There have been constant disturbances in Chang'an City these days, and everything is caused by Li Bai.
Some time ago, since that first article appeared.
Xuanzong ordered a thorough investigation of Li Bai's background and had him brought to him.
These days, by following the clues, the court has already collected all the information about Li Bai.
However, his whereabouts are somewhat erratic, and it will take some time to capture him.
If necessary, the court would even arrest all of Li Bai's family members.
But Li Longji did not do so.
What he wanted was Li Bai, not his family.
However.
What Li Longji didn't expect was that Li Taibai actually came to the outside of the palace and came to him on his own initiative? !
Surprised, Li Longji waved his hand and said, "Call him to see the emperor!"
…
Su Che was summoned into the Purple Palace.
This is the inner court hall, which is a side hall. The emperor usually meets with the prime minister and other important court officials here, and often discusses state affairs here.
In ancient times, court meetings were not held every day. In the early days of a dynasty, the emperor was generally more diligent and attended court every day to handle various government affairs. Later on, court meetings were basically held once every five to ten days.
When the emperor handled government affairs at other times, he usually summoned his confidants to hold meetings in a side hall.
At this moment, Su Che was stripped of his weapons and strode into the hall. When he saw the emperor, he did not bow but just bowed and saluted, then looked around, looking for his own seat.
Li Longji, who was standing above, was speechless when he saw this guy being so familiar with him. Wasn't he from a merchant family? He didn't feel scared or nervous when he met the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty for the first time. Instead, he just bowed and looked for his seat?
This guy doesn't even want to stand!
Generally speaking, at court meetings, only people at the level of the Three Dukes were qualified to be granted seats.
Li Bai started looking for his own position right from the start. Was he comparing himself with the important officials of the dynasty?
What a shameless guy!
Li Longji held his forehead and said speechlessly: "Come here, please give me a seat."
The eunuch hurriedly moved the chair that should have belonged to the court officials and placed it behind Su Che.
"Thank you, Lord!"
Su Che bowed again, then sat down on the chair casually.
The way Su Che met the king was not to kneel, but to kowtow, which is a gesture of respect.
In ancient China, the so-called "kneeling ceremony" has always existed.
In the Zhouli, Spring Officials, Dazhu, Jia Gongyan's commentary states: "One is Jishou, where Ji means to stay; when the head touches the ground for a long time, it is Jishou. These three (Kongshou, Dunshou, Jishou) are the correct way to pay respect. Jishou is the most important form of respect, the respect that a subject pays to his sovereign."
"The Gongyang Commentary: Duke Xuan's Sixth Year" states: "Duke Ling saw Zhao Dun and bowed twice. Zhao Dun turned his head to the north, bowed twice, and then hurried out."
The kowtow ceremony is performed by an official when paying respect to his king or father. The official sits upright, bows his hands and bows his head to the ground.
But this kind of kowtow is just a simple extension of etiquette, not a true "kneeling".
Because this prostrating action looks very much like "kneeling", it is actually "lying down", not "kneeling".
There were no stools or chairs during this period.
Everyone is sitting upright.
Whether the emperor or his subjects, they all sat upright.
The so-called kneeling ceremony, which is performed while sitting upright, looks similar to the later kneeling ceremony, but there are actually some differences.
After the minister bowed to the king.
The king also had to return the gift to his subjects, and this gift was called the empty head gift.
Before the Yuan Dynasty, this kind of kowtow was just a courtesy ceremony and did not have any humiliating meaning.
Later on, kneeling gradually came to carry a humiliating meaning.
Because during this period, everyone had stools and chairs.
Being able to sit but kneeling instead, the meaning naturally changes gradually.
Although sitting upright was still the formal etiquette in the Tang Dynasty, ministers would occasionally perform the "kowtow" ceremony to the emperor, which meant kneeling twice, but this was a relatively solemn part and most of the time, it was not that rigorous.
So when Su Che met the emperor in this side hall, he bowed and had no problem with it.
At this moment, Emperor Xuanzong, who was sitting above, looked at Li Bai below with great interest.
