My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 246: Is the Crown Prince going to set up another court in Goryeo?
The royal capital of Silla, Wolseong.

Things like evidence are actually the simplest.

What's more, Silla was really planning to rebel.

"I didn't expect that we prepared so much for nothing. We just arrested a few people and interrogated them, and now we have everything."

Pei Xingjian felt a little emotional.

In order to better complete the task assigned by the prince, and also for the prince's reputation.

The master and apprentice were fully prepared for this and had a lot of contingency plans.

At least we have to ensure that the Silla rebellion looks real.

Who would have thought that we haven't even started to work hard here.

This side has already appeared.

“Your Highness is right. Silla is indeed ambitious.”

"They wanted to betray the Tang Dynasty from the very beginning."

"The Queen of Silla went to the Shenwu Palace to apologize to His Highness just to paralyze His Highness."

"From now on, it seems that Your Highness is one step ahead."

Su Dingfang said lightly.

Pei Xingjian nodded in agreement: "But now, we still need to make good arrangements to prevent these people from jumping off the wall in desperation."

Su Dingfang snorted coldly: "They have no chance."

Now all the defensive points in the Silla capital have been controlled by the Tang army.

The next day, Su Dingfang directly convened a Silla court meeting.

In the main hall, a group of captured Silla officials admitted their crime of colluding with Baekje.

This matter has not yet implicated the Queen of Silla.

Su Dingfang also understood that if the Silla queen was directly deposed at this time, it would easily trigger a rebellion among Silla as a whole.

In a way, this is equivalent to clearing out the emperor's side, which is relatively easy for people to accept.

The news soon spread to Shenwu Palace.

The fifteenth day of the first month.

Inside the Shenwu Palace.

Li Chengqian showed the document sent by Su Dingfang to Jin Deman.

After reading it, Kindman was horrified.

"Your Highness, this has nothing to do with me. It's all these traitors who are secretly communicating with Baekje."

The only thing I can do is to distance myself from the matter as soon as possible.

Now Kindman feels a little regretful and comes to apologize himself.

What's the difference between this and a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth?

But for Silla, they had misjudged the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

You have to know that in many cases in the past, the emperors of the Central Plains dynasties attached great importance to their reputation. As long as they could show humility, they would be forgiven in most cases.

They thought the same of the Crown Prince of Tang.

But who knew that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was not going to let it go so easily.

“Of course I know it has nothing to do with you, but Silla’s situation is very bad now.”

"It looks like it still needs some cleaning."

"Write a letter to the ministers of Silla later and tell them to cooperate and catch all these spies."

"This will ensure that we won't be betrayed when we attack Baekje."

"Queen Seondeok, are you right?"

Li Chengqian asked with a smile, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

At this point, Jin Deman had no choice but to obey.

Jin Shengman, who was standing next to him, saw this scene and his face was filled with satisfaction.
-
Silla is finished.

Under Li Chengqian's instruction, the mission was originally just to investigate Baekje spies.

However, the scope of impact is becoming wider and wider as the investigation continues.

Not just in terms of espionage.

Su Dingfang also directly took charge of ordinary criminal cases.

Many old cases were brought up.

In a place like Silla, especially during the time when the queen was in power, many dirty deeds were covered up.

Corruption and bribery, disregard for human life, abuse of public power for personal gain, rampant dominance, false accusations against loyal officials, etc.

This is how the dynasty era was.

Many things, once exposed to the sun, how many can remain honest?

Even if you are a capable minister, when you have power in your hands, can you say that everything will be done in accordance with the law?

What's more, Su Dingfang used the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

For a time, the capital of Silla was in turmoil.

The cells are almost full.

Almost all the nobles and officials were arrested.

More importantly, the evidence is solid.

The Silla court meeting was deserted.

Those who can still stand in the court can be considered truly honest officials.

Just the number of people? They can be counted with two hands.

And these honest officials also knew that Silla was finished.

The same tactics that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty used in Goryeo were also used in Silla.

They calculated everything, but still couldn't figure it out.

But the law of evidence is here, and no one can come up with a reason.

When the case files were delivered to Queen Seondeok of Sinmu Palace, Kim Deokman.

She felt like the sky was falling and she collapsed to the ground.

Li Chengqian sighed a little.

