In the early morning of the 16th day of the first lunar month, Li Shimin walked out of the queen's palace with a satisfied look on his face.
Huang Hao had been waiting outside the Queen's palace for a long time. When he saw His Majesty coming out, he hurriedly greeted him.
"Your Majesty, today is the first court meeting of the New Year, and officials from all over the country and barbarian representatives will participate.
The many imperial edicts you have drafted these days have been sorted out and taken with you by your servants.
It's not morning time yet. Where would you like to have breakfast? "
"Just stay in the Qinzheng Palace. After breakfast, go directly to the court."
After receiving the order, Huang Hao walked a few steps quickly to arrange breakfast for His Majesty.
As soon as Li Shimin left the harem, he saw Chen Zhong, Huo Yi, and Zhang Yan talking and waiting for him.
When several people saw His Majesty arriving, they each collected their emotions and bowed to His Majesty.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said relaxedly:
“When there are no outsiders, you don’t have to be so restrained.
Oh, by the way, little sister, is there any news about Mrs. Huang recently?
Has her condition improved? Are there any shortages of essential items where you live? "
Zhang Yan thought about it for a moment and said with excitement:
"When Brother Adou asked, I remembered it.
I heard a few days ago that Mrs. Huang's heart condition has improved after she changed her environment.
Although his body is still weak, it can at least give Mi Wei more time to look for Fan A.
I hope Mi Wei can bring Fan A in time, I don’t want anything to happen to Mrs. Huang..."
Li Shimin nodded, looked at Chen Zhong and said:
"Now that the new year has passed, I have made plans for everything in the DPRK and China.
It's time for people to find the two master craftsmen Pu Yuan and Guo Da.
It just so happens that Wenshan is rich in minerals. I will hand over all the minerals to the two craftsmen so that they can have enough resources to build magical weapons for my great man. "
Chen Dao bowed and said:
"Your Majesty is wise! It's just that Your Majesty once said that this matter should be handled secretly. The general will be worried that something will happen to the person he appointed.
It would be better for the general to go in person, so that His Majesty can rest assured. "
"In this case, I will follow your words and hope that you will be careful in everything and complete this matter safely."
After saying this, he looked at Huo Yi and said:
"Xian Shao, you have been working hard during this period to manage the affairs of the Baiqi Division and also help Chen Zhong act as the Captain of the Flying Cavalry Guard.
At that time, the two generals Zhang Zhu and Zhuo Ying will fully assist you. "
A few people were walking and chatting, and unknowingly they had arrived at Qinzheng Hall.
Huang Hao has already prepared His Majesty's breakfast and is waiting for His Majesty outside the inner door of Qinzheng Hall.
"Your Majesty, after today's morning meeting, official representatives from various places will also return to their places.
Yang Wan and Chang Bo came to Chengdu together, but now Yang Wan returns alone. How does Your Majesty want to deal with Chang Bo's matter? "
While Li Shimin was eating, he said to Huang Hao:
"Guangdu County is under the rule of the prefect of Shu County, so Lu Yi can just find an excuse to pass by.
As for Du Qiong and other insiders, just let them decide whether to tell what happened in Changbo. "
Not long after, it was time for the morning court. After Li Shimin made some preparations, he signaled Huang Hao to announce the court.
At this time, Zhang Yan and Chen Zhong were at the side, while Huo Yi was standing in the hall.
Huang Hao adjusted his condition and loudly announced "Go to court" as usual.
After a while, the palace door opened, and the civil and military ministers undressed their swords and shoes and filed in according to their official positions.
When everything was ready and everyone knelt down and bowed down, Li Shimin stretched out his hand to interrupt Huang Hao who was about to speak.
"Today's court meeting is the first court meeting in the thirteenth year of Jianxing of our great Han Dynasty.
In addition to the courtiers in Beijing, most of the princes in the hall, representatives of county and county officials, and barbarian kings of various ethnic groups were also present.
I have prepared a decree on what I discussed with you at the New Year's Eve banquet, and I will issue it together today.
After retiring from the court, all princes should return to their respective positions and arrange all matters for the New Year in accordance with the imperial edict.
If you have any questions regarding the imperial edict, you can ask it after Huang Hao has finished reading it. "
After saying this, Li Shimin signaled Huang Hao to start.
The little Huangmen next to Huang Hao held three imperial edicts in his hands. Huang Hao picked up the first imperial edict, coughed lightly and said:
"Your Majesty has a decree! Lords, take the decree!"
As soon as the words fell, all the princes in the hall bowed to listen to the order.
"Now that the DPRK and China are stable and the world is at peace, it is time for our great Han Dynasty to develop with all its strength.
Since the late autumn of the twelfth year, when I sent out troops to counter the rebellion, all the counter-insurgency forces have been in full swing and have gained a lot.
Yueyong, Wenshan and other counties captured a large amount of unclaimed land occupied by the rebels and temporarily placed it under the ownership of the imperial court.
From today on, except for the portion reserved by the imperial court, all the other princes can apply to the imperial court for replacement of the above land.
