Chapter 281 Spending Two Thousand Taels of Gold

"Li Xiang..."

"My father-in-law calls me Qilang in private. We are just discussing among relatives, and we can speak freely."

Pei Fan was still calling Li Xuan by his honorific title when he was interrupted by Li Xuan.

No wonder.

Just like the emperor's father-in-law, he had to bow his head when he saw the emperor.

Pei Fan's Yishou County was under the supervision of Li Xuan. All government orders had to pass through Yishou first. Li Xuan's iron-blooded style had a great influence on Pei Fan.

"Qilang, please forgive me for speaking frankly... Jingzhao area, especially Yishou County, is under the feet of the emperor, and the people are relatively wealthy. Yishou County implemented the new Changping Law and announced it to all the people. In the half month since the implementation of the new Changping Law, Yishou County has only lent out 780 liters of grain, to a total of 53 households..."

"It may also be that the wheat has just matured and the people are not short of food. We need to wait until the lean season to see the effect."

Pei Fan thought about it and replied to Li Xuan.

His meaning was very clear. It would take a year to see the effects of the new Changping method and to see its operation and profits and losses.

In a short period of time, even if a large number of people borrow money, it is difficult to see any clues.

"That makes sense! The Tang Dynasty is vast, and we need to wait until next year to promote the new Changping Law throughout the country."

Li Xuan nodded.

After getting married, Li Xuan became more mature. Although his will was as strong as steel, he was no longer emotional.

He is not in a hurry and takes his time.

"Father-in-law, you have excellent performance in the Ministry of Personnel's assessment. However, many counties and prefectures across the country barely passed the assessment, or even failed. Why is that?"

Pei Fan could talk to Li Shizhi because Li Shizhi no longer had any edge. Li Xuan did not take the initiative to talk, and he did not take the initiative to talk to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan asked Pei Fan this question again.

In fact, he had already asked Du Jing, Zhao Fengzhang, Wang Changling and other officials who had been in the local government for a long time.

He wanted Pei Fan to give him the final answer to see if it could satisfy him.

"Qilang, in the past, when Yao and Song were prime ministers, they rectified the administration of officials, gave local governments a sense of mission, and most officials were able to govern counties fairly. But now, thirty years have passed, and in the prosperous times, everyone was seeking fame and fortune. The big net woven by Yao and Song has long been cut by the scissors of desire, with holes everywhere. Some officials shuttle in and out of the big net, getting away with it, some officials bend for a few pieces of silver, and some officials have no merits or faults, and are content to live in peace for a while..."

Pei Fan put down his wine glass, straightened his body, and explained the current local customs to Li Xuan.

Since the reign of Tianhou, there have been successive coups, the external situation has been unstable, many wise officials have been demoted, and everyone in the prefectures and counties is in danger.

In this chaotic situation, Li Longji turned the tide and changed the reign title to Kaiyuan. He had great ambitions and was ready to wipe out the ills of the Tang Dynasty and start anew.

The Tang Dynasty at that time was in a stage of reconstruction and the emperor, prime minister, ministers, and local officials were all striving to make achievements.

In the early period, Li Longji did it. Under his promotion, poets injected atmosphere into the prosperous Tang Dynasty, making the Kaiyuan Prosperity come alive.

In this context, most of the talented scholars in prosperous times pursued fame and fortune.

If there is something good on the top, it will be great on the bottom.

It may also be that they have been living in comfort for too long and have lost their fighting spirit, causing local officials to become lax and go to the fields less and less frequently.

Using various excuses to shirk policy makes it difficult to complete.

Amidst all the different opinions, the Zhongshu Menxiatang had no choice but to believe it.

He even doubted the administrative efficiency during the Yao Chong and Song Jing eras.

The lax atmosphere spread throughout the local government offices of the Tang Dynasty.

Some of them became fame-seekers and became corrupt officials along with local tyrants.

Some simply give up, thinking that as long as they are not greedy or deceitful, they are not making any mistakes.

