Chapter 653 The princes in the world are the first to pay tribute!
Chapter 653: The princes in the world are the first to pay tribute!
Hearing the name Xiyun Hou, everyone in the hall looked a little strange. It was said that the collapse of the well field system was indeed closely related to the Xi Kingdom.
But it was not for other reasons, but because Marquis Xiyun dedicated his iron-making skills to benefit the world and greatly increased food production, which was a tribute to the Celestial Dynasty.
It would be too far-fetched to shift the responsibility to Marquis Xiyun. The ministers on the side were talking about it and disagreed in their hearts, but no one objected on the surface.
At this time, if you can find someone to take the blame and reduce the pressure, why not do it!
The emperor, Emperor Mu, showed an interesting expression and said, "Mr. Jiang, why did you say this?"
Jiang Gongxin vowed: "I would like to inform you, Your Majesty, as early as a few years ago, the well field system in the Xi Kingdom had ceased to exist in name only. Marquis Xiyun gave the land to the common people for farming, and regarded the family as one household, and each household divided the fields. Even the original divisions
Good mine fields are also distributed to the people for cultivation. Nowadays, there is no longer an acre of public land in the country.
Many princes in the world rushed to imitate Xi State, so the well field system collapsed, and the damage was done to Xi State!"
Jiang Gong spoke with great indignation, as if the king's fields were deserted and the public grain harvest was not harvested entirely because of the Xi Kingdom. At the end, he also pulled out the Marquis of Xixing as evidence: "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Xixing reported to your Majesty and all the ministers a few years ago.
The Duke once said that the Xi Kingdom ignored the well-field system. At that time, the Holy Spirit thought that the Xi Kingdom would be difficult and did not care about it. Now the root of the disaster has been laid!
Four or five years ago, in the second year after Yao Yun took charge of the Xi Kingdom, the Xi Kingdom appeared for the first time in front of the Manchu princes because of its high grain yield, which attracted the favor of the auspicious beast Dangkang.
The Xi State was very weak at that time. Even if the Xi State changed the "well field system" of the Xia Dynasty without authorization, the ministers did not pay attention to it. The emperor just turned a blind eye and gave a mild reprimand.
But now, when the "well field system" begins to collapse and the pots are divided, everyone thinks of this matter again.
At first, the ministers did not think of this, but after Duke Jiang gave him some advice, the ministers suddenly realized what he was doing. They followed Duke Jiang's footsteps and criticized Yao Yun with both words and writings.
"Your Majesty, Duke Jiang's words make sense. The Xi Kingdom has been prospering over the years and its national power is at its peak, relying on the deduction of tribute money. This is a treasonous and unethical act. Marquis Xiyun should be punished as a warning to others!"
"This statement is reasonable. It is said that many princes saw the prosperity of Xi Kingdom, so they rushed to Xi Kingdom to travel and study. The princes of the world followed suit. This is the root cause of the collapse of the well field system. Jiang Gong is right, Xi Yunhou opened
He made a bad move and shook the very foundation of China!"
"Your Majesty, Marquis Xiyun is indeed responsible for this matter..."
.......
For a time, the voices of attacking Xiguo and criticizing Yao Yun could not be heard. The ministers who had a guilty conscience saw that Xiguo could share the responsibility, so they ignored everything and frantically blamed Xiguo.
At first glance, the words of the ministers were very reasonable. The Xi Kingdom was the first to cross the line and ignore the well-field system. Others saw the rise of the Xi Kingdom and followed suit. As a result, the entire well-field system in the celestial dynasty collapsed.
This set of rhetoric is very reasonable and seamless.
When Emperor Mu heard this, he also frowned. When he first learned that the Xi Kingdom had reformed the well-field system and gave the land to the common people and slaves to cultivate it, he was worried that Yao Yun was a direct descendant of the Xi family. If he was severely punished, he was afraid of being criticized by the princes of the world, so he just scolded him.
I didn't delve into it for a while.
But now there is a big mess.
Emperor Mu has long known that all the countries in the world are vying to imitate the Xi Kingdom.
