On the winter solstice, all officials in Beijing attended the great court meeting.
The emperor first led his ministers to worship God Haotian in the southern suburbs of Yuanqiu, and then returned to the palace to banquet his ministers, including envoys from various countries.
At the banquet, Li Shimin announced the enfeoffment in public.
Although it was not a serious formal occasion and was only announced verbally, everyone knew that the matter was finalized and there was no possibility of change.
As for who should be sealed first and who should be sealed, and where and how much land should be sealed, there is no word yet.
But it doesn't matter anymore, just the enfeoffment is enough to shock everyone.
The dignitaries no longer concealed themselves and sang and danced happily.
The mood of the bureaucrats is complicated, but generally speaking, it is not unacceptable. First of all, the Shifeng Governor was blocked, and secondly, after the nobles left, they had more opportunities for promotion.
I just don’t know why, but I always feel as if I’ve eaten a fly.
The envoys from various countries were very worried. The nobles of the Tang Dynasty were all fought on the battlefield. If a few of them were in front of their own homes, they would really have trouble sleeping and eating.
But they also know that they have no room to say anything about this kind of thing, so they can only pray that no such fierce person will come to their doorstep.
Chen Jingke was also at the banquet. In the past, he didn't have a serious official position, so he could come or not. Now he is a fourth-rank official. If he doesn't come, he will be disrespecting the emperor.
He didn't want to be in the limelight on such a big national festival, so he hid in a corner with Cheng Huailiang and Qin Huaidao and ate and drank.
When the envoys from all nations came to pay homage to Khan, he put down the pig's trotters in his hands and looked at them carefully.
There were hundreds of people there, and he looked around for a long time without seeing the person he wanted to see.
Cheng Huailiang asked: "What are you looking at? Is there anyone you know here?"
Chen Jingke shook his head and said: "How is that possible? I just want to see Xiaori... the envoy of Fusang Kingdom."
"A few months ago, several of our naval warships defeated their main naval force head-on, and also helped the Tsukushi Kingdom recover. I don't know how their envoys feel."
Cheng Huailiang smiled and said: "Then you will be disappointed. Fusang Kingdom has not sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty for many years."
"Oh?" Chen Jingke said in surprise: "Didn't you say that they often send people to the Central Plains to learn skills, and they also send women to borrow seeds?"
Qin Huaidao showed a knowing smile and said: "Why, are you interested in Fusang girls? I heard that they are petite, obedient, and can withstand any play."
Chen Jingke suddenly turned his head and looked behind him and said, "Uncle Yuchi, why are you here?"
Qin Huaidao was so frightened that he jumped up from his chair and said in a panic: "Aweng, I'm joking..."
Halfway through, he realized that there was no one behind him. He didn't know that he had been deceived, so he said angrily: "Chen, Jing, Ke, how do you want to die?"
"Haha..." Chen Jingke and Cheng Hualiang laughed.
Everyone was singing and dancing, and their playfulness was not out of the ordinary. People around them would only envy them for being young and energetic.
After playing around for a while, the three of them sat down again.
Cheng Huailiang continued the previous topic and said: "That happened in the former Sui Dynasty. It has not happened in this dynasty, but I believe they will return to their old habits soon."
Qin Huaidao nodded in agreement and said: "As long as the Central Plains is strong, they will definitely come. It is said that the women who were sent to borrow seeds are noble daughters of various powerful families, and they have been trained to be good at sex and art since childhood."
"But not everyone can be blessed by a kiss. They mainly borrow the seeds of dignitaries or educated people."
At this point, he winked and said: "With your reputation, Jing Ke, they can send a hundred women to you as long as you are willing."
Chen Jingke rolled his eyes at him angrily.
Qin Huaidao chuckled and continued: "I don't know what the Fusang people think."
"These women borrow the seeds and if they give birth to a daughter, the girl will be married to an important member of the family when she grows up, and the child they give birth to will be the next generation head of the family."
"It would be even more remarkable if the son is born, as he will be raised as a core. Some are even adopted and raised by the head of the family as biological sons. When they grow up, they can inherit their family."
Cheng Huailiang said: "What else can it be? I have low self-esteem. I think my seed is not good, so I went to heaven to borrow it."
"And people don't just borrow it casually. Didn't you see that all the girls born are married to important members of the family, and the boys born after they grow up have to marry women of the same clan. In the end, it is the blood of the same clan that holds the power of the family."
Chen Jingke nodded. He also had a guess that the matter might be related to genetics.
