Chastity Layman

"Don't worry, there are only you and my monarch and ministers here. What you and I said today will not come out of this room." Li Shimin comforted Ma Zhou and let him relax.

Ma Zhou nodded slightly, and then said seriously, "I am a commoner, and was recommended by Duke Wei to Your Majesty. Today, Duke Wei has the kindness to know you, and the relationship between Duke Wei and minister is also very good, but today I dare not Private affairs affect state affairs. The case of Treasure Island is not an exception, but it is a typical example."

"The prince's worries are not unreasonable. Although the Tang Dynasty is huge, with a vast territory and a population of more than 12 million households, it cannot be allowed to lose its population. Otherwise, it will become a serious problem in the long run."

The emperor nodded approvingly.

People have no long-term worries, but near-term worries.

The pattern is long-term.

Things like Qin Lang digging the foot of the imperial court cannot be taken lightly, and Qin Lang is not an exception, if he relaxes, he will be in big trouble in the future.

"However, Duke Wei does not have two minds. It's just that in the current environment of emphasizing business and maritime trade, the imperial court must be cautious about this kind of thing, and can't make a one-size-fits-all approach."

"In your opinion, how should we solve it?" Li Shimin asked.

The balance point in the middle is not easy to grasp, especially that person is Qin Lang.

Qin Lang's overseas development can be said to be just a commercial activity, but after all, digging the walls of the imperial court and robbing the population of the Tang Dynasty, to put it seriously, this matter is more complicated.

In the final analysis, it is still a question of how to position an overseas place like Treasure Island.

Is it just not black and white, or is it going to be included in Datang?

There must be an explanation, and it is best to make a decision early, otherwise, as time goes on, it may become more troublesome in the future. If it is dealt with after the crown prince succeeds, it may be more complicated and troublesome.

Ma Zhou coughed a few times, but he was determined to go all out. Anyway, he was gone for a few days, so he didn't have so many scruples. Besides, he always remembered the emperor's kindness to him. Of course he wants to repay it as a national scholar.

"I think that there are more and more places for overseas development like Treasure Island, spreading across the East and West, and I even heard that it is far in the extreme north of Haidong. Now there are many such development spots along the coast and at the mouth of the river. , most of them exist in the form of trading sites, trading with local natives, and then reclaiming some land for farming, even building fortresses, training armed guards, etc., such as the extremely cold frozen soil and ice fields in the Northeast of Liugui Country and Yasha Country There are many such commercial stations on the whole world, buying all kinds of rare furs, medicinal materials, etc., and there are many such commercial stations on the Nanyang Islands in the south, trading spices, ivory, etc. with the locals, which is already very common. situation."

"The minister thinks that these are not bad things, and are even beneficial to Datang. These trading stations are equivalent to the outposts of our Datang's trade, and have a great impact on our foreign trade, especially maritime trade. The supporting role is worthy of encouragement.”

"The biggest problem with these traders is that they took a lot of people from the Central Plains, some of them were just recruited to do business, guard, farm, mine, etc. These people are still in the Central Plains, and the money they earn is brought back to the Central Plains. Although most of these people are in the local area, they will also accept some local barbarian women as concubines, maidservants, and even have children."

From Ma Zhou's point of view, this kind of business was only used to make money in the past, and in fact it had little impact. This is like the fact that a large number of people go to sea every year since the imperial court opened up sea trade. They just do business to make money, and their homes are still in the Central Plains.

In essence, they are also the same as the sailors on the sea ships, and the guys on the camel caravan on the Silk Road, etc., there is no difference.

The biggest problem now is that when some overseas business stations developed, they began to immigrate there for permanent settlement. Not only did they recruit people there, they even began to move their family members there, never to return. This is the real population loss and poaching behavior.

As for the fact that the money earned by the business station will not be taxed, etc., this is secondary.

What does population mean to a country? It means taxation, and population is also one of the most basic and important national resources, both as a source of taxation and as a source of troops.

Although the head tax has been canceled under the taxation system of the Tang Dynasty, the land tax mainly based on acres and the household tax based on family property are collected. It was changed to discounted money, shared into mu, etc.

Therefore, the imperial court's current control over the population is not as strict as in the past. It itself allows limited population movement, and does not blindly force the people to be tied to the land.

But the problem is that in the past, the imperial court only allowed people to move within the territory of the Tang Dynasty. If you want to move abroad, it is absolutely not allowed.

No dynasty is allowed.

Ma Zhou boldly put forward an idea, "I think that since these overseas commercial stations and other places are beneficial to the country, but because they are far away from the Central Plains, they are not suitable for direct jurisdiction and it is inconvenient to set up prefectures and counties. Set as an overseas territory."

"what for?"

"That is, the imperial court can formally recognize these overseas places that have become a fact, and include them in the Tang Dynasty, but not as a territory directly under it, but as an overseas colonial territory. Such as Treasure Island, the Great Ocean in the depths of the South China Sea The island was discovered and started by the Qin family, and the court may officially confer it on to Qin Lang as its sub-fiefdom, allowing them to develop and manage Treasure Island."

