Tang's dining table

"It just looks messy and not very tidy." Wu Mei sighed, her hands habitually holding her belly. Her belly was already very big, and it was difficult to walk or stand up.

Li Zhi chuckled and said: "It's the mess that makes you lively. It's when everyone is in danger that they hope for peace. If you want peace, only I can give it."

Wu Mei asked strangely: "Why does it look alive when it's messy?"

Li Zhi grabbed the bear's ears with one hand and swiped it casually in the air with the other hand and said: "Chang'an City's annual income last year was one and a half times that of the year before."

Wu Mei shook her head and said, "We can't just stay in Chang'an."

Li Zhi said: "Luoyang's annual income last year was 20% more than the year before."

Wu Mei frowned and said, "It's all in such a mess, how can we still be okay?"

Li Zhi laughed and said: "I suddenly discovered that the increase in the imperial court's annual income has little to do with the landlords."

Wu Mei was taken aback and quickly took Li Zhi's hand and said, "Nongsang is the foundation of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Zhi nodded and said: "The queen is right. Farming mulberry trees are indeed the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. However, this farmland mulberry tree refers to those farmers mulberry trees that can pay taxes to me, not those farmers who look prosperous but are not. Nongsang, who has little to do with me.

Those who have implemented the three measures of renting and adjusting servants are people whose families don’t have much land. There are always many ways for families living in a contiguous area to plant the most land and pay the least taxes.

I asked Baiqisi to go to Zhongmu County to check, and the result was a result that was beyond my expectation.

Last year, the person who actually paid the most taxes in Zhongmou County was a landlord named Sun Laoshi. His family owned 1,400 acres of land, but he paid 30% more taxes than the second-placed person. However, his family’s The land is only 60% of that of the second-placed family.

Queen, why do you think this is? "

Wu Mei said: "The second-placed family evaded taxes."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "I didn't evade taxes. The magistrate of Zhongmu County used to be the chief registrar of Wannian County. He was promoted to the magistrate of Zhongmu County because of his meritorious service. He can be regarded as an official, and he can be regarded as an upright official.

He came to the conclusion that the court had been flooding with favors over the years, and the court's favors had wrong targets. They did not fall on those who really needed the favors, but all fell on the big landowners.

He also suggested that giving favors to those who need them is called giving favors, and giving favors to those who don't need them will make the court's grace lose its original appearance.

I think what he said is very good. In the future, the court's favor recipients must be carefully evaluated before issuing any favors. "

Wu Mei looked at Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty, are you going to take back the power of kindness?"

Li Zhi smiled and said: "Only when kindness comes from above is it called kindness, otherwise it means you have ulterior motives."

Wu Mei stood up, and this time she moved very neatly and walked away, leaving Li Zhi sitting there thoughtfully.

Li Zhi seemed to be used to Wu Mei's rudeness. No matter how rude Wu Mei was, he would still say what he felt should be said and do what he should do.

Otherwise, over time, overstepping will become a habit.

For Yunchu and his party, the two-hundred-mile journey was originally just a little more than a day, but it started to rain before they had gone very far.

Jiang Tong wanted to stop and rest for the night and wait for the rain to stop before leaving, but Yun Chu refused directly. He thought that His Majesty could not be kept waiting for too long, so he put on a strange thing like a raincoat and insisted on staying the night. On the way.

In the dark night, the pine torches were always extinguished by the rain, and the men and horses staggered forward in the mud. Every step they took was torture for them.

However, Yun Chu picked up a bright angry wind lantern from a pine tree on the side of the road. That lamp was obviously not an ordinary thing. Not only did the flame be bright, but no matter how the lantern shook, the oil lamp inside remained balanced. Let the grease inside leak out. With this bright light, Yun Chu and the maroon horse, also wearing a raincoat, walked steadily.

In the second half of the night, the rain suddenly became heavier. In a place with no village in front and no store in back, Jiang Tong and the others magically discovered that Yun Chu had pulled out another ball of oilcloth from the hole of a pine tree, and then pulled out another ball of oilcloth from a hole in a pine tree. Some slender iron bars were pulled out of the copper pipe, and after a short while, a tent appeared between two dwarf pines on the high ground.

The most incredible thing for Jiang Tong was that Yun Chu also took out a small stove, threw in a few pieces of charcoal, and cooked himself jars of tea, watching the hot tea with a sweet fragrance. After entering Yunchu's belly, the other people standing in the wind and rain were speechless.

