Crown Tang emperor

Chapter 0976 Prosperous entertainment, entertaining and entertaining

After all, Li Longji couldn't wait for Princess Taiping to meet again today. After Princess Taiping entered the mansion, she was obsessed with the accounting of family property and property, and had long forgotten about this nephew.And Li Longji was not an idle member of the clan who had nothing to do, he was found by his subordinates after sitting in the front hall of the Princess Mansion, and urged him to return to the food garden to sit and watch.

So Li Longji had no choice but to get up and leave, and asked the servants of the Princess Mansion to inform and agree on a date for another visit in the next day.

Princess Taiping felt that she was ready to beat this boy, so she said: "Tell the king of Linzi, if you follow the previous plan, you can come back another day, otherwise you don't need to visit again."

There are many ways to control a person, either by power and status, or by money and wealth, and another is the control of interpersonal relationships.

The King of Linzi himself is quite intelligent, and the Guanglu Shaoqing who lives in the fourth rank. It is very difficult for Princess Taiping to exert direct control over him. I chose to start with the close personnel of the King of Linzi.

Although a proposal was made to allow King Linzi to marry the remnants of the Wu family, Princess Taiping herself did not have too much affection for the Wu family.After the revolution in Shendu, the samurai family suffered heavy casualties, and their political power was also wiped out. No matter their talent or value, they were not worth mentioning.

As for the marriage between the King of Linzi and the Wu family, he can regain the favor of the Empress Dowager, which is even more of a joke.

Back then, the empress dowager emphasized the Wu family only to control the government and monopolize the power. Now that the power is gone, she only lives in the deep palace and pays little attention to the remnants of the Wu family.

Princess Taiping knows this best. When the mother and daughter get along in private, the Empress Dowager seldom talks about the members of the Wu family.Even when she returned to the capital this time, when the Empress Dowager persuaded her to live a stable life, she directly said that if it is really because of the disharmony between husband and wife that the commotion is endless, it is better to simply make peace with Wu Youji and choose another good partner to spend the rest of her life in peace.

Princess Taiping is not indifferent to this proposal, but she is not in the mood to rebuild a family relationship right now. Before there is no better choice, it is better to continue to maintain this relationship between husband and wife that exists in name only and does not interfere with Wu Youji .

Without the greatest support, the current situation of the Wu family is quite miserable.The turmoil of several coup d'états has caused the number of clansmen to drop sharply. Prominent figures such as Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi and Wu Youning and their families died in the hands of saints as early as the coup d'etat in Shendu.

After King Xiang came to power, he carried out a more thorough purge of the Wu family, depriving them of all privileges.Up to now, apart from Wu Youyi, who had already turned to the saint and was able to retain her position, and Wu Youji, the husband of Princess Taiping, there were only a few households left, such as Wu Zaide, Wu Youxu, and Wu Youzhi.

These few people belonged to the marginal figures of the Wu family in the old years when the kings of the Wu family were in power, and their evil deeds were not obvious, so they were only deprived of their official titles and survived.Among them, Wu Youzhi returned to Bingzhou to live in peace, and Wu Youxu lived in seclusion in Huashan. Wu Zaide died in Chang'an a few years ago, and he even had no money for the funeral, so he completed the funeral with the help of Princess Taiping.

All the members of the Wu family have experienced a short period of glory by relying on the Empress Dowager, but after suffering backlash, they have fallen to the extreme.All kinds of liquidation had been completed in the old year of King Xiang, and since the Kaiyuan New Dynasty, it has been reduced to the point where there is almost no such household, and it is rarely paid attention to by time.

Princess Taiping wants to control the King of Linzi, so she chooses a marriage partner who can neither be too prosperous in the clan, but also deepen the relationship with each other. The remnants of the Wu family are an excellent choice.

As for the specific candidate, Princess Taiping originally had several stepdaughters, but she did not intend to select a match for King Linzi.One is that these stepdaughters were adopted in the princess mansion, and they have not experienced real downfall, and the other is that they have been neglected and alienated all the year round, which makes them not necessarily one-hearted with their stepmother.

The third is that Princess Taiping wants to use this to show her human communication skills to the times, and it can be more reflected in choosing women from Wu's other households.Everyone at that time knew that Xiang Wang's family had a deep old grudge with Wu's family, but in the end they were able to put aside their previous feuds and form a spouse under the help of Princess Taiping, which undoubtedly amazed Shi Liu.

