In the spring and summer of the fifth year of Zhizhi, Tubo invaded the border and was successfully repelled by the defenders of Liangzhou.

Before the army had yet to triumph, a storm broke out.

After dozens of days of observation, the counterattack of the Shi clan was finally launched, and the target was very precise, that is, to target the planner and core of the new tax system, Zhang Meng.

Within two days, there were hundreds of letters of impeachment of Zhang Meng and the abolition of the new tax system.

In July of the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor, Wu Jin, the assassin of Yuzhou, opposed the implementation of the new tax system in Yuzhou, believing that the new tax system was to compete with the people for profit, and the small people were overwhelmed, and the forced implementation was bound to shake the national foundation.

With Wu Jin's dismissal, the ministers of the DPRK and China went up again, demanding that the new tax system be abolished, Zhang Meng should be expelled, and Peng Zhu should be dismissed.

"It's all a bunch of bastards!"

The emperor's roar sounded again in Shufangzhai, Pan Lian led the ministers of Shangshutai to stand on one side, and Zhang Meng stood on the other side.

Zuo Chen couldn't help frowning when he heard the emperor's outburst, and was about to admonish, but the emperor had already turned his head, looked at Pan Lian and shouted angrily: "Look at it, what Wu Zhen said should be cut down, it seems that I am extravagant, and the court has spent all my money." ”

The emperor could not contain his anger, and in general, the recital did not need to be made public, but if the court wanted to refute it, the entire recital had to be made public.

"Since I ascended the throne, I only use five taels of silver a day, and the queen only uses four taels of silver a day, except for the queen mother, all the expenses in the palace have dropped by three percent, old seventeen, you control the degree of Cao, you say, isn't it!"

"The emperor is thrifty, and the ministers know everything. The king of Yanping replied.

It's only been a few years, and the Xianbei people have forgotten the lesson, the Hu people on the grassland are going to be integrated, and there will be a big trouble when Yongzhou and Youzhou are established, and the people of Yongzhou and Youzhou are not the people of my Great Jin!"

The emperor was extremely angry, and refuted Wu Jin's recitals one by one, obviously going crazy with anger.

Zuo Chen frowned deeply, and was a little anxious in his heart, this Wu Jin's official reputation is not bad, and his reputation in Yuzhou is quite high, unlike Sheng Huai, he is relatively honest as an official and never accepts bribes.

Pan Lian's face was expressionless, Wu Zhen was one of the few assassins who had never given him silver, and he didn't care about his whereabouts, but today, he had to be saved.

"Your Majesty, what Wu Zhen said is a bit excessive, but Wu Jin's official reputation has always been very good, and his reputation in Yuzhou is very high,"

"The official reputation is good!" The emperor sneered: "What is the use of his official reputation to the people of the world?

"Your Majesty, Wu Zhen does not agree with the implementation of the new tax system in Yuzhou, how should the imperial court deal with it?" Pan Lian asked: "The minister thinks that persuasion should be the mainstay. ”

"How can you persuade?" Peng Zhu asked sharply: "It's not that the court has not been convinced, Shang Shutai has given him two court edicts, and Master Pan has also given him three letters, how else to convince him!"

The emperor walked up to Pan Lian: "You say!"

Pan Lian hesitated: "Your Majesty, Wu Zhen is still doing a good job in Yuzhou, Your Majesty, there are many debates about the new tax system, if Wu Jin is unwilling to implement it in Yuzhou, the imperial court can implement it in other states first, not necessarily in Yuzhou." ”

Zhang Meng interjected coldly: "According to the plan of the imperial court, after Yongzhou, Jizhou, Yuzhou, and the three prefectures, a new tax system will be implemented throughout the world next year, and now the imperial court will make concessions to Wu Jin, what about Yongzhou? What about Jizhou? In the future, there will be Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, and Merge Prefecture! If they do the same, how will this new tax system be implemented!"

The emperor didn't speak, and continued to stare at Pan Lian, who was slightly contemplative: "Lord Peng's concerns are very much, but if the new tax system is to be implemented, it is necessary to work together from top to bottom in order to get twice the result with half the effort. ”

"In the long run, how long will it take, and how long will it take!" Peng Zhu pressed up and asked.

Pan Lian replied quietly: "The new tax system, the ministers of the DPRK and the central government, and the leaders of Shilin are all opposed, and the impeachment of the new tax system is about to be piled up, Your Majesty, can't this new tax system be slowed down!"

