Zhu Xu saw that Zeng Rong had belittled Zhu Wu's words to uselessness, and immediately blew his beard and glared at him angrily, stood up suddenly, and pointed at Zeng Rong and was about to scold.

Zeng Rong didn't wait for the other party to speak, got up and stepped back and curtsied, and then said: "Back to the emperor, the data listed by His Royal Highness Fang Cai only mentioned a few numbers in three different periods since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the few tax revenues he listed did not only refer to pure silver income, but also included physical objects, such as grain, silk, cast iron, etc., and the actual tax and silver income recorded by the household department was only three million taels of silver, whether it was at the beginning of the founding of the country or the best period fifteen years ago, this amount is not much different, has the emperor thought about it?" ”

In the previous life, Xu Jing entered the household department, and in those years, he studied the taxes of the Great Zhou, so Zeng Rong had the confidence to stand in front of the emperor.

"Hmph, why don't you understand, this shows that my Great Zhou Dynasty is stable, and the people live and work in peace and contentment." Zhu Xu blew his beard and said.

"The emperor's words are wrong, although this figure reflects the stability of the dynasty, but more importantly, it shows two problems, first, the vast majority of my Great Zhou's taxes rely on agriculture and handicrafts, and commerce accounts for only a small part of them; Second, in the 100 years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, commerce has almost stagnated, and the extra part of the tax in the best period is based on population growth and land taxes. In recent years, because of the war, the population has not increased but declined, but the land tax is still basically the same. ”

"Where did you overhear that?" Only then did Zhu Xu begin to face Zeng Rong.

"When I went back to the emperor, I heard it from the emperor and the ministers. These days, the emperor and the ministers discuss this topic the most, and the lower officials have heard it a lot, and it is difficult to remember it if they don't want to. Besides, His Royal Highness once mentioned one thing to the lower officials, saying that he particularly liked a painting, "Qingming Riverside Picture", and liked the market gas and fireworks in it, and the emperor must have an impression of this painting, right? If the lower officials are not mistaken, that day Lord Xu also seemed to mention a sentence, saying that the commercial tax in the Song Dynasty was far better than that of the Great Zhou, and it reached more than 160 million at the peak, which is called the real wealth of the country and the people. ”

"Hmph, what do you know, it is precisely because they are too hedonistic and unenterprising that they have lost the country, this is the consequence of suppressing agriculture and valuing business." After speaking, Zhu Xu patted his head, he was idle, and he was talking to a little girl about what he was doing!

Zeng Rong saw that the emperor was about to leave, and said busily: "Back to the emperor, it is not right to suppress agriculture and business, but it is also not advisable to blindly suppress business and agriculture. Once the war breaks out again, where will the money come from to support the army? ”

Although these words are still a bit naïve, they speak to Zhu Xu's heart.

Yes, on the one hand, there is a financial deficit and there is a shortage of money everywhere, but on the other hand, the population is declining instead of increasing, and the people are living a hard life and cannot afford to pay the poll tax.

"What does Nayi mean to find a balance in the middle?" Zhu Xu asked.

"Back to the emperor, exactly, as for how to find this balance point, this is a problem that the emperor and the ministers have studied. The lower officials will not get the axe at the door. Zeng Rong replied boldly.

Zhu Xu was amused by Zeng Rong's wild words, "Hmph, you also know that your class has an axe?" I still thought that I didn't know the height of the sky, and with the support of the Queen Mother, I didn't even let go of my eyes. I warn that one day I will be annoyed, and I will know how powerful I am if I break my leg by breaking my leg. ”

"The reason why the emperor dares to speak freely in front of the emperor is because of the emperor's love, because the emperor has a great heart of love for the people like a son, and because the emperor wants to be a wise monarch and wants to do something practical for the people." Zeng Rong knelt down, not frightened, but somewhat respectful.

"Get up, eat, I see it's a bunch of nonsense." Zhu Xu glared at her, flicked his sleeves, and left.

Seeing this, Zeng Rong got up and sat down at the dining table, she was really hungry.

It's not bad, the emperor ordered someone to cover these four dishes, and the rice was also warm, Zeng Rong picked up the chopsticks.

After the meal was over, Zeng Rong returned to the study again, Zhu Xu was reviewing the folds, and when he saw Zeng Rong coming in, his eyelids raised, "Tomorrow there will be a debate in the Zhengguo Prison, accompany me." ”

"Huh? Tomorrow will be the next official... ”

Before he finished speaking, Zeng Rong received the coolness in the emperor's eyes, and hurriedly changed his words: "Huh." ”

"In this way, for the convenience of going out, change into men's clothes." After speaking, Zhu Xu glanced at Zeng Rong and ordered Chang Dezi to help her find a set of eunuch clothes.

In less than a stick of incense, someone outside sent Zeng Rong a new set of eunuch clothes, Zeng Rong saw that there was only one set, and understood that there would be no Li Ruolan on tomorrow's trip.

Li Ruolan didn't seem to care, she was revising the copy written by Zeng Rong just now, and when she saw Zeng Rong sitting over with an apologetic face holding a eunuch dress, she explained to Zeng Rong in a low voice that Taixue's debate was coming.

Originally, Guozijian would hold a debate tournament on the second day of the first month of each month, and the topics of this debate competition would be combined with the government and government, and in addition to the students of Guozijian who participated in the debate, they would occasionally invite celebrities from outside academies to come.

Zhu Wu is a frequent visitor to the debates of the Guozijian, he not only participates, but sometimes he will play on his own, and when he returns, he will explain the content of the debate to the emperor, so the debate of the Guozijian is also an important place for the emperor to understand the ideological trend of the students of this dynasty.

It's just that it is rare for the emperor to listen to the debate in person, as for why he took Zeng Rong there, Li Ruolan did not ask although she had doubts.

Early the next morning, Zeng Rong didn't go to work, flipped through the book for a while, went to the catering bureau early for breakfast, came back and changed into the eunuch's clothes and went to Qianning Palace.

Zhu Xu was also ready to go out at this time, changed into a regular suit, and only brought a few guards and eunuchs with him, because the Guozijian was not far from the palace, Zhu Xu did not plan to take the dragon sword, he thought the formation was too big, so he only got into a very ordinary carriage.

It's just that to Zeng Rong's surprise, when he got into the carriage at Xihua Gate, Zhu Heng was actually there, but because Zeng Rong was wearing eunuch clothes, Zhu Heng's eyes did not stay on her, and after asking Zhu Xu for peace, he waited on the side in a proper manner, waiting for someone to carry him into the carriage.