Chapter seven hundred and twelve shameless opening
Li Shi really didn't want to know about these troubles, but the situation at hand was so serious that he could no longer recruit troops, and even the army could hardly be maintained, so he became really anxious.
He walked two steps with his hands behind his back: "Is Guo Song's issuance of the abolition order related to this?"
After all, Zhang Yanshang was the prime minister. He looked at the problem more deeply, and he also looked at Guo Song's abolition order much more deeply than others.
"Your Majesty, Guo Song's abolition order is not entirely for taxes, but it is ultimately related to taxes. He actually wants labor. Mining, winemaking, tanning, papermaking, textiles and other industries all need people, but Hedong
The seriousness of slaveholding in various places led to the conflict between labor shortage and slaveholding. The main purpose of abolishing slavery in Guo and Song Dynasties was to increase the population, to be precise, the free population."
"Is this related to resolving land annexation?" Li Shi asked puzzledly.
"Of course it does matter. As long as the population is liberated and a large number of people move into the city, no one will cultivate the land in the large manors. The manor owners can only sell the land and buy it sporadically from the farmers. After about ten years, the land annexation will be completed.
It will gradually reverse."
Li Shi sighed, "Forget it, let's not mention him, let's talk about how to solve our army recruitment problem? When will the tax grains from Jiangnan, Jingnan, and Lingnan come? The key is the salt tax from Jiangdu. Let Chen Shaoyou ship it over immediately.
, don’t wait until autumn!”
Cui Zao said quickly: "Weichen has sent people to urge it many times, but Weichen frankly said that it will take at least until the end of the year to transport it to Chengdu."
"What should we do? We must have an army now." Li Shi glared at the two of them with great dissatisfaction.
Zhang Yanshang was silent for a moment and said: "If it cannot be solved with money and food, then we can only forcefully recruit troops. However, this will easily lose the support of the people, and will also cause instability in the army and low morale. Your Majesty should think twice!"
In fact, that was what Li Shi meant, to force conscription, but Zhang Yanshang saw through it and he said he should think twice.
Li Shi looked a little embarrassed and said: "I understand what you mean, let me think about this matter again!"
Zhang Yanshang and Cui Zao resigned and walked out of the imperial study. Cui Zao whispered: "The Holy One will not really resort to forced conscription!"
"It's hard to say, unless he is willing to spend some of his savings in the inner treasury, but that would be equivalent to killing him, which is unlikely. In the end, he will have no choice but to resort to forced conscription. I think this is what he means."
"In that case, the Tang Dynasty will be in danger!"
Zhang Yanshang sneered and said: "The Tang Dynasty has been in crisis for more than a day or two. It started five years ago when the Jingyuan mutiny happened. It's just that it's getting worse and worse day by day."
The two shook their heads and left helplessly...
In the imperial study, Emperor Li Shi was still pacing back and forth. He was the emperor, and his vision was broader than that of ordinary courtiers. He knew how to get money and food.
With so many wealthy people refusing to pay, Li Shi was deeply annoyed that the court was only focusing on his little internal treasury.
.........
In the afternoon of the next day, Li Shi summoned Du Qiu in the imperial study.
Dugu Qiu was named Grand Master and basically no longer participated in government affairs. However, the Dugu family participated in government affairs and the army behind the scenes. Among the ten generals of the Shence Army, at least three had Dugu family backgrounds, as well as those from Jiangnan and Lingnan.
On the other side, many people in the military are from Guanlong noble background.
Of course, what the Dugu family is famous for is its financial resources. The strong financial resources accumulated over the past century are no less than those of the Yuan family. They are as rich as the enemy, and they are very cunning and secretive.
Lonely Liqiu walked into the imperial study, bowed and saluted: "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"
Li Shi smiled and said, "I haven't seen Dugu Aiqing for a long time. What have you been busy with recently?"
"Weichen has been doing some small business recently and can't stay idle at home."
Li Shi chuckled, "The small business Aiqing does must be a big business."
"To be honest with your Majesty, Weichen has opened a weaving workshop with about a thousand looms. Weichen wants to weave white folded cloth. He feels that white folded cloth is very comfortable. In the past, raw materials were very expensive. Now Anxi is planting cotton on a large scale. This way
A piece of white folded cloth is slightly more expensive than a piece of fine linen."
Speaking of Anxi, Li Shi's expression was obviously a little unnatural. After a while, he sighed and said: "Grand Master, your son-in-law is very difficult to communicate with! I can't do anything with him."
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen feels that it is still necessary to ease the relationship. The key is that Xue Xun must come back. He is not in good health and the conditions in Bozhou are harsh. If he dies in Bozhou, the relationship with Guo Song will be irreparable.
"
"But I called him back several times and made him a bachelor. But he just refused to accept the imperial edict, and there was nothing I could do about it."
