually felt tired, so he decided to go to Xunfeng Palace to listen to Concubine Zheng play some music.

As he stood up, Xue Rengui walked in and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Li Zhi had no choice but to sit back.

"If you have anything to do, tell me."

Xue Rengui took out an official document and said, "This is my memorial."

Li Zhi ordered Wang Fusheng to bring the memorial over. After reading it, his expression gradually became solemn.

Xue Rengui submitted three items.

First, many fields in Guanzhong were abandoned.

Second, the grain storage in Chang'an warehouse was less than 10%.

Third, grain prices in Chang'an are high and are still rising.

These three things can be summed up as one thing, all related to food.

Li Zhi raised his head and said in a deep voice, "Many fields in Guanzhong are abandoned. Did you see it with your own eyes, or did you hear it from others?"

Xue Rengui said, "I heard it from others, but I think the news should be correct. Since Helu's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, Guanzhong has already used military force against the Turks for the second time."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, but soon understood what Xue Rengui meant.

The Tang Dynasty had a military system, and troops were recruited from nearby areas during wars.

For example, during the attack on Western Turkestan, he ordered the Zhechoufu in the Guanzhong area to gather troops.

Normally, Zhechoufu only retains one-third of its soldiers, which is more than enough to suppress bandits. In times of war, a call-up order will be issued to assemble all the soldiers under Zhechoufu and stand by.

As a result, the people who were busy farming were called up to join the army, and the fields naturally became barren.

To assemble a large army, in addition to the combat soldiers, a large number of logistics soldiers are also needed to transport food.

These logistics soldiers also need to eat food on the road, and only a portion of it is delivered to the front line, resulting in astonishing food consumption.

Sun Tzu's Art of War says: "In the art of war, one must have a thousand chariots, a thousand leather chariots, a hundred thousand men in armor, and provisions for a thousand miles. The expenses for internal and external affairs, for guests, for glue and paint, and for the maintenance of chariots and armor, will cost a thousand pieces of gold a day. Only then can an army of a hundred thousand men be raised."

The saying "a cannon shot is worth a fortune" is exactly this principle.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty was currently at its peak of national strength and its treasury was well-stocked; it was impossible for it to be dragged down by a war. Even if the harvest was poor, it could still survive the crisis with the food in the granaries.

Li Zhi thought about this and asked, "There are 300 granaries in Chang'an. How can the stored grain be less than 10%? Can you confirm this?" Xue Rengui said, "Your Majesty, please summon the officials from the Ministry of Revenue to ask. We will know the answer once we ask."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "Fu Sheng, have the Minister of Revenue come to see me."

Wang Fusheng hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, since Shangshu Gao died of illness, the Ministry of Revenue has not appointed a chief official. Currently, the chief official in the Ministry of Revenue is only one assistant minister."

Li Zhi frowned. The Ministry of Revenue, which was in charge of people's livelihood, only had one adjutant left. No wonder there were so many omissions in food.

"Then let the Minister of Revenue come to see me!"

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was named Changsun Yang, a nephew of Changsun Wuji. He had no talent and was able to take this position only with the support and care of Changsun Wuji.

When Wang was deposed and Wu was enthroned, he strongly opposed it, so when he heard that the emperor summoned him, he was so scared that his legs almost went weak.

When he arrived at Ganlu Hall and saw Li Zhi's ashen face, he knelt down and apologized without saying a word.

"The guilty minister, Chang Sunyang, pays homage to His Majesty!"

Li Zhi laughed in anger and said, "Do you know you are guilty?"

Chang Sunyang said with a bitter face, "I oppose the enthronement of the Queen, but I have no other choice... Please spare my life, Your Majesty."

Li Zhi said: "Stand up and speak!"

Seeing that the emperor didn't seem to intend to punish him, Chang Sunyang stood up with a smile.

Li Zhi asked, "How many full granaries are there in Chang'an?"

Zhang Sunyang was stunned for a moment and said, "There should be more than a hundred kilns."

"Should?" Li Zhi raised his eyebrows.