If it is true, as the ministers said, that Xi State has taken a bad lead and other countries are rushing to imitate him, then Xi Yunhou is indeed guilty of a big crime.
Di Mu's eyes suddenly became sharp. Xi Guo is a descendant of the previous generation of emperors. As the contemporary emperor, he must be fair and just in dealing with the descendants of the previous generation of emperors. He must not be slanderous. However, if Xi Guo did make a big mistake, then he also
If you are not polite, you will be severely punished!
However, Emperor Mu, the emperor, was not an incompetent person and would not listen to one-sided words. Then he turned to ask a white-haired old minister in the palace: "Situ, how much food has been provided by the Xi Kingdom in these years?"
The emperor, Emperor Mu, was not concerned about whether the well-field system was shaken, but that the princes in the world did not provide him with enough food and wealth.
When Duke Jiang and all the ministers heard this, their expressions changed greatly. In Duke Jiang's "perfect" speech, the only thing missing was the amount of tribute paid by Xi State and the amount paid by other vassal states.
The things on the annual tribute list of princes are just some strange and weird things presented by princes from various places for the entertainment of the world. They should not be taken seriously. The current tribute is food, grass, wealth and silk. Outsiders have no way of knowing it. If ordinary ministers are not in charge of this matter, they will not be too concerned about it.
learn.
Hearing the emperor's question, everyone's eyes fell on Situ.
The old Situ served the emperors of several dynasties, and he also served as a Situ for the Emperor Xi. Therefore, the old master had a good impression of the Xi Kingdom. Just now he saw that the officials besieged the Xi Kingdom against their will, and he was already a little dissatisfied.
As a result, Situ cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, in recent years, the food provided by Xi State has doubled every year. The amount is astonishing, far exceeding that of ordinary vassal states. Especially this year, the territory of Xi State has increased dramatically, and the food provided by Xi State has increased dramatically.
The food supply doubled again, which really shocked the old minister.
From what I have seen, the Xi Kingdom took the lead in tampering with the well-field system, but Marquis Xiyun was loyal to the Celestial Empire and paid tribute to one of the nine well-field systems and never slackened off."
Mr. Situ was upright and spoke a fair word for Xiguo.
When Duke Jiang and many ministers heard what Mr. Situ said, their expressions changed immediately, and they were quite surprised. They concealed their private property, so they took it for granted that Xiguo, like them, also concealed it, so they vowed to prepare.
Put the shit basin on Xi Guo and let Xi Guo bear the emperor's wrath.
The emperor, Emperor Mu, squinted his eyes and turned to Gong Jiang: "Mr. Jiang, you said that Xi Guo led a bad leader, so what do you mean?"
Mr. Jiang swallowed his saliva and said, "Your Majesty...this...Mr. Situ, you are not mistaken."
Situ puffed his beard and stared, saying: "How can this matter be false? Your Majesty, I would like to summon the treasury manager to present the amount of tribute paid by all the princes in the world, so that it will be clear at a glance."
Emperor Mu: "Yes!"
Soon, a soldier summoned the treasury manager.
In the main hall, the faces of the ministers varied. Many of them were trembling and frightened. They didn't know how much tribute the Xi Kingdom paid, but their own family members knew about their own affairs. The tribute paid by the vassal states behind some ministers had increased, not to mention the increase.
There are not a few who have reduced it by 10% or 20%.
Soon, several treasury stewards came to the Golden Palace with their account books and presented them to the emperor.
The emperor picked up the account book and glanced at it.
The year before last, the State of Xi ranked 27th among the princes in the world in terms of tribute of grain, grass, wealth and silk.
Last year, the State of Xi ranked twelfth among the princes in the world in terms of tribute of grain, grass, wealth and silk.
This year, the State of Xi ranks first among the princes in the world in terms of tribute of grain, grass, wealth and silk, with a total of one million dan in tribute!
Looking through other vassal states, few vassal states have seen a significant increase in tribute in recent years. On the contrary, a large number of vassal states have seen a sharp decrease in tribute...
The accounts are clear and clear at a glance!
For a moment, the evidence was as solid as a mountain, and the atmosphere in the hall solidified.