Outside Emperor Xia's bedroom, Chu Ze had already arrived.

Stepping into the dormitory, to Chu Ze's surprise, there were other people.

An old man with a white beard and hair, but he was in good spirits.

And beside him, Prime Minister Liu Qianshan stood with his head bowed, looking quite respectful.

Seeing Chu Ze coming in, Emperor Xia beckoned and said with a smile: "Chu Ze is here, I will meet Mr. Cangshan today, and you are also here, so let's listen to it." ”

"Yes." Chu Ze bowed his hand, walked to the side, and stood quietly.

But in his heart, he thought about it, this Mr. Cangshan, Chu Ze knows, he is a famous man and a great Confucian.

There are many writings that have survived in the world.

Extremely prestigious.

Emperor Xia looked at Mr. Cangshan and asked softly: "Although Mr. is not in the imperial court, after all, he is the people of my Great Xia, and I want to strengthen the country and prosper the country, I don't know if Mr. has a good plan?" ”

Although Emperor Xia is old, he has not reached the point of running out of oil after all, and he is diligent in government affairs.

Mr. Cangshan bowed to Emperor Xia and replied: "Your Majesty, the old man thinks that my Great Xia should raise taxes at present, Your Majesty is benevolent, implements tax reductions, encourages the people to give birth, and allows the people to pay 30 taxes to one, and now it has been nearly 30 years, and my people in Daxia have lived a lot richer than 30 years ago, and the population has increased a lot. ”

Chu Ze was on the side, and his heart tightened when he listened!

The people of Daxia are indeed thirty taxes and one, and the tax ratio is not high!

But if the common people want to say how rich their days are, it is really not necessarily, they can mix food and clothing on weekdays, but that's it.

Because what the common people have to bear is not only the ordinary land tax of 30 taxes and 1.

There is also a poll tax, which every adult has to pay per capitation, and some places have harsh taxes.

Overall, it is actually relatively tight, of course, at the time of Emperor Xia's registration, at that time, the people of the country were ten taxes and one tax, and in the middle of Emperor Xia's reign, Great Xia began a large-scale tax reduction.

In order to encourage the people to have more children.

The effect is indeed good, whether it is the population of Daxia or the people's lives, there has been a lot of improvement.

But it's only been a few good days?

What does this old man mean?

I only heard Mr. Cangshan continue: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and the people are the people, if the people are too rich, it will be easy to cause trouble. If they don't work diligently, can the tax be raised? The population of my Great Xia continues to grow, but this tax has been maintained in a relatively stable situation for many years, just because the tax is too low! If Your Majesty makes the lives of these people a little more difficult, they will work hard, and the tax revenue of my Great Xia treasury will naturally increase, and the treasury will have money, and the country will be prosperous! ”

Speaking of this, he lightly twisted his beard: "Secondly, if the people have money, they are bound to learn literature and martial arts, and as soon as the people's wisdom is opened, this mind will be lively, and everyone will be more reluctant to bury their heads in farming, which will have a great impact on my Daxia tax revenue, and these people will not be used by people with intentions to do something unstable?" I don't know! However, when the people are poor, they can only bury their heads in the cultivation and work diligently for a mouthful of food, so that the people can be stable and the treasury can be full. ”

The old man looked at Emperor Xia and said proudly: "Your Majesty is benevolent, but the Son of Heaven is sitting in the court, and he can't only be benevolent, he has to let these people do their best for my Great Xia, the old man thinks that His Majesty can restore the land of ten taxes and even eight taxes, and let these people work one by one!" The old man has calculated, my Daxia people, a family of five, need about fifty taels of silver a year, Your Majesty had better let this family only earn about forty-five taels of silver all year round, so that they need to work hard every year to maintain the expenses, and not starve to death, in this way, the treasury will be full, and my Daxia will inevitably be strong! ”

After listening to Mr. Cangshan's words, Emperor Xia gently pinched his fingers, but did not express his position, but moved his gaze to Prime Minister Liu Qianshan.

He said leisurely: "What do you think of Mr. Cangshan's suggestion?" ”

Liu Qianshan smiled slightly and said, "The minister thinks it's very good." ”

Emperor Xia suddenly looked at Chu Ze again, and asked with a smile, "Boy Chu, what do you think?" ”

Chu Ze looked at Mr. Cangshan, and his heart was entangled.