Although the Empress Dowager Suo no longer pays attention to the Wu clan, the grievances with her children and grandchildren are a thorn in her heart after all, and may not change her opinion of King Linzi because of this, but if a superficial reconciliation can be reached through the marriage of the younger generations, it is possible to think about it. Will be happy to see you.

As for saints, they don't even pay attention to such small things. If they really want to kill the Wu family, then the few remaining seedlings will not be able to survive at all.

After thinking about it, Princess Taiping decided to choose the daughter of Wu Zaide's family to introduce to King Linzi.After Wu Zaide's death, the family lived in Chang'an, relying on the help of Princess Taiping to maintain their lives.Moreover, Wu Zaide's son Wu Pingyi is different from other members of the Wu family who are mediocre and ordinary. He is knowledgeable and worthy of training.

After finalizing the candidate in her heart, Princess Taiping stopped working hard and continued to reorganize her own industry, hoping to make progress through the World Expo.

In fact, Princess Taiping originally had a high-quality business with huge profits, that is, a theater that was run as early as in Luoyang, the eastern capital.Back then, she moved the troupe's personnel team to Chang'an, which made all the folk art practitioners in Pingkang Workshop feel like they were facing a formidable enemy, and they had to unite to slightly resist the momentum of the theater under the name of Princess Taiping.

But she wanted to play tricks, and raised her niece Li Bao'er as an actress, which completely angered her mother. As early as when she fled to Hedong, the theater under her name was ordered to disband by the Empress Dowager, and Princess Taiping was completely disbanded. Withdrew from the Fengyue industry.

Without this golden rooster that lays eggs, although Princess Taiping's life is still bright, her financial situation is much tighter than in previous years, and she can't even make up hundreds of thousands of living money.

In previous years, with the theater in hand, the profit in a few months was more than that, and by the way, it could also bring in other related industries, such as the soap made by the sage when he was in Luoyang last year.Now that these construction methods have been handed down to the world, it is difficult for her to enjoy the huge profits of the monopoly.

When she chatted with the Empress Dowager in the garden before, she learned that the sage intends to allow the Yunshao Mansion to build a large theater in the outer garden of the Daming Palace, and the inner garden will host voice actors and folk performers, and the public can come and enjoy it.The reason why the World Expo set up popular exhibition gardens such as the Weaving Garden in Higashigaien is to attract people and create momentum.

The grandparents and grandson made a good plan, killed their own property and let Neiyuan manage it, even these romantic profits were not spared.Princess Taiping was naturally resentful when she learned about this incident, but she was at fault first, so she didn't dare to open her mouth to try to intervene.

Of course, Princess Taiping thinks that the saint is greedy for these windy profits, which is also a petty plan.The reason why the sage wants to develop Donggaien is not only to make the northeast of the city more lively, and to make his wife and children live more comfortably in Ruyuanfang, but it also has the meaning of universal education.

The resident population of Chang'an City has already exceeded one million. With such a large population, in addition to meeting the basic material needs such as food and clothing, if you want long-term peace and stability, you must also pay attention to the spiritual needs of entertainment.

Nowadays, social dramas are staged in various folk workshops every ten days. In addition to entertainment and entertainment, they also have a great effect on the construction and influence of ideology.The people's acceptance of the cumbersome etiquette and education is not high enough, but they are enthusiastic about the popular opera form.

Before the sage gained power, he presided over Yunshao Mansion, an internal teaching workshop for quite a period of time, and with the memory of later generations, he naturally would not ignore entertainment and other sharp tools to spread national values ​​and ideology.

Art should not be an extravagant pastime monopolized by the rich and powerful, but should be open to the public, close to the public, and actively guide and shape the values ​​of the entire society.

Especially in the current situation where Chang'an's business is booming and people's sentiments are becoming impetuous, measures in this area also need to be promoted.

Just as the imperial court lifts the curfew on the Lantern Festival every year, and opens the Qujiang Pond and other imperial gardens on Shangsi Day for the public to enjoy and entertain.This is a good strategy for maintaining social vitality, not to mention that once the Yunshao Mansion Grand Theater is completed and opened, it will become an important source of income for the royal private treasury, filling the expenses, and reducing the cost of supporting voice actors in the inner garden.

