Chapter 208 A great thing that benefits the country and the people
The next day, the annual court meeting was held. Tian Khan's eyes were bloodshot, but he was in high spirits.
Looking at the two adults, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, they also had red eyes, but couldn't suppress the smiles on their lips.
The two adults were urgently summoned to the palace last night. Those who were well-informed had already known that something serious and urgent had occurred.
Seeing the two adults looking so happy, I thought it was a big happy event and couldn't help but wonder what it was.
"Where is the Minister of Agriculture?" Tian Khan named someone directly without waiting for the ministers to report.
"I'm here!" A minister in a dark crimson official uniform walked out of the queue. He was about forty years old, and had been exposed to wind and sun for many years, so his skin was as bronze as a farmer's.
Dou Jing, the Minister of Agriculture, was a relative of the emperor and a member of the family of Dou, Tian Khan's biological mother.
In the early years of the Wude period, Dou Jing was appointed as the chief secretary of the Bingzhou General Administration Office (Li Yuanji).
The Tang Dynasty was in the process of establishing its regime by fighting wars in the east and west. The Turkic tribes in the north continued to harass the interior, and the Tang Dynasty had to send troops to defend.
Wars were frequent and the supply of military rations was difficult.
In order to alleviate the shortage of military food, Dou Jing petitioned the retired emperor to implement military farming near Taiyuan, where food could be grown locally and supplied to the army nearby.
While replenishing military rations, he also saved transportation costs, harvesting 100,000 hu of grain a year, and was promoted to the position of Inspector of Bingzhou for his merits.
After Tian Khan ascended the throne, he was transferred to the position of Minister of Agriculture and was granted the title of Baron of Xindu County.
"Mr. Dou, spring plowing is imminent, and the two-season rice planting is in Wuzhou, Lingnan Road. Immediately order the Ministry of Agriculture to send people to Wuzhou to supervise the successful planting of the two-season rice. If anyone dares to obstruct or sabotage it, they will be severely punished." The Khan of Heaven issued an order.
Dou Jing looked up in surprise. This imperial edict made no sense. The people from the Sinong Temple were only responsible for farming and harvesting grain, so how could they interfere in local government affairs?
"What's wrong? Is Dou Qing in trouble?" Tian Khan showed a rare playful look on his face.
"I dare not. Punishing those who harass or destroy farmland is a local government matter, not the responsibility of the Sinong Temple," Dou Jing reminded.
"Well, from now on, Lingnan Road will be designated as a special grain area and will be subject to special laws!" Tian Khan threw out the trump card.
"What? A special grain agency?" The ministers were stunned. The term was too new and the news was too explosive.
Everyone was whispering to each other, and the Food Agency seemed to understand and not understand.
In ancient times, people relied on the weather for their livelihood and were very sensitive to food. This was especially true at this time when Hebei and Henan provinces were suffering from severe disasters.
"My dear Lord Fang, please read out the Special Administrative Order of the Lingnan Food Special District!" Tian Khan said to Fang Xuanling.
"Yes!" Fang Xuanling opened the imperial edict and read it aloud.
The "Special Administrative Order of the Lingnan Province Food Special District" can be summarized into a few articles.
First, Lingnan Road was designated as a special grain administration area, and extraordinary laws were implemented. All farming matters were directly supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Second, farmers from all over the country were encouraged to reclaim wasteland in Lingnan. Newly reclaimed land was exempted from rice rent for three years, but the land could not be traded within three years.
Third, after three years, land can be traded, but only to the government; private transactions are prohibited.
Fourth, collusion between officials and businessmen to resell land is prohibited. Once verified, severe punishment will be imposed.
Fifth, it is prohibited to forcibly occupy and buy and sell wasteland, and land deeds are only allowed after the wasteland is reclaimed.
Sixth, the rent of rice is collected based on the acreage of land, not per person.
Article 1 establishes the transcendental status of the special administrative region.
The second and third articles protect farmers' land ownership and prevent it from being seized by wealthy families.
Article 4 targets local officials who profit from it.
The last two are to prevent wealthy families from taking advantage of loopholes and buying up entire barren mountains for hoarding; and secondly, to include all the land of the gentry in the scope of rice rent collection.
Farmers are reclaiming wasteland, but there is not much land, and the difference between the income based on land output and the income per capita is not much.
However, the wealthy and powerful owned as little as a few hundred acres and as much as several thousand or even tens of thousands of acres, and the court suffered huge losses from collecting taxes based on the number of people.
