Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 224 A New Beginning, Like Returning to the Tang Dynasty (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Li Yu's promise laid the most solid foundation for this reform.

Gu Xuan was finally able to unleash his full potential and begin to demonstrate his domestic political skills to the entire world.

June of the first year of Baoying.

Luoyang.

Gu Xuan personally stepped forward, officially launching the land leasing program.

As the first step in implementing the new policy, Gu Xuan was quite cautious and thoroughly investigated the identities of the renters.

Most of them are descendants of soldiers from the Fubing (府兵) military unit.

This was Gu Xuan's reward for these soldiers, and it also contained his intention to win the hearts and minds of the army for the central government.

Besides these, there are those who have fled and returned home.

Although An Lushan failed to reach Luoyang this time, the number of people who fled along the way was still considerable.

This move is also intended to reassure the people.

This policy can be described as the sharpest blade.

Faced with tangible benefits, the prophecies and superstitions preached by Buddhism vanished in an instant.

You should know that these are all fertile fields.

Not to mention ordinary people, even many powerful families are envious of these benefits.

Now that these goods are being distributed to the people, even if the quantity is small, how could it not be tempting?

Although it was nominally a "rental" land, the cost of renting land was entirely within acceptable limits given the new emperor's benevolent rule.

The news spread, instantly igniting the vitality of the entire Tang Dynasty.

Those songs praising the imperial court seemed to recreate the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty.

Although the actual results will take time to become apparent, this feeling of popular support is crucial for a dynasty.

Only when the people are willing to trust the central government can the imperial decrees be implemented more smoothly.

This is absolutely fantastic news for the Tang Dynasty at present.

The news kept spreading.

Gu Xuan gradually shifted his position.

He was extremely cautious about this matter, and did not implement it all at once throughout the entire Kyushu, but rather gradually spread it out from Luoyang.

This is a bit slower.

However, the benefits are also obvious: it allows the Censorate to concentrate its efforts in one place, reducing a lot of trouble.

He had to check everything carefully, including the noble families who wanted to exchange land.

Or perhaps it refers to the identities of ordinary people who rent land.

He needs to guard all of this strictly and not allow even the slightest loophole to be exploited.

To put it bluntly, this reform is essentially a different kind of land redistribution.

Buddhism had long since occupied a significant amount of land.

Such an action would be of paramount importance in any feudal dynasty, including the desperate gamble Gu Xi made in his later years, which was also for this purpose.

This is the remedy that can save a dynasty.

If it weren't for An Lushan's rebellion and the Buddhist uprising, this matter wouldn't have unfolded so smoothly.

It can be said that the right time, the right place, and the right people are all indispensable.

Gu Xuan did not waste this opportunity at all, and used the Censorate and Yunshao Pavilion to spread the news about it.

Profit has always been the key to people's hearts.

This move will not only motivate the soldiers to fight harder, but also give hope to the people of the world.

In just a few months—

The remaining Buddhist bandits were also finding themselves in an increasingly difficult situation.

The number of believers who used to be "possessed" is decreasing, and those who were once willing to risk their lives to help the monks escape are now turning into informants.

One tragic incident after another was brought up again.

Almost all the people began to actively report the various crimes of the local temples to the censors of the Censorate.

As long as the temple collapses, some of them will be able to receive land and have all their past debts wiped clean.

Who could resist such enormous profits?

—The situation changed rapidly.

The situation of these Buddhist bandits was already very difficult, and it has become even more difficult now.

Not to mention these monks who have already openly rebelled.

Even some temples that were hidden deep within were unearthed by the people under this overwhelming trend.

Of course, there will be wrongful convictions.

However, Gu Yi did not choose to interfere with all of this.

In his view, this was an unstoppable trend, when these people were willing to set aside Buddhist prophecies for the sake of profit.

In the future, their faith in Buddhism will weaken even further.

This is for sure.

As for the killings caused by these wrongful convictions, Gu Yi didn't care.

In fact, at this time, every temple has no shortage of people who are truly devoted to Buddhism. However, under the influence of the temple as a whole, even if they have not committed any obvious sins, they may still be influenced by the temple.

But how can one call oneself completely innocent?
Given this inevitable trend, they will eventually have to pay the price for all the actions of the entire temple.

Isn't this also what they call cause and effect?

A great trend suddenly emerged—

By the third year of the Baoying era, all forms of Buddhism had finally been completely eradicated.

Subsequently, Gu Xuan began the work of building water conservancy projects.

Given the immense pressure exerted by the purge of Buddhism, undertaking this task now would no longer pose any significant challenge to the court.

