Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 149 The City is Full of Traitors

Li Ming: "Jun Ji, are you sure that Zhang San is a hopeless waste, and no one would be able to find him even if he was thrown in the middle of the lobby of the state government?"

Hou Junji: "Yes, Zhang San ranked last in the Mingjing exam in the fourth year of Zhenguan, and has been hovering around the D grade in the previous years. He has a weak character, similar to Liu Xin."

Li Ming: "Well, this Zhang Shijun is very talented. He can serve as the deputy governor of Pingzhou and assist Wei Daijia in governing Pingzhou!"

Wei Daijia: "Your Highness, I think this Li Si is more suitable to assist me. He failed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Zhenguan, and became an official with the help of his family. He was rated as a low-ranking official, and his salary was deducted every year. But his family is rich, so he just muddles along."

Li Ming: "Oh, great! This is exactly the talent I've always dreamed of! Invite him to Pingzhou quickly. It doesn't matter if he doesn't come. I can bring him in from afar!"

In the council hall, Li Ming and his loyal right-hand men select "capable soldiers and generals" for the government offices of the two Liaodong states according to the annual performance appraisal results of officials by the Ministry of Personnel.

Well, they checked the assessment form backwards.

When D and others started, A, B and C didn't even look at them.

Ding rank high? Without special talents, such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy, in principle, we will not hire you. Ding rank medium? You are a talent. Ding rank low? Oh, my dear, please take your seat quickly!
Isn't it that the scheming Emperor is unwilling to completely let go of Liaodong's personnel affairs and insists on selecting local officials in Liaodong from the bureaucratic system, leaving only the right to make recommendations to Li Ming?

Okay, no problem!
Li Ming decided to fight poison with poison, so he filled the entire government office with useless garbage!

Anyway, these officials are just figureheads, pacifiers to soothe Your Majesty so that he won’t become suspicious.

If we accidentally attract officials with slightly higher IQs and let them figure out the trick, then it will be a bit difficult to deal with.

Because in Li Ming's framework of "putting new wine in old bottles", those who actually governed Liaodong were not these "mainstream" officials.

But he was a "low-ranking" clerk.

The group of clerks is easily overlooked in official history, but they played a very important role in ancient society.

Tax collection, household registration, funerals, public security, conscription... most of the affairs that ordinary people need to deal with with the government in their lives are actually handled by clerks.

It is not easy for an ordinary commoner to meet a real official, even if he is a ninth-rank official.

In the Tang Dynasty, on average, every official had twenty to thirty clerks.

This grassroots civil service group, like the capillaries of the empire, undertakes the most basic and tedious tasks of communicating information up and down.

Clerks control the most basic administrative resources, but their social status is very low. They are not considered officials and cannot become officials.

Even the finance department does not directly include their salary budget.

Instead, this salary was distributed uniformly to local officials, who were then allowed to hire people according to their own needs.

So, in theory, the employer of the clerks was not the state, but these officials.

This provided Li Ming and his team with room to exploit loopholes.

He packed up the entire "Political Committee" and its subordinate branches at all levels and replaced the entire Pingzhou clerk system.

Anyway, the previous group of officials and clerks were almost all burned out by Murong Yan's fire, leaving a vacancy.

Li Ming's plan was to use "clerks" to completely marginalize the officials sent by the court from bottom to top.

On the surface, these petty clerks are good lackeys of the emperor and the government officials.

In fact, each of them is an underground party member with special skills, and they can feel how many stones and grasses there are in Yanshan Mountain with their eyes closed.

They abide by the internal systems of the "Political Committee", receive salaries from the organization, and their internal promotions are also in accordance with the organization's rules and regulations.

We must uniformly follow the highest instructions of the Chairman of the Political Committee and obey the leadership of Commissioner Wei Daijia in daily work.

On the other hand, in the official provincial government system, Wei Daijia was the governor of two states, adding an extra layer of insurance to this system of replacing someone with someone else.

Above Wei Daijia, there is Li Ming, the Liaodong Jiedushi, as the ultimate backup.

If some idiot in the government office suddenly came to his senses and realized that he was just a useless person, Li Jiedu would remind him that "the military garrison has its own special circumstances", give him an extra level in his annual assessment, and kick him out of Liaodong.

As for the military aspect, Sima Hou Junji of the Song Palace will serve as the insurance.

The military system designed by Li Ming was similar to the civil service system, using grassroots Red Turban Army soldiers to undermine the regular Tang army, but there were also some differences.

Zhang Jian of the Yingzhou Military Governor's Office and the original Yingzhou army cannot be touched.

