"This is the urgent document sent back by Mr. Cao Wenzong from Silla!" Fujiwara Nobi took out a few pieces of letter paper from his sleeves, raised it above his head and showed it to everyone. Namba Heiroku recognized Cao Wenzong's signature at the end of the letter. My heart couldn't help but tighten.
"In the letter, Mr. Cao said several things, the most important of which is about official positions!" At this point, he paused for a moment: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has appointed Xue Rengui as the general manager of the Jilin Road march. Jiedu Xiongjin and Japan's military affairs!"
There was dead silence in the hall, and most of the people looked at each other. In fact, these bumpkins couldn't understand what the series of official positions in what Fujiwara Fubi said just now meant. Fujiwara Fubi immediately discovered his mistake. He coughed and added Said: "In other words, this General Xue will replace His Highness Taizheng and become your new master!"
There was an uproar in the palace, and this time the warriors understood immediately. In the political language of the Japanese country at that time, changing a new master was not just a change of individuals, but also meant a major reshuffle of the political landscape. To be precise, it was a redistribution of territory. This was the real deal.
Seeing the reaction of the warriors, Fujiwara was very satisfied. He handed the pieces of letter paper to Li Suwen behind him: "Your Highness, you can read the letter!"
"Okay!" Li Suwen nervously took the letter. A closer look revealed that she was probably the most nervous person in the palace about Xue Rengui taking over from Wang Wenzuo. After all, these warriors wouldn't be able to get along if they changed their masters. At most, they could work harder and collect some rare treasures. Items, as long as Xue Rengui is taken good care of, it is not difficult to keep the territory. And she and her sister are actually gangsters. Wang Wenzuo rules the Japanese kingdom. Their sisters are the princesses of the Shangguo and the godmothers of the king of the Japanese kingdom. Everyone cheers and supports them, high above the clouds; but if Xue Rengui comes, what awaits them two It's probably three feet of white silk and a glass of poisonous wine.
She took the letter and scanned it quickly. It was indeed Cao Wenzong's handwriting. The letter talked a lot about the current situation of the Silla Kingdom, but the most important thing was that Xue Rengui came to Silla to serve as the general manager of the Jilin Road March. , Jiedu Xiongjin, and Japanese military affairs. She folded the letter and put it in her sleeve. Her heart was as messy as grass, like a garden that had been deserted for a long time.
"Dare you ask the inner palace!" A samurai asked loudly to Fujiwara Fubi: "What on earth is going on? Why did the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty let that Xue Shi to lead us? We have obviously formed an alliance with His Highness Taizheng. It’s my fate to follow!”
"Yes!" Another warrior agreed: "Besides, our country has been ruled by Amaterasu and Okuninushi since ancient times. His Highness, Taizheng Minister, is a descendant of Okuninushi. He and Princess Saitama gave birth to the king. Back then, the two princes swore an oath by killing the white horse in front of the Shitennoji Temple. If the Wang family was not the king, the whole world would attack him. If he had not climbed the city and beheaded the army, but became a shogunate, the whole world would punish him! How could we have what we have today? General Xue is not a descendant of the gods, so why should he replace His Highness the Minister of Taizheng?"
"That is, even if the Emperor of Tang is the master of the world, he can't just send anyone to lead our country, right?"
"Yes! Even though he is the lord of the world, if he despises us so much, then there is only one thing he can do to resist!"
"Yes, draw your bow to fight!"
"Yes, draw your bow to fight!"
Like a porridge pot being boiled, the warriors in the palace became more and more excited. Fujiwara raised his hands and pressed down, saying loudly: "Quiet, quiet, please be patient for a moment and listen to Her Royal Highness the Princess's decision. !" At this point, Fujiwara turned around and knelt down to Li Suwen and bowed: "Your Royal Highness, the king is ill, and His Royal Highness the Minister of Taizheng, General Heba, and General Yuan are not here, please. Please say a few words!"
Li Suwen looked at the prostrate Fujiwara in front of her in astonishment. Didn't she just say that as long as she sat there, put on a majestic look, and finally said: "That's it!" Wouldn't that be enough? Just when she didn't know what to say, Fujiwara Fubi seemed to hear something, bowed to Li Suwen, and said loudly: "Your Highness the Princess's decision, I heard it!"
Then he turned around and said to the warriors: "Your Highness has made the decision. Please listen carefully!"
"Aha!" The warriors hurriedly knelt on both sides with their foreheads close to the floor, waiting for instructions from the superiors.
