Chapter 13: Dragon Battle, Section 101, Infiltration (1)

Princess Luo stared at Bu Jingxian in a daze, only feeling that she had made a great oath for herself at this moment. [Full text reading]

She had no interest in exploring or fantasizing about what kind of future the divine will could create, she only felt that it must be a very great ambition, so she was able to attract the ambitious man in front of her to realize it desperately.

She only believed that when that day came, the man would no longer refuse her affection.

When she returned to Zhengdu, Princess Luo was counted down by Empress Dowager Chen, and was reprimanded by King Zheng.

When she was scolded, she was laughing happily, so that Empress Dowager Chen and King Zheng couldn't scold her, but she cared about details such as whether she had endured hardships along the way and whether she had been treated rudely in the Divine Soul Country.

Princess Luo returned to Zhengdu safely, which made the important ministers of Zheng Guo led by Ling Luo secretly relieved.

On the second day, Ling Luo went to the East Palace to ask for a meeting with the regent and thanked Princess Luo for her affairs.

However, Zheng Guo's political situation was still chaotic, and after a period of preparation, the details of the new policy were officially proposed in the early dynasty.

Among them, the main reform content is five points:

First, the recruitment of civil and military officials has been abolished from the previous recommendation system, and all the common people and above can be selected through regular examinations to participate in competitions.

Second, set the Divine Soul Sect as the national sect...... Anyone who has passed the assessment and becomes a believer in the Divine Soul Sect will be forgiven for all past crimes regardless of the size of the crime, but all the family property will be returned to the sect, and those who enter the sect must follow the rules and regulations of the Divine Soul Sect...... The people of the Divine Soul Sect are not subject to the laws of Zheng Guo and do not have to implement a new tax system...... The rules of the Divine Soul Sect are almost all copied and used by the system of the Divine Soul Country.

Third, increase the transaction tax, land and housing tax, and poll tax......

Fourth, the localities have no right to transfer troops away from the garrison......

Fifth, the state has set up a trading department to collect and sell all non-governmental materials, and the purchase and sale of goods in the trading department can be exempted from transaction tax......

Led by the old prime minister of Zheng Guo, the vast majority of the courtiers strongly opposed the new system of reform, and even angrily rebuked it as absurd in the court, accusing the regent and the marquis of advocating the new system as ill-intentioned people who wanted to bring Zheng Guo to ruin

Despite the fierce opposition of the courtiers such as Lao Cheng, King Zheng had already let the regent act as the emperor at that time, and he himself no longer had to get up early, and slept comfortably in the harem every day.

When the early dynasty came down, Ling Luo was called by the chief of Zuo Shu to go to the governor's mansion of the left chief.

Seeing that Mr. Chen, one of Zuo Shuchang's most trusted advisors, was also there, he immediately saluted and said hello before he dared to sit down.

Mr. Chen used to be a lifter, because he did not want to be an official, and he was rich and virtuous, and was later invited to help by the chief of Zuo, and he has been giving advice to the chief of Zuo for ten years, and he is a pivotal figure in the chief of Zuo's mansion, and Ling Luo never dared to be rude to him.

"What does my father command?"

Zuo Shuchang said indifferently: "Let's ask Mr. Chen to speak." ”

Mr. Chen is only in his forties, and he has always liked to wear a blue cloth robe, and he always has a folding fan and a piece of white jade hanging on his waist, which has been the case for many years. He lived a simple life, and there was no stigma in his life, although the chief Zuo was treated very richly, but he only had one wife and two sons in his family. There are no concubines, and they never go to the land of fireworks. He is not greedy for money, not lustful, does not gamble, and does not pursue power and wealth.

Therefore, he won the trust of the chief of Zuo, so he entered the mansion of the chief of Zuo, and it was also because of his admiration for the head of Zuo that he had asked other powerful people to invite the executives, but they were all rejected by him.

Mr. Chen will not express opinions and conclusions on anything, but whenever he makes conclusions, Zuo Shuchang does not dare not take it seriously without exception.

Ling Luo knew that it was Mr. Chen's opinion, so he immediately shook his spirits, bowed respectfully, and said, "Please sir." ”

"You're welcome. Mr. Chen returned the salute, and at the end, he turned to the main topic and asked, "Recently, I have been busy visiting the good business group, and I only learned about the details of the new system when I came back today." I can't help but worry......"

The letter marquis hurriedly asked, "Could it be that there is something wrong with the new system?"

"There is nothing wrong with the new system alone. The intention of the new system is to use the Divine Soul Country to lay the law of the Northland, and use the Divine Soul Sect to absorb a large number of prisoners, untouchables, and the poor class who have nothing as a force. At the same time, by raising taxes and increasing the number of trade departments, the pressure on the powerful and rich increased several times, which seemed to be a harsh government, but in fact, it used this law to divide the positions of the powerful and the common people, and forced the poor who were unable to survive due to the increase in taxes by the powerful to join the Divine Soul Sect. Although the Divine Soul Sect is held by the regent as the suzerain, there are Zuo Shuchang and Xinhou as the deputy suzerain, and there are many Wenchen generals loyal to King Zheng who are in charge of affairs, and they are not afraid that the regent will be able to cover the sky with one hand and have a plan. ”

Mr. Chen said, pausing slightly, and took a sip of tea.

"It's just that if you combine the situation of the good business group, the new system will become very problematic......

Ling Luo didn't know what to do, and hurriedly asked, "What changes are there in the Good Business Group that are worth caring about?" ”

"I was already suspicious of the purpose of the Good Business Group, so I asked for an order to investigate it in person. The Divine Soul Country sent a group of good merchants, buying high and selling low in Zheng Guo to send gold and silver to the elite in Zheng State. Not long ago, there was a collective escape of slaves in the eastern Wei region, in order to escape to Zhengdu, and ask the good merchant group to be rescued. ”

Ling Luo was taken aback, he didn't expect this to happen. Wherever the slaves fled, the magistrates would catch them, and they would never escape far. Once arrested and returned, its owner will inevitably kill people under the anger of his master, and taking this risk, it can be seen that the Good Merchants Group has won the hearts and minds of the slave class of Zheng Guo.

"The Good Merchants Group is a huge conspiracy of Beijun...... Unfortunately, we found out too late. Nowadays, the slave class of Zheng and Chu is interested in the good merchant group, and the elite class regards them as the gods of wealth who send gold and silver, sheltering them everywhere and opening the door to convenience. Because of their influence, the price of Zheng and Chu's slaves continued to rise, and the magnates in many places regarded this as a shortcut to making a fortune, colluding with officials, and anyone who violated the law could try to reduce them to slavery and then sell them to good merchant groups. Does the Marquis know how many slaves the Good Merchants have purchased in Zheng State now?"

Ling Luo tentatively guessed, "Even if there is a lot of gold and silver in the Divine Soul Country, I'm afraid it will be difficult to support this kind of consumption, I think, at most, tens of thousands......"

"Sure enough. Xinhou didn't expect it. The Divine Soul Country continued to provide gold and silver, and almost all of the gold and silver that was reserved and mined throughout the country was used by the Good Merchant Group. Jewelry, luxury handicrafts, and all for gold and silver and slaves. Today, Zheng Guo's Good Merchant Group has more than 400,000 slaves."

"400,000," Ling Luo couldn't help but be shocked, and said in disbelief, "Mr. means 400,000?"

"That's exactly the number, and it's increasing dramatically every day. Can Xinhou now imagine what a terrible conspiracy is behind the Good Merchants Group?"

[Dedication]