Things have come to this point, and Li Shimin has to think carefully. If he punishes all the officials who took the money, the court will most likely stop moving forward, which will not benefit Li Shimin. What's more, what Changsun Wuji said makes sense. There are urgent matters everywhere, and it is not worth starting a war now.
What's more, Li Shimin could not guarantee that the new people would not be corrupt. If there were a few more corrupt people, they would not be as useful as these vigilant officials.
"Then you two and the ministers of each department will take the blame for others."
Finally, Li Shimin sighed. The heads of all officials and a few who stood out would definitely be punished. Of course, they would be punished highly and then put down lightly, but the leaders would definitely have their property confiscated and their families exterminated. Otherwise, how could they warn all officials?
Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji were both old foxes, so naturally they were willing to be treated this way. The emperor knew that the two had never taken any money, and this matter was nothing more than being implicated. The two were willing to help the emperor reorganize the court from their own homes, and Li Shimin accepted this favor.
"That guy submitted a memorial regarding the Sichuan issue. Do you think it's feasible?"
Li Shimin picked up a memorial from the side. Although the table was very messy, this memorial was taken out in advance, so it could be found directly.
Li Xiang's memorial was very simple, that is, all the officials in Sichuan must be replaced. Except for one third of them to be handed over to the court, the rest must be handed over to him. Of course, he did not make such a request directly, but said it more tactfully. However, there was one point that attracted Li Shimin, that is, not to ask for a penny from the court within three years, and after three years, the entire Jiannan Road would pay at least 300,000 strings of cash worth of grain to the court every year.
If he cannot pay it by then, Li Xiang is willing to pay it out of his own pocket.
The most attractive one is the last one. In Li Shimin's view, the local officials are not very good. Even if all are handed over to Li Xiang, what will happen? Although they have taken a lot of bribes, there is still not much profit.
Being able to both resettle the common people and pay money to the court was what Li Shimin wanted. If the local people were dug out to the point where they could no longer survive, what would it matter even if the court paid money? Three hundred thousand strings of cash was not much for Li Shimin, but resettling the local people was a big deal. Li Xiang also wrote in the memorial that within three years, the local people would definitely have a place to live and farm their own land.
Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji looked at each other. This was probably another trap set by Li Xiang for Li Shimin, but they would definitely fall into it. Li Shimin had already agreed in his heart, but he didn't want to be known as a dictator, so he showed the memorial to them. They had no other answer but to agree to this matter.
After all, Li Xiang had written down all the rights and interests. If someone else gave more than Li Xiang, then Li Shimin would still have a choice. Obviously, Li Shimin has no choice now. His men in black have already investigated the local situation clearly. It can almost be said that nine out of ten generations are empty. The whole Sichuan has been ruined by these officials.
If the imperial court continued to turn a blind eye, there would likely be unrest here in a few years, and the first rebellion of the Tang Dynasty would occur at that time. This could never appear in Li Shimin's mind, so he had to appease the local people.
A lot of money was made from confiscating property and exterminating families, but it was far from enough to appease the local people. Most of the money was squandered by these bastards. Even if they were skinned alive, there was no way to get the money back.
Since Li Xiang was willing to advance this portion of the money, Li Shimin thought it feasible to trade future profits for current cash. He had made similar deals with Li Xiang before, and so far, the court had benefited greatly. Of course, Li Xiang had taken the lion's share, but who could blame him for having enough money? If you had enough money, and helped the court appease the local people and resolve this difficult situation, Li Shimin would be willing to make a deal with you. However, looking across the country, apart from a few major families united, I'm afraid no one else could do so.
Compared with Li Xiang, Li Shimin was still willing to trust those major families. Although those major families had suffered a lot of losses in the previous competition with Li Xiang, they were still bigger than a lean camel and could not be given similar opportunities. If they were given the opportunity, they would most likely become too powerful to be eliminated in the future.
It's different on Li Xiang's side. This guy is the crown prince of the current dynasty. Even if he wins people's hearts in the local area, he is winning people's hearts for the Li family. No matter how big a thing you have done now, part of the credit will be attributed to Li Shimin. If it weren't for Li Shimin's ability to know people and appoint them to the right positions, how could you have such an opportunity?
So after weighing the pros and cons, Li Shimin decided to use Li Xiang's method. You use your own money to improve the local people's livelihood. In the future, you will be able to eat the biggest piece of meat, but the court will also be able to make money. Although 300,000 strings of money is a bit small, it is much better than having no money and having to take money from others. What's more, the biggest benefit after the improvement is local stability and there will be no rebellion.
If a rebellion breaks out, the people will be in a state of panic, and many things may happen that the court cannot predict. Li Shimin saw the situation at the end of the Sui Dynasty very clearly. If the people in one place rebel, the people in other places will probably follow suit. By then, the entire empire...
Of course, the people in many places nowadays are not so stupid. After all, when they have enough food to eat, they will not think about these things. Rebellion is an unforgivable crime and the whole family may be beheaded.
But as an emperor, one must consider the worst-case scenario when thinking about any problem. If the worst-case scenario occurs, Li Shimin may be overwhelmed to deal with it. In the end, even if all the rebels are killed, the overall national strength of the entire empire will decline a lot. How could there still be the current good situation?
Since Li Xiang now has a way to improve the local people's livelihood, there is no need for us to work hard. All we have to do is give him some official positions. In Li Shimin's view, these officials are unlikely to influence the court's policies and major policies, so just give them to him.
What's more, one third of them are on the court's side. If there is anything that is not beneficial to the court, Li Shimin can stop it at any time. No matter how you look at it, we are invincible.