At the same time, Li Linfu sat in power for more than ten years, eliminating dissidents and only employing his own people, leaving local officials with no hope of promotion.

Therefore, some officials became disheartened and no longer had any enthusiasm. They lay down in the counties and prefectures, and were perfunctory in responding to the court's orders.

Some of them also resorted to crooked means and bribed Lady Guo, Lady Han, and Lady Qin in order to seek opportunities for promotion.

It was not easy to ask Lady Guoguo to ask for an official position, so Pei Dunfu asked Lady Guoguo to do something for him and offered her three hundred taels of gold.

You must know that Li Xuan annihilated tens of thousands of enemies, but the reward was only this much gold.

If local officials want to take this shortcut, I don't know how much money they will have to extort from the people.

This is the trend that Pei Fan explained to Li Xuan.

The trend had already been formed. It was impossible to expect that Li Xuan could issue an order in the Secretariat and local officials would immediately reform and become honest and selfless.

"It's time to cast a spell."

It is now the seventh year of Tianbao.

Li Xuan calculated the time and planned to provoke the local officials to promulgate a new law that was doomed to fail.

Many tough laws require the cooperation of the military.

Obviously, it was impossible for Li Longji to appoint Li Xuan as the commander-in-chief of the army to escort the great changes.

When Pei Fan heard that Li Xuan was going to promulgate new laws, he was shocked.

But he is just the father-in-law, how dare he ask more questions to his son-in-law?

Just support it.

Li Xuan discussed some other things with Pei Fan. Fortunately, Li Shizhi was there to accompany him, so Pei Fan was not so nervous.

It was not until after dinner in the evening that Li Xuan saw Pei Fan and Liu off.

Pei Lingxi had left her parents and got married. She showed her reluctance but didn't say it out loud.

Fortunately, her brother Pei Ying was in the Tianshui Palace. Although he was wielding swords and guns all day long, he could always have a say.

Li Shizhi and Wang did not stay in the Tianshui Palace for long. They returned to the Duke of Song's Mansion.

Li Shizhi still liked that place and often visited it with friends, feeling very comfortable.

When he has time, Li Shizhi would also come to see Li Xuan. The Duke of Song's Mansion is only a stone's throw away from the Prince of Tianshui's Mansion.

That night, Pei Lingxi prepared court clothes for Li Xuan for the morning court.

She told Changli not to be restrained and to go directly to the bedroom to comb her husband's hair.

After several passionate moments, Li Xuan fell asleep...

……

The next day, there will be a court meeting.

When Li Xuan arrived at Xingqing Palace again, all the civil and military officials in the court suddenly felt pressured.

Only then did they realize how comfortable the past few days had been.

Li Xuan had very high requirements for civil and military officials, and this was a form of pressure on them to come to his aid.

When Li Xuan went to court, he suddenly found that An Lushan was also there.

I guess he just came back in the past two days.

Unlike Li Xuan who was at the frontier, An Lushan would run back to Chang'an two or three times a year via the post station.

He presented various rare treasures to please Li Longji.

Apart from this, An Lushan had few friends in the court, and Li Linfu was half of them, and the two of them had their own ulterior motives.

An Lushan still had spies in Chang'an, so no major event could escape An Lushan's attention.

He judged whether it was beneficial to him and rushed back as soon as possible.

Before getting married, Li Xuan submitted a petition to establish Jishengtang.

Re-establish the status of doctors in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, the status of doctors in the Tang Dynasty was not low.

Since ancient times, great doctors, such as the legendary doctor Hua Tuo and the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, were all officials. Especially Zhang Zhongjing, who was a prefect of a county in the late Han Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty, the famous medicine king Sun Simiao was received by Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong was so impressed by Sun Simiao's immortal appearance and superb medical skills that he respected him very much and promised to appoint him as an official.

But Sun Simiao was a Taoist doctor who saved people's lives and did not accept it.

Meng Shen, the famous founder of dietotherapy, was a skilled doctor and his fame at that time was no less than that of Sun Simiao.

