Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 414: Politics is really interesting

"?!"

When Li Mingda first saw the young man knocking on the door, he was obviously stunned.

Although she quickly regained her royal composure, surprise still remained in her eyes.

Because the young man's face was so pale and expressionless, he looked like a zombie dug directly out of a grave.

Can a living person really have such a face?
"Oh~ It's Fang Yize!"

When Li Ming saw the other person, he immediately put on a smile and greeted him cordially:

"You seem particularly happy today, and even your complexion looks much rosier. Did something good happen?"

Li Mingda, who was standing by, was startled when he heard this.

What, this is considered a happy expression and good complexion?
So how bad does he look when his complexion is bad?
Fang Yize, why does this name sound familiar?

Fang...isn’t that the youngest son of Prime Minister Fang Xuanling?

It was him...

Li Mingda was shocked.

As the elder sister, she also knew the fourteenth brother’s elementary school classmates.

In her impression, Fang Yize did not show any abnormality. He was just an ordinary nobleman who was naughty and occasionally bullied his classmates.

How come after not seeing you for a while, you look like a half-dead person? !
What on earth did this poor boy go through under Li Ming's hands...

"Your Majesty, the financial problems may be able to be partially alleviated."

Fang Yi stepped aside, gently avoiding the enthusiastic hug of His Majesty Li Ming, and at the same time skillfully handed a document to His Majesty.

Obviously, this is not the first time that I have declined Your Majesty's "visit".

Li Ming took it and opened the seal while complaining:

"You and I are old classmates, why should we be so distant? Don't call me Your Majesty, call me Big Brother instead."

Fang Yize had no expression on his face:
"I will obey your majesty's orders. I will obey your orders even if it means my death, your majesty."

He keeps saying "Your Majesty". His attitude is different from Di Renjie's.

Xiao Di was humble and fearful from the bottom of his heart.

Lao Fang was simply mad at Li Ming.

Of course, he had every reason to blame Li Baopi.

So Li Ming did not and did not dare to get angry. He opened the document sent by Fang Yize with a sullen smile.

"Ah."

After just a glance, he shrugged his shoulders and sneered, then handed the document to Li Mingda, who was standing beside him at a loss, not knowing whether he should avoid it or not.

"Hey, can I see this too?"

Li Mingda didn't dare to answer it, for fear of seeing something he shouldn't see.

Fang Yize said nothing, but just stared at his little sister.

"There is no secret. It's just a letter forwarded by Mr. Fang." Li Ming said calmly:

"No matter how much I say, this letter cannot answer your questions."

Answer my question... Li Mingda suddenly felt that the paper in his hand was as heavy as a thousand pounds. He became extremely serious and read it carefully word by word.

The entire document was not long. The first page was Fang Xuanling’s approval of “Petition to Your Majesty”, and it was forwarded with just one click.

The content of the forwarding is not complicated——

The petition was submitted by all the major families in Hebei, led by the Qinghe Cui family, the largest "opposition" family in Hebei (which is not from the same branch as Li Ling's mother-in-law's Boling Cui family).

Aren’t these Hebei clans the “bad guys” who were against Li Ming’s court? What were they petitioning for?

Li Mingda muttered to himself and turned to the next page.

As soon as I took a look, my pupils shrank.

"Huh?!" She couldn't help but exclaimed softly.

The following content is not complicated, but it is very explosive——

"Are you willing to hand over your family land with both hands?!"

Li Mingda always felt that his way of opening the book was wrong, so he closed the page and opened it again.

You read it right, this is what is clearly written on the petition!
And they didn’t play word games.

Because behind the petition was a long list, listing the detailed addresses and conditions of each piece of land donated, and at the end there was a total area of ​​the land involved.

The total amount is simply shocking. Even in Hebei, where land resources have already undergone a round of redistribution, the land in the hands of the gentry is still far greater than the total amount of land that the government claims to control.

This also shows that these nobles are not playing tricks.

He really "donated" at least most of the land that he owned, actually controlled, and concealed and evaded taxes on.

Finally, all the clan leaders who "agreed to donate" signed their names personally.

Li Mingda noticed that the major ethnic groups in Zhuo County that were mentioned in the document as advocates of "non-violent non-cooperation" were also among those who signed the petition.

"But...why?"

Li Mingda immediately became confused and totally bewildered.

Didn’t we just say that land is the lifeblood of the gentry, the source of their power, wealth and superiority?
How can we so readily hand over the economic foundation passed down from generation to generation to the country?

"This is what war can do. This is the authority of war."

Li Ming smiled at the little sister:

"Weapon criticism is worth a thousand words. A great victory is to open the eyes of the nobles and let them know who they are against.

