The food in the government hall is fragrant, and there is a lot of discussion.

Since the Tang Dynasty, all the princes in the political hall have the habit of discussing matters while having lunch.

It's not that the prime ministers don't respect etiquette and don't understand the rules, and they want to do the transgression of eating and talking.

Summing up the experience of predecessors and talking about work during meals often has a higher efficiency.

Many issues that would otherwise be disputed can often be resolved quickly in the face of the cuisine.

And even if it can't be solved, the volume of everyone discussing important matters during meals will be much lower than usual, and there will rarely be a situation of scolding in the court.

After all, no one wants to work with a colleague who talks loudly and spits while eating.

Therefore, when it was time to eat, the original tense atmosphere of the political hall gradually dissipated.

At this time, the seven cases in the hall were arranged in a circle, and several prime ministers were talking while eating, and the topic of discussion was naturally Cui Wenqing's tax cuts.

At present, there are seven prime ministers, namely: Bingbi Prime Minister, Shangshu Ling Wang Anshi, Zhongshu Ling Sima Guang, and Cai Daogui.

These three people are the chief officials of the three provinces of Shangshu under the Zhongshu Sect.

The other four are: Privy Envoy Yang Wenguang, Privy Deputy Envoy Xie Junhao, Prime Minister Han Qi, and Ouyang Xiu, the official secretary of the Ministry of Shangshu Ouyang Xiu, who has just become the prime minister.

In terms of the division of the topic camp, Wang Anshi, Yang Wenguang, and Ouyang Xiu supported Cui Wenqing's tax reduction proposal.

The other four disagreed.

In particular, Xie Junhao strongly opposed Cui Wenqing's performance, and even said that this move was a precedent for a chaotic country, and if it was a tax cut, he was afraid that Daqi would be in danger of paying taxes!

Yang Wenguang has always been famous for protecting his shortcomings, and when he heard Xie Junhao slandering Cui Wenqing like this, he was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at him, and the old man's big hand stroked the white beard under his chin, and said in a cold voice: "Xie Xianggong, the taxes in the four northern states have always been controlled by the governors of the Zhenwu Army, and the imperial court has not collected a penny or a grain, even if half of the taxes are reduced, it will have no impact on the imperial court. ”

Xie Junhao's honor guard is the prestige of the Empress Dowager Xie, and he has always been used to being majestic in the court, and he has chosen someone who he is afraid of.

However, he is really a little jealous of Yang Wenguang.

Not only is this old prime minister the head of the Yang family, but the Yang family has thousands of sons and daughters, and he is one of the best generals in the family.

What made Xie Junhao jealous the most was that Yang Wenguang joined the army when he was young, and he was full of murderous energy, and the heroic spirit between his eyebrows made him feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, for Yang Wenguang, he is really not in the mood to compete with him like a needle-to-needle against Mai Mang.

Although Xie Junhao was silent, Prime Minister Han Qi was not happy.

Han Qi was one of the top economic ministers in the dynasty, in charge of tax revenue, and he attached more importance to the significance of taxation than anyone else. Historically, the state has a national law and family rules, and the taxes in Daqi are all implemented according to uniform standards. Will not these people gather together to make trouble? ”

Yang Wenguang sneered: "The four states of the Northland are the frontier positions of my face to the Liao State and Western Xia, and the common people there live under the iron cavalry of foreign races all the time, and they will lose their lives if they are not careful. If the people in other places are unwilling, then let them move to the four states of the Northlands, and let them see what the border wolf smoke is. ”

When these words landed, Han Qi was suddenly speechless.

He understood that what Yang Wenguang said was angry, and it was impossible for the imperial court to agree to relocate the people from other places to the four states of the Northland, so he shook his head and picked up bamboo chopsticks and vegetables to eat, seemingly disdainful of words.

Han Qi stopped talking, which does not mean that the rest of the people did not raise objections.

Cai Daogui, the servant of the door, is the father of the queen, and he is the ruler of the dynasty, and he has always stood on Chen Hong's side.

However, because of the matter of Silk Village, he already had a grudge against Cui Wenqing, and for the first time did not support Wang Anshi, but stood on Sima Guang's side, and denied Cui Wenqing's tax reduction law, which naturally aroused Yang Wenguang's opposition.

However, the new prime minister Ouyang Xiu made this peacemaker, and Wen Yan persuaded his colleagues to value peace, even if they really wanted to quarrel, they had to wait until they had dinner before it was too late.

As the center of the contradiction and the source of the antagonism, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang did not say a word, and each ate with their heads bored.

It's just that after lunch, Sima Guang, who had finished eating first, picked up the brocade and dipped his mouth, and asked lightly: "Is An Shi Xianggong really insisting on this?" ”

Wang Anshi understood the words without a head, and he said indifferently: "It is true that there are some flaws in the tax reduction law, but as far as the current overall situation is concerned, the four states in the north cannot be chaotic." ”

"Hmph, Cui Wenqing is in danger, and An Shi Xianggong will throw a rat bogey?" Sima Guang's face couldn't help but darken a little.

Wang Anshi was reluctant to quarrel with him, and said with a generous smile: "Those who do not plan the overall situation are not enough to seek a corner, and the prime minister believes that Cui Wenqing can properly handle the affairs of the four states in the north, and this support is naturally there." ”

"Okay then, but as you wish." Sima Guang stood up and flicked his sleeves coldly, turned around and left, and when he walked to the door, his footsteps stopped, and he reminded in a cold voice, "An Shi Xianggong, if you use treachery, you will always become a historical sinner, what face will you go to see Emperor Taizu Taizong in the future!" "After that, I won't go back.

Hearing this, all the ministers in the hall were stunned, the meaning of this remark, Sima Guang reserved his objections and compromised and agreed?

Xie Junhao, Han Qi, and Cai Daogui looked at each other, and they couldn't help but discuss in their hearts: Why did it turn off so easily? Do you still expect Sima Guang to continue to stir up the banner of opposition?

For a moment, the faces of all three of them were a little ugly.

Only Wang Anshi showed a thoughtful look, smiled bitterly at half-sound, and said goodbye to everyone and went to the 100 million years old hall.

The Yisui Hall is the study room of the Great Qi Emperor, and it is also an important place to meet the ministers.

When Wang Anshi first arrived, Chen Hong had just finished lunch, and when he saw him coming, he couldn't help but smile leisurely and asked, "Teacher, are you satisfied with the food today?" The crab stuffed orange is the most delicious Yangcheng Lake (the ancient name of Yangcheng Lake) river crab, which tastes fragrant but not greasy, and has a sweet aftertaste, which is a peerless famous dish. ”

The Son of Heaven has always remembered the hard work of the prime ministers, and often gave the palace food to the prime ministers to enjoy, and this is the case with this crab stuffed orange today.

Wang Anshi naturally would not do the big trick of talking about business when he met after dinner, and smiled along Chen Hong's topic: "It is rumored that crab stuffed orange is also called orange urn, because the orange is hollow, the mouth and abdomen are large, and the urn is indeed a bit similar, so there is a whimsical cook, the crab roe and crab paste crab meat stuffed into the orange and steamed food, so there is this famous dish, originally this dish was passed on in the south of the Yangtze River, and today thanks to the kindness of the official family, the old minister has the opportunity to taste." ”

With that, the two of them laughed out loud at the same time.

(End of chapter)