Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

As for the other two generals who had made great military achievements, Xi Junmai and Su Dingfang, although they did not receive as much as Xue Rengui, the total amount of money each of them received was several hundred strings of cash.

After this battle, they completely transformed from an ordinary family into a small wealthy family.

With the financial rewards they received, they could buy a large house in the most prosperous areas of Chang'an City, such as Wubenfang, Pingkangfang, Xingdaofang and Buzhengfang.

After reading out the reward standards, Tang Jian immediately explained the pension standards.

When the civil and military officials heard that the pension reward was several times more generous than before, everyone's faces opened in astonishment.

The military officers showed excited smiles on their faces, while most of the civil servants frowned.

Du He and Li Chengqian looked at each other and a victorious smile appeared on their faces.

"Li Shimin is quite kind."

Looking at Li Shimin, who was full of majesty on the imperial stage, Du He praised him in his heart.

At this moment, a sudden voice suddenly rang out.

"Your Majesty, I think the pensions for seriously injured and fallen soldiers are too high!"

"Your Majesty, please revoke your order and lower the standard of pension by several percentage points!"

Hearing this dissenting voice, everyone looked in the direction where the voice came from with a puzzled look on their faces.

I saw Chu Suiliang, the Minister of Rites, holding a tablet with a serious look on his face.

Feeling the gazes of His Majesty and all the officials, Chu Suiliang's heart tightened slightly and his back was slightly sweaty.

He knew that this decree was decided by His Majesty after consultation with a group of prime ministers, but he still held the official position of Counselor, so he had to advise His Majesty.

Otherwise, once this decree is promulgated, it will be difficult to amend it later.

Before Li Shimin could reply to Chu Suiliang, Xu Jingzong, the acting Inspector of the Imperial Household, stood up and pointed at Chu Suiliang.

"Chu Suiliang, this is the decision made by your majesty and a group of ministers. Please sit down immediately!"

Xu Jingzong, one of the 18 scholars in the Qin Palace, was promoted to the position of Jieshi Zhong last year, and then participated in the writing of "Wude Shilu" and "Zhenguan Shilu".

At that time, Xu Jingzong was granted the title of Gaoyang County Man and was given 800 pieces of gifts, but his official position was not promoted any further.

When Du He was promoted from Huangmen Shilang to Minister of Works last month, Xu Jingzong, who had a long experience and outstanding achievements, was immediately promoted to Acting Inspector Huangmen Shilang.

Although he was not yet an official Imperial Court Minister, he was already performing the duties that an Imperial Court Minister was responsible for.

Chu Suiliang, who held the official title of Counselor, was also under his management.

Facing the scolding from the sinister villain Xu Jingzong, Chu Suiliang showed no fear on his face and said with a firm look in his eyes.

"Minister Xu, this decree is harmful to our Tang Dynasty and has no benefit at all. As a minister, shouldn't I advise Your Majesty?"

Xu Jingzong pondered and said, "Chu Suiliang, can you tell me what the dangers are?"

Seeing that the two subordinates were about to fight in the Taiji Hall, the chief official of the Menxia Province, Shizhong Liu Li, frowned and was about to stand up and scold them.

Just as he was about to stand up, Li Shimin, with a calm expression, slowly shook his head at him.

After learning His Majesty's intention, Liu Li could only sit there in disappointment.

Chu Suiliang said in a clear voice: "No matter whether it is the powerful Qin or the powerful Han, they did not set up pensions, and your majesty's willingness to give pensions to soldiers is already a great gift from heaven!"

"According to the previously established rules, ordinary soldiers who died in battle can receive a piece of silk cloth, which is already very fair to the soldiers."

"And now the court needs to give each ordinary soldier an additional 5000 coins. Based on 3 people, that's 15 coins!"

"Giving out so much in pensions will not only put pressure on the national treasury, but will also increase people's expectations of the court for pensions."

“If we can’t provide so much pension in the future, will the people feel resentful?”

"A little kindness will bring about a great resentment. This is an eternal truth!"

From Chu Suiliang's perspective, he considered not only the current situation, but also the long-term issues.

Now that the imperial court is wealthy, it has begun to spend lavishly. In the future, when the treasury is empty, these huge pensions will be a heavy burden.

If the pension cannot be paid at that time, the people will be dissatisfied, wouldn't that just cause trouble for ourselves?

Not to mention what will happen thousands of years later, the imperial court will definitely face relatively large wars in the next few years.

Because among so many emperors from ancient times to the present, he believes that Your Majesty is the one who likes fighting the most, and every once in a while he would lead the army out to deal with the restless alien races around.

If we play this way, no amount of money will be enough.

"you..."

Xu Jingzong pointed at Chu Suiliang and was so angry that he was speechless.

The rest of the civil officials also nodded, and they fully agreed with what Chu Suiliang said.

Even Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian and others nodded secretly.

Because Chu Suiliang's views were exactly the same as what they thought.

When the generals on the opposite side heard what Chu Suiliang said, anger showed on their faces.

Cheng Yaojin, who had a bad temper, was the first one who couldn't help himself. He stood up with his tablet in hand and started cursing.

"Chu Suiliang, you are talking nonsense!"

"The soldiers fought desperately and captured so much gold and silver for the court. What's wrong with giving them more pensions?"

"If the silver is not distributed, will it be left to rot in the treasury?"

When these civil officials asked the court for money, they were not so frugal, and most of the silver in the national treasury was squandered by them using various excuses.

Their military officers brought back so much silver for the court this time. If they don't try to use more of it on the soldiers, it will definitely be used for other things in the end.

You have to know that these civil servants have more ways to embezzle than he does with his horse lance.

When Chu Suiliang saw that the person who was speaking was Cheng Yaojin, a tough guy, his pupils shrank slightly and a bit of unnaturalness appeared on his face.

Because this old man cannot convince others with reason, he will block people after the court meeting and start a fight.

If he were to be hit by two punches, his frail body wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Just when Chu Suiliang was stunned, Han Yuan, the Imperial Censor, stood up holding a tablet.

He pointed at Cheng Yaojin with his tablet and scolded him, "General Cheng, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run the household!"

"Do you think that building roads, bridges, dealing with droughts and floods, paying salaries to officials, and manufacturing weapons all don't cost money?"

"Moreover, the construction of the newly established Liaodong Road, Sishui Road and Jincheng Road will require a large amount of silver."

"Everyone thinks the treasury looks relatively wealthy, but when it comes to actual spending, there isn't much money left!"

There was one point he did not dare to say, which was that officials in the imperial court would also embezzle large sums of money, so the existing money in the national treasury needed to be discounted.

When it comes to the issue of fiscal expenditure, even Cheng Yaojin, a tough guy, doesn't know how to respond.

Just when Cheng Yaojin was about to throw a tantrum, Li Shimin, who had been silent all this time, spoke slowly.

"Minister of Industry, tell me what you think!"