“As long as they realize that if they don’t donate their land, the next thing they’ll donate is their own bodies, they’ll comply.

"If I hadn't threatened you like that, sister, how many battles do you think would have been fought and how much blood would have been shed to acquire such a large amount of land?

"Or maybe, even when the Ming Dynasty falls, we may not be able to control such a vast land?"

Li Mingda was speechless for a moment.

The saying "to kill karma, not to kill people" has become concrete at this moment.

Although it is cruel, if Li Mingda really uses his gentle methods...

I wonder how much more suffering the people of the world will have to endure, and how much the imperial power will be constrained.

Is there any difference between killing people with a sword and politics?

“Although Hebei is considered one of the core territories of the Ming Dynasty, the surrender of the gentry in Hebei does not represent the overall situation of the former Tang Dynasty.

“But it’s a good start.”

Li Mingyun commented calmly.

Li Mingda opened his mouth, but found that his voice was dry and he couldn't make any sound, and his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Is this the cold, cruel, and treacherous politics?

"Cough cough."

Fang Yi couldn't stand watching this little world of the brother and sister anymore, so he coughed and changed the subject:
"If Your Majesty has nothing else to say, I will take my leave first.

“Although this matter can partially ease the financial pressure and allow us to pay the principal and interest of maturing bonds.

"But as long as the root cause of the fiscal deficit is not eliminated, I will have endless work to do."

Fang Yize said expressionlessly, staring coldly at a certain "root cause of the fiscal deficit".

Such outrageous words would be enough to make the three clans of Fang family itch, not to mention the tyrant. Even if it happened to an emperor with a good temper in history, it would be enough to make the three clans of Fang family itch.

However, His Majesty Li Ming just touched his head awkwardly and smiled: "I will try to spend less."

Fang Yi glanced at the big pig's hoof and said, "Yeah, save some money. Then who is building so many dams in Henan?"

"Oh my goodness, Prime Minister, I didn't spend any extra money. It's just that the world is peaceful now, so I moved the war funds to people's livelihood~"

Li Ming patted Fang Yize's shoulder and said soothingly:
"Once this wave of infrastructure construction is over and the dikes are strengthened, and this year's drought and floods are successfully overcome, spending will naturally decrease."

Your Majesty's words are full of lies.

Fang Yize didn't buy it at all. He just bowed exaggeratedly without any sincerity and was about to leave.

Before leaving, he suddenly remembered another thing and said:

"By the way, Your Majesty, the southwestern border has been invaded by barbarians. I hope Your Majesty will pay more attention to it."

Southwestern border? Barbarians?
Li Ming found it difficult to connect the two words for a moment.

Isn’t the southwestern border of our Ming Dynasty the area from Shanxi to Guanzhong?

Barbarian invasion, could it be the Quanrong? But that thing has been deprecated...

Seeing His Majesty's silly look, Fang Yize couldn't help but admire him for a while before he reluctantly reminded him:

"The southwestern border of our Ming Dynasty is Jiannan Road, and the barbarians who invaded us are the Kingdom of Zhenla."

"Oh, I see." Li Ming slapped his forehead.

Today's Ming Empire is no longer the separatist regime of the past, but a synonym for "the world".

But the greater the territory, the greater the responsibility.

If one's own people are bullied, one must seek revenge.

Otherwise, where is the prestige of our Ming Dynasty when we are good at civil wars but not at foreign wars?

"Zhenla? Zhenla...hiss, I remember that in order to contain the southern part of the Tang Dynasty, we did export weapons to those monkeys..."

Li Ming was lost in memories, but only a little.

That place is covered with dense rainforests and isolated from the outside world, and it gave birth to a large number of tribal regimes with strange names, such as Liao, Mengshezhao, Linyi, Zhenla, etc., with birds chirping everywhere, which made people confused.

"What's the situation in Zhenla? Remember that place is not close to the coast and is in the mountains. Logically speaking, it is impossible for it to receive much military assistance from our country, right?

"Why did such a storm arise?"

Li Ming asked casually.

In response to His Majesty's questions about diplomacy, Fang Yi, who was in charge of finance, answered fluently:

"Your Majesty, the reason why Zhenla was able to run rampant in the southwestern border and even offend the Celestial Empire is probably because they received the least military aid from our army."

What is this nonsense? !
Li Ming immediately turned to Fang Yize, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp.

My Ming Dynasty is the world's best in technology, why are you still looking down on me? You're talking as if I'm holding you back.

"Because it's really hot in the south, especially in the summer."

