At this hall full of vermilions, Qian Jingtong's quality is nothing, just a mere four products, which can also be seen from the seat he is standing on, not far away is the gate of the Golden Palace.

But don't look at the quality is not high, but the real power in his hands is not small!

The Ministry of Officials is in charge of the promotion of officials, which has a tremendous impact on the appointment and dismissal of officials below the fourth grade, and the Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials is even called "Heavenly Officials"! In such a crucial department, Qian Jingtong is the second-in-command inside, and the weight of authority can be seen!

The Tang Dynasty reached Li Longji's generation, and the princes of the original founding countries have gone through a hundred years of ups and downs, and there are not many left, and their influence in the court is mostly based on the intertwined relationship network, although it cannot be underestimated, but it is impossible to call the wind and rain like a hundred years ago!

This is also an inevitable part of the development of the dynasty, limiting the number of nobles, strictly canonizing titles, and using civil officials to dilute the power of nobles, which is also a common method in all dynasties.

Therefore, the official titles of the prime ministers in the court today are only three ranks, and most of the official positions of the first and second grades have now become fictitious titles, which are only used as an honor to canonize the courtiers who have made great contributions.

But today, after all, it is a great court meeting, and the civil and military officials in Beijing are only interested in terms of power and power, and they can stand on the Golden Palace with more than five grades.

In this way, Qian Jingtong's seat is naturally not much better!

It's just that standing anywhere is empty, and at the level of the Golden Palace, the strength of the officials only depends on how hard the relationship behind them is, and how many horses there are, even if it is just a five-grade official, it may be possible to resist being the prime minister of the dynasty.

As the spokesperson of the Jiangdong Qian family and even the Yangzhou Maritime Group in the court, Qian Jingtong is naturally surrounded by many followers or allies, and it is also a big force in this Golden Palace.

Yesterday, after Qian Xiaojing met with Yang Zhao, he came to discuss with Qian Jingtong, and made it clear that their purpose today is to do their best to prevent the establishment of the City Ship Division, as for the matter of increasing the commercial tax, since Emperor Xuanzong strongly supported them, fortunately gave up this demand, the strong man broke his wrist, and destroyed the City Ship Division first.

Therefore, after seeing that Emperor Xuanzong deliberately expressed his determination to increase commercial taxes to the courtiers through Zhu Xuan's mouth, Qian Jingtong secretly said in his heart: "Luck!"

At the same time, he must be sure in his heart that since the saint has done this, it is to imply that the courtiers have a dispensable attitude towards the matter of the city, as long as they can collect the tax from him!

The emperors of the Tang Dynasty were not as good as the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the power of the emperors was greatly limited by the ministers and families, and such major events such as the collection of commercial taxes had to make some compromises to the ministers in order to achieve their own goals.

Fortunately, this time, for the sake of the city's affairs, the two major forces in the DPRK and China are gathering momentum, and both sides want to win the emperor's support, so they have to acquiesce to the emperor cutting such a knife on them.

As for the rest of the ministers, they are either not strong enough, or most of their family industries are mainly agriculture and animal husbandry, and the matter of increasing commercial taxes has little to do with them, so naturally they will not speak out rashly.

Therefore, as soon as Zhu Xuan returned to the court, Qian Jingtong quickly stood up and bowed his head to Li Longji and said: "Enlighten the saint, Weichen thinks that what Lord Zhu said is extremely true! Taxation is a weapon of the country, and it is also the certificate of the saint's grace and might, which is exclusive to the saint, and cannot be given to others. ”

After Qian Jingtong said a few specious words, he immediately said: "Now the commercial tax of the Tang Dynasty was set at the beginning of the country, when the war was initially determined, and the business travel was almost extinct, and the commercial tax collected was naturally not too much, but it was also quite suitable for the situation at that time. But now, the Tang Dynasty has been shaking the sea and has been peaceful for a hundred years, and the grand occasion of businessmen has never been seen before! Now it is really inappropriate to use the commercial tax of a hundred years ago to measure today! Therefore, it is imperative to redefine the commercial tax!

