Li Tai had no choice.

He had to nod his head.

In fact, even if he didn't nod, according to his understanding of Chen Zhengtai, this Chen Zhengtai would definitely start to do it directly in his name.

Chen Zhengtai immediately recruited manpower.

Manpower is readily available, as long as there is money.

Chen Zhengtai can give out this money for the time being.

Lou Shide directly recruited five hundred people, five hundred people is actually not much, especially for a canal like Yangzhou.asxs., such a place...... A large amount of tax is required.

In addition to the tax collectors, it is a group of tax officials who can write and calculate, and the Yangzhou tax camp can be regarded as a sign established.

The place where it was founded was very simple, and no one came to celebrate.

As the deputy envoy of the tax camp, Lou Shide's responsibility is to assist the chief tax officer in the formulation and collection of the tax system.

At the same time, Chen Zhengtai wrote a report in detail about the process of counterinsurgency and some of his own thoughts, and then sent it to Beijing as soon as possible.

A few days later, Li Shimin got the report sent by the fast horse, he took the note, and looked down carefully.

It's that gunpowder again......

Li Shimin suddenly understood something.

The power of gunpowder...... It's so huge that it could even replace a crossbow in the future.

Of course, this is not the most important thing, the important thing is that gunpowder, once people often see it, the power is only to kill, but for many people who have never seen these things before, this is nothing less than an artifact from heaven.

It is entirely conceivable that those rebels heard the roar and were afraid that they would have been frightened a long time ago.

It's just that Li Shimin knows that gunpowder alone is not enough to turn the tide of the war, after all...... The disparity on the battlefield is too great.

After all, it is the result of these soldiers who are willing to use their lives, that Su Dingfang is a talent, and the hussars under him are all people who dare to die, which should not be underestimated.

Li Shimin had to sigh in his heart, it was really the back waves of the Yangtze River pushing the front waves.

Li Shimin felt both relieved and a little touched, when he was on the battlefield, who would have expected that these unknown newcomers who appeared today would be able to drum up the situation?

Chen Zhengtai is this kid...... With a unique vision!

Li Shimin's eyes were immediately attracted by another thing, and his face suddenly became solemn.

Tax......

Taxation is of course the most important, but in Datang, taxes are very rough.

During Li Yuan's reign, what was practiced was the modulation of rent.

That is, for all men, 20 acres of Yongye field and 80 acres of mouth field are granted, and each ding is logically only required to hand over two loads of grain every year. In addition, men are required to serve 20 days of hard labor.

It seems that such a tax system can be described as very generous, and the Tang Dynasty did not ban alcohol, nor did it include salt and iron.

At least theoretically, this tax is extremely generous, and during the Wude period, because of the long-term war, the population was drastically reduced, and there was barren land everywhere, at least ...... This tax system has been in place for some time on the surface, and it has had some effect.

It's just that...... From the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the present, it has been more than ten years, and in these ten years, a whole generation was born, and at this time...... The population of Datang has increased a lot, and the land originally granted has begun to be insufficient.

Of course...... This is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that this theoretically perfect system of granting land soon suffered great damage.

Chen Zhengtai relayed the words of Lou Shide, the former county magistrate of Gaoyou County, that during his time in Gaoyou County, the rent modulation was actually no longer possible.

Because there is a lot of room for operation here, after the population increases, there is no land granted at all for 20 acres of Yongye field and 80 acres of Kou Divided Field, so the number of acres of land began to decrease sharply, and in Gaoyou, only 10 acres of Yongye Field and 30 acres of Kou Divide Field can be divided.

Of course, if there are so many fields, there is no need to worry, at least the people can still make a living by relying on these fields.

However, in the actual operation process, ordinary people would rather commit themselves to a family like the Deng family as slaves than get the land granted by the government.

Because in the course of the execution of the errands, people often find that the land they are allocated is often land that does not grow any crops at all.

There are even quite a few fields, and when they are divided, they may be in the next county.

In this era of underdeveloped transportation, your family lives in Hedong, but you find that your land is in the west of the neighboring county, you set off from early in the morning, catch up with the day's road to reach your field, and when you have to do the crops, you are afraid that the daylily will be cold.

This is not the most pitiful, what is even more pitiful is that the fields granted to you by the government are often scattered, if there are a few acres in the east of the river, a few acres in the west of the river, a few acres in Zhuangtou, and a few acres in Nanqiao, then ...... You will find that these lands are simply uncultivable.

You can't plant the land, because if you continue to plant, you will find that there are not many crops growing on these barren lands, and at the end of the year, there may be no harvest, but the government urges you to pay two loads of grain tax quickly.

