Chapter 1 The Beginning
The fourth year of Zhenguan, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the grand court assembly.
Early in the morning, after washing up and tidying himself with the service of the maids Xiao Huan and Xiao Mi, Fang Er went out fully armed.
He wore leather military boots, a green locomotive hat, a green military padded jacket, and a pair of buffalo hide gloves. Pushing his sunglasses up his nose, he mounted the long-idle big motorcycle.
Chichichichi~~~
Turulululu~~~~
The motorcycle started and headed straight for Chang'an City.
Outside Chengtian Gate, from a distance, he saw a group of people surrounding Chai Shao, Li Xiaogong, Cheng Yaojin, and Yuchi Jingde.
Among the crowd, also surrounded with them, were four bicycles.
These were gifts Fang Er had given them when he was in Shenyang. The previous day, he had brought them back together by helicopter, and had his servants deliver them to their respective mansions.
Unexpectedly, the four fellows had all ridden them out, taking advantage of the grand court assembly to show them off.
"Big Black, given our brotherhood, tell me, isn't it solid!" Niu Jindai grabbed Yuchi Jingde's clothes, his eyes fixed on the bicycle.
"Brotherhood is brotherhood, but the bicycle is not for lending!" Yuchi Jingde was completely unyielding.
"Fairy, can I ride your bicycle?" Zhang Gongjin looked fawningly at Cheng Yaojin.
"Sorry, as my brother would say, wife and car, neither are for lending!" Old Cheng said with great pride.
"Then can other things be lent?" Zhang Gongjin said with a smile.
"What do you mean?"
"You said it yourself, I won't borrow your car, nor your wife, but what about that 'tang shui' you brought back? Can I use it for a few days?"
"Old Zhang, you're really asking for it. Come, let me loosen you up!" Cheng Yaojin's temper flared instantly. He grabbed Zhang Gongjin and gave him a good beating.
"Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Old Zhang is getting worse with age. He's so down and out that he doesn't even have money to go to Baihua Tower? He's actually looking to borrow a concubine from someone else?" Chai Shao stood by watching the show with amusement, and couldn't resist provoking Zhang Gongjin.
"Damn it! Didn't you just say everything except your wife and car could be lent? Don't go back on your word! We're still going to court later!"
"Cheng Yaojin, you son of a bitch! If you hit me one more time, I'll get serious!"
Zhang Gongjin, pinned under Cheng Yaojin, felt his fists, as big as sandbags, smashing into his face and shouted.
No one present felt this scene was unfamiliar.
It would be a strange thing if there wasn't some sort of commotion during a grand court assembly.
Fang Er did not step forward. He handed his motorcycle to the guards at Chengtian Gate, casually tossed them a piece of silver, and then stood aside, happily watching the spectacle.
Soon, Chengtian Gate opened wide. Deng Dengjie stood in the gate passage and flicked his whisk: "The time has come, all officials enter the hall!"
After saying that, he turned and walked towards Taiji Palace, and whether intentionally or not, he swayed his hips as he walked, which was absurd.
Everyone followed him into the palace.
Only Cheng Yaojin and Zhang Gongjin were left, still tightly embracing each other and rolling back and forth outside Chengtian Gate.
Taiji Palace.
Li Shimin sat on the dragon throne, feeling that this thing was not as comfortable as the sofa on the boat.
He scanned the civil and military officials below and suddenly realized two people were missing.
"Where are Cheng Zhijie and Zhang Hongshen?"
Fang Er and Chai Shao then realized that those two fellows had not entered together.
"Coming, coming!"
Just then, outside Taiji Palace, Cheng Yaojin's rough voice was heard.
Everyone turned and saw him with a black eye, his lips swollen as if he were holding a walnut, about to cross the threshold of Taiji Palace.
Zhang Gongjin, walking behind him, looked almost identical, his face covered in blood.
"Hurry and take your positions, what kind of behavior is this!"
Li Shimin reprimanded them both with an unfriendly expression.
Although he was accustomed to these fellows fighting every few days, this was the annual grand court assembly, and the two scoundrels were being too inconsiderate of the occasion.
After the two found their positions, Li Shimin picked up the ginseng tea by his hand and took a sip. Then, looking at the officials, he began the opening remarks for the grand court assembly of the fourth year of Zhenguan.
After a lot of pleasantries, he changed the subject: "Ministers of the Six Ministries!"
"Your humble servant, present!"
The Ministers of the Six Ministries who were called stepped out of the ranks and bowed in salute.
"Tell me about last year's situation."
"Yes!"
Fang Xuanling spoke first: "Reporting to Your Majesty, last year, the population yellow registers were re-registered. The Great Tang has a registered population of three million six hundred thousand households, fourteen million five hundred thirty thousand individuals, and three hundred million mu of registered land."
"In the third year of Zhenguan, the Ministry of Revenue received a total of twenty-seven million strings of cash in taxes and war spoils, with an expenditure of fifteen million strings, and a surplus of twelve million strings."
"In addition, the national debt has been fully redeemed."
As he announced this series of numbers, Fang Xuanling's face was full of pride.
"Hiss~~~!"
The officials present, upon hearing the revenue of the Ministry of Revenue, unanimously gasped.
"Too much wealth!"
Since the founding of the Great Tang, when had the national treasury ever been so prosperous?
If one disregarded the foundation left by the previous Sui Dynasty, when had the Ministry of Revenue ever had a surplus?
"Hahahahahahaha! Good!"
Li Shimin's laughter echoed through the hall. He was indeed extremely happy.
When he first ascended the throne, the Ministry of Revenue was stretched thin everywhere. In just three years, there was already a surplus of over ten million.
And taxes had never been increased, what did this mean?
It meant that he was a wise ruler, a proper wise ruler!
"Ministry of War!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Li Jing stepped forward and began his report.
The Ministers of the Six Ministries took turns, summarizing the situation of the previous year.
Apart from the Ministry of Revenue.
In the past year, the Ministry of War had forcibly closed over seven hundred large and small temples, dismissed over one hundred and thirty thousand monks, and reclaimed nearly two million mu of land.
In addition, preparations for the reform of the nine Grand Protectorates had been completed. The sixteen Wei prefectural soldiers numbered five hundred thousand. It was planned to lay off twenty thousand old and weak prefectural soldiers, and recruit fifteen thousand new soldiers, to ensure that each of the nine Grand Protectorates had a full complement of fifty thousand standing troops.
The Ministry of Personnel, due to the expansion of the Great Tang's territory by nearly half in the past two years of foreign campaigns, had been continuously selecting officials. This year, nearly a thousand officials at all levels had been dispatched, and there was still a significant shortage.
The greatest achievement of the Ministry of Works in the third year of Zhenguan was the construction of the cement road from Taiyuan to Chang'an and from Chang'an to Bianzhou. It was expected that this year the roads from Bianzhou to Dengzhou and from Bianzhou to Yangzhou would be completed.
In addition to road construction, the dredging of river channels throughout the country had not been neglected.
The Ministry of Rites had built over three hundred schools around Chang'an, accommodating nearly five thousand schoolchildren.
The Ministry of Justice had apprehended nearly thirty thousand remnants of aristocratic families, who had been dealt with according to the law, some beheaded, some exiled.
Perhaps because of the apprehension of these individuals, the number of lawsuits throughout the Great Tang had decreased by more than thirty percent compared to the second year of Zhenguan.