Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Li Zhi, who originally had no intention of taking the throne, became restless under the step-by-step guidance of his uncle Changsun Wuji.

My uncle once said that my father is only 46 years old and can still reign for more than ten years.

As the crown prince, he will be 27 years old this year. He may not be patient enough to wait until he is over to succeed to the throne. He may not be able to wait and make mistakes along the way.

In addition, the emperor may also feel wary of the prince's growing power.

Because the generals in the court who followed my father to conquer the world will retire and return home in more than ten years because they are too old, even if they don’t die of old age or illness.

But Xi Junmai, Xue Rengui, Pei Xingjian and others under the prince's command were only in their early 50s at most.

His biggest advantage is his youth. He is only 17 years old now, and even if he waits for more than ten years, he will only be in his early 30s.

Therefore, his uncle told him not to do anything during this period, and not to let his father and the prince see that he had ambitions. He should wait for a while and see if there is any opportunity.

Thinking of the position of emperor, Li Zhi's breathing became rapid.

At the same time, that stunningly beautiful face appeared in his mind.

Since last year's Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival, he never had the chance to see that charming woman again.

After all, the harem is where the concubines live. Except for his father and the palace maids who can enter freely, he, as a prince, cannot enter and leave at will.

"Meiniang."

Li Zhi whispered these two words, then strode away with a worried look on his face.

Inside the Manna Hall.

Li Shimin picked up the four resignation letters again. He frowned and looked at them for a long time before giving the order with a helpless look on his face.

"Draft an imperial decree to recall the four beloved ministers, Kong Yingda, Yu Zhining, Zhang Xuansu, and Li Baiyao, back to Chang'an!"

"I have another important job for you!"

Although the four ministers resigned from him because they could not stand Qingque, he did not want the scandal of his beloved son to spread, so he took the initiative to draft an edict and announce it.

"promise!"

The eunuch standing guard on the side responded, then lowered his head and walked quickly towards the Secretariat.

Li Shimin looked at the eunuch running away, then looked at the hall where only one historian was left, and his brows furrowed slightly.

In the past, when the Secretariat was staffed with four secretaries, one of them would be arranged to serve him every day, and any imperial edicts would be written on the spot.

In order to improve efficiency, a Censor from the Menxia Province would even be arranged to be in the palace to directly approve and sign the imperial edict once it was drafted.

However, after several rounds of downsizing of the bureaucracy, a large number of official vacancies remained.

Li Shimin muttered, "It's time to fill up the official positions."

The national treasury is now so full of silver that it can’t hold all the money, so filling more vacant official positions can also reduce the pressure on these officials.

...

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

When the court meeting just started, Shangshu Zuo Pushe Changsun Wuji reported an important matter.

From now on, the Tang Dynasty will issue a decree to relocate the people.

When the civil and military officials heard Zhangsun Wuji read out the rewards for the relocated people, everyone was shocked by the generosity of His Majesty.

Free houses, 30 mu of permanent farmland and 30 mu of household land for each household, free loan of oxen, etc.

In addition to giving away a lot of things for free, they even came up with an incentive policy that the more people migrated, the more rewards they would receive.

Many officials' eyes became hot and they began to discuss in low voices.

"My mother's family has a lot of poor relatives. We can ask them to move to Liaodong!"

"All people, regardless of social status, can obtain new household registration if they migrate to Liaodong. This law is brilliant!"

"The 30 mu of land given as a gift is exempt from taxes for 15 years. How is this different from giving it away for free?"

Although most officials found the decree attractive, a small number of officials still had doubts.

Only an old voice was heard coming from near the middle of the row of civil officials.

"But Liaodong is a bit far away! If we move our people there, will we not see each other once a year?"

"Besides, except for the former Baekje territory, the rest of the area is completely deserted, and you can't even buy daily necessities there."

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man's voice sounded and answered his question.

"Does it mean that you can see each other often if you live on the next state road?"

"Didn't Zuo Pushe just say that the court would attract merchants to sell goods, and the court would also open shops to sell necessities."

"Instead of letting them stay idle, it is better to expand the family!"

Except for the cold winter, the climate in Liaodong is quite pleasant in summer and autumn.

Moreover, the land there is very fertile. Although it is not as good as the heartland of the Central Plains, it is much better than the hills in Baiyue.

Living in Liaodong and farming, you won't starve to death.

The old official seemed to be convinced, and he muttered in a low voice.

"There are too many people in my family. I need to send a few more people over!"

"A family can get a house and 60 acres of land. This kind of pie-in-the-sky thing doesn't happen every time!"

Hearing the discussions of the officials behind him, Du He showed an expression of surprise on his face.

Unexpectedly, before the decree was issued to the people, these ministers were the first to get restless.

And from what they said, it seemed that these officials completely regarded the land of Liaodong as a form of enfeoffment for the kings.

If a big family migrated a large number of clansmen and servants there, wouldn't they become local tyrants?

Thinking of this, Du He suddenly thought of a group of aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty.

For example, the Hedong Pei family entrenched in Wenxi County, the entire county is basically populated by their clansmen, and all the land in the county is theirs.

To put it bluntly, the county magistrate who went to Wenxi County to take office was just an official serving the Pei family.

After Changsun Wuji finished speaking, the Minister of Revenue Tang Jian also stood up.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War have already drawn up the standards for rewards and pensions for the soldiers who participated in the Liaodong Campaign!"

Then Tang Jian read out loud the standards for rewards and pensions.

There is no problem with the reward part. It follows the previous system. The more enemies you kill and the more merits you make, the more silver you will get as a reward.

For example, killing an ordinary soldier would be rewarded with 1 coins, but killing a general would be rewarded with 100 strings of cash!

In addition to killing the enemy, being the first to reach the enemy line, breaking through the enemy lines, and capturing the flag can also earn you handsome rewards.

The Ministry of Revenue calculated the final reward step by step based on the military merit statistics provided by the Ministry of War and this reward system.

Du He muttered in his heart: "I'm afraid the reward for Xue Rengui is nearly 500 strings of silver!"

In addition to the imperial reward, Xue Rengui was rewarded 200 strings of cash in total for his contributions in attacking the two fortified cities of Baiyan and Anshi.

Therefore, after winning this battle, Xue Rengui obtained a total of 700 strings of cash!