The bright and clear world finally allowed Silla to see the light.

At this time, the people of Silla cheered loudly.

The grievances of so many people have been cleared.

But all the dirty water in the pool was flushed away, and the pool also dried up.
-
The 23rd day of the first lunar month, the 18th year of Zhenguan.

Li Chengqian issued another edict to the crown prince.

In view of the decline of Silla officials, a call to action is issued to all students in the Tang Dynasty.

Anyone who has made achievements can come to Silla and serve as an official.

For the seniors of Datang, this is probably the best era.

What is the purpose of studying in this era?

Just to become an official.

Realize your ambitions and govern the place.

Now, the prince has given them this opportunity.

There was no need to compete for the imperial examinations. One could just pass the simplest exam and then rush to Goryeo or Silla to take office directly.

Is there any easier way to enter the official career than now?

Goryeo and Silla, combined, had about two or three hundred cities, large and small. Officials at all levels, if all were counted, numbered at least tens of thousands.

It seemed like the students at the Imperial College were being drained out by the Crown Prince.

But who is willing to give up this opportunity?

The road from the Tang Dynasty to Goryeo and Silla is the busiest. Once you set out on the road, you will soon meet a large number of scholars traveling with you.

These people travel together with full of expectations.

Who doesn't study hard for today?

The real shortcut to Zhongnan.
-
Chang'an City.

Li Shimin was now at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

When the prince called on students to attend, all the students in the Tang Dynasty were eager to join in.

Not to mention the nearby north, students from the southern gentry also boarded the boats and ran to join the prince.

"This move of the prince is really powerful."

"I heard that even the descendants of the five surnames and seven clans went to Liaodong in large numbers."

Changsun Wuji was very emotional.

Originally, the power of the Prince of Wei's party was growing, and its influence in the Tang Dynasty was soaring. It was obviously more difficult to compete with the Prince than with the Prince of Wei.

After all, being in Liaodong is tantamount to handing over the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

But who knew that after this, the students from the five surnames and seven families couldn't help it either.

After all, we all read the books of sages, and it is our duty to share the worries of the king.

Even the respected elders in the clan have no right to stop the clan members from being promoted.

In this way, it actually dealt a blow to the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

A large number of clan members left the area, thus weakening their influence on the local area.

But it is the general trend.

"It does seem like cutting off the source of the trouble."

Li Shimin nodded in agreement.

This was a huge blow to the Five Surnames and Seven Families. To become an official, they had to prepare investment banking papers. They controlled the power to select officials, and hindered the advancement of students from poor families.

However, the prince took a different approach and bypassed the imperial examination.

But given the current situation, even the most virtuous and learned people cannot find any reason to complain.

This is the merit of education.

The Tang Dynasty had no way to provide so many officials to Goryeo and Silla, so it was reasonable for the prince to lower the threshold for selecting officials.

Who asked the aristocratic families to monopolize knowledge and raise the prices of books, resulting in so few readers in the world?

"It's just that the number of officials appointed by the Crown Prince is a little too much."

"According to what the Crown Prince has said, there is still a shortage of more than 13,000 officials in Goryeo and Silla."

"Looking at our Great Tang, there are only about 7,000 officials across the country."

Fang Xuanling spoke.

Later Western economics advocated "small government, big society."

This version from the Tang Dynasty seems to be very consistent.

Li Shimin can be regarded as one of the most astute rulers in history. He let the rich pay to support officials and the local governments pay to support the army. In this way, the financial expenditure of the court became very small, and the concept of "small government" came into being.

After Li Yuan founded the country, he abolished all taxes on mountains and lakes and salt. The salt, iron, and wine industries that were previously monopolized by the state were all allowed to be operated by the people. In terms of agricultural tax, the tax in the Tang Dynasty was 1/50, which was much lower than the 1/30 in the Western Han Dynasty. The corvée was 20 days per year, which was also less than the previous dynasty.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he issued an edict that month to close all checkpoints east of Tongguan to allow the free flow of goods.

During the Tang Dynasty, the levy of commercial taxes was also stopped.

The central government of the Tang Dynasty implemented the six-department system, which was seven fewer departments than the thirteen-department system of the Han Dynasty. This was a major departmental streamlining. Li Shimin used very few officials. During the Zhenguan period, the number of civil and military officials in the central government was as low as 643, and there were only more than 7,000 people in the whole country. This should be the dynasty with the fewest people in history.

