"It's okay to say it, Gongyan. I'm listening."
Jiang Wan was one of the few civil servants in the court who could make Li Shimin favor him. Seeing Jiang Wan in the imperial court, Li Shimin felt more at ease.
"I believe that this matter is so harmful and influential that it must be investigated strictly. However, the identity of the assassin and the confession that I don't know whether it is a lie are not enough to convict anyone.
In my opinion, since there is only evidence about the locals of Yizhou in this matter, it is just right to leave the matter to the Yizhou princes to investigate and agree on a time limit. If nothing is found by then, there is no need to accuse the Yizhou princes. Late. "
Ever since he heard the battle report, Jiang Wan had roughly made up his mind and knew that His Majesty was more concerned about countering the rebellion and promoting his cronies.
In order to let His Majesty go all out to deal with the counter-insurgency first, Jiang Wan could only give His Majesty a compromise suggestion, to postpone the assassination matter, but not to let the Yizhou princes escape easily.
When Li Shimin heard Jiang Wan's words, he finally felt at ease. It was not that he had not thought of it, but that the obstruction of Guan Tong's suppression of the rebellion had a great impact on Li Shimin.
"What Gongyan said is very much in line with my opinion. Lords of Yizhou, how long do you think it will take to give me an answer to this matter?"
After discussion with Li Fu, Du Qiong, Zhang Biao, Qiao Zhou and other leading figures in Yizhou, Du Qiong came out and reported back:
"Your Majesty, I believe that within one month, I will be able to give you a satisfactory answer."
Li Shimin hesitated slightly, then said in a deep voice: "January? Are you planning to use this month to plan a few more assassinations? Three days at most, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"This... Your Majesty, although Yizhou is only one state, but such a matter has no beginning and no end, I'm afraid it will be difficult to investigate..."
"Huh? Is it possible that you want to resist the decree?"
"Ten days! Your Majesty, I will give you an answer within ten days!"
Li Shimin said with satisfaction: "You said this yourself, then ten days. After ten days I will have a convincing result, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Du Qiong and other Yizhou nobles knew that they had given His Majesty the upper hand again, but the words had already been spoken and everyone had no choice but to accept them.
Now that things were over, Li Shimin had no intention of playing with the ministers anymore. He signaled to Huang Hao to announce his resignation, and he went to the study.
"Huang Hao, please invite Jiang Wan, Huo Ge, Deng Zhi, and Zong Yu to meet me in the study."
As soon as he arrived at the study, Li Shimin asked Huang Hao to call several courtiers from Jingzhou in Beijing.
Huang Hao took the order and ordered the eunuchs to invite several courtiers respectively.
After a while, several people arrived one after another.
When the guests and hosts were seated, Huang Hao closed the door and stood outside.
Li Shimin looked at the Jingzhou faction officials and was thinking about how to start today's conversation.
The news from Guantong made Li Shimin feel uneasy, and he had to put forward the advanced system of the previous life to solve the current problem in advance.
The large amount of land and population in the hands of the gentry restricted Li Shimin's performance to a certain extent.
In addition, the military service system at this time resulted in relatively low morale and combat effectiveness of the army, and it was extremely difficult for the imperial power to launch a large-scale campaign without the support of aristocratic families.
"I really can't figure out some questions. You are all the pillars of the country. I believe you can answer my questions."
Li Shimin said lightly while flipping through the bamboo slips in his hand casually.
"I will tell you everything I know, but I don't know what is on your Majesty's mind?"
Jiang Wan had the highest status among several people, so he responded to His Majesty on behalf of several people.
"I would like to know what do you think of the fact that Guan Tong's suppression of the rebellion was hindered?"
Li Shimin hoped that the suppression of the rebellion would lead to some of his assumptions about the current system in Shu.
"I think this matter should be looked at from two aspects.
First of all, in the land of Shuzhong, except for the barbarian troops set up by the prime minister in the past, most of the main military households and recruited soldiers came from Shuzhong. Although the late emperor brought some troops from the north and Jingzhou, the move was long and the number was far from enough to support the army.
What happened today is nothing more than that the foreign soldiers are tired of fighting and the local soldiers are timid. Moreover, His Majesty has been continuously suppressing the Yizhou nobles in recent days. If any nobles secretly cause harm, it will be more difficult to suppress the rebellion. "
Li Shimin nodded and motioned for Jiang Wan to continue.
"Is this the second point? Yizhou has more than 200,000 registered households and a population of less than one million. However, with less than one million people, it has to support 100,000 Northern Expedition soldiers and tens of thousands of central and local officials.
This was due to the geographical location, so whenever there was a war in the country, the court had to rely on the support of aristocratic families. The resources in His Majesty's hands are indeed running low. "
Li Shimin looked at the others and asked harmoniously: "Do you have any other opinions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Then let me ask you again, if the counter-rebellion is successful, what do you think should be done with the land and population occupied by the rebels?"
After hearing this, several people were slightly surprised. They did not expect that counterinsurgency was only the first of many things that His Majesty was concerned about.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the merits of the late emperor, the elders, and the princes of Jingzhou are all outsiders and have no roots in Shu.