Incestuous marriages are popular in Fuso Kingdom. For example, the Imperial family only intermarry with one or two fixed families, saying that they want to maintain the purity of their bloodline.
Then we don’t know whether the blood is pure or not, and there are many kinds of diseases, which once caused difficulties in having heirs.
Other nobles also have the same custom, only marrying close relatives.
In this case, it would be easier to give birth to a healthy baby by going to Datang to borrow seeds.
The Fusang people discovered this situation, but could not understand the scientific reason. They only thought it was related to human race, so they sent their daughters to the Central Plains to borrow seeds.
This reason was just a private guess by Chen Jingke. He didn't know whether it was accurate or not, so he didn't say it out loud.
Don't forget that marriage was also popular in the Tang Dynasty. Princess Li Lizhi of Changle married her cousin Changsun Chong.
During the Song Dynasty, Su Shi's two wives were both cousins. In the storybook, Su Xiaomei is based on Su Shi's sister Su Baniang, who suffered from torture and depression after marrying her cousin.
It can be said that cousin marriage was a commendable happy event in ancient times.
However, one or two generations of incestuous marriage will not affect future generations. What is more fearful is long-term incestuous marriage. What is even more frightening is the situation in Fuso, where people for generations and dozens of generations only intermarry with fixed families.
The Tang Dynasty had not yet reached this point, so Chen Jingke had no intention of attacking this custom in the short term.
His current influence cannot change this situation, it will only cause unnecessary trouble.
Rather than going through all the trouble, it is better to develop the technology line with peace of mind. As the level of technology improves, many customs will naturally change accordingly.
The great meeting ended smoothly without any trouble. In today's world, no one dares to make Li Shimin unhappy on such an important day.
The Winter Solstice is over, and in a few days it will be New Year's Day, and the new year will begin.
In the past few days, the people have been busy buying new year's goods to prepare for the New Year, but the court has become increasingly busy, and the year-end accounting cannot be delayed.
First, the Ministry of Household Affairs produced the year-end report, which mainly contained three data:
The first data is that the national treasury has an annual revenue of 13 million yuan, of which 4.1 million yuan is tax revenue, and the rest is glass shares.
A total of 6.4 million yuan was spent, the bulk of which was the census, the construction of the Daming Palace, and military expenditures. The total balance was 6.6 million yuan.
Everyone was shocked when this data came out.
Everyone knew that the imperial court was relatively wealthy this year, but they never expected that it would be so wealthy. The year's balance would be more than the expenditure.
To put it in layman's terms, the imperial court will not have a penny of income next year, so it can live a comfortable life relying on the family income.
Then the Ministry of Household Affairs announced a second piece of data. The census was completed and a total of 13 million people were found to be hiding.
At this time, the number of registered people in the Tang Dynasty was 12.3 million, and the number of hidden people was larger than the registered population. In just one census, the population of the Tang Dynasty doubled, and surged to 25 million.
Everyone knows that there are still many people hiding in hiding, and Li Shimin himself knows it too. But everyone knows better that the level of detection is already the limit.
If we continue the investigation, it will be difficult to make much progress, and it may even cause turmoil.
It’s not entirely the fault of the wealthy and powerful, some of them were hidden by the common people in order to avoid the poll tax.
For example, a family may have several sons who share the same household registration. If the court investigates this situation severely, it may turn into a tragedy of large-scale infanticide.
Therefore, poverty provides the soil for hiding people. If everyone can have enough to eat, no one will become a hermit.
In view of this, Li Shimin announced on the spot that the head tax would be exempted for ten years and only local taxes would be levied.
As for why it is not abolished directly but only exempted for ten years, it is still for stability.
Head tax and land tax have been the most important sources of tax revenue since ancient times. It would be too risky to abolish them directly. No one knows what will happen in the future, what if the government's finances are tight.
Leave some room for future operations.
If the imperial court is still financially wealthy after ten years, it will continue to be exempted. Until it is sure that there will be no problems, it will be abolished in one step.
If it had been the case before, everyone would have definitely opposed this matter. Without the poll tax, the national treasury's annual revenue would have been greatly reduced, making the already stretched imperial finances even more difficult.
But now, everyone has accepted it calmly.
I have no choice but to have a balance of 6.6 million yuan, so I can do things with dignity.
There is one exception, and that is Tang Jian, the Minister of Revenue, who came up with a work plan for next year:
Repair of the Yellow River, cleaning and widening of the Grand Canal, military spending, construction of the Daming Palace, resettlement of the cleared population, academic and political system, imperial examination system construction...