"Dividing the territory?"

"Different from world feudal territories like Wu'an Mansion, more power is given. Correspondingly, the imperial court also obtains part of the power on Treasure Island."

"Speak carefully." Li Shimin didn't rush to refute, but asked Ma Zhou to say what he wanted to say.

Ma Zhou pointed out that in addition to the various provinces of the Central Plains directly controlled by the Tang Dynasty, a large number of barbarian lands on the frontier have also been converted into natives. However, there are still many areas in the remote areas that cannot be directly controlled, so these The area is still set up as the governor's mansion, prefectures and counties, etc. They are nominally included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but basically maintain the original rule, and the original chiefs are appointed as the governor and governor.

Even its population is not registered as a registered permanent residence, and it does not pay taxes. It only meets regularly and pays tribute. All other affairs are autonomous, and the court does not interfere.

At the time of Wude, almost the entire Lingnan region, as well as central Guizhou, Yunnan, Annan in the southwest, and even western Sichuan in Jiannan, as well as Qinghai and other places, the imperial court initially implemented the prison system for those sluts and barbarians.

When Li Yuan issued the imperial edict, he made it clear that the borders of the painting and the wild were divided, and the mountains and rivers were limited to the inside and outside. .

The original meaning of the bridle is the bridle of the cattle and horses. To those areas that are difficult to control, the implementation of the bridle system is to put a bridle on them, and the original intention is only to appease the restraint.

The principle of the detainment policy is that if the attachment is accepted, it will not be rebellious, and if the rebellion is abandoned, it will not be pursued. Since the tribes are located in the prefectures and counties, they can retain the soldiers and horses of the headquarters and give them the names of the so-called Tuding Tujun. At the same time, pillars form alliances, demarcate boundaries, and of course a very important point is to maintain trade exchanges.

In addition to the Jiyi Prefecture, the Tang Dynasty now has several types of vassal states, vassal states, and tributary states. For example, the newly established Yaochi Dudu Mansion is a newly established Jizhou Prefecture. In essence, Datang did not interfere in their internal affairs, and he himself still commanded the army and had autonomy over all affairs in the Yaochi Governor's Mansion, but He Lu was not the king.

For example, Supi Kingdom was annexed by Tubo. After the last war between Tang and Tubo, Tubo was dismantled, and Supi Kingdom was restored with the support of Tang Dynasty. The city-states stand on their own, and the Subi Kingdom only has its name.

Therefore, it has its name because it is completely dependent on the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Supi is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty directly has troops stationed in the territory of Supi. At the same time, King Supi is also controlled by the Tang Dynasty in terms of military affairs and diplomacy. Influence must be attached to Datang, and there is no completely independent power.

However, compared with Jimi Prefecture, its standard is higher, and its territory is relatively larger. For example, the general Jimi Prefecture is just a tribe. Its leader is usually named the governor or governor, and the vassal state is called the country. , its leader is generally awarded the title of king, and has the title of Duke of the Tang Dynasty and the like.

Like Khitan and Xi, although they are quite strong, they are only the Governor's Mansion of Jiji, and have not yet become a vassal state.

However, Linyi, Silla, and Western Turks were vassal states. They almost had complete sovereignty, but they were subject to the suzerain state, accepted the canonization of the suzerain state, and paid tribute regularly. The two sides were generally neighbors on the border and had a close relationship.

Countries such as Chenla and Gantuoli are far away from the Tang Dynasty and not adjacent to the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, their relationship with the Tang Dynasty is not close, but the trade relationship between the two sides is relatively good, especially the tribute trade relationship. It is also generally granted the title of monarch symbolically, etc., but this relationship is not symmetrical.

It doesn't really affect them much.

Ma Zhou suggested that it is unreasonable and unnecessary to directly set up economical prefectures and counties for overseas territories such as Treasure Island.

But it shouldn't be left alone.

"It's better to follow the tradition and set up a territory in the land where the barbarians need to be conquered, divide the borders from the wild, and allow them to be autonomous."

"Shizhen, Shitu, Shiguan, Shiren!"

In principle, whoever finds out whoever occupies, and whoever occupies the place of self-government, they can petition the imperial court for self-government. The imperial court decreed to divide the borders of Huaye and set up an autonomous territory, allowing him to inherit Yongzheng as hereditary.

Just like Rao Le, Songmo, Yao Chi and other places of restraint.

Of course, because there are still some differences between the two, it can also be subdivided. For example, if these recognized autonomous territories immigrate from the Central Plains, they must obtain the permission of the imperial court and impose a heavy tax on the immigrants. population loss can be avoided.

"The hereditary Yongzhen is allowed, but the inheritance must be ordered by the court. Even if they are thousands of miles away, they will all go to the palace to take up their duties! And according to the distance, the interval between their entry into the Beijing Chaoji will be stipulated, and according to the distance from the capital, they will flow into the Jingchaoji in turn. !"

The closest one is once a year, the distant one is once every two years, and the distant one is once every three years or every five years. We must ensure that these lords visit Beijing regularly!