"Are you Li Bai?" Li Longji asked indifferently.
"That's right." Su Che said.
"You wrote the article 'Rather Be Friendly with Foreign Nations Than Domestic Slaves', which instigated confrontation between foreign nations and the Tang Dynasty and stirred up the emotions of the people. You violated the ban with this article and caused an uproar in Chang'an. Do you know your crime?" Li Longji asked coldly.
"Your Majesty, the article I wrote was clearly about the previous dynasty, and the stories were all about the Sui Dynasty." Su Che said with a smile.
"At this point, why do you have to say such things?" Li Longji asked back: "Do you think that everyone in the world is stupid and can't understand what you want to express in your article?"
"If that's the case, then why does Your Majesty have to scare me with such words?" Su Che looked up at the emperor and asked seriously.
The meaning is very clear. The emperor talked nonsense to him first, and he talked nonsense back to him.
"Are you so sure that I won't punish you?" Li Longji narrowed his eyes and looked at Su Che. The look in his eyes was extremely dangerous, as if he was going to sentence Su Che to death at any time.
"Your Majesty, since ancient times, the emperor's heart is hard to predict. Of course, I am just sure that Your Majesty will not punish me." Su Che said helplessly: "But I think that with the wisdom and power of the current emperor, he will definitely not kill a talented person because of an article, so I am so targeted."
Su Che did not choose to continue arguing with the emperor. There was no point in getting angry. The emperor was so childish that he could only coax him.
As soon as these words of submission came out, Li Longji sneered and said calmly: "It depends on whether you have real talent and knowledge, whether you can make up for your mistakes, and whether you can prove that you are a talent..."
"How to prove it?" Su Che asked.
"Just tell me where the disaster in the world today comes from? Why are you making such alarmist remarks?" Li Longji said.
"Your Majesty, do you really want to listen?" Su Che blinked. He never expected that he would be asked this question.
"Of course!" Li Longji nodded.
In his article "Rather Be Friendly with Foreign Nations Than with Domestic Slaves", Su Che described in detail how the Sui Dynasty was plagued by internal strife and thus perished. However, Li Longji was confident that those problems would not occur during his Kaiyuan Era of Prosperity.
So he thought Su Che was exaggerating. He had created this prosperous era with his own hands, so how could there be any disaster?
Su Che smiled slightly, changed his posture, and said: "This is a long story. Do you have spiritual food and water? I will tell you slowly, and you listen slowly..."
Li Longji: “???”
Emperor Xuanzong was shocked. He didn't think there would be many problems at all. Li Bai was just talking about some minor and insignificant issues, which were the commonplace and difficult-to-solve problems in court meetings.
However, Su Che was ready to talk at length, and would talk for a long time, and even asked for spiritual food and water!
Never mind...
Just be patient with this arrogant and dissolute person and see what he has to say!
The higher the position and more powerful a person is, the more tolerant he is.
Because of their amazing aura, they can scare ordinary people with just a glance, so people who dare to act unruly in front of them usually have something in their heads. Without something in their heads, they can't stand at all.
So, even though Su Che was so presumptuous, Li Longji still endured it. He smiled and waved his hand.
Not long after, the eunuch brought in a table, on which were all kinds of spiritual food and fruits, some of which were even treasures from overseas. When they were brought over, the aroma was so fragrant that it made people's appetites whet.
Su Che picked up a spiritual fruit at random. It was a round black and purple fruit.
Seeing Su Che picking up the fruit, Li Longji immediately showed an interested look. This was a fruit from overseas, and most people would not eat it. However, to his surprise, Su Che easily opened the fruit and ate the white flesh inside.
Although he was a little surprised, Li Longji did not think much about it. After all, Li Bai was the son of a wealthy businessman from the Western Regions, so it was normal for him to have some knowledge.
He held his chin and looked at Su Che dimly.
Being stared at like that, Su Che didn't know how to continue. He wiped his hands with the brocade cloth beside him and began to speak.
"One of the disasters is land annexation. The aristocratic families continue to annex land..."