In addition to the big theater, the saint also plans to open a huge polo field in Gaien, organize polo leagues, and stimulate the enthusiasm of the people.

As a visitor from later generations, Li Tong has been influenced by various entertainment methods, and he is actually not very interested in most Tang people's entertainment forms.Even the Yanle opera that makes people obsessed, his sense of participation is not so strong, and the purpose is not pure.

But for the sport of polo, he really loves it. The rich skills and fierce competition contained in it are really mesmerizing.Although Li Tong was not so infatuated with this that he neglected state affairs, he would invite people to play against each other occasionally in his spare time, and he never tired of it.

The folk customs of the Tang Dynasty favor martial arts and bravery. The promotion of polo is not a big problem in terms of acceptance. The real problem is the cost issue.The mere fact that participants must have a good horse is enough to stump most people of the time.

Although the price of horses in Chang'an has become lower due to the Qinghai War, it is still unbearable for many families to raise a good horse.Not to mention that except for limited areas such as Guanzhong and Heluo, most people in other prefectures of the Tang Dynasty are still struggling with food and clothing, and it is even more difficult to invest large sums of money in polo, a sport that is not beneficial to livelihoods.

The high cost makes the sport of polo destined to become a luxury game for only a few people. At most, it will be promoted on a large scale in the military, and it will not become a game for all people to participate in. Unless local government finances subsidize the promotion.

However, it is still a matter of discussion and discussion to use government finance to subsidize, how much the cost of investment should be limited to, and whether the return of corresponding investment in other aspects can exceed the promotion of polo.

If it is not promoted by the government, but introduced private capital for commercial operation, what kind of regulatory system should be established?

Regarding various issues related to this, Li Tong is also discussing with the officials of the Privy Council recently.The general opinion is to make a limited attempt first, and promote it on a pilot basis in the various prefectures in the Guanzhou region, with the regiment training in each prefecture as the main body, providing horses and venues, and recruiting strong and good riders as one of the military drama training items.

As for the folk communes, they are not covered at the moment, and it is not appropriate to breed a large number of good horses among the people.

It may seem funny that the imperial court is so solemnly discussing the promotion of a sports game, but it also has a deep meaning inside.

The Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, and the defense of the borders is quite heavy. When it catches up with the year of opening up the frontiers, the investment of troops will be even greater.Although the imperial court has now smoothly transitioned from the government military system to the recruitment system, and the localities have successively established basic force organizations for regimental training and recruitment, but if they want to maintain long-term and orderly development, there are still many restrictions on qualified and high-quality soldiers.

Although the people of the Tang Dynasty were brave and vigorous, it was human nature to love leisure and hate work. With the recovery of productivity, people's livelihood became more and more prosperous. Whether the army could maintain high enthusiasm for opening the frontier was also a very serious question.

In history, there are often examples of barbarism destroying civilization, and the cause of the disaster is often that a powerful regime opens the door to robbers and actively recruits barbarian soldiers to arm them.

If such a phenomenon occurs only once or twice, it can be attributed to the stupidity of those in power, but if it occurs frequently, it is not an intellectual problem, but a social cost problem.

In the recruitment system, every time there is a war in the imperial court, it needs to be organized into armor.However, if these soldiers are not familiar with martial arts, even if they are forcibly assembled, their combat effectiveness will be a problem.Once defeated, it is not only a matter of gains and losses on the battlefield, but also means that the imperial court has completely lost a registered household and long-term tax revenue.

If the barbarians are used, the cost of enlistment will be reduced sharply, and the consumption of the war will be reduced to a minimum. Even if the consumption is staggering, it will not be too distressing.

Naturally, Li Tong did not want to base the safety of the Tang Dynasty on the weak foundation of the loyalty of the barbarians. Although some barbarians would be recruited to reduce the cost of the war, the main force organization of the country must be composed of the citizens of the Tang Dynasty.

To ensure this, the basic conditions for people to be physically fit and skilled in riding are the basic conditions, and polo, a competitive sport, is naturally of great value for promotion.From the perspective of national security, it is not even inferior to the popularization of knowledge brought about by the promotion of printing.

