Hundreds of officials gathered in the Taiji Palace. The annual end-of-year court meeting was held as scheduled.
In previous years, the imperial court meeting at the end of the year was always a harmonious scene. Hundreds of officials would report the great achievements of the past year, and Li Shimin would wantonly reward the civil and military officials of the imperial court. The sovereign and his ministers were harmonious.
However, the atmosphere of this year's court meeting was strange. Even if the officials reported the unprecedented achievements of the Tang dynasty since its founding, it still couldn't hide the strange atmosphere.
"The Tang dynasty's army went on an expedition, and Fu Yun fled at the sight of it. Now, the Tang dynasty's border problem has been eradicated, and the whole world is convinced …" Hou Junji, the Minister of War, said loudly.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Shimin nodded.
As soon as Hou Junji left, Dai Zhou, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said, "Your Majesty, the Tang dynasty's tax has reached a new high this year. The business tax has soared by 60%. Although Your Majesty reduced the land tax of several prefectures due to the flood in Shandong, it is still the same as in previous years."
After Dai Zhou finished speaking, Li Shimin couldn't help but feel happy. The flood in Shandong affected a large area and caused heavy losses. Now that production in Shandong had resumed, the land tax next year would definitely be higher.
As for the sudden increase in business tax, it was a pleasant surprise for him. He couldn't help but look at Meton, who was sitting in the corner of the military officials. The Mo Family's contribution could be said to be the greatest.
Then, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice reported one by one. When the Ministry of Works reported the last one, Meton immediately became more interested.
Since Duan Lun resigned, the position of the Minister of Works had been undecided. Recently, the Ministry of Works finally appointed a new Minister. This person was no stranger. Meton had met him several times, and he was the Duke of Yun, Zhang Liang, who had personally painted his portrait in the Lingyan Pavilion.
It was worth mentioning that Zhang Liang was born in Xingyang, and he was a fellow villager of the Zheng family in Xingyang. This made Meton pay more attention to him.
Zhang Liang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Yellow River's dike has been repaired and reinforced. The flood in Shandong will not happen again."
Li Shimin nodded solemnly and said, "The Yellow River has been a disaster for a long time. Minister Zhang, you can't be careless. Set up more flood discharge areas on both sides of the Yellow River in case of accidents. You can't let your guard down."
"Understood!" Zhang Liang bowed to accept the order and continued, "In addition, the construction of the brick road has also made good progress. The brick road between Luoyang and Bianzhou (Kaifeng) has been built. The brick road with Xingyang (Zhengzhou) as the middle point has reached the south bank of the Yellow River and the north bank of the Yangtze River respectively. The goods between the two lakes only need to cross the Yangtze River and can reach Chang 'an in five days. Compared with the past, the time has been shortened by more than half."
In this era, Jiangzhe was the center of the imperial court's money and grain. The Grand Canal came into being because of this. However, the money and grain between the two lakes were also the most important. In the past, they mostly went down the Yangtze River and went to Chang 'an through the Grand Canal.
Now, the brick road was directly built from Xingyang to Hankou, an important town on the north bank of the Yangtze River. The world's structure suddenly changed. It was conceivable that in the future, Hankou would become an important town no less than Yangzhou, not to mention the promotion of the brick road on both sides. Xingyang and Hankou had always been the center of the Central Plains, the heartland of the Tang dynasty.
All the ministers couldn't help but be silent. The brick road was built according to Meton's plan of three horizontal and five vertical lines. Now it was just a small test, but it had such a remarkable result. It could be imagined how prosperous it would be once it was completed. Of course, the huge cost of building the brick road was also distressing.
Li Shimin couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. It was all that prodigal Meton's fault. Now, even the imperial court was so prodigal. However, he now understood Meton's behavior very well. Compared to the future benefits, the cost of building the brick road was nothing.
The Minister of Personnel, Gao Shilian, was quite proud. After all, the plan of three horizontal and five vertical lines was jointly submitted by him and Mo Jiazi. His contribution was not small.
After the report of the three provinces and six departments, Li Shimin rewarded them according to their merits. However, he didn't mention the matter of dividing the family's property equally.
Seeing that the end of the year court meeting was coming to an end, the officials of the Guanlong family couldn't help but feel anxious. If they couldn't persuade Li Shimin to withdraw the order, they were afraid that no family would have a good New Year this year.
Under the signal of the Guanlong family, Linghu Defen helplessly stepped out again and said, "Replying to Your Majesty, there are many rumors in the streets. Your Majesty is preparing to reinstate the Chastity Law and let the various scholars divide the family's property equally. Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly!"
Suddenly, all the officials couldn't help but fall silent. The atmosphere became tense again.
Li Shimin frowned and said with an innocent face, "Is there such a thing? Where did this rumor come from? "
The Guanlong family was dumbfounded. They didn't think that Li Shimin would act shamelessly and refuse to answer.
"Replying to Your Majesty, in the opinion of the Minister, this rumor must have come from Duke Ying's residence. The newly appointed Duke Ying, Wu Yuanqing, had just inherited the title of Duke Ying, but he actually chased his stepmother out of his residence and seized the family's property alone. Your Majesty has reprimanded him, so I think this rumor must have come from there." Fang Xuanling cooperated.
"Is there such a thing? This is simply preposterous. Wu Yuanqing is unfilial to his stepmother. He is simply impolite to the extreme! Your Majesty, please punish him severely. "Wei Zheng abhorred evil as if it were his personal enemy.
