Early the next morning, Fang Er, with Xiao Qing's assistance, changed into his court attire.
After a simple wash, he mounted his large motorcycle and sped towards Chang'an city.
This was a regular morning court, attended only by officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital.
When Fang Er arrived, the Chengtian Gate had already been opened.
The imperial guards took Fang Er's motorcycle and the silver he tossed to them, smiling as they said, "Marquis, you're cutting it close. You're the only one missing."
Fang Er blinked in surprise, glanced at his watch. It was only seven o'clock. It wasn't a grand assembly; why the rush?
As he ambled towards the Liangji Hall with his hands behind his back, the hall was already filled with civil and military officials.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Liaodong has arrived."
Eunuch Deng saw Fang Er at the entrance and whispered to Li Shimin.
"Get in here! Don't you know what time it is!"
Li Shimin, looking displeased, roared at Fang Er outside the door.
"Heh heh, Your Majesty, my vehicle broke down halfway, and it took quite a while to fix."
Fang Er casually made up an excuse and then, spotting Yu Chijung gesturing to him, walked over.
"Come, I saved this spot for you, brother. Is there anything good to eat? I'm starving."
Yu Chijung pointed to the pillar next to him and said with a chuckle.
"If big brother wants to eat, of course there is!"
Fang Er took out two sausages from his pocket and handed them over.
Yu Chijung took them, skillfully peeled them, hid them in his sleeve, and began to eat, pretending to cover his mouth.
Li Shimin glanced at him and knew what he was doing, but he pretended not to see.
"The Marquis of Liaodong returned the day before yesterday. The Tujue have been completely pacified!"
"Of the eighteen tribes of the grassland, ten have been destroyed this time, and the remaining eight have chosen to surrender!"
"Furthermore, the spoils of war are not limited to this. Marquis of Liaodong, please elaborate."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have come to the palace yesterday. I have to explain it all over again!"
Fang Er took two steps forward, cleared his throat, and began to recount the events on the grassland since Li Shimin's return to court.
The officials and Li Shimin had the same reaction as yesterday. They were not surprised by the surrender.
They were also shocked by the exorbitant war reparations.
With this revenue, the financial pressure on the Great Tang could be greatly alleviated.
After Fang Er finished speaking, he retreated, took out a lollipop, and placed it in his mouth, leaning against the pillar.
Li Jing stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, I believe these war reparations can serve as a precedent. Send fast horses to inform Duke Chai and Duke Cheng, so they can proceed accordingly."
"I second that!" Generals like Zhang Gongjin and Niu Jinda stepped forward to express their agreement.
For the military, in addition to territory, there were rarely any additional war dividends in the past.
Previously, there was the war bonds proposed by Fang Er, which could be used to fill military expenses by selling exclusive rights. However, it was nowhere near as satisfying as the war reparations from the grassland this time.
With only a little over ten thousand troops mobilized, they had received hundreds of thousands of taels in reparations – it was simply unimaginable.
Moreover, there would be considerable tribute every year in the future.
If the same precedent were applied to Nanyue and Tufan, it would also be a significant amount for the Great Tang.
"Approved! After the court disperses, the Ministry of War will send people to Nanyue and Tufan to deliver the imperial decree!"
Li Shimin could not possibly reject such a proposal, unless he was out of his mind.
Moreover, at this time, for the officials in the court, there was no possibility of defeat on the side of Nanyue and Tufan, so why not take advantage of it?
After settling this matter, Li Shimin continued to speak.
"Where are the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites!"
"We are here!"
Du Ruhui, the Minister of Personnel, and someone Fang Er did not recognize stepped forward together, bowing in response.
This person should be the newly promoted Minister of Rites after the aristocratic families were annihilated.
"Since the eight tribes of the Tujue have surrendered, and the Marquis of Liaodong has agreed to let them build their own cities, the Ministry of Personnel should expedite the selection of officials, and the Ministry of Rites should select some great scholars to accompany the officials and carry out the work of enlightenment!"
