Chapter 145: The Battle of Ideas

"Long live the emperor!"

In Youzhou, civil and military officials, ministers bowed.

Tang Ming wore a dragon robe, his face solemn.

There were representatives of Han people, Hu people and various forces below.

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, no Han monarch has become the leader of any ethnic group, not even a nominal leader. Tang Ming was the first.

"All my dear ministers, please stand up!"

Tang Ming had great ambitions. He not only wanted to borrow the power of the Hu people, but also to educate them with his own methods.

For three generations, the nomadic people in the north have always been a major concern of the Central Plains Dynasty. Facts have proved that killing cannot solve the problem. Only by coercion and appeasement can they be assimilated from generation to generation.

The method of the Dao family is not without merit, but it is too extreme, which can easily arouse the hatred of the Hu people.

The desert is ambitious, so it makes them share a common hatred. The most prosperous period of the Central Plains Dynasty is often the most united period of the desert.

But the advantage is that they are pushed over by the Hu people.

Tang Ming also didn't trust the Hu people, but now was not the time to cross the river and burn the bridge. He had plenty of time to wait for the unification of the country and divide step by step.

As for now, it was still mainly about winning over and jointly dealing with the powerful enemy of the Dao clan.

The desert and Youzhou reached a consensus. Everyone knew that once Chang'an became strong, none of them would have a good life. The desert was not invincible. When the time came, both sides would suffer, and other forces would benefit for nothing.

So the two families cooperated in this way.

Tang Ming was also sure that the other party had no ability to occupy the city. After all, the desert was not a solid block. At most, he could plunder it, and the land and population would still be his.

As for the people at the bottom...

"I can only make the people suffer, and I will bear the infamy!"

Tang Ming thought.

His thoughts gradually drifted to the distant Chang'an.

The ceremony was to confer official titles and make wishes. Those who came or not basically had positions.

At night, the banquet continued.

After Tang Ming arranged other matters, he took advantage of the night and rode a fast horse to the capital.

The spies on the road prepared horses in advance, and after running about eight horses to death, they finally caught up with Yun Qiong and others.

This is a large caravan that has cooperated with the Taoist clan many times, and the number of people sent out each time is almost more than 40.

But many people don’t know that a certain senior member of the caravan is their man, and they will be inserted into this mission.

Three carriages carried Tang Ming and his confidants.

The masters of Buddhism and Xuanmen did not follow, they have their own channels.

About a dozen people rushed to Chang'an together.

As for Goguryeo and the desert, they did not go with them.

This time, the inner elixir of the Holy Emperor was born, and it was not just them who came. Almost all the forces that ranked high sent people to find out.

Mount Li.

A graceful Taoist reported to Xu Xuan. Judging from his clothes, he must be a senior member of the Taoist sect. This person is indeed a senior member of the Taoist sect, and he is also the great immortal Lu Jing.

There is no emperor or prince in Taoism. There is only the Great Immortal who commands the whole army, the whole religion, and the whole people. He is called the Great Immortal, and can also be called the First Seat.

"It is said that the inner elixir was unearthed in Chang'an. There may be many masters in Chang'an recently. Should we impose martial law? Restore the pass system?"

Once the pass is restored, the floating population in Chang'an will immediately decrease by more than 90%. If there is a guard every five steps and a sentry every ten steps, it is guaranteed that not even an ant can fly out.

Xu Xuan smiled and said, "It is not necessary. There is no need to guard against it. If they all come, it is just right to catch them all in one net. Besides, they will also split internally. You must have confidence in our path. The aristocratic families are not a monolithic entity."

"Split?" Lu Jing was puzzled.

Xu Xuan said again: "The aristocratic family forces are mixed. Some people are not necessarily our enemies. They are just temporarily united with Tang Ming. You will watch it."

Lu Jing is not a fool. After thinking for a moment, he realized it and smiled, "Then the disciple will wait and see."

In addition to the physical battle, this time is also a battle of ideas.

Outsiders often demonize the Dao Sect, describing this place as a barbarian land full of violence and killing.

The hierarchy of the noble families not only applies to civilians, but also has clear hierarchy within them. This hierarchy is innate. As long as you are not born well, no matter how capable you are, you will be suppressed for the rest of your life.

This entry into Guanlong may also be a spiritual shock to them.

Once the lies and propaganda of the noble families are broken, what will happen to these loose alliances of noble families?

Lu Jing is looking forward to it.

Soon, the carriage entered the range of the Daoist clan.

"From the second year of Kaiping to the present, the Yang family has 13 slaves who died of abuse, 19 who died of lending, and 7 who died of other reasons such as picking firewood and offending servants. This court pronounces the verdict - extermination of the clan."