If the suppression of the rebellion goes smoothly, your Majesty should give priority to rewarding the veterans and the princes of Jingzhou for their meritorious service. In this way, we outsiders will have a foundation, which will be of great benefit to your Majesty without any harm. "
Seeing that Jiang Wan had no intention of answering, Zong Xuan spoke out the thoughts of the Jingzhou nobles on Jiang Wan's behalf.
Li Shimin was a little disappointed, but he didn't expect that he would eventually be unable to escape a "force that strengthens his family."
The princes of Jingzhou may openly think about the merits of the elders, but in fact they still consider themselves first. Apart from a few junior descendants of the northern elders of the late emperor in the court, how many of them are still alive?
However, Li Shimin was only slightly disappointed. This answer was within the range of his expectations.
"Then let me ask you again, if I want to sacrifice the interests of some aristocratic families to strengthen the country. When the time is right, I will send troops to the Northern Expedition or the Eastern Expedition. At that time, I will divide part of the land and population gained and give it back to the major families. Please wait. Do you think it’s possible?”
After hearing this, several people were shocked. Unexpectedly, His Majesty only asked three questions to trap several people tightly, testing their minds one by one, paving the way for His Majesty's next words.
"This... our Jingzhou nobles have no roots in Yizhou, so we should share the difficulties with His Majesty. But aristocratic families such as Dongzhou and Yizhou may not agree so easily."
Since Jiang Wan and other Jingzhou nobles roughly understood His Majesty's intention, they no longer had any scruples and expressed the position of the Jingzhou nobles straightforwardly.
Although they knew that the interests of the gentry were not easily touched, the princes of Jingzhou still clearly chose to stand on their side. This statement made Li Shimin satisfied.
"I've finished the questions that need to be asked. Now I will briefly talk about some of my ideas. You can just listen to them. There is no need to express my position in a hurry."
Li Shimin put down the bamboo slips in his hand and said seriously:
"I want to implement a new policy in some places in central Sichuan and transfer part of the land and population in the hands of aristocratic families to the state. The acquired land and population will form their own system.
Within the system, land was distributed according to population. Males from each household were selected to join the army and become citizens. They farmed during busy hours and practiced martial arts during leisure hours. Some of them were assigned in turn to guard Chengdu or border towns and fight in all directions during war. Do you think this is feasible? "
After hearing this, everyone was shocked! Although the method mentioned by His Majesty is somewhat difficult to implement, it happens to solve several major problems in Shu:
The land and population under the control of the imperial power are too small, the court's tax sources are insufficient, the regular army relies too much on aristocratic families for food and salary, and its combat power is relatively low...
Could it be that His Majesty was possessed by the late Emperor and the Prime Minister when he fainted from crying that day? Over the past month or so, everything His Majesty has done and every decision he has made is completely different from the image of his previous successor who "only knew how to have fun"!
Thinking of this, Jiang Wan and others couldn't help but sigh: Is it true that the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, retaking Jingzhou, and then unifying the world is no longer a dream?
"Well, you don't have to be surprised here. You should think carefully about what I say after you go back. Once I decide to implement the new policy, don't say that I didn't remind you in advance. By then, you and even the entire Jingzhou noble clan should know what to do, right?"
Several people nodded in agreement, thinking endlessly in their hearts, and exited His Majesty's study.
After a few people left, Li Shimin met Wu Yi, Wu Ban, Fei Yi, Dong Yun and other leading figures in Dongzhou.
Li Shimin repeated his previous remarks about the Jingzhou faction.
On the first two questions, both parties had roughly the same view. They both pointed out that the Yizhou gentry was suspected of obstructing the counter-insurgency. On the second question, the Dongzhou faction also euphemistically expressed their hope that the proceeds from the quell-rebellion would be given to the Dongzhou gentry first. mean.
When talking about the third question, the Dongzhou faction obviously hesitated. After all, most of the Jingzhou gentry are based in Jingzhou, and they don't care much about the life and death of the gentry in Shu.
The Dongzhou gentry had lived in Yizhou for a long time and had some foundation, so they did not fully agree with the idea of dividing part of the land and population into the country.
Li Shimin compared the situation with the plight of the Yizhou gentry, and at the same time used the promise of more land compensation after the Northern Expedition was successful. Finally, he even moved out to put pressure on the Queen Mother.
Finally, under Li Shimin's kindness and power, the Dongzhou gentry decided that if His Majesty implements the New Deal, they are willing to offer some advice and serve as a touchstone for His Majesty to divide the land and population of the Yizhou gentry.
On this day, in general, Li Shimin was satisfied. Except for the slight regret about the assassin, the statements of the Jingzhou and Dongzhou nobles were basically consistent with Li Shimin's advance expectations.
When everything is calm. Huang Hao suddenly reminded:
"This morning you asked your servant to arrange for Miss Zhang Er to come to see you. Previously, I saw that Your Majesty was busy dealing with the princes of Jingzhou and Dongzhou, so I didn't dare to invite you. There is nothing important at this time. Is Your Majesty okay?"
After hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but smile. He was only focusing on the New Deal today, but he forgot about his intention to promote personal guards.
"Okay, then go and invite Zhang Yan to see me."
Li Shimin thought for a moment and then added: "I allow her to bring her usual weapons to the audience."
