Tibet

Dugu Ming originally wanted to go to Quanzhou in a low-key manner, but unexpectedly he alerted the emperor. Not only the emperor came, but also the queen, and of course his daughter.

Fortunately, the emperor's arrival was very low-key and did not disturb the neighbors or the government. Dugu Ming quickly invited the emperor and the queen to the inner chamber.

The family sat down in the inner hall, and Dugu Xinyue advised: "Uncle, why don't you let the younger members of the family go to Quanzhou? My uncle is old and not in good health. He should be recuperating in Chang'an!"

Dugu Ming waved his hand and said with a smile: "I have never had any health problems. My poor health is just an excuse for not wanting to be an official. I have been raising children for more than 20 years, so just let me move in the last few years! Otherwise, I will spend the rest of my life It’s really nothing.”

Princess Xincheng next to her also smiled and said: "Mingyue, let your uncle go! Otherwise, he will always complain that I delay him, and it will always be difficult to solve this knot in his heart."

Dugu Ming looked at her husband again, and Li Ye nodded, "Quanzhou is good, my third uncle should have been there."

Dugu Taiwei was surprised and said: "Dad has been to Quanzhou, why didn't I know?"

Dugu Ming smiled slightly and said: "That was many years ago, before you were born. Your grandfather asked me to take care of the business in Quanzhou. At that time, the Dugu family had just established a business in Quanzhou, so I went and stayed there for a year. , except that the skin is a little darker due to the sea breeze, there are no other changes.”

When Dugu Ming said this, the Dugu sisters felt relieved. Dugu Taiwei asked her mother again: "Is mother going too?"

"Of course we go together, your mother has never seen the sea in her life!"

Li Ye also smiled and said: "It's different now than before. You can take the water route all the way. After arriving at Xiangyang, transfer to the Wanshi Ship and go all the way to Quanzhou. It's very smooth and comfortable, and you won't be tired from the journey."

"So you sisters don't have to worry, go talk to your mother!"

The Dugu sisters followed Princess Xincheng to the other courtyard. Only Dugu Ming and Li Ye were left in the inner hall.

Dugu Ming smiled and said: "Yesterday, I had dinner and chatted with Liu Shangshu. He said that the imperial court was preparing to reform the local government. The interests of local wealthy families were intertwined. There was also fierce internal fighting. The imperial court intervened strongly. I suggested that we should have a strategy and proceed step by step. In fact, local governments Officials also support the court's reform, and county officials also face constraints from local wealthy families, and it is difficult to do anything. If the official level can be appointed by the court, local county officials will also support the court. "

"Thank you father-in-law for reminding me. I plan to use the abolition order to attack and weaken the local wealthy families. After weakening them, I will organize an examination for first-level subordinates and finally redistribute them."

Dugu Ming nodded, "The Abolition of Slavery is a sharp weapon that has gradually gained popularity among the people. It is good to use it to attack powerful people. In addition, I will give two more suggestions to the wise son-in-law. Of course, it is up to you whether you listen or not."

"Father-in-law, please tell me!"

Dugu Ming said slowly: "The first suggestion is that the wise son-in-law should not attack too widely. After all, the local wealthy families are the foundation of the imperial court. They are the weights one by one, stabilizing the Tang Dynasty. Without them, just hope For ordinary people, the world will be in chaos, and a rumor will cause chaos in the entire county.

In fact, there are not many truly powerful families, and most of them are ordinary wealthy families who work hard to train their children to honor their ancestors. If they can kill one person to scare others and then publicize it, these local wealthy families will be afraid and will no longer confront the court. "

"What my father-in-law said makes sense. I will consider it. What next?"

"Then to strengthen the power at the Tao level, all rely on the imperial court. The imperial court is indeed beyond its capabilities and beyond its reach. It would be much easier if the civil servants were left to the Tao to manage."

"I understand. I will consider my father-in-law's two suggestions carefully."

Li Ye smiled again and said: "I know that my father-in-law is worried about Dugujun seizing power. Father-in-law, don't worry. The power of appointing the king is in my hands. I hope that my father-in-law will stay in Quanzhou for a year or two before going to the island. Besides, pepper is a good thing. It can To expel the damp heat accumulated in the body, eat more pepper on the island and grind it into powder and put it in the broth.”

Dugu Ming smiled happily and said, "Really? I'll go to Quanzhou and give it a try."

When the time was almost up, Li Ye took his two wives and said goodbye. Dugu Taiwei said goodbye to his parents with tears in his eyes, and got in the car to return to the Daming Palace with tears in his eyes.

