Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 405 Business with a Sword
As they passed through Xuanwu Gate, a palace attendant came to report that Li Yifu and Zhang Jianzhi requested an audience.

Li Zhi immediately went to the Ganlu Hall and summoned the two men for an audience.

After the formalities were completed, Li Zhi asked the two men about their purpose. Zhang Jianzhi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, your subject and Minister Li have heard that you are planning to change the military system, replacing the garrison troops with recruited troops, so we have come specifically for this matter."

After discussing the matter with the generals at the Shenlong Hall last time, Li Zhi made it public.

He had guessed that some civil officials would question the matter, but he never expected that Zhang Jianzhi and Li Yifu would be the first to come to him.

Li Zhi said, "That's right, I do have that intention."

Zhang Jianzhi said, "Your Majesty, I believe that if we are to change the military system, there is one problem that needs to be solved."

Li Zhi asked, "What's the problem?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "It's a financial problem! Recruiting soldiers requires the court to allocate military pay, which greatly increases government spending. If the country suffers another disaster, the national treasury will be unable to make ends meet!"

Li Zhi had no choice but to patiently repeat the same theories he had used with the military officers to Zhang Jianzhi.

However, Zhang Jianzhi was not as easily fooled as the military generals; he saw the problem at a glance.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the taxes collected from the military garrison will be converted into salaries. However, I have calculated that the annual tax revenue of a military garrison household is far less than the annual salary of a recruited soldier."

"In addition, each soldier in the garrison can participate in agricultural work for eight months of the year, while soldiers in the military garrison need to be on duty all year round, so the country's output will not increase."

Upon hearing these words, Li Zhi was not angry but pleased, and his face showed admiration. He said, "Minister Zhang, did you think of this, or did Minister Li think of it?"

Zhang Jianzhi and Li Yifu exchanged a glance and then said, "Your Majesty, it was Vice Minister Li who told me about this matter. We discussed it and came up with it together."

Li Zhi said, "You're right. After the Fubing (府兵) system was changed to a mercenary system, the court's financial expenditures did increase, and the annual agricultural output also decreased."

Zhang Jianzhi asked in bewilderment, "If that's the case, why does Your Majesty want to change the military system?"

Li Zhi slowly asked, "Jianzhi, what do you think is the foundation of the Fubing system?"

"Field system".

"That's right, the foundation of the Fubing system is that the people own land. Do you think the land rent system can last?"

Zhang Jianzhi thought for a moment and said, "In my humble opinion, throughout history, there has never been any system that has lasted forever."

Li Zhi said, "That's right. The Fubing system is indeed very good right now, but this system is too closely related to the land system. If the land system collapses in the future, the Fubing system will also collapse. What will we do then?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "I believe that even if the land rental system has problems, a new good policy can be found to replace it in the future, so there is no need to worry too much."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Throughout history, land annexation has been an irreversible process. Even if a capable minister proposes a good system, he can only find solutions through the tax system, but he cannot redistribute the land."

Land consolidation is essentially the process of transferring wealth from the poor to the rich.

The wealthy hold power and influence, making it difficult even for monarchs to redistribute their spoils to ordinary people.

When Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) changed the equal-field system to the land rent system, he encountered great resistance. This was during the early Tang Dynasty, when the equal-field system had not yet been destroyed.

If he had done this during the mid-Tang Dynasty, he probably wouldn't have been able to secure his throne.

This topic touches upon the survival of dynasties, a sensitive issue for every monarch. Zhang Jianzhi dared not delve further, only saying, "I believe we should first focus on the present, and then consider the future."

Li Zhi asked, "Are you referring to the problems caused by the conscription system?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "That's right. Military reform is of no benefit at present; on the contrary, it will increase the national financial burden and reduce output. I implore Your Majesty to rescind your decree!"

After speaking, he knelt down on the ground.

Li Yifu cautiously observed Li Zhi's expression. Seeing that the emperor remained silent, he couldn't help but feel worried for Zhang Jianzhi.

Li Zhi looked at Zhang Jianzhi for a long while, then slowly said, "Minister Zhang, do you know which army is currently stationed in Japan?"

Zhang Jianzhi replied, "I do not know."