The national destiny of the Tang Dynasty not only depends on the few heroes in the special period, but also depends on every ordinary person who is strong and powerful to kill the enemy!

As for whether to introduce private capital, after some discussions, Li Tong decided not to introduce it, at least for the time being.

After the imperial court's promotion has achieved certain results, and the polo league has a solid foundation for operation and its influence gradually becomes stronger, some restrictions can be relaxed and some profit points can be tapped.

As for the organizer of the upcoming polo league, after thinking about it, Li Tong handed it over to the supervisor.

The commercial nature of the early polo league was not strong, and it needed to be endowed with a certain significance in the selection of materials to ensure its attractiveness. The Privy Council has already mastered the martial arts selection, and the polo league that combines selection with music is more secure and can better reflect the saint. The will to find problems and adjust flexibly.

Chapter 0977 Three Provinces and Six Ministries, a Monument to the Dynasty

The World Expo was originally expected to be held in half a month to two days, but due to the large scale of this year's World Expo and the unimpeded commercial roads in Longbian, a large number of merchants from the Western Regions are still pouring into Chang'an to participate in the closing stage. The event was so grand that it had to be extended again.

Time is money, which is fully reflected in this World Expo.Although the duration of the World Expo has been extended, the total amount of commodities that can be traded has not increased significantly.

As a result, in order to obtain more products, many late entrants have to pay more for the time they missed.And the shortage of commodities has caused inflation to a certain extent, thus deriving a trading model similar to futures, that is, the buyer pays for the goods first, and the seller provides a sufficient amount of commodities in the future.

Similar futures orders, especially the official manufacturing workshops, faced the most.After all, compared with private workshops, the government has higher credibility.

The time came to the end of October, and finally under the order of the imperial court, all kinds of buying and selling transactions were locked, and this grand event came to an end.Not to mention that the people in the market are still enjoying themselves, the merchants attending the meeting are finishing up various transactions, and the government departments have also started a new busyness, that is, the audit of various financial items.

With the development of this work, the grand picture of this year's World Expo has been gradually outlined.During the entire World Expo, there were more than 2000 major transactions worth more than 7000 yuan, and the total amount of money involved reached [-] million yuan.

Of course, there is a phenomenon of repeated transactions of some commodities, especially in the second half of the exhibition, when many merchants from the Western Regions joined in, allowing some buyers who had completed transactions before to sell directly at a higher price, making money in situ.

However, the court's tax rate measurement is effective for each transaction, so even if it is a repeated transaction, the tax cannot be exempted.Datang merchant tax is not high, according to the different attributes of the product, it is between 1000 tax [-] and [-] tax [-] respectively.But even so, after the entire World Expo, the tax money collected exceeded [-] million yuan.

But Datang's overall taxation is more than that. With such an astonishing total volume of trade, it is naturally impossible for all the commodities traded to be digested in Chang'an, and will be sent to various markets one after another.

In the process of transportation, the local government bridges, Guanjin, etc. also have to collect a certain amount of commercial tax, and this part of the local income can only be reflected in the tax declaration of the second year.Because the distance of commodity transportation is uncertain, this part of the income is not easy to estimate, but it will definitely be higher than the amount of tax collected by the imperial court during the World Expo.

Of course, the overall income of the World Expo is not limited to taxes, which account for a relatively small proportion of the tax. The bulk of the real income lies in the products provided by the official workshops and the transactions they directly participate in.

The official manufacturing workshops are distributed in inner and outer states and counties, and each has a relatively independent accounting system. There will be a certain degree of lag in the collection of data, but the total amount will never be less than [-] million.

Of course, this part of the income needs to deduct various costs such as materials, labor, and management, and the rest can be put into storage for safety, but even so, the benefits are amazing.

In addition to the benefits generated by the World Expo, the imperial court also had another extremely considerable income, that is, the payment of flying money.

In the past few years, although Feiqian has become popular in middle schools, it is not widely recognized in remote areas.In particular, Tubo, which is entrenched in Qinghai, has greatly affected the commercial routes of the Western Regions, so that Feiqian, which is the most worthy of promoting the flying money exchange model, cannot become popular on the Western Regions commercial routes.

