Li Guanqi looked at everyone and said: "In the past year, there have been too many battles, although they have all been won, but to govern the world well, it is impossible to just fight and kill." These days, I have been tossing and turning, worrying a lot. Now that the Turkic threat has been temporarily eliminated, everyone must devote all their efforts to governing the affairs of the country. Although the Qianwei New Deal has already begun to be implemented, it will take a long time to achieve real results, and as for how to govern the country better at present, I do not have a clear idea, and I still have to listen to the ideas of the audience. ”

Li Guanqi pondered for a while, and then said, "Immediately return to the court." After returning to Beijing, the civil officials and scholars above the third grade in Zhaojing entered the palace of diligence. ”

After returning to Beijing, Li Guanqi first convened a large court meeting and waited for the ministers to disperse. The civil officials of the third grade and above had breakfast in the palace, and they obeyed the order to the Qinzheng Palace.

After the ministers entered the palace for a while, they heard a shout outside the hall: "The emperor has arrived." ”

The ministers hurriedly lined up to greet them, and saw Li Guanqi striding into the hall. As soon as he entered the door, he waved his hand and said, "You don't need to be polite. In the future, it is best to summon the others to discuss matters without being as serious as in the previous dynasty, and it is best to be casual, which is a precedent in the future. ”

Li Guanqi is lively by nature, and he does not like to look dignified and serious when he meets his ministers, so that when the courtiers are doing things, they can't help but be afraid that a bad word will cause thunder and anger, and they are often at a loss for words and actions, and they are full of worries. What he likes is that everyone talks freely, and the scholars know his habits, but the other officials don't know much about it because they don't see them much.

Li Guanqi swept around the hall with his gaze, and said loudly: "Not long after I ascended the throne, there was a rebellion in the two towns in the southwest, and the civil strife had just been quelled, and the Western Turks had raised troops to rebel, so this year. I have always been fighting in the south and in the north. Now it's kind of stabilized temporarily. From today onwards, we must devote all our energy to governing the country. ”

Xu Quan, the deputy privy envoy, said: "Your Majesty is merciful and does not want to raise troops to disturb the people, but the Khitan is ready to move these days. A report came from the border pass, saying that the whole army of Tadu had been completed, and the soldiers were preparing to invade our territory. ”

Li Guanqi shook his head. said: "In the early dynasty, I had already told everyone, so I didn't want to continue to fight with Sharo, just to calm the people.

Tadu is a person, I used to think he was a character, but now it seems that I overestimated him. He is not yet in the climate, so the reckless scholars and Turks come to attack me? Am I really a big deal? Is this kind of short-sighted person worth conscripting?

Xu Quan, your military department will send orders to all provinces. Let them hold on, and don't let the tower invade. In the next few years, I don't want to use swords again. ”

"Obey." Xu Quan agreed and sat down again.

After a pause, Li Guanqi continued: "I asked the Zhongqing family to come here today to discuss matters, and this is one of the reasons. In the past two years, it has been peaceful both inside and outside, although they have been extinguished by me one by one. But it has also caused great harm to the people, and it can be said that the people are withering. The people have no means of making a living.

At present, except for Gyeonggi and Gangnam Province, people in other places have fled and the countryside is barren. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Households, the number of households is now one-fifth less than when I ascended the throne; Compared with Emperor Xiaozong (the third emperor of the Qian, father of Wuzong). It's less than half.

Everything needs to be done, and no one, even if you have a good idea, you can't do it. The population of our dynasty was at its peak when Emperor Xiaozong was in power, and after nearly 40 years of recuperation and recuperation of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xiaozong, the population of our dynasty was once as high as 60 million. Then. All industries are thriving, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.

Although the subsequent Emperor Wuzong was not a meritorious achievement, it also exhausted the accumulation of two generations, and the population plummeted to 40 million.

During the lifetime of Emperor Muzong, there were many natural disasters, restless borders, and the population fell again, until when I ascended the throne, there were only 33 million people left. After two battles, more than 6 million people were lost. I can't go on like this. ”

Li Guanqi talked eloquently, but the ministers were not easy to speak out, and they did not dare to speak out. Li Guanqi is commenting on the emperors of the past dynasties, you are the emperor, you can say, who dares to be the son of a courtier? It's not okay to go along with it, and it's not okay to oppose it, so everyone can only pretend to be dumb.

In fact, Li Guanqi did not intend to let everyone speak for the time being, and it was difficult for these ministers to see through these issues, because the hierarchical concept of the feudal dynasty and the vanity that everyone had, limited their thinking.

There were five emperors before Li Guanqi, in addition to the founding Taizu and Taizong, the remaining three emperors were the most famous is Li Guanqi's grandfather Emperor Wuzong, this Wuzong is also the most praised, and his prestige even exceeds that of Taizu and Taizong, for no other reason, it is because he gave the Great Qianchao a long face. During his reign of 20 years, Wuzong fought countless battles with neighboring countries, and once defeated the Eastern and Western Turks to half-crippled, which can be described as a martial art.

But what about the facts? The common people are not very good for Emperor Wuzong, except for those who have been on the battlefield with Emperor Wuzong, other people are even scolding Emperor Wuzong for being a defeated emperor behind their backs, Taizong and Xiaozong's forty years of savings were lost by him in less than twenty years, and a lot of famine was pulled down by the way.

In addition, Emperor Wuzong did not choose a good heir, and then Mu Zong reigned for twenty-five years, but he has always been inactive, which makes the life of the common people even more difficult.

Li Guanqi once used the Intelligence Department to investigate, the people miss Emperor Xiaozong the most, and in fact, few people are from the Xiaozong Dynasty now, they all heard from their parents or ancestors, but this shows more that the prosperity of the great cadres and the good life of the people during the Xiaozong Dynasty.

However, Emperor Xiaozong is not perfect, although this emperor is an expert in economic construction, but he is lackluster in military affairs, and can even be said to be incompetent, resulting in no victory in foreign wars, and countless reparations, but fortunately, he will indeed make money, and he is not very distressed to spend money. But after all, it is a nest, and this is probably an important reason why Wu Zong went around to conquer after he ascended the throne.

In short, Xiaozong and Wuzong are both capable people who are not born in the world, but the bias is a bit serious, so Daqian has never really made the country rich and the people strong.

According to the law of conservation of energy, after 25 years of Emperor Muzong's lack of achievements, it is time for Li Guanqi to make a big difference. In the previous year, Li Guanqi had proved his talent in military affairs, so that others did not dare to underestimate him, and won a period of peaceful development. In layman's terms, he is going to start making money, and he is making a lot of money. (To be continued......)