My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 171 Anyone who disobeys the prince’s order will be killed without mercy!

During the morning court session, Li Shimin announced the establishment of the Lingyan Pavilion, ranked the twenty-four heroes, and hung their portraits therein.

Naturally, the officials had nothing to object to, and it had no impact on them.

Build a loft and paint a few portraits, what can that do?

The military officers were quite excited, after all, this was a symbol of honor.

After the emperor and his ministers discussed the matter, Li Chengqian went to the Liangyi Hall of the Taiji Palace.

Show Li Shimin the documents sent from Jinzhou.

"That's a lot. We can earn 1.3 million a day, which is comparable to last year's annual revenue from commercial taxes."

Li Shimin was a little surprised. This was not a small amount.

Last year, the Tang Dynasty's commercial tax revenue was only over 570,000 strings of cash.

One million three hundred thousand coins is equivalent to one thousand three hundred strings of cash, thirty-nine thousand a month, and four hundred and sixty-eight thousand a year.

This is just a coal mine.

What if I drive two or three seats?

You know, the coal mine opened by the prince did not collect labor service, but paid wages.

Not only does it not bring any burden to the people of the Tang Dynasty, but it also creates a large number of jobs, benefits the people, and can absorb hidden populations. It is really the best of both worlds.

"How is the prince going to sell these three hundred thousand kilograms?"

Li Shimin soon realized this problem.

Li Chengqian replied: "If all the millions of households in Chang'an were to switch to coal, it would naturally not be enough."

"So what I'm thinking is to first issue an order that all wine shops, workshops, blacksmiths and other places of business should be prohibited from using firewood and should use coal instead."

This is forced selling. Once a policy is put in place, commercial places are prohibited from using firewood and can only use coal.

If you don't buy it, just close it.

In the dynasty era, sales was really a simple thing.

Li Shimin nodded and had no objection to this.

Merchants make a lot of money anyway, so even if they use coal, the burden is not that great.

"I heard that you borrowed 30 million from Zhangsun Wuji?"

Li Chengqian looked a little strange when he heard this, and said, "Yes."

Li Shimin said: "You are the crown prince, it is outrageous for you to borrow money. Don't you think I can't even take out 30 million yuan from my inner treasury?"

"I will return this money to Changsun Wuji tomorrow. If you need more money to open another mine, just take it from the inner treasury."

Li Chengqian knew that the mine was making too much money and Li Shimin wanted to kick Changsun Wuji out.

It's not all about money, but Li Shimin might be worried that the Changsun family would become a huge family like the Qinghe Cui family. After all, Li Shimin has already listed Changsun Wuji as the first meritorious official in the Lingyan Pavilion.

Now that you have given me a name, you don’t need to give me money.

"Okay, I'll follow Father's instructions."

Li Chengqian didn't care, after all, it was just a small mine.

People have been sent out to explore the open-pit coal mines. There are still many small and medium-sized open-pit coal mines in Jinzhou, enough to be mined for a long time.

If worst comes to worst, there is the Antaibao open-pit coal mine in later generations, with a total area of ​​376 square kilometers and a geological reserve of about 126 billion tons, located in Shuozhou of the Tang Dynasty.

The reserves of this coal mine alone are enough to complete the industrial revolution of the Tang Dynasty.

It can't be used up at all.

Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction.

This money can flow into the Eastern Palace, because the money of the Eastern Palace is the money of the inner treasury. It makes no difference if the money stays in the inner treasury.

But when it comes to Changsun Wuji, even if he is a royal relative, he is still an outsider.

So you still have to take control in your own hands.

Now Li Shimin also realized that coal mining was really profitable.

One mine could bring in hundreds of thousands of strings of cash a year; ten mines could bring in millions.

The Tang Dynasty's taxation was mainly in the form of grain, and the total annual cash income was only over two million strings of cash.

"Have you ever calculated how many kilograms of coal would be needed if all the daily needs of the millions of people in Chang'an were replaced by coal?"

Before, Li Shimin was worried about adding burden to the people of Chang'an, but in the face of such huge benefits, it seemed that it would not matter if the people suffered a little. Besides, coal at five cents a pound was not much of a burden.

When more mines are opened, the use of firewood will naturally be banned completely.

Li Chengqian said: "There are more than 200,000 households in Chang'an, with a population of one million. Add in the merchants, and the estimated number of people is about 1.2 million. At least 2 million catties of coal are needed every day."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's heart beat faster.

Two million jin of coal, based on the profit of four cents per jin, would make eight million, eight thousand strings of cash a day, and two million nine hundred thousand strings of cash a year.

This is just Chang'an, plus Luoyang.

Although Luoyang has a smaller population than Chang'an, it still has 600,000 people.

What if it were to extend to the capital cities of the 360 ​​states of the Tang Dynasty?
Wouldn’t it be comparable to the annual revenue of the imperial court?

Li Shimin immediately realized how profitable the coal mines were to the Tang Dynasty.

This will become an extremely important source of income for the imperial treasury, even higher than the salt tax.

