Chapter 261: A Last Resort

This is the situation in the empress's tomb for a while, poplar spiders can reproduce and live in the tomb, the people in Qishan want to continue to live, it is to circulate normally, and the empress of Qishan knows the suffering and hardship of the people through her husband Ye Feihong.

After a decisive battle against the Han Dynasty, there was a serious fault line among the ethnic personnel, and the court seemed to be stable for a while, but the national financial resources and treasury did not exist, and the treasury was clean and clean, and there was no silver.

Shops seem to be operating normally, but the domestic population has been seriously reduced by as many as 4,000 people, and it is the strongest part of consumption, it is the pillar of family manpower and financial resources, each family has no pillar, no financial resources, there is no big expenses, and life is naturally tight, which has led to the sluggishness of the circulation of shop goods, and some shops have no interest after paying taxes, and the shop owners have already called for tax cuts.

Ordinary people are even more miserable, there is no pillar labor, and the living stones of farming are heavy, which is not suitable for the elderly in their fifties and sixties to work, but there are tax donations from the state, plus to maintain their own lives, and they have to bear the labor of men in the prime of life, which really makes people worry about the physical function of the old people.

After Empress Qishan heard her husband Ye Feihong's narration with her own ears, of course her heart was shocked, she had just sat on the throne of the empress, and now the situation in the country is like this, it is so serious!

The population fault line can cause such a series of adverse reactions to the country, so how can we solve the current and future national situation as soon as possible, so I asked, Lan Qi'er's entrustment is right, and Ma Ye Feihong is really the backing of Empress Enron.

Ye Feihong said: I think An Ran, you should now follow the example of Empress Lan Qi'er, first reduce the taxes and grain donations of the peasant people, only in this way can we really reduce the burden of the fifty or sixty elderly peasants, only when the burden is lightened, can the peasant people change their direction, and they can work regardless of their physical condition for the sake of paying taxes and grain donations, and really solve the people's hardships first.

This time you have to have the new emperor's work, the country's shops are now in crisis, you can do a part of the tax reduction, in order to ensure the existence of the country's shops, in order to protect the people's livelihood of the supply of materials, if the shop owners once the business is not profitable or lose money to maintain, a moment and a half is OK, over time will be in order to close down, then the people will have no source of materials and circulation, the country and the country?

Empress Lan Qier has a precedent of reducing the ministers' salary, you can also, follow suit, because the country is in danger, for a time only the ministers' income is stable, rich, and has a large surplus, which can be calculated and reasoned according to my situation, so as to achieve the basic supply of the ministers within a few years, according to the guarantee that the ministers can still do their best to serve the country and the people, if the ministers can't understand, for their own interests and give up the interests of the country and the people, then take the same as the Empress Loulan, you can really abandon it, My Queen, the plan of suffering must be decided, and those who do not exercise self-discipline and do not take responsibility will not be abandoned. Empress Qishan understood it safely, and knew that Ye Feihong's analysis of the country's situation was serious, and what she should do now was no longer to be delayed, so she immediately called the eunuch in the imperial study, Eunuch Xue was already over seventy years old, and ushered in a new empress.

Eunuch Xue responded to An Ran's order, personally rushed to the household office, and asked for the list of current state officials, especially the details of the state finance, after Ye Feihong's recommendation, two more people who were not court officials entered the imperial study, and the five people (including Eunuch Xue) began to study the country's financial and tax issues in the next few years in the imperial study for several days.

A week has passed, the statistics have come out, the treasury is indeed almost no surplus silver, the source of tax revenue is the farmers and shops, the digestion of tax is multifaceted, royal expenditures, ministers, material consumption of various ministries, various domestic construction of the Ministry of Industry, some necessary expenses of the army and soldiers, it is really too much, no wonder the treasury will have no balance after the tax!

The study continues, and it is now divided into two parts: one is how the state should collect taxes because the current situation of the people cannot be changed, and the other is how to reduce expenditures in the current situation of the people, so that the state treasury can have some surplus money as much as possible in case of emergencies.

In the end, everyone's opinions were unified, because it was five people who were studying, two of the five represented the interests of the people and the actual situation, Ye Feihong represented the officials, Empress An Ran and Eunuch Xue represented the interests of the country, and the opinions still took into account the actual situation of all parties.

