The Great Tent of the Don Army.

"What does Shang Shuling's letter say?"

Ashina Mi Shot looked at Qi Qi He Li with a solemn face.

He Li put down the letter, breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "The Shangshu Order strictly prohibits us from killing on a large scale, but to punish those who collude with Tubo by means of trial. ”

Ashina Mitsu also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "In this way, I can rest assured, in fact, many people there are our family members, and I really can't use the knife on them." ”

Qi Qi He Li smiled bitterly: "I'm even more so, the front is my hometown, how can I rush in with a knife, I think this war should end here, we still send people to tell them, let them surrender unconditionally, although Shang Shuling said that all the leaders will be sentenced to death, but in doing so, at least it can ensure that the lives of most people will not be threatened." ”

Ashina nodded.

At this moment, a small general walked in and said, "General Qiyu, General Gao and General Dugu Wuyue are leading the Taiyuan army and navy troops to Taiyuan and come here." ”

He Li was stunned when he heard this, and sighed: "It seems that even the time to persuade him to surrender is limited!" ”

....．

Tingzhou.

"How can this be reasonable, how can this be reasonable, that Qi Bi He Li is really too deceitful, when Tieler's people invaded our Tingzhou, how many of us were killed, how many things were robbed of us, it was we who helped them resist Tiele's attack, so as to ensure that the Central Plains was not eroded by the war, and now when they counterattack, they will not take us with them, they are clearly unloading the mill and killing the donkey!"

"Who doesn't know what the idea of Na Qi He Li is, Na Tie Le's base camp is his hometown, and he clearly wants to maintain their Qi Qi family."

"Brother Ukelie, why should we listen to them, we have lost so much, if we don't grab something, how can this work, let's rush up, if they dare to stop it, we will start a war with them."

.....．

The merchants in the northwest were deeply angry at the order of Qi Bi He Li, they were full of devastation in the northwest, broken walls, and the hatred in their hearts could be imagined, but Qi Bi He Li let them be stationed in Tingzhou, and did not take them to counterattack, which really did not make sense, in fact, they did not want to kill, after all, they and Tie Le were also a family, they actually wanted to grab something.

And everyone understands that the strength of the Qibi is to keep their family, and the largest families in the Tiele Department are the Qibi family and the Ashina family, not for the sake of the overall situation, of course they are not convinced.

Ukhleth also frowned.

Just then, a man walked in from outside and whispered a few words in Ukhreth's ear.

Wu Kelie was stunned when he heard this, and said, "Really? ”

The man nodded.

Wu Kelie pondered for a moment, and suddenly said: "Everyone, that Qi Bi He can only save the enemy for a while, it is impossible not to give us an explanation, and besides, Na Tiele is also exhausted, what can we rob if we go." ”

"That's better than nothing!"

"But that little bit of stuff is just a drop in the bucket for us."

Wu Kelie said: "Only the wealth of the Central Plains can help us get through this difficulty, and this war involves a wide range, that Tuyuhun and the Six Edicts are all beaten to tatters, and now the war is about to end, and then all parts of the country are waiting for the Central Plains to help them." But in my opinion, the Central Plains doesn't necessarily have so much money to help us, Brother Han has a good saying, only this crying child has milk to drink, we shouldn't have this senseless quarrel with Qi He Li now, we should quickly write to the imperial court, let the imperial court allocate money to us, if we let Tuyuhun and them take the lead, then we don't have much to take, we have the biggest loss in this war, and we should get more support. ”

"Brother Wu Kelie is right, we have to quickly ask the court to allocate money to us."

"Shouldn't we be looking for Brother Han?"

Wu Kelie's eyes flickered a few times, and said: "Brother Han is now in Tubo, where can he manage so many things, if you look for him, I am afraid that it will take a lot of trouble, and it is faster to write directly to the imperial court." ”

"Okay, we'll all listen to you."

After these people left, Yigu suddenly stepped forward and asked, "Big brother, what's going on?" That person seemed to be ...... ”

Wu Kelie nodded and said, "You guessed right, it was Brother Han who sent a message to me to do this." ”

Yigu frowned and said: "But this kind of thing, Brother Han should be able to call the shots, he just allocates food to us directly!" ”

Wu Kelie shook his head and said, "I don't know about this, maybe something may happen in the court." ”

.....．

Tuyuhun!

"Ladies and gentlemen, now that Tubo has surrendered, as far as I know, Shang Shuling will directly incorporate Tubo into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, implement the state and county system locally, and connect with the Central Plains."

Queen Yan said and glanced at the ministers sitting in the hall, and said, "In other words, in the near future, we will become the country of the Tang Dynasty." ”

When the ministers of Tuyuhun heard this, they all looked at each other.

