Since Li Zhi decreed the prohibition of lynching, the threshold of Changsun Wuji's home has been almost broken by many visiting officials in the past few days. This time, Li Zhi's order was very sudden, and he had not consulted anyone before, including his minister and uncle.

But the other ministers didn't think so, and they all felt that this matter was something that Changsun Wuji nodded and agreed. Many ministers have expressed concern about this, believing that it will be difficult to control the people's morale in the long run. Some people even spoke fiercely, scolding the eldest grandson Wuji for being a minister who entrusted orphans and failed to live up to the trust of the emperor. For this reason, the eldest grandson Wuji personally went to the palace to meet Li Zhi.

Seeing the eldest grandson Wuji, Li Zhi greeted him happily and said, "Uncle hasn't entered the palace for a long time, and I miss it very much." ”

Li Zhi has been very close to the eldest grandson Wuji since he was a child, and these eldest grandsons Wuji are also dedicated to Li Zhi. It's just that this time, Li's edict was strongly opposed by the major families, including the patriarch of the eldest grandson clan, who also expressed concern to Wuji: if this goes on for a long time, the family's constraints on internal members will be greatly weakened, and there will be no country without a home.

The eldest grandson Wuji smiled bitterly: "The old minister has not added His Majesty at home for a long time, and recently His Majesty has been making a lot of moves, and the old minister is a little overwhelmed." ”

Li Zhi laughed and said: "Uncle Lao Chengmou Guozhen knows, what advice do you have for me today?" ”

The eldest grandson Wuji sighed and said: "Your Majesty's change of the imperial examination has caused a lot of criticism, and now it has clearly ordered that the people are not allowed to use lynching, plus the previous collection of commercial taxes, Your Majesty is going to be the enemy of the world's official eunuchs and scholars?" ”

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Uncle, you are wrong. It's not that I want to be the enemy of the world's official eunuchs, but that the official eunuchs are enemies of me. ”

As he spoke, Li Zhi got up from the stool. Walk over to the wall and pull the curtain open, revealing a huge map. The annotations on this map are simply marked with mountains and rivers, and the dots are all prefectures and counties.

Then Li Zhi took out a stack of account books, opened them and said, "Uncle, do you know the acres, population, and taxes in various places in the early years of Zhenguan? Without waiting for the eldest grandson Wuji to answer, Li Zhi read according to the account book: "In the early years of Zhenguan, there were 17,000 households in Kansai, 50,000 households in Guanzhong, and 30,000 households in Kanto, and the tax was 15 million guan, of which 10 million came from the Western Regions. There are nearly 150,000 households in the Central Plains, Qingji and other places, and the tax is 10 million yuan. Jianghuai, Jingchu, and Shuzhong have a total of 50,000 households, and the tax is 5 million. There are about 300,000 households in the country, and the tax is 30 million yuan. ”

Then Li Zhi continued: "In the third year of Yonghui, there were a total of 150,000 households in the Guanlong area, 160,000 households in the Central Plains and Qingji regions, and 70,000 households in Jianghuai, Jingchu, and Shuzhong, totaling 380,000 households. The distribution of taxes in various regions is: the tax in Guanlong is less than 20 million, of which 11 million comes from the commercial tax of the Western Regions; 10 million in the Central Plains and Qinghai-Hebei regions; Jing Chu six million runs. A total of 37 million guan. ”

Li Zhi finished reading and faced the eldest grandson Wuji and said, "Uncle, do you know what this means?" ”

Eldest Sun Wuji frowned, he didn't think there was anything wrong with this, these numbers were meaningless to him. Since Li Zhi took it out to talk about things, he would naturally have his statement.

The eldest grandson Wuji shook his head and replied truthfully: "The minister can't see anything wrong. ”

Li Zhi said with a smile: "The Guanlong area is close to Jinggi, and the population has increased by sixty percent during this time, Jingchu, Shuzhong, Jianghuai and other places have also increased by forty percent, and the Central Plains Qingji is not even one percent. In terms of taxes, the tax revenue of Guanlong increased by 80 percent, the Central Plains, Qingji increased by 1 percent, and Jianghuai, Jingchu and other places increased by 10 percent. ”

Eldest Sun Wuji finally understood what Li Zhi said at this time, although these eldest grandsons Wuji were not very clear, but he knew the situation in his family.

The servants of the Prime Minister's Mansion have increased from more than 200 to nearly 2,000 now, and in addition to the later additions, the original number of children has expanded from more than 200 to more than 500. The family's annual expenses have also increased from more than 300 yuan in the past to 4,000 yuan now.

Among the magnates in Beijing, the eldest grandson's family is relatively restrained, and many families are much more exaggerated than them. For example, Fang Xuanling's family spends almost tens of thousands of yuan a year.

Even so, the population of Guanlong has still increased by 60%, but the Central Plains and Qingji, which are relatively stable compared to Guanlong, have only increased by less than 10%, which is too much. Although Jingchu, Jianghuai, and Shuzhong also seem to have increased their population by 40 percent, they are more stable areas than the Central Plains and Qingji, and the Guanlong region has moved a lot of people to these places due to lack of food.

From this point of view, the wealthy families have indeed gone too far, but once Li Zhi does this, once these wealthy families rebound, I am afraid that Datang will immediately fall apart.

