The Tang Dynasty was quite cautious in rewarding merit and punishing demerits.
Of course, there was a bit of chaos at the beginning of the founding of the country, and famous generals including Li Ji, Cheng Yaojin, etc. were a bit chaotic in taking credit or exaggerating in asking for credit. It was not until after the Zhenguan year that rules gradually became established, and the famous generals also restrained themselves a lot. .
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, he established his prestige in the court by overthrowing Changsun Wuji. He became even more strict in rewarding merit and punishment, especially in terms of promotion to official titles.
Because although a title is a great honor for ministers and an iron rice bowl for the descendants of meritorious officials, it still does more harm than good to the imperial power.
Therefore, after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, everyone from Li Shimin to Li Zhi consciously or unconsciously tried to reduce titles as much as possible and rarely increased them.
Li Qinzai is a special case. He has made so many great contributions in the past that he has to be knighted.
As for Li Qinzai's introduction of sweet potatoes, Li Zhi certainly wanted to promote him to a title immediately. However, many courtiers at the time objected, and Li Qinzai repeatedly declined in humility, so Li Zhi could no longer insist.
To this day, the second harvest of sweet potatoes planted in the south is actually before Li Zhi. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi was delighted with the sweet potato production and the permanent stability of the country. How could he forget Li Qinzai?
The first harvest was only a few dozen kilograms, and there is no clear yield per mu. This is the second harvest. More than two thousand kilograms are clearly in front of you. Doesn't it prove Li Qinzai's contribution?
The credit was too great. If Li Zhi didn't say something, he would be ashamed of himself.
Empress Wu looked at Li Zhi pacing back and forth in front of a pile of sweet potatoes, and her expression was very excited.
No matter how the couple fights at home, the fate of the Tang Dynasty is still closely related to her. Of course, she also hopes that the Tang Dynasty will get better and better.
After pacing for a few times, Li Zhi suddenly stopped, turned to look at Empress Wu, and said: "Queen, since Jing Chu was made a county marquis, it seems that he hasn't been promoted to an official title for a long time, right?"
Empress Wu smiled calmly and said: "Your Majesty, Jingchu has a laid-back temperament and has no ambitions for court officials. I remember that your Majesty said several times that he wanted to be promoted to his title, but he refused. Not only that, your Majesty wants to Even if he was given an official position, he would avoid it."
"So now Jingchu only has the title of Marquis of Weinan County and does not even have an official position. To be honest, he is just an idle marquis."
Li Zhi laughed and said: "Yes, Jingchu's problem is what I am most dissatisfied with. It is reassuring that the minister has no ambition, but... he cannot be so idle. It is simply outrageous. I have never I have never seen such a lazy person."
Empress Wu's eyes flashed and she asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, do you want to be promoted to the title of Jingchu?"
Li Zhi stared at the sweet potato in front of him in silence for a long time, and sighed: "If not, how could I reward him?"
Pointing to the large pile of sweet potatoes in front of him, Li Zhi smiled and said: "The Queen must also know how important this thing is to the Tang Dynasty. Can I pretend not to see Jing Chu's unparalleled achievements?"
Empress Wu murmured her lips a few times, but in a moment she smiled sweetly: "I thought that Jingchu could accept it calmly."
Li Zhi glanced at her with a smile.
Ever since the case of Mrs. Wei, Li Zhi beat her hard once and cut off most of her wings in the court. Recently, Empress Wu has been very well-behaved and obedient.
Li Zhi's mood has gradually become happier recently, and he even took the initiative to invite her to sleep with her the day before yesterday. After many years of dancing together, both husband and wife have achieved a spiritual and physical sublimation that is rare in recent years.
No matter inside or outside, this is the shape a queen should have, taking the shape of her husband as her shape.
Looking at the well-behaved and sensible Empress Wu, Li Zhi smiled secretly.
Sure enough, when the mother-in-law floats up, she must be dealt with ruthlessly. Since she wants to be tough but not soft, I can completely satisfy her.
After pondering for a moment, Li Zhi said slowly: "When you come, summon the left and right ministers, the ministers of the Xitai Palace, the six ministers and other court officials to enter the palace..."
After a pause, Li Zhi suddenly said: "Send a soft sedan to go to the Duke Ying's house and invite the Duke to come to the palace to see you... The Duke is old, so be careful when carrying the sedan, and don't jolt the old man."
An hour later, all the officials hurried into the palace following the imperial edict.
Among the courtiers who entered the palace, only the British Duke Li Ji received the highest treatment. He was carried in by the palace people in a soft sedan chair.
The ministers could only watch with envy as Li Ji got out of the sedan chair outside Taiji Hall, but they could not feel any jealousy.
This is the kind of treatment that the meritorious service of the three dynasties has earned over decades of fighting with swords and swords. I deserve it and cannot be jealous of it.
Li Zhi was waiting outside the Tai Chi Hall. In the vast open space outside the hall, there were more than two thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes piled up. They were the harvest of King Teng's trip to the south of the Yangtze River to supervise and supervise the planting of new grain varieties.
All the ministers climbed up the steps and came to the outside of the palace. They saw Li Zhi waiting, so they all bowed to him.
After saluting, everyone saw the mountains of sweet potatoes in front of Li Zhi.
Everyone was stunned, but Li Ji's cloudy old eyes flashed with light, and then quickly fell silent.
After the emperor and his ministers met, Li Zhi smiled and chatted with everyone about their daily life. The emperor and his ministers each had questions and answers, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
In terms of the emperor's attitude towards his ministers, Li Zhi did better than Li Shimin.
