Tibet

Li Heng took two steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "What benefits does the general think I can get in exchange for this?"

Li Fuguo bowed and said: "I believe that your Majesty's top priority is to bring back the coffin of the Supreme Emperor. Your Majesty's throne will be completely stable and your Majesty's filial piety will be fulfilled, so this is the most important thing at hand."

After all, eunuchs understand the emperor's thoughts best. Li Heng sighed. This was indeed his greatest heartache.

Li Fuguo observed his words and knew that the emperor was moved by his words, so he continued: "There are also the remaining six treasures of the jade seal, which must be in Li Ye's hands now, and your majesty can also use them as an exchange."

Li Heng couldn't refuse, this was what he wanted most.

Next to him, Cheng Yuanzhen added in time: "The old slave believes that this is actually an opportunity to test Li Ye. Any ambitious person will take the jade seal as his own. If Li Ye can return the jade seal to His Majesty, it will be enough to prove that he is not I have no intention of getting involved in the throne."

Li Heng nodded happily, "This condition is good, are there any more?"

Li Fuguo thought for a while and then said: "There are two more points, but they are not as important as the above two points."

"You might as well tell me!"

"Your Majesty, if the Fourteenth Lang has not been executed yet, you can ask Li Ye to send them to Chang'an for trial. However, I estimate that Li Ye will also send Li Lin. After all, he used this excuse to send troops."

Li Lin and Li Heng are brothers. Li Lin was raised by Li Heng. They are called brothers, but they actually have the same love as father and son. This third condition also touches Li Heng's heart.

"Yes, I completely agree!"

"Then I heard that your majesty has obtained the paintings and calligraphy of Fang Lin Pavilion, but what about the other treasures of the Supreme Emperor? I remember that there were more than 300 boxes packed at that time, and there were more than 2,600 boxes sent to Bashu in advance. There were almost three There are thousands of large boxes. This is a treasure passed down by the emperors of the Tang Dynasty. How can Li Ye take it as his own? He can keep part of it, but at least most of it should be returned to the palace."

The treasures of the Tang Palace were not only accumulated by the Tang Dynasty, but most importantly, they inherited the treasures of the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty unified the world and included almost all the treasures in the world into the palace, at least millions of pieces.

If half of the emperors of the past dynasties were buried with them, there are at least hundreds of thousands of treasures left.

Li Ye only sent a little bit to Jiangnan for auction, and exchanged a large amount of copper coins for military expenses. The value of their wealth can be imagined.

At present, hundreds of thousands of treasures have been lost, 60% of which were sent to Bashu in advance by Li Longji. His favorite treasures have more than 300 boxes, which have always been with him, and are now in Li Ye's hands.

The other 40% of the treasures could not be taken away and fell into the hands of An Lushan. However, after Luoyang was finally conquered, most of them fell into the hands of Li Ye, and a small part of Youzhou fell into the hands of Li Huaixian.

In addition, some treasures were obtained by the rebel generals and scattered throughout the country.

Speaking of treasures, Li Heng was quite tempted. He nodded and said, "You can mention it to them."

The next day, the negotiations continued. As expected, there was a stalemate between the two parties over the ownership of financial rights. The political hall refused to give up its tax-setting and transshipment rights no matter what. Both parties were not stupid. They knew that the rules and money were in hand. important.

In terms of property division, the two sides reached an agreement very quickly. The official land belonged to the local government, and the military land belonged to Jiannan Jiedu Mansion. The court had no involvement. Mines, forests, etc., all belonged to Jiannan Jiedu Mansion. The Tang Dynasty had a vast territory. , the court does not care about this mine.

The two parties with criminal law also reached an agreement. In compliance with the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the power to review the death penalty belongs to the court under normal circumstances. However, the Guanlong Department of Justice has established an inspection and sentencing system in Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road, and has the right to review any case. For cases that are referred to the criminal officer for review by the inspection team, the final review power belongs to the Long Department of Justice.