Actually, to put it mildly, Chu Ze understands very well what this means, that is, to squeeze the value of the people and make the people work hard.

Foolish people, weak people!

This situation, under the rule of the feudal dynasty, can be said to be enduring, and many emperors have this kind of mind and implement this method.

In fact, Chu Ze also understands that from the perspective of the ruler, it is understandable to use the common people to extract value.

However, it is debatable whether or not such a means should be used.

After struggling for a moment, Chu Ze opened his mouth and replied, "I think, this old gentleman... The fart is still very loud..."

Chu Ze still didn't agree with this view after all.

Emperor Xia said angrily: "You kid must not be rude, whether you agree with Mr. Cangshan's opinion or not, you must not be disrespectful!" ”

Chu Ze grinned: "But the minister thinks that for this kind of person, there is nothing to respect." ”

"Hmph, the yellow mouth is not enough to conspire!" Mr. Cangshan waved the sleeves of his robe and turned his head not to look at Chu Ze.

Chu Ze sneered, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, whether my Great Xia is strong or not, whether the treasury is full or not is indeed a very important factor, but in the final analysis, it is ordinary people who fight on the battlefield!" Therefore, in my opinion, the prosperity of the people is the foundation of the country's strength. ”

"If the people are rich, they can eat more meat, so that they will be physically strong and go to the battlefield, and the people of my Great Xia will be tall and big, so they will naturally take advantage!"

"If the people are rich, they can have more children, but if they can't eat enough, and they run around every day for a bite to eat, how dare the people have children at will? In the long run, the number of my people in Great Xia will become smaller, how can I compete with the other eight countries? And when the population increases, our Great Xia military strength will be stronger, which is a very simple reason. ”

"If the people are rich, they will sing praises to Your Majesty, but how can they listen to the instigation of others and become enemies of Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has ever seen a rebel in the prosperous world? On the contrary, if Your Majesty loses the hearts of the people because of the momentary benefits in front of you, and the people are in hardship for a long time, it will be easier to be encouraged by people with intentions to do some wrong things! ”

Speaking of this, Chu Ze looked at Mr. Cangshan: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, when the people are rich, it will be prosperous, and the country will be strong, and those who are foolish and weak will be in turmoil. This gentleman, for the sake of the so-called fullness of the treasury, wants to kill chickens and take eggs, which is really a hole in the brain! Please also ask Your Majesty to be clear! ”

As soon as Chu Ze said this, the hall was quiet!

It was Mr. Cangshan who looked at Chu Ze in great amazement.

Emperor Xia didn't expect that Chu Ze would really say one, two, three.

Originally, he was just thinking about Chu Ze and listening, just to broaden his horizons.

Unexpectedly, Chu Ze still had his own insight.

In fact, the history of this world is still much weaker than the history of China.

More of them are still in the stage of competing for hegemony.

Just like the Seven Kingdoms competed for hegemony during the Warring States Period, at this time, all kinds of ideas and ideas emerged one after another.

In fact, it is difficult for people in this world to distinguish between right and wrong in the face of various ideas, because the only way to test the correctness of various theories is practice, and if you want to look at history, this practice requires the change of countless dynasties.

But at the moment, the world is obviously not to this extent.

And Chu Ze is standing at the end of thousands of years of countless dynasties and exchanges.

The foolish and the weak have been popular for many years, and it can even be said that they have become the mainstream, but in the end they have paid an extremely heavy price.

There is no dynasty that can rely on the foolish and weak people to achieve long-term peace and stability.

In the end, they all went to extinction.

Because of external hostile forces, people will develop.

Large-scale ignorance of the people and weak people will inevitably lead to the slowdown of the overall social development and process, and once there is a breakthrough in the turning point of history, it is easy to be thrown away directly!

If you fall behind, you will be beaten!

So in Chu Ze's view, this so-called Mr. Cangshan's suggestion is pure nonsense!

The people who can come up with this kind of advice are the ones who are bad and stupid!