"Your Highness said: The Minister of Taizheng is the lord of the Japanese country. It is the divine power of Amaterasu and the Lord of the Kingdom. When the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty rebelled, he must have been deceived by the treacherous ministers around him and violated the power of His Highness. This is unjust. This is absolutely not allowed! Since we have made an oath of allegiance to His Highness in front of the gods, we must not break it, otherwise we will not be able to escape the punishment of the gods even after death!"
"Yes!" All the warriors responded in unison: "We respectfully accept the decision of Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
"Bring the wine and livestock!" Fujiwara shouted loudly. He was about to strike while the iron was hot and ask the samurai to swear a new oath of allegiance. But I heard Li Suwen's voice coming from behind: "Wait a minute!"
"Her Royal Highness Princess Gao'an!" Fujiwara turned around and was shocked to see that Li Suwen had stood up, walked past him, and walked towards the palace. He hurriedly leaned down and said hurriedly: "Please return to your seat and stay away from the warriors. Being too close will lose your noble status!"
Li Suwen ignored Fujiwara's voice, as if a mysterious force controlled her and gave her enough courage to walk towards the palace. Li Suwen walked through the palace, just like a clipper breaking through the waves. The originally rude warriors were afraid of bumping into the noble girl, so they kneeled to the left and right to get out of the way, colliding and crowding together. She walked to the center of the hall and looked around. Everyone she saw felt as if she was the one being watched.
"Everyone!" Li Suwen's voice was clear and powerful: "A few years ago, General Wang arrived here by boat. The boat was no more than three and his troops were less than five hundred. However, he relied on the blessing of his ancestors and the fate of heaven and earth to create a foundation that has become one of the sixty-six kingdoms of Akijin Island. The land belongs to us all. You are originally the son of a urn, a gangster, and a slave, and you have to work hard all day long to find a meal. However, you meet a general, meet in all the wind and clouds, and protect the world's wealth. Is this kindness shallower than the rivers and seas? He who has a heart , don’t you have the ambition to serve? Today, the slanderous officials are creating difficulties, deceiving the heavens, and slandering the loyal and good. If you want to sharpen your reputation, you should quickly organize your troops to resist Xue’s thieves. If there is anyone who wants to obey the order, he will be killed today!"
After Wang Wenzuo pacified the Japanese country, the number of Tang people who came and settled in the Japanese country greatly increased. As a result, a language mixed with Tang dialect and the local Nara dialect formed around Nara. The Japanese regarded it as the language of nobles, and the Japanese in remote countries simply called it It is called "Luoyang accent" and is considered to be very similar to the noble Luoyang accent. Li Suwen was not very old and had been in the Japanese country for several years. She was already familiar with this kind of Luoyin. Even if the Japanese warriors did not understand the many Chinese words mixed in her words, they would only sigh that Her Royal Highness Princess Gao'an is indeed a person from heaven. What he said is not something that ordinary people like us can understand. However, they probably understood what he meant, and all of them were excited and said in unison: "We have received such kindness from His Highness Taizheng, and we shall die for it!"
Fujiwara was overjoyed when he saw this. He originally invited Li Suwen because he was afraid that the warriors would not sell his face, and wanted to use the power of Princess Tang to subdue the dissenters. However, he did not expect that Princess Gaoan looked weak, but at the critical moment But he is so strong and decisive, he is indeed worthy of being called the flower of the high mountains with the blood of the emperor! While sighing in his heart, he quickly asked the maid outside to prepare the blood wine in preparation for the oath.
After a while, the blood wine was served. Fujiwara Bubi invited Li Suwen first, then himself, and then the warriors in the palace. Everyone swore on blood that they would never accept Xue Rengui's interference in the affairs of the Japanese country. After everything was done, Fujiwara Bubi invited Li Suwen. He left first, and as soon as he boarded the chariot, Li Suwen collapsed as if her bones had been pulled out of her whole body: "Fujiwara Naifu, did I mess up the matter just now?"
"No!" Fujiwara Nobi hurriedly said: "Your Highness Princess, you couldn't have done a better job!"
"Really?" Li Suwen laughed: "That's great. I didn't know what was going on at that time, so I suddenly stood up and said those words. After I finished speaking, I felt that my whole body was empty and I had no energy at all. there is none left!"
"This is the power of the gods!" Fujiwara smiled and said: "You are the one protected by the gods, and the gods of nature will come to you at critical times!"
"Really or not!" Li Suwen laughed a little embarrassedly: "If it is God's blessing, then why do my sister and I encounter so many unlucky things? Have we suffered so much?"
"Uncut jade cannot be used!" Fujiwara smiled and said: "That's just the tempering between the gods and you! Besides, if it weren't for the blessing of the gods, how could you meet the Lord?"