After drinking the tea, Yun Chu used the helmet of the Baiqisi people to cook a helmet full of oats for the bay red horse. Then, he cooked the oats in warm salt water, which also made the bay red horse snort continuously.

After serving the jujube red horse, Yunchu grilled a piece of fine beef over charcoal fire. The most outrageous thing is that the beef has been marinated in advance. Yunchu only needs to put it on the charcoal fire and grill it, and the aroma will be there. The rainy night filled the air.

Everyone watched Yun Chu munching beef in the tent under the rain, until Yun Chu found a handful of noodles and half a pot of chicken soup, cooked himself a bowl of fragrant chicken noodle soup and ate it in two bites, and then started eating in the tent. I tied a hammock between two trees and fell asleep quickly.

Yun Chu could sleep very comfortably. After Jiang Tong and the others saw Yun Chu's behavior, they were all filled with ghosts.

They were now sure that there were many people belonging to Yunchu around them protecting him.

Jiang Tong was a terrifying figure who could stop crying in Chang'an and even in the Tang Dynasty, but tonight, Jiang Tong felt great terror.

He even felt that it was no more difficult for Yun Chu to kill them than to kill a chicken.

Staying with Yun Chu in this wilderness was like having a sleeping tiger beside him. Around this sleeping tiger, there were countless beasts staring at them with their green eyes.

The soldiers of Chang'an Prefecture are famous all over the world. They are very effective whether they are hollowing out the Western Region, conquering Liaodong, or conquering the south and the north.

This stormy night, which was very difficult for the Baiqisi, was really not a big deal for the soldiers who had been fighting on the border all year round.

Jiang Tong knew very well that the reason why Yun Chu followed them to Luoyang alone was to give face to himself, the governor of Baiqisi, and to give face to His Majesty who was far away in Luoyang.

Yun Chu was not a helpless person. If he resisted, Jiang Tong absolutely believed that it would be a real bloody storm.

People without strength are not worthy of respect from others. Jiang Tong has always been a believer in this truth.

If the person in front of him was not the powerful Yun Chu, Jiang Tong would never let him force everyone to sleep in the open air and drive him all night. Instead, he would throw him into a wooden prison car and drag him all the way to Luoyang.

In the wind and rain, there were waves of howling wolves in the distant mountains. Immediately, many monkeys began to howl, hoping to use the power of the group to drive away these ferocious beasts. However, it was just a thought. After all, the beast that killed the most monkeys It's a leopard, but leopards are always known for their silence.

Jiang Tong knew that Yunchu was a leopard who was not very willing to talk. This was why His Majesty loved him but was wary of him.

He didn't want to go against Yun Chu. At least, he knew very clearly that he might be a wolf howling in the rainy night, but Yun Chu was definitely a leopard, or even a tiger.

So, on a foggy morning, there were two people who happened to be carrying a basket of freshly steamed buns, a large bowl of fragrant rice porridge, and even the chopsticks were specially designed with the words "Big Canteen" gilded on them. The peasant woman with chopsticks warmly invited Yun Chu to wash up and eat, but Jiang Tongquan pretended not to notice.

He didn't even have any thoughts about the meat buns that Yunchu was eating.

Many people die when they firmly believe that they cannot die.

Yun Chu now firmly believed that he could not die, but Wen Wen, Zhong Kui, and Di Renjie did not think so and felt that he should be given a life.

Therefore, on the way to Luoyang, Yunchu would sometimes get a bunch of freshly picked cucumbers from the old woman on the roadside, and sometimes he would get a handful of apricots. More often than not, there would always be passers-by willing to invite Yunchu to follow them. Let's eat together. As for the food in the inn, Yun Chu didn't take a bite from the beginning to the end.

It was not until Yunchu stood in front of the Shenwu Gate in Luoyang that Jiang Tong discovered that at least two caravans that came to Luoyang with them had turned around and left. Even the scattered merchants had left. They did not enter the Shenwu Gate. .

After other officials arrived in Luoyang following the imperial edict, their final destination was the inn, while Yunchu was sent directly to the imperial edict's prison next to Ziwei Palace.

The imperial prison of the Tang Dynasty was actually a small city. The word imperial prison was written in ancient seal script above the city gate. Because of this, people immediately associated the imperial prison and hell.