In addition, although the commercial tax collected by the imperial court is scarce, but in the locality, there are many tax cards in various passes, and the merchants are unbearable, and Weichen has heard that a merchant from Yangzhou transported a batch of spices from the south to Chang'an to sell, but before he reached Luoyang, the merchant poured all the spices into the river in a fit of anger, because the tax on the way has long exceeded the value of the goods, and the merchant has no choice but to destroy the spices in order not to lose money. ”

"With such a messy tax, the imperial court has not gained a penny more, but it is saddled with the infamy of tyrannical extortion, so I really don't have to try!"

"For this reason, Weichen implores the Holy Lord to issue a decree to re-determine the commercial tax, correct the name of the imperial court, and reduce the burden on the people!"

After speaking, Qian Jingtong fell on all fours and bowed down reverently.

Li Longji looked at Qian Jingtong, and said with a smile: "Qian Qing, as a servant of the ministry, knows a lot about this tax!"

When Qian Jingtong heard this, he slowly raised his head, as if he didn't hear the ridicule in Li Longji's words, and replied calmly: "Back to the saint, Weichen is responsible for assessing the officials of the world as the servant of the Ministry of Officials, and the officials of the household department are naturally among them, if Weichen doesn't understand this, how can he be qualified to evaluate others?"

"Haha! Qian Qing's words are reasonable!" Li Longji laughed twice and said.

After Qian Jingtong returned, Li Longji smiled again and glanced at the ministers, and said, "What else? Do other people have any opinions on this matter of re-determining commercial taxes?"

As soon as Li Longji's words fell, an official in a dark crimson official robe standing behind Qian Jingtong tried to leave the team, but his body moved, and the sleeve on his right side was pulled, and this person looked at the person who grabbed him in surprise, only to see the other party shook his head slightly with subtle movements that could only be seen by both sides.

Seeing this, the man glanced at Li Longji on the throne again, then sighed deeply, and then put out the thought of standing out again.

Because the two of them were at the back of the civil official queue, and they were in the position inside, this subtle action did not alarm others, let alone Xuanzong Li Longji on the throne!

Seeing that no one answered, Li Longji turned his head to the three prime ministers sitting in front of him and asked, "Prime ministers, what do you think?"

"Zuo Xiang, let's talk about it first!"

When Li Shizhi heard this, he ended his fugue outside the world, turned his head to look at Li Longji, and then bowed down and replied: "Since the hundred officials have agreed, Weichen, as the head of the ministers, naturally has no objection!"

Li Longji nodded, and then asked Li Linfu, "What do you say?"

"Weichen obeys the holy will!" Li Linfu slipped his head as always.

"Lin Qing, what about you?"

Wechen also agreed to increase the business tax. Lin Xilie replied.

When Li Longji heard this, he nodded with satisfaction, and then said with a smile: "Since all the secretaries have agreed to re-determine the commercial tax, then the household department will draw up a detailed article, and after the political hall has read it, I will use the seal to promulgate the world!"

"Weichen obeys the order!" The person who spoke was Cao Rui, the head of the household, an old man with gray temples.

"Okay, then let's discuss this city!" Li Longji's wish has been fulfilled, and he has no desire for this new yamen, and his tone is indescribably relaxed.

Before Li Longji could finish his words, something appeared on the Golden Palace that shocked everyone, even terrifying!

I saw that standing on the east side of the main hall, that is, in the queue of civil officials on the left side of Li Longji, they all knelt down!

As far as the eye could see, there were officials wearing crimson and green official robes, and there were even a few dots of purple scattered among them, which was the color that only officials of the third rank and above could wear!

At least half of the dozens of civil officials knelt down this time, and the rest of them all stared at the scene in front of them.

After the officials knelt down, a uniform and deafening voice sounded: "Minister, please establish a city to be a king, and the minister will be responsible for ......."

The rest of the words, no one remembered the hundred officials and even the emperor above the Golden Palace, and they had already been deeply shocked by the scene in front of them!

Unprecedented fear enveloped Qian Jingtong's heart, "This ...... This...... This..."