"Slow, how long will it be?" Peng Zhu asked, Pan Lian thought about it for a while and said: "This plan has just begun, and Prime Minister Peng knows that this plan is cumbersome and complicated, and it involves a wide range of things, and it is the top priority of the country, so we must not slack off." ”

At the beginning of spring each year, the local state and county chiefs send their subordinates to the imperial capital to report to the Prime Minister's Office on the finances, population conditions, and public security conditions of their prefectures and counties.

In order to calculate, after the beginning of spring every year, the officials from all over the country will come, from the officials from all over the country will set off, far away to go for half a year, to the imperial capital, in the prime minister's mansion report, and the prime minister's office to grasp the account books corresponding, there must be a number of errors, all the account books have to be redone, therefore, every year on the count is very cumbersome and complicated.

Pan Lian's meaning is obvious, you Pengzhu should do a good job of the plan first, and there will be a problem with the plan in the province.

"There are hundreds of officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion, all of them are old people, what can be wrong with the plan!" Peng Zhu retorted: "The new tax system is the foundation of the country, this year, the division has been counted, the fiscal revenue is the same as in previous years, Qingzhou, down by two percent, Xuzhou, down by one percent, these are all statistics, Yangzhou, up two percent." ”

"Why Yangzhou will rise, is because Yangzhou has implemented the salt tax reform, the implementation of the new tax system, Qingzhou Xuzhou, the wind and rain are smooth, but the fiscal revenue has declined, why is this?"

Judging from the current situation, the situation is still very optimistic, Yangzhou has increased its income by two percent compared with previous years, Yangzhou has always been rich, and its fiscal and tax revenues far exceed that of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, so these two states have decreased, Yangzhou has increased by two percent, and the total fiscal revenue has also increased.

Moreover, this year, as Pengzhu said, the wind and rain are smooth, in addition to Yongzhou reported the drought as usual, there is another county in Shuzhou that reported floods, and the others did not report disasters, which is much stronger than in previous years.

The granary of the Great Jin Dynasty, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Shuzhou and Jizhou, as long as there are no problems in these four states, there will be no major problems.

"As far as Lao Chen knows, Jizhou, Jingzhou and Yongzhou have been smooth this year, and the financial revenue should be fine. Pan Lian was not in a hurry, and said unhurriedly: "Yangzhou in the second and third years of Zhizhi, successively repaired the Qingmao River, Ling'an River, Liuxian River, plus, this year's wind and rain, fiscal revenue has increased, it should also be, and the new tax system may not have much to do with it." ”

When Peng Zhu heard this, he was so angry that he didn't know what to say, the emperor stared at Pan Lian coldly, Pan Lian lowered his head and frowned, and his expression was calm.

"I'm afraid that Taishi Pan's words are wrong," Xue Mi rolled his eyes and said: "The same wind and rain are smooth, why has the income of Sili, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou declined?

The emperor turned his head to look at Pan Lian, Pan Lian didn't expect Xue Yu to jump out at this time, he frowned and thought: "This, this"

As he spoke, he glared at Xue Mi fiercely, and Xue Mi looked calm: "The new tax system has increased the tax of the imperial court, which is naturally good, but I am afraid that the imperial court is too eager to implement this policy, and the effect of Yangzhou's implementation of the new tax system is not significant, it is better to slow down, and wait for Yangzhou to achieve remarkable results, and then promote it!"

At the beginning of Xue Mi's words, the emperor's expression softened, but then Xue Yu's words, the emperor's expression gradually became difficult to see.

"This is reasonable," the king of Yanping County interjected: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang, Prime Minister Peng, the Taoist classics have words, and if you don't teach and punish, the punishment will be complicated and the evil will be invincible; after Yangzhou implements the new tax system, the people of the world have not really seen it, and if they really see it, I believe they will support the new tax system." ”

Seeing the statements of Xue Mi and the king of Yanping County, the emperor was very disappointed, but without waiting for him to express his position, Zuo Chen stepped forward: "Lord Xue and the prince's opinions are reasonable, and the Taoist classics have words. ”

"Too anxious!" Peng Zhu almost jumped to his feet and shouted: "It's too urgent! Just don't rush the people! Don't worry about the displaced people in this world! Boss, do you know how many homeless people froze to death outside the imperial capital last winter! They are not my people of the Great Jin Dynasty?!!!

"In the eyes of the boss, are the things involving the Shi clan too urgent!" Zhang Meng said coldly: "The people are not the people of the Great Jin, and the displaced people are not the people of the Great Jin!"