Before he could finish his words, Li Longji interrupted him and said, "Since I ascended the throne, I have worked hard to improve the social order, eradicate corruption, crack down on aristocratic families, and firmly implement the equal-field system, so that those who till the land have their own land. How can there be talk of land annexation?"
The equal-field system is a system of distributing land according to population.
It stipulated that part of the land would belong to him after a certain number of years of cultivation, and part of the land would be returned to the government after his death.
The equal-field system distributes unowned land to small farmers according to the population for cultivation. The land is state-owned and becomes theirs after a certain number of years of cultivation.
Although the landlords' land was not included in the equal-field system, the equal-field system to a certain extent harmed the interests of the landlord class and the aristocratic families.
The emergence of the equal-field system allowed farmers to break free from the control of powerful families and become part of the state-registered households. This greatly increased the number of small self-cultivating farmers under the government's control, ensured the source of taxes and labor service, and strengthened centralization.
In addition, on the basis of the equal-field system, the fubing system was created. The so-called fubing system was a combination of soldiers and farmers. In peacetime, they were farmers who cultivated the land, trained during the slack seasons, and joined the army to fight in wartime.
This greatly reduced the pressure on the court to invest in the military.
This system is well-organized and can be said to be quite complete. If it can be maintained, it may be a good policy.
Unfortunately, no matter how good a policy is, it depends on the people who implement it.
If it cannot be implemented smoothly or if someone obstructs it, the policy will go in the completely opposite direction.
At this moment, Su Che listened to this, but he was not panicked. He looked up and said, "Your Majesty, that was in the past. How was it before? How is it now? Is there no one in the court who can give advice?"
After hearing this, Li Longji was speechless, and he suddenly thought of something.
Just a few years ago, Prime Minister Zhang Shuo suggested recruiting strong men because the number of guards was insufficient.
The following year, he recruited soldiers from Jingzhao, Pu, Tong, Qi, Hua and other prefectures as well as common people to serve as long-term guards.
Li Longji had not originally considered these things carefully.
I was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to my senses.
Why are there not enough guards?
Land annexation and the destruction of the equal-field system caused farmers to lose their land and become refugees, and the closely related fubing system would also be destroyed.
This made Li Longji feel a chill on his back. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent.
Li Longji, who was high and mighty, enjoyed the prosperous era he created and listened to the flattery of the scholars. He never imagined that under the prosperous era, the lower-level structure was gradually corrupting and collapsing.
Without hesitation, Li Longji immediately summoned his confidants, whispered a few words to them, and asked them to start an investigation immediately.
Su Che took another bite of fruit and continued:
"Your Majesty, the Tang dynasty inherited the tradition of the previous dynasty and was relatively respectful of the guards. However, during the reign of Empress Wu, the guards were often borrowed by nobles and bureaucrats for private service, causing people all over the world to consider it a disgrace to serve as government soldiers."
"After Emperor Gaozong, land annexation became increasingly serious. In the early days of your majesty's reign, the number of soldiers deserting the government increased, resulting in a shortage of guards and making it more difficult to mobilize for military defense. Therefore, your majesty cracked down on the powerful and severely punished the aristocratic families that annexed land. At the same time, you eliminated corruption and made the administration clean and fair, thus alleviating the situation."
"But the Fubing system and the equal-field system have already been destroyed. How can we restore them overnight?"
"As long as you stop staring at it, it will return to its original state."
After hearing what Su Che said, Li Longji could no longer remain calm.
Su Che continued, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, a small move affects the entire body. After the equal-field system and the military system were destroyed, the recruitment system had to be adopted. However, the court could not afford the high cost, so it had to delegate power."
"As long as the military system is destroyed, we will have to start large-scale farming at the border to ensure local supply, or allow border towns to engage in commercial activities to maintain military expenses."
"In this way, sooner or later the financial power will be controlled by the Jiedushi, and the border town will eventually become an important town integrating garrison, farming, commerce, and handicrafts."
"When the military, finance, administration and other important positions are all in the hands of a single governor, he will be the overlord of a region, and the imperial government will gradually become a mere formality."