"Seven clans and five surnames! What a seven sects and five surnames!" are both wealthy families, so they naturally have a very clear understanding of each other's power distribution in the court, Qian Jingtong just glanced at it a few times and clearly distinguished the representatives of the seven clans and five surnames among the people who knelt down.

"I really didn't expect it! These people would unite together! What do they want to do? Do they want to get involved in Jiangnan?" Qian Jingtong kept asking questions in his heart, but no one could give him an answer, and he really couldn't figure out why this group of people who had always guarded the Central Plains had such great interest and determination in the maritime merchants in the south this time!

There was also another group of people who were also puzzled, a middle-aged man who was also wearing a dark crimson official uniform, although his mind was also tumbling like a stormy wave at the moment, but he still didn't show much abnormality on the surface.

And the people standing around this person all looked at him for the first time, but when they saw that he didn't say anything, they continued to stand there without saying a word.

"Alas, Brother Wan, Brother Wan, it's not that the younger brother won't help you! Who would have thought that these people from the seven sects and five surnames would go crazy this time?" the middle-aged man sighed in his heart.

As for the rest of the people in the court, apart from these people, the civil officials are some stragglers who have no sect and no sect to look around.

Of course, there is also a giant, Yang Shenjin, who is also a multi-tasker, has already recovered from his surprise at this moment, but he is thinking about whether his errand as a Jianghuai transfer envoy will be merged once the city shipping division is established, and whether he will be able to take down this city shipping division, after all, relying on his current position in his heart and his familiarity with the transfer ministry is still very likely to be taken down, and besides, as soon as today's incident comes out, the saint will inevitably be disgusted with both sides, and he, a third party, will be more favored by the body in the future!

As for the general's expression, the expressions are much richer! After all, they are all hot-blooded men, no more important than the literati, and everything is hung on their faces, not to mention this kind of good show that has nothing to do with themselves?

Except for a few older ones who are slightly better, the expressions of the rest of the generals can simply be combined into a hundred faces, and the expression of surprise is vivid but different in style.

What I think in my heart is very similar.

"This time the Great Dynasty will be really fucking worth it!"

"It's not in vain, Lao Tzu got up early in the morning!"

"Haha, this play is more exciting than the singing and dancing in the pear orchard!"

……

After looking at the military attache opposite, let's take a look at the three prime ministers sitting at the top.

Li Shizhi's eyes were slightly open, and his mouth only opened slightly for a moment before returning to normal.

Li Linfu still looked like the old god was there, as if he had expected it.

And Lin Xilie looked at the kneeling people and those who were standing with interest, and bowed slightly thoughtfully.

As for the top, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji on the throne looked at those kneeling down with gloomy eyes after a moment of surprise, his face was terrifyingly dark!

"Okay, good, I really didn't expect this city division to be so popular!" Li Longji said meaningfully.

In the face of the emperor's almost reproachful words, an official in a purple robe who knelt down at the front opened his mouth and replied: "Winning the hearts of the people of the city is winning the hearts of the saints! The things that the courtiers do are all for the sake of sharing the worries of the saints and serving the imperial court, and they are absolutely selfless!"

"Hahaha, what a selfless person!" Li Longji laughed angrily, and then looked at the person who spoke just now with terrible eyes, and then said: "Since you are absolutely selfless, then the first director of this city department will let you be the one!

After finishing speaking, Li Longji didn't care about the purple-robed official who was bowing down to him, and immediately shouted at the head of the household: "Cao Rui!"

"The old minister is here!" Cao Rui stood up tremblingly.

Just as he wanted to kneel down, Li Longji waved his hand impatiently and said, "This city division is still hanging under your household department, since it was proposed by Zou Run, Zou Run will be in charge there!"

"Obey the Sacred Commandment!" replied Cao Rui, bowing down.

"Okay! Today's matter is over! I am tired, let's retreat!"

After speaking, he didn't wait for the eunuch to sing, he stood up directly and walked quickly towards the passage on the side, the tall old man who had been standing beside Li Longji without saying a word, saw this and hurriedly waved his hand to signal a little eunuch to sing, but he trotted two steps to follow Li Longji in front.