In addition to the water conservancy experts trained within the Gu family of Julu, Gu Xuan also began to recruit talents in water management from all over the world, clearly intending to take bold and decisive action.

The central government of the Tang Dynasty was indeed wealthy at the time.

The revenue generated by this campaign to suppress Buddhism was indeed staggering for the central government.

This includes the controlled development of commerce.

Maritime trade has long since resumed.

Furthermore, because Gu Xuan focuses on controlling various businesses, although the maritime trade may not seem as vibrant as it used to be, it is actually generating more and more tax revenue for the central government.

This does not mean that Gu Xuan is withholding the interests of maritime merchants, small business owners from all walks of life, and ordinary people.

on the contrary--

Under controlled conditions, these people's income is actually more stable.

The excess taxes collected by the central government were seized from powerful families and wealthy merchants.

To put it bluntly, this round of control measures deprives these people of the opportunity to continue profiting from loopholes in the system.

This also brought absolute convenience to Gu Xuan's large-scale water conservancy project.

Of course, all of this can only be temporary.

No system is perfect, whether it's due to the failure of the imperial court's control or the discovery of other loopholes by this group of people.

All sorts of problems will come to light over time.

But for now, that's enough!
A massive water management campaign was launched again, and its scale far exceeded any previous one.

They mobilized displaced people through work-for-relief programs.

This includes many monks who have secretly returned to secular life but no longer hold official status.

Countless ordinary people participated in it.

The resulting chain reaction brought unprecedented vitality to the entire land of Kyushu.

The leasing of land resulted in grain production.

The planting technology reforms that Gu Xuan followed up on also seemed to have a very good effect.

The wages paid by the imperial court would in turn drive the circulation of grain, including the granaries that Gu Xuan built in various places. All of this would achieve a reasonable internal cycle invisibly.

This included the various tools needed for water conservancy projects, as well as the demand for cloth, salt, simple utensils, and even food and drink generated by economic flows. All of these continuously drove the economic development of the entire Kyushu region.

Many people can clearly feel the changes.

That means you've made even more money.

Whether they are businessmen or ordinary people, everyone will be affected by this series of reforms.

Of course, this change is only relative.

It's not entirely true that ordinary people are living very well.

The limited productivity already constrained everything, but for the people of the Tang Dynasty at that time, it was already a rare and good life.

This is the kind of change that top-notch domestic policymakers can bring about.

In fact, Gu Xuan did not do anything too far ahead of his time. He simply acted in accordance with the current situation in the Tang Dynasty and, as always, ensured the stability of the administration.

This is the most crucial point.

A clean and honest administration is the foundation upon which all systems can be implemented.

Gu Xuan's actions since entering officialdom have played a positive role under these circumstances.

Whether it was killing Shi Siming and his ilk, or the subsequent campaign against Tibet, or the anti-Buddhist act of destroying Buddhism despite the humiliation it caused to the world.

These methods all demonstrated his ruthlessness to the world.

This has made everyone increasingly wary of him, and they dare not cause any big commotion at this time.

This also applies to foreign tribes.

Although Gu Xuan has never personally caused any killings, his reputation among the foreign tribes is now extremely widespread.

This is also the main reason why the reform has been so effective.

Time keeps passing.

Gu Xuan became increasingly busy. Although he didn't need to personally oversee everything, once the reform was fully implemented, he had to keep a close eye on everything and make subtle adjustments.

This is destined to be a very mentally taxing task.

Furthermore, Gu Xuan is also teaching Li Yu.

Unlike the Gu family's previous attitudes toward emperors, Li Yu was not a child waiting to be enlightened.

Gu Xuan guided the emperor to understand how to improve the lives of the people and strengthen the nation.

The goal is to guide Li Yu to understand why he should do this, based on the current new policies.

Although Li Yu was merely a ruler who defended the city.

However, if this city-defending ruler can uphold a bottom line, it will be a great thing for both the Nine Provinces and the Gu family.

July of the fourth year of the Baoying era.

Water conservancy projects in various places have been completed one after another, including this rental project, which has been implemented quite smoothly.

It wasn't just the Censorate that was watching closely.

People in different regions would also monitor each other. When it came to land, no one would want to let someone with ulterior motives take the opportunity, which greatly accelerated the implementation of the entire system.

It is worth mentioning that--

After several years, punctuation marks have gradually spread throughout the imperial court and have been fully accepted in many circles of scholars.

There was no need for further words in the imperial court.

Faced with so many memorials, the court officials could clearly feel the benefits that punctuation marks could bring.

However, this matter still drew considerable criticism within the scholar-official circle.

There are always those who stick to the old ways, and this time is no exception.

This issue is still hotly debated among scholars today.