"As a result, the country will be strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and will inevitably decline from prosperity..."
Li Longji's eyes widened at this moment, and he stood up in astonishment. He said in amazement: "Why is it so?"
Su Che looked up at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the Fubing system is based on the equal-field system. The people who received the land do not pay taxes or perform local corvée labor, but are responsible for serving as soldiers. They are incorporated into additional military units and are called Fubing."
"In theory, the Fubing system can not only exempt the vast majority of the people from the suffering of regular military service, but also greatly reduce the government's military expenses, and prevent ambitious generals from holding their own troops. It can be said to be an ideal military system."
"But in this world, risks and benefits always coexist. After enjoying such a perfect system, once this system collapses, the consequences will be disastrous!"
This theory is purely based on the fact that those involved are confused while bystanders can see things more clearly. Su Che stood by the long river of history, overlooking the entire Tang Dynasty from top to bottom, and naturally found the problem easily.
Land annexation destroyed the equal-field system, which in turn made the fubing system unworkable. The demise of the fubing system gradually gave local military governors great power. As long as they had power, no one would be inferior to others, which posed a direct threat to the imperial court.
This made Li Longji feel a chill down his spine and gave him goose bumps. He could no longer stand there peacefully and quickly walked down.
After Kaiyuan, the Jiedushi system was generally established on the border. As time passed, their power grew, and it was almost natural that they would become too powerful to be controlled as they "had their own land, their own people, their own weapons, and their own financial resources."
What Su Che said at this moment had nothing to do with the Anshi Rebellion.
The essence of the Anshi Rebellion was not caused by the Jiedushi system.
Nor is it "Those who are not of my race must have different hearts."
There is nothing wrong with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang employing talented people from all over the country.
The problem is.
An Lushan achieved countless military merits, but was unable to return to the court and receive further rewards.
In the later period of Li Longji's reign, he neglected state affairs and favored Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and others.
This led to Li Longji having to increase the administrative authority of the vassal states to appease An Lushan.
But the problem is that this was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire. An Lushan was not ready to rebel, but Li Longji directly gave him the opportunity and the right.
In addition, the death of Li Linfu led to a further reduction in restrictions on the Jiedushi.
Yang Guozhong also controlled the channels for advancement, and his relationship with An Lushan became increasingly tense.
An Lushan understood that he would not have a good end as the governor of three towns. Instead of waiting to die, he would rather fight to the death and directly tear apart the Tang Dynasty.
However, this also indirectly confirms that the Jiedushi system is difficult to last long.
At this moment Li Longji walked down.
He paced and said, "If the Jiedushi system will make the local areas bigger, then we should use generous treatment to remove the Jiedushi's power, transfer the elite troops from various places to the central government, and implement internal and external rotation with the imperial guards, so that the soldiers have no permanent commanders, and the commanders have no permanent divisions, and then let the civil officials sent by the court divide and rule. What do you think?"
Su Che was stunned when he heard this. He shook his head and said, "In this case, although there is no worry about the local area, the strong trunk is weak and the branches are weak. Facing foreign enemies, it is doomed to be unable to defend. Over time, the national strength will weaken and there will be a danger of national destruction."
Li Longji's method was exactly how the Song Dynasty solved the Jiedushi system.
The Song Dynasty used culture to suppress military power and used annual tribute to exchange for peace, which would eventually lead to disaster.
This earned the Song Dynasty the reputation of being the Weak Song.
In fact, this was an action taken by the Song Dynasty after learning from the lessons of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
At this moment, Li Longji was able to think of this solution in an instant. In a sense, he is also a talent.
Although doing so will prevent local areas from becoming bigger, it will also make the army's combat effectiveness increasingly worse, resulting in a weak army and a poor country.
Li Longji listened to this and thought about it carefully, and realized that this was indeed the truth.
He looked at Su Che and asked, "Do you have a solution?"
Su Che said seriously: "If we only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, what's the point of treating it? We must start with land annexation and solve the problem from the source. We must first reduce the land annexation of the aristocratic families, allow the equal-field system to continue to be implemented, and re-establish the fubing system."