Li Zhi said, "It's the Imperial Guard. Have you ever thought about how difficult it would be to rotate troops here if it were the local militia? They might even encounter waves."

"But recruiting soldiers allows them to be stationed long-term and help the imperial court mine in Japan. Do you know how much revenue these mines can generate in a year?"

Zhang Jianzhi replied, "Your subject understands."

Li Zhi was taken aback: "You know?"

Zhang Jianzhi said, "I have had the Ministry of Revenue check carefully. There are two gold mines and one silver mine in Junzhou. In addition, the Ishimi silver mine will increase the annual output by about 300,000 strings of cash."

"The salary of the Imperial Guard is thirty-eight shi of millet and twelve bolts of cloth per year, which is equivalent to about eight strings of copper coins. A family of four pays about one string of copper coins in taxes per year. Therefore, if a soldier from the Imperial Guard is converted to a recruit, the court will have to spend an extra seven strings of copper coins per year."

"The imperial army currently has about 680,000 soldiers. If all of them are added together, the annual fiscal expenditure will increase by more than 4.7 million strings of cash. If we deduct the 300,000 strings of cash in output, the country will need to increase its fiscal expenditure by 4.4 million strings of cash per year."

Li Zhi was completely stunned after hearing this.

He guessed that turning recruited soldiers into government troops would cost a lot more money, but he didn't expect the number to be so staggering.

Even if we conquer the entire territory of Japan in the future and use it as a mining area for the Tang Dynasty to increase production, I'm afraid we still wouldn't be able to support such a large army.

Zhang Jianzhi continued, "There are two ways to solve this problem right now."

Li Zhi said, "Speak."

Zhang Jianzhi said, "First, we can reduce the soldiers' salaries. Second, we can reduce the size of the army."

After listening, Li Zhi fell into deep thought.

Lowering salaries is not advisable, but reducing the army is something to consider. The Tang army had more than 600,000 soldiers, but only more than 200,000 were actually on duty. Should we reduce them to 200,000?
However, this means that if the country suffers a major defeat, it will face a manpower crisis.

Future recruits will not possess the same level of military skills as the Tang soldiers, leading to a shortage of capable successors in the Tang army.

It must be said that the Fubing system did have a great advantage. At this moment, Li Zhi was even shaken. Should he adopt both the Fubing system and the mercenary system at the same time to maintain a balance?

This wavering only lasted for a moment and quickly disappeared.

Maintaining a standing army of 600,000 is indeed very expensive, but if we want to control the Western Regions or even Central Asia in the future, this standing army of 600,000 will be indispensable.

By controlling the Silk Road through the military and continuing to develop commerce and trade, new outputs will be generated for the country, and engaging in commerce with a sword can create a virtuous cycle.

Moreover, the conversion of the militia to recruited soldiers was originally a gradual process and was within a controllable range.

The problem can be solved by utilizing these recruits to continuously increase national output, and then using that output to convert into new recruits.

With this in mind, Li Zhi felt reassured and said, "You need not say more, I know what I'm doing."

"But Your Majesty..."

Before Zhang Jianzhi could speak, Li Zhi interrupted him, saying, "Minister Zhang, I think there's a problem with your approach to solving this problem."

Zhang Jianzhi was taken aback and said, "I don't understand."

Li Zhi said, "Converting the militia into mercenaries does cost more money, but you can't always think about saving money to cope with this extra expense. Instead, you should think about how to increase the national treasury's revenue to make up for the expenditure."

Zhang Jianzhi fell silent; he had indeed never considered this possibility.

Li Yifu smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty's words have enlightened me. After returning, Minister Zhang and I will do our best to come up with a better solution to share Your Majesty's burdens."

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Very good, go back and think about it slowly. I believe that with your intelligence, you will definitely be able to come up with a solution."

Upon seeing this, Zhang Jianzhi could only bow and say, "Your subject accepts the decree," and then take his leave with Li Yifu.

In late April, two carriages drove out of the palace through Anshang Gate and headed towards Princess Xincheng's residence.

Today is another day for the two little princesses to leave the palace and meet with Consort Xiao.

