Fu Tang

Chapter 193

Zuo Yujie's death was really not cursed by Li Congjia, although Li Congjia also thought about it when he received the news, why didn't this guy die?But Li Congjia just felt that Zuo Yujie's death was a coincidence.

Moreover, Zuo Yujie killed himself this time, since he said he wanted to dig Li Congjiazu's grave, he was doomed to this end.

After all, Qin Mausoleum is not just Li Min's mausoleum, no matter which emperor's mausoleum there will be accompanying tombs, and these accompanying tombs are generally high-ranking officials and marquises.

The Southern Tang Dynasty was indeed defeated, but Zhou Guo only targeted the royal family of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and most of the officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty were preserved except those who would rather die than surrender.

As long as they are not particularly barbaric foreigners, they will not do anything to drive out all the ministers - kill all the people, who will they find to work?

Therefore, the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty who did not run away were basically preserved. Many families here have their ancestors buried around the Qinling Mausoleum. What should I do if I dig it?

Who can do this?

However, no one dared to object, because those who opposed were all killed by Zuo Yujie. Shi Shouxin is still alive today, mainly because Shi Shouxin still has soldiers in his hands, and his power can basically compete with Zuo Yujie. If you can conquer the world, you can't rule the world immediately. Except for a little military power in his hands, Shi Shouxin has nothing left.

For the sake of their own lives, they dare not speak out against it, but it does not mean that these people accept their fate. No one can ignore how important the ancestral grave is, so these people gathered together and conspired to overthrow Zuo Yujie. The practice has touched everyone's bottom line.

It's just that Zuo Yujie can be said to be covering the sky with one hand in the Southern Zhou Dynasty. It is not easy to kill him. The easiest thing is to eliminate him physically.

Therefore, Li Congjia had just thought of asking You Xiaer to buy Zuo Yujie's life, but he was put into action by the officials of the Southern Zhou Dynasty. They knew Zuo Yujie's habits and work and rest better, so they succeeded.

Only two rangers were used to put Zuo Yujie to death, and after Zuo Yujie died, the entire Zuo family had already been hit by a crushing blow, and his fans were almost powerless to fight back. People are still bowing their heads to Zuo Yujie, turning their heads and turning their faces, no one is prepared, even... Zuo Yujie is not the only one who died.

Li Congjia looked at the detailed information sent back by the intelligence department, and said to Li Zhongyu, "Did you see it? This is called a wrong step. Zuo Yujie just made a wrong decision, which caused him to betray his relatives."

Li Zhongyu nodded vigorously and said: "Son, I know, this means that I must be a gentleman."

Don't don't don't, if you are a gentleman, there will be no big Tang in this world!

An emperor can be black-bellied and mediocre, but he cannot be a gentleman.

Li Congjia hurriedly educated his son: "No, this is telling you not to try to challenge the interests of the majority, especially not to push people into corners. Of course, this is not to make you shrink back. If there is no way to retreat, then there is nothing to be afraid of." , just remember to think clearly about the consequences before doing it, it’s best to be foolproof.”

Li Zhongyu nodded thoughtfully, Li Congjia patted his head and said, "Okay, let's come here today, let's go play, and don't forget to finish the homework left by Taifu and the others."

Li Zhongyu bowed obediently and retreated. Li Congjia counted in his heart. When he counted to one hundred, he saw Shi Xueting come out of the cabinet in his room—the cabinet was just a decoration, and it actually led to the tunnel. cover up.

As soon as Shi Xueting came out, he found that Li Congjia looked worried, and he couldn't help being very surprised: "What's wrong?"

Zuo Yujie died, and Nanzhou fell into chaos again. Now no one dares to threaten Li Congjia with his ancestral grave. Why does he still look like that?

Li Congjia recounted what happened just now, then sighed and said, "I'm really worried that Dalang will be taught to be a gentleman by them."

Shi Xueting smiled heartily: "What are you worried about? How could these old foxes in court teach a fool?"

Li Congjia looked at him with his head tilted and asked, "Maybe some people want a foolish emperor?"

Shi Xueting said calmly: "As long as it is a normal person, it will not have such an idea. If it has such an idea, it is a traitor. Even if the emperor is not a fool, he will try to challenge it."

Li Congjia also felt that his worry was ridiculous, so he couldn't help but let out a long breath and said: "Hey, educating children is really difficult. I always worry about what I can't teach, and worry that his thoughts will go astray. In fact, I myself There are still disadvantages."

Shi Xueting patted Li Congjia's head and said: "You have done well enough, Da Lang is different from any prince I know."

