Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 198: Crown Prince
On the fifth day of the first month, the first court meeting of the new year, Li Zhi announced two major events.

First, the fifth son Li Hong was appointed as the crown prince.

As the eldest son of the queen, Li Hong had long been regarded as the crown prince by the ministers because he was smart, studious, filial and kind since childhood.

Zhangsun Wuji, Han Ai and others who might have opposed this matter also left the court one after another.

Therefore, it was natural for Li Zhi to propose that he be made the crown prince, and there was no objection in the court.

However, enthroning a crown prince is not a simple matter. The crown prince is the heir to the throne and the future emperor. He sits in the Eastern Palace and has his own small team of officials.

After Li Zhi appointed Li Hong as the crown prince, Li Ji submitted a memorial to the emperor, creating a new position of crown prince's guest, in charge of commanding and protecting attendants and giving advice.

Li Ji was making preparations for Li Zhi's future tour of the country so that more people could assist the crown prince and Li Zhi wouldn't have to worry.

Li Zhi followed his advice and appointed Li Ji as the Prince's Grand Tutor, Yu Zhining as the Prince's Grand Preceptor, and Liu Rengui, Lu Chengqing, Yan Liben, and Li Yifu as the Prince's guests.

Shangguan Yi also served as the Prince's Secretary.

In addition, outstanding talents were selected from the top three officials in each state and county to serve as officials under the prince.

Capable officials were selected from the three provinces and six ministries to enter the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince's concubine, the Crown Prince's attendant, and the Crown Prince's groom.

The three temples, including the Chancellery and the Tongjialing, were filled from the Nine Ministers. The ten prefectures, including the Zuoyoushu, were all filled by military officers from the Twelve Guards.

After some filling, the Eastern Palace was like a small court, able to handle a small part of the state affairs independently.

The changes in court officials this time can fully represent the emperor's thoughts.

The four people who served as the prince's guests were the ones most trusted by the emperor. The only surprise was that Li Yifu was among them.

The results of this court evaluation have also come out. Li Zhi no longer cares about the military faction, the aristocratic faction or the clean stream. The capable ones will be promoted and the incompetent ones will be demoted.

Some people from both the Qingliu and the aristocratic factions were demoted, and many were promoted. The divisions between factions were gradually disrupted.

The factions in the court that were originally formed because of Changsun Wuji and those that opposed Changsun Wuji have unknowingly become blurred.

The most affected are the pro-military faction. In the past two years, they have been obsessed with scheming to gain personal benefits, improve their official positions, and use public power for personal gain. Many of their actions have crossed the red line.

In the past, Li Zhi ignored them in order to maintain stability in the court.

Now that I see that they still don't know how to restrain themselves, I will no longer be lenient. Those who should be demoted will be demoted, and those who should be dismissed will be questioned.

Originally, his actions might make the court think that he was dissatisfied with the queen, so he took action against the pro-military officials.

Now that Li Hong has been appointed crown prince, the impact has been offset. The queen's position remains as stable as a rock, and the turmoil in the court has been reduced to a minimum.

The only ones who suffered were the pro-military officials.

Li Jingxuan, Xu Jingzong, Cui Yixuan and others were fine. They all did their jobs well and were not affected.

Not to mention Li Yifu, who was delighted to be appointed as the Crown Prince's guest. His future was promising and he might even be appointed prime minister soon.

Yuan Gongyu, Wang Dejian, Hou Shanye and others were all demoted, some were sent to remote areas, and some were demoted to lower ranks.

Yuan Gongyu suffered the most. When he was the Zhongcheng of the Dali Temple, he offended many people, and he also impeached Pei Xingjian in the court.

Pei Xingjian did not forget this incident. Although Empress Wu was the mastermind behind this incident, Pei Xingjian had already eased his relationship with her.

Now that Empress Wu had almost cut off contact with Yuan Gongyu, Pei Xingjian was no longer polite and submitted a memorial to impeach Yuan Gongyu.

Li Zhi naturally attached great importance to Pei Xingjian's memorial. In order to let him do his job well in Anxi, he ordered Yuan Gongyu to be demoted from Chang'an and appointed as the county magistrate of a small county.

Yuan Gongyu had no choice but to go to Li Yifu's mansion and plead with him.

Li Yifu did not refuse him entry, but ordered someone to invite Yuan Gongyu into the study.

"Brother Li, I'm really desperate and can only come to you for help. I hope you will help me for the sake of my reminder."

At the beginning, Li Yifu offended Changsun Wuji and was almost banished from Chang'an by Changsun Wuji.

Fortunately, Yuan Gongyu reminded him, and Li Yifu pledged allegiance to the emperor overnight and was kept in Chang'an by Li Zhi.

Li Yifu poured him a cup of tea and sighed, "Brother Yuan, it's not that I don't want to help you. The political situation is turbulent now, and everyone is in danger. I have a hard time protecting myself, so I really can't protect you."