Of course, there is quite a basis for these decrees to be made at the beginning, and the decrees in the Wude period are: all those who give land to the mouth will be given from the nearest convenience, and those who have no land in the county will be granted in the nearby county.

Theoretically, according to your household registration, you can give some land that is close to each other, but this is only a theory, and it can still be granted in nearby counties.

So during a period of time in the last years of Wude, the situation in the entire Gaoyou County deteriorated! Many households have sold all the land they can sell in a hurry, but the land that cannot be sold has become a hot potato, because the land belongs to the government, and it is only for you to rent for free, but it will need to be returned to the government in the future.

A large number of people simply began to flee, or they were sheltered by a family like the Deng family and became recluses.

During this period, the family property of the Deng family expanded dramatically, and this involved a provision for the regulation of rents, that is, the prince of the county, the first rank of the wife, the third rank or more of the honorable officer, and the ninth rank or more of the ministry officer, as well as the old, the disabled, the widow, the monks, the tribals, the guest girls, the slaves, etc., all belong to the non-class households.

These people don't have to pay taxes.

You see, on the one hand, there are ordinary people who have to pay taxes, and the land they get is often of poor quality.

On the other hand, people like Deng hardly had to pay any taxes, or even have to bear forced labor, and even if they were tribesmen, guest girls, and slaves in their families, they did not need to pay taxes. In this case, are you willing to commit to the Deng family as a slave, or are you willing to be an ordinary householder?

When this tax was established, it actually seemed very fair, but in fact, in the process of making it, Li Yuan obviously made a huge compromise with the clan, or rather, this tax system itself was customized by the clan.

Now what Chen Zhengtai is proposing is to ask for taxes from all the tribes, guest girls, and slaves, and these three kinds of people are not so much collecting taxes from them, but essentially asking for money from their masters.

Not only that, Chen Zhengtai also asked to change the conscription to taxes, that is, the government no longer requisitioned the people to serve as conscription, but paid some money as taxes.

Li Shimin looked at Song Shu, took a sip of tea, and then couldn't help but say: "This Chen Zhengtai is really bold, he really wants me to lift the knife." ”

Zhang Qian said with a smile on the side: "Your Majesty, only courtiers have always been bad people, and the monarch is good people, where is there such a thing as Chen Zhengtai, you have to let Your Majesty be a bad person." ”

Zhang Qian's words are not wrong.

But Li Shimin glanced at him coldly and said, "The world belongs to my family, can I ignore it?" Is there any good thing in this world that I have taken possession of, but the bad things have been borne by others? Can he Chen Zhengtai afford such an evil thing? ”

Looking at Li Shimin's anger, Zhang Qian's face turned green with fright, he followed Li Shimin for so long, he thought that he had touched Li Shimin's temper, where did he know that His Majesty was so moody.

Li Shimin's face softened a little later, and he said lightly: "Chen Zhengtai only agreed that the new tax law will be implemented in Yangzhou, so it's okay, at least...... For the time being, there will be no extraneous branches, let Chen Zhengtai do it first, in order to see the after-effects. This recital, I agreed. It's just that...... Chen Zhengtai actually wanted to keep Li Tai in Yangzhou, and asked me to mention Lou Shide as the deputy envoy of the tax camp. ”

A small person like Lou Shide, Li Shimin doesn't pay attention to it.

But Li Tai is different, this rebel, Li Shimin gritted his teeth when he mentioned him now, even the eldest grandson queen, as his mother, did not intercede for Li Tai at this time, but said that Li Tai violated the law of the country and should be punished by the criminal department, and the palace did not interfere.

Now Chen Zhengtai asked to keep Li Tai, but Li Shimin hesitated slightly.

After a long while, he bowed his head and said: "Since this is the case, then so be it, go and invite Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui to come to me, yes, there is also the Ministry of Civil Affairs Shangshu Dai Xuan to meet." ”

Zhang Qian hurriedly left, and after a while, Fang Xuanling and the three entered the hall, and Li Shimin invited them to sit down.

Fang Xuanling said: "Since Wude, the population of my Tang Dynasty has increased, the original barren land has been reclaimed, and the field has also increased, but Your Majesty is right, and now, the rich have begun to annex the land, and the taxes borne by the people are increasing day by day, and they have to abandon the land and commit themselves to slavery. ”

"In terms of the increase in taxes of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in recent years, the tax growth in the Wude period was the fastest, but recently, the growth of taxes has been slowing down, which can be seen...... How serious the problem has become. ”

Du Ruhui also bowed his head and seconded the proposal.

