When Li Shimin heard the word "Liao Hua", he thought to himself: "Ah, if Liao Hua hadn't come to attend the New Year's Eve banquet, I might have forgotten such talented people with both civil and military skills!"
"Since General Yuanjian has suggestions, I will implement them accordingly."
Liao Hua thanked His Majesty first, and then said seriously:
“I believe that the most urgent thing we need to do in Shu right now is not how to send troops to the Northern Expedition.
As the ancients said, a country is neither always strong nor weak.
We cannot occupy a single state in the middle of Shu and think that Yizhou is weak and Wei and Wu are strong.
Your Majesty has now made Shuzhong stable and safe from all directions. It is time to vigorously develop Shuzhong.
Just in time for tomorrow's banquet, county guards and marshals from all over Sichuan will arrive.
Your Majesty should mobilize various departments to speed up the governance of prefectures and counties, replenish the national treasury, and train soldiers.
When the army is well-prepared and the country is strong, Wei Yan, Chen Dao and other generals will be sent to the vanguard.
Either unite with Soochow to move north to the Central Plains, or unite with Cao Wei to jointly map the east of the Yangtze River.
At that time, there is no need for heaven and earth to arrive, just relying on your majesty's literary, Taoist and military strategies and the strength of the country, we can defeat Chang'an, Jianye, and support the Han Dynasty! "
Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he thought to himself that he finally heard the advice he wanted.
What Liao Hua said was almost the same as what he was thinking.
From his own point of view, Ji Han's situation is not a dead end.
Relying on his own knowledge that is hundreds of years ahead, coupled with his successful experience in governing the country and fighting in the previous life.
Unification of the world is indeed possible.
The purpose of asking everyone for suggestions this morning is to clarify this point of view, so that I can announce something at the New Year's Eve banquet.
“General Yuan Jian’s words are very much in line with my wishes, and I will definitely keep General Yuan Jian’s words in mind.
I will also bring this matter to the table at tomorrow's banquet, and you can discuss it with me at that time.
I believe that with the efforts of all the princes, what General Yuan Jian said will be achieved by destroying Chang'an and Jianye, and then helping the Han Dynasty! "
Under the leadership of veteran generals such as Wei Yan, Liao Hua, and Chen Dao. Other local officials and barbarian leaders who came from afar also became active.
Most people have suggestions on how to develop Shuzhong.
Generally speaking, they all hope that Your Majesty will promote more members of his family to contribute to the court, and they are also willing to provide more supplies to the country to replenish the national treasury.
Li Shimin also gave affirmations and positive responses one by one.
The last morning court meeting in the twelfth year of Jian'an also ended with everyone's happy discussion.
After the early dynasty, Taichang Temple organized a Spring Festival sacrifice in the imperial city of Chengdu, which mainly featured "Nuo opera" and was participated by both officials and citizens.
From the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the city-wide curfew will be lifted.
On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, the palace began to get busy.
At the end of the Shen Dynasty, Li Shimin led his ministers to the Xiyuan of the palace city and held a New Year's Eve banquet in the Xiyuan Hall.
Before the banquet began, officials from the central and local governments summarized the various situations in Shuzhong during the year.
Let everyone understand the situation across the country this year, and then discuss and formulate plans for the coming year.
At this time, the sky was still bright and the lights in the palace were not burning. All the ministers were kneeling on the seats, waiting for His Majesty to speak.
After Li Shimin sat firmly on the Dragon Case in the palace, he saw all the officials sitting in the hall and took their seats, and said seriously:
"Before the banquet, please first ask the recordkeeping officials of the government agencies in the DPRK and Central Government to summarize the situation across the country, and then report it all at once.
After the report, we had a banquet and talked about our future. "
Li Shimin issued an order, and all the officials in the hall gathered together to discuss the matter.
When he was young, the summaries of various government offices had been completed. The minister ordered Jiang Wan to stand up from his seat first, holding the summaries in hand and writing:
"In the 12th year of Jianxing of the Han Dynasty, the major changes in officials include:
In February, Zhang Yi, the former governor of the surrender, was appointed as the former military governor and the governor of Fufeng;
Chariot General Liu Yan was beheaded, leaving the post of Chariot General vacant;
In August, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, passed away, leaving the post of Prime Minister vacant;
Jiang Wan, the former left-behind chief of the Prime Minister's Office, was promoted to Shangshu Ling and was responsible for the affairs of the General's Office;
Wei Yan, the former general who conquered the west, moved to the north to conquer the general, and was the governor of Hanzhong, with a false ax;
Li Miao, the former Yizhou employee, was beheaded, and the post in Yizhou was vacant;
…
In October, Jiang Wei, the general who conquered the West, moved to assist the Han general and surrendered to the governor, and added General Yi to quell the Nanzhong rebellion.
In November, the newly promoted Situ Li Yan passed away;
The Baiqi Division was established, and Jiang Wan and Huo Yi were both deputy commanders of the Baiqi Division;
The former Shangshu Ma Qi was sentenced to death, his family was exiled, and the Shangshu position was vacant;
The former Prime Minister's father, Chang Shi, and the Prime Minister, Yang Yi, who joined the army, committed suicide in prison..."
Everyone followed Jiang Wan's summary of the changes in officials in the DPRK this year, sometimes missing old friends, and sometimes lamenting the shortness of life.
After Jiang Wan finished his report, he bowed to His Majesty and then returned to the banquet.
Seeing Jiang Wan retreating, Grand Secretary Nong Meng Guang came out and said:
“In the twelfth year of Jianxing of the Han Dynasty, more than 200,000 households in Shuzhong were found, and more than 920,000 people were registered.
