After entering October, Chang'an has been experiencing continuous autumn rain, and there is a bit of chill in the air.
But the atmosphere in Chang'an's court and public and in the streets was very lively, and a major moment was coming.
Empress Dowager Zhang officially issued a statement stating that the emperor had suffered from serious intellectual defects since he was a child. He was promoted to be emperor due to the eunuchs' interference in politics. Now, as he grows older, his intellectual defects become more and more obvious. After collective confirmation by the imperial court's military and political affairs, it has been determined that the emperor cannot
To assume the important task of governing the world, I hereby announce to the world that the emperor will officially abdicate at the end of the year.
Zhaoshu did not avoid the issue of the emperor, but directly pointed out the reason. He had a major intellectual disability, and was promoted to power by the eunuch party. Now it is getting more serious. It was confirmed by the officials of the court that the emperor's condition was no longer able to perform his duties as emperor, and he must abdicate.
when.
Immediately afterwards, Empress Dowager Zhang issued a second edict, confirming that the emperor's heir, currently the regent of the country, would ascend the throne on the first day of the first lunar month next year.
Li Ye wrote at any time, saying that due to his shallow virtue and lack of ability, he could not accept the emperor's gift, and he begged the Queen Mother and the officials to choose another wise man.
The political hall immediately made a decision to reject the regent's request and asked him to inherit the throne.
The Queen Mother also issued another decree, urging the regent to accept the request of the officials and ascend the throne.
Li Ye wrote two more letters in succession, pleading to choose another sage.
The second time was when the military and political affairs committee deprived Li Ye of his request and asked him to succeed to the throne.
The third time was initiated by the Zhengshitang, and all the officials of the imperial court signed jointly, unanimously requesting that the regent ascend the throne.
The Queen Mother issued a decree for the third time, hoping that the regent would attach great importance to the Tang Dynasty, not to live up to the expectations of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and to assume the important task of reviving the Tang Dynasty. This is not an honor, but a responsibility.
Finally, Li Ye finally accepted the Queen Mother's will and issued a public statement that he did not regard the position of emperor as an honor, but as a responsibility, and would do his best to lead the Tang Dynasty to its peak.
When the news of Li Ye's acceptance of the throne came out, the whole court was filled with joy. The streets and alleys of Chang'an were decorated with lights and colorful decorations, and hundreds of thousands of people spontaneously took to the streets to parade, beating gongs and drums, to celebrate the rejuvenation of the Tang Dynasty again.
Immediately, the imperial court established a preparatory committee for the enthronement, with Wei Jiansu as the chairman, Zhang Li and Li Mi as vice-chairmen, and the Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple, Zongzheng Temple and other seven or eight departments jointly allocated 30,000 yuan from the finance to prepare for the establishment.
A simple and grand enthronement ceremony.
The so-called simplicity means that everything is made of ready-made materials and no additional purchases are made. The Luoyang Palace also preserved the complete set of ceremonial guards used by the former emperor Li Longji when he ascended the throne. Emperor Li Heng also renovated and repaired it, planning to ascend the throne for the second time to make up for the simplicity when he ascended the throne in Lingwu.
, but due to the intensity of the war, this set of ceremonial guards was ultimately not used. It was brought with it when the capital was moved to Luoyang, and is currently kept in the Luoyang Palace.
By taking all this set of ceremonial guards and using them, we saved at least 200,000 yuan in purchase money.
Then the entire Chang'an and the Imperial City were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Since it was the first day of the first lunar month, the lanterns were moved out and kept until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, thus killing two birds with one stone.
There are also 30,000 honor guard soldiers. The armor weapons of the honor guard soldiers alone will cost hundreds of thousands. Think about it, you don’t need it. Just move out the 30,000 Longxiang cavalry, put on the Mingguang armor for combat, and hold the new three-pointed sword.
A two-edged sword, this is more powerful than a guard of honor.
Thirty thousand gu money was mainly spent on maintaining order and welfare, such as giving new clothes and a cane to every elderly person over seventy years old in Chang'an, making fireworks, and modifying the gunpowder arrows used by scouts.
Increase the amount of medicine, add iron powder, and shoot it into the sky with a big yellow crossbow. It will burn and explode in the air, making it colorful.
What was originally a gunpowder arrow to bring news has evolved into a grand festival fireworks.
Of course, there are still many details that need to be considered and fleshed out slowly. There are still more than two months left, so don’t be too anxious.
But for Li Ye, his ascension to the throne was just a ceremony and a confirmation of his identity. At present, he is actually the de facto emperor. He is also the most popular emperor among ministers since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Why? It’s the confirmation of phase rights.
Li Ye learned the lessons of Li Longji and Li Heng. They both deprived the prime minister of power and expanded the monarch's power infinitely. However, he did not have so much energy to deal with government affairs, so he left a lot of government affairs to the eunuchs. The power of eunuchs was given by
This formation.
Li Ye creatively established the White Tiger Hall, which distributed memorials according to a clear division of power. This was unlike Li Linfu back then, who clearly had the power of the Prime Minister, but he took it upon himself to give it to the emperor Li Longji, and Li Longji also pretended to be confused.