"Your command is my duty!"
The two accepted the decree and retreated.
Fang Er remembered the sweet potato seedlings that had grown three inches tall and stepped forward, cupping his hands.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the sweet potatoes brought back from Shenyang last year have begun to be cultivated into seedlings. They can be planted in the ground within half a month at the latest. Conservatively estimated, thirty thousand mu of seedlings can be cultivated. I request Your Majesty to make arrangements in advance."
Cultivating one mu of seedlings requires about one hundred jin of sweet potato tubers. Over three million jin of sweet potatoes is enough for thirty thousand mu of planting, so this checks out.
Of course, later on, sweet potato vines can be cut from the transplanted fields for secondary cuttings, although the yield will be slightly lower. However, with a yield of over three thousand jin per mu, even a ten to twenty percent reduction in yield would still be remarkably high for this era.
Fang Family Village did not have enough land to grow sweet potatoes, so it was better to hand this matter over to the imperial court.
As soon as Fang Er finished speaking, Fang Xuanling stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I believe we can first promote trial planting in the counties around Chang'an. Although we all know that sweet potatoes are high-yield, it is still a new crop for the common people, and they may not dare to plant them in large quantities."
Li Shimin stroked his beard and nodded. Before he could speak, Fang Er spoke again.
"Your Majesty, I have a proposal. It's only thirty thousand mu of seedlings anyway."
"I propose that any commoner who voluntarily plants more than five mu of sweet potatoes will be exempt from taxes this year. During the autumn harvest, the Ministry of Revenue will repurchase all the produced sweet potatoes as seeds for next year."
"In this way, by next year, the planting area for sweet potatoes will be enough to reach a million mu! The annual output of sweet potatoes will be nearly thirty million jin!"
"Hmm?"
When Fang Er's concept of contract farming emerged, Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling, and other officials were stunned.
This method sounded quite good.
"Your Majesty, I believe that exempting taxes can alleviate the doubts of the common people to a certain extent. With five mu as the limit, thirty thousand mu will only involve six thousand households. The taxes from these people are but a drop in the ocean for the entire Great Tang, so it can be tried."
"Historically, low grain prices hurt farmers, and high grain prices also hurt farmers. At the same time, with the repurchase, it is beneficial to both the court and the common people, with no harm. Therefore, I believe that the Marquis of Liaodong's proposal is highly feasible."
The Left Vice Chancellor, Xiao Yu, with his aged body swaying, stepped forward and solemnly analyzed the benefits of tax exemption and repurchase.
Fang Er's eyes lit up. As the saying goes, an elder at home is a treasure. Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier it is. In just two sentences, he had clearly explained Fang Er's intentions.
"Your Majesty, I also agree with the Marquis of Liaodong's proposal. However, according to last year's yield, thirty thousand mu of sweet potatoes will produce at least ten million jin by the autumn harvest!"
"If we price it at the current price of one liang of silver per stone of rice, it will cost one million liang of silver to acquire.
"At that time, whether the Ministry of Revenue can produce so much silver, so please consider it carefully, Your Majesty."
Wei Zheng's words were well-reasoned.
However, Fang Xuanling, as the pillar of the Ministry of Revenue and the head responsible for the livelihood of the entire Great Tang, quickly organized his thoughts.
"Duke Wei's words are both right and wrong!"
"Sweet potato is a new crop. For the common people, filling their stomachs is far more important than selling grain."
"The yield of one mu of rice is only two shi, and the price is only two liang of silver."
"If the output of one mu of sweet potatoes is valued at 3 liang of silver, it only costs one coin per jin. Ten million jin of sweet potatoes will cost one hundred thousand liang of silver, which I can afford."
"In this way, even if the common people sell their sweet potatoes to buy rice, they will get nearly half more than by growing their own."
ps: Fifth update, five more chapters to go! Roar roar!