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he adopted a policy of allowing the people to operate the salt, iron and other industries independently, and then collected a certain percentage of taxes. The income brought in from this was only a few hundred thousand strings of cash a year.

There is no one who doesn't love money. Even though the emperor rules the world, every aspect of a country is about money.

Looking back at the dynasty era starting from the Qin Dynasty, during the two thousand years of dynasty rule, in agriculture-based China, almost every emperor was short of money.

It is conceivable how shocked Li Shimin was by the profits from the coal mines.

Once developed, it will account for most of the court's financial revenue.

"The prince should quickly develop coal mining operations."

Li Shimin quickly made a decision to vigorously develop the coal mining industry so that all the people of the Tang Dynasty could use coal by the coming year.

After all, it only takes a month or so to open a mine.

According to the current wages offered by the prince, even if corvée labor is not used, there will be a lot of people rushing to work, and there is no need to worry about lack of work.

Now there is a sample in Jinzhou, and we just need to make a copy according to this model.

"Don't worry, Father. Everything is under control."

Li Chengqian said confidently.

Li Shimin sighed: "All the officials in the court are not as good as the prince."

The more he looks at the prince, the more he likes him.

"Father, there is one more thing."

"But it doesn't matter."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "I want to improve the drainage system of the entire Chang'an City. Summer is coming soon and the weather is too hot and smelly."

The Chang'an Road is high in the middle and low on both sides, which facilitates water to flow to both sides of the road.

Drainage pipes were laid on both sides of the main streets outside the Fang, in the inner Fang, the East and West Markets, and in the palace gardens. Most of these drainage pipes were open ditches with wide mouths and narrow bottoms, and the depth could reach more than two meters.

This open ditch type of sewage channel can play a certain sewage discharge role in the autumn and winter seasons, but in the spring and summer, when the temperature rises, sewage is easy to ferment and breed mosquitoes and flies, leading to environmental deterioration and stench.

Moreover, since the terrain of Chang'an City is high in the south and low in the north, with high surroundings and low in the middle, water flows toward the center of the city and is difficult to discharge out of the city. When encountering extreme weather such as heavy rain, it is easy to cause flooding.

Historically, in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang's Yonghui reign, that is, eleven years later, torrential rain and mountain floods occurred with such force that they reached Xuanwu Gate.

Thousands of guards on the periphery were killed by the flood, and the buildings were washed away to pieces.

Xue Rengui, who was the Right General of the Army at the time, saw this and quickly thought of a way out. He climbed up the Xuanwu Gate and shouted loudly to alert the palace. The soldiers guarding the palace then took Li Zhi to a higher place in the palace and escaped.

If it weren't for Xue Rengui, Li Zhi would have been drowned by the flood.

"What is the prince going to do?"

Li Shimin also knew this situation, so he asked.

Li Chengqian said: "The open channel will be changed into a hidden channel, and the number of hidden channels will be increased. A three-foot hidden channel will be built on the main street outside the block, and it will directly connect to the moat on all four sides."

"All seepage wells in the city are sealed off, and people are prohibited from digging seepage wells privately or dumping garbage and debris into underground sewers. Violators will be severely punished."

“We will set up a sanitation department and recruit sanitation workers to be responsible for garbage removal in designated areas every day, and regularly clean and maintain drainage pipes, drains, and inspection wells.”

At this time, there were a large number of seepage wells in the city of Chang'an. Because the groundwater level was shallow, it was easy to reach the underground river below.

Seepage wells are wells used to dump garbage. Many people dump their feces and urine down there for convenience.

This is a tradition passed down from the Han Dynasty. The Han Chang'an City and the Tang Chang'an City are not in the same place. Why is it not continued? It is because of the seepage wells. All the people poured sewage into them, and the water became brine.

The water that came out of the well was no longer water, but brine, which was salty, bitter and astringent. It was completely undrinkable and uninhabitable, so the Sui Dynasty moved its capital and built Daxing City.

However, the tradition of infiltration wells has not changed, but the current Chang'an City is only about 60 years old, so the groundwater can still withstand it.

"What does the prince want to do?"

Li Shimin asked again, this is asking how to implement it.

Li Chengqian replied: "The whole city should do corvée work together to build it, so that the people can understand how to better maintain Chang'an City."

Building a drainage system for the entire Chang'an city is undoubtedly a huge project.

It's nonsense to talk about paying wages. Chang'an City is also the people's Chang'an City. Everyone has the responsibility to protect their homeland.

Anyway, it was just forced labor at the doorstep, and all the people in the neighborhood were organized.

There is strength in numbers. If all the workshops work together, things will naturally be done faster.

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Okay, tomorrow I will ask the Ministry of Works to issue a plan, and once it is completed, it will be announced to the whole city."

When the whole city was under corvee labor, the court did not have any burden and simply arranged some officials from the Ministry of Works to provide guidance and take charge.

Besides, this was for the good of the people of Chang'an, so Li Shimin naturally agreed.

"There are some other aspects, and I will arrange people to do them when the time comes."

Li Chengqian added.

Li Shimin had no objection.

After returning to the East Palace.

