On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 273 Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs

In the ninth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the former King of Goguryeo contacted Kumoxi and Khitan to plan for the western Liaoning region, but he died of illness the following year before he left the army.

Dulan Khan had a close relationship with King Xi Ahui Lusu, so he naturally knew about this.

He knew the ambitions of the Goguryeo people. The envoy sent to Pyongyang was still on the way, but two uninvited guests came to Dolan's sweat tent.

It was the envoys sent by the Western Turks Dadou Khan and the Western Turks Nili Khan.

Obviously, they had heard the news that Tuli Khan was about to marry the Sui princess.

In front of the envoy, Dulan Khan and his ministers laughed and said:

"Everything in the world is strange. Datou and Nili actually remember me, the Great Khan."

The envoy of Datou Khan said:

"It was the Sui people who stirred up dissension and caused dissension among the khans.

"At that time, Shabolu Khan was powerful, so the Sui people made good friends with Apo Khan and Datou Khan.

"After that, Apo Khan rose to power in Mobei, and the Sui people protected Shabolu Khan.

"Now that the Great Khan's tribe was becoming more and more prosperous, the Sui people felt threatened, and they made peace with the Tuli Khan.

"In the words of the Sui people, it is Xiangzhuang's sword dance with the intention of Peigong.

"Great Khan, you are the Duke of Pei."

When Dulan Khan heard this, he no longer smiled.

The truth is often the most hurtful. The Turkic Khanate is now torn apart. Although it has its own shortcomings in the khan system, the Sui Dynasty also deliberately created conflicts and sow discord for them.

Nili Khan's envoy saw this and said:

"I dare not deceive the Great Khan. The Sui people once sent an envoy to contact my Khan, and they are willing to join forces with Nili Khan to attack the Great Khan.

“My Great Khan knew very well that the Sui people were ambitious and working with him would be seeking the skin of a tiger, so he flatly refused.

"But I was still sent here to remind the Great Khan: 'If you don't have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries.'

"Now the Sui people are sharpening their swords. If the Great Khan does not make preparations early, he may become a lamb to be slaughtered in the future."

Dulan Khan was furious. He slapped the table and shouted:

"Old Yang Jian, you bullied me too much!"

Although there is no evidence that the Sui Dynasty actually sent someone to contact Nili Khan, these are just the words of the messenger and cannot be relied upon.

However, in these years, the Sui Dynasty really lacked great virtues in the Turks and caused trouble everywhere.

In the eyes of the Turks, this is what Yang Jian can do.

From then on, Dulan Khan stopped paying tribute to the Sui Dynasty, and instead joined forces with the Western Turks and the Western Turks to plan against the Tuli Khan Rangan.

Cui Che, who is now in Renshou Palace, does not know this. Cui Che's relationship with Dulan Khan is different from that of Ahui Lusu, and he does not have such strong control over him.

And Dulan Khan is very ambitious and is not someone who can be easily controlled.

Especially since Cui Che is not working in Youzhou now, it is even more difficult to influence the other party, and Dulan Khan will not report everything to him.

Now Cui Che devotes himself to being his Minister of Civil Affairs and accounting for military and state finances.

Under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are four divisions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, namely, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Duzhi Division, Jinbu Division, and Cangbu Division, all of which are headed by ministers and Yuanwailang as their primary and secondary officials.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs is the head of the four departments and is in charge of the national household registration accounts, land, tax and service orders.

The Duzhi Division is the second of the four divisions and is in charge of the cashier's office.

The Department of Finance is the third of the four departments and is responsible for reviewing the accounts of money and silk cashiers in the national treasury, coin minting, and government orders related to weights and measures.

The Cangbu Department is the last of the four departments. As the name suggests, it is in charge of national grain storage, tax collection, grain distribution, and government orders for warehouses. It also manages free warehouses and Changping warehouses to prepare for bad years and stabilize grain prices.

Cui Che has been in office for some time. After getting familiar with the government affairs of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he had to sigh:

The Sui Dynasty did not levy commercial taxes, but the state was rich. How miserable were the people in the world who were exploited?

A poor family can only be granted 20 acres of public land, but has to bear 140 acres of tax. The seven-fold difference is enough to make the people breathless.

In this way, Yang Jian can actually get the reputation of being a light corvee and a low-end official, which is true.

In this regard, the group of Dongyang disciples under Cui Che have the most say.

However, if you think about it carefully, you will be relieved. If this were not the case, how could the Sui Dynasty's storage be astonishing.

It is certainly untenable to say that the Tang Dynasty was still consuming the savings of the Sui Dynasty within twenty years after its founding.

After all, the "New Book of Tang" clearly records: "It takes nine years to store grains and five years to store rice. In a wet place, five years to store grains and three years to store rice."

How can food be stored for twenty years?

However, after Yang Guang came to the throne, Taicang in Xijing, Hanjiacang in Tokyo, etc. had tens of millions of shi, and some even had several million shi. It is true that the charity warehouses in various places were full.

What is the concept of tens of millions of stones?

In the third year of Kaihuang's reign, the Yellow River burst its banks. Cui Che took office as Henan's comfort envoy and went to Qingzhou and other places to provide relief. He only brought away three million dan of grain, which was sufficient to supply the victims for a year until the autumn harvest of the following year.

This shows the wealth of the Sui Dynasty.

Under the so-called policy of light corvee and low taxation, it is impossible to produce so much food out of thin air.

Although the farming technology of the Sui Dynasty had developed to a certain extent, if the imperial court was really light on corvee and low on taxes, it could not reach such an appalling level.

It was not just the difference of seven times the actual tax that allowed him to accumulate such a huge wealth.

Yang Guang had to shoulder the blame for the fall of the Sui Dynasty, but in reality, the people were already overwhelmed as early as the period of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty.

The only difference between father and son is that Yang Guang has no regard for the life and death of the people at the bottom, and he can't hold anything else in his heart but himself.

Yang Jian would also issue edicts to reduce or reduce some taxes from time to time so that the people could take a breather.

The people of ancient China have always been like this. If they were not really unable to survive, no one would rebel. Therefore, in the end of Yang Jian's reign, although the people lived a miserable life, they were able to survive, and no large-scale peasant uprising broke out.

Of course, except for forcing the people in Jiangnan to recite the "Five Religions".

On July 22, the fifteenth year of the founding of the Emperor (AD 595), after a hot summer, Yang Jian and all the civil and military officials returned to Daxing from Renshou Palace.

As soon as Cui Che entered the house, he went straight to Cui Zhaorong's yard.

"Aunt, Le'er's marriage has been decided."

Cui Che smiled.

Cui Zhaorong was overjoyed. She straightened her glasses on the bridge of her nose and asked eagerly:

"Which girl is she from? Why didn't you tell me in advance?"

Cui Che said proudly:

"She is the daughter of Yang Xuangan, the eldest son of Yang Su, Duke of Yue."

Pei Xiu also studied at Weishui Academy. He shared a dormitory with Cui Che, Yang Xuangan, and Dou Wei, and they had a very close relationship with each other.

Cui Zhaorong put his hands on his hands and laughed. He couldn't help but pat Cui Che on the shoulder and praised:

"Okay! This is really a good marriage."

At first, Pei Xiu mistakenly thought that Cui Che had offended Yang Jian's family and ran around for him in Chang'an. In order to make the acting realistic, Yang Guang forced the government to capture Pei Xiu. It was the help of Yang Xuangan and Dou Wei that allowed Pei Xiu to escape Chang'an.

Cui Zhaorong also knew about this matter.

(End of chapter)