Chapter 25 Taizong Chapter 25 The Emperor is Hard to Bully
In the Chui Gong Hall, Liu Yang paced slowly in front of the Imperial Case. His footsteps sounded very heavy, and there was even a trace of sadness on his serious face. It was obvious that he was not in a good mood.
In addition to the chamberlain Zheng Yuan, the only person waiting in front of the emperor was Xu Shilian, a cabinet bachelor. However, they all lowered their heads and did not dare to take a breath.
After a long time, Liu Yang raised his eyes and glanced at Xu Shilian, who remained silent, and said with a hint of sadness: "How could there be so many things happening when the late Emperor was here? They come in droves! One after another! It's simply abominable!"
After saying this, both Xu Shilian and Zheng Yuan were shocked. Zheng Yuan hurriedly said: "The officials should calm down!"
Ignoring him, Liu Yang said directly to Xu Shilian: "These ministers, censors, envoys, prefects, magistrates, and generals. In this chapter, each one of them made a sincere statement and performed their duties loyally for the country and the people. However, from their perspective
In your heart, do you regard me as your father?"
Xu Shilian has been accompanying Liu Yang for many years. In his impression, this emperor has always been calm and restrained, but at this time, His Majesty was actually complaining, which was extremely rare. For a time, Xu Shilian felt a lot of emotion and worry in his heart.
Heavy.
"Why don't you speak?" Seeing Xu Shilian's silence, Liu Yang couldn't help but said angrily.
Even if Kuanhe was like Liu Yang, when he got angry, the pressure on his servants would be greater than the mountain. Facing the emperor's gaze, Xu Shilian did not dare to be dumb anymore. He pondered a little and said with some caution: "In my humble opinion,
, all the turmoil is probably because His Majesty has just ascended the throne and his authority is not solid..."
"It's been a whole year since he succeeded to the throne in front of the coffin!" Liu Yangjing said.
This should be the last sentence Liu Yang complained about today. After venting his emotions, his rationality returned and he thought about it seriously. A little complex color flashed in his deep eyes, and he murmured: Politics
"Then how do you establish authority, impose severe punishments, and kill people to establish prestige? I can gain it by being kind, courteous, thrifty, and giving way, so what exactly do I get?"
Liu Yang's voice was as calm as usual, but when Xu Shilian heard it, he felt chills from the inside out. The emperor seemed to be angered by the hands and feet of the people below and the chaos in the place.
Fortunately, Liu Yang quickly got rid of that terrifying state. He pondered for a long time, sighed leisurely, and asked Xu Shilian: "The internal and external ministers have written to you about these shortcomings, losses, disasters, and consequences of the tax reform.
What do you think?"
Seeing that the emperor had entered a normal state of asking questions about politics, Xu Shilian felt inexplicably relieved. He thought for a moment and responded calmly: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, things may be as they are, but the reason is absolutely not the reason!"
"How do you say it?" Liu Yang stared at Xu Shilian.
In Liu Yang's impression, Xu Shilian didn't talk much on weekdays. This seemed to be the "sequelae" of the Dengwengu case twenty years ago. However, Xu Shilian often had shocking words about internal and external military affairs. At this time, Liu Yang
, obviously hoping to hear some "real insights" from Xu Shilian's mouth.
Xu Shilian continued calmly and said: "The new taxation law was obtained through careful investigation and detailed consideration by the late Emperor, Your Majesty, the King of Jin, and Prime Minister Zhao, as well as all the ministers in the court and relevant ministries.
Just imagine, with the talents of the monarch and his ministers, and the experience of running the country for many years, there would be some improper considerations in the big policies planned, and it would not cause so much trouble and turmoil.
Therefore, I would like to boldly say that behind these riots, there must be evildoers who are adding fuel to the flames!"
"Who are you referring to as the traitor?" Liu Yang asked.
"With your Majesty's wisdom, how could you not know?" Xu Shilian said: "Whoever loses interests in the tax reform and gains from these turmoils is a traitor who is causing harm to the country!"
Hearing what he said, Liu Yang couldn't help but sneer twice and said meaningfully: "Your words have attracted a lot of people. If word spreads, this group of people will be angry and attack you!"
Seeing the emperor say this, Xu Shilian looked calm and raised his hands and said: "If this is the case, doesn't it prove that what the minister said is based on the truth!"
After looking at Xu Shilian for a while, Liu Yang thought for a moment, and said sadly: "The late emperor once said many times that policies have nothing to do with right or wrong, only interests. It is never difficult to formulate policies. The difficulty lies only in how to implement them."
Policy. Now it seems that the imperial court has big problems in the implementation of tax reform."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Xu Shilian said.
"The wise one is the late emperor!" Liu Yang said decisively, with a hint of bitterness appearing on the corner of his mouth: "If I am wise, why should I be underestimated and provoked repeatedly?"
In this regard, Xu Shilian was silent. Although he wanted to persuade the emperor to be patient again, he really couldn't say it at this time, because as he said, it had been more than a year, and the turmoil had not decreased, but the turmoil was intensifying. Forbearance should no longer be
The emperor's philosophy of governing the country. Tolerance for the sake of the country, if it becomes one-sided, it is wishful thinking.
"Xu Qing, how much land does your family have?" Liu Yang suddenly heard.
In response to this question, Xu Shilian was a little cautious subconsciously, but after a moment's deliberation, he still reported it truthfully, saying: "I was born in a humble background. After becoming an official, I lived in Bianzhou for most of the time, and was transferred to Beijing. The imperial court named Yulin
As a reward for quelling the rebellion, as well as many years of salary and a gift from His Majesty, I will buy a hundred acres of thin farmland in my hometown, and I will return to my hometown for retirement after becoming an official."