After three full days of talks, basically all aspects were agreed upon, except for the taxation rights and transshipment rights of financial rights. Both parties refused to make concessions and reached a stalemate.

That evening, Dugu Lie came to visit Pei Zunqing again.

Pei Zunqing is over seventy years old, but his mind is clear and he is still as strong as ever. More than twenty years ago, his second daughter died of illness just two years after marrying Dugu Lie.

Pei Zunqing believes that the Dugu family failed to take good care of their daughter, which is why she died of puerperal fever. Generally, this is a disease only suffered by poor families. Rich families take good care of their daughter, so where can you get puerperal fever?

Therefore, Pei Zunqing was very resentful about this and severed ties with the Dugu family, not having any contact with each other for more than 20 years.

But after all, his daughter left a granddaughter, and this granddaughter actually became Princess Qi, so Pei Zunqing's mentality had some subtle changes.

Pei Zunqing politely asked Dugu Lie to sit down in the guest room, shook his head and said, "I can't agree to your request, which betrays the interests of the imperial court."

Dugu Lie pondered for a moment and said: "What the old prime minister said is wrong. Am I, Dugu Lie, the one who betrayed the interests of the court? Didn't the old prime minister think about why the King of Qi insisted that he decide taxes? Because he had the people in his heart.

I can give you an example. Originally, the field tax in Helong was 20 taxes per 1, but after the government monopoly on salt was implemented, the field tax was reduced to 30 taxes per 1, and the household tax was also reduced by half. Why should the tax be reduced?

Because after the salt monopoly, the government's salt tax increased, but the burden on the people increased, so it was necessary to reduce the burden on the people in another way.

And Fifth Qi is already preparing to cast the Qianyuan Chongbao! I heard that it is ten to one. Will the King of Qi allow this kind of plundering of people's wealth in Bashu? "

Pei Zunqing said for a long time: "There is no way to cast the Qianyuan treasure. The imperial government's finances are really in trouble. They can't even pay the officials' salaries. To support an army of 250,000, it takes more than one million yuan a month. The burden is too much." Heavy."

"Then how can the King of Qi afford it? The number of Helong troops has exceeded 300,000, and the military salary for a month is only 600,000 guan. How can it be done?"

Pei Zunqing became a little interested, "This is strange, how did you do it?"

"The salary of each first-class soldier in the Helong Army is five guans, and the salary is increased by 50% during wartime, but in fact only half of the money is given, and the other half is given to land. Calculated based on three guans per acre, that is, one Helong The annual military salary of a first-class soldier is thirty guan and ten acres of fertile land, which is paid in one lump sum when he retires.

So far, tens of thousands of soldiers have retired, and every soldier has received it. If a soldier is disabled and retires, the land will be doubled. If unfortunately he is killed in battle, the land accumulated by the soldier will be doubled and given to his family. Therefore, Helong soldiers fight very bravely. Here's why. "

Pei Zunqing praised: "It is indeed rare for the King of Qi to keep his word and promise. No wonder the soldiers are loyal to him!"

Dugulie smiled lightly and said: "The Helong Army distributes military salary once every three months. It does not issue money, but a voucher. The soldiers use this voucher to go to Baoji Cabinet to withdraw copper coins. Many soldiers directly deposit the money in Baoji." When you use it, you can withdraw it all in one go. In this way, Helongjun will not have to bear so many copper coins, part of it will be mortgaged with gold and silver, and part of it will be used as money owed to Baoji Ark Factory."

Pei Zunqing nodded, "I understand what you mean. In fact, the Guanlong nobles lent money to the King of Qi to support the Helong army in this way."

"It's absolutely true, but I support not the King of Qi, but the ZTE of the Tang Dynasty. All of us believe that the Tang Dynasty will definitely be reunified under the hands of the King of Qi, leading to the prosperous era of ZTE, and the eunuch's dictatorship will also be eliminated by the King of Qi. Old Xiangguo, think about it! Do you support the current imperial court, or do you support the rise of the Tang Dynasty?"

Dugu Lie stood up and walked away, while Pei Zunqing fell into deep contemplation.