Li Congjia stretched his waist and said: "The children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Don't think about it. Now that there is no threat in the Southern Zhou Dynasty, it will be a matter of time before they are taken down. Sixteen states of Yanyun and six states are in the hands of the Khitan people. Let me grieve."

Shi Xueting said: "But you can't do anything yet."

Yes, at least until Xiao Chuo was abolished or given to death. Li Congjia closed his eyes and began to think about when Ye Luxian died. After careful calculation, Ye Luxian still had at least ten years to live.

Of course, this is on the premise that there are no accidents. Now that history has been tampered with beyond recognition, Li Congjia is not sure whether Ye Luxian can still live until then, but think about how Ye Luxian could live for so long when he was seriously ill. Hearing the news that he is in poor health, he should be able to live longer, right?

From Li Congjia's point of view, Ye Luxian's threat to Datang is far inferior to that of Xiao Chuo, so the most important thing is to kill Xiao Chuo first. Xiao Chuo is dead or abolished, so he will find a way to kill Ye Luxian. Now Ye Luxian's son They are still very young, when the young master succeeds to the throne, without the help of a powerful grandparent's family, civil strife in Khitan can be expected.

Li Congjia told himself not to be in a hurry, not to be in a hurry, governing a big country is like cooking a small dish, there is no rush, and he might as well find a way to develop the country when he has this time.

The issue of land distribution was put on the table. All officials, including Li Congjia, avoided this issue. To be honest, this is a difficult issue to solve. Since ancient times, all peasant rebellions have been related to land.

The land equalization system in the early Tang Dynasty looked good at first, but when the population increased, problems with this land distribution system appeared.

When there are too many people and the land is not enough, they will start to fight for it, so there will be troubled times. After the troubled times, the population will decrease, and land distribution will become much easier.

Li Congjia didn't want to carry out land reform before, but he really didn't know how to do it. At that time, there were a lot of things in the country, and everything seemed to be more important than this. After all, people now have land to cultivate, and there are even large tracts of land that no one wants to go to. Farming, there is no way there are fewer people.

It's just that all this is because of Li Congjia's "stinginess".

Li Congjia is "stingy". He seldom grants titles. Now there are two princes and two county kings in the entire Tang Dynasty, and there are only two dukes. There are more from the marquis, but there are only a few. The entire Tang Dynasty has titles The number of people does not exceed three hundred.

Comparing with the situation of the previous Tang Dynasty when it was just founding the country, the current Tang Dynasty is indeed very stingy.

However, no one said anything, because Datang's title is not hereditary, and the younger generation has to work hard if they want the title. Of course, it is not impossible to inherit it. If someone works hard enough after getting the title, then his title can be reduced. Inheritance, or descending inheritance after the third generation, etc.

Even the treatment enjoyed by the royal prince is only reduced to the rank of nobility after the fifth generation.

This has never existed in the previous dynasties, and it only happened after the posthumous title. Someone persuaded Li Congjia, and Li Congjia's attitude was very firm.

No one dared to express dissatisfaction, and no one dared to rebel, because only Li Congjia's loyalists knew the method of making firearms, or it was the most advanced method of making firearms, which is now accessible to any official in the Ministry of Industry. secret.

Of course, the most important thing is that Li Congjia himself doesn't have much manor land!As the emperor, Zhuangzi in his hand is probably not as big as Shi Shouxin's. It sounds sad, but it is very effective in shutting up the people below.

But it’s not enough to just blindly treat heroes. The development of the country is actually like a small family. When you first move into your new home, you don’t have many things. However, as time goes by, those things will gradually increase.

The imperial court is the same, now Li Congjia controls the title and does not wanton rewards, but there are always people who will make meritorious deeds, such as Zhao Kuangyin, his title has become hereditary, and there is no downgrading, unless there is a traitor in the family who loses the title.

Li Hongji and Li Jingda are also hereditary princes because of their special status, so it is inevitable that such a situation will continue in the future. Li Congjia must think about it in advance. The former Tang Dynasty has already warned him with blood, and he dare not neglect at all.

Fan Zhi and the others didn't dare to be negligent. When they heard that Li Congjia was planning to use land reform, they couldn't help persuading him, "Your Majesty, don't act too hastily."

Li Congjia waved his hand and said, "I'm just planning for a rainy day. If I don't talk about it today, I will do it tomorrow. Now I just want to know that after several years of recuperation, has the population of Datang increased?"

Speaking of this, Hubu Shangshu couldn't stop the joy on his face, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the current population is twice what it was a year ago!"

Li Congjia was not immediately happy, but instead asked, "How many newborns account for?"

"Report to Your Majesty, newborns account for [-]%!"