"As long as the Fubing system is successfully maintained, all problems will be solved."
"But the issue of land annexation is an eternal problem. How can it be solved?" Li Longji continued to ask.
"In my opinion, there are two solutions to land annexation." Su Che thought for a moment and said seriously.
"Two kinds?" Li Longji widened his eyes.
Then he waved his hand, and the eunuch immediately brought a chair, and Li Longji and Su Che sat down and started talking.
Li Longji asked curiously, "Tell me about it."
"The first method is very simple and easy to do, which is to build an imperial mausoleum for Your Majesty." Su Che said.
"Build an imperial mausoleum?" Li Longji didn't react at first, but soon he understood something and asked hurriedly, "Are you talking about the mausoleum town system?"
"Yes." Su Che nodded and said slowly: "After Liu Bang established this system, Emperor Hui of Han, Emperor Jing of Han, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Zhao of Han, and Emperor Xuan of Han followed suit."
"The noble families who have annexed the land will be forcibly relocated, and they will be made to serve the imperial mausoleum. A county town will be built near the mausoleum for the relocated people to live in."
"As long as the aristocratic families and landlords leave their original places, their influence on land annexation will naturally be reduced in an instant."
"Although this method is not a permanent solution, at least for a long time, we don't have to worry about land annexation."
Li Longji frowned, took a bite of the fruit, and then asked worriedly, "But what if the noble family doesn't want to?"
"If you don't want to, just kill him." Su Che said calmly.
"Kill him?" Li Longji thought for a moment and said, "This will cause a big mess."
"There is no perfect, permanent policy in this world. Every policy has its advantages and disadvantages!" Su Che said disapprovingly, "Those who dare to disobey the imperial court's policy will naturally be killed. Their property can be used to reward those families who are unwilling to migrate, as compensation for their travel expenses."
Li Longji listened to this and pondered for a long time, then shook his head and asked again: "What about the second method?"
Su Che replied: "The second method is to transform the internal development of land annexation into external development."
Li Longji was stunned: "External development?"
Su Che said: "I wrote in The Wealth of Nations that there is a certain limit to the wealth of this world. You can either acquire it internally by annexing land, or develop externally by plundering wealth from outside."
Li Longji asked: "Is there really so much wealth in the barbarian lands overseas?"
Su Che smiled and said, "Then did those foreign barbarians really come from afar just for your rewards?"
Li Longji was speechless.
Su Che continued, "Instead of letting those aristocratic families harm their own people at home, it is better to let them go out to sea and harm other countries."
Li Longji said helplessly: "The barbarian lands overseas are uncivilized and full of miasma. I'm afraid they are unwilling to do so."
Su Che smiled faintly and said, "This requires the court to set an example and take the lead."
"Building ships, sailors, and naval forces requires a lot of money."
"The imperial court will take the lead in providing this money, and let the wealthy families provide money or people."
"These people may be reluctant at first, but as long as you come forward, someone will definitely invest money in it."
"But once they return home with a full load and get their share of the profits, they will be pleasantly surprised to find that there is actually a lot of potential here."
"From then on, no persuasion was needed, and overseas trade continued with the imperial court as the core."
"As our capital grows, our Tang Dynasty porcelain, silk and other precious items can be exchanged for countless fortunes overseas."
"Then use the money to buy gold, silver, bronze, pearls, deer antlers, spices and countless other rare and precious things that are rare in China. You can even buy Kunlun slaves..."
"This round-trip trade can earn you countless profits."
“In just a few years, everyone will see the untold wealth that can be earned from maritime trade.”
"These businesses have always been controlled by a small number of Chinese and foreigners. They make a lot of money, and the imperial court can only collect a little tax."
"As long as we see the path of external expansion, then continuing overseas colonization and expansion is only a matter of course!"
"If we let the aristocratic families look to the outside world and enjoy the benefits of trade, and use this as a price, or as a threat, to make them stop annexing the land, it would be almost equivalent to solving the problem of land annexation once and for all."