Jiang Tong stood at the gate of the imperial prison and saluted Yun Chu, saying, "Please be patient with your lord. When your lord returns to Chang'an, a certain family will definitely come to apologize."

Yun Chu said impatiently: "It looks like I need to go in by myself, right?"

Jiang Tong smiled and said: "The order I received is to send the prince to the imperial prison safely. Now that the imperial prison is right in front of us, it is none of my business."

Yun Chu looked at Jiang Tong and said: "What Baiqisi is dealing with is the most treacherous and evil people. If you encounter such thieves who harm the people, Governor Jiang can go as far as he wants. He just hopes that the Governor will stay in prison for a certain period of time." , don’t deliberately rely on treacherous and evil people for ordinary things, this is not good for Chang’an and not good for the Tang Dynasty.”

Jiang Tong looked around and saw that he was surrounded by jailers, so he lowered his voice and said: "The Baiqisi Dudu's Mansion in Chang'an is not as wealthy as the Baiqisi Dudu's Mansion in Luoyang."

Yunchu laughed and said: "Since it's business, everything is easy to do. A certain family heard that the mountains outside Dahang City in Liaodong are rich in a precious medicinal material called ginseng, but this thing is like deer antlers and blood. They want to transport it to Chang'an and Luoyang. It’s not an easy matter, does the Governor have a good way to solve it?”

When Jiang Tong saw that his goal was achieved, he immediately cupped his hands and said, "It's a trivial matter."

Seeing Jiang Tong lead the people away with satisfaction, Yun Chu led the horse and shouted towards the top of the prison city: "Is there anyone who can breathe and agree?"

As Yun Chu shouted loudly, the prison door opened immediately. Yun Chu looked at Li Yifu who was walking out and said, "After all, I fell into your plot."

Li Yifu stopped, waved his hand and said: "If you and I are teachers and students, a certain family will not plot against you. Let's agree first that your imprisonment is arranged by His Majesty and has nothing to do with me."

Yun Chu glanced at Li Yifu for a moment and said, "I believe this matter has nothing to do with you. The problem is that I have not committed a crime but I have to be sent to prison. This is really too much."

Li Yifu said with a smile: "Your Majesty said that if you want to imprison the Shiba Inu, a kennel is enough; if you want to imprison the wild boar, a pig cage is enough; if you want to imprison a tiger like Junhou, you must imprison him. .

Also, the monarch is not without guilt. At least, kicking the censor Wei Qingquan's six ribs will be enough for you to enter the imperial edict. "

Yun Chu frowned and said, "I remember very clearly that I only broke four ribs. Were you the one who broke the extra two ribs?"

Li Yifu sighed and said: "You should thank Xu Jingzong, Duke Xu. If it weren't for him in Chang'an, Wei Qingquan would have been kicked to death by the king at this time. Do you believe it?"

Yun Chu clenched his fists and took an angry step forward. Li Yifu quickly took two steps back, waved his hands and said, "No one will harm you."

Yun Chu said angrily: "When I return to Chang'an, I will let the Weishi who went to Tianchiwu know what it means to be a county magistrate."

Li Yifu waved his hand and said: "There is no shortage of cruel officials in the Tang Dynasty, so there is no need for you to embarrass yourself by sending yourself to the pile of cruel officials.

Come on, leave your horse to someone else and arrange a room for you. "

Yun Chu pulled the reins of the war horse and said, "No."

Li Yifu glanced at Yun Chu and said, "It's up to you."

Therefore, the prison next to the prison where Yun Chu lived became a stable for bay red horses.

Every morning, when the prison city began to let out air and bask in the sun, Yun Chu would get together with Bay Red Ma and lie bored in the sunniest place until his whole body was itchy from the sun, and then he returned to the cell with satisfaction.

When Prince Li Hong arrived, Yun Chu was grooming the maroon horse in the sun. Summer was here, and the maroon horse was losing its hair very badly. After a while, Yun Chu harvested a lot of horse hair.

"Master, you don't have to come." Li Hong took the grate from Yun Chu's hand and continued to grate the maroon horse.

Yun Chu drank some water and said, "It is necessary to observe the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers. I thought this was the rule."

Li Hong grabbed a handful of horse hair from the grate and said, "I thought the master had jumped out of the Three Realms and was no longer in the Five Elements."

Yun Chu looked at Li Hong and frowned: "What behavior of mine made you have the illusion that I am not a minister of the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Hong lowered his head and said nothing.

