Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 341 His Majesty the Emperor’s immature thoughts

Zhang Chengye quickly raised a new question.

"Your Majesty, even if there is a Hu slave with fifty knives, who will catch him?"

Although the Imperial Guards of the Tang Dynasty were strong, they traveled thousands of miles to capture the Hu slaves, so they couldn't use them if they were small. So what if there were more soldiers? If the Hu slaves had legs, couldn't they run?

Li Ye smiled and said: "Zhang Gong is anxious and confused! There are tens of thousands of barbarian tribes on the grassland, and each tribe has its own hatred, just like the Khitan. You have also read the intelligence collected. It’s also discordant. As long as I put up a notice at the mutual market place, fifty coins per Hunu, then the grassland tribes will be in chaos among themselves, because we don’t have enough money!”

"Your Majesty, maybe it doesn't cost that much. On weekdays, a Hunu only costs a dozen guan, and there is no need to pay. There is a shortage of cloth on the grassland. In the warehouse of the Tang Dynasty Weaving Bureau, there are more than 300 million pieces of cloth in stock... "

Li Ye was overjoyed. There were not many copper coins in the Tang Dynasty. It would be better if they could be replaced by cloth.

"Also strong liquor and salt are fine!"

"This...your majesty...your majesty is wise, but I am still afraid that the court officials will not comply, which may be detrimental to your majesty's reputation!"

His Majesty the Emperor shook his head and said: "This is not done by the imperial court. We can set up another business name. What do you think?"

“We can also relax restrictions so that every company can do it!”

"I still think it's not appropriate enough. Is your Majesty's briquette really that good?"

If the briquettes are unusable and cannot be sold, everything on this line will be in vain.

Li Ye smiled and said: "Please wait and see, Mr. Zhang. Now please go back and draw up a charter. The general meaning is that all the minerals, rivers, mountains, lakes, forests and other resources in the entire Tang Dynasty are owned by the imperial court. Anyone can No encroachment.

Second, all states, prefectures and counties should inventory the coal mines within their territory, register them, and report all the details of the coal samples, difficulty in mining the mineral deposits, and water and land transportation! "

"promise!"

Li Ye still had one thing in his mind. He thought about it back and forth, and finally said: "Mr. Zhang, mines, rivers, mountains, and lakes belong to the imperial court, but private properties such as real estate, shops, and private money must be signed by me and the people. If these private properties are legal, Even I cannot take away what I have earned!"

"..."

Zhang Chengye didn’t understand what it meant!
"I want to make a legal agreement with the people. They have the right to live. If there is no violation of the law, even I can't kill people?"

"This……"

"Your Majesty, I am stupid! What do you mean?"

If the king wants his ministers to die, they must die. The emperor has the power of life and death. Now His Majesty the Emperor proposes that he cannot confiscate family property and cannot kill people, so he limits his power as king. How can Zhang Chengye figure it out?

He felt that His Majesty the Emperor had profound meaning, but what was the meaning? Zhang Chengye felt that he could not keep up with the Emperor's thinking.

Li Ye took a long sigh and said: "The world's misfortunes and blessings all depend on the king. If you meet a wise king, the world will be peaceful and the people are safe. If you meet a mediocre and unprincipled king, the people will be resentful and the world will be in chaos. This is what I am worried about." ah!"

"I want to formulate a law that even the king cannot violate. It spells out the country's politics, military system, and people's system. It clearly states the monarchy, civil rights, and rights of the country. If the country is governed by law, even if it encounters an unwise monarch, the country can be in peace... …”

This was something he had never heard of before. Zhang Chengye was confused.

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that once this method comes out, it will be used by people with ulterior motives, so please slow down in trying it!"

Li Ye said: "I'm just telling you, Mr. Zhang, I'll keep it a secret. I'll think about it in my spare time and see if it's feasible!"

Zhang Chengye nodded and said: "Your Majesty has a heart that accepts hundreds of rivers and swallows up the universe. It is really a blessing for all people to have such words!" Li Ye waved his hand, and the development of coal was an opportunity. He also needed to think carefully about what to do safely.

……

In May of the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Da Zhi, the Shangdu Jingzhao Mansion reported that it had not rained in Guanzhong for three months. Except for some fields irrigated by ditches, in all likelihood, the crops had withered and the seedlings had died, and a major famine was likely to occur.

Li Ye was also helpless. Guanzhong was hit by disasters in three out of ten years. Even if the current population is not as large as before, hundreds of thousands of people will be displaced once famine occurs.

Since the third year of the Great Reign, His Majesty the Emperor left Chang'an and went to Hezhong. He has not returned to Chang'an until now, and most of the courtiers have also come to Bianjing.

In fact, although Bianjing is the companion capital, there is no court report to return to Chang'an.

Without so many people, disaster relief would be much simpler. After all, there were few people. 20 stones of grain and grass were mobilized from Hanzhong and the river to Guanzhong.They also moved more than [-] households with no output to Heluo and Caizhou, and allocated fields from official fields for them to cultivate.

Now the center of the imperial court is in Bianliang, with rice grains from Jiangnan and Huainan. His Majesty the Emperor and the princes of the imperial court are not panic at all. The granaries in Bianjing have been slowly being used up, and they are still worrying about having no place to put the new grains.

Li Ye discussed with the princes and set up more than a dozen granaries in Youzhou and Zhenzhou. The Changping granary alone stocked more than [-] shi of grain and grass.

The material wealth of the Tang Dynasty was unprecedented.

……

In Nancheng of Bianjing, Liu Nanshan from Shangyan Village came to Bianjing New Town for the first time. Although his village is only twenty miles away from Bianjing, most farmers, without corvee labor, would only be able to move within a radius of five miles. Liuli, who comes to the city for nothing?
The reason why I came here this time was because my relatives settled in Bianjing and moved to a newly built house.

Looking at the streets paved with blue bricks and the brick courtyards with tiled houses, Liu Nanshan must be lying if he is not envious, but he is not particularly envious.

He came from hard times. What were those days like? People were eating people, and they had to guard against war disasters. Those soldiers were all beasts. They would pounce on women and kill men when they saw them, not even the elderly or children. Let it go.

"At that time, I never thought that I would be able to have enough to eat, and even if I died, I would be able to rest in peace. How could I have thought of this day."

Liu Nanshan weighed the pork on his hands. It was raised at home and he cut off two pieces of hooves to give as gifts. The two pieces of hooves weighed about twenty kilograms. He walked more than 20 miles from home, just carrying them. I don’t feel tired at all.

He still has two pigs at home, and the court's tax is not heavy. Add some old grain to feed the pigs, and the pigs will grow quickly.

On this day, I couldn't even think about feeding pigs with grain, but the grain was moldy and people would definitely not want to eat it.

Liu Nanshan smiled and shook his head. Twenty kilograms of meat will give him face wherever he takes it. Fortunately, it was given to his cousin Hong Xin, otherwise he would definitely be reluctant to part with it.

Ten years ago, Qin Zongquan came to Bianliang. His cousin protected his family and brought them to the city. This man knew how to repay his kindness.

I finally reached Xingyuanfang and saw my cousin's family at the intersection from a distance.

"Nanshan, you are here!"

Liu Nanshan proudly handed over the meat.

"Such a big piece, so much fat!"

"Nanshan, you stay home and eat by yourself!"

(End of this chapter)