The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1067: Political Discussion in the Imperial Study (VI)
"Emperor Yang of Sui used force to deal with the aristocratic families. The emperor first wanted to use land reform and the method of allocating taxes to each acre. Later, when he found that the effect was not very good, he expanded the territory to strengthen the imperial power while also benefiting the aristocratic families."

Li Yan said bluntly: "I can't do the first two or three. It's like doing business in the market. If they can do it, why can't the court do it? Everyone competes fairly. If the noble families can't even accept this."

"Then how can I govern this country and manage the food, clothing, housing and transportation of tens of millions of people?"

"A good cook cannot cook without rice. How can you let me be the emperor and manage this country without giving me any power?"

"This country belongs not only to me, but also to the nobles. I am only in charge of the country on their behalf. Why should I be responsible for the survival of tens of millions of people and the well-being of the world? I am not a god."

"If any of them can do well, I can also give this kingdom to them, and I can become a noble family, without worrying about anything, just reaping the benefits every day."

Seeing Li Yan's words, which seemed quite negative, the five important officials immediately stood up and knelt down, saying in panic, "Your Majesty, we are willing to die, please forgive us."

Li Yan knew that his every word and action would reach the ears of the nobles, let alone public political discussions.

In the past, Li Shimin was too strong-willed and regarded the country as his own, so he stood on the opposite side of the nobles, always thinking of life and death, and irreconcilable thoughts. This is why the nobles did not hesitate to take ruthless action against him at the critical moment.

Li Yan was different. Since his prestige was not high and his strength was weak, he would play a mediating role. He would temporarily treat the nobles as objects of dependence and ask them for policies, support and power with justification.

I think the nobles would be very troubled to hear what I said, and at the same time they would let down their guard. They were not afraid of the emperor asking for benefits from them openly, but they were afraid that he would treat them as mortal enemies and plot against them secretly.

Now I have exposed this tacit understanding without restraint, and shamelessly said that Datang belongs to everyone, not just me. You are also shareholders and have responsibilities, not outsiders who only enjoy power and poach people.

I, the emperor, am only managing the country on behalf of you all, so the responsibility for the rise and fall of the country must be borne by everyone together.

In this case, as long as one's demands are not too excessive, the nobles should be able to satisfy them.

"Everyone, please stand up!"

After calming down his turbulent emotions, Li Yan said calmly: "It is said that conquering a country is easy, but ruling it is difficult. If we want to truly defend the vast territory left by our father, it is far from enough to rely on me alone and my ministers."

"Even if we are made of iron, how many nails can we hammer into the ground?"

"I will not touch the military power of the nobles, nor will I touch the official power of the nobles. I will only increase some financial resources for the court on the basis of consolidating the existing territory. If the nobles do not even agree to this, then let them govern this country."

Li Yan's fierce words made several important officials present sweat profusely and look terrified.

At the same time, a trace of resentment rose unconsciously in my heart.

Yes, it is not the same as letting a horse run and eat grass. People like me cannot carry everything on our shoulders. When we are in the court, we are constrained by the nobles everywhere and have to look at their faces in everything.

In this case, it would be better to become a nobleman and keep an eye on the emperor every day, just like a landlord keeps an eye on his tenants.

Suddenly, everyone felt that the nobles should do something.

You didn't lose your official positions at all, you also took the military power, and even the newly discovered land and money of the court. So, you should be the one who contributes the most to governing the country, so why should you stay out of it?

Thinking of this, all the ministers were enlightened. It turned out that considering the problem from a different perspective was indeed different.

That’s right, why should we always be on guard against the aristocratic families? Being on guard against them is equivalent to not asking them to take any responsibility.

Since it can't be prevented, just don't prevent it.

All the resources needed to govern the government are reaching out to you. Let's see if you can still get away with it. You always hold yourself back and cause trouble for yourself and others.

"Changsun Wuji."

Everyone changed their minds and no longer thought about being on guard against the emperor. Zhang Sun Wuji, who had just stood up, immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am here!"

"I want to issue a unified currency. You go and negotiate with the nobles on my behalf and the court. Tell them what I just said. I will issue 10 million strings of Tang Dynasty treasure notes for the first time. I need the support of the nobles."

Zhang Sun Wuji was startled and asked hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

Li Yan said expressionlessly: "First, I want all of their clans to jointly guarantee that counterfeiting of Tang Dynasty's treasure notes is strictly prohibited. This action concerns the safety of Tang Dynasty and the interests of everyone. If anyone dares to counterfeit treasure notes privately, once discovered, it will be more serious than treason and the punishment will be exterminated for all nine clans." 'Hiss'

Xiao Yu, Cen Wenben and others gasped. Although the extermination of an entire clan has always been the power of the emperor, it is actually not suitable for modern emperors.

