Yeon Gaesomun knew very well that with the demise of Baekje, he, with only 30,000 troops, could not stop the Tang Dynasty's attack.
As for the Japanese country, it was impossible for them to devote all their efforts to help him.
Therefore, Yeon Gaesumun finally ran away again, leading more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, and countless wealth, and took a boat to the Japanese country.
At this point, the entire Korean Peninsula was completely controlled by the Tang Dynasty.
The territory of the Tang Dynasty further expanded.
Immediately, 50,000 navy troops were directly deployed on the Korean Peninsula by Li Min.
Sooner or later, they will go and capture the Japanese kingdom. This is the closest place.
As for the 50,000 troops led by Xue Rengui, Li Min asked Xue Rengui to lead the army directly back to Yizhou.
This time, Li Min, the king of Shu, not only directly destroyed Goguryeo, but also included the territories of Silla and Baekje into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty once again expanded its territory, and its achievements were immeasurable.
This time, although I dare not say that Li Min's achievements were sealing the wolf from Xu, I dare not say that Yan Ran strangled the stone.
But the contribution he has made is no small matter.
However, now his title has reached its peak and is unblockable.
This is also why ministers in ancient times often took too much credit because they had too much credit.
In the end, it will lead to the inability to seal, and eventually the leader of great achievements will be killed by the emperor, which will happen again and again.
Because what a wise emperor must do is to make rewards and punishments clear.
But once your title is over and the emperor has nothing to reward you with, what should you do?
If you have to give a reward, I'm afraid the only way is to become the emperor...
Now, Li Ke didn't care at all and just rewarded Li Min with a lot of money.
But countless ministers were secretly frightened.
The King of Shu single-handedly founded the Chinese Commercial Bank, which can be said to be extremely wealthy.
Does he care about the emperor's reward?
In the future, what should the King of Shu do if he makes great contributions again?
These things are really scary to think about!
…
Emperor Li Ke did not hear these rumors.
Or if he hears it, he doesn't care at all.
He knew his brother very well and knew that he would never do anything disobedient.
If his sixth brother really has such thoughts, the current emperor is still his, and he will definitely not be blamed for it.
The sixth brother said that he would never do anything compared to himself.
And why is it not the same for me towards my sixth brother?
So, as long as they are brothers, does it matter what outsiders say?
At this time, two brothers, Li Min and Li Ke, were eating with Concubine Yang.
Although Taizong died this year, his eldest son is now the emperor.
Her son was also reused, and the two brothers worked together, and Concubine Yang was also very happy.
The two of them had a meal with Concubine Yang, and chatted with her for a while, but they were kicked out by Concubine Yang.
"Okay, okay, one of you is the emperor and the other is the minister. You have to deal with non-interested government affairs every day, so you don't need to stay with me here. Go and do your work!"
After leaving here, the two went directly to the imperial study room.
After sitting down, Li Ke couldn't help but ask Li Min: "Sixth brother, now that the southwest has been pacified, Goguryeo and other small countries in the northeast have also been destroyed."
"The Turks have declined, and it is unlikely that they will use force within ten years. Now that the world is at peace, it is time to resolve internal troubles!"
In the original historical trajectory, the Turks did not have such a teacher, and they were constantly harassing the frontiers of the Tang Dynasty.
Of course, this is also a characteristic of nomadic people.
Herding faces many problems. Once grazing alone is not enough for them to survive, they will mount their horses to rob.
But now, because of the strong rise of King Shu.
The Turks were very close to the Tang Dynasty, and hearing about the great achievements of the Shu King almost made their ears tingle.
Therefore, over the years, the Turks basically did not dare to harass the borders of Datang.
Now in the Tang Dynasty, for the time being, there really are no foreign troubles.
Dashi can be regarded as a strong enemy of Datang, but since Dashi fought a battle with Datang, he found that Datang was not easy to mess with, and he has not put any plans to invade here for the time being.
There is no external trouble, but we can just take advantage of this opportunity to solve the internal troubles in one fell swoop.
As for the internal worries of the Tang Dynasty, there is no doubt that the five surnames and Qiwang are.
The aristocratic families are the silverfish of the country. If the aristocratic families cannot be eliminated or weakened, the aristocratic families will bring down the empire sooner or later.
In fact, not only Li Ke, but also Li Shimin, why didn't he want to weaken the family?
However, the aristocratic family is really not that easy to weaken. The entire royal family of the Tang Dynasty did not have the ability to do this.
What really weakened the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes was the rebellious dynasty.
One indiscriminate killing almost destroyed the five surnames and Qiwang.