Regardless of whether he is loyal or traitorous, Li Zhi is very close to all his ministers and is very easy-going. He usually likes to joke with his ministers, or he is the head of the east family and the son of the west family. He also brings out some innocuous gossip and secrets about the ministers' families, and makes fun of them. After laughing, the distance between each other became closer.
Today, Li Zhi chose to summon the ministers outside the Taiji Hall, and those he summoned were all important ministers of the dynasty, either the prime minister, the minister, or the general. Especially, the place where he was summoned was piled with mountains of sweet potatoes.
The ministers were surprised, but it was not convenient to ask, so they chatted with Li Zhi for a long time.
Finally, the right minister Xu Jingzong couldn't help but ask.
To say that Xu Jingzong is really smart, he knows that Li Zhi will not put a lot of sweet potatoes in front of him for no reason. Since he put it out, he naturally has his intention. As the prime minister of the DPRK, he has a very important responsibility, which is Occasionally praise the emperor, but don't let the atmosphere fall to the ground.
Li Zhi smiled slightly and was waiting for Xu Jingzong to ask.
So Li Zhi pointed to the sweet potato in front of him and said with a smile: "Do you know what this is?"
Most of the courtiers present had followed Li Zhi to Ganjingzhuang and witnessed the sweet potato harvest with their own eyes. They were naturally familiar with this product, so they all answered in unison.
Li Zhi smiled and asked again: "Do you know, sir, what is the yield per acre of this thing?"
Another sub-question was given. I heard Li Qinzai brag about it when he was at Ganjingzhuang, so the ministers gave the answer again.
Li Zhi nodded: "Yes, five thousand catties. Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, have you ever heard of any crop yielding as much as five thousand catties per mu?"
The ministers shook their heads. An excellent Peng Nei must follow Dou Nei's ideas. Dou Nei needs to say what he needs to say, so he can say whatever he wants. Don't jeopardize his own job.
Li Zhi was very pleased to see that the ministers followed his train of thought and gave the correct answer.
Pointing to the sweet potatoes in front of him, Li Zhi said slowly: "This is the second harvest of sweet potatoes brought by Uncle Teng from the south of the Yangtze River. It totals more than two thousand kilograms and covers an area of less than half an acre..."
"After two harvests, it can now be confirmed that sweet potatoes are indeed as Weinan County Hou Li Qinzai said, and the yield of five thousand catties per mu is only a lot more."
The ministers were stunned for a moment, and then burst into shock and an uproar.
When I saw the sweet potato harvest with my own eyes at Ganjing Village, there were only a few sweet potato seeds and the harvest was only a few dozen kilograms, so the officials were surprised but not too impressed.
After all, Li Qinzai pointed to dozens of kilograms of sweet potatoes harvested and vowed that the yield per mu would be five thousand kilograms. The image was really unconvincing.
But now, the second season's harvest has exceeded 2,000 kilograms, and they are piled up in front of the Tai Chi Hall like a small mountain. The scene at this moment is completely different from before.
Although they don't want to believe it, everyone has to believe it because the facts are right in front of them.
After the shock, the officials quickly thought of the significance of a grain crop with an output of five thousand kilograms per mu to the country, the country, and the people of Li. They became more and more frightened, and the last look of horror quickly turned into surprise.
"I congratulate Your Majesty, your country will be forever solid and will last for generations to come!"
All the ministers saluted together, and Li Zhi looked up to the sky and laughed happily.
This is not an exaggeration. With a yield of five thousand kilograms of grain per mu, wouldn’t the country be “forever”?
So, next...
Li Zhi tried his best to suppress his laughter and said: "Let me ask you, this thing is more important to the Tang Dynasty than the expansion of the territory to thousands of miles."
The ministers are not stupid, of course they know the answer.
In the long history, the expansion of territory is only a temporary benefit for the dynasty. No matter how big the territory is in the past dynasties, it can take as little as decades or as many as hundreds of years. Once the dynasty declines, the territory it gained will inevitably be lost. This is an eternal truth.
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However, a grain with a yield of five thousand kilograms per mu will never be lost no matter how the dynasties change.
If you dig out the emperors of all dynasties from the ground and ask them whether they would choose a new grain with a huge yield per mu or a territory of thousands of miles, as long as they are not extremely stupid emperors, their answer will definitely choose grain.
Because a country's eternal stability is directly equated with food, rather than an expanded territory.
After a long silence, Li Zhi finally heard the answers from the ministers. He was very satisfied with their answers.
After the ministers entered the palace, Li Zhi asked several questions one after another. At the beginning, the ministers were still confused and did not know why the emperor asked questions.
However, the people present were all important officials of the court, and each one was an old fox better than the other. After Li Zhi asked questions one after another, everyone gradually got a taste of it, so they all glanced at Li Ji with understanding.
In the crowd, Li Ji's eyes were half closed, he was as silent as a wooden sculpture, as if he didn't hear, see or know what was going on outside him.
Li Zhi also glanced at Li Ji quickly, then looked around at the ministers, and said slowly: "This thing is more important than opening up thousands of miles of territory. So...how should I reward the person who discovers this thing?"
"The appearance of sweet potato in the Tang Dynasty is not an exaggeration, right? It is an unparalleled feat. Do you think, can I turn a blind eye to the person who accomplished this feat and just pretend that it didn't happen?"
The ministers were not only compliments, but also excellent compliments. They knew very well what answers the emperor needed.
When should you follow the emperor's words and when can you instantly tell that what the emperor said is ironic?
As soon as Li Zhi said these words, Xu Jingzong, the most intelligent person, immediately responded.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the person who discovered the sweet potato has made unparalleled contributions to the Tang Dynasty and must be heavily rewarded. If he is not rewarded for his merits, won't it chill the hearts of all the heroes in the world?"