Sitting in the Dew Hall, no one spoke. Li Shiming was sad, Zhangsun Wuji and the other two didn't know what to say, because they still didn't understand.
What was the problem?
The Han people were a great nation, but they were also a nation that was plagued by disasters. Every time there was a war, the population would decrease sharply.
In ancient times, productivity was backward, and food production was low. Once war broke out, food production would decrease sharply. Moreover, war continued. In that case, what would the people eat? What did the army eat?
Eating humans was something that was completely inconceivable in the eyes of modern people, but it was too normal in ancient times.
Therefore, Li Shimin was really sad. He knew the history of the Han people and the great disasters they had experienced.
"Do you know the total population in the second year of Daye?”
The three of them shook their heads.
"The total number of households is 8.9 million, and the population is about 46 million.”The three of them were shocked. Although they knew that many people had died, they did not know how many.
"The number of households in the Great Tang is slightly more than two million, and the population is around eight million," Li Shiming said faintly. In other words, in the ten years of war, more than 38 million people had died. This number was more than enough to exterminate all the people of the Great Tang four times over. You are all important ministers of the country. Do you think that the population is important now?”
The three of them were terrified. The data that Li Shiming had given them was too frightening.
Li Shiming wanted to ban human trafficking, but the current situation was not realistic.
This was because there was not enough time to buy people, how to settle them, and how to lend money to the people when they were short of money. The bank was only established today.
"I hope that the words 'enrich the country' will not be reflected in words. The ruler must know the sufferings of the people. Could it be that the people he saw in Xi City weren't civilians? Just because they were sold as slaves, they were not? Why were they sold as slaves? What did this mean? This meant that the rulers did not do their duty well. Otherwise, why would they be sold as slaves?”
"We are ashamed," Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui said.
"Keming, how many Tang rifles do you have?”Li Shi Min's patience was reaching its limit. He wanted nothing more than to stabilize the country and then send troops to wipe out the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun.
"Your Majesty, the left and right guards are equipped with 3000 units each. It will take half a year for them to be fully equipped.”Du Ruhui replied.
"Then let Zhi Jie bring half of his Right Guards to Liangzhou and capture Li You Liang and his men.”Then, he gave Du Ruhui a list of names.
"Why…why is this?" Du Ruhui didn't understand. You had to have a reason to capture someone, right?
"As the governor of Liangzhou, he abused the people, and I still want him to stay? Remember that the crime does not apply to the family. Just arrest the criminal and bring him back to the Ministry of Justice for trial.”
"Wuji, arrange for the local officials of Liangzhou to handle the local affairs. Give me the name list when the time comes."
"Keming, I'll confer Su Dingfang the title of Zhongwu General and Commandant Zhe Chong to lead the Liangzhou Army. In addition, the Zhechong Prefecture would be reduced by one-fifth from next year, and then reduced year by year. In the future, the country would only retain a regular army, which meant that the national army would be composed of professional soldiers.”
"Xuanling, Keming, Wuji, in the future, the Great Tang will separate the military from the government, and the soldiers will not be allowed to interfere in the internal affairs. This means that military and political positions like the Commander-in-Chief will no longer be established, because this is the root cause of rebellion.”Li Shiming said seriously. Just think about the An Lushan Rebellion in history.
Li Shimin, who was holding his breath, issued some decrees, including military reform.
He asked them to make their own plans first and then bring them to him for approval.
He was not in the mood to explain to the ministers why he did this, nor did he have the time to waste with them. However, the ministers were already used to it.
Wei Zheng had been holding his breath during this period of time. Wei Zheng was a troublemaker, but he had been very injured recently and was completely useless.
No, absolutely not. I'm paid by the country. I can't just eat for free.
"Your Majesty, please take back the decree that the censor cannot hear the report. It is the rule for the censor to hear the report.”On this day, Wei Zheng finally found a chance to show his presence.
" Oh, Minister Wei. Today, Wuji and I were in Chang 'an City to observe the people's situation. We heard that Minister Wei saw a new book and said that it was against tradition to gather scholars and prepare to smash the bookstore.”Li Shi Min said slowly.
" Your Majesty, there is no such thing. Your Majesty, please seek justice for me." Wei Zheng was stunned. How did this involve me?
