Dugu Ming originally wanted to go to Quanzhou in a low-key manner, but unexpectedly he alerted the emperor. Not only the emperor came, but also the queen, and of course his daughter.
Fortunately, the emperor's arrival was very low-key and did not disturb the neighbors or the government. Dugu Ming quickly invited the emperor and the queen to the inner chamber.
The family sat down in the inner hall, and Dugu Xinyue advised: "Uncle, why don't you let the younger members of the family go to Quanzhou? My uncle is old and not in good health. He should recuperate in Chang'an!"
Dugu Ming waved his hand and said with a smile: "I have never had any health problems. My poor health is just an excuse for not wanting to be an official. I have been raising children for more than 20 years. Just let me move in the last few years! Otherwise, I will spend the rest of my life.
It really accomplishes nothing.”
Next to her, Princess Xincheng also smiled and said: "Mingyue, let your uncle go! Otherwise, he will always complain that I delay him, and it will always be difficult to solve this knot in his heart."
Dugu Ming looked at her husband again, and Li Ye nodded, "Quanzhou is good, my third uncle should have been there."
Dugu Taiwei was surprised and said: "Dad has been to Quanzhou, why didn't I know?"
Dugu Ming smiled slightly and said: "It was many years ago, before you were born, and your grandfather asked me to take care of the business in Quanzhou. At that time, the Dugu family had just established a business in Quanzhou, so I went there and stayed there for a year.
, except that the skin is a little darker due to the sea breeze, there are no other changes."
When Dugu Ming said this, the Dugu sisters felt relieved. Dugu Taiwei asked her mother again: "Is mother going too?"
"Of course we must go together. Your mother has never seen the sea in her life!"
Li Ye also smiled and said: "It's different now than before. You can take the water route all the way. After arriving at Xiangyang, transfer to the Wanshi Ship and go all the way to Quanzhou. It's very smooth and comfortable, and you won't be tired from the journey."
"So you sisters don't have to worry, go talk to your mother!"
The Dugu sisters followed Princess Xincheng to the other courtyard. Only Dugu Ming and Li Ye were left in the inner hall.
Dugu Ming smiled and said: "Yesterday, I had dinner and chatted with Liu Shangshu. I said that the imperial court was preparing to reform the local officials, the good son-in-law, and the local wealthy families. The interests were intertwined, and there was fierce internal fighting. The imperial court intervened strongly. I suggested that we should have a strategy and proceed step by step. In fact, local governments
Officials also support the court's reform, and county officials also encounter constraints from local wealthy families, and it is difficult to do anything. If the official level can be appointed by the court, local county officials will also support the court."
"Thank you father-in-law for reminding me. I plan to use the abolition order to attack and weaken the local wealthy families. After weakening them, I will organize an examination for first-level subordinates and finally redistribute them."
Dugu Ming nodded, "The Abolition of Slavery is a sharp weapon that has gradually gained popularity among the people. It is good to use it to fight against powerful people. In addition, I will give two more suggestions to the wise son-in-law. Of course, whether you listen or not is up to you."
"Father-in-law, please speak!"
Dugu Ming said slowly: "The first suggestion is that the wise son-in-law should not attack too widely. After all, the local wealthy families are the foundation of the imperial court. They are weights one by one, stabilizing the Tang Dynasty. Without them, just hope
Ordinary people, the world will be in chaos, and a rumor will cause the whole county to be in chaos.
In fact, there are not many truly powerful families, and most of them are ordinary wealthy families who work hard to train their children to honor their ancestors. If you can kill one person as an example and then publicize it, these local wealthy families will be afraid and will no longer fight against the imperial court."
"What my father-in-law said makes sense, I will consider it, and then what?"
"Then to strengthen the power at the Tao level, all rely on the imperial court. The imperial court is indeed beyond its capabilities and beyond its reach. It would be much easier if the civil servants were left to the Tao to manage."
"I understand. I will consider my father-in-law's two suggestions carefully."
Li Ye smiled again and said: "I know that my father-in-law is worried that Dugujun will seize power. Father-in-law, don't worry. The power of appointing the king is in my hands. I hope that my father-in-law will stay in Quanzhou for a year or two before going to the island. And pepper is a good thing. It can
To expel the damp heat accumulated in the body, eat more pepper on the island, grind it into powder and put it in the broth."
Dugu Ming smiled happily and said, "Really? I'll go to Quanzhou and give it a try."
When the time was almost up, Li Ye took his two wives to say goodbye. Dugu Taiwei said goodbye to his parents with tears in his eyes. He got in the car and returned to the Daming Palace with tears in his eyes. Returning to the imperial study, Li Ye ordered people to find Wei Jiansu, the right minister.