That is, the country takes the people as the cornerstone, the people's suffering and difficulties are put in the first place, the tax reduction of the agricultural people is necessary, how much reduction is appropriate, after reasoning, the two percent tax and grain donation is the maximum, which is what the country can bear after the synthesis, in the more reduction, then the treasury will not have the treasury, it is not as good as the people's warehouse?

Shop tax reduction of one percent, how did this become out, everyone analyzed that the domestic shops have reached the state of operating unprofitable or maintained, reducing one percent, is to let the shops have this already made profits, so that they have the confidence to operate, and then the reduction is not established, and the country will not have a treasury.

The material consumption and processing departments of various ministries of the state can strictly approve the construction of state facilities, reduce the process, and try to save expenditure and consumption, so that the balance of national revenue can be formed for a while.

There has to be a saying about royal expenditures and ministers' contributions, and that royal expenditures can be reduced again and again, and self-reduction based on self-discipline as the premise?

The ministers' salaries have been studied by everyone, and it is completely possible to reduce them by 20%, and the reduction of 20% of the salaries will not cause the ministers' families to live and be hired by their families.

The ministers' two percent of the treasury changed to the treasury, and the surplus silver came out, and the minister's family was temporarily changed to the state, of course, this is a time limit, not a lifetime, and the national age gap is made up, and it will be added according to the situation.

As a result, how to implement it, everyone began to discuss it again, and finally the plan came out, since it is an act of the state, an act for the country and the people, it cannot be changed, and whether there is resistance or not, it must be implemented.

With a decision, there is the following, An Ran Girl, the Imperial Palace, throwing the holy will, asking for the understanding of the public, checking the hearts of the ministers, how to do it. Ministers for personal gain, gather crowds, refute braids, not for the country, not for the people, patent themselves, the empress's heart, not at ease, force her to give up, and public opinion, and promote the national exhibition.

The court meeting in Qishan began again with the arrival of a new day, all the courtiers and empresses arrived at the first time, and after all the etiquette was the formal rhythm, most of the themes were still the current situation of the population, urban construction, taxation and so on.

Empress Qishan An Ran made a temporary reply in the court today, she naturally expressed her holy will to the ministers of the court, not a holy decree, her intention was to see the reaction of the ministers, the holy will clearly explained the existing situation of the people, and she intended to make tax adjustments, and the ministers' Yulu could not afford the national tax for a while, and it was to be adjusted accordingly, and the written materials were sent to the hands of the ministers of each ministry, three copies of each part, that is, one copy of the long history and two deputy histories, which could be seen in the court. It can be sent to the officials of various ministries after going down to the court, or it can be discussed by the people of each ministry.

After the Empress Qishan expressed her holy will, the written materials were in the hands of the ministers, so she issued a holy decree to the emperor, tomorrow morning on an issue, the ministers can express their political opinions according to the situation, according to the current situation, and refute it, and the Qishan courtiers must have an expression and seek the true sense of the people's will.

At the end of the court meeting, Empress Qishan deliberately did not directly issue a holy decree, deliberately expressed her intention to conquer the government, and deliberately mentioned that she could refute it, because she really wanted to explore the hearts of her ministers, of course, the written materials also explained the situation of the country, the situation of the people, the situation of agriculture, and the situation of commerce.

The major events of the court have been issued, the court has retreated, the officials of the six ministries have opened the pot, and the people and merchants have not known for a while, and they have not yet opened the pot and cheered, and there is no Ming government to celebrate the dynasty.

The officials of the six ministries can be said to be the first ministers, and the main officials of the palace are connected and discussed with each other, and this holy will naturally greatly touches the interests of the officials, which is expected by the empress An Ran and others.

Empress Enron and others just hope that the ministers will look at the written materials issued after the public meeting, and understand more about the long-term development of the country and the people, as well as the hardships of the people now, and through understanding, they will be able to support and not oppose the government tomorrow morning, which is what Enron wants to see.

