In the current harem of the Tang Dynasty, apart from Empress Dowager Bai and Empress Dong, Concubine Shu Ye and De Concubine Wang have the most noble status.
The concubine system in the harem of the Tang Dynasty also followed the ancient system, with slight improvements, forming a concubine system with the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty: the harem has one queen, three noble concubines, nine concubines, nine concubines, and Jieyu
, the third level of beauty, talented person, and then the third level is indefinite.
In other words, in addition to the upper limit on the number of concubines and above, Li Xuan can theoretically have as many Jieyu, beauties, and talented people as he wants, and in fact, this is what Li Xuan did.
For example, most of the dozens of members of the Tang Palace Dance Troupe have the title of beauties and talents.
However, in order to prevent the concubines from spreading all over the place, Li Xuan placed relatively large restrictions on titles above the concubines. Currently, there are actually only three of the nine concubines, two concubines, and none of the noble concubines.
More often than not, Jieyu is the most beautiful and talented person.
However, there are more and more women. At present, the total number of third-level harem women has reached more than fifty, and it is still expanding on a large scale.
Among them, except for the palace dance troupe, which was selected by Wang Wenhua and other courtiers and was chosen by Li Xuan himself, and the four early empress Dong, concubine Shu, concubine Li, and Zhuer, the rest are all with strong political influence.
marriage.
There are all kinds of people, some are the daughters of chieftain families in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, and some are the daughters of gentry from various provinces.
Basically, every time he conquered an area, Li Xuan would inevitably recruit a few women, and he would not do anything without them, because this was one of the ways to win over people's hearts and completely tie the locals into the Tang Dynasty's carriage.
For example, Jinling is now the capital. In the past few months, the law enforcement force in the Tang Dynasty, with the tax inspection team as the core, has cleaned up the gentry forces in the south of the Yangtze River. To rule a place, killing alone is not enough.
One hand with a big stick and one hand with candy is the way to go.
So before Li Xuan arrived at Jinling City, the Tang Dynasty had actually begun to select women from all over the south of the Yangtze River to enter the palace.
This kind of selection is naturally not a talent show, and the targets are definitely not women like Xiao Jia Biyu, but all ladies from famous families, and they are only legitimate daughters from scholarly families, gentry and powerful families.
Because this is actually a political marriage, the object must be representative.
In the evening, Queen Mother Bai called Li Xuan over and said that the Ministry of Rites had submitted the eighteen families scheduled for the draft. After Li Xuan looked at the list, well, they were all scholarly, gentry and powerful people.
Many families have produced high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty, and even now there are families whose members are officials in the Ming Dynasty.
However, Li Xuan did not express any objection, because this was not about choosing a beautiful woman for himself, but a political marriage. He examined the detailed backgrounds of these eighteen families and the behind-the-scenes of these eighteen families with a working attitude.
After considering the political influence it can represent, Li Xuan said: "Everything depends on the mother!"
Empress Dowager Bai also nodded slightly: "Since the emperor has no objection, then let's go back to the Aijia and let the empress start!"
When it comes to selecting a concubine for the emperor, the Queen Mother's opinion is very important, as is the Queen's opinion, and the specific work actually has to be done by Dong Yunyun.
At the same time, in a magnificent house in Fucheng, Suzhou, two middle-aged men were standing in front of an old man. One of the older men said: "Dad, the matter has been settled in general. This time
In a draft, there will be a spot for our Song family!"
The old man nodded slightly after hearing this: "Well, now that it's decided, let's get ready and count the time. The draft angel should be here soon!"
At this time, another younger middle-aged man said: "Dad, brother, if we do this, will our third brother be implicated? The third brother is still in the north!"
But Old Mrs. Song said: "What's involved? I've already publicly announced that I've kicked him out of the house, and all the people in the third room have moved to the capital. What's more, it's not our Song family who did this, so big
Jiangnan, who doesn’t do this? The north must know it, but what’s the harm in knowing it? The ministers in the northern court now have their clansmen staying in Jiangnan!”
Although the Tang Dynasty rose and occupied the south of the Yangtze River, today's China is actually divided into the north and the south. Many ministers in the Ming Dynasty are actually very embarrassed because most of them are from the south of the Yangtze River.
My family lives in Jiangnan, under the rule of the puppet Tang Dynasty, but I am an official in the Ming Dynasty, and my official position is not low!
Therefore, many people have made the same choice, that is, their families have begun to separate, and many have publicly announced that they are severing ties.
Both Li Xuan and Emperor Zhengde knew this kind of thing, but no one came forward to speak out.