He was the 31st generation grandson of Mencius. He passed the imperial examination and became the Secretary of the Central Secretariat during the reign of Wu Zetian, and could be called "Ge Lao".

Zhen Liyan, who wrote seven volumes of "Bencao Yinyi", three volumes of "Bencao Yaoxing", two volumes of "Bencao Jilu" and "Gujin Luyan Fang", had a huge influence in the medical community at that time and served as Taichang Cheng.

No one in the Tang Dynasty thought that doctors were cheap. If you go to a doctor for help, can you still look down on him?
Even high-ranking officials treated famous doctors with courtesy.

"Your Majesty, this is my plan for Jishengtang. Please review it."

Li Xuan presented the memorial to Li Longji. He had prepared the memorial before the wedding and had revised it in Tianshui Palace in the past few days.

The court has not yet reached a conclusion on the matter of Jishengtang; it is just a proposal.

Let civil and military officials be prepared.

"Li Xiang established Jishengtang, which means 'saving the people'."

"Jishengtang is divided into three courtyards. The first is Huichunyuan, which specializes in medical skills, cures difficult and complicated diseases, trains doctors, and benefits the people."

"The second is the military hospital, which mainly treats injuries caused by weapons and secondary medical skills, so that you can obtain more sophisticated medical skills and treat injuries and diseases."

"The third is the Women and Children's Hospital, which specializes in treating women's strange diseases, delivering babies, and treating various pediatric diseases. Female students can be recruited as doctors."

"Doctors at Jishengtang can receive generous salaries. After completing their studies, they can be granted a third- to ninth-rank official position. Establishing Jishengtang in counties and prefectures will benefit the people..."

After reading the memorial, Li Longji slowly informed the civil and military officials of most of its contents.

This is to ask the officials what they think.

From the starting point, Li Longji could not see any problem.

Li Xuan wrote in the memorial:
If he can feed the people, he is just a basic emperor.

If you can ensure that your people have enough food and clothing, you can be considered a wise ruler.

If people can be given the opportunity to read and write, they can become Yao and Shun.

If you can provide your people with a place to rely on when they are old and provide for their children when they are young, you can be a sage king.

If the people can get timely treatment from doctors when they are in disaster or disease, he can be regarded as a sage king for all ages.

In today's world, there are a limited number of doctors, their levels of expertise vary widely, countless sick people cannot get treatment, and cases of quack doctors misleading people occur from time to time.

Vigorously training doctors is a process that will lead the world towards a more civilized society.

Li Xuan also mentioned that Chen Cangqi was transferred back to Chang'an to serve as the head of Jishengtang.

Chen Cangqi was the most famous doctor in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In the 27th year of Kaiyuan, he compiled the ten-volume "Supplement to Materia Medica".

Later generations believed that "Bencao Shiyi" was a medical encyclopedia before "Bencao Gangmu".

This shows how profound Chen Cangqi's medical attainments were.

Prince Shou Li Heng suffered from a strange disease when he was a child and was cured by Chen Cangqi, who was commended by Li Longji for his contribution.

Chen Cangqi is currently the magistrate of Sanyuan County.

It is the Sanyuan County where Li Xuan killed a chicken to scare the monkeys.

Originally, Chen Cangqi was the lieutenant of Sanyuan County. Li Xuan dismissed him from Sanyuan County on the grounds that the new method of supervising the grain supply was not beneficial, and promoted Chen Cangqi.

Later generations selected the five most famous doctors in the Tang Dynasty, in order of birth: Sun Simiao, Zhen Liyan, Meng Shen, Chen Cangqi, and Wang Bing.

Except for Sun Simiao who was not interested in official positions, all the others were officials, and their positions were not low.

It’s just that Wang Bing hasn’t grown up yet, he is only in his thirties.

And Wang Bing is a loyal fan of Li Xuan.

Wang Bing was also a Taoist doctor. He called himself "Qi Xuanzi". Although he was young, he had a profound understanding of the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" and was able to draw inferences from one example.

