Luoyang, Xijing.
Hundreds of officials, large and small, and garrisoned soldiers and horses, as well as thousands of people, were waiting outside the city. After all, this is the terminal station of the Emperor's Western Tour, so a decent pick-up ceremony is necessary.
In the welcoming team, the people were numb, the army was indifferent, and the officials were hesitant, but there was not much joy. Along the way, Liu Chengyou was demoted and killed, and his reputation had spread.
The leader was Li Congmin, Duke of Ju, who was left behind. He stood at the front, looking eastward. At the end of his line of sight, he could vaguely see the dragon flags and banners. Li Congmin is about to enter the age of knowing his destiny, but he looks abnormally old, and his appearance looks far beyond his age.
His expression was very serious. After all, he had a special status. He was a member of the former imperial clan. When he was appointed by Liu Zhiyuan to stay in Xijing, it was just a move to appease people's hearts. Now that there is a new emperor, it is unknown what attitude he will have toward him.
Moreover, it was during this time that he offended Prime Minister Su Fengji. But this time, the emperor was touring the west, and Su Fengji was ordered to accompany him, so he couldn't help but worry about his retaliation. The emperor had dealt with so many officials during this trip, and Li Congmin didn't think he had a clean butt.
"Is this Luoyang?" Liu Chengyou's tone was filled with surprise when he slowly turned to the south gate of Luoyang and looked at the city of Luoyang.
In consideration of the old minister, Feng Dao was called to chat with Liu Chengyou on the imperial chariot. At this time, they looked at Luoyang City together and sighed deeply: "Exactly. I haven't been to Xijing for many years, and the old minister feels strange."
Liu Chengyou's emotion was not that he was surprised by the majesty of the city, but that the city seemed too old and decayed. The city is naturally a majestic city. After all, the thousand-year-old ancient capital has profound heritage and vast city walls that even Tokyo and Kaifeng cannot compare to. However, there is no "life" in Tokyo.
"My lord, Li Congmin, who is staying in Xijing, leads all the yamen, generals, ministers and people in Xijing to welcome the emperor!" When the emperor approached, the civil and military forces in Luoyang, led by Li Congmin, all came to greet him.
Liu Chengyou got out of the car, stood on the shaft, and looked around condescendingly. My first impression of Xijing officials is: Why are there so many officials!
There are too many people, and Liu Chengyou is sure that most of them are empty-handed. After this tired dynasty, I don’t know how many old ministers of lords have been produced, but now they are all taken over by the Han Dynasty. After all, they have to win people’s hearts, just like retaining a large number of later Jin officials in Tokyo. A truth.
After glancing at the officials who were bowing their heads and looking at the people "swarming" around them, there was no scene of people eager to pay homage to you. The atmosphere seemed very solemn and somewhat depressing.
Liu Chengyou didn't say much. He just ordered people to pass on the edict, asking the officials and people in Tokyo to exempt themselves from the courtesy and issue an edict to the people.
"I have repeatedly issued orders. There is no need to pay homage, and it is strictly forbidden to disturb the people. This Luojing official is still making such a big noise. Is he trying to do something, invite favors and flattery?" Liu Chengyou said calmly when entering the city.
Feng Dao was sitting next to him with his butt stretched out, and his face twitched when he heard this. He felt that Liu Chengyou's treatment was a little too strict. If he really didn't want to disturb the people, he, the emperor, should not go out on patrols, and should just stay in the palace and rule. , will definitely not disturb the public.
Of course, this is just a slander in the old fox's heart. He won't say it at all, and he won't even show it in his expression. After thinking for a while, he softly comforted: "Luoyang is also the capital of the country. Now that His Majesty has arrived, the ministers and people are welcoming him with joy, as if they are looking forward to the rain. I think it is from the bottom of his heart..."
