Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

The arrival of the Kaiyuan Prosperity made the people celebrate. The power of the foreign relatives during the Zhongzong period left behind a bunch of complicated factions, the lax local administration, and the uneven taxation made the people complain.

His first step was to crack down on the administration of officials - he dismissed more than 20 provincial governors appointed by the remnants of Empress Wei overnight, and ordered the Censorate to inspect all states with "ink edicts". Anyone found to be corrupt would be dismissed on the spot, regardless of their rank.

There was a prince of the royal family who took advantage of his seniority to hoard grain for profit. Li Longji directly stripped him of his title and distributed all the confiscated grain to the victims. The whole court immediately fell silent.

In order to rectify the official style, he personally set the performance evaluation standard of "Four Virtues and Twenty-Seven Bests", and stipulated that local officials must report to Beijing every three years, and their performance must be verified in person by the Ministry of Personnel.

Once when the Ministry of Personnel was holding an appointment, he disguised himself and sneaked in among the candidate officials. He heard someone boasting that he could "find a white deer as a sign of good fortune for Your Majesty", so he immediately lifted the curtain and rebuked him, saying, "The happiness of the people is the greatest sign of good fortune. What's the point of looking for these empty things?" He dismissed the person on the spot.

After several rounds of rectification, the previous unhealthy practices of "buying an official position with money" and "getting promoted through connections" gradually disappeared. Even the petty officials in remote counties and prefectures knew that "to be an official nowadays, you have to be able to truly serve the people."

His economic reforms were even more ambitious. He abolished the century-old "rent and labor system" and implemented a predecessor to the "two-tax system," which levied taxes based on land ownership, making it impossible for powerful landlords to conceal their land holdings.

He also ordered Yuwen Rong to preside over the "household registration" and sent officials to the countryside to check for hidden households. Within three years, more than 800,000 escaped farmers were found, which required the court to impose an additional 3 million taels of tax.

What the people praised most was the rectification of the currency system - the inferior coins minted in various places were recalled, and the Shaofu Supervisor unified the minting of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins. The coins were of pure quality, and one could be used to replace three previous inferior coins. When the merchants in the West Market saw this, they no longer had to worry about baskets of copper coins.

Under such vigorous and decisive measures, the scene of the Kaiyuan Prosperity unfolded like the tide of a spring river.

The wheat fields in the Guanzhong Plain are connected in stretches, and new curved plows shuttle between the ridges. Farm women lead oxen and can plow five acres of land in a day.

The polder fields in the south of the Yangtze River were built to the edge of Taihu Lake. Water-turbine wheels turned day and night, bringing water from low places to high places. Even the former barren land was planted with rice.

During the autumn harvest, the government's granaries were piled to the brim with grain. The old farmers touched the golden corn and smiled, "I've never seen grain overflow from the granaries in my life."

The official road from Chang'an to Guangzhou was paved with bluestone slabs. There was a post station every thirty miles and a pavilion every fifty miles. Post horses were changed frequently, so non-urgent official documents no longer needed to be transported by train.

The grain ships on the canal were connected end to end, and the watertight compartments at the bows reduced grain losses by 30%. At the grain transport ceremony at Guangyuntan, silks from Jiangnan, brocades from Shu, and lychees from Lingnan were piled up into small mountains, leaving envoys from various countries amazed.

The number of shops in Chang'an West Shopping Mall doubled compared to the Qianwu period. Persian spices, Arab gems, and Japanese folding fans were displayed on the same shop floor. Hu merchants and Han merchants bargained in Tang language, and the Kaiyuan Tongbao coins on the counter were neatly stacked.

In the night market, the sound of Hu Ji's pipa mixed with the aroma of sugar-roasted chestnuts, and even at midnight there were still people strolling around with lanterns - when the Jinwu Guards were patrolling, they would just smile and remind the people returning home late to "walk slowly", instead of locking the gates at night as before.

The Imperial College expanded its enrollment to 3,000 students, and even princes from Tubo and Silla came to study.

In the Jixian Hall, tens of thousands of copies of the "Five Classics Commentary" proofread by scholars were printed, so that students from poor families could also afford the textbooks.