Emperor Xia's eyes flashed, looking at Chu Ze who was talking eloquently in front of him, he suddenly smiled and said, "You kid! How can every doorkeeper be so disrespectful to Mr. Cangshan? Apologize quickly! ”

Seeing Emperor Xia speak, Chu Ze reluctantly came to Mr. Cangshan, and said with a clear disbelief on his face: "I said it wrong, Mr. has no pit in his brain." ”

"You!" Mr. Cangshan was red-faced by Chu Ze, looked at Emperor Xia, gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, there is something going on in the old family, and I have to go back!" ”

Seeing him like this, Emperor Xia waved his hand and said, "Okay, Mr. go first, if there is something I don't understand, then invite Mr. into the palace!" ”

Mr. Cangshan turned to leave, and Liu Qianshan said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the minister has also retired!" ”

"Liu Xiang also go down, the excerpts of the various ministries, make a charter as soon as possible, and submit it in the afternoon!" Emperor Xia commanded.

Liu Qianshan, as the prime minister, will take the lead in reviewing all the excerpts, make a preliminary ruling, and then send them to Emperor Xia for approval!

"Yes!"

Liu Qianshan also retreated, and Emperor Xia looked at Chu Ze, and said with a slight smile: "You kid, being able to say such a remark today impresses me!" How have you been doing in the past few days since you returned to Beijing? ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, it's a good life!"

Chu Ze arched his hand and said.

Emperor Xia picked up the teacup, took a sip lightly, and said: "You have done a good job in recruiting this time, I have allowed Xu Yue to transfer you to the Tiger Cavalry Guard, and in the future, you must follow Xu Yue, learn to train and lead the troops, guard against arrogance and rashness, and only then can you achieve great things." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty! The minister was grateful. ”

Chu Ze thanked him again.

Emperor Xia's old eyes stared at Chu Ze, and suddenly asked, "What do you think about Yin Ziting's marriage?" ”

Chu Ze never expected that Emperor Xia would ask such a direct question!

Faced with this problem, Chu Ze's heart turned a thousand times!

He's thinking about how to answer!

It's impossible to tell the truth to Emperor Xia!

But what does he need to show in front of Emperor Xia?

In an instant, Chu Ze raised his head, his eyes were full of unwillingness, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I don't accept it!" ”

"Where are you dissatisfied?"

"Yin Ziting and I are in love, Wen Qi and His Royal Highness are married, I don't accept it!"

"And then?" Emperor Xia's eyes were locked on Chu Ze.

Chu Ze laughed miserably and said, "If you don't accept it, you can only endure it!" ”

His eyes were full of unwillingness, and he said miserably: "The country has national laws, the family has family rules, Yu Gong, the orders of the two parents, the words of the matchmaker, I am just an outsider, I am extremely dissatisfied, what is the use?" Yu privately, the four princes are noble and powerful, I am just a partial general of the forbidden army, and I can't afford to offend the four princes and Lord Wu, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, what can I do if I can't bear it? ”

Looking at Chu Ze in front of him, Emperor Xia's eyes were like knives, and his eyes kept flowing on Chu Ze.

After a while, Emperor Xia got up, walked to Chu Ze's side, stretched out his hand and patted him lightly on the shoulder, and said: "You kid, I can understand that everything in the world is not done according to one person's idea, or I can't do many things as I want, Yin Ziting's girl is good, but in the end, her parents have found a good family." You kid, it's gratifying to have this realization! This time you have made meritorious contributions to the army, although I let you take on the position of a staff officer, but it is not enough, so let's see that you have entered the Juyuan Realm, and I will ask Huang Qi to bring you three Purple Qi Donglai Pills for you in a while, this pill is a good thing in the Juyuan Realm, take it after you go back, at least it can improve your cultivation by two levels! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Chu Ze arched his hand and said.

"Okay, go down, read more books in the future, you kid, it's not bad."

Emperor Xia praised it, and on the other side, Huang Qi had already taken out a bottle of elixir and sent it to Chu Ze, and said with a smile: "This elixir is very rare, Your Majesty is good enough for you kid!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Wechen retires! Chu Ze took the pill and bowed down.

Slowly exited the main hall!

Out of the main hall, Chu Ze straightened up, his face was calm, and he turned around and left!

