Han Yi's letter, and Yuan Xi's insistence, then this matter must be a sure thing, and the Yuan family immediately summoned the shareholders of Guanzhong Group to Yuanjiabao for a meeting.

It will also be a historic meeting.

"Old man?"

"Oops! Old man, you are so old, don't be so concerned, I think Yuan Xiu and they are very good, you should also let go of power. ”

The shareholders of Guanzhong Group couldn't help but feel a little surprised when they saw Yuan Xi walk in.

"Huh! I've relinquished power a long time ago, but today I have to come forward to preside over this meeting. ”

Yuan Xi hehe, and pressed his hand towards these shareholders of Guanzhong Group, and said, "Sit, sit down." ”

Everyone sat down while making eye contact, judging from Yuan Xi's words, they gradually knew that this meeting was by no means as simple as they imagined, although the sudden taxation of the imperial court caused their dissatisfaction, but it was not to say that the sky fell apart.

Yuan Xi said: "Today, our Yuan family invites you to come, mainly to discuss the future fate of our Guanzhong Group. ”

Everyone looked at him suspiciously.

Yuan Xi coughed twice, and continued: "Presumably, everyone knows about the imperial court taxing us. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone complained, but it was just a complaint.

Yuan Xi nodded lightly, and waited until they finished speaking, and then said: "Originally, the imperial court had a legitimate reason, and His Majesty's funeral should also be our concerted efforts, but judging from the attitude of the imperial court, they just treat us merchants as pigs, and once there is no rice, the first thing that comes to mind is to cut a piece of meat from us to satisfy hunger, so I think the key to this matter is not whether to tax or not, but that the court has never taken us merchants to heart, and we have always been a group of humble people." ”

"The old man is reasonable, and the court is doing this too unauthentically."

"Yes, Your Majesty is kind to us, and even more so to them, our wealth is obtained by our hands, and their wealth is given by Your Majesty, why don't they tax themselves, only tax us merchants, the court is clearly bullying us."

.....

Everyone immediately complained again.

"You are all right, whether to tax or not is secondary, it doesn't matter if you pay for Your Majesty's funeral, the key is that we merchants must not endure it like this anymore, we must defend our rights, at least we have the right to protect our wealth." Yuan Xi said with a serious expression: "Today, our Guanzhong Group is the largest creditor of the imperial court, so the old man thinks that our Guanzhong Group should be qualified to participate in the decision of who should lead our Datang to prosperity in the future." ”

This merchant is a merchant, and it is too tactful!

Hearing this, the shareholders who were still complaining immediately turned pale with fright, and looked at Yuan Xi dumbfounded, as if they didn't believe their ears, is the old man Yuan sick and confused.

That is to say, whoever takes the throne must at least listen to the advice of our merchants.

This is simply a big rebellion in a feudal society!

Complaining is complaining, I pay for it, it's not okay for me to complain twice, but Yuan Xi's words immediately made the meaning of the whole thing different.

Yuan Xi said with a serious face: "Who helped the imperial court win this war?" It is our industrial and commercial class, not those old Confucians, who only know how to talk about peace, benevolence and righteousness, for fear of losing their official positions, and never regard the interests of our Tang people. Who made our Datang so prosperous, it is our industrial and commercial class, not those old Confucians, who only know how to protect their own interests, exploit our people, to satisfy their desires, they show their loyalty, why use our money. In terms of contributions to this country, those old Confucians cannot be compared with us at all. And their way of doing it no longer applies to the present, and if they continue to be in power, the future will be full of uncertainty. ”

"That's right!"

Yuwen Xiumi seemed to have found a bosom friend, stood up and said excitedly: "Everyone, I am young, I don't understand the big truth, but I only know that if we are silent about this matter, then the court will definitely not return the money borrowed from us, and if it is not returned, if the court wants to repay the debt, then the only way is to find an excuse to eradicate us businessmen, this kind of thing has not happened in history." ”

The rest of the people looked at each other.

The people of the Guanzhong Group are not ordinary businessmen, they are still nobles, and their families are all very popular in the court!

Then this is not just talking.

But I have to say that the words of Yuan Xi and Yuwen Xiumi are very reasonable, in this war, businessmen have made great contributions, from the front line to logistics, from weapons to food, but there are businessmen, so if you want to reward meritorious deeds, businessmen should be the first merit, and businessmen should be qualified to participate in government affairs.

Zhang Wenguan didn't do anything for them, they did everything they could, and as a result, they had to become auxiliary ministers and collect taxes from them.

This is grossly unfair.

Of course, this kind of unfairness used to be a common thing, but the problem is that in the past, merchants were not strong and could only be passively slaughtered, but now merchants are very powerful, there is a huge industrial and commercial class in Chang'an, they can produce more weapons and armor than the imperial court, this is really at this time and that time, of course they have to fight for more power.