, enjoying this upward shift in power, even the appointment of a state official was decided by the emperor.
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With the decentralization of Baihutang, only Class A memorials with red labels will be handed over to Li Ye.
Moreover, the power of the prime minister is not unique to the prime minister, but the power of the political affairs hall. The power of the right prime minister is mainly the power of officials. Above the fifth rank and from the third rank below, they are appointed by the right prime minister. The political affairs hall has the power to discuss and vote.
In addition, if the Ministry of Personnel feels that the appointment of the Right Prime Minister is inappropriate, they can protest and then submit it to the Political Affairs Hall for discussion. If there are still too many differences after discussion at the Political Affairs Hall, the emperor will make a decision.
In the past few days, Li Ye has been paying attention to the harvest of Jiaozhou rice. Jiaozhou rice is mainly early rice. After it matures in June, he immediately rushes to plant late rice unique to Datang. This ensures two crops a year. Is all Jiaozhou rice effective?
You have to look at it throughout the year to see how much you can harvest in a year.
In addition, the farmland can be left idle in winter to rest, fertilize and maintain moisture, and build water conservancy projects, and then start farming again in spring.
Li Ye specifically ordered the Zhengshitang to arrange dozens of inspection teams to go to the southern states to inspect the planting conditions of Jiaozhou rice in various places.
In the official room, Li Ye was listening to a briefing by Liu Yan, the Minister of Revenue, on the harvests in various places. Although there was no formal report, briefings were sent to the court by pigeon letters from various places, so at least the general situation was known.
"Based on preliminary statistics, the harvest in Jiangnan East Road is better, and it is more suitable for the promotion of Jiaozhou rice. Grain production has generally increased by 40%."
"Where else?"
"The output of Jiangnan West Road and Bashu Road both increased by 30%, and Shannan East Road, Huainan Road, and Huaixi Road all increased by a little more than 20%."
"What about Fujian Road and Lingnan Road?" Li Ye asked again.
"It hasn't been delivered yet. The situation is unclear. Maybe Fujian Road will be better. After all, they started planting last year."
Li Ye nodded. He had great expectations for Jiaozhou rice. The Northern Song Dynasty, when the population exceeded 100 million, started with the introduction of Jiaozhou rice. Of course, it was called Champa rice at the time, which was actually the same thing.
However, the population in the Northern Song Dynasty was passively increased. If Li Ye wanted to actively increase the population, he had to learn from the Qing Dynasty's method of dividing the land into acres and give up the head tax. For the Tang Dynasty, it was the household tax.
However, there is too much resistance to abolishing the household tax. From the imperial court to local governments, almost everyone opposes the abolishment of the household tax.
However, the household tax reform is imperative. The best way is to turn the household tax into a court tax, so that there will be no resistance from the local government. Then transfer the liquor tax and deed tax to the local government, and then give the local government a part of the land tax, such as Sanqi Kaifa.
, this place will have no opinions.
Once the household tax is transferred to the court, it can be reformed and deducted at both ends, deducting the elderly and children, taxing only the young and strong, and allowing land tax to be deducted.
Li Ye stood in front of the window with his hands behind his hands and thought for a long time, then asked Liu Yan: "Can the tax reform I want to promote be fully rolled out next year?"
Liu Yan pondered for a while and said: "Judging from the Bashu pilot project, the salt tax revenue is very considerable and has far exceeded the household tax. Now the Zhengshitang no longer opposes the reform of the household tax. In addition, the imperial court is opposed to the sharing of land tax with local governments. Now local governments
The rental income alone is already huge, and the liquor tax is considerable, which also far exceeds their previous household tax share. Adding the deed tax, local taxes and rental income is definitely enough."
Of course Li Ye knew that in the Northern Song Dynasty, salt tax and wine tax became the two most important taxes, far exceeding the land tax. The Northern Song Dynasty also invented the labor exemption money. If you don't want to do labor service, you can pay the money to get a credit. This is actually a disguised head tax.
, Li Ye is now considering recuperating, and does not plan to collect exemption money.
Li Ye thought for a long time and said: "The imperial court still has to bear the salaries of local officials. It is almost enough. Starting next year, the household tax will be transferred to the imperial court first. Don't abolish it immediately, but also reform it first. Household tax will be levied between the ages of twenty and forty.
The tax is levied on the number of people in each household, and the tax amount is reduced by half. Farmers can use the field tax as a deduction. If a household has more than two children, the household tax is exempted; if there are soldiers in the family, the household tax is exempted.
Second, domestic commercial taxes are temporarily exempted, but importer taxes are still collected by the Municipal Shipping Department.
Third, the land tax will be uniformly reduced to 30 to 1 tax, which will remain unchanged for ten years.
Fourth, the salt and iron wine monopoly should be fully implemented, with the wine tax and deed tax going to the local government, and the salt and iron going to the imperial court.
Fifth, the mining tax is levied uniformly by the court, and then the local government and the court each take half of it.
Sixth, internal security should be responsible for tax inspections and severely crack down on all kinds of tax evasion."
