Chapter 370 Lai Ji
One day, after Li Chengqian left the court, he said to his ministers: "Recently, I have been thinking about a problem. I have been thinking about the problem of governing the people, but I have not been able to figure it out. Can you explain it to me?"
Lai Ji, the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Inspector of the Ministry of Personnel, stepped out and saluted and replied: "Your Majesty! I remember that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi once went out and saw an old man suffering from hunger and cold. He couldn't bear it and ordered people to give the old man food and clothes."
"The old man said to Duke Huan of Qi: I hope the king can give food to all the hungry people in Qi and give me clothes. After Duke Huan of Qi gives him clothes."
"The old man said to Duke Huan of Qi: I hope the king can give clothes to the people of Qi, so that everyone will not have to fear the cold."
"Duke Huan of Qi was a little unhappy, thinking that the old man was teasing him, and said: My treasury is limited, how can I give clothes to everyone? Even if I want to, I can't do it. The power does not allow me to do so."
"The old man smiled and said: What's so difficult about this? As long as the king is willing to do it, he will be able to do it. Duke Huan of Qi hurriedly asked: What should I do to make it like you said?" The old man
said: In spring, you don't have to worry about farming, and you will have food; in summer, you don't have to worry about raising silkworms, and you will have clothes. Therefore, reducing corvée is a good way to rule the people. "Lai Ji said.
Li Chengqian figured out what Lai Ji meant by that. He was telling him in a veiled way that he should reduce the people's burden and not let the people's burden be too heavy.
"Then according to what you said, what should we do?" Li Chengqian asked.
Lai Ji said: "This year, tens of thousands of people have been conscripted for corvée labor in Shandong. It would be too tiring to use others, and it would be a waste of money to hire servants. I earnestly request Your Majesty to exempt all labor except those required for public affairs. "
Since ancient times, in feudal dynasties, the laborers have been doing corvée labor for free without any reward, because it is their obligation. This makes it easy for no one to do the farm work at home.
"You are right. Then I will issue an edict. From now on, any project that is not needed by the public shall not be arbitrarily conscripted." Li Chengqian said. He agreed with Lai Ji's words.
Conscripting so many people to perform corvée labor not only hurts the people and the economy, but also easily leads to no one farming during the busy farming season. This will affect the stability of the Tang Dynasty.
"Recently, the Palace of Rites reported that it would stop the co-worship of Taizu and Shizu, and to pair Gaozu with Haotian in the Circular Mound, and the former emperor with the Five Emperors in the Mingtang. My dear ministers, do you think I should agree? "Li Chengqian asked.
Li Chengqian felt that this was very troublesome. After all, they were all ancestors. Why not just worship and sacrifice together? Why bother to move around so much?
"Your Majesty! I think what the Palace of Rites reported is reasonable and proper. Gaozu is your Majesty's grandfather, and the late emperor is your Majesty's father. It should be like this according to the etiquette system. There is nothing wrong with it." A minister stepped out and saluted. "In
this case, I will approve the request from the Palace of Rites." Li Chengqian said.
Li Chengqian and the others discussed state affairs for a while, as well as some areas that needed to be changed, such as how to change people's livelihood and make the lives of the people of the Tang Dynasty more prosperous.
At this time, an eunuch ran in and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty! A secret report has come from the west of the Tang Dynasty. "
Wang Quan hurried forward, took the secret report, turned around and handed it to Li Chengqian, and the eunuch saluted and left.
Li Chengqian hurriedly opened the secret report to check, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He thought at first that some barbarians were rebelling again!
"Your Majesty! What did the secret report say? "Lai Ji asked, and the other ministers looked up, waiting for Li Chengqian's reply.
He thought the same as Li Chengqian at the beginning, that there was a rebellion somewhere and the local government was unable to deal with it, so they sent a secret letter for help.
When he saw Li Chengqian's relaxed brow, he realized that they were wrong! This should be a secret report of good news, but he didn't know what was written.
"The secret report said that the Xiyu barbarian chief Yang Dongfu, the Xianhe barbarian chief Wang Luoqi, the chiefs of Lang, Kun, Li, and Pan, Wang Jiachong and others led their troops and were willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty." Li Chengqian said. "
Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Wherever the Tang Dynasty's national prestige leads, all nations in the world will come to pay tribute. "All the ministers saluted and congratulated him.
This was undoubtedly another happy event for the Tang Dynasty.
After expressing their congratulations, everyone discussed for a while before getting up and leaving.
...
In September, there was a storm in Kuazhou and a tsunami, which drowned more than 4,000 families and tens of thousands of people.
In winter, in November, the Shengqiang chieftain Lang Wo Liba and other leaders surrendered to the country. Li Chengqian was very happy and established Zhe and Gong states in their land.
"Your Majesty!" Xue Rengui and Li Zhen saluted in the back garden of the palace.
"No need for formalities! Recently, I received secret reports that Baekje and Goguryeo's attack on Silla did not stop because of the joining of the Tang army. Instead, they launched a more fierce attack. I'm afraid Silla can't hold on for long! "
Soon, King Jin Chunchu of Silla will send people to ask for help from the Tang Dynasty again. I'm afraid a war between us and Goguryeo is inevitable." Li Chengqian said. "
Your Majesty has already sent Cheng Mingzhen and Su Dingfang to aid Silla. How can Baekje and Goguryeo have the strength to compete with the coalition forces of the Tang Dynasty and Silla? "Xue Rengui wondered, how is this possible?
He had participated in the campaign against Goguryeo and had a certain understanding of Goguryeo's combat power.
Goguryeo was the most powerful of the three kingdoms on the peninsula, while Silla and Baekje were equally powerful. However, even if they were not as powerful as Goguryeo, the gap in power between the two sides was not that big.
This time the Tang Dynasty sent troops to join forces with Silla to fight against Baekje and Goguryeo, and the Goguryeo coalition did not gain any advantage at all.
Xue Rengui was very surprised! Why on earth was Goguryeo so crazy? Even if Silla was taken down, it would certainly be seriously injured.
This was undoubtedly a great opportunity for the Tang Dynasty.
Xue Rengui couldn't figure it out. Could it be that the ruler of Goguryeo was Idiot?
To do such a crazy thing is simply to push Goguryeo into the abyss.
Is it true that since the death of Congquan Gai Su Wen, the successor is really an idiot? If so, Xue Rengui wanted to instigate Li Chengqian to send troops to destroy Goguryeo.
Not only Xue Rengui thought so, Li Zhen was even more contemptuous in his heart. Are the current Goguryeo rulers crazy?
With such a powerful dynasty as the Tang Dynasty next to them, they dare to do something that will hurt both sides and have to fight Silla to the death.
Such a stupid person, this is the first time that Li Zhen has heard of it in his long life. He has lived for a long time and can hear everything.
Since others have created an opportunity for the Tang Dynasty to destroy him, how can he not seize it well to face Goguryeo's efforts.
Not only Goguryeo should be destroyed, but it would be great if Silla and Baekje could be taken care of as well.