Regarding this answer, Liu Yang's eyes flashed with a daze. Even officials like Xu Shilian, who were devoted to official affairs, could not help but take their salaries and rewards back to their hometowns to purchase land outside of official duties, not to mention others.
Although one hundred acres of land is not much, it deeply reflects the paranoid love of the Han subjects for land. The commodity economy of the Han Empire has developed vigorously in the past few decades, but the economy is still based on hundreds of millions of land
basically.
"Is one hundred acres of land enough?" Liu Yang asked again.
"There are not many people in my family. Together with my parents, wife and children, there are only six people. After I come back to support you, it will be enough to farm, study and inherit the family!" Xu Shilian said calmly: "Nowadays, the management of land employs three families, and every year
After deducting wages and taxes, there is still a lot of surplus.”
"A hundred acres of land is enough to satisfy the first and fourth-rank officials of the imperial court!" After listening to Xu Shilian's narration, Liu Yang couldn't help but said angrily: "However, some people still don't know how to cherish their blessings when they have ten thousand acres of fertile land, and they still want to suck the bones out of the poor people.
, their greed is disgusting, where have they learned all their propriety, justice, integrity, and moral aspirations!"
Liu Yang waved his hand and looked very calm. He pondered for a long time and asked solemnly: "Regarding tax reform, there is a lot of controversy and even opposition inside and outside the country. Some people even criticize it as chaos."
In your opinion, how should I respond to the source of political abuse of the people?"
After hearing the question, Xu Shilian did not answer for a while, but asked Liu Yang extremely seriously: "Does your Majesty want to change the government of the ancestors?"
Paying attention to Xu Shilian's solemn face, Liu Yang smiled casually and replied in two words: "How?"
Xu Shilian took a deep breath and said with some enthusiasm: "Those who disrupt the government are those who illegally honor the nobles; those who harm the country are the bureaucrats who betray the government; those who abuse the people are the unscrupulous landlords. These three are the root causes of the tax reform riots!
With all due respect, Your Majesty must remain as determined and determined as ever to advance reforms and not be discouraged by temporary obstacles!
If there is any change or abandonment, firstly, it will betray the ambition of the late emperor, secondly, it will damage the authority of the imperial court, and thirdly, it will hurt the hearts of reformers and the common people of the world."
Seeing Xu Shilian speaking so sincerely, Liu Yang smiled faintly. Not knowing who he was sarcastic at, he casually picked up a memorial on the imperial case and said: "However, the common people in the world have been exhausted by the tax reform and are already in dire straits."
bingo"
Xu Shilian immediately said: "How much of the riots reported in the memorial are compared with the small people and poor peasants who are virtuous and benefiting all over the world?
With all due respect, the reform of the tax system in Han Dynasty has progressed to this day and has already seen results. The fiercer the opposition, the more necessary the reform becomes!
At the same time, if it has a beginning but no end and gives up halfway, it will not help solve the current problems, but will also make the Han tax system more chaotic and cause greater harm to the subjects.
Sir, I pray for your Majesty’s enlightenment!”
Xu Shilian's views on the civil unrest that occurred within the empire in the past six months were relatively clear. Although the tax reform was being implemented, it had caused considerable damage and chaos amid the confrontation, misinterpretation and utilization of the tax reform by those who were interested.
However, to be honest, it is a small group after all. The main dignitaries and landlord groups in the Han Dynasty still have some bottom lines. Not everyone dares to blatantly resist the imperial government, and not all landlords do not even have the last grain of food.
Leave it to the farmers, otherwise, the Han Empire would have been shaken long ago.
Under an imperial system that is still on the rise, with relatively clear politics and consolidated central authority, it has a strong binding force on everyone and greatly suppresses the evil side of human nature.
So in this case, where did the alarmism about the shortcomings of tax reform come from? How could Liu Yang, as the emperor, not know about this? However, it was precisely because of this that he could not hide his anger. It was obvious
, some people seriously regarded his generosity as a way to make trouble.
"I also received a letter of impeachment from Wang Shenrui, the prefect of Chengdu, impeaching Pan You, the chief envoy of Jiannan Road, for his poor administration, harsh treatment of his officials, bullying of the people, drought in Xichuan, ineffective relief, and civil unrest.
The meaning revealed by the memorial is somewhat unusual!"
Wang Shenrui was the second son of the late Pingnan Duke Wang Quanbin, and the meaning revealed in this memorial, which was due to the impeachment of the Jiannan Dao envoy by the Chengdu prefect, was obviously not just a "Tao-fu dispute."
After hearing this, Xu Shilian frowned very tightly, looked at Liu Yang and said: "Your Majesty, Pan Shijun is strict with you, not for your own sake. This matter is known to both the government and the public.
However, he has always been kind to the common people. As far as I know, Jiannan has been conscientious and dedicated to tax reform and cracking down on powerful powers since he took office several years ago, with remarkable results.
There was a severe drought in Xichuan, and the imperial court also issued an edict to provide relief, but I can't believe Pan Shijun would slack off on such matters!"
"I don't believe it either!" Liu Yang said directly, his eyes slightly narrowed with suspicion: "However, such an impeachment chapter was presented to my desk in such a grand manner!"
Xu Shilian frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Your Majesty may write a letter and ask Pan Shijun to explain one or two things on this matter. Comparing the two, the right and wrong will be obvious!"
Liu Yang nodded and was silent for a while. He suddenly said to Zheng Yuan and Xu Shilian: "I haven't left the palace for a long time. I want to accompany me to visit the surrounding counties. I want to see how the people of the Han Dynasty are doing. A kind of dire straits. If so, how did it happen?"