In the open space outside the village, the people watched.

One by one, the better-dressed men were pulled out and beheaded while crying. Most of the women were assigned to single soldiers, and those with blood debts on their hands were killed.

"Good!!"

"Your Excellency is wise!!"

The people applauded and cheered, and the reputation of the Taoist sect rose significantly.

Part of the money of the noble families was distributed to the victims, and the other part was confiscated for construction. They were like a pixiu, only taking in and not giving out. I don't know how much money they have taken over for decades.

They thought that wealth could be passed down from generation to generation, but unfortunately, the final outcome was that it could only be taken advantage of by outsiders.

"This... plundering by trickery, a group of bandits and monsters!" In the carriage, the people from noble families were trembling with anger.

"They keep saying that they are for the people of the world, but why are these people in rags? Why are there still starving people?" Cui Wen said with disgust.

Decades, even hundreds of years of accumulation, were plundered like this, and anyone who saw it would be scared.

"It's good this way. When we rise in the future, this place will be a hundred responses, and they will definitely be abandoned by everyone." Yun Qiong said.

Although it's a bit despicable, we have to admit that the worse the Dao clan does, the better it is for the Tang Dynasty. More and more people are pushing them, and they are simply the people's will.

With the existence of the Dao clan as a comparison, some of their reform policies may be implemented.

"The reaction of the people also shows that the noble families are unpopular. Although the Daoist cliques are evil, they also have their merits. Do you know the necessity of the land tax distribution?" Tang Ming came out and poured a basin of cold water.

"This is too much against the noble families. It is better to reduce them step by step according to the official titles, so that the noble families can support them." A middle-aged scholar with a white face and no beard said.

"Okay."

Some ordinary scholars who were not dressed well wanted to say something, but they held back.

"Brother Hou and Brother Lin, what do you want to say?" Tang Ming keenly noticed the expressions of the two counselors who came from poor backgrounds.

"Nothing." Hou Gang did not express his opinion.

This is not a question of land tax distribution.

If the collection of taxes still depends on the powerful, then this tax will still not be collected, and it may even be passed on to the people. Maybe the situation of hidden fields will be more serious.

Moreover, the land tax distribution must be matched with the abolition of corvée labor, and the latter is absolutely impossible to improve; because the court has no money to hire, the reason why the Daoist cliques have money and food is actually to use the part of supporting the noble families on the people.

Along the way, they found that the killing was not only aimed at the nobles, but even their own people were killed.

The killing was a river of blood and a pile of heads.

This made them feel that a flame was brewing, and when the time came, perhaps they only needed to raise their arms and call for a hundred responses, and the heroes would rise.

But they came to the area controlled by the Taoist clan for more than five years.

Everything changed. Although the people's clothes were simple, they were not ragged.

The roads were flat, the water conservancy was good, and the fields were planted with thousands of catties of wheat and corn passed down by the Taoist sect.

At a glance, it was green.

Even the mountains and rivers became beautiful.

"Why? Don't they use firewood?" Someone wondered.

In densely populated areas, bare hills are the norm.

Soon, they knew why.

The caravan came to a village, and at this time, a large number of people surrounded the village entrance.

"Come on, exchange grain for honeycomb charcoal. Our Jinliang Trading Company specializes in making charcoal. One pound of grain can be exchanged for two pounds of charcoal, or you can exchange it with white atractylodes, yam, or copper coins."

"Are you still hiring?" a villager asked.

"Yes, anyone with arms and legs will do. Two strings of cash a month! Sericulture, coal mining, driving, and cargo transportation are all in short supply!"

There are even people selling jewelry and eggs.

Everyone was extremely surprised. When did the lives of the common people become so good?

This situation has never happened in all dynasties. Even in the powerful Han Dynasty, if the lower-class civilians had enough food, it would be considered a prosperous age. How could there be a chance to improve their lives?

This scene is not only in this village, but even in some villages with specialty products, the entire village has become wealthy.

"Didn't their village chief rob people by trickery?" Cui Wen said in astonishment.

"Maybe, they were probably all killed." Hou Gang said, with an inexplicable emotion in his eyes.

The Dao family is the place with the heaviest punishment they have ever seen. A little greed is a capital crime.

"There's no place to make money, aren't they afraid of officials rebelling?"

"They shouldn't be afraid. Officials here are well treated, officials are not fixed, and they are also eligible to be promoted. In addition, there are schools everywhere and scholars everywhere. If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will."

Hou Gang seems to know this place very well. In fact, they all have channels to know about it, but most of them still don't dare to believe it.

They don't believe that this place will become better without the aristocratic families, and regard these news as hearsay.

Now I come here to see it in person, it's really... changing with each passing day.