Li Chengqian then issued the Crown Prince's order to the residence of the General of the Left and Right Jinwu Guards.

All Jinwu Guards and their subordinate Zuoyou Yifu and Wuhoupu were required to immediately cover up all the seepage wells in the houses of the people in the 108 wards of Chang'an.

At the same time, the prince's decree was issued in various notice boards in the streets, prohibiting the private construction of seepage wells in Chang'an City. Violators would be fined 10,000 coins, and those who reported the violation would be rewarded 5,000 coins.

The prince then ordered the head of each neighborhood, village head, and village chief to build wooden trash cans according to regulations in front of every household.

Each household's kitchen waste and daily waste, such as textile waste, ceramic fragments, bamboo and wooden utensil remnants, etc., are placed in trash cans and collected by designated personnel.

Luo Hui had thousands of Yexianglang in his hands, and this was the prototype of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

Based on these thousands of people, an Environmental Sanitation Department was established, and then external workers were recruited.

The rules and regulations of the Environmental Sanitation Department can be directly copied to later generations. The streets should be cleaned every day, horse-drawn carriages should be equipped, and garbage should be collected in garbage bins for unified disposal.

Including human and animal feces and swill, which are then transported out of the city as fertilizer, forming a cycle.

At the same time, public toilets were built in various districts and streets in Chang'an and were managed by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

Of course, it is not a simple toilet. It is built with stone bricks. When the cement is produced, it will be painted with another layer of cement, making it an exquisite public toilet.

The prince's orders were continuously issued, and for a moment the whole Chang'an was in an uproar.

In less than two days, the prince's edict spread like a gust of wind to all 108 districts in Chang'an.

The entire Chang'an city seemed to be thrown into a huge rock, causing waves, but the people's reactions were mostly one of incomprehension.

When the people living in the neighborhood heard that all the seepage wells were going to be buried, they were immediately shocked.

"This seepage well was in good working order, why did they bury it? Our lives are already difficult, this is just adding to our troubles for no reason."

"If you build a seepage well without permission, you will be fined 10,000 coins. If you report it, you will be rewarded 5,000 coins. This is cutting off all your escape routes."

The temptation of five thousand dollars will surely lead to the report of anyone who digs a seepage well.

Housewives stood at their doorsteps and complained loudly to their neighbors: "The infiltration well is gone. What are we going to do with the water for washing clothes and cooking? We can't just dump it all on the street."

It’s not over yet, it’s only been two days.

Li Shimin, at a meeting between the emperor and his ministers, approved the idea of ​​requiring the entire city to perform corvée labor and build an underground canal.

In the entire Chang'an, only the imperial palace had underground canals.

When the weather gets hot, the city of Chang'an is filled with a foul smell.

Fang Xuanling, Chu Suiliang, Wei Zheng, Zhangsun Wuji and other ministers feel more clearly than Your Majesty and the Crown Prince.

Naturally, he fully supported the idea of ​​levying corvée labor on the entire city and building underground canals.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that building the underground canals throughout the city of Chang'an was a sin in the present but a benefit for future generations.

Therefore, an imperial decree was issued to Chang'an, requiring the entire city to perform corvée labor.

The city had not yet recovered from the seepage well, and the forced labor service for the entire city was like a thunderbolt dropping on the city of Chang'an.

With the promotion of some people, the news that the city-wide corvée was the prince's suggestion spread quickly.

For a time, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, who had been deified because of the Quyuanli, was pushed to the forefront.

There were even some large neighborhoods where people came to petition.

Of course, the King of Wei contributed a lot here.

"I'll see how you deal with it."

Li Tai was very happy. He took Chai Lingwu and Fang Yiai to hold a grand banquet in his mansion.

This time it was the prince who brought his own death. Originally, he didn't know how to destroy the prince's reputation. After all, the matter of Quyuanli's additional title had such a huge impact.

There were also a large number of low-priced rubbings of books, which made the students in Chang'an praise the prince.

Li Tai felt that he had no chance of winning at all. His only hope was to expose the Crown Prince's rebellion with Fang Xuanling.

I didn't expect the prince to do this suddenly.

Now the people of Chang'an City are full of anger. He only needs to take advantage of the situation to make the prince lose the support of the people.

The news of the people's unrest soon reached the East Palace.

Li Chengqian snorted coldly and said, "Pass on the order from the Crown Prince to dispatch the left and right Jinwu Guards, the Wuhou Stores in each block, all the runners and bad people in Chang'an County and Wannian County, all the block heads, village heads, village chiefs, and government officials."

"Immediately disperse all illegal gatherings, and arrest and jail those who dare to lead the riots."

"Those who refuse to change their ways shall be punished with ten lashes in the street."

"Anyone who dares to challenge the police will be killed without mercy!"

The truth always lies in the hands of a few people.

Li Chengqian knew that someone would definitely take advantage of this to cause trouble, but he didn't care.

Most people are just following the trend; it's their nature; they all like to join in the fun.

Under the strong suppression of the army, this bad trend will soon disappear.

Perhaps many people would think that the prince is strong and cruel.

But time will tell.

(End of this chapter)