Li Min slowly shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I think that it is not the right time to weaken the Four Surnames and Six Prosperities! I think that we should raise business taxes at this time."
Li Ke asked in confusion: "Sixth brother, why do you say that?"
Li Min spoke eloquently: "Brother Emperor, it is not our purpose to weaken the four surnames and the six prosperous ones. It is just a means to take back a large amount of land from them."
"Now the four surnames and Liuwang are very vigilant. They will not touch anything that violates laws and disciplines."
"And with their profound knowledge and abundant talents, they can always find business opportunities."
"It's hard for us to find opportunities and excuses to deal with them now. We can't use trumped-up charges to arrest them all!"
The four surnames are Liuwang, and their heritage is indeed very profound.
And among the aristocratic families, there are even more talented people.
Don't think that aristocratic families are full of dandies and spoiled men.
In fact, the family's tutoring is very strict, and the education for the children of the family is the best education.
The four surnames, Liuwang, can be traced back to the Han Dynasty.
After hundreds of years of development, they naturally have their own development system.
The emphasis on children's education is becoming more and more perfect.
Let’s just say that the Tang Dynasty is developing very rapidly.
But in the entire Tang Dynasty, apart from the Chinese Commercial Bank, there were only four surnames and six prosperous ones.
Even China Commercial Bank does not have as deep a foundation as Si Xing Liu Wang.
Now the Four Surnames and Liuwang are at a disadvantage, just because they don't have good technology.
If the technologies of both parties are on the same starting line, China Commercial Bank will be far from being a rival to Four Surnames and Six Prosperities.
The original five surnames, Qiwang, once wanted to kill the king of Shu.
But the result is that they have been suffering losses for a long time.
In the end, all the Lu family were folded in.
So much so that now it has become four surnames and six prosperous ones.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, the four surnames Liuwang are now more honest.
They conduct business in an orderly manner and never do anything illegal.
What reason is there to weaken them now?
Of course, if you insist on finding fault, you will definitely be able to find it.
But if you really want to do this, it will inevitably have very bad effects.
And may cause unrest.
After listening to Li Min's analysis, Li Ke had to admit that this was indeed the truth.
Li Ke asked unwillingly: "Sixth brother, can't we just let them go?"
Li Min smiled slightly and said: "Brother Emperor, of course it is impossible to let them go so easily. But the time has not come yet."
"When our warships are built and can be expanded overseas, that's when we can really take action against them."
"But now my brother feels that we can increase the commercial tax from the original tax of thirty to one to ten taxes."
"However, although business taxes have increased, we can also improve the status of merchants and make them equal to the common people."
"At the same time, we can form a chamber of commerce to ensure the rights and interests of merchants. Even those who pay large taxes can be given certain rewards."
"Of course, these rewards can be false names, such as a title."
After listening to Li Min's words, Li Ke couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
Merchants in the Tang Dynasty naturally had to pay taxes. The current business tax is not high, only 100% tax.
If the tax rate is suddenly raised to 1 out of 10 taxes, I'm afraid some businessmen will cause trouble.
However, the current plan only targets businessmen and does not directly affect the wealthy families. It should not cause too much turmoil, right?
Li Ke understood very well what Li Min meant by rewarding him with a false title.
This kind of title lasts for one generation and is not hereditary.
However, after being knighted, you have some privileges.
For example, you can be on an equal footing with local officials, your status has been significantly improved, etc.
Of course, throughout ancient times, except for the Yuan Dynasty, the status of merchants was quite low.
Li Ke found Li Min's suggestion to improve the status of businessmen very challenging.
Once this suggestion is made, everyone will probably oppose it, right?
Thinking of this, Li Ke couldn't help but frown and asked: "Sixth brother, I'm afraid this decision to improve the status of a businessman will not be easy to pass? Is it really necessary?"
Even the emperor found it difficult to understand, which shows how difficult it would be to improve the status of a businessman.
Li Min sighed and said: "Brother Emperor, there is no stability without farming, no wealth without work, and no life without business."
“If the country wants to prosper, it is indispensable to develop business, and to develop business, it is indispensable to improve the status of merchants.”
"Looking at the changes in history, isn't there a lot of resistance? But without change, it will be difficult for the country to become truly prosperous and strong."
Li Ke nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you!"
Li Min went on to say: "While raising commercial taxes, we can reduce agricultural taxes. We can directly exempt farmers from corvee work and only need to pay taxes once a year."
