The king of the East China Sea carefully read the recital of Liu Zeqin, the head of the household department, and did not look at the doorway, "Your Majesty suspects that he colluded with the rich merchants of Luoyang and gave them too many benefits?" ”

"I don't know, I just think it......" Han Ruzi couldn't say that feeling, so he asked the king of the East China Sea and the others to step back first, and he wanted to meet the household servant alone. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Liu Zeqin was ordered to preside over the daily court meeting, but she was dutiful, following the legend, holding a stack of documents in her hand, which was a detailed record of the court meeting, which could make the absent emperor immersive.

Han Ruzi casually flipped through a few pages without looking closely, "Liu Shilang, I have a question for you, I hope you can have something to say." ”

"Your Majesty, please ask, the minister will never dare to hide anything." Liu Zeqin stood respectfully in front of the emperor.

Han Ruzi pondered for a moment, "I've already seen the chapter, is there anything I need to do?" ”

Liu Zeqin glanced up at the emperor, his face was surprised, and he immediately lowered his head, "If the minister is not thoughtful, there must be omissions, please suspend it for an hour or two, and the minister will revise it, but ...... Your Majesty, please give me a little bit of ......"

Liu Zeqin also thought that the emperor was not satisfied with his recital.

Han Ruzi shook his head, "Liu Shilang misunderstood, there is no problem with the chapter, I think some things may not be written in the chapter, you can tell me directly." ”

Liu Zeqin was even more surprised, "No, Luoyang's official and private grain release is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, everything is in the chapter, and the minister does not dare to hide it." ”

Liu Zeqin is the kind of real minister of the imperial court, Han Ruzi looked at him as if he was separated by a wall, only hearing his voice, not seeing his person, no eye contact, and talking to each other into the air.

"That's very good." Han Ruzi smiled and expressed satisfaction, but he knew in his heart that his way of questioning was wrong, so he could only get nothing.

He then summoned Dr. Qu Zixi, a doctor of Guozijian.

Qu Zixi is also the imperial history of Henan County, he is very serious, and he has already gone to run around the city, and he just happened to see the emperor to report the situation.

"It's really rare, Luoyang officials and merchants have always been known for their old treacherous and slippery, I thought they were going to deceive again this time, but they were wronged, I saw outside the city, the grain was put in order, the grain shed stretched for more than ten miles, and there were special people to take care of it. The displaced people first registered their place of residence, received food according to the slip, gathered more than 50 people, selected a leader, paid enough food and government certificates, and allowed them to return to their places of origin. ”

Qu Zixi was very satisfied with the performance of the officials and people in Luoyang, "Your Majesty is here in person, and it is indeed twice the result with half the effort." ”

After reading Liu Zeqin's recital, Qu Zixi didn't think there was any problem, "These compensations are not much, and the merchants in Luoyang are really impressive this time." The minister wanted to apologize for his previous words, and at that time the minister thought that Luoyang was a place of greed and slippery, which gave His Majesty a preconceived opinion. ”

"Mr. Lao Qu will stay in Luoyang for a few more days, and he will start and finish well."

"It's incumbent."

Han Ruzi didn't get help from Qu Zixi, but he still didn't give up, and he always felt that things were not so simple.

He also discussed with the King of the East China Sea, "Think more about the imperial art you have learned. ”

"What kind of imperial art is that? It's just some tricks to guess people's hearts. The King of the East China Sea didn't admit it again, but he still picked up the chapter, read it again, and said for a long time: "There is a way to find flaws." ”

"Tell me about it."

"It's convention."

"Convention?" Han Ruzi doesn't like conventions very much, and many times, conventions are the wall between him and the minister.

"Yes, I forgot who told me, I really can't find a flaw in the minister's proposal, so I asked him what the practice was, there must be a reason for doing it in the first place, see if this reason still exists, how much is left, maybe find some clues."

Han Ruzi paused, "That's right, at least we have to figure out why we imposed heavy taxes on Kanto merchants and restricted the number of customs entries in the first place, who should I ask?" Liu Zeqin will definitely shirk and say that he doesn't understand. ”

"I don't know about this, Your Majesty should have stayed in the capital, and the entire court was by his side, if he had any doubts, he would ask the prime minister, even if the prime minister didn't know about it, he had to recommend an insider, which was his duty. Now that His Majesty is in Luoyang, there are not many people around, especially the Prime Minister, who should I ask? ”

Han Ruzi had advisers by his side, and ten scholars were always there, but their strength was to quote scriptures, intend to reward the meritorious officers and soldiers of the Southern and Northern Army, and reprimand Yang Feng, they can do it quickly, the words are powerful, and the sentences are enough to make the rewardees grateful and the wrongdoers ashamed, but when it comes to the affairs of the merchants in Luoyang, no one remembers the original regulations.

"It shouldn't be a big deal, otherwise, it will definitely be recorded in the national history." A reader speculated.

The ten advisors retreated, and the King of the East China Sea came up with another idea, "Scholars are not good, Your Majesty should find those old officials who are familiar with documents." ”

Han Ruzi really remembered one, called Liu Jie, the central supervisor, in, and asked, "Who put the copy of the capital's music on the table every day?" ”

"It's me." Liu Jie replied.

"Who gave it to you?"

"Zhongshu Provincial Official."

"It's the same order in the capital?"

"Yes, the Zhongshu Province will sort out the documents, and then someone in the palace will transfer them to the emperor, usually the central secretary, and His Majesty can also appoint others."

"It's good for Gong Liu to do this, and he called the officials of Zhongshu Province who accompanied him."