Returning to the imperial study, Li Ye ordered his right minister Wei Jiansu to be found. After a while, Wei Jiansu came in a hurry.

"See Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "In the morning, Dugu Guozhang gave me two suggestions. Wei Xiangguo gave me some suggestions!"

Li Ye told Dugu Ming's two suggestions. Wei Jiansu thought for a moment and asked with a smile: "What are your Majesty's opinions?"

"I think the first one is more pertinent, but the second one is worthy of discussion."

Wei Jiansu leaned forward and said: "The first article of Dugu Guozhang expressed the feelings of the humble ministers. The wealthy families in each county are the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty. It is necessary to strictly abide by the laws and disciplines, but the internal guards cannot rush into them." Home, destroy them.

Your Majesty, any reform is a long process. It must balance the interests of all parties and proceed step by step. It must not be done in a stormy way. That will only cause destruction. The slaves were purchased legally by them and involve everyone. In order to protect the vital interests of the country, Wei Chen believes that instead of attacking the rich and powerful, His Majesty should severely crack down on the slave trade, hang all slave traders, first put an end to the slave trade, and then solve the problem of the slave stock. "

"Is there a way to solve the slave stock?" Li Ye asked.

Wei Jiansu nodded, "You can levy a slave tax. For example, if the government determines that a large household has fifty slaves, and this large household imposes a slave tax of fifty guan every year, it will naturally stop using slaves. The gain outweighs the loss. This is gentle." Much more, to prevent the internal guards from raiding the house and destroying the family. "

Li Ye had calmed down and nodded, "The Prime Minister is right. It is not wise to violently confiscate a house. Levying a slave use tax is a good idea."

"In addition to the reform of local officials, Wei Chen also agreed with Dugu Ming's idea. It is a good way to kill one person as a warning to others. Use the Tang Dynasty's ten-day periodical to publicize it widely and conduct examinations in various places first. We can be more pragmatic. As long as they come to take the examination, we will admit them and then officially Become court officials and be assigned to other counties. Anyone who does not come for the exam will be dismissed. We will directly send new officials. At this time, the internal guards can take action against anyone who dares to cause trouble. In this way, the violence of the internal guards can be reduced to a minimum. , I want to give everyone a chance.”

Li Ye was deeply touched by Wei Jiansu's sincere persuasion. This is the name of prime minister. When the emperor has a wrong idea, the prime minister should not stand firm. Wait until the world calms down before persuading in roundabout ways, and the emperor will realize his mistake.

At this time, Li Ye really realized that expanding the internal guards and dividing them into 1,500 groups was indeed a very dangerous idea. It would inevitably destroy a large number of local wealthy families and destroy his own ruling foundation.

Li Ye nodded, "I will adopt the Prime Minister's suggestion and conduct the civil service examination first, no! First publicize it to let everyone know what is going to be tested, and then conduct the ability test. I will not test the Four Books and Five Classics. I will test how to collect taxes, how How to conduct a population census, how to maintain public security, how to run schools, etc., should be pragmatic and combined with what they usually do, and use specific cases to test their problem-solving abilities. "

"Your Majesty is wise!" Wei Jiansu was also sincerely happy that the emperor was finally persuaded by him.

"What about Dugu Guozhang's second idea? Regarding the establishment of the first level of Taoism."

Wei Jiansu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, this is a big problem. Currently, each Taoist power has three powers, supervision power, transfer power and criminal inspection power. If the power of officials, financial power and administrative power are given again, Wei Chen thinks that it will If the state government is evacuated, it will even lead to the imperial court being evacuated. Wei Chen suggested that the status quo should be maintained and the management power at the official level be handed over to the state government. "

In fact, Li Ye did not agree with the expansion of power at the first level of Dao. Dao was equivalent to a province in later generations. But after all, there were more than a billion people in later generations, while the Tang Dynasty only had tens of millions of people. There were prefectures and counties, provinces, officials, and Sorry, the bureaucracy is too big.

He was even considering abolishing the Dao level. The key was to keep up with the traffic. It would be much easier for the imperial court to govern the states, and there would be no need for the Dao to exist.

And Wei Jiansu is right to say that once the Tao expands its power, it will evacuate the state level, for example, and the imperial court, which is not conducive to the implementation of centralization.

Therefore, he did not intend to adopt Dugu Ming's suggestion.

Li Ye then said: "I would like to ask Wei Xiangguo to preside over the political affairs hall to arrange the propaganda and civil servant examinations. The slave tax must also be introduced as soon as possible."