However, Gu Yi didn't care about these things. Things that make everyone feel convenient will one day become people's habits without them even realizing it.

Gu Yi didn't bother to interfere with this at all.

He has already set his sights on another level, and once everything is completely settled, he will open another door for the entire Kyushu!

Julu.

Despite the constant trials and tribulations of the outside world, the land of Julu remains unchanged.

Since the Gu family set foot here years ago, no hardship has ever afflicted this place.

At this moment, Yunshao Pavilion is bustling as ever, or even more so than before.

Many scholars are currently engaged in a heated debate on this topic, and the focus of their argument is precisely the punctuation marks that have recently stirred up the scholarly community—

"Boom!"

An old scholar slammed his wooden cane heavily on the ground, his beard and hair trembling slightly: "Absurd! Punctuation is based on the spirit of the text, and resides in one's own mind!"

His voice suddenly rose: "Isn't adding those bizarre shapes superfluous?"

"It forcibly severs the literary flow and ruins the spirit and charm of the writing!"

Finally, he looked around and declared emphatically, "Did the ancients ever use these things? The magnificent classics still shine through the ages!"

Before the words were even finished, a young scholar immediately raised his voice in rebuttal: "Sir, you are mistaken!"

"Commas indicate pauses, periods define beginnings and ends, and question marks reveal ambiguity—these three symbols, though simple, are of great use!"

He stepped forward and gave an example: "Look at children reciting scriptures; without a talisman, they are completely bewildered. Look at official documents; with a talisman, everything is clear at a glance!"

Then, he looked directly at the old scholar and asked in return, "This is a measure that benefits the world, how can it be considered a separation? It is clearly a process of organizing and clarifying the principles of literature!"

The person next to him nodded repeatedly, adding with certainty, "That's exactly right!"

"Imagine, with mountains of official documents piled up, without this talisman, ambiguities would arise, only increasing the burden of lawsuits."

"The use of this talisman is a necessity dictated by the times. It is not to break ancient customs, but simply to meet the needs of the present!"

The debate grew increasingly heated.

It's still that same corner.

Li Bai and Du Fu sat facing each other, each pouring a drink for themselves.

Hearing the old scholar's impassioned shouts, Li Bai's lips curled slightly, and he raised his cup to Du Fu: "What do you think of the Grand Tutor's punctuation marks, Zimei?"

"His merit will last for eternity!" Du Fu answered without hesitation.

He served as an imperial censor for many years. Unlike Li Bai, who was unrestrained and unconventional, he was accustomed to going deep into the streets and alleys to understand the hardships of the people. He knew that this was in line with the practical benefits of official documents and the enlightenment of children. In recent years, he has also contributed a lot to the implementation of new policies.

Li Bai smiled and nodded, then picked up the wine pot and took a swig.

His gaze then drifted to the window.

Returning to Julu, the old scenery is just as it was yesterday.

However, what this banished immortal, who has wandered the world for many years, sees is quite different.

Although he was by nature unruly, he had devoted himself to helping implement the new policies over the years.

Although they were not standing in the spotlight, they were already content to see the gradual change in people's hearts.

One cup after another, the effects of the wine intensified.

A blush crept onto Li Bai's face, and just then, the debate nearby reached its climax.

For some unknown reason, he suddenly stood up, strode to the next table, and grabbed the wolf-hair brush from the table.

This sudden action instantly attracted several gazes, and someone exclaimed in surprise:
"Li Bai has created a new work?!"

This shout, like a stone thrown into water, instantly drowned out all the noise.

The entire Yunshao Pavilion fell silent, and all eyes turned to him.

Since the publication of those earth-shattering poems during the persecution of Buddhism, Li Bai's name has been at its zenith, and everyone's attention has been immediately drawn to his actions.

Li Bai seemed oblivious to the stares he was receiving.

He held a pen in one hand and a wine glass in the other, and right there in front of everyone, he began to write and paint!
One sentence or two sentences
The ink on the paper was dripping, and some of the onlookers held their breath, their breathing becoming heavy—not only because of the magnificent imagery of the poem, but also because the punctuation marks that had been the subject of much debate were embedded between the lines!

This silent declaration was more powerful than a thousand words, instantly capturing the hearts and minds of all the scholars in the hall!

Du Fu also looked over.

He was no longer the nobody he once was, but he didn't make any big moves, just sat there and watched from the sidelines.

My view was blocked by the figures of the crowd.

He couldn't see the whole thing, but he vaguely made out Li Bai's last line.

"It seems to have returned to the glorious Tang Dynasty."

(P.S.: I'm begging for monthly votes! Please support me, brothers! I'd be extremely grateful.)
(End of this chapter)