Chapter 18 Section 4 "Kaiyuan Heyday"

Since Tang Xuanzong Li Longji came to the throne, he has spent a lot of time in clothes and food, diligent in government affairs, and persistent in reform. "Since Lin Yu, there has never been a change in the four shifts in 30 years", "In the spare time of listening to politics, I often read historical books, which are related to reason and truth, and I really pay attention to them" ("Old Tang Book·Xuanzong 1").Before proclaiming himself emperor, Li Longji personally experienced many major political struggles. He was more politically sensitive than ordinary rulers and saw issues more deeply.In the palace, he often referred to himself by Cao Cao's childhood name "A Man", compared himself to Cao Mengde, and determined to do something.Li Longji inherited the fine tradition of Tang Taizong being good at employing people and accepting advice during the Zhenguan period. Since Kaiyuan, he has appointed many prime ministers, each with their own strengths. Hong] and Du Xian [Xian Xian] are still frugal, Han Xiu and Zhang Jiuling are straight.They can speak up and argue, remedy the lack of government, and "be selected for a while."Li Longji was concerned about state affairs and listened carefully to the advice of the ministers. "If there are chapters and rules to satirize, then explore the principles and the superior ones, store them in a gold letter, put the day on the right, and read them at the right time, and never slack off" ( "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" Volume II "Golden Letter").The ministers he placed on the left and right to assist him all saved the talents of the time, "There are many gentlemen in the dynasty, and they believe in peace and prosperity."

With the joint efforts of the monarch and his ministers, a peaceful and prosperous age appeared during the Kaiyuan period.Shen Jiji, a man of the time, summed it up as: "Family is full, people have no suffering [yuyu], and the four barbarians come together, and the country is safe." It is manifested in the following aspects: The material is abundant, and the national treasury is full.In the six or seven years of Tang Xuanzong's innovation, "Dali in the world, the river is clear and the sea is feasting", "the four directions are rich, the people are happy to work", the characters are happy.Every year, the state collects rent money of more than 2 million yuan (a thousand texts is a millet), millet is more than 19.8 million dendrobium, silk is 7.4 million pieces, cotton is more than 1.8 million tun (six liang is a tun), and cloth is more than 10.35 million pieces ("Xin Tang "Book" Volume 51 "Food and Huo Zhi").Grain is piled up like a mountain, "people's grain storage is several years old; Taicang's accumulation is stale and incomparable" (Volume 308 of "Quan Tang Wen").In the eighth year of Tianbao (749 A.D.), 96 million stones of corn were stored in the official warehouse. "The taxation of Hehuang is full of right Tibet, and the rents of all the roads in Dongna and Hebei are full of left Tibet, and the treasures are innumerable" (Volume 3 of "Tang Yulin").In addition to the high grain yield, the number of handicraft products has increased and the variety is complete.In March of the second year of Tianbao (AD 743), Li Longji accepted the Jiangnan Guangling County (now Yangzhou), Danyang County (now Zhenjiang), Kuaiji County (now Shaoxing), and Nanhai County (now Guangzhou) in Guangyuntan, East Forbidden Garden, Chang'an City. ) and other advanced products include brocade, bronze mirror, Jingkou damask satin, folded official damask embroidery, (纟罗), Wu damask, crimson damask, tortoise shell, real pearl, ivory, agarwood, porcelain, wine vessel, tea kettle , tea pan, empty bluestone, pen and paper, coptis, jadeite, anaconda [ran burning] snake gall, banana kudzu, three broken glutinous rice, abbot silk, etc.From the above offerings, it can be seen that the silk spinning, foundry, porcelain, paper, tea, and pharmaceutical industries in the handicraft industry of the Tang Dynasty reached a relatively high level during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years.The products are rich, and the prices of food, cloth and silk are low. "From then on, there will be no precious things in the world."In the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan (725 A.D.), when Mount Tai was sealed, Doumi reached 13 wen, and Qingzhou and Qizhou Gudou had five wen.In Chang'an and Luoyang, there are less than 20 coins for a bucket of rice, 32 coins for noodles, and 210 coins for a piece of silk ("Tong Dian" Volume 7 "Household Registration in the Ups and Downs of Past Dynasties"). "Prosperity at home", which is a prominent symbol of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, is the continuous growth of the social population.The relative growth and decline of the population is still a concentrated expression of the comprehensive indicators of social development.Due to the social stability and rapid economic development during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, "both public and private warehouses were abundant", the population growth continued to rise.At the time of Gaozu Wude, the national population was only over 2 million households; during the reign of Zhongzong Shenlong, the population increased to 6.15 million households, with a population of 37.14 million; in the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan (726 AD), there were 7.069 million households and a population of 41.419 million. In the past 20 years, the household registration has increased by more than 900,000 households to 4.28 million.In the middle of Tianbao, "the account of the world is about 8.9 million".In the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754 A.D.), there were 9.069 million households across the country.The population is 52.88 million.In more than 30 years, such a rapid population growth is a concrete reflection of the prosperity and prosperity of the society.

The society is stable and the people enjoy their work.During the 40 years of Tang Xuanzong's adjustment and reform, no major political struggles occurred within the ruling group, the political situation was stable, there were no wars in the frontier, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. "A strong husband doesn't know weapons."Due to the convenience of water and land transportation, it has promoted the prosperity of domestic and foreign commercial trade. "From Song Bian in the east to Qizhou in the west, there are shops on Jialu to entertain guests, and there are plenty of wine and food. There are donkeys in every shop, and the passengers are rented for tens of miles. They are called donkey stations. Jingxiang in the south and Xiangxiang in the north As far as Taiyuan and Fanyang, as far as Shuchuan and Liangfu in the west, there are shops for business travel" ("Tong Dian" Volume 7).The social order is good, the road does not pick up relics, and the travel does not fast food. "It's suitable for thousands of miles away, without holding an inch of blade", "Chery's repeated committees, re-translated from 躕 [jun jun] to".Du Fu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, described the "Golden Age of Kaiyuan" in his poem "Recalling the Past". The poem says:

There are exaggerated and beautiful words in the poem.However, Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was committed to reform, and the society showed a comprehensive and prosperous situation during the Kaiyuan period, which is beyond doubt.