Chapter 363 Reorganization
But Li Heng ignored Li Longji and asked Cen Shen, "Have all the Zoroastrians been caught?"

Cen Shen said: "Some of them went to the Taoist temple, some went to the Buddhist temple, and some went to the Taoist temple of Princess Yuzhen and Concubine Mei. I dare not act rashly."

Princess Yuzhen was the sister of Li Longji, the aunt of Li Ying, and the benefactor of Li Bai and Wang Wei.

Li Heng pretended to be furious and said, "Great! Such a quiet and peaceful place actually harbored traitors. Arrest them all and let the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate jointly investigate them."

Cen Shen said: "Yes!"

Li Heng turned to Zhang Guangsheng and said, "Dispatch a thousand Yulin Guards to cooperate with Jingzhao Prefecture to arrest people."

Zhang Guangsheng said: "Yes."

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "The emperor allowed rebels to come and go freely under his feet. It seems that the officials were also negligent. Shi Shouyi, you should select 5,000 people from the original Shouwang Palace guards to form a new department. They will obey my orders directly and be dedicated to supervising all officials! Let's call this department Jinyiwei."

"Yes." Shi Shouyi accepted the order.

When the officials below heard this, they were all shocked.

It’s not that the Tang Dynasty didn’t have secret agencies, but it was the first time that someone issued an imperial decree so blatantly like Li Heng did.

Wei Jiansu stepped forward courageously and said, "Your Majesty, the duty of the Censor is to supervise all officials. Your Majesty has set up a new department. Isn't there some confusion about power and responsibility?"

"That makes sense." Li Heng nodded and continued, "The Censorate only has the power to supervise and impeach. To make a distinction, why not let the Royal Guards, in addition to supervising, also have the power to arrest and interrogate. This way, the powers and responsibilities are clear."

Wei Jiansu was stunned and said, "Your Majesty, that's not what I meant."

Li Heng asked, "What does the Left Prime Minister mean? Is the Left Prime Minister afraid of being monitored?"

"No, no..." Wei Jiansu shook his head quickly, "I am innocent and I agree with Your Majesty."

"Where are the others?" Li Heng glanced at the ministers.

Li Ying's direct descendants naturally would not have any objections, and those who were not Li Ying's direct descendants would not dare to express their opinions even if they had any.

Seeing that no one was saying anything, Li Heng said, "Then it's settled."

Then, Li Heng turned to Liu Yan and said, "I have received Shi'an's memorial. Now I would like to ask Shi'an to tell everyone about it."

"Yes." Liu Yan stood up and said, "The taxation system that the Tang Dynasty has always implemented is the rent-labor-service system. The reason for using the rent-labor-service system is because the land policy of the Tang Dynasty is the equal-field system."

The so-called rent, labor service and corvee, rent refers to the rent for land, labor service refers to corvee labor, and tax refers to the household tax, that is, the silk and linen fabrics paid by the people. The three together are the so-called three taxes.

The reason why rent, labor service and tribute were attached to the equal-field system was that the equal-field system distributed land according to population. Where there were people, there was land, so rent, labor service and tribute could be levied according to population.

In the early Tang Dynasty, people over the age of eighteen could be granted one hundred acres of land, eighty acres of which were called mouth-allocated land, which could only be used to grow grain. After the age of sixty, the land had to be returned to the state. The other twenty acres were called permanent land, which could be used to grow other things. They were permanently retained and could also be resold.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the rent was one in forty, which meant that if one produced forty shi of crops per year, one only had to pay tax on one shi.

In the Han Dynasty, the tax rate was one thirty percent.

Mencius believed that a tax rate of one-tenth was the policy of a king. The tax rate of forty-one in the early Tang Dynasty showed the benevolence of its administration.

The ordinary rule was that each person needed to serve the country for twenty days each year, with five more days in a leap year.

Each household had to pay the court two zhang of silk, three liang of cotton, or two zhang and a half of cloth and three jin of hemp every year. Everyone present knew the details, so Liu Yan did not explain.