"Of course, even so, there will still be some short-sighted landlords who will continue to annex land, but those short-sighted guys are not a threat at all, so just kill them!"
The Tang Dynasty was the ruler of all nations, its reputation spread throughout the country and abroad, and all nations came to pay tribute. Everyone in the world knew it. It would be the biggest waste if such a prosperous era was not utilized!
As the saying goes, if you don’t take what heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences!
There was originally a great road to success in front of the Tang Dynasty, but it did not know how to grasp it, and thus embarked on a path to greater power. Then it was backfired, and the An-Shi Rebellion occurred, and it gradually went into decline. It was normal for it to see this.
At this moment, Li Longji listened to these words and recalled the "On the Wealth of Nations" he had read before, and everything seemed to be connected together.
Li Longji suddenly realized, and a feeling of sudden enlightenment arose spontaneously.
However, Li Longji only knew how to do it, but didn't know how to do it specifically. He said seriously: "Please teach me, sir."
Su Che smiled slightly, nodded and said, "It's very simple. The mausoleum can be built and the sea trade can be opened. If they are unwilling to keep up with the trend of the times and fail to seize the last chance given to them by Your Majesty, then we will implement the mausoleum town system and make them regret it too late."
"As for opening the sea..."
Afterwards, Su Che began to explain carefully.
After a long conversation...
Li Longji only felt that the dark clouds in front of him suddenly broke through and quickly dissipated, and the sky was clear without any confusion.
The equal-field system, the military service system, the mausoleum system, the opening up of the sea for commerce, and finally the overseas colonization, are all linked to one another and one step closely followed another.
This man's talent is rare in the world. His ideas are so cunning and his thinking is so unique that Li Longji was completely impressed and admired Su Che to the extreme.
Afterwards, he promoted Su Che to be the Prince's Grand Tutor.
The Prince's Grand Tutor is a position of the first rank.
but.
This location.
High position but little power.
In many cases, the title exists but the position is different. It is just a honorary title and not a real position.
but.
Li Longji appointed Su Che as the Prince's Grand Tutor, but it was not an empty title, but he really intended to let him teach the prince.
Su Che had no objection to this high but powerless position. Instead, he was very satisfied with it. He was indifferent to fame and fortune, and so was Li Bai.
Li Bai's dream was to become an emperor's teacher and realize his ideals and ambitions in life. On the contrary, he had little interest in becoming a high-ranking official and holding power.
He became an official just for the sake of being an official.
Although the Prince's Grand Tutor is not the Grand Tutor, that is, the Emperor's teacher, the Prince is the crown prince and the future emperor, so it should be almost the same.
Soon, Su Che saw the current crown prince - Li Ying.
When Xuanzong was conferred the title of Prince of Linzi, he served as the deputy governor of Luzhou. He saw a singing girl who was favored by Li Longji because of her singing and dancing skills. She gave birth to a child with Li Longji, who was Li Ying.
As she aged and lost her beauty, Concubine Zhao Lifei gradually lost Li Longji's favor. However, Li Longji did not break off his relationship with her and in the third year of Kaiyuan, he made Li Ying the crown prince.
As the crown prince, Li Ying did not bring any improvement to his mother's life. His father gave all his love to Concubine Wu Huifei.
Wu Huifei was the great-grandniece of Wu Zetian. After gaining the favor of Li Longji, she gave birth to Prince Xia Dao Li Yi, Prince Huai Ai Li Min, Prince Shou Li Heng, Prince Sheng Li Qi, and daughters Princess Shangxian, Princess Xianyi, and Princess Taihua.
The wife of Prince Shou Li Ying was the later famous Yang Yuhuan.
Since the death of Concubine Wu Huifei, the lonely Emperor Xuanzong of Tang began to look for a new lover.
But among the three thousand beauties in the palace, he chose his daughter-in-law, Yang Yuhuan.
So there were the story plots of entering the opera theater, entering the Taoist temple, and becoming a concubine.
However, for Prince Shou, this was extremely painful and unspeakable.
Prince Shou did not dare to resist, and was even less able to resist.
