Although the weather is clear, but the cold is even worse, it is better to drizzle and contain a trace of warmth, tomorrow is the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, this is the carnival of the Tang Dynasty, Valentine's Day, once a year, under the bright lights, in the thick of the night, the human nature will be released, and one after another human tragicomedy will be interpreted. At this moment, there are still fifteen hours before the lanterns are lit, and the craftsmen on the street are busy setting up the lanterns, and they are anxious, so they step on the street early in the morning, pointing to all kinds of lanterns and commenting, and the noisy laughter and shouting come from afar, Li Qing casually closes the window, isolating the cold and hustle and bustle, and the study is also dimmed.

"Yangming, yesterday the emperor came to me for a detailed discussion, and he hoped that I could solve the problem of military spending within three or five years, provide financial guarantee for the comprehensive transition from government soldiers to recruitment, and change the current way of recruiting soldiers, and change the military expenses of soldiers from local burdens to direct allocation by the imperial court."

Zhang Qiu and Qiong sighed and said with a wry smile: "Now the annual fiscal revenue and expenditure is already a deficit of nearly one million guan, if you increase military spending, it will increase by four or five million guan every year, even if the local government pays a part, the three million guan will always be wanted, where will this money come from?" How can this be solved in three or five years, but the emperor doesn't give me any leeway, he must ask me to agree, Yangming, isn't this putting me on the fire to roast? ”

He looked up at Li Qing, who had been pondering, and asked with a glimmer of hope: "The emperor said that you already have a belly case, you might as well tell me about it first, so that I can sleep at night." ”

It can be heard from Zhang Qiu and Qiong's words that the reason why Li Longji is anxious to solve the financial problem is to improve the military system and solve the problem of privately recruiting troops for border generals, and part of the military expenses under the current military recruitment system are still borne by the localities, which provides the possibility of recruiting private troops, but if all of them are borne by the imperial court, it is impossible.

Obviously, Li Longji also discovered the seriousness of this problem from the case of Huangfu Weiming, and ordered Zhang Qiu Jianqiong and Li Qinglai to reform the finances, but what he called reform was only to 'make money,' and if he wanted to solve the land problem at the source, how could it be effective in three or five years.

Li Qingxin also understood that in order to solve the financial predicament and the military system, the root cause is that the cultivators should have their land, fix the peasants on the land, and control the military resources of the feudal towns from the source; on the other hand, it is necessary to improve the tax system, cut off the financial resources of the feudal towns, and start from the four aspects of people, money, materials, and systems, so that it is possible to gradually eliminate the shortcomings accumulated in the Tang Dynasty over the past century.

Seeing Zhang Qiu and Qiong's face full of eagerness, he couldn't help but smile slightly, and explained first: "Don't hide it from your teacher, but the guarantee of three or five years is what I told the emperor, not what the emperor himself thinks." ”

"What! Did you say that? ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong Huo stood up, stared at Li Qing and asked, "Don't you really understand?" What will be the result in three or five years, if someone restricts elbows, it is normal to delay for a year and a half, but you easily promise the emperor three years and five years, no wonder he bites to death and does not give him any room for maneuver. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Qiu and Qiong also felt that he was too impatient, he adjusted his mood, his tone was slightly apologetic, and said euphemistically: "Yangming, it's not that I want to blame you, it's really that you are a little inconsiderate, you don't want to think about it, three or five years are fleeting, what can you do?" Can it solve the land problem? Can we get the money to solve the reform of the military system? Can't, maybe you can only make a start, and at that time, how can you give the emperor an errand? If you can't make a difference, it can only prove that your ability is not good, and you will no longer have a chance, Yang Ming, you are indeed too tender! ”

Li Qing shook his head slowly, and said: "Teacher, please don't be angry, and listen to me slowly, I have also thought deeply about this issue, I think that the success of the reform does not lie in the use of any good methods, if it is not right, it can always find a suitable way, and those old officials who have been doing it for decades, who is right and which is wrong, how can they not have a book in their hearts, the key is not here, the important thing is the way and method of reform, which is the key to determining the success or failure of reform, for example, we go to Daming Palace, go to the imperial city, You can also go to Danfeng Gate, but you have to go through the Vermilion Bird Gate, Chengtian Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and go to the West Inner Garden and Hanguang Palace, and you can only go to Daming Palace after checking through the five and road gates, on the contrary, if we take Danfeng Gate, you only need to check to Daming Palace, isn't it much more convenient? ”

Saying this, Li Qing picked up the teacup and took a sip lightly, but his eyes quickly swept over Zhang Qiu and Qiong's face, seeing that he was falling into deep thought, knowing that his words had already had an effect, he continued: "My reform is the same, the reason why I have allowed three or five years is to do some immediate small reforms, so that the emperor can taste the sweetness first, and he will continue to support our deeper reforms, otherwise the time is too long, he will lose patience, this is the same as using soldiers, you must first use small victories to stimulate morale." ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong were silent, he had to admit that Li Qing was deeper and more pragmatic than he thought, his heart was full of surprise, he didn't expect such a young man to have such a deep vision, and he was better than himself, no wonder the emperor would let him be a servant of the ministry, Zhang Qiu and Qiong's heart was happy again, with a trace of sourness.