Liu Chengyou didn't take Feng Dao's words seriously, but he didn't say anything more. Logically speaking, Luoyang civil and military officials should be respectful and respectful in order to please Liu Chengyou. However, this violated Liu Chengyou's previous orders. This makes Liu Chengyou feel a little complicated. Of course, he also knows that he should not appear too harsh...
Tianjie, which runs through the north and south of Luoyang, is still as wide, but it looks much messier. When you experience Luojing personally, you can find that there are too many signs of disrepair inside and outside the city.
Entering the Ziwei Palace and the Imperial Palace, he accepted the congratulations from Luoyang civil and military officials. This was the first time that the civil and military officials in Luoyang met Liu Chengyou, the emperor, and it was also the first time that Liu Chengyou met them. Here, it is almost a small court. Even if Liu Chengyou is managing the political world in Luoyang, there seems to be no problem. All civil and military officials will come when they are called...
According to the speech prepared in advance, Liu Chengyou spoke without much emotion. It probably just expounded the purpose of the Western Inspection to reassure the people, persuade farmers, and inspect the government. It also briefly explained the "rectification actions" along the way, and also gave some comforting words. As for how much comforting effect it had, it is unclear. Got it.
Luoyang Palace was in ruins, and the Xijing government had no spare time to repair it. There was not much jade or jade left in the palace. It is said that it was looted by the Khitans during the previous visit to the Pingling Mausoleum in Beidi. However, Liu Chengyou doesn't pay attention to these things, as long as he can live there.
The first thing Liu Chengyou did after settling down was to summon Li Shaoyou and listen to his report. Before coming to the west, Liu Chengyou sent him, a military envoy, to personally lead the team to Xijing to investigate the situation secretly.
The situation reported by Li Shaoyou made Liu Chengyou extremely angry.
The situation in Luoyang can actually be summed up in one word: completely divided.
Whether they are the new rich of the current dynasty, old ministers of the previous dynasty, or officials from other towns, they basically have properties in Luoyang.
Take Su Fengji as an example. After entering the Central Plains, he sent a group of servants to occupy land and houses in Luoyang. In the past year, there have been five Su residences in Luoyang City and more than ten manors around Luoyang, each controlling more than 50 hectares of land belonging to Su Fengji...
This is just Su Fengji's family. The courtiers in Tokyo have learned from it to some extent. Even Yang Bin, who has always been known for his integrity, has two mansions in Luoyang City, and he also has a share of the land around Luoyang. It is said that Yang Bin's sons sent someone to set it up.
There are as many officials in Tokyo as there are in Luoyang. The city of Kaifeng is at the foot of the emperor, so not many people dare to act recklessly, but it is different here in Luoyang.
Based on various information, it can be roughly estimated that about 80% of the land around Luoyang is occupied by officials of all sizes. As for Li Congmin's farmland expansion in Xijing, it was only a small scale.
This has led to a problem, that is, the problem of hidden households. Just having land is not enough. They have to find someone to farm it. Therefore, a large number of ownerless farmers have become their tenant farmers, and they are likely to be "volunteered" "of.
After all, the policy of the imperial court is that as long as you register in the register, you can get your own land. However, policies also need to be implemented by people, and the people who implement them are basically the bureaucratic class who occupy the land.
It seems to be a vicious cycle.
The refugees in various places should be farmers who were assigned land by the imperial court and paid taxes and grain for the imperial court! In the feudal era, homesteaders were the main source of the imperial government's finances and taxes.
In this era, the population was sparse, the land was vast and sparsely populated, and there were basically no major conflicts on the land. However, this abnormal merger phenomenon in Luoyang made Liu Chengyou extremely frightened. He seemed to see a scene where the rich had a lot of hope, while the poor had no hope.
Of course, this is not the case across the country. Luoyang has its own particularities. However, if such a situation is not suppressed, once it spreads, the country will inevitably be unstable. Thinking further, as long as peace is restored in the world and the population enters a stage of rapid growth, within a few decades, it is estimated that the entire country will quickly fall into the vicious circle of land conflicts.