"That's true!" Li Suwen smiled: "But if possible, I would rather the gods don't sharpen me, and just let me be a stone, not a jade!"
"This kind of thing cannot be decided by human beings!" Fujiwara said in a low voice.
"Yes!" Li Suwen sighed: "Who can decide your own destiny? Neifu, I'm a little tired, please send me back first!"
"Yes!" Fujiwara nodded respectfully. He sent Li Suwen back to her residence, then returned to the house and started writing a letter.
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Chang'an, East Palace.
"Your Highness, this is the document that my subordinates have reported on the military affairs of Weinan County in the past half month!" Wang Wenzuo took out a volume of silk book from his sleeve and presented it to him: "Please read it!"
"Okay, okay!" Li Hong excitedly took the silk book and unfolded it. He saw that it was densely packed with numbers the size of a pet's head. He couldn't find any clue at all, so he quickly put it aside: "I'll put it aside first. I'll read it later. Saburo, is there any abridgement of your document? Let's talk about it first and listen to it? "
"Yes!" Li Hong's reaction was completely as expected by Wang Wenzuo. He smiled: "It's very simple. There are many reasons for the collapse of the Weinan County Military Mansion, but there is only one fundamental reason. There are too many local household registrations!"
"Too many household registrations?" Li Hong was stunned. He didn't expect Wang Wenzuo to suddenly say something like this: "But isn't it a good thing to have a large number of household registrations? Why has it become the reason for the collapse of the army?"
"For the imperial court, it is indeed a good thing to have more household registrations!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Because the imperial court's taxes, such as rent, taxes, and transfers, are all based on household registrations. The more household registrations, the more abundant the income of the imperial court will be. But for the military government But it may not be a good thing!”
"Why do you say that? Doesn't it mean that if there are more people, there will be more soldiers to choose from?"
"No!" Wang Wenzuo shook his head: "It may be like this at first, but when the number of household registrations reaches a certain number, the more prosperous the household registrations in a certain state or county, the fewer soldiers there will be to choose from!"
"How can this be?"
"Your Highness, do you remember how the soldiers are selected?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"Of course I remember!" Li Hong replied: "Those with equal wealth will be stronger, those with equal strength will be richer, and those with equal talents will be the first to get more!"
"That's right!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Generally speaking, poor people in rural areas lack food and clothing, and their children are usually not as strong as rich people. Moreover, it is not easy for poor people to even marry a wife. Rich people can not only marry wives, but also take concubines. , so generally speaking, the richer the family, the more children they have, and they are more powerful than the children of poor families. So the three things you just mentioned are actually one, that is to say, the soldiers are selected by the government. It’s a wealthy family!”
"Those widows that Sanlang mentioned have not thought so much!" Li Hong said with a smile: "But is there anything wrong with this? Could it be that there are more household registrations in Weinan County, but there are fewer wealthy families?"
"Exactly!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "The arable land in Weinan County is limited. The more household registrations, the fewer fields each household can be allocated. In Huainan, Jiangnan and other places, one adult can be granted hundreds of fields. However, in Weinan, if one adult adult can be divided into thirty acres, it is good. How can he not be poor? Yes, there are indeed some smart people in the local area who take advantage of the mountains and rivers, trade and sell, and make a hundredfold profit. Their wealth is far away Better than before. But these people are all merchants, and they are not in the military mansion. No matter how rich they are, it is useless!"
"Yes!" Li Hong nodded: "Sanlang, what you are talking about is actually not the large number of people, but Mr. Tian, right?"
"Exactly, His Highness is indeed a wise man!" Wang Wenzuo smiled and nodded. He was very happy that Li Hong could grasp the key point so quickly. Of course, modern people would conclude that the reason for the decline of Fubing was the development of the commodity economy and land annexation. The powerful are good at the law, the land grant cannot be fulfilled, etc., but most of the reasons are not something Wang Wenzuo can change, or even unspeakable. After all, Wang Wenzuo knew very well that the decline of the military system was a historical necessity and could not be stopped by himself. The most he could do was slow down the decline as much as possible without offending vested interest groups and find ways to do so. There is nothing he can do to reduce the suffering of the people even more. After all, he is just a paper poster from the Tang Dynasty!
"This is the matter of wide and narrow townships!" Li Hong said with a smile: "I also heard the ministers say it in the political hall a few days ago. They just said that the joys and sorrows are uneven and the geographical advantages are endless, but I didn't expect that there would be peace. It’s related to the demobilization of government troops! This is quite simple, just move some of your household registrations out!” (End of Chapter)