The Tang Dynasty also showed an attitude of letting things go by the past. As long as the gentry under the rule of the Tang Dynasty obeyed the law and cooperated with the rule of the Tang Dynasty, they would turn a blind eye if some of these gentry became officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Close one eye.
Because if we really want to pursue the case, then we have to kill all these gentry families.
Although Li Xuan doesn't like the gentry class very much, there is no need to kill them all. These gentry can still be of some use after transformation, such as initially stabilizing the place, and then when they join industry and commerce, they can also stimulate the economy.
develop.
After all, the stable development of a society is needed by all classes, even good and bad people.
After some discussion, these people then asked Old Man Song again: "You have chosen the specific candidates. This matter is important. If done well, it will not only bring the immediate benefits. If
The person who enters the palace is favored, and there is only one prince left, so why don’t I need to say more about this in the future?"
"As my son knows, we already have two suitable candidates in our family, but we have to wait until the draft angel comes to see who they are!"
"Well, that's good, don't neglect this matter!"
The same thing happened in various places in Jiangnan at different times and places.
The Tang Dynasty made Jinling its capital, and its momentum was very strong. It had the momentum to unify China. Even if it did not unify China, it would be easy to divide the river and rule with the Ming Dynasty. In this case, if they want to continue to survive
, to maintain prosperity and wealth, the carriage of the Tang Dynasty, whether they are willing or not, they must get on it.
The current relationship between the Jiangnan gentry and the Tang Dynasty is somewhat special. In fact, both parties do not like each other, but they both hold their noses and cooperate for the sake of the overall situation.
Empress Dowager Bai and Li Xuan talked about the draft, which was just a small episode. This matter may be very important to many people, but in Li Xuan's view, it is just like that. It is okay to do it, but there is no loss if it is not done.
The big kind.
It is thought that Li Xuan did not rise by relying on the gentry and landlord class, but by relying on the army. The foundation of his rule was the vast number of farmers and the new industrial and commercial capitalist class.
Traditional landowners have always been his targets.
Now, it's just a matter of relaxing the relationship a little after the blow.
However, the landlord class that occupies a large amount of land is still Li Xuan's unswerving target!
There are many people outside now. Many of the chaos and tyranny in the Tang Dynasty were caused by the many rebellious officials and traitors of the Tang Dynasty. Li Xuan was just deceived. Many people, like Chen Lifu, invested in helping the royal family and bringing order to the chaos.
In the Tang Dynasty.
But they probably would never have guessed that the reason why the Tang Dynasty was what it is today, and why it launched all kinds of chaos and tyranny, was all because of Li Xuan's blow.
It was Li Xuan who created the Tang Dynasty, and it was Li Xuan who promoted many unprecedented changes!
Those ministers were just following Li Xuan's wishes!
If they want to bring order to the chaos, they must first kill Li Xuan.
The day after Li Xuan entered Jinling City, the first imperial meeting was held in Jinling City. Hundreds of civil and military officials came to see him and shouted long live, long live, long live, long live.
This Great Court Meeting was also a political propaganda event, which represented that the Tang Dynasty had officially established its capital in Jinling City.
At the same time, in order to celebrate the joy of moving the capital, Li Xuan once again issued an amnesty order. The targets of the amnesty were also a large number of prisoners of war and the families of implicated criminals. This move was also intended to win over the hearts of the people.
After a series of major actions, Jinling City returned to calm, and officials began to be as busy as before.
Many officials who had just entered the Tang Dynasty and became officials were not used to this, because being an official in the Tang Dynasty was not as good as being an official in the Ming Dynasty. Being an official in the Ming Dynasty meant that you didn't have to do anything. You could just visit a brothel every day.
, but being an official in the Tang Dynasty is really busy!
As one of the new officials, Chen Lifu also has a deep understanding of this!
Ever since he came to Chizhou Prefecture from Jinling City in the first month of the year, Chen Lifu has never had an easy time. Every day he travels around and reads files. However, even though he is just busy, it makes him feel very tired.
And the reason that made him feel tired all stemmed from his mission!
Before coming to Chizhou, he and another senior tax inspector received a mission.
The Ministry of Taxation reviewed the amount of tax paid by Chizhou Prefecture last year, which was far lower than expected. According to the number of acres of land in Chizhou estimated by the Ministry of Agriculture, combined with the tax rate, the agricultural tax that should be collected should be three times the amount paid.
In other words, the agricultural tax paid by Chizhou Prefecture was only one-third of the estimate.
And business taxes, etc. are also lower than expected!
What does this mean? It means that tax evasion in Chizhou is quite serious, and this kind of thing is absolutely intolerable to the tax department.
Taxation was the lifeblood of the Tang Dynasty, and tax evasion was intolerable to the Tang Dynasty, let alone such serious large-scale tax evasion!