Chapter 625: A mouthful of blood
After Xie Zhan took a concubine, he went to court as usual. He was not a man who indulged in love and women.
Xie Zhan devoted all his efforts to national affairs.
It is true that he wants the Xie family to become the top family in Dali, but Xie Zhan also hopes that Dali can win the confrontation with Pingzhou. After all, if the skin is gone, where will the hair be attached?
In his eyes, the crisis of Dali is also obvious, Pingzhou, Pingzhou!
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, Pingzhou, which occupies three states, although it has some influence, still cannot be compared with Dali, which occupies nearly nine states.
They still didn't think that a force led by a woman in Pingzhou could sweep across the world and seize the throne of Dali.
Xie Zhan was different. He saw the vitality of Pingzhou and the decadence of Dali.
They never thought that it only took Lu Songli a few years to go from having nothing to owning three states.
Xie Zhan recognized the strength of his opponent, Lu Songli, and realized that the problems facing Dali were serious.
But he was also very clear that Dali still had the advantage at present and had the capital to turn the tide, and the situation had not yet developed to an irreversible point.
In other words, he still has cards in his hand, and if he plays them well, he may be able to win the game.
Taiji Hall
Civil and military officials came to the court for an audience.
Prime Minister Chen Wan, Grand Marshal Xiao Qun, Shangshu Ling Sang Baiqing, Zhongshu Ling Zuo Anmin, Duzhi Shangshu Wu Chunyu, as well as Imperial Censor Zhou Chengzhong, Dali Temple Minister Wang Yuan, Taichang Temple Minister Li Changchun, Military Chief of Staff Fan Yang and other ministers entered in turn and stood in two rows on the left and right.
Xu Junfan stood in the middle of the team on the left.
The throne was empty. The emperor did not attend the morning court and instructed Xie Zhan, the commander-in-chief of the army, to temporarily take charge of state affairs.
Since Song Mo ascended the throne, except for the initial period, he was rarely happy when attending court.
State affairs are always troublesome.
When he attended court, the issues presented to him were almost all urgent and needed his decision. To put it bluntly, he developed a psychological trauma from attending court. Later, after Xie Zhan helped manage state affairs, he decided it was best to stay in the harem.
After Xie Zhan took charge of state affairs, he set up a seat on the lower left side of the dragon throne, and he sat on this chair to listen to government affairs.
Xie Zhan had suggested to Song Mo that he thoroughly check the population of Dali, and now the Household Registration Department has reported the data.
"According to statistics, there are only 13.69 million Chinese people in Dali."
Upon hearing this number, the hall fell silent.
I remember that the last time the Household Registration Department counted the population, there were more than 18 million people, nearly 19 million.
So, so many people from Dali have been absorbed by Pingzhou?
The officials present here who can make it in the court are all smart, and they certainly know the importance of population.
Xu Junfan thought to himself that not all of these people were absorbed by Pingzhou. At least the nearly one million people in the Northern Border and Liangzhou were abandoned by Dali itself.
Xie Zhan said, "You are all the backbone of the Dali court. Dali is currently experiencing severe population loss. If you have any opinions or good suggestions, please feel free to speak up."
One minister suggested, "Reporting to the Grand Commander, we can ask the Emperor to order a restriction on the issuance of travel permits to various places, and through this means, we can limit the outflow of population."
Wu Chunyu disagreed with this view, "No, we can't do that."
"This method only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. Once this method is used, the people will lose their vitality, and Dali's economic activities will also suffer a blow..."
One minister suggested, "We could set up more checkpoints along the border with Pingzhou and charge higher tolls. This would hopefully discourage people from going to Pingzhou."
"This is a good method. Don't forget to use this method in coastal areas to prevent people from traveling to Pingzhou by boat."
"We can still..."
The ministers expressed their opinions, and without exception, they all advocated severe torture for the people who went to Pingzhou.
"Staff Officer Fan, do you have any suggestions?" Xie Zhan called out.
Fan Yang sighed inwardly and stepped out. "To reduce population loss, the court's measures must benefit the people and allow them to enjoy the emperor's grace, such as reducing taxes, exempting corvée labor, and so on."
Xie Zhan nodded. Finally someone hit the point.
Wu Chunyu still disagreed, saying that this would inevitably affect Dali's tax revenue. Dali's salt tax was already low this year, and the national treasury was stretched to the limit.
In the end, no effective solution was found for this issue, so Xie Zhan could only put it aside temporarily and discuss it later.
After leaving court, Xie Zhan took a carriage back home.
Passing by a dim sum restaurant, he bought some dim sum that his wife liked.
Although he married two concubines, he still hoped for peace in his backyard.
When he returned, he had refreshments sent to the main courtyard. He did not go there himself, but had sent word that he would be there for dinner that evening.
Afterwards, Xie Zhan asked people to invite all his trusted ministers.
Fan Yang was the first to arrive, and he didn't go back after the court session. He guessed some of the thoughts in the Grand Commander's mind.
Xie Zhan saw Fan Yang coming and immediately said, "The problem of population loss in Dali must be solved. Otherwise, not only will the tax revenue be a problem, but even the military resources will become a problem."
"Furthermore, Dali's population loss has become a trend. Dali must strike hard to stop this momentum."
Xie Zhan knew very well that in order to reduce population loss, the law must be strictly enforced and fair.
It is necessary to make the common people feel fairness and justice. This is one of the fastest ways to change the people's perception of the court.
It would be best if taxes could be lowered and labor service could be reduced.
In the current situation in Dali, either the tax system should be continued, which would make the common people uncomfortable; or action should be taken against the aristocratic families and the middle class, and their land and hidden population should be investigated, which would make the aristocratic families and the middle class uncomfortable; or the common people should be given light labor service and no action should be taken against the aristocratic families and the middle class. In this way, the country would not be able to collect taxes, which would make the country uncomfortable.
Among the three parties, one will always have a hard time.
There are many aristocratic families in Dali, and they own a lot of land, and even have a large number of hidden people.
Xie Zhan has studied Pingzhou's various policies, including its welfare and policies, to make it possible for hidden populations to be exposed.
What he needs to do is to release the population hidden by the aristocratic families, which will be of great benefit to Dali.
When Xie Zhan expressed his thoughts, Fan Yang's expression became serious. "Grand Commander, this problem is not easy to solve."
The Grand Commander's actions have violated the interests of the aristocratic families, and there will definitely be many people who will come out to stop him or refuse to cooperate.
Xie Zhan nodded. He knew the resistance and difficulty involved would be immense. He noticed that even his own people weren't very enthusiastic about the matter.
"I know, I need a knife."
Reform and innovation are imminent.
Only in this way can the crisis of Dali be resolved. Cutting off some of the flesh of the aristocratic families can give Dali a breath of blood.
Just then, Jiang Boya's letter arrived.
After reading it, Xie Zhan stood in front of the big window and remained silent for a long time.
It can be said that Xie Zhan also realized the problem that Lu Songli saw.
He knows what is right, but the people under him always make the wrong moves.
Someone once told him that the greatest pain a person suffers is being unable to bridge the gap between knowing and doing. Now Xie Zhan feels it.
This incident also prompted Xie Zhan to make a decision, "Mr. Fan, I plan to re-employ Zhang Zhongxian."
Zhang Zhongxian is the knife he wants to use.
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