However, during the Qinghai War in the first half of the year, Datang defeated Tubo in one fell swoop and recovered the entire territory of Qinghai, making the westward road completely controlled by Datang, which naturally strengthened the enthusiasm of merchants from the Western Regions to participate in commerce and trade.In this way, the convenience and superiority of Feiqian are highlighted.

After the end of the Qinghai War, the amount of money exchanged by the branch warehouses of the Baoli Bank located in the Four Towns of Anxi and Longyou increased sharply, and reached a peak in September and October.

Merchants in the Western Regions naturally did not have a lot of money and silk in the cabinet to exchange for flying money. In order to compete for time, they often used gold, silver, jewelry and seasonal goods from the Western Regions as collateral, which was tantamount to conducting transactions directly with Baoli Bank.

After July, the amount of flying money issued by Longxi and the various branches of the Western Regions exceeded [-] million yuan, and the value of the money and goods accumulated was several tenths higher. The income of the various divisions in Beijing.

The sum of all kinds of expected returns has reached an astonishing level.It should be noted that when the autumn tribute entered Beijing in September, the annual financial profit measured by the budget was only a little over 1000 million.But just one month later, the internal and external treasuries will have more than ten times the income pouring in!

For a while, the entire imperial court was also filled with impetuous and joyful atmosphere. Originally, many officials were more or less out of balance when they heard the stories of merchants in many cities throwing a lot of money and making amazing handicrafts.But now looking at the imperial court's large-scale calculations, it becomes clear who is the leader in this situation!

The profits of the official workshops can be seen as the result of the imperial court's good internal affairs over the past few years. The surge in the scale of the World Expo and the various financial gains in Longbian and the Western Regions are all brought about by the recovery of Qinghai. War dividends.

At the beginning of the year, when the sage was about to launch the Qinghai War, it had been a long time since the beginning of the third year of Kaiyuan. Lishan Martial Arts was held.But until the fourth year of Kaiyuan came to an end, in order to avoid disputes and opposition in the court, the saint had to make a closed-door decision with the prime ministers, and finally he was able to send troops.

But now, the changes in the border defense environment brought about by the war and various amazing dividends are in front of us. Although various data have not yet been accurately calculated, the direction of public opinion between the DPRK and China has changed.

In particular, some young and strong courtiers, one by one, were as red as chicken blood to choose the next crusade target for the court, and various related memorials were presented one after another. The Turks silently sip and fucked together.

Middle- and lower-level officials are imagining how to strengthen the army, attack everywhere, and fly dragons to ride their faces, while upper-level officials are thinking about a more realistic and urgent issue, that is, how to manage and monitor such astonishing financial changes.

The rent regulation and various miscellaneous taxes and duties implemented by the Tang Dynasty in the past made the fiscal revenue of the imperial court diverse, most of which could not be reflected in direct money, so affairs can be divided into various divisions and managed by decentralization.

But now, the surge in business income and business taxes has far exceeded the original tax form. The old administrative structure is no longer applicable, and how to establish a new management method is imminent.

In fact, regarding the changes in the administration of officials and the administrative structure of the imperial court, as early as the beginning of September, the chiefs of various divisions had already participated in the discussion.It's just that this topic is too grand, and a conclusion has not been reached for a long time. It only focuses on the knowledge of the saints and the important officials in the court, and there is no extensive consultation.

Li Tong prefers the separation of administrative, financial, military and supervisory powers, but it does not mean that he holds a negative attitude towards the current system of three provinces and six ministries.In other words, he himself has many doubts, and he is not sure which institutional model is most suitable for the current Kaiyuan New Era.

When it comes to the formation of the system of three provinces and six ministries, anyone can intervene and say a few words, and there may be mixed opinions.

But regardless of various tricky angles, the system of three provinces and six ministries is the culmination of the evolution of the classical system. It summarizes the crystallization of the wisdom of the predecessors of the past dynasties, which is enough to be a reference for various evolutions of later generations. It is a monument to the exploration of the Chinese civilization system. A summary of wisdom beyond the times.

Especially in the separation of powers and checks and balances, procedures and responsibilities, even in the later democratic era when civil rights increased, the game thinking contained in the system of three provinces and six ministries still has a very high guiding value for the division and operation of government administrative organizations.

There are many good teachers in later generations who think that the three provinces and six ministries serve the feudal monarchy and not democracy, thereby denying the achievements of the old man in system exploration and promoting the superiority of a certain system.