Outside the imperial examination hall, candidates were discussing their "Current Affairs Policy" papers enthusiastically. A scholar from Shu said, "In the past, if a village produced a talented person, it would be boasted for three generations. Now, eight out of ten successful candidates are from farming families."

But the halo of this prosperous era gradually dazzled Li Longji's eyes.

At first, it was a matter of attention to pomp and circumstance.

He felt that Taiji Palace was not grand enough, so he issued an edict to expand Xingqing Palace. Exotic flowers and plants transplanted from Jiangnan occupied half of the palace gardens, and hundreds of gardeners were hired just to take care of these flowers and plants.

Once, a small country presented a lion to him. He ordered people to build a lion cage with gold and asked the Yuefu to compose the "Lion Dance", which was performed in the court for three whole days.

At the same time, his tolerance for advice and remonstration became increasingly low.

Zhang Jiuling once reported to the emperor that the frontier general An Lushan was plotting a rebellion, urging him to "take precautions early." However, he slammed his hand on the table and laughed, "Under my rule, the whole world is subject to me. What kind of trouble can a foreign general cause?"

Later, seeing that Zhang Jiuling always talked about "thrift" and "preventing problems before they arise", he simply found an excuse to dismiss him from his position and replaced him with Li Linfu, who only knew how to say "Your Majesty is wise".

The most obvious thing is the obsession with "auspiciousness".

The local officials understood his thoughts and reported the "growth of auspicious crops" and "falling of sweet dew". He would celebrate every time and ordered people to draw these "auspicious signs" into picture albums and send them to all countries.

One year, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong. The Jingzhao Yin lied that "rain had fallen from the sky". He actually believed it and took his ministers to Qujiang Lake for a banquet. He did not give up until he saw the people who came to pray for rain kneeling outside the palace gate.

During the banquet that day, the Pear Garden students played the newly composed "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Robe," and the dancers, draped in feathered robes, spun like the wind. Li Longji gazed at the envoys from various countries submitting outside the palace, raised his wine glass, and said with a smile, "How do my achievements compare to those of Emperor Taizong?"

Li Linfu, who was standing beside him, quickly chimed in: "Emperor Taizong brought order to the world, Your Majesty brought peace, and the prosperous era far surpassed that of the Zhenguan era!"

He was overjoyed when he heard this, but he didn't notice that the old minister below the stairs turned his head away quietly, looked at the crack on the roof of the granary in the distance and sighed softly - the crack was caused by last year's heavy rain and had not been repaired yet.

"Your Majesty, although the Kaiyuan Era far surpassed the Zhenguan Era, it is still far behind the Qianwu Era."

Zhang Jiuling said to Li Longji with a cold face.

When Li Longji heard the words Qianwu, he felt like something was stuck in his throat.

He had read about the prosperous Qianwu era in books, and that kind of prosperity made him yearn for it when he was young.

But now, he felt very unhappy.

He was different from others. Since he ascended the throne, he created the Kaiyuan prosperous era.

Doors are not locked at night, and lost items are not picked up on the road.

wise and brave

Not to mention Emperor Qianwu, even Yao and Shun were just human beings.

And he, Li Longji, is a god.

No one could ride on his head, not Taizong, not Gaozong.

What's more, the younger brother will inherit the throne after the elder brother dies.

He doesn't have Li Chengqian's blood.

"The Qianwu era of prosperity is just what is said in books. How can it compare to my Kaiyuan era of prosperity?"

"Also, from now on, call me Saint. I am the Saint of the Tang Dynasty."

"The magnificent Tang Dynasty was created by me."

When Zhang Jiuling heard Li Longji's words, he felt his heart sink.

"Your Majesty, the Qianwu period was far superior to the Kaiyuan period. If it weren't for the foundation laid by Emperor Wu, how could the Kaiyuan period have surpassed the Zhenguan period?"

"Take today's firearms, factories, and trains, for example. How much convenience have these inventions from the Qianwu period brought to our Tang Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, please do not be so ambitious. Without these things, how could there be the Kaiyuan Prosperity? Your Majesty!"