"Retreat!"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

……

"How can this be reasonable! How can this be reasonable!" Li Longji, who had left the main hall, shouted in an atmosphere as he walked through the palace.

Li Longji, who was furious, was the only one beside Gao Lishi, and Gao Lishi didn't want other people to come to disturb him, so he waved his hand to let those eunuchs and palace maids and the inner guards leave Zhang Xu Yuan.

Fortunately, Gao Lishi's own kung fu is good, and the commander of the guards did not force him to follow.

"General Gao, tell me, how many years have it been? How many years have I not been as as I am today? Ah? Tell me?" Li Longji naturally knew that when he was angry, there would only be Gao Lishi, an old minion who had followed him since childhood.

"I'm afraid it's been more than forty years! I think it was still the matter of the Shenlong Dynasty at the beginning!" Gao Lishi didn't go directly to persuade Li Longji, but followed the other party's words and continued on his own: "At that time, there was Princess Taiping and then Empress Wei, and in those days, the old slave had to wear heavy armor and guard the saint every day, and now that I think about it, I really don't know how he came here?"

After speaking, Gao Lishi immediately shook his head helplessly and smiled: "Didn't the saint have to follow the old slave to put on armor and stay in the dark at that time?"

As soon as Li Longji heard this, the angry look on his face began to slowly fade, and the terrifying divine light in his eyes began to slowly reconverge, and he clenched his fists vigorously, and the momentum of giving up who else returned to him again.

"Haha, it's still you, an old slave, who can speak! That's right! We all survived such a dangerous situation back then, but now it's just some wealthy families! What Emperor Taizong and Wu Meiniang can do, how can I, Li Sanlang, not be able to do it?" Li Longji laughed.

When Gao Lishi heard this, he hurriedly bowed down and responded: "The old slave is willing to follow the saint and be a sword in the hand of the saint forever!"

Li Longji looked at Gao Lishi and nodded with satisfaction.

After talking about the emperor's side, let's talk about the hundred officials.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, the generals gathered together in groups of three or five to talk about what had just happened, and even shouted that they wanted to go to the wine shop to drink a few glasses to help the fun.

However, the civil officials automatically divided into several pieces at once, and those civil officials who had nothing to do with themselves gathered around their own leading brother and whispered there.

As for those people involved, Qian Jingtong didn't greet anyone after the next court, and walked briskly towards the palace gate, if it weren't for the forbidden place of the palace and couldn't run, I'm afraid he would have run wildly!

As for the other person who left quickly, it was the middle-aged official who shouted "Brother Wan is sorry", and after a slight bow to the person next to him, he left as quickly as Qian Jingtong.

This is the losing side, as for the group of people from the seven sects and five surnames, they are gathering in front of the purple-robed official who spoke just now, now that they have been exposed, this group of people has no intention of hiding it anymore, but fortunately, they are walking together openly.

But seeing that the purple-robed official who had been demoted was constantly comforting everyone there, he wanted to say something inspiring, after all, they were today's victors.

This time, although Zou Run's grade has not been improved, he is in charge of the newly established yamen, and his authority is no less important than that of the two servants in the household department! The most important thing is that Zou Run, the direct prefect, has a great say in the selection of officials required after the establishment of the new yamen, and this is also an opportunity for Li Longji to give him to cultivate his own power, but Zou Runnai is a square gentleman, and he does not want to mention these pickled things about forming gangs and factions, and he only maintains a superficial courtesy for those officials who come to congratulate, but does not talk too deeply.

And Yang Shenjin, who had great expectations, just walked quietly past Zou Run at this moment, without making any statement.

And walking at the back of the ministers were two middle-aged men in light crimson official uniforms, one tall and one short.

At this moment, the taller middle-aged man was arching his hand to the slightly shorter man, "Thank you!"

"No, I just don't want you to die for nothing!" the slightly shorter middle-aged man replied lightly, then looked up at the clouds fluttering in the sky in the distance, and muttered, "This wind has just blown up!"