"Lord Wei, you're wrong. Wu Yuanqing is the eldest son of the first wife of the Wu Family. He should have inherited the title and the family's wealth. Besides, didn't Wu Yuanqing prepare dowries for the second and youngest daughters of the Wu Family? It's enough for Madam Yang to live. Chancellor Mo saw it with his own eyes. I believe he knows better than anyone else." Although Linghu Defen despised the Wu Brothers' conduct, he had no choice but to defend them.
When Meton heard this, he naturally knew that he couldn't avoid it. He could only step forward and say, "Replying to Your Majesty, on that day, the Minister saw the second daughter of the Wu Family arguing for what was right and angrily reprimanded her two brothers. Seeing this, the Wu Brothers took out the property left by Duke Ying for the Yang Family's mother and daughter."
Li Shimin cooperated and said, "In that case, if you hadn't taken in a disciple, Wu Yuanqing probably wouldn't have taken out the property that the Yang Family deserved?"
"The Minister doesn't know about this. However, the Wu Brothers didn't take out the property back then!" Meton said seriously.
Immediately, the court was in an uproar and whispered. One could imagine how miserable the Yang Family's mother and daughter would be if they were chased out of the family without any property.
"The matter of property is both a family matter and a national matter. If every family breaks apart because of property, brothers will look at each other and their etiquette will collapse. If the family is not harmonious, how can they govern the country?" Li Shimin said with a hidden meaning.
However, the court was silent. No one said anything. They all resisted with silence.
"Your Majesty is right! There are many cases in the Ministry of Justice where brothers turned against each other because of the unfair distribution of property. It is a tragedy! "Li Daozong, the Minister of Justice, said. He was a member of the imperial family and naturally had to stand on Li Shimin's side.
"How do you arrange your children and grandchildren?" Li Shimin couldn't help but be curious. Now that most of the ministers were old, Li Shimin's question was not rude.
Fang Xuanling took the lead and said, "The Old Man doesn't want his children to be rich and noble. He only wants a peaceful life. As for property, the Old Man is going to give each of them a share. If there is any surplus, the Old Man is going to donate it after a hundred years. Helping some people who are suffering can be regarded as good deeds."
"Official Fang is indeed fair!" Li Shimin praised from the bottom of his heart.
"Children and grandchildren are only blessed by the Old Man! After a hundred years, the Old Man won't care so much. "Fang Xuanling said happily.
Many aristocratic family officials suddenly cursed in their hearts. Fang Xuanling's four sons were all legitimate sons. Naturally, they were happy to share equally. However, they had a lot of wives and concubines. If they really did share equally, they were afraid that the legitimate sons and wives would immediately make trouble. If they didn't agree to share equally, they were afraid that many concubines and illegitimate sons would cry in front of them all day long.
"Your Majesty, the eldest son inheritance system has been a tradition of Huaxia for thousands of years. It has been implemented for generations to make the society stable and harmonious. If it is changed rashly, I'm afraid it will cause social unrest!" Linghu Desheng remonstrated.
Fang Xuanling retorted, "It is indeed conducive to stability, but harmony among brothers is probably just a delusion. The legitimate sons inherit most of the property, while the illegitimate sons can only fill their stomachs. How can there be no complaints in their hearts?"
The ministers couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Almost all of the ministers present were beneficiaries of the eldest son inheritance system. They directly enjoyed the benefits of the legitimate sons. They didn't think about the feelings of illegitimate sons. Today, their hypocritical masks were directly exposed.
"In this way, it is indeed quite unfair!" Wei Zheng sighed and nodded.
The ministers couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Moreover, as fathers, how could they not want their illegitimate sons to live a rich life? After all, only a few aristocratic families were wholeheartedly thinking about the revitalization of the family.
"Your Majesty, in addition to the property, there are some inseparable things, such as titles, houses, and inheritance. I don't know how to share them." Linghu Desheng said seriously.
After Linghu Desheng finished asking, the audience suddenly fell silent. The property could be divided, but if titles also had to be divided like the Order of Pushing Grace, it was afraid that in a few generations, the Tang dynasty would no longer have any noble families. This was what the aristocratic families were afraid of.
"The equal division of the property is for fairness. However, titles and inheritance cannot be divided. Naturally, they will be inherited by the eldest son," Li Shimin said without hesitation.
His purpose of pushing the Order of Pushing Grace twice was to divide the aristocratic families. Without the support of huge financial resources, the aristocratic families would be no threat to the imperial court. Once the titles were touched, it would affect the interests of all the nobles. Even Li Shimin had to think twice about the consequences. Moreover, an empty title was just an empty title. The real power in the Tang dynasty was still the official position.
Meton sighed when he heard this. He naturally knew that this was the most suitable result.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Linghu Desheng bowed and said. Being able to keep the titles, he could be considered to have an explanation for the Guanlong family.
The ministers in the imperial court accepted the order. After all, the benefits should not be allowed to flow into the fields of others. They were all given to their own sons. Moreover, the eldest son had the right to inherit the titles. It was a great advantage in itself.
In this situation where everyone was happy, everyone knew that after a few generations, the huge aristocratic families would gradually be divided into a series of small and medium-sized aristocratic families. They would no longer have the power of five surnames and seven nobles.
As the ministers bowed their heads, the Second Order of Pushing Grace was officially established.
The Year-end Imperial Court Meeting of the eighth year of Zhenguan ended.
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