An old minister asked, "Then I wonder what the queen has planned?" ”

Queen Yan sighed and said: "These days, I have been thinking about this, now we Tuyuhun is exhausted, we must rely on the assistance of the Tang Dynasty, but we are now a vassal country after all, Tubo, Northwest, and Liuzhao are all the territory of the Tang Dynasty, continue like this, I am afraid that the Tang Dynasty will support them first, and then support us, and the matter has come to this point, do you think the Tang Dynasty will still allow us to exist in Tuyuhun?" Rather than waiting for the Tang Dynasty to send troops to come in the end, it is better for us to take the initiative to merge into the Tang Dynasty, so that we can win more benefits. ”

The old courtier worried: "But after being merged into the Tang Dynasty, where should we go?" ”

The rest of the people are also worried, and they want to merge into the Tang Dynasty, so the officials here are all appointed by the imperial court, which hurts their interests.

Queen Yan said: "Regarding this point, I will discuss with Shang Shuling, please rest assured, we have always been loyal to Datang, and I believe that Datang will not treat us badly." ”

One person suddenly stood up and said: "Queen, the minister thinks that the most important thing at the moment is to send someone to Chang'an quickly, hoping that Datang can give us support, I heard that the northwest has sent someone." ”

Queen Yan frowned and thought for a while, and nodded slightly.

....．

....．

Tobe!

"Oops! Zhang Shizhong, where can I find money for you now! ”

Zhang Daxiang's tears were already rolling in his eyes, and he took the letter from the northwest and Tuyuhun and handed it to Zhang Wenguan and Shangguanyi on the opposite side, and said in a crying tone: "Look, you two, this is a letter of help just sent by the northwest and Tuyuhun, and now they are already poor and white, and many people are facing hunger, they hope that the imperial court can help them with some food, but the treasury is almost exhausted." ”

As he spoke, he pointed to Zheng Shanxing on the side and said, "I'm still discussing this matter with Zheng Shilang, let's see if we can gather food to help them." ”

Shangguan Yi waved his hand and said, "That's just a trivial matter, and it's still in the northwest, how can it be compared to the matter of Your Majesty and the crown prince?" Your household affairs can also be prioritized. ”

When Zheng Shanxing heard this, he immediately frowned and retorted: "You can't say that, if those things are not handled properly, the consequences can be big or small. ”

Zhang Wenguan immediately said: "No matter how big the matter is, it is not as big as His Majesty's funeral and the crown prince's accession to the throne!" These two things can't be delayed! "As a courtier, loyalty comes first, this is not a joke.

Zhang Daxiang cried and said, "Even if you ignore that side, the treasury won't be able to come up with so much money for the time being." ”

Zhang Wenguan and Shangguan Yi glanced at each other, and Shangguan Yi said: "Otherwise, if you tax the people, each person doesn't need to come up with much money." ”

Zheng Shanxing immediately said: "This is not good, when it was so difficult, I didn't want the people to levy taxes, and it is precisely because of this that the whole country can unite as one to achieve this decisive victory, and now the war is not over, the court will immediately tax the people, no matter how justified the court is, the people will also think that our court is unloading the mill and killing the donkey, I will never approve of this." ”

Zhang Wenguan pondered for a moment and said: "It is indeed inappropriate to tax the people, let's still tax the merchants." ”

Zheng Shanxing was stunned for a moment, although he objected in his heart, it was not easy to refute, because he was also a wealthy businessman.

Zhang Daxiang said cautiously: "In fact, the businessman has also donated a lot of money to the imperial court. ”

Zhang Wenguan said: "The imperial court does not want to tax them for no reason, these two things are the top priority, and they must be done quickly, otherwise who will bear the blame from above?" Those businessmen don't want to think about it, if it wasn't for His Majesty's support for them, they wouldn't be where they are today, and now let them contribute some money for His Majesty, if they don't want to, it will be ungrateful, and I don't think they will be unwilling, so it's decided. ”

Because the state resolutely did not levy taxes on the people before, the treasury was already very weak, and even the money of the Shaofu was used to fight the war, which was really exhausted, so that the emperor could not come up with any funds when the emperor was funeral and the crown prince ascended the throne.

Of course, this is not a small amount of money, the emperor's funeral is the most expensive, the palace maids and eunuchs have to kill a group to accompany the funeral, and in ancient times, they attached great importance to the afterlife, this matter must not be sloppy, it must be beautiful, and now the court does not levy labor, which requires more and more money. Not to mention the crown prince's accession to the throne, this is the biggest event in the whole world.

