Chapter 625: Another Mouthful of Blood
After Xie Zhan took a concubine, he went to court as usual. He was not a person who indulged in love and women.
For state affairs, Xie Zhan did his best.
It was true that he wanted the Xie family to become the top family in Dali, but Xie Zhan also hoped that Dali could win the confrontation with Pingzhou. After all, if the skin is gone, where can the hair be attached?
In his eyes, the crisis of Dali was also obvious. Pingzhou, Pingzhou!
Maybe in the eyes of many people, Pingzhou, which occupies three states, can still not be compared with Dali, which occupies nearly nine states.
They still don't think that a woman in power in Pingzhou can sweep the world and seize the country of Dali.
Xie Zhan is different. He saw the vitality of Pingzhou and the decadence of Dali.
They never thought that it took only a few years for Lu Songli to go from having nothing to owning three states.
Xie Zhan faced up to the strength of Lu Songli, his opponent, and realized that the problems facing Dali were very serious.
But he also knew that Dali still had the advantage and the capital to turn the tide, and the situation had not yet developed to an irreversible point.
In other words, he still had cards in his hand, and if he played them well, he might win this game.
Taiji Hall
Civil and military officials came to see the emperor.
Prime Minister Shen Wan, Taiwei Xiao Qun, Shangshu Ling Sang Baiqing, Zhongshu Ling Zuo Anmin, Duzhi Shangshu Wu Chunyu, as well as Yushi Doctor Zhou Chengzhong, Dali Temple Minister Wang Yuan, Taichang Temple Minister Li Changchun, Military Staff Officer Fan Yang and other ministers entered in turn and stood in two rows on the left and right.
Xu Junfan stood in the middle of the left team.
The middle of the throne was empty. The emperor did not come to the morning court, and instructed Xie Zhan, the military commander, to temporarily take charge of state affairs.
Since Song Mo ascended the throne, except for the initial period, he rarely had a happy time in the court.
State affairs are always troublesome.
When he came to the court, almost all the problems he presented were urgent for him to decide and solve. To put it bluntly, he had a psychological shadow when he went to court. After Xie Zhan helped him manage state affairs, he thought it was better to stay in the harem.
After Xie Zhan took charge of state affairs, he set up a seat on the left side of the dragon throne, and he sat on this chair to listen to government affairs.
Xie Zhan had suggested that Song Mo thoroughly check the population of Dali, and now the Household Registration Department has reported the data.
"According to statistics, there are only 13.69 million people in Dali at present."
Hearing this number, the hall was silent.
I remember that the last time the Household Registration Department counted the population, there were more than 18 million people, nearly 19 million people.
So Dali has been sucked away by Pingzhou?
The officials present, who can get along in the court, are not stupid, and they certainly know the importance of population.
Xu Junfan thought to himself that these people were not all sucked away by Pingzhou. At least the nearly one million people in the North Border and Liangzhou were abandoned by Dali itself.
Xie Zhan said, "You are all the backbone of the Dali court. Now Dali is losing a lot of population. If you have any opinions or good suggestions, you can speak freely."
A minister suggested, "Report to the Grand Commander, you can ask the emperor to order to limit the issuance of road permits in various places, and use this method to limit the outflow of population."
Wu Chunyu disagreed with this view, "No, we can't do this."
"This method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. Once this method is used, the people will lose their vitality, and Dali's economic activities will also be hit..."
A minister suggested, "You can set up more checkpoints at the border with Pingzhou and collect heavier tolls. It would be best to discourage the people from going to Pingzhou."
"This method is good. Don't forget to use this method in coastal areas to prevent people from going to Pingzhou by boat."
"We can also..."
The ministers expressed their opinions, and without exception, they all severely tortured the people who went to Pingzhou.
"Colonel Fan, what suggestions do you have?" Xie Zhan called.
Fan Yang sighed in his heart and stepped out of the line, "To reduce population loss, the court's measures must benefit the people and bathe in the emperor's grace, such as reducing taxes, exempting corvée, etc."
Xie Zhan nodded, someone finally hit the point.
Wu Chunyu still disagreed, this would inevitably affect Dali's tax revenue. Dali's salt tax could not be collected this year, and the treasury was stretched.
This issue was discussed to the end, and no effective solution was found. Xie Zhan could only temporarily put it aside and discuss it later.
After the court session, Xie Zhan took a carriage back to the mansion.
Passing by the dim sum restaurant, he went to buy the dim sum that his wife liked to eat.
Although he married two concubines, he still hoped that the backyard would be peaceful.
After he returned, he asked someone to send the dim sum to the main courtyard. He did not go there, but he had sent a message that he would go there for dinner in the evening.
Afterwards, Xie Zhan asked people to invite all his trusted ministers.
Fan Yang was the first to arrive, or rather, he did not go back after the court session. He guessed some of the thoughts in the Grand Commander's mind.
When Xie Zhan saw Fan Yang coming, he immediately said, "The problem of population loss in Dali must be solved, otherwise not only will there be problems with tax sources, but also with military sources."
"And the population loss in Dali has already formed a trend. Dali must strike hard to stop this trend."
Xie Zhan knew very well that in order to reduce population loss, the law must be strictly enforced and the law must not be partial to the rich.
It is necessary to make the civilians feel fair and just, which is one of the fastest ways to change the people's perception of the court.
It would be best if taxes could be reduced and corvée labor could be lightened.
In the current situation in Dali, either continue the tax system, which makes the people uncomfortable; or take action against the noble families and the middle class, check their land and hidden population, which makes the noble families and the middle class uncomfortable; or let the people have light labor service, and do not take action against the noble families and the middle class, so that the country cannot collect taxes, which makes the country uncomfortable.
Among the three parties, one party will always have a hard time.
There are many noble families in Dali, and there are also many lands under the names of noble families, and even a large number of hidden population.
Xie Zhan has studied the various policies of Pingzhou, and the various welfare and policies of Pingzhou make the hidden population nowhere to hide.
What he has to do is to release this part of the population hidden by the noble families, which will be of great benefit to Dali.
When Xie Zhan expressed his thoughts, Fan Yang's expression was also very serious, "Grand Commander, this problem is not easy to solve."
The Grand Commander's approach violated the interests of the noble families, and there will definitely be many people who come out to stop or refuse to cooperate.
Xie Zhan nodded, and he also knew that the resistance and difficulty would be great. He found that even his subordinates were not very enthusiastic about this matter.
"I know, I need a knife."
Reform and innovation are imminent.
Only in this way can the crisis of Dali be resolved. Cutting some flesh from the aristocratic families can give Dali a new breath of blood.
At this time, Jiang Boya's letter arrived.
After reading it, Xie Zhan stood in front of the big window and said nothing for a long time.
It can be said that Xie Zhan also realized the problem that Lu Songli saw.
He knew what was right, but the people under him always made wrong moves.
Someone once told him that the greatest pain of a person is the inability to cross the gap between knowing and doing. Now Xie Zhan felt it.
This incident also prompted Xie Zhan to make a decision, "Mr. Fan, I plan to re-employ Zhang Zhongxian."
Zhang Zhongxian is the knife he wants to use.