It all depends on how powerful little brother Xue Rengui is and how many grassroots soldiers he can win over and influence.

Well, as a poor scholar who started from scratch, Xue Rengui highly agrees with Li Ming's narrative, so there should be no problem.

As for Li Ming's proposal to build a new Pingzhou Military Governor's Office, its purpose was not just to show loyalty to Li Shimin.

It is also to obtain establishment.

It's not about personnel establishment, because it's impossible for Li Shimin to integrate the former Red Scarf Bandits into his military system as a whole.

It's not like Song Huizong recruited the Liangshan heroes to fight Fang La, Li Er disdained to use this trick -

What Li Ming wanted to gain by establishing the Pingzhou Military Governor's Office was the compilation of armor.

The Red Turban Army could continue to exist in the form of a "village militia", with regular training, payment of military pay, and the ability to wield guns and sticks.

The local villagers actively guarded the border, and the imperial court not only did not interfere, but also provided all support except assistance to encourage them.

As long as the court doesn't have to pay, everything will be fine.

Human problems are easy to solve, but the armor is difficult.

This thing is like Brother Wei. If someone sees you touching it, it may easily cause misunderstandings that may lead to your social or biological death.

It was easier to deal with during the war, but now that we have made peace with Goguryeo, these contraband items must be handed over.

The Pingzhou Military Governor's Office that Li Ming planned to establish was the best place to store these armors.

Once the war breaks out, the warehouses are opened and the armor is stored. There is basically no difference between storing it in the governor's office and storing it in your own home.

Don’t think that the command power of the Governor’s Office is in the hands of the emperor.

As long as this place is located in Pingzhou, it will definitely be under the actual control of Li Ming.

Because Pingzhou is too far away, the government soldiers were unwilling to travel all the way here.

In the end, Li Shimin still had to recruit soldiers locally to fill this military governor's office.

As long as they recruited locally in Pingzhou, the court would have no say on what background the "Tang Army" would have.

"Have Changsun Yan and others revised the provisions of the law?" Li Ming asked.

"It's still being revised next door." Wei Daijia and Hou Junji didn't even raise their heads, carefully studying the long list of officials and their resumes.

Li Ming jumped off the chair: "I'll go take a look."

In the study room next to the council hall, the three kids, together with officials from various villages and towns in Pingzhou, studied the mountain-like laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty.

"Can we change our laws to 'look like' the Zhenguan Code and its subsidiary laws?" Li Ming asked.

Chang Sunyan's hair fell out as he looked at the densely packed articles, saying:

"I am changing it. I am changing it."

The others simply ignored this top leader and focused on finding loopholes in Tang Law.

Li Ming felt relieved to see that everyone was so active in skirting the law.

Li Ming thought it was correct to follow the Tang laws during the Tang Dynasty, except in Liaodong.

First of all, the dregs such as the system of good and bad classes were abolished as soon as possible.

Of course, the people of Pingzhou did not react much to this.

Because we are all Murong Yan's slaves, it makes no difference whether you are a good citizen or a lowly citizen.

Li Ming also abolished the equal-field system and the rent-and-labor system based on it. Instead, he implemented a system that was a mixture of state-owned farms and contract responsibility systems in accordance with local conditions.

The ownership of the land is in the hands of the committee, and the right to use is distributed to farmers. The trading of the right to use is restricted but not completely restricted, and limited transfer of the right to use is allowed within the upper and lower limits that ensure survival.

In addition, a minimum living standard guarantee is implemented, and basic food rations are provided to households in need, etc.

Compared with small farmers who are responsible for their own profits and losses, farmers in Pingzhou are more like farm workers who receive compensation based on a proportion of the harvest.

Of course, the imperial court would not be interested in this kind of improvement in the land distribution method.

Because in the capital area under the emperor's nose, the equal-field system was already in name only, and the fertile land in Guanzhong was divided up by the aristocratic families.

The common people had long been unable to get the "80 mu of land per person and 20 mu of permanent land" that was stipulated in the "Equal Field System".

Therefore, Li Ming could just use the name of "equal field system" to sell dog meat of "production brigade".

The key is taxation.

The profit-sharing system of "30% of the land harvest belongs to the public" which is similar to the land tax system, should be aligned with the rent, labor service and tax levied based on household registration.

It’s actually not complicated if you think about it.

Isn't it enough for our officials to convert the land tax into RMB according to the standard of rent, labor service and tax and deposit it into the treasury?

There are two piles of millet here. Can you tell me, which one is for rent and labor service, and which one is for the land tax?

As for how the collected taxes are used, the right of control is firmly in Li Ming's hands.

