Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 249 Li Yifu is appointed Prime Minister again
After the court meeting, the ministers went to their respective offices.

Although there were no major personnel changes at this court meeting, it made all the ministers understand that the emperor was very determined to reform.

The land system was just the beginning. Today's dispute over corvee labor is actually a prelude to tax reform.

Li Yifu always acted according to the emperor's mood. He would support whatever reforms the emperor wanted to make.

Originally, he thought that abolishing corvee labor today would be very difficult, and he even prepared a set of arguments to help Changsun Quan.

Unexpectedly, Changsun Quan convinced all the opponents with just a few words. It seemed that he had already prepared everything, and things went very smoothly.

This made all his painstaking preparations over the past few days go to waste.

After he returned to the Secretariat, he immediately sent someone to invite Zhang Jianzhi over.

Zhang Jianzhi also attended the court meeting just now.

He saw everything that happened in the court, and without Li Yifu's explanation, he guessed Li Yifu's intention of calling him over.

"Mr. Li, are you here to discuss tax reform with me?" Zhang Jianzhi asked after entering the office.

Li Yifu gestured for Zhang Jianzhi to sit down and said with a smile, "That's right, Jianzhi. You saw what happened at the court meeting just now. I don't believe that Zhang Sunquan could push for tax reform so easily without someone guiding him."

"Do you suspect that His Majesty is standing behind him?" Zhang Jianzhi raised his eyebrows.

Li Yifu whispered, "When His Majesty appointed him as the magistrate of Lucheng County, it was probably for this day."

Zhang Jianzhi pondered for a moment and whispered, "According to what you said, when Your Majesty was suppressed by Zhangsun Wuji, he might have already planned everything."

Li Yifu's eyes lit up and he said, "You and I have the same idea, otherwise the reform wouldn't be so fast and the arrangements wouldn't be so detailed."

Zhang Jianzhi said slowly, "Although the effects of your majesty's current reforms are not yet visible, it is clear that you are wholeheartedly committed to making the country a better place."

Li Yifu said, "That's natural, so you and I should support Your Majesty. I intend to submit a new tax system proposal. What do you think?"

In fact, since the land system reform last year, ministers have successively submitted memorials proposing to amend the tax system.

The emperor neither supported nor opposed it.

None of the ministers understood the emperor's thoughts, and seeing that the emperor did not express any opinion, they gradually stopped submitting memorials.

At this court meeting, every minister finally understood that the emperor had no reaction before because he wanted to solve the problem of corvée first for today's court meeting.

Corvée labor was originally part of the tax system. Now that the major part has been resolved, the remaining tax system reform plans must naturally be promoted as well.

Zhang Jianzhi said sternly, "Mr. Li, how do you plan to revise it?"

Li Yifu said, "From the attitude Your Majesty has previously expressed, it seems that you don't want to increase taxes, but rather want to simplify the tax system. So, how about exchanging all the collected millet, silk, cloth, and hemp for copper coins, and collecting them once a year?"

The rent and labor regulations of the Tang Dynasty stipulated that regardless of the amount of land or property, the same amount of taxes had to be paid per person.

Among them, two stone of millet is called rent; twenty meters of silk, twenty meters and five feet of cloth, and three pounds of hemp are called taxes; twenty days of corvée labor is the regular labor, and silk and cloth can be used instead of labor service, which is called labor service.

However, to replace twenty days of regular labor with silk cloth would require six zhang of silk, which was a huge burden and difficult for ordinary people to afford.

Since the emperor abolished corvee labor, labor service no longer existed, and only rent and tax remained, both of which were collected in kind.

The collection of silk, millet, and labor service was the responsibility of the county lieutenant, who would begin collecting them in August and ship them to the capital or designated locations in September. Rent, on the other hand, would begin shipping in November, after the harvest.

If you use coins uniformly, there is no need to collect it twice, just once a year, which is convenient and simple.

Zhang Jianzhi said in a deep voice, "Mr. Li, I think this is inappropriate."

Li Yifu was stunned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "According to the original tax collection method, the people only need to pay a portion of their output to the court, which is not too troublesome. If we change to collecting copper coins, the people will have to convert all their grain and cloth into copper coins, which will be much more troublesome for them."

Li Yifu frowned and said, "There are grain merchants in every county. We can just transport the grain and sell it there. How much trouble can it be?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "Mr. Li, think about it. When the grain merchants see so many people coming to sell their grain, will they still accept the original price?"