Aristocratic families have existed for hundreds of years, with intertwined roots and deep connections. Which family does not have dozens of branches and hundreds of households, thousands of people, not to mention relatives, subordinates, followers, servants, maids, servants, tenants, etc.

A middle-class family may have several thousand or tens of thousands of people. A top-class family may be as powerful as a small country, and hundreds of thousands of people are common.

Even powerful emperors like Yang Jian, Yang Guang and Li Shimin did not dare to kill the entire family. Strictly speaking, a surname represents a clan.

Even in the event of a rebellion, only the people from the branch house involved would be dealt with. Even if they were brothers or sisters, or father and son, as long as they had different stances, they would not be implicated.

But Li Yan actually said that anyone who counterfeits banknotes would be executed along with their entire family. This also shows that the harm this matter causes to the country is even worse than treason?
Zhang Sun Wuji thought about it for a moment and felt that Li Yan's considerations made sense. If the Tang Dynasty Treasure Notes were really issued, it would not be the business of the royal family alone. It would concern the interests of all the noble families, so they would naturally have to ensure that no one forged it privately, otherwise it would harm the interests of everyone.

Of course, this punishment of exterminating nine generations of a clan must be done through negotiation so that all the clans will acquiesce and maintain it.

After all, even if there is a rebellion now, the nine clans cannot be exterminated. If the nobles do not recognize it, it will be useless.

But once this currency is issued, its importance to the Tang Dynasty is beyond doubt, comparable to military power and political power, which is indeed too serious. If someone forges it privately, it is no less than opening the treasury and stealing the entire country.

Once this policy is passed, corresponding protection is a matter of course.

Li Yan looked at Zhangsun Wuji calmly and held up two fingers: "Second, the nobles must take the lead in exchanging and using the Tang Dynasty's treasure notes. The top nobles in the Tang Dynasty must each exchange five million taels of silver in treasure notes from the Treasure Note Issuing Department for use."

"I will also take out 10 million taels of silver from the Emperor's inner treasury and exchange them for treasure notes."

"The other 40 million will be subscribed by some small and medium-sized nobles. This 10 million must be digested. Only then will the people recognize it and continue to send silver to the Finance Temple in exchange for treasure notes."

As soon as these words were spoken, the five important officials were all shocked. Now they finally understood why the emperor wanted to promote currency. It turned out that he wanted to use the Tang Dynasty's treasure notes to exchange for a large amount of silver, so that he could accumulate a huge amount of wealth for the court in an instant.

Liu Bo said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, but in this way, all the silver can only be piled up in the treasury and cannot be taken out for use! What if the nobles know that the silver has been misappropriated, they will all exchange it."

"The court's credibility was immediately ruined."

"My family's bank went bankrupt because of this reason, and until now, it has been unable to re-enter the silver business. If the court had done the same thing, I'm afraid the Tang Dynasty would have immediately faced the crisis of national destruction."

Li Yan said with a serious face: "Yes, Lord Liu is right. Therefore, I decided that this Finance Temple should be directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor and supervised by the chief officials of the three provinces. Whether it is issuing currency or spending money, it must be discussed and approved by us together."

"Otherwise, even if the emperor issues an imperial decree, he cannot bypass the three provincial officials and directly instruct the Ministry of Finance."

"call"

The five people immediately breathed a sigh of relief. If this was the case, then this department would be much safer. What they were afraid of was that the emperor alone would treat the Finance Temple as his own treasury and arbitrarily order unlimited printing of currency.

As long as each printing and distribution was discussed by the three provincial officials, it was equivalent to that all the nobles knew about it. If you dared to print at will, causing the currency to depreciate, people would dare to run directly and bring down the Tang Dynasty bank.

"I know the importance of this department. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the heart of the court. Therefore, from the beginning of its establishment, I will issue a strict decree that this department belongs to the entire court. The emperor is only in charge, but he does not have the power to monopolize it."

"This department can only be used legally under the supervision of officials from the three provinces."

Seeing that all the officials were relieved, Li Yan continued, "In fact, the court has such a large source of funds, and it can still be used, but it cannot be used to fill loopholes. As long as certain rules are followed and it is used in a healthy and safe manner, it will be beneficial to the country."

"Let me give you an example. If the northern Turks invaded on a large scale, the Tang Dynasty would have to raise troops to resist. This would cost a lot of money and food. What did we do in the past?"

Li Yan frowned and said, "I know that usually the granary provides grain and the treasury provides money, but now when there is no war, the annual revenue and expenditure of the treasury are in deficit, with a shortfall of 20 million strings of cash. If there is another war, where will the money come from?"

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before he said, "Of course, we should collect taxes and impose some additional taxes on the people of the country to raise money."

(End of this chapter)