There are more than 39,000 officials at or above the county level, and a total of 110,000 county soldiers, forbidden troops, and field troops from various places.
The annual tax of 300 million yuan is equivalent to more than 30,000 kilograms of gold, which includes salt, iron, Sichuan brocade and other products, tributes such as gold, silver, lacquer and Yunnan horses from Nanzhong, land rent, civil taxes, etc.
Taxation and military service are still based on the taxation system of the late emperor's period, with one in every three and one in four and six in total..."
After that, the princes summarized and reported all the court affairs in the past year one by one according to their official ranks and official offices.
Listening to the reports of these officials, Li Shimin felt more and more that aristocratic families had a profound influence on Shu Han.
I am afraid that more than half of the nearly 40,000 officials are descendants of the Yizhou family, and most of them are middle and low-level officials.
They are all local tycoons with big families and businesses. They receive national salaries and seek benefits for local families.
Since Liu Bei became emperor, the population has almost zero growth. It can be seen that the gentry secretly hid a considerable part of the population and land.
There were many officials, many soldiers, and few registered citizens. In order to support these officials and soldiers, Liu Bei could only find a way to feed these officials and soldiers with a registered population of less than one million.
This unprecedentedly high tax system of one or four six cents per day was the main culprit of the final demise of the Shu Han Dynasty.
However, although Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang used many methods such as "Zhi Baiqian" and "Sichuan brocade trade" to make up for it, they only treated the symptoms but not the root cause.
In order to send troops to the Northern Expedition and help the Han Dynasty, even if they were as benevolent as Liu Bei and as diligent as Zhuge, they could not completely solve the monopoly of the local aristocratic families and reduce the internal friction of the country.
When the time comes, I will definitely make great efforts in these aspects.
At that time, no matter whether it is a bloody suppression or cruelty, the new land policy and military service system must be implemented.
While I was thinking about it, someone from outside the palace reported:
"Your Majesty, Duke Xiaoyao of Changshengguan has come to wish Your Majesty and all the princes a happy New Year. He is now waiting outside the palace gate!"
Li Shimin recovered his thoughts and said happily:
"Is Mr. Xiaoyao coming alone? You go quickly... No, Shao Xian, you go there yourself and invite Mr. Xiaoyao to the palace on my behalf."
Huo Yi took the order and left, and the person who reported the report replied:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Mr. Xiaoyao only brought a small Taoist priest here. He said that the rest of the people are practicing in the temple and it is inconvenient to come."
"I understand, please step back!"
After saying this, the person who reported the report also left the palace gate.
At this time, when the princes heard that Mr. Xiaoyao had arrived, they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"In the past, the late Emperor and Your Majesty both spoke highly of Duke Xiaoyao. A few days ago, Your Majesty even had a heart-to-heart talk with Duke Xiaoyao in the palace.
Nowadays, dignitaries and palace ministers from all over Shu are gathered together. On such an occasion, it might not be appropriate for Duke Xiaoyao to come, right? "
"Xiaoyao Gong was personally granted the title by the late emperor, and he was also from a wealthy family in Ba County. His reputation in Shu was surpassed by that of only a few others, including His Majesty.
Now that Duke Xiaoyao has arrived, we should be honored. Is there any inappropriate reason? "
"These powerful hermits from the Qing Dynasty outside the country are loved by His Majesty above, belong to a wealthy family below, and are very popular in Shu.
It seems that Duke Xiaoyao did not come uninvited this time. I thought he was invited by His Majesty.
Is it possible that His Majesty wants Mr. Xiaoyao to express his stance in front of everyone and support some of His Majesty's ideas that are difficult to implement? "
Li Shimin knew that although Xiaoyao Gong was not above the throne, his family, status, and reputation were all top-notch in Shu.
If I make good use of Xiaoyao Gong and maintain a good relationship with Xiaoyao Gong, then it will be easier when I vigorously implement the New Deal.
Seeing that the courtiers were all surprised by Xiaoyao Gong's arrival, Li Shimin felt even more proud.
Fortunately, I didn't bring the resentment towards outsiders from my previous life to Xiaoyao Gong, otherwise where would these many conveniences come from?
When he was feeling proud, a report came from Huangmen outside the door:
"Qingcheng Mountain Immortality Temple, Xiaoyao Gong, Fan Ji arrives!"
The princes who were still whispering just now turned their attention to the palace door when they saw Fan Jing arriving.
At this time, everyone temporarily stopped communicating, everyone wanted to witness the appearance of the famous "Xiaoyao Gong".
Fan Ji knew that His Majesty wanted to express his position in front of others today, so that he could use his famous family to speak out for the court and establish authority for His Majesty.
So Fan Ji dressed herself up from head to toe and appeared in front of everyone with great dignity.
Under the gaze of everyone, Fan Ji was wearing a red crane cloak, a Nine-Yang scarf wrapped around her hair, a fly whisk in her hand, and Tai Chi shoes on her feet. She walked into the hall with high spirits and a spring breeze on her face.
As soon as he arrived in front of the palace, Li Shimin stood up, left Long'an, and greeted Xiaoyao Gong.
When Fan Jin saw His Majesty greeting him, he acted as if he was flattered. He took two quick steps to meet His Majesty, put his hands together and saluted.
"I am a poor Taoist, Fan Ji. Thank you very much for Your Majesty's kindness. I am invited here just to spend a good night with Your Majesty and everyone in the hall to welcome the new year!"
After saying this, Fan Ji winked at Xiao Dao, who understood and quickly took something out of his arms.
Although the object was not big, it was so dazzling that everyone exclaimed "What a treasure" after seeing it!