As a social animal, human beings form large and small social organizations, and their organizational management is reflected in systems.

In short, the system is the confrontation between power and power, power is the ability endowed by the system, and power is the energy that cannot be institutionalized, such as individual force, connections, and unconventional possession of various social resources.

Broadly speaking, the system is a game between the public and selfish desires, the protection of order and the struggle and compromise of egoism.

The greatness of the three provinces and six ministries lies in the fact that this system has an extremely complete power distribution system, and at the same time guarantees the procedural space for checks and balances and games. The internal organization is interlocking, each plays its part and restrains each other, and there is no certain link. Domination and dominance.

From this point of view, the Chinese ancestors really had a kind of precocious wisdom in the exploration of the system.

But there is also a problem with the system, it is not an independent thing, it is created by people, restricts people's behavior and is enforced by people.And once different systems are implemented, system costs will inevitably be incurred.

The system of three provinces and six ministries is complete and comprehensive, which is its advantage and also its disadvantage.

If its internal interlocking structure wants to fully function, it must ensure that each component can give full play to its performance, and the checks and balances between each other are too detailed, the resulting friction and constraints will be an amazing quantity.

The internal friction caused by these system costs sometimes even far exceeds the benefits and returns brought about by the operation of the system.

For example, there are many fans of a certain political system in later generations, and they have demonstrated its superiority in all aspects, except that the cost of this system requires global blood supply.If you don't have enough blood-replenishing ability, you will have to play collapse, let alone keep the mouthpiece of captive minions.

Therefore, although Datang's system of three provinces and six ministries is perfect, the real implementation period is not long.

Especially in the context of the Middle Ages, overly perfect system construction itself is a kind of self-limitation, which cannot adapt to the new variables brought about by the growth and expansion of national power. For emperors with great ambitions and sufficient execution power, it is a It is difficult to bear the cumbersome procedure process.

Therefore, as early as the Zhenguan period, the three provinces as the highest decision-making level have undergone changes.

During the Kaiyuan period, Zhang Shuozou changed the Zhengshitang to the Zhongshu Menxia, ​​not simply joining the Zhongshu and Menxia provinces, but the fact that the Zhongshu Menxia institution directly surpassed the three provinces, and the powers of the three provinces were combined into one.

Li Tong is not a Taiping king who sits and enjoys his success, but the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty who is in danger. He oversteps the authority of the three provinces to a higher degree, and even the Political Affairs Hall has been reduced to a vassal. It is no longer the highest decision-making body of the imperial court. The prime ministers seldom sit together to discuss the Tao, and more of them worship and implement the orders, and there are almost no restrictions on the saints.

This kind of political ecology is not that he wants to create deliberately, but that he originally established the central court on the basis of Xingtai Bafu.

Under the precarious and turbulent national conditions of the Tang Dynasty at that time, the pursuit of procedural legitimacy is undoubtedly the most effective way to get the country out of the quagmire quickly.

Of course, the premise is that he can successfully lead Datang Zhongxing. If he gets rid of it, he will also be a typical example of a clan vassal in the future who wields power and disrupts his country.

Although Li Tong is a hegemonic emperor, it does not mean that he does not need system maintenance.

After all, a person's energy is limited. Even if he is diligent and diligent in government affairs, how much government affairs can he handle every day?Second, his model has a particularity that cannot be copied. The Datang regime always needs a stable maintenance and transition, which requires institutional constraints and management.

However, as a powerful emperor, he is full of various ideas and attempts to govern the country. A complete three provinces and six ministries with clear responsibilities and mutual restraints are a disaster for him.

What he needs is an efficient and flexible executive system, not a decision-making group with different ideas and conflicting ideas.But he also knows that people have their ups and downs, and that regimes will always change, so he can't turn the entire state apparatus into one person's answer.

Among them, the contradictory balance between the promotion and concession of personal rights will be a focus of the next government reform.And the officials of the various divisions of the imperial court, including the prime ministers who lead the officials, have their own ambitions, which cannot be ignored.

How to work out a plan that can be approved by the majority of those involved in it on the premise of ensuring the orderly progress of the affairs of the dynasty requires compromise and tolerance from all aspects, and Li Tong, a saint, is no exception.