We all know what Li Congjia meant. Because of the old-age insurance, the privilege of being a scholar was taken back, but at the same time, the number of places for being a scholar was increased. The resistance below is not very strong. After all, after becoming a scholar, the peasant households were taken over for the purpose of saving money. Money, now as long as you are admitted to the scholar, you only need to pay a little money every year, and you don’t have to worry about the rest of your life. Moreover, if you become a scholar, if you want to continue your studies, you can go to the academy and get subsidies. What is there to be dissatisfied with?

Those who are dissatisfied are those scholars from rich families, and those who are satisfied are those from poor backgrounds. In this world, there are always more poor people and fewer rich people. This is one of the reasons why Li Congjia dared to do this.

But because of this, many farmers have expanded, so Li Congjia asked the proportion of newborns.

After hearing this number, Li Congjia instantly felt relieved. The newborn represents the future, and there is no family planning right now.

Li Congjia knocked on the armrest of the chair and said: "I intend to take the land back to the imperial court, and then implement the contract system."

Everyone looked at Li Congjia with question marks, and Li Congjia said: "It is best to hold the land in the hands of the imperial court. If you want to build a house and cultivate land, you need to buy a number of years from the imperial court. After the number of years, these lands still belong to the imperial court. What do you want to do?" It's all about the court."

Zhao Pu gasped: "This... I'm afraid it won't work?"

Li Congjia said firmly: "There is nothing wrong with it."

Tu Chao has already told Li Congjia with his own experience that this is possible.

However, there is still a very serious question about how the aristocratic family should be.

The aristocratic family has occupied a large area of ​​land since ancient times, but when it came to Li Congjia, after the Sui and Tang dynasties relentlessly attacked the aristocratic family, after decades of turmoil, the aristocratic family was almost wiped out, not to mention withered.

It's just that Li Congjia knows that the vitality of these aristocratic families is very tenacious. If they don't care, they will recover their vitality within ten years, and then they can continue to harm the Tang Dynasty. Li Congjia must restrain the aristocratic families from now on.

What is an aristocratic family, isn't it Shiqing Shilu?It is impossible to want Shiqing and Shilu not to study. Studying requires money. Where does the money come from?In this year, land is the main source of income.

What Li Congjia wants is to restrain the land in their hands, no longer privatize the land, and strictly stipulate that the homestead is the homestead, and the cultivated land is the cultivated land.

This is difficult, Li Congjia knows, but no matter how difficult it is, you have to do it.

Li Congjia sighed and said: "I will do my best not to leave obstacles for future generations, please encourage me."

Everyone in the cabinet took the charter drawn up by Li Congjia, and the more they looked at it, the more entangled they became. In the end, Fan asked, "But Your Majesty, this still doesn't solve the problem of overpopulation."

Yes, this group of people is actually discussing what to do if the population is too large and the land is not enough.

Li Congjia leaned back on the throne comfortably and asked, "Lingnan is a good place."

Wei Renpu said with a wry smile: "It's a famous place of smog, my lord."

Lingnan is definitely an existence that everyone avoids in this era.

That place is notoriously hot and humid, and there are miasma. Although it is nominally owned by the Tang Dynasty, there are too many mountains and too many natives. Most of them are self-made by natives. Only a few native leaders Come here to pay tribute, express your submission, and other times belong to the existence that is free from the political system of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Congjia stroked his chin and said, "I will leave this matter to the medical students of the academy. Don't worry about it. The only thing to worry about is that no one will go. Now the land in the Central Plains has been cultivated for thousands of years, and it is no longer so fertile. , but the land in the south of the Yangtze River can ripen two crops of rice a year. Such a good place still needs to be developed. As for those savages, those who are willing to naturalize are treated equally. Deal with the rebels."

Bloodshed and sacrifices are always unavoidable in opening up territories. Li Congjia didn't want to kill so many people if he could, but he couldn't help it. The native leaders would not be too obedient.

When Fan Zhi and others thought of the two-season rice, they couldn't help but feel hot. They prevented Li Congjia from attacking Khitan before, mainly because Khitan could not provide much supplies to Datang. Compared with the Central Plains, that place is still barren. Otherwise, why Khitan always Want to go south?

But Lingnan is different, not to mention that attacking Lingnan is not considered an invasion, but a suppression of rebellion. After all, Lingnan is already the land of the Tang Dynasty, but the people on that land are disobedient.

As long as it can solve the miasma problem, then there is nothing wrong with it!

After Li Congjia returned to the study, Shi Xueting said slowly: "Actually, you have other ways."

Li Congjia asked: "How do you say?"

Shi Xueting looked up at him and said, "You can definitely collect taxes, the big deal is to make those Lingnan natives pay more taxes. There is a lot of grain produced there, and there is always enough food."