The Jiedushi, the Inspector, the Sima, as well as the Granary Officer and the Treasurer...all of them are my people. How can you, a low-ranking official like you, fight against me?
To put it bluntly, as long as we grasp the "people", other institutional issues are trivial.

In Liaodong, the smartest and most capable officials were used to deal with the dumbest and most incompetent officials.

It’s clear who loses and who wins.

"Alas, it's been more than a hundred days since Governor Liu Xin was away. I miss him." Li Ming suddenly had an epiphany.

After he had other ideas, he suddenly realized that Liu Xin, a hands-off manager, was a treasure trove of governors.

After being sidelined by local tyrants for more than ten years, this guy can now act like nothing happened and just eat and sleep.

She is simply the traitor’s dream lover.

"Hiss, speaking of Liu Xin..."

Li Ming suddenly thought of someone.

It seems that someone has also played a more low-level "stealing" trick to seize the military and political power of Pingzhou...

It was that person who caused this big mess in Liaodong, drove Li Ming into the mountains, and finally established this complete and independent governance system...

"Speaking of which, why do we have to stay in the mountains?"

With this association, Li Ming suddenly broke out of his habitual thinking and discovered the highlight.

…………

Lulong County.

The streets were empty, without even a ghost in sight.

Houses collapsed, burnt marks were seen everywhere, the ground was in a mess, and there were few intact houses in the whole county.

When the Goguryeo people first came, they looted for three days. When they were about to withdraw, they set fire to the county, and the entire county was almost destroyed. As for the county residents, most of them had already hidden in the mountains and joined Li Ming.

Most of those who stayed were landlords who were afraid of Li Ming, people with small properties who had been bewitched, and relatives of Murong Yan.

After experiencing the catastrophe of the Goguryeo people, some died and some escaped.

The same thing happened in Linyu County.

The two counties under the jurisdiction of Pingzhou have become veritable ghost towns.

Lulong County, underground in a mansion.

Murong Yan built a mausoleum for herself here and hid underground all day long, living in constant fear.

His exaggerated mansion in the suburbs of Lulong County had long been captured by the Red Turban Army.

Under the protection of her diehard servants, Murong Yan was driven back to Lulong County, and from then on she stayed in the underground palace and dared not come out.

He doesn't even worship Buddha anymore. What's the use of Buddha if he doesn't bless him?

It is better to save some energy to please the Goguryeo people.

"Damn it! Why are the Goguryeo people so slow? It's been several months and we still haven't wiped out that group of bandits!"

Murong Yan and her family were eating lunch, chewing rice mixed with millet.

“I opened the city gates for them, gave them weapons and armor, and let them plunder the county.

"Why did the troops suddenly move away without even saying anything?
"According to this progress, when can I take back my mansion?"

He knew that the Goguryeo army had left Lulong County.

But he didn't dare to ask why he left.

He was afraid that this was Goguryeo's military secret and that if he spoke too much, the nobles would be angry.

At this moment, a servant came in and reported:
"Lord."

"You disguised yourself and went out of the county. Did you find out any news? Is my house okay?" Murong Yan chewed rice mixed with millet angrily, and her mouth was almost dry with salt.

He didn't want to stay underground for a moment.

"The master's house is fine. But..."

The servant trembled as he considered his words:

“It’s just that the bandits distributed the land to the farmers, and all kinds of iron tools and forges were used by the bandits.

"The courtyards were dug up and used to grow vegetables, and the houses were distributed to nearby farmers and craftsmen."

Murong Yan felt a pain in her flesh.

It's true that wild boars can't eat fine bran. After being tortured by that group of untouchables, how much money will it cost for him to repair it?

Hell, he doesn’t even have to spend any money.

After the Goguryeo people drove away all the bandits, he captured all these untouchables and ordered them to restore every blade of grass and tree that had been destroyed. If a hair was missing, he would cut off a finger!
Looking at the nervous servant, Murong Yan waved her hand lightly:

"As long as Goguryeo launches an attack, everything will be fine."

"My Lord, the Goguryeo people..." The servant's throat was dry and he swallowed hard:
"The Goguryeo people withdrew from Pingzhou, the Red Turban Army assassinated the Goguryeo king, and the new king made peace with the Red Turban Army leader Li Ming."

Murong Yan was struck by lightning. She sat in her seat in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.

After a long while, he put down his chopsticks tremblingly and said:
"Everyone else, get out. You, stay."

The family left trembling and closed the door.

Murong Yan slammed the table hard, spitting everywhere:

"Damn it, we're almost there! The Red Turban bandits are almost completely wiped out!

"If it weren't for traitors and losers like you, why would I need to cooperate with the even more loser Goguryeo?