What's more critical is that now this matter is not over, the domestic consumption is also very large, and they still owe them so much money, as long as the policy is slightly wrong, or natural and man-made disasters lead to more financial difficulties, then this money will definitely not be able to pay back, judging from Zhang Wen's practice of pouring them, the court will definitely repay the debt, but those hypocrites in the court will not blatantly repay the account, and can only find a reason to eradicate them, in this case, it is not a bad account.

Why are hypocrites more terrible, that's the truth, the real villain's approach, I just pay the bill, what can you do? In that case, I can only say that I will grow wise, and if I don't lend you money next time, I am afraid that you will kill us all in order to repay the debt.

It's not just about their rights, it's about their lives.

This has to be carefully considered.

One of them suddenly said, "I don't know how the old man plans to do it?" ”

Yuan Xi said: "Over the years, it has been Empress Wu who has been presiding over the government, and the country is well organized, and her ability is obvious to all, and Empress Wu has also supported us businessmen, and from the last crisis, the queen has deeply reflected, so that this time, the queen would rather sell her property than collect taxes." What's more, when the imperial court issued a treasury bond, the name of Empress Wu was written on it, not the name of the crown prince, and it is uncertain whether the prince is responsible for this debt. In addition, although the war is about to end, but one problem after another will follow, the surrounding areas are waiting for the Central Plains to help them, the old man does not think that the prince has the ability to deal with all this, a little careless, the war may be rekindled, the old man thinks, no matter what, for the time being, we must continue to be presided over by the queen to lead us through this difficulty. ”

"But the queen is a woman after all, and this woman can hold power."

"The old man thinks that only women can trust us merchants." Yuan Xi smiled slightly.

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other again, and seemed to understand something.

These old Confucians will definitely not support women, so if women ascend to the throne, they may rely on them to the greatest extent, and this is really a great opportunity.

.....．

.....．

Murong Mansion.

"Yuan Zhe has seen Uncle Murong."

"Why are you here?"

Murong Baojie looked at Yuan Zhe in surprise.

Yuan Zhe glanced at the wine bottle on Murong Baojie's table and said with a smile: "Uncle Murong is borrowing wine to kill his sorrows, right?" After all, it was because Uncle Murong fully supported Empress Wu and stabilized Chaogang that my Tang Dynasty was able to unite as one to defeat a strong enemy, and General Murong was really great, but unfortunately now that the war is not over, some people are in a hurry to unload the mill and kill the donkey. ”

Murong Baojie was stunned, and said unhappily: "This has nothing to do with you." ”

Yuan Zhe smiled: "But the little nephew is here for this today." ”

Murong Baojie looked at Yuan Zhe in surprise.

....．

....．

Zhang's family.

"What did you say?"

Zhang Wenguan looked at Shangguan Yi in great surprise and said in disbelief: "This... How is this possible? Did those businessmen eat the gall of the leopard of ambition? How dare they say that. ”

"It's true!" Shangguan Yi said: "My nephew also happened to attend that meeting, and Yuan Xi openly said at the meeting that businessmen should be qualified to intervene in who should lead our Tang Dynasty, and also encouraged others to support the queen. ”

"How can this be justified, how can it be justified, that those lowly merchants dare to do this."

Zhang Wenguan was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "Taizong Shengshang really didn't say anything wrong back then, this businessman is the most untrustworthy person in the world, we must not let them go, this is the crime of rebellion!" They should be killed. ”

It is unbelievable that businessmen dare to argue with them, and such a big thing!

But Zhang Wen was mad.

Shangguan Yi said: "Zhang Shizhong, the power of the Yuan family cannot be underestimated, send a few officials, maybe they can't help them, I can see that the forbidden army can be mobilized." ”

Zhang Wenguan immediately said: "We'll go to Yang Sine now." ”

Zhang Wenguan, who was resolute and couldn't rub sand in his eyes, immediately came to Yang's Mansion with Shangguanyi.

"General Yang, this matter is true, Yuanxi and they clearly want to rebel, you have to quickly send troops to capture them, otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Shangguan Yi said anxiously to Yang Sine.

Zhang Wenguan said: "General Yang, what a lot of trust Your Majesty ordered you to guard the Jingshi at the beginning, and now you should repay Your Majesty's trust in you and do your best to help the crown prince ascend the throne." ”

Yang Sine, who has always been very low-key, has become very critical at this time, because he has always been in charge of the Beijing Forbidden Army, and this Beijing Forbidden Army was originally directly under the emperor, but Li Zhi died suddenly, and there was a gap in this power, and Yang Sine, who controlled the Beijing Forbidden Army, became very important.

