The wind blows from the surface of the lake, and the lake is sparkling under the scorching sun, and occasionally a few fish jump out of the water due to lack of oxygen.

Xiao Yue carefully sat opposite the Queen Mother, not daring to raise her head, even her back was slightly bent, thinking about how to deal with her every question.

"The grass people are telling the truth, and they don't dare to lie a word. ”

"Hmph. The Empress Dowager may have prejudices against Xiao Yue and don't believe it, "Last time, the mourning family said that they were free to talk to you, do you remember?"

"Yes. ”

"Then do you know what the mourning family wants to talk to you?"

"The grass people are stupid, and they don't dare to speculate on the queen mother's mind. "Xiao Yue actually knew that the Queen Mother had a great chance of talking to her about the salt and iron franchise, but she didn't want to drill into this cage by herself.

"Okay, if the mourning family asks you a word, you have to reply honestly, if there is half a lie, don't blame the palace for not showing you mercy. ”

Satsuki clasped her hands tightly, took a deep breath, and then spit out a word, "Yes." ”

"The mourning family wants to ask you, do you think it is better to be rich in the country or the people to be rich?"

Xiao Yue thought for a while and said, "There is no contradiction between the two. ”

"Oh? But some people told the mourners that the wealth of the country is to rob the people of their money, so the wealth of the country cannot be the wealth of the people. ”

"The Queen Mother, the grass people think that there is something wrong with this statement. ”

"Then tell me, what's wrong?"

Xiao Yue was worried about Wen Youyou's affairs, so she didn't want to entangle with the Queen Mother more, she said in the most concise words: "The wealth of the country is the wealth of the people, the wealth of the people is the wealth of the country, there is no wealth of the people without the wealth of the people, and there is no wealth of the people without the wealth of the people." ”

This was like a tongue twister, which made the Queen Mother, who was drinking tea, almost choked, "Ahem, cough, cough." The palace maid behind her hurriedly came over to help her back, the queen mother waved her hand, swallowed the tea in her mouth, and asked word by word: "The wealth of the country needs to be taken from the wealth of the people, if the country takes it, then the people's money will be less, how can it be the wealth of the country is the wealth of the people?"

"Back to the Queen Mother, if the wealth taken away by the country is not used for the luxury of the royal family and officials, but for the strength of the country and the army, then it should not be regarded as a decrease in the money of the people. To give a simple example, if our war between Great Britain and the secret country is lost, then we will send tribute to the secret country, and the grain harvested by our people's hard work will be given to the secret country in vain. I believe that the Queen Mother can also calculate this account clearly. ”

The Empress Dowager lowered her head and pondered for a while, then nodded, "This mourner can understand, so the mourning family is asking you, do you think it is important to enrich the country or the rich people?"

Xiao Yue smiled and said: "Of course it is to enrich the people, and only when the people are rich can the country be rich." ”

The Empress Dowager looked at Xiao Yue in surprise, as if she didn't expect Xiao Yue to answer like this, she then asked: "Since you support the rich people, then why did you put forward a proposal to the emperor for a salt and iron franchise, some ministers said that this suggestion is to compete with the people for profit, and it is against the national policy and ancestral teachings." ”

Satsuki knew that Great Britain governed the country according to the ideas in the "Treatise on the Way", and chapter 75 clearly wrote: "The hunger of the people, with the amount of food taxes on it, is hunger." This means that the people suffer from famine because the ruler eats too much tax, so the people go hungry. This leads to the consequence that it is difficult to rule.

In this regard, Xiaoyue said: "The grass people know the worries of the Queen Mother, but reducing the tax burden is only one aspect of governing the country. The grass people believe that the most important thing in governing the country is to achieve national wealth through the prosperity of the people. If the people are rich, then even if the tax burden is reduced, the state will receive more tax revenue than before, so the key is to enrich the people. As for the issue of the salt and iron monopoly that the Queen Mother just talked about, in fact, the salt and iron monopoly has no absolute relationship with the rich people. After all, the salt and iron industry accounts for a small number of people, and most of them rely on the mountains and wells to eat. The imperial court took out the silver to buy the salt well mine, and it was not to take advantage of them by force, and it was not to take advantage of them in vain. ”

Xiao Yue's words aroused the Empress Dowager's great interest, maybe she had never heard of this statement, and she felt that it was particularly reasonable, she then asked: "The mourning family thinks that the rich people and the rich country are very important, why do you think that the rich people are more important?"

Xiao Yue didn't think much about this question, but since the Queen Mother asked, she had to answer.

At this time, her super memory helped her a lot again, and she quickly summarized the relevant information she had obtained before.

"The grass people believe that the purpose of governing the country is nothing more than to make the country safe, the country rich and the people strong. However, the question of how to calm down the people is also mentioned in the "Treatise on the Tao". In the book, it is said, "Those who are good in the past will not be fooled if they do not think of the people." The people are difficult to govern, with their wisdom', this is actually a policy of fooling the people, and the grass people do not agree with it. ”

Xiao Yue ignored the Empress Dowager's surprised eyes and continued: "If the people's wisdom is not opened, how can the people be rich? ”

"The grass people also believe that the people are the way, those who have constant production have perseverance, and those who do not have constant production have no perseverance. With money, who would want to go to the traitor department. Specifically, if the people are rich, they will be in the country, and if they are in the country, they will be afraid of sin. Fear of sin is easy to cure. If the people are poor, the township will be in danger, and if the township is light, the tomb will be forbidden, and the ban on the mausoleum will be difficult to cure. Those who serve the country with goodness must first enrich the people, and then rule them. ”

Xiao Yue told all the assertions she had seen and remembered about the wealth of the country and the wealth of the people.

The Queen Mother was stunned when she heard these words, and when she was carefully digesting these contents, Xiaoyue's stomach suddenly gurgled.

"Wen Yue, didn't you eat at noon?" the Queen Mother suddenly reacted.

"Back to the Queen Mother, not yet. Xiao Yue said with a red face.

The queen mother said to the palace maid behind her: "Xiaohe, go get some snacks." ”

"Yes, Queen Mother. After speaking, the palace maid walked out of the wooden pavilion quickly.

"Wen Gongzi is really knowledgeable and has extraordinary insights. The Queen Mother estimated that she couldn't digest what Xiao Yue said for a while, so she had to change the topic.

However, Xiao Yue obviously felt that the Queen Mother's attitude towards her had changed somewhat.

Empress Dowager Xie praised it. ”

"In fact, the mourning family is also for the sake of the country's society, so they have some doubts about the salt and iron franchise, but I didn't expect Wen Gongzi to say that he knows so well about governing the country, which makes the mourning family a little surprised. ”

She saw that Xiaoyue's back was tense, and she knew that she was still a little restrained, so she said in a calm tone: "Wenyue, you don't say it early for lunch, so let's drink some tea first, and eat some snacks later." ”

"Empress Dowager Xie. Satsuki picked up the tea in front of her and moistened her throat.

"The mourning family also knows that it is time to delegate power to the emperor, but they are worried that there is no suitable person around him to assist, but when I met Gongzi Wen today, the mourning family is a lot more relieved. ”

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