The eldest grandson Wuji said worriedly: "These gate valve families have indeed gone too far, but freezing three feet is not a day's cold, and Your Majesty is only afraid that it will not last long if you are so persecuted." ”

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Uncle is afraid that these people will unite like a rebellion in the last years of the previous dynasty?" ”

Eldest Sun Wuji sighed and said, "Exactly." ”

Li Zhi said: "Uncle knows that I have been forced to the edge of the cliff by them now? ”

The eldest grandson Wuji frowned and said, "No, at least the country is still stable, and the population and taxes have increased." ”

Li Zhi said: "Uncle, the queen went to southern Fujian to open up trade routes, and she could collect 20 million yuan in taxes a year, which is twice the tax in the Western Regions. These gentry have plundered no less than 20 million yuan in land taxes, and now they still don't know how to restrain them, and now they are extending their hands to southern Fujian. Uncle, how do you let me do it? ”

The eldest grandson Wuji sighed again and said, "What if these gate valve families are forced to be in a hurry? ”

Li Zhi said: "Naturally, I will not wait here for them to rebel. It's just that uncle, you are both a royal family and a prime minister, I don't know if you will help me or these relatives and friends? ”

The eldest grandson Wuji looked at Li Zhi and said helplessly: "The minister was ordered by the emperor to assist His Majesty, and he is an uncle and nephew with His Majesty, so he naturally helps His Majesty stabilize the world in public and private." ”

Li Zhi said with a smile: "Since this is the case, I should rely on my uncle, and then I will parade in Chang'an, and then build a martial arts school to open a martial arts department." ”

Hearing Li Zhi say this, the eldest grandson Wuji suddenly understood that Li Zhi had seen the situation clearly, and he would definitely not let go of the opportunity to weaken the power of the gate valve family.

And now he has the means to target the gate valve family, and he is not afraid of the counterattack of the gate valve family at all, which Li Zhi has done much better than Yang Guang. It's just how he sees it!

In late September, more than 4,000 troops from Guanlong, 3,000 soldiers from Lingnan, 1,000 soldiers from the Qingji garrison, 1,000 soldiers from Jianghuai and 1,000 soldiers from Jingchu, a total of more than 10,000 soldiers gathered in Chang'an.

On the fifth day of October, a grand military parade was held in Chang'an, and what shocked the military parade was the 3,000 soldiers of the Lingnan Jiedu envoys, 2,000 of whom came from the infantry of the Lingnan Jiedu envoys and 1,000 from the naval division. The six foot phalanxes of the Lingnan Army, which appeared at the end, gave people the magnificent momentum of overwhelming mountains and seas, and they even overwhelmed the shock brought by the heavy armored cavalry of Guanlong.

When the Lingnan infantry phalanx passed through the Chengtian Gate in a positive step, the neat leg waves and the sound of consistent footsteps beat on people's hearts like war drums.

The two officers who led the team in front didn't know what they were shouting, and the soldiers in the phalanx shouted in unison. At first, people were only amazed, and after the soldiers shouted several times, it was clear that it was "defend the motherland". The shouts of the officers were still inaudible, but the shouts of the three thousand soldiers in unison could still be heard clearly.

The soldiers kept shouting "defend the motherland" in unison, which made the blood of the people watching from the sidelines boil.

Looking at the six phalanxes rolling forward, I don't know who in the crowd shouted: "Wan Sheng!" Then the crowd echoed in unison: "Wan Sheng! The man shouted again: "Wan Sheng!" This time, there were more people who echoed, and the third time he shouted "Wansheng" at the same time without waiting for this person to lead the crowd, and his voice shook his heart and spleen, and he rushed straight to Xiaohan.

The military parade was suggested by Zhang Wenyi, Li Zhi didn't want to gather soldiers from all over the country, but in the end Zhang Wenyi persuaded him.

The wealthy families in Qingji, Jianghuai, and Jingchu did not want to miss the opportunity to show their strength, but this time the 1,000 soldiers from the three places were all selected elites. When they appeared, they did attract a round of applause from passers-by, but when the Guanlong cavalry passed through the field, especially when a thousand heavily armored cavalry passed through the review stand, the solemn aura exuded by these battle-hardened warriors dwarfed the front of the government army phalanx.

No one expected that the Lingnan infantry that appeared later would be able to overshadow the Guanlong heavy cavalry in terms of momentum. And the noise they caused was higher and higher, pushing the atmosphere of the audience to the highest point.

At this time, the gate valve family suddenly found that this atmosphere had completely provoked the people's recognition of the emperor. Because when Li Zhi later appeared to inspect the parade army, the scene of the people sincerely prostrating themselves and shouting long live is unforgettable.

Hundreds of civil and military officials and wealthy families all know that Li Zhi's reputation has risen to an unprecedented level recently. If you want to disobey his orders, I'm afraid that no one will dare to do it.

When he returned to the harem that night, Li Zhi didn't go anywhere, and came directly to the Qingning Palace, where the queen lived.

Seeing Zhang Wenyi, Li Zhi immediately picked her up. Zhang Wenyi saw Li Zhi's face and knew that the military parade must be a great success, and was about to congratulate Li Zhi, but he was unexpectedly hugged by him, only to scream in shock.

Li Xin and Li Ruyi almost dropped their jaws when they saw their father so excited, but their father was hugging their own mother, and they were still very happy.

Zhang Wenyi slapped Li Zhi and said coquettishly: "Your Majesty, the child is watching." ”

Li Zhi laughed and put Zhang Wenyi down, stretched out his arms and hugged the two children one by one. Over the years, Li Zhi can count the number of times he hugged them on one hand, and today both children are flattered and surprised.

After making out with the children for a while, Li Zhi put them down. Turning to look at Zhang Wenyi, he said with a smile: "You are the best gift from God to me. ”