Yang Sine glanced at Zhang Wenguan and said, "Zhang Shizhong, please rest assured, our Yang family has always been Li Tang, since Your Majesty has passed on the crown prince, then of course I will obey Your Majesty's edict and fully support the crown prince's accession to the throne." ”

When Zhang Wenguan heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Yang Sine's words changed sharply, and then said: "But in the matter of the Yuan family, I don't think you should act rashly. ”

Zhang Wenguan was surprised: "Why is this? ”

Yang Sine said: "Don't forget, the war is not over yet, the imperial court still needs merchants to send food and clothing to the frontline of the war, the country is still in internal and external troubles, if we rashly dispatch the forbidden army to capture Yuanxi, I am afraid that it will cause new disputes, and then the country will be in danger." ”

Shangguan Yi said: "Then I don't know what General Yang means?" ”

Yang Sine said: "The two of you see if this is feasible, I ordered someone to closely monitor those merchants, if they just talk about it, then let them go for the time being, and wait until the crown prince ascends the throne, and then deal with them, but if there is any trouble, I will immediately send out the forbidden army and capture them all." ”

Zhang Wenguan and Shangguan Yi made eye contact, and nodded at the same time, this Yuan family is also a super family in Guanzhong, not an ordinary businessman, other branches of the Yuan family are in the army, and there are many people in the court.

Zhang Wen said: "Then there is General Lao Yang." ”

Yang Sine clenched his fists and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, this is my business." ”

After coming out of the Yang Mansion, Zhang Wenguan frowned and said: "Brother Shangguan Xian, I don't think it is appropriate to delay the prince's accession to the throne, otherwise, it will change later, and we have to hurry up to let the prince ascend the throne, so that no one will be cranky." ”

Shangguan Yi nodded.

.....．

Harem.

"You said that Yuanxi openly asked to support me to continue to preside over government affairs?"

"Yes. Yuan Xi openly raised this point at the meeting of the Guanzhong Group, and the news had already spread, and there could be no fake. Moreover, recently, the He Ruo family and the Yuwen family, the big families in Guanzhong, have also made frequent moves. ”

Wu Meiniang couldn't help frowning when she heard this, it seems that he didn't lie to me, all this went as he planned, he really wanted to support me as the king, but... Is it really that simple? He asked again: "Zhang Wenguan, do they know about this?" ”

After they learned about this, they immediately went to find Yang Sine. However, Yang Sine did not send the forbidden army to arrest Yuanxi, but ordered the forbidden army to closely monitor the merchants in Chang'an, and now Huayuelou is also under surveillance. ”

Hum! Those old Confucian students, who always thought they were superior, still can't see the situation clearly, the businessman at this time is not so easy to deal with, but this must be what Han Yi expects, what is he going to do? Wu Meiniang pondered for a while, and said: "Zhang Wenguan and they will definitely speed up so that the crown prince can ascend the throne as soon as possible, and before that, they will have a meeting, and you will attend on my behalf, indicating that I will obey Your Majesty's edict and support the crown prince's accession to the throne." ”

"The slave knows."

In fact, as far as she is concerned, if there is no Han Yi, she should hurry up and send her own people now to seize the power in her hands, but with Han Yi here, she always has to guard against Han Yi, so she really doesn't dare to act rashly, let alone turn against the prince, and she has to prepare for both.

The reason why the triangular relationship is the most stable is that no one dares to act lightly.

.....．

North Lane.

"Old Qian, have you noticed that there are many more pairs of eyes around us recently!"

Zhao Sijia said in a worried whisper.

Qian Dafang said depressedly: "Why didn't you find out, I found out a long time ago, and now all the merchants in Chang'an are being watched." Speaking of this, he said: "It's all to blame on the Yuan family, if he hadn't said those words, how could we have ended up in such a situation, this is really a worry for our lives." ”

Zhao Sijia said: "But I don't think the old man is wrong, our contribution to this war is far better than those prime ministers, and it can even be said that we saved the Tang Dynasty, we deserve a higher status, those soldiers have made military merits, and they can still be promoted, it makes no sense that we can't get anything, and we have to be taxed by the imperial court." ”

Qian Dafang glanced at Zhao Sijia in surprise and said, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Zhao Sijia said: "Do you think we still have a way out now, now they are just monitoring us, that's because we still have the value of use, once the prince ascends the throne and the overall situation has been decided, then we will not have a good time, our industrial and commercial class should unite and strive for the return we deserve." ”

Qian Dafang's face turned pale with fright, and said, "Are you crazy? ”

He was just a rich businessman, but he didn't think about it that much.

Zhao Sijia said: "You just think I'm crazy, anyway, I support the Yuan family." ”