"And when commerce really flourishes to a certain extent, agricultural taxes can even be exempted. By then, the people will get real benefits and be more determined to safeguard the Tang Dynasty."
Li Ke couldn't help but frown and asked: "Sixth brother, if you exempt agricultural taxes, wouldn't the taxes of any country be greatly reduced? By then, I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain the normal operation of the court, right?"
Li Xin chuckled and said, "Brother Emperor, if we wait until commerce really prospers, commercial tax will be the major contributor. It will be much higher than agricultural tax."
"At that time, even if the agricultural tax is exempted, the national tax revenue will be much higher than it is now. Of course, this is a story for later. We will discuss it later."
"My brother believes that just by eliminating corvee service, the people will be grateful to the court. And the additional commercial tax collected will not only make up for this gap, but will also be more tax than the current tax."
Li Ke still had reservations about Li Min's statement.
But Li Ke felt that the reform method proposed by Li Min was worth a try.
Now, after more than ten years of recuperation in the Tang Dynasty, the treasury is full and the people are prosperous.
The treasury surplus can at least ensure that Datang will not have any major problems within ten years.
If this reform really doesn't work, it won't be too late to abolish it.
And once it works, it will be loved by the people.
Moreover, it can further attack the four surnames and the six prosperous ones.
Finally, Li Ke said to Li Min: "Brother Chen, I will leave you fully responsible for this matter."
Li Min nodded and said: "Brother, don't worry, I will live up to your trust."
…
At the next morning court meeting, Li Min went to the meeting and put forward these suggestions.
After making this suggestion, both Li Min and the emperor were surprised to find that something was not quite right.
Originally, they were prepared to resist the pressure. They believed that all civil servants would collectively oppose it.
As for those generals, this kind of thing has nothing to do with their money.
As long as it doesn't infringe on their interests, they won't care about these things.
But what neither Li Min nor Li Ke expected was that there were indeed some people in the court who opposed it.
But there weren't many people who opposed it.
Only a few censors and a few Qingliu opposed it with all their strength.
"Your Majesty, this must not be done! As the saying goes, there is no business without treachery. Businessmen value profits but ignore justice. They are shameless and cunning. How can such people improve their status?"
"Your Majesty, the commercial tax is thirty to one, but the rules set by the late emperor must not be changed at this time!"
"Your Majesty, our government's approach to governing the country with Confucianism is simply an insult to civility. If things continue like this, the country will be ruined!"
Faced with the rebuttals of these people, Li Min argued hard.
However, in this kind of thing, it is difficult to convince the other party that the father-in-law is right and the mother-in-law is right.
But since there aren't many people who oppose it, it doesn't matter much.
If only these few people are opposed, there is no way to really stop this matter.
Both the emperor and the king of Shu seemed to feel that something was wrong.
Could it be that the remaining civil servants were caught off guard?
After they return, will they discuss a bigger conspiracy?
But then, everything turned out to be calm.
Except for a few officials who firmly opposed it on the spot that day, other civil servants did not submit a memorial of opposition after they retired from the court.
The development of things was really difficult for them to understand for a while.
During the second court meeting, Emperor Li Ke brought up this matter for discussion again.
But what surprised him and Li Min even more was that this time, even the objections disappeared.
There were a few people who objected last time, but this time, why is there not even one person who objects?
Confused, the two of them glanced around.
Only then did I realize that none of the people who objected last time came to the court meeting this time.
After careful questioning, it turned out that these people had actually asked for sick leave collectively.
An old censor accidentally fell to the ground and broke his leg. He was afraid that he would not be able to go to court for a month or two.
There was also a censor who had a bad stomach, had diarrhea all night, and could not stand up at all.
Several other people fell ill one after another.
After hearing the news, Emperor Li Ke was stunned at first, and then a knowing smile appeared on his lips.
On the other side, the generals were whispering to each other and laughing constantly.
The civil servants all looked ugly.
But in the end, because no one objected, these orders were passed smoothly.
After resigning from the court, Li Min was left behind.
In the imperial study room, Li Ke looked at Li Xin and smiled.
"Sixth brother, this is a good move, so that all those who oppose it will not be able to go to court."
Li said in astonishment: "Brother Emperor, I did not do this!"
Li Ke laughed and said: "Don't make trouble, it's not you who still--"
Suddenly, Li Ke looked at Li Min's face and couldn't help but said in surprise: "Sixth brother, is it really not you?"
Li Min said solemnly: "Brother, it's really not me. If it were me, would I still need to lie in front of you?"
Hearing Li Min's words, Li Ke couldn't help but frown and said: "This is strange. If it wasn't you, who did it? Who is helping us secretly?"