Everything rushed to the idea of Enron, but it was not a good aspect, it was a part of the ministers who started from the self-interested side, and looked at the text on the written materials, and the text next to the reduction was like a fictitious for a while, of course, some ministers saw the reality of the people, due to the temporary attitude of the long history and deputy historians, the low official position can only be expressed in the ministry, depending on the situation.

The sun rose, the court meeting began, the main minister was in the court, and the subordinate officials of the six ministries were waiting outside the court, this was the first time in the history of Loulan, there were so many people in the court.

The empress sat peacefully on the dragon chair and listened to the ministers, of course, there must be a play, with the superior political braids, for a while the empress understood that this proposal was against her original intentions, and selfish desires dominated the hearts of some ministers and important ministers.

An Ran listened, while talking, while mentioning the current situation of the people, but still did not stop the ministers from kneeling, the empress saw that the ministers were almost political for a while, so she signaled that the eunuch could be replaced, and the eunuch said: The ministers can come to an end first, please first go to the foreign marquis, please ask the subordinate officials of the six departments to come in, and the courtiers have changed.

There are seventy or eighty subordinate officials in the six ministries, but there are many regular court ministers, and the court is almost overcrowded for a while.

The empress An Ran spoke first in the court, which means that yesterday the holy will was sent to all ministries in the form of documents, you should have your own opinions, I am here to say in person, now because of the decisive battle between the people and the Han army, the national morale is greatly injured, the army and the people have died as many as 4,000, the 4,000 soldiers and civilians are mainly young and strong people, resulting in a serious shortage of national labor, all I have the move to mobilize taxes and officials to solve the difficulties of the country, the suffering of the people, I hope that the Aiqing can consider and understand it for the country and the people, okay, let's play?

The subordinate officials of the six ministries began to play one by one, and there were still a large number of subordinate officials who supported the government.

The first round of political discussions is over, Empress Enron listened to mixed blessings, the court meeting is not over, the important ministers are invited again, the real state officials are invited, the debate begins again, Empress Enron still occasionally expresses her opinions in the court, but five or six ministers just don't take Empress Enron's words seriously, and are still braiding and saying, what is the importance of the ministers of the country to the country, what is the necessity of the existence of each official, etc., it is deserved to take the country's money, and Gao Yulu can promote the officials to perform their duties and responsibilities more, It can reflect the scholarly status of the minister and promote the enthusiasm of the people to learn literature and martial arts.

The empress sat on the dragon chair and heard it, but she could hear another understanding, that is, if the officials were demoted for a while, the ministers and important ministers would think that it would be impossible to make a mistake in completely devoting their knowledge and efforts, and that the salary would not be equal to their contributions, so they could not take responsibility and not take responsibility, is this the way to be an official? Is it for the sake of the official? If so, do you still have a total?

The empress An Ran said at this time: Okay, Aiqing, now let's express it one last time, and those who agree to temporarily reduce their fortunes for the country and the people should stand on the left and right to vote, and I will make up my mind so that I can make a holy decree.

Nearly forty ministers and important ministers have begun to move around, and in the end the situation is different, five or six long histories and deputy histories are against the political discussion, they are so firm, they only care about their own interests, not even a little bit of the interests of the people of the country, no!

Is such a minister still suitable to be an official, and can he still perform his duties for the country and the people, and he has a choice, knowing that these important ministers don't take themselves seriously and don't take the people seriously?

So he said: Okay, the Aiqing people are clear in their hearts, under the holy decree, the taxes and grain donations of the peasant people will be reduced by 20% from now on, the shops will be reduced by 10%, and the officials will be reduced by 20%.

Since the suffering of the refugees of the country is a trivial matter for you, the five of you love the literature and control the development of the country, and now I look like Qishan, why does the country have no silver in the treasury and the people have no family background, is this the ability of the Aiqings? Is it?

Yes, Aiqing's family can be the right academic status, three or five people, and the silver may be fuller than the treasury, not to mention.

Under the holy decree, the five important ministers are only eight high, and the Lan Dynasty Hall has no silver and two promotions, and they can go home to care for the elderly, and they can sit at home and think about it for themselves, so please do it!

When the five officials and ministers heard this, they realized that the little Empress Enron had already had her own holy will, and she was probing everyone's hearts, everything was late, it was all over, what a underestimate of the empress!