Chang Sunyang said hurriedly, "This matter is not my responsibility. Your Majesty can ask the doctor of the Ministry of Warehouses for advice."

The Ministry of Revenue has four departments under its jurisdiction: the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Granaries. The chief officer of each department is a Langzhong, and the deputy officer is a Yuanwailang.

Li Zhi sighed, no longer in the mood to scold him. He waved his hand and said, "Send the doctor of the warehouse department to see you."

After all, Doctor Cangbu is more reliable than Zhangsun Yang.

When Li Zhi asked about the Chang'an warehouse, he replied that there were indeed less than twenty kilns of grain in the warehouse, which was basically consistent with one-tenth of Xue Rengui's.

Li Zhi said sternly, "The granaries are empty, why didn't you report it?"

Doctor Cangbu immediately cried out in protest.

It turned out that after Li Shimin attacked Goryeo in his later years, the inventory in Chang'an Warehouse was less than 30% left.

After Li Zhi ascended the throne, Helu rebelled against the Tang Dynasty again and blocked the trade routes to the Western Regions.

In the third year of Yonghui, the Tang Dynasty attacked Helu but failed.

In the fourth year of Yonghui, Chen Shuozhen proclaimed herself empress in Jiangnan. Although she was quickly suppressed, her rebellion seriously damaged the taxation of Jiangnan.

In the fifth year of Yonghui, which was the spring of this year, Goguryeo attacked Silla. Silla asked the Tang Dynasty for help, and the Tang Dynasty sent troops to attack Goguryeo.

In August of this year, heavy rains occurred and rice prices in Chang'an soared. In order to stabilize rice prices, the court ordered the granaries to open and release grain.

In addition, over the years, there have been fewer and fewer trees in Guanzhong, and many fertile fields have become wastelands. The harvest in Guanzhong has been declining, while the population of Chang'an has been increasing and has exceeded one million.

So it was not his responsibility that only 10% of the grain was left in the Chang'an warehouse.

Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "Without enough food, the supply to the troops at the front will soon be a problem, right?"

The doctor of the Ministry of Granaries smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. I have already ordered the warehouse manager of Hanjia Granary to transfer one million dan of grain from Hanjia Granary within six months. This should be enough to resolve the crisis."

Luoyang has the world's largest granary, Hanjia Granary, which can keep grain from rotting for a hundred years. It was the largest grain storage place in the Tang Dynasty and was larger than the Chang'an Granary.

Moreover, Luoyang has a convenient canal, and grain from Jiangnan and Hebei is continuously transported to Luoyang by water, so the Hanjia Granary has always been close to full.

Xue Rengui suddenly said, "Your Majesty, we cannot transfer grain from Luoyang."

The doctor of the Cang Department asked anxiously, "Why do you say that, General Xue?"

Xue Rengui said, "In recent years, the Yellow River has become increasingly silted, and the currents in the Sanmenxia area have become increasingly turbulent. Furthermore, there are three gorges: the Human Gate, Ghost Gate, and God Gate, which are impassable for large ships. The waterway's transport capacity is low, and we can't rely on transporting grain to resolve the crisis."

Between Chang'an and Tongguan, there is a Guangtong Canal, which was built by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty at the order of Yuwen Kai. It connects Chang'an and Tongguan, diverts the Wei River into the Yellow River, and forms a waterway between Chang'an and Luoyang.

However, this waterway is extremely dangerous due to the canyons and reefs in the Sanmenxia area and is far inferior to the Grand Canal.

Doctor Cangbu added, "If the water route doesn't work, there's still the land route!"

Li Zhi glared at him and said, "How much food do you expect to be delivered from the Qiao-Han Road?"

After Tongguan, there is the famous Qiao-Han official road.

This road is located in a deep valley and has more than a dozen passes, making it inconvenient to pass. As long as it rains heavily, the road will be blocked.

Even Li Zhi knew that transporting grain along this route was extremely unstable, but the warehouse manager didn't know that.

From this point of view, the Ministry of Revenue is simply a bunch of good-for-nothings.

(End of this chapter)