Zuo Chen retorted coldly: "The people are naturally the people of the Great Jin, but those displaced people are mostly Diao people, whether they are counted as my people of the Great Jin Dynasty, it's hard to say!"

"You!" Peng Zhu stomped his foot in anger.

The emperor retorted coldly: "The exiles are also the people of the Great Jin Dynasty, if they want to survive in their hometown, who is willing to be exiles!"

Speaking of this, he turned around and walked to the bookcase, put one hand on the bookcase, and looked up at the scorching sun outside the window, this year he was going to go to Hanshan to escape the heat, but the minister of the court admonished him, the imperial court's finances were tight, if he wanted to go to Hanshan, this silver could only be paid by the inner treasury himself, and the imperial treasury could not produce one or two silver.

Zhang Meng also persuaded that since the imperial court's finances were tight, the rewards of the border soldiers could not be taken out for a while, and it was better not to go to Hanshan for summer vacation this year, so as to show that the royal family and the world shared suffering.

The emperor accepted the suggestion of the two, and although the queen mother was disappointed, she didn't say anything, just reminded him that the rewards for the soldiers of the border army should be allocated as soon as possible, don't chill the hearts of the soldiers.

But in this way, Wu Zhen was still accusing the imperial family of excessive spending, which made the emperor especially angry.

"You go down first, Pengzhu stays," the emperor paused, and then said, "Xue Yu stays." ”

"Wait for the ministers to retire!" Pan Lian led the ministers to retreat.

The emperor turned to look at Xue Mi, Xue Mi's expression was calm, and Peng Zhu was very angry: "Lord Xue, you don't explain!"

"What's there to explain this," Xue Mi smiled slightly: "There are many opponents of the new tax system, ministers of the DPRK and the central government, local officials, there are all of them, Lord Peng, there are so many people, you can't just leave them all!"

These words were very sharp and helpless, Peng Zhu and Zhang Meng were speechless, the emperor's face sank like water, and Xue Yu continued: " Wu Jin, this person, is different from Sheng Huai, smelly and hard, known as a cheap name, and is also quite prestigious in Shilin, and has also placed a lot of displaced people in Yuzhou, to deal with him, can not take the same way as Sheng Huai, the emperor, the minister proposed two methods, one is to rise and descend secretly, this Yushitai is not lacking a servant of the imperial history, you can let him come, well, no, the Yushitai is not good, it is best to be Guozijian or Taixue, let him go to Guozijian or Taixue; if this method does not work, then it depends on Prime Minister Peng. ”

The emperor's expression eased slightly: "What is the matter with Guan Pengqing?"

"Isn't Prime Minister Peng Cheng engaged in a plan, making some articles on the plan in Yuzhou, and the court took advantage of the situation to dismiss him, and no one could say anything. ”

After Xue Mi finished speaking, he looked at the emperor, the emperor's expression was relaxed, nodded at Xue Mi, and then looked at Zhang Meng and Peng Zhu.

"Okay, that's what the minister does. Pengzhu gritted his teeth and nodded, Wu Zhen was actually quite capable, but unfortunately, the Tao was different, so he had to abandon it.

Zhang Meng nodded: "Check the plan first, and then the emperor will come forward and transfer Wu Zhen to Taixue as a business." ”

The emperor nodded: "Okay, do it." ”

Taixue, the highest prefect is the sacrificial wine, the division is equivalent to the deputy sacrificial wine, the dynasty governs the country with the Taoist code, respects the national learning, Taixue Guozijian is the country's two highest educational institutions, Taixue sacrificial wine is the four products, the division is from the four products, the history of a state thorn is generally four products, some are from the four products, the southern Jiaozhou and other places, it is the five products, and the history of the Yuzhou thorn is from the four products, so if Wu Zhen is transferred to the Taixue division, it is considered a flat adjustment.

The emperor looked at the calm Xue Mi, and said in his heart, this kid has also learned to be cautious, and he blamed him wrongly just now.

"Xue Qing, what should I do with this King of Qin?" the emperor asked again.

Xue Mi was secretly happy in his heart, knowing that he had passed this level, and hurriedly replied: "King Qin, it is even more difficult to deal with, it is not advisable to remove the King of Qin, and it is not advisable to rise and descend secretly, the two states of Yongliang in the west need the King of Qin to sit in charge, and the minister's opinion is that Mr. Zhang or Prime Minister Peng will seal a secret letter to the King of Qin, and carefully analyze the gains and losses of the new tax system to him. ”

The emperor pondered for a while, turned his head and asked Zhang Meng: "Zhang Qing, what do you think?"

(End of chapter)