"I should have kicked all of you out of the house and driven you into Yanshan a few years ago, just like the Yelu tribe did to the Red Turban bandits!"

The servant was not angry, but his eyes were wandering and he looked very panicked.

Murong Yan continued to curse:

"Damn it, who on earth is Li Ming? What magical power does he have that not only destroyed you but also destroyed Goguryeo?!
"Who the hell is he, and why is he picking on me?"

The servant spoke:

"I have found out that Li Ming is the Liaodong Jiedushi, the prince who came with Minister Hou and others to take over Liaodong."

"Him? It was him?"

Murong Yan finally found the chubby, disrespectful little kid from her vague memory.

Surprisingly, it was him? !

It's over, it's all over, that kid will never let me go...

Murong Yan stood up immediately.

"Master, where are you going?" The servant licked his tongue nervously and stood in front of Murong Yan.

"Get out of here!" Murong Yan pushed him angrily:

"I don't want that broken house anymore, let's get out of this damn place Pingzhou first!
"Let those red-turbaned bandits wait, I, Murong Yan, will be back!"

The servant was still standing there, motionless, but his tone became calmer:

"My Lord, don't worry. I have found you a place that is absolutely safe and where His Highness Li Ming will never find you."

Murong Yan looked up in confusion:

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Please set off to the Western Paradise!"

The servant's expression suddenly became ferocious. He took out his sword and chopped off Murong Yan's head.

The round head fell to the ground, with an expression still full of surprise.

…………

"Tsk tsk tsk, the Pingzhou government office has been burned down like this. It will cost a lot of money to rebuild it."

Li Ming inspected Lulong County with his hands behind his back.

Without any effort, the Red Turban Army took over the two county towns of Lulong and Linyu.

Regardless of their previous attitude towards Li Ming and the Red Turban Army, the surviving residents now welcomed the royal army.

Land is something outside of one's body. If you lose your life, you lose everything.

"The entire county town's neighborhoods have been destroyed, and the neighborhood walls have been knocked down, tut tut." Li Ming said nonchalantly.

Chang Sunyan immediately took out his notes and added:
“Abolish the Lifang system.”

The Lifang system was the urban management system of the Tang Dynasty, which divided the city into several Lifangs and separated them with walls.

During the night curfew, the gates of the neighborhood are closed and residents are not allowed to leave the neighborhood to visit other people.

In addition, buying and selling must be concentrated in designated markets, and doing business outside the market is illegal.

This system is conducive to public security, but harmful to all aspects of urban life except public security.

The area that suffered the most was the economy.

If there are all kinds of restrictions on doing business, how can we develop the economy?

As for public security, in Liaodong where people do not pick up things on the road and everyone is a ruthless person, this kind of public security is no different from taking off your pants to fart.

However, the Lifang system is one of the basic national policies of the Tang Dynasty...

"Alas, Secretary Changsun is wrong.

"I am a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty. How can I abolish the Lifang system?"

Li Ming criticized seriously:

"It was simply because the city was destroyed by war, the walls of the neighborhood collapsed, and the people of Liaodong were poor. The common people couldn't even afford the northwest wind, and had no money to repair the walls.

"We have no choice but to allow the people to invade the streets, come and go as they please, and occupy the roads to do business as they please."

Chang Sunyan nodded while taking notes:
"Yes, yes, there is nothing we can do about it. We are all loyal subjects of the Tang Dynasty."

Just as they were inspecting along the way, Aunt Wu came over with red eyes, holding a head.

"This is?"

Li Ming looked at the head in her hand and felt that it looked familiar, but he couldn't quite remember where it was.

"My father's murderer is also your enemy, Murong Yan." Aunt Wu choked up a little:

"My spy bribed Murong Yan's servants and presented his head to you."

Li Ming nodded heavily:

"Please accept my condolences. You can use it to pay tribute to your father's spirit in heaven."

Aunt Wu was stunned:
"You don't want it?"

"Why do I need this thing?" Li Ming looked disgusted.

"No, didn't you say at that time..." Aunt Wu reminded:
"Do you want to use Murong Yan's skull as a chamber pot? Here."

Ning, do you want me to take off my pants and pee in public in front of my subordinates and the people?

Li Ming shook his head lightly:

"I do not remember."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and continued walking forward.

This little Karami who came out of nowhere is not worth his grudge.

Lose your status.

Being forced into a desperate situation by such a bastard was definitely a dark chapter in his life that he could not bear to look back on.

It's past, it's all past.

“The matter of Pingzhou is over, but there is still one more state.

"It's about time to set off for Yingzhou."

(End of this chapter)