Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 11 These elders are really a handful.
A large figure was seen crouching by the window of Wang Xi's bedroom, peering into the room through the crack.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and gently patted the shoulder of the figure in front of the window, but the person didn't seem to react and waved the hand impatiently.

But the hand seemed a little oblivious and patted it gently again.

At this moment, the man realized what was happening and turned around abruptly. It was Sister Hua. The hand behind him quickly covered Sister Hua's mouth, making a shushing gesture.

Upon recognizing Wang Facai, Sister Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded. Wang Facai then lowered his hand, pointed to the side, and the two of them tiptoed to a corner of the courtyard.

"Sister Hua, how could you spy on Young Master's rest?"

"Why would I need to spy on him? I'm the one who changed the water when he was taking a bath. I've seen everything."

".!"

"What were you doing just now?"

"Spying."

As soon as she said it, Sister Hua realized her mistake and quickly added, "Oh! Let me finish. Do you know what the young master is doing inside the house right now?"

Wang Facai looked at Sister Hua with suspicion.

"Read a book."

"What?"

Wang Facai looked at Sister Hua in shock, then shook his head, "That's impossible."

Why would I lie to you?

Sister Hua said, "If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself."

"go!"

Is Wang Xi reading a book?

This is truly a once-in-a-century spectacle.

Wang Facai couldn't suppress his curiosity and had to go and see for himself, so the two of them went back to the window and secretly peeked inside.

Sure enough, Wang Xi was seen half-lying on the couch, holding a piece of silk covered with writing, looking at it with great fascination.

Wang Facai's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the scene before him.

After a short while, the two returned to a corner of the courtyard.

"It seems that the nameless gentleman is indeed a master. In just a few days, the young man has become so eager to learn."

Wang Facai couldn't help but sigh.

Sister Hua scoffed, "What expert? If you ask me, it was our princess who was wise and powerful, who got rid of those four little foxes."

Wang Facai looked up and said dejectedly, "You mean, Young Master would rather read books than see the two of us?"

Sister Hua was stunned.

Little did he know that this was just an accident. What Wang Xi was reading was not a book, but a notice issued by the imperial court to officials, which was the earliest official gazette, although it was not called an official gazette now.

Wang Xi wanted to learn about Emperor Xuanzong's recent movements through the official gazette, hoping to help Wang Shouyi regain some confidence.

According to the official gazette, Emperor Xuanzong's main policy focus recently has been finance. After the governance of the two virtuous ministers Yao and Song, the political situation has stabilized. However, to move to a higher level, money must be spent, making finance crucial. In contrast, during Wu Zetian's reign, she was only concerned with political struggles and basically neglected the people below. Her favorite ministers amassed land on a large scale, causing great damage to the equal-field system.

The people either sold their land or didn't get any land, but according to the rent, labor, and tax system, they still had to pay taxes, so many people ran away and became unregistered residents.

The rent-labor system implicitly contained a transaction: if you give me land, I will pay you taxes; if you don't give me land, then why should I pay taxes?

Therefore, the equal-field system strongly disliked the movement of people around. Now that the population has decreased significantly, taxes cannot be collected, the country has no money, and can do nothing to satisfy Li Longji's ambitions.

“If I remember correctly, next, Old Li will appoint Yuwen Rong as the Envoy of Land Expansion, allowing the previously fleeing people to return to their registered places of residence, giving them land, and exempting them from taxes for several years in order to restore the treasury.” Wang Xi gripped the silk in his hand, his brow furrowed with worry, and said, “Although this is not a fundamental solution, it is the most urgent task. It is precisely because of this series of policies that the national treasury is full, laying a solid foundation for the Kaiyuan era of prosperity. It is not certain that anyone else could have done better.”

If I encourage Lao Wang to interfere, it will not only affect Li Longji's reforms, but also offend Yuwen Rong, which may be a losing proposition.

However, to be honest, I just wanted to give Lao Wang some confidence, not to make him shoulder the heavy responsibility. Even if my son and I worked together, we couldn't shoulder the heavy responsibility now! So I just wanted to find a way to get Lao Wang to offer some suggestions and get some encouragement.