Previously, the two would ride in the same carriage, but ever since Wu Minzhi's coming-of-age ceremony, Princess Gao'an and Princess Yiyang have been giving each other the cold shoulder.

Princess Gao'an attended her coming-of-age ceremony that day, hoping to make a friend, but she discovered that the young women who went to the Wu family mansion were all noble ladies who had been to the palace.

This is actually normal. The noblewomen who entered the palace each time were invited by Empress Wu, and the women attending the coming-of-age ceremony were also invited by the Wu family, so there was a high degree of overlap between the two groups.

Princess Gao'an suddenly felt bored, so she returned to the palace with Li Ji ahead of schedule.

She had a terrible time on the trip, but Princess Yiyang was the complete opposite. When she returned to the palace, she was all smiles and seemed very happy.

Princess Gao'an became even angrier and asked her where she had gone, but Princess Yiyang still refused to say, so Princess Gao'an stopped talking to her.

Princess Xincheng lived in Xingdao Ward, which was just across the street from Zhuque Gate. The two carriages soon arrived at the princess's residence.

To make it easier for the mother and daughter to meet, Princess Xincheng specially prepared a large room in the southeast corner of the mansion so that they could talk undisturbed.

Xiao Shuren had arrived ahead of time and was waiting in the house.

When she saw her two daughters arrive, she smiled and waved to them, inviting them to sit down next to her.

Experiences are the easiest way to change a person.

After Xiao Siye died, Xiao Shuren completely gave up the idea of ​​returning to the palace and devoted herself to Taoist cultivation.

As a result, she experienced a blessing in disguise, feeling a long-lost sense of mental relaxation and becoming more and more peaceful, almost like a Taoist nun.

She took out the snacks she had made herself and fed them to her daughters. She also gave each of them one of the two handkerchiefs she had sewn herself.

Soon, Xiao Shuren noticed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong with you two? Why aren't you talking to each other?"

Princess Gao'an had been waiting for her to say those words. Her pent-up grievances suddenly burst forth. She hugged Xiao Shuren's arm and sobbed, "Mother, my elder sister is bullying me!"

Princess Yiyang frowned but remained silent.

Xiao Shuren glanced at Princess Yiyang, gently rubbed Princess Gao'an's back, and smiled, "Silly child, your elder sister loves you the most, how could she bully you? Is there some misunderstanding?"

"It's not a misunderstanding..."

Princess Gao'an looked up, tears streaming down her face, and sobbed as she recounted the events to Consort Xiao.

Xiao Shuren looked at her eldest daughter, not blaming her, but only smiling and saying, "Hua'er has grown up and has her own little secrets now. Can't you even tell your mother?"

Princess Yiyang blushed slightly and whispered, "Mother, it's not really a secret. It's just that once, when I went to Penglai Palace, I saw a poem..."

Princess Gao'an stopped crying as soon as she saw her begin to confess. She nestled in Xiao Shuren's arms, turned her head to look at Princess Yiyang, and listened to her speak.

Princess Yiyang continued, "That poem was very strange, so I asked Aunt Xu who wrote it, and Aunt Xu said it was written by her niece."

Xu Jin's niece, who is also Xu Qidan's daughter, was summoned back to Chang'an by Emperor Gaozong when Xu Jin was made a virtuous consort two years ago.

Princess Gao'an asked, "Is your friend Aunt Xu's niece?"

Princess Yiyang hummed in agreement and said, "Her name is Xu Yuan'ai. She is a year older than me. When I saw that she could compose poetry at such a young age, I became competitive and wrote a poem as well. I asked Aunt Xu to send it over to her so she could see it."

"After she saw my poems, she wrote me a reply, praising them highly. I also wrote back, saying that her poems were also good. In this way, we often wrote to each other."

"She told me that she had joined a women's chess club, which was full of women around my age. They would gather together to play chess and compose poetry. I was very envious when I heard this, and I thought that I would go to the chess club to see it one day. It just so happened that my father allowed us to leave the palace that day, so I took the opportunity to go."

Princess Gao'an clapped her hands and laughed after hearing this, "That's so funny! Why didn't you tell me?"

Princess Yiyang glanced at her and said, "I knew it. After I told you, you would insist on going together. Wouldn't that make people laugh?"

