After this night of talking, Xiao Yue felt that Mr. Cao was her true master, because that night Mr. Cao told him all his views and experiences on "On the Dao".

For Mr. Cao, the book "On the Way" is a book similar to a biblical book for Great Britain, and he feels that his achievements today are nothing more than a little bit of the content of it, but what he knows is only the tip of the iceberg.

Out of love for Xiao Yue, Mr. Cao did not reserve telling Xiao Yue what he knew.

In fact, Xiao Yue didn't care about the meaning of this book, she just wanted to know the source of the book, but when she asked Mr. Cao, he didn't know how the book came about.

It is said that Mr. Cao said that this book existed many years ago, and he did not know exactly who the author of this book was, anyway, there were many rumors, some people said that it fell from the sky, some people said that it was written by ancient prophets, and some people said that it was transmitted to Great Britain from the secret country.

Because the original text of the book was different from the script used in Great Britain, it was translated into English after many generations of scholars researched it. However, there are many controversial places in the translation, and it involves the way of governing the country, so it will only be taught when the official school is taught. The common people do not have access to the translation of the Analects, let alone the original.

Mr. Cao only knew that there was an original in the palace, but he had not seen it with his own eyes. He felt that even if he saw it, he would not know that kind of writing, which is what the world calls sermons.

Although Xiao Yueda came to see Mr. Cao from afar this time and did not get information about the book "On the Dao", she deeply felt the importance of the book "On the Dao" to Great Britain, and she could understand why the Queen Mother was dissatisfied with herself.

In the final analysis, Satsuki and the Queen Mother have never met, and the contradictions between them are completely caused by differences in concepts.

The Empress Dowager, including Mr. Cao Lao, has always admired the views advocated in the "On the Dao" that "the Tao is always inactive, but nothing is done" and "I do nothing, and the people are self-reliant; I am quiet, and the people are upright; I have nothing to do, and the people are rich; I have no desires, and the people are simple".

They all believe that to govern the country, we must conform to the will of the people and not fight with the people. The imperial court only needs to maintain social order, and the rest is left to the common people to do.

But the matter of the salt and iron monopoly proposed by Satsuki is unacceptable to them from a conceptual point of view. Not to mention, according to Mr. Cao's thoughts, the imperial court did not have so much money to buy salt wells and mines from these salt merchants and iron merchants, which was a very real problem.

However, through her brain full of economic knowledge, Satsuki thought that after solving the financial problem through financial means, the remaining contradiction was a very simple and sharp concept or a dispute of isms.

When the morning was about to dawn, after Mr. Cao finished talking about his understanding of "On the Dao", he asked earnestly: "Wenyue, the old man can understand why you proposed this method of salt and iron monopoly, after all, you have not read "On the Dao", but what I want to ask you is that if the imperial court carries out the salt and iron monopoly, will it also take over other businesses in the future, and finally turn the imperial court into a big businessman? In this way, what livelihood do the common people still have? What other way to live? All the officials have become businessmen? Isn't the world chaotic?"

Xiao Yue fell into deep thought, she had never thought about these questions, after all, when she gave Yuan Chenhao the idea at that time, she didn't know that Great Britain was governing the country according to Lao Tzu's ideas.

After a long while, she retorted, "Master, in fact, there is no conflict between your thoughts and mine. First of all, I don't think the monopoly of salt and iron is about competing with the people, and if we really want to talk about competing for profits, then it is limited to the two commodities of salt and iron, and it will not affect other industries. Second, something is wrong with your assumptions. There was a special reason for the imperial court to carry out the salt and iron monopoly, and in the book I wrote for the household department, it was actually clearly written that the income obtained through the salt and iron monopoly was specifically for military expenses, not for the profit of the imperial court. Therefore, if the imperial court cannot operate other industries without a special reason, it will not turn the imperial court into a profitable department. ”

Mr. Cao listened and was silent for a long time, and finally he sighed and said: "Wen Yue, this question, you and I are afraid that the master and apprentice will not be able to argue for a while, but today I listen to the Queen Mother's meaning, Your Majesty strongly admires this suggestion of yours, so I am afraid that the Queen Mother will find you and ask you to help prevent Your Majesty from implementing this matter." ”

Xiao Yue said with a sad face: "Master, haven't you seen how ugly the account of the national treasury of the household department is, if I hadn't thought of a countermeasure for treasury bills last year, I'm afraid that the officials of the imperial court will not be able to pay official salaries this year." ”

Mr. Cao's eyes widened and asked, "Is it so serious?"

"That's right," Satsuki said with a sigh as she rubbed her temples with her hand, "so I can understand why Your Majesty is pushing this matter with all his might." ”

"Hey, it's hard for this clever woman to cook without rice, Your Majesty just ascended the throne last year, and he is also very embarrassed!" Mr. Cao beat his leg with his hand and said: "Anyway, I hope you can come up with a foolproof plan for this matter, which will not hurt the hearts of the people, but also satisfy Your Majesty." ”

Xiao Yue smiled and said, "Master's request is too high. ”

Mr. Cao smiled when he saw her, he was originally worried that she was young and vigorous and couldn't listen to the words of the ear, but now he was relieved, he also smiled and said, "Can't you do it?"

"Master also exaggerated, this matter is supposed to not hurt the hearts of the people, but only the hearts of those salt and iron merchants. ”

This is a wonderful insight, but the salt and iron merchants were also people, and they were people who were closer to certain officials. Mr. Cao stroked his beard and said slowly: "It's very grudge to take people's money, you have to be careful everywhere." ”

"Master, I'm not an official, I should be fine, right?"

"In fact, the old man has always felt that you have the talent of the world and the ability to assist the king, but he has not recommended you to His Majesty and the Queen Mother, so that you can enter the court as an official, and I also feel that your character is really not suitable for being an official in the court. Mr. Cao sighed, "It's a pity, it's a pity." ”

"Master, don't say that, isn't it actually good to be like you?" Satsuki comforted.

However, Mr. Cao looked at Xiao Yuejing's eyes, and suddenly an idea popped up in his heart.

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