In this way, we can achieve the goal of not affecting the overall situation at present, while also motivating Lao Wang to strive for progress.

Sigh. It seems that tutoring one's father is no easy task!

at dusk.

Wang Xi, who was having dinner, sneaked into the study to put the notice back. But when he got to the study door, he found a candle lit inside. He wondered, "Could it be that Old Wang is reading? So diligent?"
Thinking of this, he felt a little excited. Nothing could be more gratifying than his father studying hard. A vast inheritance was within his grasp!

Just as he was about to slip away, he suddenly heard Wang Shouyi's voice from inside, "My little sister rarely asks me to deliver silk to the palace?"

what's the situation?
Wang Xi immediately stopped and listened to the window. He heard a very unpleasant rooster-like voice. "Alas, the Duke is unaware of the situation in the palace. In recent years, His Majesty advocated frugality and set an example by strictly prohibiting concubines from wearing gold and silver jewelry or silk and satin. The Empress naturally followed suit, so the Empress has lived a very simple life in recent years, as have the other concubines."

However, in recent years, Consort Wu has gained favor with the emperor, who has bestowed upon her many fine silks and jewelry. As a result, Consort Wu dresses very beautifully every day, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the other concubines, who often come to the empress to complain.

Therefore, the Empress hoped that the Duke could send some silk to the Emperor, which could then be distributed to the other concubines so that they could also have some beautiful dresses made to please him.

"So that's how it is. Please rest assured, Chen Zhongguan, I will immediately order people to prepare. In a few days, I will have someone from the Imperial Wardrobe send it in."

Wang Xi, standing outside the window, shook his head and quietly left.

Back in his room, Wang Xi lay on the couch, scratching his head in frustration. "These siblings, they really are a handful!"

Li Longji is still full of fighting spirit and striving for progress. At present, he has not yet achieved great things in both civil administration and military affairs. At this time, it is absolutely not advisable to break the rules he has set.

If we were to bring some silk into the palace to make beautiful clothes for the concubines, it would be like throwing mud at ourselves.

Yes.

Emperor Xuanzong (Li Longji) doted on Consort Wu, showering her with fine silks and satins. This was unfair, but Emperor Xuanzong was such a scoundrel that you had to swallow your anger.

Previously, Li Longji saw that Chancellor Song Jing was exceptionally talented, so he asked Song Jing to help him choose names for his thirty sons and titles for his thirty princesses.

Although it seems like a lot, judging from the results, Li Longji seems to have been a bit conservative. However, this is not a big problem, since one of the emperor's responsibilities is to have many children and produce many offspring.

The problem was that he asked Song Jing to choose two particularly beautiful names and titles from among them, implying that they should be given to his favorite prince and princess.

Song Jing, of course, did not agree and even lectured Li Longji. But this also proved that Li Longji was such a person: cold and ruthless on the one hand, but also prone to acting on emotion on the other.

However, from another perspective, it is understandable that Empress Wang did this. Although she was very virtuous, managed the harem in an orderly manner, firmly supported her husband, and was happy to live a very simple life, the concubines below her would feel dissatisfied.

We wear hemp clothes, while Wu wears silk, so we certainly can't compare to her.

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality.

Nowadays, the concubines in the harem still respect Empress Wang very much and follow her lead, so Empress Wang also has to make decisions for them.

Faced with such a scoundrel as Li Longji, Empress Wang couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she could only do this: she would use her own money to make beautiful clothes for the concubines, without using the country's money.

This is actually a compromise.

However, Wang Xi believed that this was absolutely unacceptable. Consort Wu alone would not affect the emperor's governance, but if the empress took the lead, the nature of the matter would change. This would definitely affect the outer court's view of the empress, because the outer court was currently full of capable officials who cared a great deal about this.

Empress Wang's main support currently comes from the outer court, not from Li Longji.

This is like losing the watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.

But if she didn't do it this way, it would be difficult for Empress Wang to gain the respect of the people in the harem.

The more I think about it, the more my head hurts!

(End of this chapter)