Only Dai Xuan couldn't help but be vigilant in his heart, a few days ago, His Majesty was furious, and there was something wrong with the direction of the wind in the court, and now ...... Suddenly, the tax system was mentioned again, isn't it......

Thinking about it, he chuckled in his heart, this Ministry of Civil Affairs Shangshu, it seems that he can't go on, isn't this going to be a big villain?

Li Shimin really took the time to say to them: "I plan to change it, of course, it is not implemented in the whole world, but to order the king of Yue to revise the tax in Yangzhou, and include the tribes, guest girls, and slaves and maids in the collection of taxes, and collect their taxes according to the number of people, in addition to that...... For the time being, the masters of the tribes and slaves and maids can file their own taxes, and then let them verify that if they find any false or false reports, they will be severely punished and their heads will be killed, you see...... How is it? ”

Dai Guan: "......"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were silent, they knew that this was very powerful, but they had a lot of doubts in their hearts, King Yue was convicted a few days ago, why did he ask him to stay in Yangzhou now?

And why did Your Majesty suddenly start with the tax system?

Isn't it......

They all thought of a person......

"Why didn't you say anything?" Li Shimin is smiling, he is like a dangerous old fox, although he is smiling, but behind the smile, there seems to be something hidden?

"Your Majesty." Dai Xuan trembled and said: "Recently, the old disease has recurred, the old minister is old and decrepit, his old eyes are dizzy, and he can't read words, so he wants to write and ask for his resignation ......."

Li Shimin's eyes widened, and he looked at Dai Guan, who was still vigorous, but in an instant, he looked sick, and said, "Do you want to be a scholar?" ”

Dai Xuan said tremblingly: "Minister...... I hope to be able to serve Your Majesty and do my best. Just ......"

Li Shimin said lightly: "Qing is my humerus, you should die in office, I will bury you in my mausoleum to show honor, how can you still be a scholar?" ”

Dai Xuan almost lost his soul when he heard it, and being buried around the emperor's mausoleum was the glory of the courtiers, but he didn't want this glory!

But His Majesty's words are very clear, if you want to jump ship, then go and die.

Li Shimin then continued lightly: "My mausoleum has been built in the second year of Zhenguan, and an acupuncture point has been left for Dai Qing, so Dai Qing doesn't have to lie down in a hurry. ”

Li Shimin said it very easily, but Dai Guan's face turned pale, and he didn't dare to object, but reluctantly pulled out a smile and said: "Your Majesty is so gracious, the ministers are overjoyed." ”

Li Shimin immediately said: "Since everyone has no objections, then let's implement it like this, and order the servants on duty to draft their wills, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs must be attentive here." ”

After that, Li Shimin looked at Fang Xuanling: "Does Fang Qing think I did the right thing?" ”

Fang Xuanling sighed: "Over the years, the taxes of the imperial court have indeed shown signs of decreasing, but when the minister saw that in the exchange, people waved a lot of money to buy stocks, and the minister sometimes couldn't help but wonder, whether the world is poor or rich, Your Majesty wants to be like this, there must be Your Majesty's deep meaning, and the ministers are ordered." ”

Li Shimin looked satisfied, and he stood up: "You do your business wholeheartedly, you don't have to pay attention to the gossip outside, learn more from Chen Zhengtai, do you see that Chen Zhengtai, do you ever care about the affairs of the outside world?" I plan to go to Yangzhou again in October, this time with the Qing family, and you should also go to see the people I have seen, and after seeing them, you will know their situation. ”

After saying this, Li Shimin sighed.

When Fang Xuanling heard this, he couldn't help but be curious.

He also wanted to see what His Majesty had seen with his own eyes, so that His Majesty's mind had changed so much.

But...... Isn't this October the time to pay taxes?

It's just that Dai Xuan is sitting there, absent-minded.

He knew very well what the consequences would be.

This is tantamount to the abolition of the preferential treatment of all the clans by the imperial court.

You know, the tax system of the Tang Dynasty can be traced back to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and it has been implemented like this for so many years, but in the fourth year of Zhenguan, it is gone, although it is now only limited to Yangzhou, but once Yangzhou is done, who knows if it will continue to be promoted?

He, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, could not object to this suggestion, because once he objected, according to His Majesty's warning, he was afraid that he would soon lie down near His Majesty's mausoleum to be buried.

But if he didn't object, and he wasn't allowed to tell his old man and return to his hometown, didn't Li Erlang tie him to the carriage and let him follow a road to the dark?

…………

After writing this chapter, drive home, and start four more chapters tomorrow.