Li Yifu was startled and fell silent. Zhang Jianzhi said, "People are easily deceived when dealing with merchants. When the court collects the same taxes, the people will have to pay more grain, and all the profits will go to the merchants."

Li Yifu asked, "Then, in your opinion, should we accept the real thing?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "I think we can find a compromise. The people can just pay in kind and let the local officials exchange it for copper coins. This way, they won't suffer any loss."

Compared with merchants, the common people are a vulnerable group, while the officials are the opposite. No matter how bold the merchants are, they dare not take advantage of the court.

Li Yifu nodded and said, "Then let's do as you say and submit a petition."

That night, Li Yifu wrote a memorial and sent someone to deliver it to Ganlu Palace the next day.

Other officials followed his example and submitted memorials one after another, which greatly increased the workload of Gao Youdao and others in the left side hall.

Not only that, because Li Zhi issued an edict, all memorials related to the land system and tax system should be sent directly to the main hall.

Li Zhi's dragon desk was piled with memorials for the first time in a long time.

In order to prevent his headache from getting worse, he did not dare to overwork himself and only dealt with it for two hours every day.

It took him five full days to read through all the memorials.

Among them, Li Yifu's memorial was the one he liked the most.

That morning, he called Li Yifu over.

"Mr. Li, I have read the memorial you submitted. You have considered the difficulties faced by ordinary people in exchanging grain, which shows your concern for people's livelihood. I am very pleased."

Li Yifu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. On my days off, I like to go to the farmhouses outside Chang'an and talk to the villagers, so I am quite familiar with their situations."

Li Zhi said, "You have a good habit. The Secretariat has always been short of a Minister of the Central Secretariat, and Yan Liben needs to take care of the Ministry of Works as well. I think you can fill the position."

Li Yifu was overjoyed and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "There's no rush for tax reform. Once the land system reform is fully implemented and there are no problems, we can slowly push it forward. You can prepare first, and then you can take charge of this matter!"

Li Yifu said excitedly: "I obey your order!"

The decree appointing Li Yifu as prime minister was not issued until two days later.

When the ministers learned that he had been appointed prime minister again, they were all very surprised. They asked around and found out that he had been appointed prime minister again because he had catered to the emperor's wishes on the issue of tax reform.

After Xu Jingzong learned about this, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He had never been appointed as prime minister once, but Li Yifu had been appointed as prime minister twice. Comparing them was really infuriating.

The results of last year's official evaluation have also come out. In addition to Li Yifu's official position change, many other officials' positions have also changed.

Du Zhenglun was promoted to the position of Zhongshu Shilang, Changsun Quan was appointed as the magistrate of Wannian County, Du Yijian and Lu Zhaolin were finally promoted to higher positions, and Yuan Wanqing and Guo Zhengyi were also promoted one level each.

Xue Yuanchao was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Li Yuanfang was promoted to the rank of General of the Internal Guard.

In addition to the changes in officials' positions, the promotion of an official also caused quite a stir.

The person who was promoted was Du Fu. He had worked as a clerk in the Secretariat for less than a year when he was promoted to proofreader in the Chongwenguan.

Although the emperor had slowed down the promotion process for officials, Du Fu's promotion speed was faster than the top three in the imperial examinations during the same period, which was truly astonishing.

The officials just thought that it was Zheng who made the effort behind the scenes. After all, Concubine Zheng had sent someone to take care of Du Fu.

Only Gao Youdao knew that Du Fu was promoted because he assisted the Internal Affairs Office in gathering information about the Arab Empire.

At the beginning of January, the changes in officials also brought a new trend to the Tang Dynasty government.

However, what is disturbing is that more than half a month has passed since the end of December last year, and there has been no new military intelligence from the front line.

Did the Subi tribe capture the city of Lhasa?
Is Lu Dongzan still blocking Xue Rengui's army, or has he already withdrawn his troops to provide support?
There is also the battlefield in the north, where the war between Qinling and the Arabs has been decided. What actions will Su Dingfang take?
The joy and bustle of the day gradually faded away, and what lay ahead was the outcome of the war with Tubo, which would determine the future of the Tang Dynasty.

Just as Li Zhi and his ministers were becoming increasingly anxious, an urgent military report from eight hundred miles away arrived in Chang'an City along with the postman.

(End of this chapter)