"He refused to come back simply because of Li Yi. Your Majesty recalled Li Yi to Chengdu and put him under house arrest. There is no point in Xue Xun and Han Huang staying in Bozhou. Your Majesty can let Han Huang go to Jiangnan and Xue Xun return to Chengdu to recuperate. Isn't that right?
Just kill two birds with one stone?"
Li Shi thought for a moment and said happily: "It makes sense, I can consider it!"
The two exchanged some pleasantries, and then Li Shi turned to the topic. He sighed and said, "Dugu Aiqing, the government's finances are very serious now! There are only 300,000 copper coins left in the Zuozang Treasury, and we owe three months of military debt."
Salary, the pension for the soldiers who died in Guanzhong last time was not paid, and the salary of the court officials has not been paid to this day. The key is that I need to recruit troops to guard the border against Tibet. Nanzhao is not stable, and there must be an army to guard Yuzhou. At least recruit
There are 30,000 people, but only 6,500 people have been recruited so far. The imperial court cannot provide money and food. It is really difficult. I sincerely ask the Dugu family to help Datang."
Dugu Qiu did not expect that the emperor would cry out to him for poverty, and finally ask the Dugu family to provide money for support. But since the emperor had spoken, he could not refuse, and he mused: "When the Tang Dynasty is in trouble, of course the humble ministers cannot just sit back and watch, they should help."
Your Majesty shares your concerns, but I would like to ask again, has Your Majesty ever considered speaking to other Guanlong families?"
Li Shi was very satisfied with Du Lingqiu's attitude. He nodded, "We must consider it together."
"Then I have a suggestion for Your Majesty."
"My dear, please tell me!"
"It is the fact that Zhao Chongwen's family was assigned to Yunnan for military exile. This has made other Guanlong nobles very worried. They hope that your majesty will issue a pardon as soon as possible and let them come back. With all due respect, this matter will have a certain impact on your majesty's plan.
obstacles."
Li Shi nodded. He had really forgotten about this matter. Anyway, since Guo Song had implemented an amnesty, he could also implement an amnesty, and also pardon the Zhao family and Li Yi.
Dugu Qiu immediately stated that the Dugu family could support the imperial court with 200,000 yuan. This made Li Shi very happy. He had never expected that the Dugu family would be so generous. He was full of confidence in the subsequent donations from other families.
........
An hour later, an edict of amnesty was issued in the palace. In order to celebrate the Tang army's defeat of Uighur, Li Shi issued an edict to pardon all prisoners in the world, including the exiled royal family and family members of court officials.
In this way, Zhao Chongwen's family members and the deposed emperor Li Yi will be pardoned and returned to Chengdu.
After the pardon was issued, Li Shi ordered Li Yi to be renamed King Qiong, and ordered him to return to Chengdu to reflect behind closed doors. At the same time, Li Shi appointed Han Huang as the governor of Mingzhou, which is today's Ningbo, and ordered him to take office immediately.
, and at the same time, Xue Xun was granted the title of Bachelor of Chongwen Palace and ordered to accompany the deposed emperor Li Yi back to Chengdu.
.........
Chengdu Wangjiang Restaurant is the best restaurant in Chengdu. This restaurant is also the property of the Dugu family. Dugu Qiu followed Guo Song's persuasion and basically sold all the farms in these years, and finally only stayed in Changzhou.
In a large farm, the Dugu family began to lay out the business and handicraft industries, and vigorously invested in restaurants, shops, cabinet shops, shipbuilding, textiles, brewing and other commercial and handicraft industries.
This Wangjiang Restaurant is the property of the Dugu family. They have bought five large restaurants and seven counter shops in Chengdu alone, as well as twenty or thirty shops, which can bring huge profits to the Dugu family every day.
In the evening, Wangjiang Restaurant was full of drinkers. In an elegant room on the third floor, Dugu Qiu was inviting Dou Yi, the head of the Dou family, to have a drink. Dou Yi was worshiping the Taiwei. The power of the Dou family was no less than that of the Dugu family.
It's just that it's far inferior in terms of financial resources.
"You mean, the emperor finally took action against the Guanlong family?" Dou Yi picked up the wine glass and stared at Duqiu Qiu with sharp eyes.
The Guanlong nobles are what outsiders call them, and they call themselves the Guanlong family. Since the Sui Dynasty, the imperial court has never reached out to the Guanlong family. Today is the first time in a hundred years, so Dou Yi is deeply shocked. He has
It shocked the imperial court's financial embarrassment and also shocked Emperor Li Shi's shamelessness.
Dugu Qiu said calmly: "The emperor summoned me this afternoon. I thought it was because of Guo Song's refusal to enter Guanzhong, but I didn't expect that he actually reached out and asked the Dugu family for money."
"He is so shameless!"
Dou Yi said angrily: "He took away the tea and wine taxes, commercial taxes, and mining taxes, and put them all into his inner treasury. As the emperor, he was so stingy with his own country and country, not even taking a dime, and he still had the nerve to ask his ministers for money.