Li Congjia stretched his neck and said, "But that piece of land still doesn't belong to Datang completely, which makes me uneasy."

"This is not like you, you must have other ideas." Shi Xueting said very firmly.

Li Congjia laughed and said: "Those who know me, Xueting, Lingnan is indeed good, but in the southwest of Lingnan, there is a better place beyond Dali. The people there are not as hardworking as the people of Tang Dynasty, but they can easily harvest food and vegetables. All kinds of crops, that's the real good place."

As Li Congjia talked, he thought of all kinds of cheap and delicious fruits in Thailand in later generations, and couldn't help but want to drool.

People are greedy, and now Li Congjia really wants to take back the good places when he sees them. After all, these places are weak now, and he would be sorry for himself if he didn't take them.

Shi Xueting didn't know where Li Congjia learned about this, but he didn't doubt Li Congjia at all, and Li Congjia's description made his heart skip a beat, everyone likes a good place.

But he quickly calmed down and said: "It's too early to say these things, what you need to solve now is the matter in Datang."

In Datang territory?What's going on in Datang?Although Shanghai Qingheyan cannot be said now, the world is considered to be peaceful, so what else can happen?Li Congjia didn't take Shi Xueting's words to heart, but soon he knew what Shi Xueting meant.

After all, his land reform has encountered resistance, and the resistance is very strong. It is okay to talk about other places, but it can no longer be carried out in the east of Xiangzhou, and the people there are fighting back fiercely.

Li Congjia looked at the map and knew why the counterattack was so fierce. Now there is no concept of province, but Li Congjia knew that the area east of Xiangzhou was Shandong.

Shandong, the land of Qilu, has been the territory of the Confucian family since ancient times, and there are countless big and small families that depended on the Confucian family. It was useless to suppress it in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and even in the late Tang Dynasty, this view became more deeply rooted. Well, the Shandong gentry don't even look down on the royal family, let alone other princes.

I think the Li family came from a real family in the Tang Dynasty, but because of the suspicion of Huhua, the Shandong gentry dare not take Li Erfeng seriously. Today's Li Congjia...Although it is said that he is a descendant of Li Tang, everyone knows that, Their family had nothing to do with the Li family in Longxi, and his grandfather was even a beggar. Under such circumstances, the Shandong gentry naturally looked down on Li Congjia even more.

In the past, Li Congjia didn't care too much, he loved to look down on you, and I don't point at you to live, just don't make trouble for me, the most important thing is, he can completely make these few families disappear in the court, anyway, he is the founding king, he said Forget it, there are really no people from Cui Lu, Li Zhengwang's family in the court hall, of course there are people with the same surname, but it has nothing to do with them!

These families have long been dissatisfied, and now that Li Congjia is planning land reform, their attitude is naturally even worse.

Li Congjia stared at the memorial with cold eyes, he now understood what imperial power represented, did these people think he was really talkative?

It's just how to deal with it is indeed a headache. It is impossible for a family of hundreds of years to complete all their achievements in one battle. They can only be divided a little bit. What is the easiest way to make a big family fall apart?Let the stupidest man in the family be the head of the house.

But this is not Li Congjia's final decision. Li Congjia walked around in the study a little irritably, and when he turned around, he saw Shi Xueting sitting there looking at him. Li Congjia couldn't help asking: "Can I put them all together?" Kill it?"

Shi Xueting couldn't help frowning: "Chongguang, Zhinu, haven't you noticed that you have become more and more violent recently?"

After Li Congjia took a deep breath to calm himself down, he sighed and said, "It's no wonder that I can calm down with these people. They only see their own family in their eyes, and they don't care about the life and death of the country and the people. What's the use?"

Shi Xueting also found it tricky, he knew that Li Congjia was most afraid of this kind of situation, but it just happened.

Those nobles stubbornly rejected every order of Li Congjia, and even refuted them one by one, saying that what they did was in line with etiquette, and it was simply nonsense.

Just when Li Congjia was so angry that he had to eat bitter gourd every day to suppress his anger, a piece of news that made him even more anxious came: In autumn and July, locusts cover the world.

When Li Congjia was busy trying to eliminate the locusts and relieve the disaster, a book of thousands of words was circulated all over the world, all of which accused Li Congjia of being cruel and inhumane, from examples of the tyranny of Shang Dynasty to the end of Tang Dynasty, from the induction of heaven and man to the immorality of the emperor, and said The locusts are the punishment God gave Li Congjia, and the only thing they didn't criticize was Li Congjia's private affairs.

Now Li Congjia was really angry and turned into a puffer fish.