Yun Chu asked again: "Do you think His Majesty doesn't have to abide by the rules? Or do you mean that you don't intend to abide by any rules in the future and will do whatever you want?"

Li Hong lowered his head and said, "It's hard to do anything you want to do."

Yun Chu swallowed a mouthful of water and said, "That's because you always want to do something big. The things you did in Chang'an have flourished and become huge things. Do you know that?"

Li Hong spread his hands and let the wind snatch the horse hair from his hand, and said in a waning tone, "It's not a big deal."

Yun Chu smiled and said: "Last year, Chang'an produced two million tons of cabbage, which directly benefited 30,000 farmers, and more than 200,000 indirect beneficiaries. In the end, the number of beneficiaries exceeded one million. Just you, master, and I, last year I ate no less than a hundred pounds of cabbage.

Let me ask you, who in the world dares to say that this is a trivial matter? "

Li Hong shook his head and said: "My father, the emperor, and my mother disdain him."

Yunchu said with a smile: "That's what you think is dismissive. Onions have now become an indispensable vegetable for the people of Chang'an City. Beet has long been popular in Guanzhong. As long as farmers have free land, they are willing to plant beets. .

The leaves of beets can be eaten, and the roots can be used to boil sugar. Expert craftsmen have used the lime addition method to turn miscellaneous sugar into icing sugar, and even expert craftsmen have used the condensation and crystallization method to create rock sugar as sweet as honey.

Nowadays, this rock candy has become the most sought-after product among Hu merchants in Chang'an City. It is said that there is a bucket of gold and a bucket of sugar.

People in Luoyang may not remember these things you did, but people in Chang'an remember them firmly. Whether it is beets, cabbage, cabbage, onions, or peppers, they are now called Donggong goods in the Chang'an market.

So, I want to ask you now, what else do you want? What other big things are you going to do?

In my opinion, the only major thing that can surpass these things is rebellion. Are you planning to rebel? "

Li Hong smiled bitterly and said: "Rebellion? Whose rebellion? My own rebellion?"

Yun Chu shook his head, Li Hong had grown up, especially the royal children, who grew up at an alarming rate.

They seem to have their own unique way of growing up, which has little to do with the education they received. What really affects their growth should be their living environment.

Li Hong didn't mention Naha, and Yun Chu didn't ask. However, from the difficult smile on Li Hong's face, he must have lived a life worse than death during this period of time.

It's not easy to be a scumbag, especially a scumbag with a heart, which is simply a pervert-level challenge.

Judging from the fact that Naha broke Li Hong's mother-in-law's arm, the battle between Naha and Pei's daughter has already entered a fever pitch.

Yun Chu and Li Hong combed the fur that had fallen off the maroon horse's body cleanly, leaving only the new hair that had just grown out, and there was even a slight sign of color gradient in the sunlight.

"Master, please follow me back to the East Palace to live. My father will not blame you." It was obvious that Li Hong was a little uninterested, and he spoke and acted with a bit of spontaneity.

Yun Chu looked around the prison city and said to Li Hong: "This is the environment set by His Majesty to have a conversation with me. I think this conversation should be very important.

As long as this level is passed, you will be able to settle down for ten years. "

Li Hongdao: "I asked to be appointed as a stay-at-home officer in Chang'an, but my father refused three times. The third time he told me clearly that this was impossible."

Yun Chu nodded, indicating that he understood, and sent Li Hong out of the imperial prison.

That night, Yun Chu found that the new mattress under him was missing. When he was eating, he found that there was no wine and one dish of meat was missing.

Even the boiled oats that the bay horse likes to eat have been replaced by sorghum.

"It's unjust, Your Majesty, I'm unjust..."

As soon as it gets dark, cries of grievances can be heard in the prison.

The business of these people calling out their grievances is sad and lonely. It seems that every one of them has really encountered a cruel official and been beaten into submission.

Judging from the list of prisoners that Yunchu got from the jailer, more than 80% of these bastards had extorted merchants from Chang'an.

"Shut up--"

Yun Chun Chun Lei roared angrily, and the prison suddenly became quiet. However, this silence only lasted for half a stick of incense. Then, the cries of injustice became louder, and every one The hopeless prisoners all hope to drag Yunchu, the marquis who is likely to be released, to make the emperor look at them more and think more about their past kindness...