Not long after, Wei Jiansu came in a hurry.
"See Your Majesty!"
Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "In the morning, Dugu Guozhang gave me two suggestions. Wei Xiangguo gave me some suggestions!"
Li Ye told Dugu Ming's two suggestions. Wei Jiansu thought for a moment and asked with a smile: "What are your Majesty's opinions?"
"I think the first one is more pertinent, but the second one is worthy of discussion."
Wei Jiansu leaned forward and said: "The first article of Dugu Guozhang expressed the feelings of the humble ministers. The wealthy families in each county are the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty. It is necessary to strictly abide by the laws and disciplines, but the internal guards cannot rush into them."
Home, destroy them.
Your Majesty, any reform is a long process. It must balance the interests of all parties and proceed step by step. It must not be done in a stormy way. That will only cause destruction. The slaves were bought legally by them, and everyone is involved.
In order to protect the vital interests of the country, Wei Chen believes that instead of attacking the rich and powerful, Your Majesty should severely crack down on the slave trade, hang all slave traders, first put an end to the slave trade, and then solve the problem of the slave stock."
"Is there any way to solve the problem of slaves?" Li Ye asked.
Wei Jiansu nodded, "You can levy a slave tax. For example, if the government determines that a large household has fifty slaves, and this large household imposes a slave tax of fifty guan every year, it will naturally stop using slaves. The gain outweighs the loss. This is gentle."
Much more to prevent the internal guards from raiding the house and ruining the family."
Li Ye had calmed down and nodded, "Xiang Guo is right. It is not wise to violently confiscate homes. Levying a slave use tax is a good way."
"In addition, regarding the reform of local officials, Wei Chen also agreed with Dugu Ming's idea. It is a good way to kill one person to serve as a warning to others. We should use the Tang Dynasty ten-day periodical to publicize it widely and conduct examinations in various places first. We can be more pragmatic. As long as they come to take the examination, we will admit them and then formally
Become court officials and be assigned to other counties. Anyone who does not come for the exam will be dismissed. We will directly send new officials. At this time, the internal guards can take action against anyone who dares to cause trouble, so that the violence of the internal guards can be reduced to a minimum.
, I want to give everyone a chance.”
Li Ye was deeply touched by Wei Jiansu's sincere persuasion. This is the name of prime minister. When the emperor has a wrong idea, the prime minister should not stand firm. Wait until the world calms down and then use roundabout persuasion. The emperor will realize his mistake.
At this time, Li Ye really realized that expanding the internal guards and dividing them into 1,500 groups was indeed a very dangerous idea. It would inevitably destroy a large number of local wealthy families and destroy his own ruling foundation.
Li Ye nodded, "I will adopt the Prime Minister's suggestion and conduct the civil service examination first, no! First publicize it to let everyone know what is going to be tested, and then conduct the ability test. I will not test the Four Books and Five Classics. I want to test how to collect taxes, how?
Population census, how to maintain public security, how to run schools, etc., must be pragmatic, combined with what they usually do, and use specific cases to test their problem-solving abilities."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Wei Jiansu was also sincerely happy that the emperor was finally persuaded by him.
"What about Dugu Guozhang's second idea? Regarding the establishment of the first level of Taoism."
Wei Jiansu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, this is a big problem. Currently, each Taoist power has three powers, supervision power, transportation power and criminal inspection power. If the official power, financial power and administrative power are given again, Wei Chen thinks that it will
If the state government is evacuated, it will even evacuate the imperial court. Wei Chen suggests maintaining the status quo and handing over the management power at the official level to the state government."
In fact, Li Ye did not agree with expanding the power of Dao at one level. Dao was equivalent to a province in later generations, but after all, there were more than a billion people in later generations, while the Tang Dynasty only had tens of millions of people. There were prefectures and counties, provinces, officials, and
Sorry, the bureaucracy is too huge.
He was even considering abolishing the Dao level. The key was to keep up with the traffic. It would be much easier for the imperial court to govern the states, and there would be no need for the Dao to exist.
Moreover, Wei Jiansu is right when he says that once the Tao expands its power, it will evacuate the state level, for example, and the imperial court, which is not conducive to centralization of power.
Therefore, he did not intend to adopt this suggestion from Dugu Ming.
Li Ye then said: "Please ask Wei Xiangguo to preside over the political affairs hall to arrange the propaganda and civil servant examinations. The slave tax must also be introduced as soon as possible."
