Since ancient times, people who are familiar with history know that there are many wise kings in history. However, there are only a few of them that ordinary people are familiar with. It is estimated that they can be counted on ten fingers.
In fact, people's criteria for judging a wise monarch are very vague...
But if you count them in detail, there are only a few of them.
The founding king who brought peace to the world was naturally wise and mighty. Even if there were flaws that people could point out, they would be overshadowed by the halo of the founding.
Li Po was the founding king of the country. As long as his successor is not like Yang Guang, he will be immortal.
In addition, Mingjun has another more distinctive characteristic. As long as you can make all nations come to court, you will be admired by future generations.
Those who promoted foreign wars, opened up new territories, etc. can all be classified here.
However, as far as people in this world are concerned, the word "Mingjun" is much more specific.
You have to at least let the people live a good life.
When the former Qin Dynasty unified the world, the First Emperor took the greatest credit.
He believed that his virtues were equal to those of the Three Emperors and his merits were greater than those of the Five Emperors, so he called himself emperor. He then reformed politics. Until the end of the feudal dynasty, the shadow of the former Qin could be seen.
Unify the currency, weights and measures, make books and travels follow the same track, attack the Huns from the north, build the Great Wall, gather soldiers from the seven countries, and call them the Twelve Bronze Men, open spiritual canals, connect water bodies, and so on.
One after another, his courage and far-reaching thinking are beyond comparison with any other emperor. He is simply a unique king in Chinese history.
If we follow the imagination of later generations, the First Emperor might actually have traveled through time.
But if you could ask the people under his rule, you would probably get the opposite answer.
Another example is that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty respected Confucianism, strengthened centralization of power, reformed the currency system, taxes, etc., sent troops to attack the Xiongnu, broke their sweat tents, and captured their leaders, making the Xiongnu weak, and recorded it on a monument.
He sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions, communicated with the countries in the Western Regions, and sent troops to conquer Fujian, Yue, Dongou, Nanyue, Korea, and Nanyi, which greatly expanded the territory of the Han Dynasty and included the four barbarians within the traditional sphere of influence of the Central Plains.
Are these achievements dazzling? But if you were living under the rule of Emperor Wu at that time, hungry all day long, suffering from conscription, fighting with the army everywhere, and finally having your family destroyed and your family destroyed, would you still give him a message?
How's that?
Therefore, there is a clear deviation between the Mingjun in the eyes of later people and what people in the world thought.
In other words, when people read history later, they naturally only focused on achievements and ignored people's livelihood, but it is hard to say what people at that time experienced.
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The people of the Tang Dynasty today are actually relatively lucky. Li Po, the founder of the country, did not have many specific pursuits to leave his name in history, but the goals he set in his heart were very clear.
There are only four words: "the country is prosperous and the people are strong." This is of course one of the criteria for measuring whether a monarch has achieved something, but it is really not as conspicuous as words such as "opening up the territory and expanding the territory, and all the nations coming to court".
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In early December of the fifth year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty, the last great court meeting was held.
People's livelihood measures took up most of the time, and the courtiers were drowsy after listening to them. However, it was the reward at the end of the year that made everyone prick up their ears.
Above all this year's military merits, they undoubtedly belong to the officers and soldiers of the Eastern Expedition. Other than that, those scattered here and there that can be appealed to by the imperial court are all relatively solid achievements in internal affairs.
For example, Duke He Chou of the State of Pi wrote a book titled "The Works of the He Family", which was approved by the imperial court and published by Ming Dynasty.
The gold, silver, silk and satin given by He Chong, the Duke of Pi, to Dr. Guanglu were all small things. He granted three thousand households and six descendants. The title of Duke of Pi could be passed down to three generations. Minor crimes were exempted, and serious crimes were reduced by two ranks.
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In other words, there is no capital crime for He Chou's direct descendants. Of course, if you lead troops into the palace, it will be a different matter after the defeat.
Others, such as bullying men and dominating women, can basically be ignored by the court.
He is the only one among the founding heroes to receive such a huge reward.
Old Man He is not dead yet. With a copy of He's artifacts, he has generally reached the level of a highly respected minister. Of course, if he had a position and was young, the reward would not be so heavy.
It is precisely because He Chou has become an official and he is old and frail. No matter how heavy the rewards are, no one will say that the merits are not enough and the rewards are not enough.
And this also shows some problems in the direction of the court, which focuses on literary affairs and encourages academics, which means buying bones with a lot of money.
Of course, the book "He's Works" is not a piece of cake. Once it was published, it immediately became a must-read for the Imperial College and academies everywhere.
According to the attitude of the imperial court, craftsmen all over the world will definitely read it in the future. It may only be a matter of time before He Chou is regarded as the ancestor of craftsmen.
He Chou himself is more ambitious, and Li Po is also working hard to fulfill the promise he made. It can be said that everyone gets what he deserves.
And He Chou's achievements go far beyond that.
Let's talk about cotton. He Chou has already planted two crops in the mansion, and the experience he has gained is very valuable. He has already recorded it in Sinong Temple.
This year, news of trial plantings are coming from various places. It is said that it is growing well in places such as Liangzhou and Lingzhou, and it is also growing well in places like Guanxi and Shanxi.
This kind of crop is not delicate and can be grown anywhere. However, the yield and quality are not certain. With current methods, it is difficult to improve it in a short time. Just choose a suitable place to plant it.
With the attention of the imperial court, progress will be rapid. The trial planting sites are widely distributed. It is estimated that large-scale planting will be possible in two years.
Moreover, Sinong Temple has received more and more seeds and fruits, and the craftsman supervisor has also participated. After some production, some fabric samples have been produced.
Li Po couldn't help but made a few more gestures, asking them to make the stuff into cotton wool and add it to the clothes to see how effective it was in keeping out the cold. If it was feasible, winter clothes would be made in large quantities in the next two years and given to the ministries stationed in the north first.
Military outfit change.
This matter cannot be rushed. It takes two or three years to consider it normal. No matter how many years go by, it means that the cost has not come down yet.
Cotton cloth and cotton batting will undoubtedly be the two most powerful weapons for the Central Plains Dynasty in the future. Li Po is very concerned about this and believes that it will be fruitful before long.
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Generally speaking, there are many people who have been promoted to official positions and titles this year, and there is a long list of merit examinations. Most of them will not be mentioned deliberately at the court meeting. As long as their names are mentioned at the court meeting, they must have special merits.
After the Great Court Meeting, the various yamen of the imperial court were preparing to take a break to welcome the fifth year after the founding of the Tang Dynasty and the Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Needless to say, the Shangyuan Festival will only become more lively every year. Otherwise, how can it reflect the country’s vision of prosperity?
At this time, the message from Cheng Zhijie and Hou Junji was finally sent to Chang'an via Liangzhou...
Please remember the first domain name of this book: ._