Those who have made it to the imperial court and can stand in the main hall are all shrewd people and quickly realize the sinister intentions.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible!" The spokesperson of the aristocratic family immediately jumped out to stop it.
"Yes, Your Majesty, food is the most important thing for the people. Grain is the foundation of the world. How can the decree of the Food Bureau be so frivolous? It is issued rashly without careful consideration!
Your Majesty, once this decree is issued, Lingnan will be in chaos, and the major Lingnan families will inevitably rebel! "Some people were righteous and heartbroken.
They understood that Tian Khan's new decree was a trick by Xiang Zhuang to kill Pei Gong, and they were angry and panicked.
They had always been the ones holding back Tian Khan, but suddenly Tian Khan took an unconventional approach and used an invincible move, catching them off guard.
Historically, the promulgation of government decrees was always preceded by much debate in the imperial court before the general direction was decided. Then the relevant ministries formulated detailed rules, which were revised back and forth several times.
What was finally implemented was all formulated in accordance with their interests.
This time, without any warning, a decree suddenly appeared to lock them out!
They didn't care about the life and death of the big families in Lingnan, but they were afraid that Tian Khan would be out of their control.
Once this decree is implemented, it means the legitimacy and transcendent status of the special agency policy. In the future, as long as the Khan does not want the aristocratic families to participate, he will issue the special agency decree.
If this continues, what place will their aristocratic families have in the entire Tang Dynasty?
Some people strongly opposed it, while others remained silent.
Those who remained silent were those who had followed the Heavenly Khan and had made great contributions. The decree was not aimed at them, and they had no intention of making a fortune in Lingnan.
Recently, several major families have been active. There is famine in Henan and Hebei provinces, and they are busy making money.
For unknown reasons, grain from Jiangnan was collected, and many grain shops in Henan and Hebei provinces appeared, selling grain mixed with sand, which further disrupted the soaring grain prices.
Every move was anticipating their predictions, as if there was an invisible force pushing it from behind.
The aristocratic families turned to conquer Lingnan, hoping to be the first to reap the fruits of Lingnan and turn it into their own granary.
Now it was strangled by the special order. The spokesperson of the aristocratic family felt a chill down his spine, sensing the deep malice behind this decree.
"Rebellion? Haven't you been saying Feng Ang is rebelling and sending troops from all over Lingnan to attack Chang'an? May I ask where Feng Ang's army is now?"
Tian Khan spoke sarcastically.
According to the secret reports of Wei Shutong and Li Zhongyan, the Li people also longed to live and work in peace and contentment, rather than harboring ulterior motives as some people claimed.
Take Feng Ang, for example. He was the grandson of Lady Xian, the wife of the Lady of Qiao State in Liangzhou, Lingnan.
Standing at the corner of history, facing the temptation of power, we should remember the teachings of Lady Xian: do not be arrogant when you have made contributions, and do not be king when you have power.
In the fourth year of Wude, twenty states in Lingnan acceded to the Tang Dynasty, writing a glorious page for the Feng Xian family.
However, from time to time, people in the court reported that Feng Ang had rebellious intentions and that his troops were divided into several groups to prepare to besiege Chang'an, which made Tian Khan almost believe it.
Fortunately, someone was sober and reminded Tian Khan that if Feng Ang really wanted to rebel, he would have sent troops to Lingnan long ago.
But after several years, no troops from Feng Ang left Lingnan, which meant that Feng Ang had no intention of rebelling and was framed.
Tian Khan sent Wei Shutong and Li Zhongyan to inspect Lingnan with imperial seals. In addition to supervising the officials of Lingnan, their purpose was to coordinate the harmonious coexistence of Han and Li people.
In this secret report, Wei Shutong and Li Zhongyan had met with Feng Ang and would return to Chang'an soon. They were accompanied by Feng Ang's son Feng Zhidai, to show that Feng Xian was loyal to the Tang Dynasty.
"Uh..." The spokesperson of the aristocratic family, who was originally very excited, was like someone pinching a chicken's neck and suddenly fell silent.
Wei Zheng, known as the number one troll in the Tang Dynasty, remained silent throughout the whole process and watched these jumping clowns jumping around.
His duty is to give advice. This decree was issued hastily and the procedures are indeed flawed, but it is a great thing that benefits the country and the people. Why should it be stopped?
He is tough, not stupid!
The Khan of Heaven urgently summoned two prime ministers to issue a special grain order overnight, which was to stop these people.
You must be crazy to go against the Khan!
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