Officials in the Tang Dynasty could receive a piece of "job land" according to their official rank, and also permanent land. Even officials of the eighth or ninth rank could receive two hectares of permanent land. In addition, they could receive an annual salary. Even to support those hundreds of officials, Li Shimin was reluctant to pay from the treasury, and he came up with a very strange "public office money system".

It means to levy taxes on large households in a targeted manner to support officials.

As early as the time of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan, the imperial court conducted an asset inventory of wealthy businessmen throughout the world, dividing them into three categories based on the amount of their assets - later it was changed to nine categories, and it was stipulated that "a list should be drawn up every year, and a register should be drawn up every three years."

On the premise that the number of people had been basically determined, in the 5th year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin issued an edict allowing each of the more than 4 government offices in Chang'an to select nine merchants who were "capable of estimating and trading and had sufficient wealth at home", known as "money-catching officials". Each of them would be loaned 4.8 coins of "public money" for commercial activities, with a monthly interest of coins, or coins a year. Calculated based on simple interest, the annual interest rate was about %.

This is equivalent to requiring the 700 richest families in Chang'an City to pay a considerable amount of "special tax" every year.

In fact, the government's public funds were only nominal, while the interest paid was real money. This policy was soon implemented in all states across the country.

In order to encourage merchants to accept the public fund system, Li Shimin specially set up 7,000 grassroots official positions across the country. As long as they paid taxes for one year, a family could send one person to be an official. However, the term of office was only two years, after which they would be replaced by other tax-paying "households".

Although no commercial tax was levied, this method was a disguised way of taking money from big merchants and could be considered another form of collecting commercial taxes.

However, now the prince has issued an edict to directly recruit tens of thousands of officials. The meaning here is that different people have different opinions.

When Li Shimin heard this, his expression darkened slightly.

Fang Xuanling's words made Li Shimin think of many possibilities.

The prince wanted to directly appoint officials in Goryeo, which was twice as many as the officials in the entire Tang Dynasty. Was it just to better govern Goryeo and Silla?

According to the current situation, will the prince recruit more officials after conquering Baekje?

All the scholars in the Tang Dynasty went to work as officials for the prince.

So does that mean the prince can set up a court with more officials than the Tang Dynasty court at any time?

The intention behind this is really hard to predict.

Changsun Wuji looked at Fang Xuanling deeply.

This will cause trouble for the prince.

No wonder.

Now, the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats have all become dependent on the King of Wei. Fang Xuanling was born in the Qinghe Fang family, and his wife is the legitimate daughter of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats. At this time, even if he wanted to sever ties with them, it would be impossible.

Many times, many choices are beyond our control.

But on this matter, Changsun Wuji didn’t know what to say.

However, Wei Zheng stood up.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, just over 10,000 officials is far from enough."

"Goryeo, Silla, Baekje, and the entire Liaodong area may need at least 30,000 officials."

Although Wei Zheng was also born into a noble family, unlike the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, his family had long since fallen into decline and he rose to power entirely by relying on his own talent.

Moreover, he is upright by nature and in most aspects, he always stands from the perspective of the country.

If it were not for this, Li Shimin would not have been able to endure Wei Zheng's advice for so many years.

"Wei Qing, tell me, why do we need so many officials?"

Li Shimin frowned and asked.

Wei Zheng explained: "Your Majesty, Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje are completely different from our Tang Dynasty."

"Most of the people in these places do not speak Chinese, and a large number of nobles have been tried by the prince. This requires more people to educate them."

"The people of our Tang Dynasty may not be able to read, but they know something about the law, so we don't need too many officials to govern it."

"But it's different in Liaodong. What one official can do here, it takes two or three people over there to complete."

"Besides, the more scholars go there, the faster the culture of the Tang Dynasty will spread to Liaodong, and the people will come to it."

"Therefore, I suggest that we should establish more schools in the territory of the Tang Dynasty to cultivate more scholars."

"Nowadays, bamboo paper is cheap and easy to make rubbings. It is a good time to prosper our Tang Dynasty."

After Wei Zheng said this, Li Shimin's brows immediately relaxed.

I understand the prince's behavior.

There is also less fear.

(End of this chapter)