What's worse is that these two things have to be done together, and they can't be delayed, of course, it doesn't matter if this peaceful and prosperous era is, but at this time, it will be fatal, and the treasury really can't come up with money. The national debt is not easy to issue again, that can only be done in the traditional way, that is, to levy taxes, not to tax the people, you have to tax the merchants, anyway, you have to get the money together, and this traditional civil official levies the tax of the merchants, that will never be merciful, because Confucianism is to exclude the merchants, the core of the two ideas is opposite, Confucianism pays attention to righteousness and benevolence, and the businessmen are profit-oriented, so the tax of the people, Zhang Wenguan is not very much in favor, but the tax of the merchants, he has absolutely no opinion.

Zheng Shanxing frowned and said: "Our household department only collects money and allocates money, and this edict should be issued by Zhongshu Province, and we will not issue it." "He is more of a common people in his heart, he has no loyalty to the monarch, he is definitely against taxation, he feels that the money should be used for the people at this time, because there are many homeless people in the northwest, waiting for them to help, the aftermath can be simpler, the posthumous affairs of Li Ji are relatively simple, but he doesn't like to fight with others, if you want to levy it, I won't do it."

Shangguan Yi shouted angrily: "Zheng Shilang, do you want to disobey the order? ”

Zhang Daxiang hurriedly said: "Shangguan Shilang, please calm your anger, this matter really can't be done by our household department, when we borrowed money, but in front of our household department, our household department made a promise to the businessmen several times, if we tax them again, the businessmen will definitely make trouble, and the Zhongshu Province will issue an edict, but they will not make trouble." ”

Zhang Wenguan is not an unreasonable person, and said: "What you say is not unreasonable, then this matter will be handled by our Zhongshu Province, and your household department will assist you." ”

If these old Confucians can meet a generation of Ming Jun, it is really grateful to God, they feel that they are deeply favored by Li Zhi, then they must do their best in this matter, the ancients attached great importance to this funeral, this really can not be sloppy. Merchants should be the same, they think that without Li Zhi, there would be no businessmen today, so when you learn about Entu, no matter how hard it is, you have to do this thing in a beautiful way, this is Confucianism.

Zhongshu Province immediately issued an order to levy taxes and levy labor, of course, it is very touching, Li Zhi is very kind to us, he must let him go well in this last section of the road, the prince will take the throne, this matter must be done well, and he is also the future master, do you want to continue to mix in the Tang Dynasty, I am good for you.

But it immediately caused an uproar.

The businessman felt very aggrieved, because the word "tax" was so dazzling, if it were to change the word, it was estimated that there would not be such a big emotion. Because the imperial court said that it would not be taxed, and it has not been taxed until now, and the queen has sold her property and does not want to collect taxes, they are very moved, so they spare no effort to support the front, they not only pay, they also recruit troops to fight, but the war is not over, you are going to start taxing, and it is for us merchants, you are purely using us!

But they just dare to be angry and dare not speak, they are all used to being bullied, and the key is that they have no choice.

However, this is not absolute, and not every businessman dares to be angry.

Yuanjiabao.

"No, uncle, this is against the ancestral teachings of our Yuan family!"

Yuan Peony said very excitedly.

"But this time, that time."

Yuan Xi said: "With the current financial resources of our Yuan family, even if we want to hide, we can't hide, we must get out of this Yuan family fort and fight for the power corresponding to our wealth." ”

Yuan Le swallowed and said, "Big brother, are you really going to do this?" ”

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "This is a great opportunity, and the imperial court will only unite the merchants by doing this." However, since ancient times, this change of power has nothing to do with us merchants, and it is precisely because of this that we merchants have always been suppressed, and now as long as we support Empress Wu to continue to be in power, then as long as we succeed, we merchants will gain unprecedented status. ”

Yuan Peony said excitedly: "Then what if we fail?" ”

Yuan Xi was stunned for a moment, and then said firmly: "Then continue to fight, in short, this time we will never compromise, and our Yuan family will not give a penny to the court." ”

Yuan Peony looked at Yuan Xi in shock and said, "Uncle, you... You also have to think about Han Yi, this is directly related to the safety of your husband, even if you want to do this, you have to wait for your husband to come back and discuss it. ”

Yuan Xi said lightly: "No need, because that's what your husband asked me to do." ”

Yuan Peony's beautiful eyes widened and looked at Yuan Xi in surprise.

Yuan Xi took out a letter, handed it to Yuan Peony, and said, "Han Yi didn't want to hide it from you, this is a letter from him to you." ”

Yuan Peony hurriedly took it and opened it to look at it.

Yuan Xi said: "Peony, the current situation, we have no way out, the strength of our merchants is already very strong, this will definitely cause the vigilance of the court, at this time we still have the use value, but when everything is calmed down, can you guarantee that the court will not unload the mill and kill the donkey?" Aren't they already sharpening their knives now, and our fate should be in our own hands, rather than expecting the mercy of the court, which is the most unreliable. ”