"But now," Liu Yan changed the subject, "the population is growing, officials are corrupt, and Wang Yu is the household registration officer, who is busy collecting taxes. As long as the household registration is not cancelled, he will forcibly collect rent and labor service. Regardless of whether they died of illness or in battle, they will be charged for 30 years of rent and labor service. People all over the world suffer and have no one to complain to. This is enough to show the disadvantages of rent and labor service. Today, the world is in war, land annexation is serious, the territory is empty, and the various tax collection departments are not in charge of each other. The outline of rent and labor service is greatly damaged, and there are many kinds of exorbitant taxes. The income of the king's tax is very little, and there are hundreds of taxes."

When Liu Yan said this, he glanced at Li Longji.

Because Liu Yan believed that Li Longji was to blame for all these things.

Among them, Liu Yan also particularly emphasized official corruption, because official corruption was indeed an important reason for accelerating land annexation and leading to the collapse of the equal-field system.

In ancient times, there was no statistical calculation software such as computers, and the implementation of the equal-field system required a large amount of statistical calculations.

For example, the household registration policy that emerged from the equal-field system.

The household registration policy, "ji" refers to the household registration. The household registration is not just a one-time statistics, but a unified system every three years. If a baby is born, the baby must be registered; if an elderly person turns 60, the land allocated to the family must be taken back; if a baby turns 18, the land must be distributed. All these must be recorded clearly.

Moreover, the household registration in the Tang Dynasty was not the same, but was divided into nine levels according to the economic level. The land was not calculated the same way, but was divided into six levels according to the specific conditions of the land.

The household registration system must be made into three volumes, one in the county, one in the state, and one kept in the Ministry of Households of the imperial court.

An account refers to a book that records able-bodied men, with statistics compiled once a year to determine the number of taxes and labor service for the next year.

Such complicated work will test the ability and integrity of the officials below. If the officials below are lazy, corrupt, and muddle through, chaos will inevitably occur.

Li Longji knew all about these things, so when he saw Liu Yan's eyes, he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, but Li Longji did not show it, but glared back at Liu Yan.

Liu Yan ignored Li Longji's glare and continued, "The old ones are not reduced, the old ones are not removed, and new and old problems are piling up. When will it end? The people are ordered to serve, and they sacrifice their blood and flesh, and sell their relatives and friends, and they pay taxes every month without rest. The officials are so harsh that they cannibalize thousands of people. The rich and powerful use their official positions, studies, Buddhism, Taoism, Taoism, sex, and even pretend to be dead to avoid taxes. The poor have no income, and their rent and labor service are not reduced even after their death. Taxes are exempted from the upper class, but taxes are increased from the lower class. That is why the world is exhausted!"

Liu Yan's voice was not loud, but to everyone present, it was louder than thunder.

It was Liu Yan's words that made those who didn't know why Li Heng wanted to clean up the Buddhist temples and Taoist temples understand Li Heng's intentions.

Liu Yan was also the first one to agree to clean up Buddhist temples and Taoist temples.

Wei Jiansu stood up and said, "We are aware of these problems. The key is how to solve them?"

Liu Yan said: "The old system has drawbacks, so let's use the new system."

Wei Jiansu said: "The rent and labor service system is the system of our ancestors. The Tang Dynasty was so strong because of the rent and labor service system. How can we change it just like that? In my opinion, we only need to adjust the rent and labor service system."

Liu Yan said, "The Emperor is here. May I ask the Prime Minister, have you devoted all your energy to revise the rent-labor system and the equal-field system during your reign? What results have you achieved?"

After hearing this, Li Longji felt a little regretful for staying.

Wei Jiansu glanced at Li Longji and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Li Heng said, "Why not listen to Shi'an's new system first? If you have any questions, we can discuss them later."

"Yes." Everyone accepted the order and waited quietly for Liu Yan to explain his new system.

(End of this chapter)