The air in the room seemed to be a little frozen, neither of them spoke, and after a long time, Zhang Qiu and Qiong asked in a deep voice: "Then what do you mean by Xiao Tiandi?" I mean, what do you want to do in the first step? ”

"Salt!" Li Qing said the word softly, now

The price of salt in the district is ten per bucket, and the price of rice is thirty, a difference of three times, such as this is due to the result of the flood of private salt, in fact, salt profit has been an important financial source of the government since ancient times, and it is the same in later generations, the reason for the loss of salt profit is still in the management system, if the salt monopoly system is implemented, the salt price is controlled from the source, on the one hand, it can ensure that the salt tax revenue increases significantly and is stable, and on the other hand, it can avoid the interception of the salt tax by the local government, of course, this will also violate the vital interests of certain interest groups. Even the salt and iron prison itself.

Li Qing has long considered that the salt reform is a quick and pragmatic method, the resistance is relatively small, for Li Longji, only let him taste the sweetness, he will gradually adopt his next reform measures, Li Longji is old, more than enough to keep the success and enterprising is insufficient, when he is in power, the land issue can not be touched, the conditions are not mature, only after a series of reforms, the finances are gradually straightened out, when the conditions are ripe, and there is an enterprising emperor on the throne, then to solve the land problem, And Yan Zheng was his first step in straightening out his finances.

"Salt?"

Zhang Qiu and Qiong were a little surprised, the tax on salt has been there since ancient times, and in the early years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, it was institutionalized, and the salt and iron supervisors were set up to manage, and there were salt officials everywhere, which had been taxed, how could there be potential to be tapped, but after a little thought, Zhang Qiu and Qiong understood that Li Qing must have wanted to adopt the ancient method of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the imperial court would monopolize all the salt industry, and the benefits would not leak out.

He used to be the governor of Yizhou, in charge of government affairs, and he was well aware of the shortcomings of the current salt administration, not to mention that there is now a flood of private salt, there is no way to collect and manage, and the salt that can be taxed is only one or two, even if a part of it is levied, but officials at all levels are exploited layer by layer, and the local government takes away a part, and what can really enter the treasury, but a very small part, this is really a breakthrough.

But Zhang Qiu and Qiong are not excited, the profits on salt are too great, and many people with backgrounds have intervened, especially some royal families, who openly sell illegal salt to seek huge profits, and reforming the salt policy is tantamount to violating their interests, how can this be managed.

What's more important is Li Linfu's restraint, once he openly confronts him, how can he let Li Qing's salt tax reform go smoothly, and so on, Li Qing's ideas are good, but if you want to succeed, you must face these vested interests, as well as Li Linfu's plots.

Li Qing seemed to know Zhang Qiu and Qiong's thoughts, he smiled faintly, added water to Zhang Qiu and Qiong's teacup, and said slowly: "This is why I want to protect Tai to survive this difficulty, if he is on stage, Li Linfu's attention will not be on me." ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong stared at him, he didn't say anything for a long time, he walked a few steps in the room with his hands in his hand, and suddenly turned back and asked: "Your obstacle is not only Li Linfu, if other wealthy families or even the royal family oppose it, how will you deal with it?" ”

"Naturally, kill a few chickens first to set an example for the monkeys."

Li Qing smiled and continued: "Then let them stay in warm water, I will slowly heat it, and when they can't bear it, I have stewed it into a pot of monkey head soup, if a few of them wake up and jump out early, I can also kill them calmly, it is better than being attacked by a group." ”

Zhang Qiu and Qiong slowly let out a sigh, and sighed: "There are three things that I am most proud of in this life, one is the defeat of the Tubo army; the second is to be a minister; The third is to recommend you as an official, with you, even if I let go halfway, I can rest assured. ”

.

Zhang Qiu and Qiong have already said goodbye and left, Li Qing's train of thought is still continuing, he did not give Zhang Qiu and Qiong all his words, he has a more important purpose, that is, Li Jiao, the king of Guangping, this is the person he has seen for a long time, his thinking is clear and full of energy, only when he takes the throne, his final battle can be truly guaranteed.

Li Qing leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes and thought deeply, everything must be prioritized, reform is the next step, but the danger of Taizhi has come to the present, although he must ensure that it is too much, but in fact it is already difficult, Li Longji is still in a hurry to implement his plan, get rid of Huangfu Weiming, transfer away Fu Meng Chaling, arrange for Yongwang, use Zhang Qiu and Qiong, step by step, not leaking, and at this moment, Li Qing has already seen that Li Longji's butcher's knife has been raised high, just wait for Tai to stretch his neck over, please Li Heng, Don't do anything stupid at this critical time!

Time does not allow him to wait and see, and now that the next wife arranged by Li Longji has surfaced, his plan can be implemented.

"Yongwang!" Li Qing sneered lightly, it is not so easy to enter the East Palace, there are many people with red eyes!

He knocked on the small silver bell on the table casually, and the silver bell made a light and long sound, and soon a subordinate ran in, bowed down and said, "Does the master have something to order?" ”

Li Qing looked at him and ordered, "You go to the West Market, find the skeleton for me, and tell him to come immediately!" "Raising soldiers for a thousand days, using soldiers for a while, the group of people who did dark things he collected in Yibin back then will finally come in handy.

At this time, there was a commotion outside the door, as if there were countless people running, Li Qing was surprised, he pushed open the window and looked into the courtyard, suddenly, a familiar baby cry came from afar, he froze, suddenly screamed, jumped out of the window with a step on the table, and rushed straight to the front yard, his wife and daughter who had been thinking about it finally came.