Just these fixed budgets will cost more than five million yuan, not counting unexpected surprises.
Finally, Tang Jian said: "It is not impossible to exempt the head tax, but the gap needs to be filled from other places, otherwise it will always be a hidden danger."
Li Shimin said vigilantly: "There is no money left in the internal funds."
Tang Jian did not save face for the emperor, and exposed it on the spot: "The sugar factory in the hands of the empress is as profitable as glass. I heard that she has built thousands of acres of salt fields in the Qingzhou sea area..."
Li Shimin's face was a little confused, and he said forcefully: "That is the Queen's property, not mine. How can the Queen's personal money be used to fill the treasury? The court will lose the face."
Tang Jian said solemnly: "As long as the treasury of the Tang Dynasty can be enriched, my face doesn't matter. As long as the saint agrees, I will go to the empress in person tomorrow."
Everyone couldn't help but secretly give him a thumbs up. Everyone knew that there was money in the internal funds, and several industries controlled by the Queen were making money as fast as minting money.
For example, in the sugar industry, it is a bit exaggerated to say that profits are higher than those of glass, but annual income of three to four million yuan is still no problem.
The ministers have been keeping an eye on this area, thinking about how to get money from internal funds every day. Whoever can get money from internal funds will be treated like a hero.
As for why we still ask for internal funds when we clearly have money in the treasury, the reason is very simple. The money in the treasury belongs to the country. It is not easy for everyone to work hard to save this kind of wealth. If you can't do it, don't do it.
The money in the internal funds belongs to the emperor, so he doesn't feel bad at all when he spends it casually.
But before, everyone just wanted to get money from internal funds. Today, Tang Jian got it right and even wanted a share of the sugar industry, even the newly built salt farm.
Naturally, everyone admired his courage and praised him one after another.
However, everyone did not let him fight alone and stood up to support him.
Li Shimin knew that it would be impossible without bleeding, but he did not agree immediately. He only said that he would discuss it with the queen after the court.
Everyone knew that the matter had been settled and no longer acted aggressively.
Then Tang Jian announced a third important piece of data, related to land.
During the population census, the land in certain places was also cleared, and it was found that there were 270,000 acres of hidden land, or 27 million acres.
You must know that the registered cultivated land in the Tang Dynasty is only a little over 200 million acres, and the amount of hidden land reaches more than one-tenth of the total, and it is certain that there is more hidden land that has not been discovered.
All the civil and military officials were silent. It can be said that everyone is well aware of this matter. Who among the big families, especially the big families with a long history, does not have some hidden land in their hands?
Li Shimin didn't get angry, he just said coldly: "Check."
So the original census officials were transformed into land clearing officials.
After that, the Ministry of Industry made a report. Their report contained very few summary parts because many of them were confidential and difficult to discuss.
For example, steel production.
Because of the use of the new mining and steelmaking methods provided by Chen Jingke, steel production has grown by leaps and bounds, and now the annual output has reached more than 10,000 tons.
Steel is a strategic material, so naturally it cannot be announced to avoid alerting neighboring countries.
Apart from anything else, with so much steel, we have the capital to detonate troops, and doubling the army will be no problem.
Therefore, the report from the Ministry of Industry is more like a work plan for next year and a money request plan.
How many civilians will be required to build the Yellow River and how much will it cost? How much will it cost to build the Grand Canal? How much will the Daming Palace cost...
The core idea of the work report of the Ministry of Rites is that money is needed. The establishment of the imperial examination system requires a lot of money, and the budgets for major festivals also require money.
Not to mention the report from the Ministry of War, which only contains two words: "Give money."
As for why so much money was needed and where it was spent, no one said a word and no one dared to ask in detail.
The Imperial College gave a separate report, and it was just two words: give money.
In short, all departments are giving money, money, money.
It can be said that next year's income has not even been reflected yet, but it has already been spent.
Moreover, there are more big plans for next year and more money will be spent. The total budget alone will exceed 7 million yuan.
If we include the emergencies we may encounter next year, such as river disasters and locust plagues, the total will be close to tens of millions of dollars.
This was something that I had never dared to think about before. At that time, everyone wanted to break the money in half and spend it, so many plans could only be postponed again and again.
Unlike now, as long as it is a reasonable and formal plan, it can only be approved.
But no one is worried about whether there will be a fiscal deficit. Once the queen empress receives the profit share from the salt and sugar, next year will be another prosperous year.