"How am I a laughingstock?" Princess Gao'an glared at her resentfully.

Princess Yiyang asked, "Do you know what people outside the palace think of us?"

Princess Gao'an paused for a moment, then shook her head.

Princess Yiyang said, "People outside the palace are saying that I am good at poetry and you are good at music. We two princesses in the inner palace are both gentle and refined, and well-educated."

Princess Gao'an blushed slightly upon hearing this, knowing full well that she had absolutely no connection to the words "gentle and refined."

Princess Yiyang said, "I'm doing this for your own good, so they won't see your true form and laugh at you behind your back."

Princess Gao'an's mind suddenly exploded with a "boom".

She suddenly remembered that whenever a noblewoman from outside the palace brought some girls of the same age into the palace, someone would always look at her with strange eyes, as if they were trying not to laugh.

It was the same when I went to the Martial Arts Academy last time!
It turns out they realized they didn't match the rumors, so they started making fun of themselves!

"Mother, is it really true what's being said about me and my sister outside?" Princess Gao'an asked with wide eyes.

Xiao Shuren said softly, "It's alright if it's spread. Your mother thinks you have a good temperament now."

Princess Gao'an waved her small fist and shouted, "Who is spreading these rumors outside the palace? Aren't they trying to harm me?"

Princess Yiyang covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "The one who spread these words is your favorite brother, Ji'a."

Princess Gao'an was stunned and said, "How could he do this?"

Princess Yiyang laughed and said, "He praises you to everyone he meets, and over time, he's gained a good reputation. If you have to blame someone, you can only blame yourself for not being ambitious enough!"

Princess Gao'an covered her face and nestled in Xiao Shuren's arms, too ashamed to speak.

Princess Yiyang asked Consort Xiao, "Mother, my brother has been in his own residence for over a month now. Has he come to see you?"

Xiao Shuren shook his head.

Princess Yiyang snorted, "He's getting more and more outrageous."

Xiao Shuren hurriedly said, "Don't blame him. Without His Majesty's decree, he wouldn't dare to come to see me casually."

Princess Yiyang said, "Mother, you don't know this, but he was already acting strangely before he left the palace. He only knew how to fight insects all day long and didn't ask about your situation. When we went to find him, he even kicked us out."

Princess Gao'an raised her head and said, "Mother, it's true, my brother has changed a lot recently."

Xiao Shuren said sadly, "I have wronged him, and I have wronged you all." His eyes were slightly red.

Seeing that she was about to cry, the two sisters dared not mention Li Lian again and quickly started telling her some interesting stories.

The three chatted until 4:45 PM, when Princess Xincheng ordered someone to bring them food, and they ate together in the room.

After 7 p.m., Consort Xiao urged them to return to the palace quickly. The two women waited another quarter of an hour before reluctantly saying goodbye to their mother.

They went to the back hall first, intending to greet Princess Xincheng before returning to the palace, but unexpectedly encountered Changsun Quan in the corridor.

Changsun Quan, dressed in official robes and looking hurried, came towards us.

Princess Yiyang found it strange and asked, "Uncle Changsun, it's so late, are you still going to the yamen?"

Changsun Quan looked unwell, but forced a smile and said, "Something has happened in the city, I'm going to take care of it."

With that, he strode away.

The two women quickly went to the back hall to bid farewell to Princess Xincheng, only to find that Princess Xincheng's expression was not good either.

"Aunt, what happened? Why do you and Uncle look like this?" Princess Gao'an asked curiously.

Princess Xincheng frowned and said, "Something has happened at the Great Ci'en Temple. Someone wants to harm the Lady of Dai. As the Prefect of Yongzhou, the Prince Consort should naturally go and see for himself."

Princess Gao'an was taken aback. The Lady of Dai was Lady Yang, the birth mother of Empress Wu, and could be considered their maternal grandmother.

Everyone knows that Empress Wu was extremely filial to Lady Yang. Who was so bold as to offend Lady Yang?

Just as she was about to ask again, Princess Xincheng waved her hand and said, "Alright, it's getting late, you should go back quickly so your brother won't worry."

Seeing her serious expression, the two could only nod and board the carriage to return to the palace.

(End of this chapter)