This is obviously an excuse.

Even if others could not protect themselves, Li Yifu's new prince's guest would definitely not be among them.

Yuan Gongyu gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Li, I know you're holding a grudge against me for not speaking up for you when you requested changes to the clan history at the court meeting that day."

Li Yifu picked up the teacup, blew a puff of hot air, and said lightly: "Then tell me yourself, were you unkind in that matter?"

Yuan Gongyu sighed deeply and said, "Indeed, I was in my old age at the time. Seeing you and Prime Minister Li being attacked by so many people, I was frightened and cowered. I have nothing to say." Li Yifu glanced at him and said, "Brother Yuan, you are so honest. At least you still consider me a friend. Don't worry, I can't protect you now, but when the time is right, I will find a way to transfer you back to Chang'an."

Yuan Gongyu said no more, cupped his hands, and said, "I'll rely on Brother Li for everything."

After turning around and walking a few steps, Yuan Gongyu suddenly turned around and said, "Brother Li, there is something I want to tell you."

"please say."

Yuan Gongyu said, "Xu Jingzong seems very dissatisfied with you. I once had a heart-to-heart talk with him, and he said you are very scheming and told me to be careful of you."

A cold light flashed in Li Yifu's eyes, and he said, "Thank you for telling me. I'm afraid he hasn't just told you these words."

Yuan Gongyu said, "I don't know about the others. Goodbye." He left quickly.

After Li Zhi's indiscriminate relocations, the pro-military faction fell apart and this small group no longer existed.

Li Yifu also fell out with Xu Jingzong because of Yuan Gongyu's words. The two people who were originally close became like enemies.

Li Zhi no longer had the patience to maintain the balance in the court.

Time was limited. During these three years, he not only had to deal with the Tubo issue, but also planned to push forward several important reforms as soon as possible.

The first is the land system.

The land system of the Tang Dynasty was the equal-field system. This system, together with the Tang Dynasty's military system, contributed to the strength of the Tang Dynasty.

However, Li Zhi was very clear that land annexation would be inevitable in the later stages of the dynasty.

Land annexation in other dynasties affected the economy, but it was different in the Tang Dynasty. With the disintegration of the equal-field system, the military garrison system also collapsed. Therefore, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty could never recover.

In fact, land annexation had already become very serious in the later years of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

After the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Wu Meiniang let herself go and only cared about expanding her male favorites. The nobles were rampant, and the guards were borrowed by the aristocratic bureaucrats for private service, which led to the social disgrace of serving as a palace soldier.

In fact, even if Wu Meiniang had not become senile in her later years, the palace soldiers were bound to destroy it.

Because the military system could not afford too frequent wars, nor could it fight long-term battles.

After all, the government soldiers are farmers. If they are forced to fight all the time, they will sooner or later become resentful, and it will also affect farming.

It would be wise to transition to a recruitment system as soon as possible while the government soldiers remain before they collapse.

The fubing system is linked to the equal-field system, so before modifying the military system, the field system must also be modified.

Li Zhi didn't need to think too much and copied the answer from later generations and adopted the land rental system.

In fact, the land systems of all dynasties have been pursuing the same goal, which is to maximize land output and make the country strong.

In the process of pursuing this goal, those in power will find that only by giving the land to the people to cultivate themselves will they have the greatest enthusiasm.

However, the common people are a vulnerable group after all, and their land will eventually be taken over by the powerful and wealthy.

The powerful and wealthy exploited the people by collecting rent and lived a comfortable life until the dynasty was overthrown. They were then killed by the people who rose to power and started the next dynasty.

In other words, the biggest enemy of the land system is land annexation.

Giving the land to the people is good, but they cannot keep it, so the land rental system was born.

The land was rented to the people at a symbolic price for a period of seventy years.

The people can farm the land for their entire lives, and the land belongs to the country. The people cannot sell it, and the powerful and wealthy cannot seize it.

Li Zhi didn't know whether the land rental system would be destroyed one day, but at least it was safer than the equal-field system.

First change the land system, then change the tax system, and finally change the military system. This was the plan that Li Zhi originally intended to implement slowly.

Now we have to speed up.

Having said that, implementing the first step of the land rental system will certainly encounter great obstacles.

Li Zhi's starting point was good. He hoped that the people could all have land to farm, but the people did not know his thoughts and they would not think that way.

They would feel that they were cultivating their land well, but the imperial court suddenly wanted to take it away. This didn't make sense, so how could they just sit there and do nothing?
If it is not handled properly, there may be chaos in the world.

At noon that day, Li Zhi summoned ministers including Liu Rengui, Lu Chengqing, Yan Liben, Du Zhenglun, Xin Maojiang, and Shangguan Yi to Ganlu Palace, wanting to discuss with them how to smoothly implement the land rental system.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he proposed the land rental system, he was immediately opposed by his ministers.

(End of this chapter)