After pondering for a long time, Li Min said: "Brother Emperor, I feel that this person who acted secretly may not be helping us!"
Li Ke had a thoughtful look on his face, and then asked: "Sixth brother, what do you mean?"
Li Min said: "Brother Emperor, I was originally prepared for this change and all civil servants would collectively oppose it. But in fact, not many people opposed it."
"And the people who objected to the morning meeting last time actually all fell ill today. This morning meeting, no one objected and it passed smoothly. Don't you think it's strange?"
Li Ke couldn't help but nodded and said, "Yes, it's quite strange."
Li Min then said: "Brother Emperor, according to my observation, most of these officials who have no objections are officials from the Four Surnames and Liuwang faction. There are a few who are not, but it is very likely that in this matter, they have already
They were bribed."
Li Ke couldn't help but frowned tightly and said, "I wonder what they are doing?"
After pondering for a moment, Li Min smiled slightly and said, "My brother, after much thought, I feel that they deliberately want to pass this decree."
"This change was proposed by my brother, and the emperor strongly supports it. If this matter is not done well, it will definitely be criticized by them."
"These four surnames are Liuwang, they are always evil and waiting to see our jokes! Hum, sooner or later we will let them know how powerful I am!"
After listening to Li Min's analysis, Li Ke finally came to his senses.
However, what these four surnames Liuwang did indirectly helped them.
Otherwise, I am afraid that I will waste a lot of time by arguing over the court.
Soon, the decree was delivered to all parts of the Tang Dynasty in only three days.
Nowadays, the speed at which government orders are delivered is extremely fast.
Of course it is not the train or bus route. Although these speeds are fast, they are not so fast.
They sent messages directly by telegraph.
Given the size of the Tang Dynasty, it only took three days to deliver the message.
Once the decree was conveyed, it immediately caused an uproar throughout the Tang Dynasty.
There was more applause.
Because for the entire Tang Dynasty, the vast majority of people were common people.
With this decree, from then on, they directly abolished corvee service.
They only need to pay agricultural tax once every year.
Now, due to the promotion of several new crops, even in the most remote areas, as long as the family has strong labor, the problem of food and clothing can be solved.
After all, at this time of year, the population is relatively small, and each family can be allocated dozens of acres of land.
As long as you have strong labor force and are not lazy, you will never go hungry.
In special circumstances, families with only the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled can apply for agricultural tax exemption.
The people paid less taxes, so of course they were grateful to the court.
Especially when they heard that this proposal was put forward by the King of Shu and was implemented with the emperor's strong support and against all opinions.
They supported the Tang royal family even more.
Another group of people subject to the law are businessmen.
Among the businessmen, some were happy, while others hated and cursed.
Of course, most people hate and curse.
After all, the commercial tax was suddenly raised from the original tax rate of thirty to one, to the level of one tax per ten.
This time, it has tripled!
This is a real deal and will cost you twice as much.
It would be weird not to feel distressed.
On the other hand, this time it also improved the status of businessmen.
In other words, their status is now as high as that of the common people.
The status of scholars, farmers, merchants, and workers has been improved once.
Now, finally, they businessmen have the same status as farmers and workers.
And those businessmen who paid more taxes could even get knighthoods.
For those big businessmen, it was an unexpected surprise.
In short, some people are happy about this change, while others are cursing it.
But overall, I am more happy than cursed.
For the vast majority of businessmen, even if they pay 10% tax, they still make a profit.
It's just that part of the profit was lost out of thin air.
Although it is difficult to accept, they have no way to resist and can only passively accept it.
In fact, the most interesting things here are the big families such as the Four Surnames and Liuwang.
These families, no matter which family they are, all have huge business operations.
This time the business tax was raised, and they were the ones who paid the most.
But will these aristocratic families really pay their business taxes honestly?
Not to mention the business tax of 1 out of 10, even when it was 1 out of 30, they didn't pay much tax.
If by then we can only collect taxes from small traders, but not from these aristocratic families.
…
At this time, a rebellion case suddenly broke out again that shocked the government and the public.
The protagonists of this rebellion are none other than the famous cuckold royal family Yiai and his wife Princess Gaoyang.
Their accomplices include Xue Wanche, Princess Baling, Chai Lingwu and others.
After hearing about this case, Li Ke couldn't help but became furious.
I didn't expect these people to be so bold. Even before my father's bones were cold, they actually wanted to rebel!
Li Ke ordered the three departments of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment and the Zongzheng Temple to jointly examine the rebellion case.