Those who have little or no land can exchange it for money, food, and population. If there is a lot of land, they can exchange it for the corresponding size of land and the farmers in between.
Those who participate in the exchange will have priority in receiving rewards for any new land they occupy in the future, and can either keep it for themselves or exchange for the previous land.
The replacement decree ceases when all replaceable land has been completely swapped out. "
As soon as the imperial edict was announced, there was an uproar in the court.
Huang Hao had already received instructions from His Majesty to wait for the princes to put forward their opinions and then read out the next imperial edict after Your Majesty had dealt with it.
Li Shimin knew that every imperial edict he issued would make some people dissatisfied.
In this first case, those who are dissatisfied must be the local nobles.
Seeing that there was indeed a commotion in the court, Li Shimin did not go to stop it, but listened quietly on the dragon couch to understand the opinions of the various courtiers.
Among the courtiers, Jingzhou and elder officials had almost no opinions, Dongzhou officials had some complaints, and Yizhou officials and leaders of various ethnic groups had aggrieved expressions on their faces, confiding their dissatisfaction to each other.
After a while, the Yizhou officials seemed to have finished the discussion. Shangshu Pushe Li Fu came out on behalf of everyone and said:
"Your Majesty! I have something to say!"
When Li Shimin saw this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity, thinking that the princes of Yizhou hadn't quarreled with him for a long time...
"Accurate!"
Li Fu first looked around the court. After most of the people who were whispering had stopped, he bowed with the imperial wat in his hand and said:
"Your Majesty, we are now in a stable state in Shu. In addition to your Majesty's wise leadership, many court and local officials have also contributed a lot.
Not to mention the Prime Minister's Northern Expedition in the past, even when the rebellion was suppressed at the end of last year, most of the money and food for the troops were provided by us, the princes of Yizhou.
The young men promoted by His Majesty, such as Ma Cheng and Huang Chong, also achieved outstanding military exploits.
Now that the imperial court has acquired new land, no matter how much it wants to retain, should the remaining amount be rewarded to meritorious ministers?
Even if His Majesty wants to reward the princes in the form of 'replacement', should the conditions be unified?
Why are the replacement conditions so different for landless and landless people as mentioned in the imperial edict?
If this is implemented, then wouldn’t all the people in Yizhou suffer a loss whether they switch or not? "
After Li Fu finished speaking, there was another round of whispering in the court.
"What Li Sunde said is true! If His Majesty's decree is followed, wouldn't our local nobles have to exchange their fertile land for the barren land on the border?
Not to mention exchanging fertility for barrenness, we also need to replace it with a corresponding number of private farmers. Then wouldn’t it mean that no one would be willing to exchange it?
If we don't change, wouldn't it mean that the Yizhou princes who contributed the most to your Majesty's suppression of the rebellion would receive no reward at all? "
"You can't say that. Now if you exchange fertile land for barren land, then whenever you acquire new land in the future, you can give it priority to exchange it back!"
"It's easier said than done. Now your Majesty is only tormenting our Yizhou nobles in Shu.
It is still unclear whether we can survive until His Majesty competes with Wei and Wu! "
After Li Shimin waited for the discussion to subside, he smiled and said loudly:
"Except Li Fu, do the other gentlemen have different opinions?"
After saying this, Meng Huo came out among the ministers of different tribes and said:
"Your Majesty, the little king still has some questions."
"Well! This matter is closely related to you and other barbarian kings. If you have any questions, just ask!"
After receiving His Majesty's permission, Meng looked at the other barbarian kings behind him, then bowed and said:
“Although many of our foreign tribes have tribes that do not engage in farming, we attach great importance to our territory.
We have no objection to your majesty's replacement conditions. Anyway, it's barren for barren.
But if this happens, will the territory of our tribe be divided, making it impossible for each tribe to live together?
If the territories of various tribes are criss-crossed or too scattered, it is very easy to cause tribal disputes or internal divisions within the tribe.
We also hope to respond to the imperial court and participate in the land exchange. I wonder if your majesty can help us? "
As soon as this statement came out, it immediately resonated among the barbarians.
"King Meng is right. Most of our territories have been passed down from generation to generation, and each has its own sphere of influence.
Nowadays, once land exchange is involved, the territories of different tribes will indeed intersect with each other.
As a result, some ambitious people will inevitably look for opportunities to invade other clans' new lands.
If disputes arise and we start fighting, all the tribes will definitely fall into war, which is not a good thing for the court! "
"On New Year's Day, we lost the bet with His Majesty.
All ethnic groups knew the mighty power of the imperial court, and they were convinced and swore allegiance to the imperial court.
Now His Majesty has decreed that we should replace the land occupied by the rebels.
In order to support the imperial court and show our loyalty to His Majesty, we all hope to participate.
But the disadvantages make it difficult for us to make a choice..."
Li Shimin patiently waited for the discussion to end and said loudly:
"Gentlemen, apart from these, do you have any other opinions?
If there is no other opinion, then I will start to clear up your doubts. "