"What decision? It's the rule to report on the matter. When the officials in the court hear about it tomorrow, I will follow the rules. At that time, I will issue an edict to investigate whether there are rumors in Chang 'an. Of course, there may be seven or eight people in Chang' an who say that Minister Wei is going to smash the bookstore.”
This was…Damn, you're not playing by the rules, Wei Zheng thought. Where's the boat of friendship? How could he flip it over so easily? Where did the friendship between monarch and minister go?
"Minister Wei, the imperial court is a place to discuss state affairs, not to discuss the rumors of Aunt Zhang and Uncle Li. You, the censor, can use these rumors and gossip or sit at home and imagine things out of thin air to attack the courtiers in the imperial court? Such rumors could only become a tool for some people to maliciously attack others or party struggles.”Li Shimin stared at Wei Zheng and said.
"It's not that Zhen doesn't allow censors to speak in court, but that they can't speak carelessly. They have to speak with substance. Zhen also doesn't deny the role of censors in supervising the officials. Censors should supervise the officials, but this isn't based on rumors on the streets or sitting at home to supervise. "Censors have to have their own way of working. This is your job as an censor." After saying that, he handed a stack of documents to Wei Zheng.
Finally, another problem was solved. Li Shimin didn't have a good impression of those censors. It could be said that he hated them. Moreover, most of these censors were from aristocratic families or their representatives.
Li Shi Min had been patient, and now he had finally gotten rid of these flies. Humph…I'll give you people who only know how to talk nonsense, who can't do anything, and who are good at ruining things, a break.
In that position, these people had to go to various provinces and states to inspect the work of local officials and the local people. After that, they had to write a work report. Haha…just thinking about it made him feel funny.
Thinking about it, Wei Zheng was really cute. Why was the sky so blue?
Li Youliang's matter was settled. He took out a piece of paper and crossed out Li Youliang's name with a pen. There were also the names of Yuan Junzhang, Liang Shidu, Feng Ang, Luo Yi, and others.
Luo Yi had less than three months left. Even if he didn't do anything, he would die by himself.
Feng Ang did not have much of a problem either. The Royal Industry Company was prepared to do business with Feng Ang and purchase sugar cane from Lingnan. This way, the raw materials for the production of white sugar in the Royal Industry would be solved, and the bagasse could also be used to make paper. Feng Ang would purchase sugar cane from the Liao people and sell it to the Royal Industry Company. This would allow Feng Ang to earn money, and also give the Liao people a source of income to stabilize Lingnan.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin felt a little smug. He had killed two birds with one stone. Yes, yes. Feng Ang should have received the letter that his son was supposed to pass to him by now.
Feng Ang's son was left in the capital as a hostage, but Li Shimin felt that there was no need. The last time he met Feng Zhidai, who was also Feng Ang's son, he said that as the Emperor of Tang trusted the Feng family and Madam Xian of Qiao Country admired them, the Feng family did not need to be so cautious.
In the end, no matter what the reason was, Feng Zhidai still stayed. Perhaps as the second son of the Feng family, the main reason why he could not inherit the family business was that he wanted to stay in the capital and have a bright future.
No matter what, since he had stayed, Li Shimin was not stingy. He gave him a rank below Rank-6, Zhao Wu Lieutenant, and Xun Xian Cavalry Lieutenant.
This was the only thing that Li Shiming gave to the sons of his loyal henchmen.
The only ones left were Yuan Junzhang and Liang Shidu. According to history, Yuan Junzhang was supposed to be taken care of in May of next year. This kind of villain who had been repeatedly fighting between the Turks and the Great Tang had actually become a high official in the Great Tang. It was unbelievable just thinking about it. Li Shimin, what are you trying to do? You want to show your bearing? One had to know that in the eyes of modern people, this kind of person was completely synonymous with traitors.
Of course, since Li Shiming had transmigrated, he would not allow such a thing to happen.
Therefore, the remaining primary target was Yuan Junzhang. Li Shimin planned to solve it by the end of the year.
Liang Shidu did not plan to do it in the second year of Zhenguan, but in April or May of the following year. The winter wheat would be harvested, and the place where Liang Shidu was located would be in a critical period. If they killed Liang Shidu at this time, they could immediately provide aid to the people, reducing the number of deaths and allowing them to feel the warmth of the Great Tang.
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