Fang Yi seemed to have read Ming Ge's question and answered without hesitation:

“Warring in armor there would literally kill you with heat.

“Even if they didn’t die of heat or thirst right away, the wind after they took off their armor could still carry a large number of people away.

“So, the Zhenla people, who wore less armor, actually had an advantage.

"It's summer now, and other tribes are still using armored phalanxes, but the Zhenla people are the only ones who stick to primitive tactics, and they are actually gaining an advantage."

Li Ming scratched his head:
"It seems that the Chinese were also defeated by the Zhenla people's primitive tactics?"

"Yes." Fang Yi nodded without hesitation:

"At that time, China was in the midst of a great war. The imperial court in Chang'an was unable to take care of itself, and the people in the southwest border were left to fend for themselves, which was taken advantage of by the Zhenla people.

"Now that the war is over and the throne has been decided, Your Majesty should drive out the barbarians, protect the territory and the people, and show legitimacy."

Li Ming nodded:
"Yes, Lord Fang's words make sense. But the southwest border is far away and the roads are dangerous, so it's inconvenient to supply.

"If we want to send troops to the southwest, the military expenditure will be a huge sum..."

As he said this, he glanced at Fang Yize with ill intent.

"I wonder which Lord Fang is the one who came up with this brilliant idea?"

Fang Yize first started clamoring about the "fiscal deficit", and then suddenly turned around and clamored to declare war on the Southern Barbarians.

When did he, a prime minister, take over the work of the Honglu Temple?

So it is obvious that it must be his father Fang Xuanling who taught him to say this.

"It's my father Fang Xuanling." Fang Yize was not shy and sold out his father straightforwardly.

"He gave me this petition as I was leaving the house, and asked me to convey those words to your Majesty."

After all, Prime Minister Fang is the prime minister's father. Deep down in his heart, he is still worried about his students and the country.

Even though I said I was going to quit, I was still working remotely.
Li Ming felt warm in his heart and looked at Fang Yize with a smile.

"Brother, brother..."

Fang Yi felt a chill:
"What do you want to do, Your Majesty?"

"Nothing, there's just something I'm a little unsure about, and I want to ask for your opinion."

Li Ming chuckled and threw a document on the table to Fang Yize.

“It’s not a big deal, it’s just the selection of officials of the sixth rank and above.

"There has been some recent institutional reforms, so some positions have to be moved."

A layer of ripples appeared on Fang Yize's calm face, centered at the corner of his mouth.

"Your Majesty, this matter does not seem to be within my authority or my ability."

My goodness, personnel power, is this something that a Prime Minister like him can interfere with?

This can only be decided by the Prime Minister of the State Council, right?
It's two levels higher than his current level, and there's a Shangshu Province in between!
"The appointment and removal of senior officials is extremely important. We must select people based on their talents, but also consider politics. We must win over the old Tang officials, but not discourage the old Ming officials. We must have a balance between the north and the south, and the east and the west.

"By the way, in addition to the children of the Han family, we must also take into account the outstanding talents of various ethnic groups in the country, such as the Turkic, Xianbei, Tiele, and Goguryeo..."

Li Ming completely ignored Fang Yize's protest and continued counting. Finally, he patted Fang Yize on the shoulder:

"Anyway, I'll leave this matter to you to review. If you do well, I'll reward you with the position of Prime Minister. If you don't do well, you'll have to work overtime until you die."

This reward and punishment are the same thing... Fang Yize had a gloomy face, thinking that staying here for one more second would cause him more trouble, so he said goodbye and left in a hurry.

Li Ming looked at his younger brother's hurried back and laughed:
"As long as Fang Xiangfu is unwilling to take up a government post, I will continue to push all his work onto his son. I don't believe he can resist taking action.

"Haha, politics is really interesting~ Don't you think so, Sister Sizi?"

Li Mingda, who was listening to the whole thing, turned pale and his lips trembled:
“Politics is terrible…”

She's so stupid, really.

She only knew that she should plead for the people with full enthusiasm and follow the story of Tiying saving her father and admonishing Emperor Wu of Han.

Little did he know that with his naive knowledge, he would dare to point fingers at the purest political machine in the world...

It's really ridiculous that you are showing off your skills in front of an expert!
"I...I will not bother your Majesty any more. I will take my leave and return to the palace..."

Li Mingda bowed weakly and said goodbye.

"Huh?" Li Ming was still a little puzzled, wondering how his sister suddenly changed from an angry bird to a deflated ball.

"How about staying for dinner?"

"No, Your Majesty, please go ahead..."

Li Mingda left the study dejectedly, leaving a certain political machine scratching his head in confusion.

(End of this chapter)