The people arrived soon, "Zhao Ruosu, a scholar from Weichen, visited His Majesty. "This is a middle-aged man in his thirties, quite a bit of premature aging, and at first glance, he looks like a person who has been a copywriter for a long time.

The Zhongshu Sheren was not qualified to participate in the court meeting, Han Ruzi only had a vague impression of Zhao Ruosu, he was always mixed in a large number of entourages, very close to the emperor, but there were many obstacles in between, if it wasn't for the emperor's summons, he would never have had the opportunity to talk directly with the emperor.

Han Ruzi was a little hesitant, this person didn't seem to be a person who dared to speak out, he didn't know anything about him, thought about it, and asked: "You are a member of the Zhongshu House, can you see the official documents in the past?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"How long ago?"

"Every ten years, the province of Zhongshu and the provincial capital of the secretary copy copies of the official documents of the past years, and Weichen was fortunate to participate in it once, and he has seen all the official documents since the establishment of Taizu."

Han Ruzi was taken aback, and the King of the East China Sea didn't believe it, "All? Stacked together taller than a mountain, can you finish it? ”

"Wechen is good at identifying wrong words, and is responsible for the first school, and the recopied official documents Wechen have to take a look."

"It's not called looking, at most it's a sweep, you didn't even know what was written on the official document at the time, right?"

"Most don't know, some remember."

The King of the East China Sea sneered, still not believing it.

Han Ruzi didn't want to worry about trivial matters, so he asked directly: "I ask you, when was the levy on merchants in Kanto and the restriction on the number of customs entries regulated, do you have any impression?" ”

"Yes, both of these are rules set by Taizu in the first year of his ascension to the throne."

Han Ruzi and the King of the East China Sea glanced at each other, but they didn't expect that this inconspicuous Zhongshu scholar really remembered the official document more than a hundred years ago.

"Why did Taizu set such a high tax?" Han Ruzi asked.

Zhao Ruosu thought for a while and replied: "A piece of music at that time said that the people of Kanto are rich, and the people's hearts are still towards Zhao and Qi, and heavy taxes must be levied to cut off their rebellion. ”

At the beginning of Taizu's reign, the forces of Zhao and Qi had not been completely purged, and they were not limited to the current Zhao and Qi, and the area was much larger, so Taizu intended to suppress Kwantung.

"Great Chu has lasted for many years, and the original Zhao and Qi have long been forgotten by the people, why have the heavy taxes not been reduced?"

"Wechen didn't know, and Wechen never mentioned this matter in the official documents he saw."

The East Sea King's reaction at this time was quick, and he said with a smile: "What's so difficult to explain this, the merchants in Kanto can afford it, haven't they been getting richer and richer all these years?" As for the capital, he was used to this income, and suddenly decreased, but he didn't adapt to it, so he kept it, and the public reason was that this was a rule set by Taizu and could not be changed. ”

"Can't the rules set by Taizu really not be changed?" Han Ruzi felt that the heavy tax could be reduced a little.

The King of the East China Sea pursed his lips and did not answer, Zhao Ruosu said: "No one has ever said no, but the Ministry of Rites may object." ”

"Ministry of Rites?" Han Ruzi didn't understand what this had to do with the Ministry of Rites.

"Every year in the lunar month, the Ministry of Rites will worship the ancestors in the Taimiao, and one of the rituals is to tell His Majesty what he has done in the past year, and the Ministry of Rites may say that changing the old rules will anger the spirit of the Taizu in the sky."

Han Ruzi was so surprised that he couldn't speak, and after thinking about it carefully, this was indeed something that the Ministry of Rites would do.

"What about the limit on the number of entries? What is the reason? ”

"At that time, the reason was very simple, the old ministers of Zhao and Qi were still not dead, and they had tried to assassinate Taizu and the generals of the court, and the merchants brought many people and goods into the customs, and the assassins were easy to mix in."

"According to the Ministry of Rites, this old rule can't be changed?"

Zhao Ruosu thought for a while, "This is not necessarily, taxation is a major matter, Taizu issued a holy decree at the beginning, it is well documented, limiting the number of customs entries is a suggestion made by the general guarding the customs, Taizu approved, and did not specifically issue an edict, therefore, in the eyes of the Ministry of Rites, this may not be regarded as a change in Taizu's old rules." ”

"There are Lao Zhao Sheren to solve the doubts, I have understood, you can step down."

Zhao Ruosu exited the tent.

"It's a talent." Han Ruzi said.

"Hey, it's just a little better to remember, this kind of person grabs a handful in the major ministries and departments." The king of the East China Sea didn't care too much, "Liu Zeqin is so bold, he must know that the tax reduction is not feasible, but he deliberately wrote it in the chapter, and when the Ministry of Rites refuses it, His Majesty will be furious, and he will plead guilty on the ground, and when he comes and goes, he forgets about entering the customs." ”

"What Luoyang merchants really want is just to increase the number of customs entries? They don't rebel, they just want to do more business, right? ”

"Liu Zeqin is self-defeating, things are very simple, but he has to cover it up, Your Majesty has to guard against it."

Han Ruzi was silent, he was going to go on the expedition early tomorrow morning, and there was only one night left, and he had no other evidence except some speculation, so he really didn't know what to do.

Liu Jie entered the account to report, and Wang Jianhuo asked to see him.

The ugly king also went to run around the city of Luoyang, and what he saw and heard was the same as Qu Zixi, but he came to a different conclusion, "According to what the grass people see, many homeless people outside the city are fake, and the real homeless people will not get relief." The grass people are willing to be officials, and they would rather offend a thousand people than save more people. (To be continued.) )