After sending off the soldiers of the Southern Expedition, Li Jun was not idle, Li Jun discussed with Zhang Zhi for nearly half a month, and finally came up with a system of opening the sea that conformed to the existing national conditions of the Tang Dynasty.

It was the middle of the night, the light of Shangshutai was still on, Zhang Zhi put down the pen in his hand and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, do you see if there is anything else that needs to be changed?" ”

Li Jun was already about to become a hippopotamus, so he cheered up and nodded with satisfaction: "Zhang Qing, very good, let's play according to this when the court meeting is held tomorrow." ”

"No, the minister will retire first, Your Majesty, please rest early." Zhang Zhi bowed and retired.

Li Jun returned to Daming Palace, fell asleep, and got up early the next day to prepare for the court meeting, He Shen couldn't bear to say: "Your Majesty, why do you have to work so hard? Why don't you take a day off this morning? ”

Li Jun said angrily: "Confused, today's great court meeting will determine the direction of the next ten years of the Tang Dynasty, how can you rest the dynasty casually, I know that you are for my good, but some things are not my own business, but related to the people of the world, so don't say this kind of thing in the future, if the imperial historians of the Tang Dynasty know about it, you will definitely be punished for the crime of a charming king." ”

"Your Majesty, the old slave is not afraid of punishment, but he feels sorry for His Majesty." He Shen said with a sob.

Being confessed like this by such an old eunuch, Li Jun's goosebumps rose, and he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Okay, get up quickly, what are you crying and mourning in the morning, it's really unlucky." ”

After reprimanding He Shen, Li Jun felt comfortable, flicked his sleeves and laughed and said, "Let's go, go up." ”

"Your Majesty is in the early dynasty, and hundreds of officials are in place." A chamberlain shouted hoarsely.

When Li Jun arrived, all the ministers had already arrived, and Li Jun didn't wait for He Shen to say nonsense, so he said straight to the point: "Today I will mainly discuss the matter of opening the sea, presumably everyone has heard about this matter, I will ask again today, do you have any objections?" ”

Yuan Zhan took the lead in standing up and said: "The old minister thinks that the matter of opening the sea is urgent. ”

"The minister seconded the proposal." As soon as Yuan Zhan's words fell, a large number of ministers suddenly stood up and echoed.

These people in front of them are either people whose families are involved in whaling, or people whose families are in coastal areas, and for them, opening the sea is beneficial and harmless.

Most of the people have agreed, but there are still a small number of people who have not moved, and Li Lin is the only one in the cabinet who has not yet expressed his position, Li Jun asked unhappily: "Li Shangshu, what is your opinion?" ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers also agree with opening the sea in their hearts, but due to the ancestral system, the policy formulated by the first emperor, Your Majesty wants to break it, it is better to slow down." Li Lin replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Li Lin actually has a deep affection for the first emperor, because he has served the first emperor in the imperial palace for more than ten years, so every time Li Jun overthrows the policy of the first emperor, Li Lin is always unhappy in his heart, and today it just broke out.

Regarding Li Lin's statement, Li Jun did not dare to refute it at will, after all, filial piety comes first in the Tang Dynasty, so even if Li Jun looks down on the emperor in his heart, the first emperor is still his cheap father in name, and Li Jun is not easy to say too heavy words.

But Li Lin's words still angered the people of the Legalists, who have always taken "changing the law" as their own responsibility, so they have never had the idea of abiding by the ancestral system in their hearts, and the people of the Legalists are dedicated to breaking the ancestral system.

I saw Zhao Yan stand up and retort: "The sky is not enough to fear, the ancestors are not enough to be afraid, and the words of people are not enough to be compassionate." According to Li Shangshu, my Tang Dynasty originated from the ancient Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, is it possible that we still have to move the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor to use. ”

"Lord Zhao, this official didn't mean this, the official just said that the first emperor had just passed away not long after all, and now we can't wait to overthrow the system of the first emperor, how can we comfort the spirit of the first emperor." Li Lin said bitterly.

Looking at the two who were arguing, Li Jun said angrily: "Okay, shut up, I will say a fair word today, as long as it is for the benefit of the country and the people, even if I bear the infamy of unfilial piety, I will do it, and if I do something wrong in the future, I will correct it in time, so the matter of opening the sea is so decided." ”

"Your Majesty is wise, the minister thinks that the matter of opening the sea must be carried out as soon as possible, and the minister recommends himself to do this." Zhao Yan glanced at Li Lin and said gloatingly.

Li Jun waved his hand and said: "I understand Zhao Qing's intentions, but it's better to rely on professionals to do this, Zhang Shangshu, can you talk about some matters related to Kaihai?" ”

Zhao Yan made a big red face and retreated in a daze.

Zhang Zhi immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, our Ministry of Commerce proposes to set up four municipal shipping divisions in Hancheng, Langya, Jiangdu, and Quanzhou to be responsible for special sea affairs. ”

Li Jun nodded and said: "Okay, let's try the surface, if the City Ship Division is really useful in the future, it will not be too late to increase it, Zhang Qing, you can tell Zhongqing about the role of the City Ship Division." ”

"First of all, according to the goods declared by the merchant, the people on board and the place to go, a certificate (notarized, notarized), that is, a permit to go to sea; The second is to send people on board the ship for "spot checks" to prevent the entrainment of weapons, copper coins, women, fugitive soldiers, etc.; Thirdly, the ship returning to the port is read; Fourth, the import and export of goods to implement a lottery system, that is, the goods are divided into thick and thin, and the government draws a number of copies according to a certain proportion, which is actually a kind of physical form of municipal tax; The goods drawn are to be sent to the capital; Fifth, the purchase of certain goods from ships at prescribed prices; Sixth, after the lottery points, the remaining goods after the extraction and bobo purchase must still be issued to the public according to the standards of the city shipping department before they are allowed to be sold elsewhere. Zhang Zhiyang introduced it with a sprinkled face.

After listening to this, the ministers began to think in their hearts, these six functions of the city department have nothing to say, they are very effective, and they are also conducive to the management of the imperial court, but it is undeniable that this formal management model has a great impact on the current maritime merchants, so no one dares to stand up and be the first to agree.

At this moment, Pang Jixian was the first to stand up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has one matter, is the tax collected by this city department going into the national treasury or into the inner treasury?" ”

Li Jun replied without hesitation: "Of course it is the treasury, take it from the people, and use it for the people." ”

"Nachen agrees on behalf of the household department." Pang Jixian arched his hand and said.

Seeing that someone was talking, Yuan Zhan, the first assistant of the cabinet, was embarrassed to be an ostrich anymore, and immediately stood up and said: "The old minister agrees on behalf of the cabinet." ”

Immediately afterwards, Wei Wuji found out and said: "The old minister agrees on behalf of the Military Aircraft Department. Then Shangshutai, Datang Court and other parts also voted in favor.

Later, when the ministers saw that all the bigwigs agreed, they immediately chimed in: "The ministers seconded the proposal." ”

In this way, the matter of opening the sea was naturally passed at the court meeting.