At this point in time, all this has not happened yet.
The crown prince was still Li Ying, and there was no harm done by Concubine Wu Huifei.
When Su Che met the prince.
The prince also saw Su Che.
Crown Prince Li Ying looked at the young man who was about the same age as him and couldn't help but be surprised. He never expected that the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor arranged for him by his father would be about the same age as him?
"Since you are meeting the teacher, why don't you greet him?" Su Che looked at Li Ying and asked directly.
"Hello, teacher." Although Li Ying felt a little strange, she still bowed.
Su Che returned the greeting and said with a smile, "Greetings to His Royal Highness, I am Li Taibai."
After hearing Su Che's name, Li Ying's eyes widened and he asked in surprise: "So you are Li Taibai?!"
"That's right." Su Che nodded slightly.
"So that's how it is..." Only then did Li Ying understand why Su Che could become his prince's tutor.
"Your Highness, His Majesty asked me to be your teacher for a reason." Su Che looked around and said, "Let's find a place to have a long talk."
"Okay." Li Ying nodded quickly.
Afterwards, Su Che repeated to Li Ying what he had said to Xuanzong before. The reason why the emperor appointed him as the Prince's Grand Tutor was not just a title, but a real teacher. Although it was not said explicitly, the meaning was very clear.
Xuanzong hoped that the crown prince would push this matter forward.
First, it can help to see the prince's ability, how well he performs, and whether he is a qualified crown prince.
Second, if any problem arises, the blame will be placed directly on the prince and will have nothing to do with the emperor.
But if it is done well, then this matter will still be the emperor's credit, and the prince is just an executor and only has a small part of the credit.
After hearing what Su Che said, Li Ying was very surprised and asked nervously, "Can I do it well?"
"You must do it well." Su Che stared at Li Ying and said without any doubt.
"I understand." Li Ying nodded seriously.
At the court meeting that day.
When Su Che appeared in the hall in a dignified manner, people passing by looked at him with strange eyes.
Some people got wind of this and knew who this person was and why he was standing here.
Some people had no idea what was going on. They were looking at the young man in a black robe with a five-inch-long unique flower as an ornament in a strange way.
This set of clothes is only suitable for officials of the first rank. Who is this unfamiliar how can he stand here...
There was a lot of discussion for a while, but those who knew the inside story smiled and said nothing, unwilling to reveal anything.
At this moment, the emperor had not arrived yet. Su Che glanced at the ministers on his left and right, and treated them in a familiar manner, asking for their respective names.
"I am Song Jing, the Minister of Personnel." Song Jing was stunned for a moment and then spoke.
"Who are you?"
Many officials around asked, "Don't ask me who I am, who are you?"
Su Che grinned and said directly: "Everyone, I have been causing a lot of trouble these days, but you still don't know who I am?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked. They stared with their eyes wide open and looked at each other in astonishment. The whole city was in an uproar. Who else could it be but Li Bai?
In an instant, many people moved away from Su Che as if they had seen the god of plague.
There were also people who did not leave, such as Song Jing. He looked at Su Che, and in just a moment, he seemed to have understood something.
As more and more people learned that this person was the famous Li Bai.
Many foreign officials questioned Su Che at this moment: "What do you mean by 'I'd rather be friends with foreign countries than my slaves'?"
Although there are not many foreigners in the court, there are still quite a few, and at the moment, their expressions are not very good when they look at Su Che.
Facing the attacks from these people, Su Che just asked in a somewhat curious tone: "Since you are officials of the Tang Dynasty court, then I ask you, are you loyal to your own country or to the Tang Dynasty?"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of those foreign officials changed drastically. They quickly said: "I am already a Tang person, so I am naturally loyal to the Tang Dynasty!"
"Are you questioning us?"
"What do you mean by that?!"
Su Che said helplessly: "Since you are loyal to the Tang Dynasty, shouldn't you be happy that I put forward suggestions and theories that are in line with the interests of the Tang Dynasty? Why do you blame me? What is your intention?"
After hearing these words, the foreign officials were speechless.
