Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Based on Princess Gaoyang's understanding of Fang Yiai, the coward, she knew that even if she did not agree to his request, he would still hang out with other women in private.

It's just that now this coward has made it clear and is living with other women openly.

In addition, her mind was now full of Du He, and she had no interest in Fang Yiai who was in front of her.

Fang Yiai knew that Princess Gaoyang would definitely agree to this request, so he smiled and said.

"Your Highness, it's settled then!"

"After I finish my work, you can't do anything like that, or you'll end up with nothing!"

"Anyway, we each live our own lives and no one bothers anyone else!"

Princess Gaoyang knew that Fang Yiai was referring to the matter between herself and Master Bian Ji. Before she had taken down Du He, she was reluctant to draw a clear line between herself and Master Bian Ji.

Moreover, Master Bian Ji, who was well versed in Buddhism, elegant and handsome, was one of the few men she knew who could make her heart beat.

Princess Gaoyang glanced at him with disdain and said, "Fang Yiai, don't you think too highly of yourself?"

"With your cowardly appearance and such poor abilities, how could this princess take you seriously?"

Don't be fooled by Fang Yiai's burly appearance, he is actually a weakling, good-looking but useless.

Compared with the elegant and handsome Master Bian Ji, he is completely incomparable.

"you..."

When Fang Yiai heard that he was so unbearable in Gao Yang's heart, his face turned red instantly.

He stood up suddenly and shouted angrily: "Even if I am not very good, I am definitely better than that monk Bian Ji!"

"I'm going to go back first. Find out which two of Du He's servants they are and send someone to inform me!"

After Fang Yiai finished speaking, he did not stay in the princess's mansion for long, but left angrily with a dark face.

He could never get praise or approval from Princess Gaoyang. Only Gunali, who came from a humble background, was a considerate and good wife.

Princess Gaoyang looked at Fang Yiai's leaving back and a mocking expression appeared on her face.

After a moment, she muttered a little worriedly.

"I don't know if this loser Fang Yiai will mess things up!"

After all, Fang Yiai was going to deal with two dog slaves, who were the people of the elegant, handsome and unparalleled Du He.

If Fang Yiai fails to do her job well and ends up getting herself involved, will Du He hate her?

Thinking of this, Princess Gaoyang's beautiful face was suddenly filled with worry.

...

Ministry of Industry.

Du He frowned tightly, thinking seriously about the memorial submitted by Xue Dading, the governor of Cangzhou, on sorting out the Wudi Valley.

Yu Chang, the Minister of Works, sat on the side without saying a word.

According to Xue Dading's request, he planned to conscript tens of thousands of corvée laborers in Cangzhou as the main force for clearing the rivers and canals, and then let the court transfer tens of thousands of corvée laborers from the surrounding counties to assist.

Moreover, the work of clearing this 5-mile canal will last for five years.

But last year, when we were recruiting soldiers to conquer Goguryeo, Henan Province and Hebei Province were one of the core areas for recruiting soldiers, but there was not a single able-bodied man in ten households.

The people there have heavy corvée labor, and farming is a huge problem. If corvée labor is also imposed to clear the canals, people's lives will become even more difficult!

Cleaning the Wudi Ditch is not as simple as clearing the silt from the riverbed, but requires reinforcing special sections of the river with stones and reinforcing the river embankments on both sides.

Therefore, clearing the canals is not a simple task, but rather very hard labor.

Apart from the difficult conditions of clearing the canals in the middle of winter, the people's labor service was free of charge, without receiving a penny.

What was even more outrageous was that the people who performed such heavy labor service had to bring their own dry food and travel expenses, and even their own work tools.

Doesn't this system of corvée treat the people like animals?

After a long silence.

Du He put down the memorial and said, "Minister Yu, do you think the court should give money to the people for forced labor?"

When Yu Chang heard Du He suddenly ask this question, his heart was shocked, although he had been calm.

Could it be that Minister Du wants to cause trouble for the corvée system?

Yu Chang quickly replied: "Replying to Minister Du, for thousands of years, the imperial court has conscripted the people to perform corvée labor without paying them money."

"Besides, our Tang Dynasty only has 20 days of corvée every year, which is outside the busy farming season, so it is not too heavy for the people."

Corvée labor includes not only heavy work such as mining, building city walls, river embankments and palaces, but also assisting the government in doing work.

For example, they assisted county soldiers in patrolling the streets, served as grooms and cooks in the county government, and guarded less important warehouses for the county government.

Generally, such easy corvee labor was performed by relatives of local officials or the sons of prominent wealthy families.

Ordinary people were mostly forced to perform heavy labor such as repairing city walls and rivers.

Du He shook his head slightly and said, "Minister Yu, there are only 12 months in a year, and the people serve corvée for nearly a month."

"During this month, they did heavy hard labor and had to provide their own dry food, tools and clothes, which was a huge expense for the people."

"Besides, cleaning the canals in the cold winter is not a comfortable thing to do!"

Ordinary people wore thin linen clothes and soaked in the cold water to dig silt and carry stones to reinforce the dam. They not only worked hard but also had to pay for it themselves.

Moreover, if the people were slow in their work, they would be whipped by the government supervisors.

This heavy corvee makes people despair just thinking about it.

Yu Chang couldn't understand why Du He was so compassionate to the people. After thinking for a moment, he whispered to him.

"Minister Du, corvée labor is a major matter decided by the imperial court and cannot be easily changed."

"Besides, the beneficiaries of things like clearing the canals are the people themselves, so they are working for themselves."

"If you don't want to see the people suffer, our Ministry of Industry can do more for the people and help them plant more crops and harvest more."

He was worried that Du He would suggest to His Majesty that the law on corvee labor be changed, and he would then be besieged by court officials.

Because the biggest consequence of changing the corvée system is that the cost of the court's work will increase greatly, which will eventually drag down the country.

This is also the reason why Yu Chang, who also had good intentions, supported the corvée system.

Du He smiled and said, "Minister Yu, you don't have to worry. How dare I risk the disapproval of the world and suggest to His Majesty to change the corvée system!"

"But I think the court can pay the people some wages and provide them with food for the heavy corvée labor."

"For things like repairing canals, we can pay the people 2 cents a day and give them a meal of porridge a day!"

"In this way, the people's livelihood will be guaranteed, and there will be no worries about causing public resentment."

The heavy corvée labor was performed by the common people at the bottom of society, and people from official and gentry families could not go.

Therefore, the common people could also earn some meager money to supplement their family income while performing heavy corvee labor, which was considered a measure to benefit the people.