He was the one who spent all day promoting Li Xuan's "Marriage Correction Law" in Chang'an, saying that there was nothing wrong with it, and he even wanted to follow the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" and stipulate that women should get married at the age of 21.

Because children's bodies are fully grown at this grade.

Wang Bing visited Li Xuan and taught him the theory of vital energy and the way to keep healthy. Li Xuan also invited him when she got married.

Li Xuan was still very envious of this kind of doctor.

Sun Simiao’s age is too strange, so let’s not talk about it for now.

But other Taoist doctors often live to be eighty or ninety years old, which is considered a long life even in later generations.

If Li Longji agreed to the establishment of Jishengtang, Li Xuan would appoint Wang Bing as Taichang Doctor to manage Huichunyuan of Jishengtang.

Li Xuan clearly told those who were studying medicine that as long as their medical skills were strong enough and their medical books had a great influence, they could wear a purple robe and be ranked as a third-rank official.

Although he was just an official, he boasted of his status but had no political power.

But this is the wish of countless people.

Apart from the kings, there were only a few dozen third-rank officials in the court, both civil and military officials.

"Your Majesty, has there ever been a woman studying medicine? Prime Minister Li is really ridiculous!"

The conservatives will naturally not miss such a good opportunity.

The Minister of Rites Da Xixun and Li Xuan were the first to jump out and speak frankly.

Not only did they improve doctors' salaries, but they even recruited female doctors at Jishengtang, which was a violation of etiquette and law.

Since ancient times, only princes and nobles taught their daughters privately.

"Ban Zhao of the Han Dynasty was able to compile the Book of Han. Who hasn't read the Book of Han? As far as I know, the right prime minister's beloved daughter Tengkong is studying medicine. Women are as good as men. What's wrong with that?"

"Should men be the ones delivering babies? Women must be better than men at treating women's strange diseases. The Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette and a splendid culture. The Tang Dynasty under our assistance should be more perfect and more concerned about the people. The establishment of Jishengtang today will save tens of thousands of lives in the future. Isn't this a great merit?"

Li Xuan was very angry. Wasn't Da Xixun asking for trouble?
This time he seized upon the daughter of the conservative leader Li Linfu, who said that women should not study medicine.

Li Linfu's expression changed slightly. As soon as Da Xixun spoke, he felt something was wrong.

We shouldn't make a fuss about women studying medicine.

Da Xixun did not dare to offend Li Linfu, and did not know how to answer, and was speechless again.

Fortunately, the Minister of Works Chen Xilie stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Li wants to build Jishengtang. Its cost is estimated to be more than ten times higher than that of Ciyoutang. At present, the Tang Dynasty is implementing new laws, relocating people, and Ciyoutang, so there is no money to invest in Jishengtang."

"Minister Chen is wrong. As the old saying goes: A tree as big as two people's embrace grows from a tiny seed. A nine-story tower starts from a pile of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Since we are establishing Jishengtang, the first stage will take more than ten years to train doctors. In other words, within ten years, Jishengtang will not be able to set up counties. The national strength of the Tang Dynasty is booming, so can't it afford to support thousands of people in Jishengtang? What's more, during the period of medical training, Jishengtang can help more patients in Chang'an."

"Today we are assisting Your Majesty in establishing Jishengtang, which is a great achievement. I will personally donate 2,000 taels of gold so that Jishengtang will not cost the national treasury in the first few years."

Li Xuan simply waved his hand and invested two thousand taels of gold to build Jishengtang.

What he wanted was the model of Jishengtang, and he wanted the imperial court to add a title to Jishengtang.

It will take at least ten years to train the first batch of qualified doctors.

Li Xuan needs to prepare for a rainy day.

Two thousand taels of gold were far from enough to start a rebellion, but they would definitely bring him great prestige.

Because this money is not used to buy off the hearts of the army. In the eyes of civil and military officials, these are thankless tasks.

Who knows what Jishengtang will become in ten years!

(End of this chapter)