At this time, another person asked: "You said your article is beneficial to the Tang Dynasty, so it is beneficial?"
"Otherwise, why can I wear this clothes?" Su Che asked back.
"It must be you who bewitched His Majesty!" someone said gritting his teeth.
"It's impossible to reason with you...By the way, has that Zhang Shuo arrived?" Su Che asked curiously.
"How can you call the Prime Minister by his name? You are so arrogant and rude!" Someone immediately scolded.
"I am this old man." Zhang Shuo, whose hair and beard were all white, looked at Su Che with an unfriendly expression.
Su Che felt a little helpless. How did he become the public enemy?
Su Che asked, "Have you read my The Wealth of Nations? How much have you learned?"
Zhang said: "..."
He was a leader in the literary world and a great writer of his generation. At this moment, he was asked such a question by a young man. He was so angry that he almost rolled his eyes and fainted.
For a moment, Zhang Shuo's face became even uglier.
Zhang Shuo gnashed his teeth and said, "This boy is not worthy of being my advisor!"
If this wasn't happening in the imperial court, the hot-tempered Zhang Shuo would have been ready to take action.
Of course, whether he can defeat Su Che is another matter.
"Don't be angry." Su Che smiled and said, "My Theory of the Wealth of Nations can make the country rich and the people strong. You, the important officials of the court and the pillars of the country, can naturally make a fortune and make a fortune with me!"
As soon as these words came out, someone immediately shouted: "Talking about personal gain in the court, how shameless!"
"Am I a greedy person?" Zhang Shuo said righteously.
"Who are you?" Su Che ignored Zhang Shuo, glanced at the person who scolded him, and asked curiously.
"My name is Zhang Zishou!" the man snorted and spoke.
Hearing this name, Su Che was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that Zhang Shuo was Zhang Zishou, whose original name was Zhang Jiuling. He was the prime minister. This guy was also in a high position and was a person at the ceiling of power in the Tang Dynasty.
Su Che nodded and said, "You all talk big now, but if the imperial court really opens overseas business and conducts ocean trade, you will not be allowed to participate in the investment."
As soon as these words were spoken, the few people who had been so tough just now fell silent in an instant.
Zhang said: "..."
Zhang Jiuling: “…”
They really didn't dare to say that they didn't want to get involved at all.
They knew very well that if the imperial court really opened up overseas business and presided over maritime trade, they would definitely be able to make several mountains of gold from it. Who would complain about having too much money?
Although these scholars and literati say that money is too vulgar, no one would refuse such a good thing as money. They are just pretending to be noble.
Soon, even Crown Prince Li Ying came. He came to Su Che's side and greeted several important officials of the court.
"Your Highness."
Many important officials of the court also paid their respects to Crown Prince Li Ying.
Soon, when all the court officials arrived, Emperor Xuanzong also came to the court.
With a simple ceremony of formalities, the court meeting began.
As soon as he came up, Crown Prince Li Ying told what his master had told him: "Father, you asked me to check the number of acres of land. I found that most of the land that originally belonged to the soldiers has been annexed, resulting in countless refugees..."
"The equal-field system has been destroyed, and the military system cannot be maintained. We can only rely on recruiting soldiers. I think this is not a long-term solution, and the burden on the court will become heavier and heavier."
"But if the right to recruit soldiers is delegated to the Jiedushi, in the long run, the local governments will inevitably become too powerful to control, so the court must bear the cost of recruiting soldiers..."
As soon as this was said, the Minister of Finance immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the court's finances cannot support the cost of recruiting soldiers from various places. If this is really the case, we can only let the local governors recruit soldiers on their own. This is a last resort. The court's finances will never be able to maintain it."
As soon as these words came out, Crown Prince Li Ying was almost waiting for him to do this.
Crown Prince Li Ying said directly: "Then we should open up overseas business and conduct maritime trade, so that the court can have sufficient finances and be able to afford the cost of recruiting soldiers."
When these words came out, everyone in the court was shocked.
No one expected that the real purpose would be revealed right at the beginning!
Your map of Yan State is too short!!!