It's just that at the moment of turning around, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes!

Sure enough, Emperor Xia would not help Yin Ziting in his marriage at all, and it can even be said that this bottle of elixir is, to a certain extent, an appreciation for his preparation for forbearance!

From the beginning of Emperor Xia's questioning, Chu Ze was thinking, what does Emperor Xia want to do with him?

If you don't have anger and unwillingness, it will be too bloodless.

However, if he really went to fight with the four princes, and even asked Emperor Xia to change his marriage, is that what Emperor Xia wants to see?

Certainly not!

So Chu Ze showed anger and unwillingness, but in the end he found all kinds of excuses and told Emperor Xia that he planned to endure the matter.

And he also obtained the elixir given by Emperor Xia.

In the main hall, looking at the back of Chu Ze leaving, Emperor Xia sighed and said: "Chu Ze, this kid, if he can endure this matter, he can still be regarded as knowledgeable, if he has to make trouble with me, it will also be a troublesome matter!" I didn't expect that this kid could say that today, the people are rich, the country is strong? It's a novelty..."

Huang Qi said with a smile: "Your Majesty doesn't want to see Chu Ze and His Royal Highness completely turn their faces, this kid has done what His Majesty wants!" ”

Emperor Xia's eyes were far away: "Fourth, the ability is there, among these sons, he is considered to be in line with my heart, but I still can't make up my mind!" As for Chu Ze, this kid's talent and temperament, at present, whether he is in the army or the court in the future, he will be able to do it! It's a pity that I am a pillar of Great Xia, if it is because of a woman, I will destroy my future..."

Chu Ze walked outside the palace, and as he was walking, he suddenly saw a person sitting on the side pillar under the corridor.

It was Prime Minister Liu Qianshan, when he saw Chu Ze, he stretched out his hand and beckoned, and said with a smile: "Come, Chu boy, come and sit!" ”

He doesn't have a shelf!

Chu Ze looked left and right, there was no one in front and behind, so he walked over, bowed down and saluted: "I've seen Liu Xiang!" ”

"Sit down!" Liu Qianshan patted the railing.

Chu Ze sat down honestly, looked at Liu Qianshan, and wondered: "I don't know what happened to Liu Xiang calling me?" ”

"You and Changfeng have a good relationship, they can be regarded as friends, just call me Uncle Liu!" Liu Qianshan took out a handful of peanuts from his pocket, stuffed one into his mouth, and said while chewing: "Your remarks today are quite subtle!" ”

"A humble opinion, not worth mentioning!"

Chu Ze hurriedly became humble.

Liu Qianshan glanced at him and said with a smile: "Hehe, humble opinion? How many people in Great Xia can say in front of His Majesty that if the people are rich, the country will be strong? But ah, there is one thing, I am curious, do you think, which method Your Majesty will choose? ”

Chu Ze thought for a moment, and said helplessly: "There should be a tax increase, right?" ”

At this point, Liu Qianshan was greatly surprised in his heart: "Why, you tell me?" ”

Chu Ze said with a wry smile: "Xiao Wanli has already led the army to fight, Your Majesty wants to fight, naturally there is a shortage of money, Your Majesty wants to make meritorious contributions and expand the territory, then you need to win, the war is fought by national strength, and the fight is money, even if Your Majesty knows the disadvantages of foolish and weak people, but at this time, increasing taxes is already what Your Majesty wants most!" There are a thousand disadvantages, but as long as that little benefit can help His Majesty win the battle with the Zhou State, it is enough! ”

Liu Qianshan looked at Chu Ze with admiration: "You kid can see this, but it's beyond my expectations, but why do you still say today's words?" ”

Chu Ze grinned and said, "Because there are some things that I just want to say!" That's all! ”

This is the truth, compared to the caution of Emperor Xia's later questioning, Chu Ze said the previous remarks very casually! Because the two are fundamentally different.

Emperor Xia's later questioning directly involved the contradictions and struggles between Chu Ze and the four princes, and the previous remarks were only different opinions after all.

Liu Qianshan looked Chu Ze up and down, and suddenly asked, "You kid, are you interested in leaving the army and entering the Sixth Department as an official?" I can do it if you want! ”