For Yan Weidong, no position is his biggest position, as long as it is supported by the emperor, he is definitely the most competent supporter, and he will never stand on the wrong team, even if he deviates from the direction for a while, he will soon set things right.

For the emperor, he doesn't care about the bad dog barking at home, as long as the dog that doesn't bark at the owner is a good dog, Yan Weidong has always been determined to be a good dog for the royal family, so when he figured out what the emperor was going to do, he immediately knew what he should do.

Soon after, when he stopped and dismounted in front of the imperial city, Lord Yan Weidong showed the bearing of a senior member of the court and the central government, and personally supported the junior Tianhuo minor officials to get out of the car, reflecting his appreciation for the talents of the younger generation.

Duanjun Wang and Dongluhou glanced at each other, it seems that the people who can mix with the three grades of the court are not fools, maybe Lord Yan was willing to be a bird to be pitted before, which is also a set of bitter meat tricks.

The five of them waited outside the Funing Hall for a short time before they were announced inside.

There was no trace of displeasure on the emperor's face, but there was a lot of joy between his eyebrows.

As the saying goes: a companion is like a tiger. The expected storm was gone, and it was replaced by a gentle drizzle, which was not a good thing for Duanjun Wang, Dongluhou and Yan Weidong, who had been in the court for a long time.

It's not terrible for the emperor to be angry, but it's terrible to not know why the emperor is angry and happy.

The five people entered the hall and kowtowed according to the courtesy of the monarch and the ministers, and Emperor Song smiled and said, "How are you patrolling Yuhua Lane today?"

King Duanjun is not the official envoy of this errand, so naturally he will not speak first, Yan Weidong saw that the emperor was in a good mood, and decided to take a gamble: "Report to the emperor, Weichen and others inspected Yuhua Lane today, and found that the street management there is orderly, convenient for the people, the business is honest management, the service is in place, the goods are rich and diverse, and the quality is high.

"Oh, so Yuhua Lane is a good place in the capital? Haven't you found things like bullying and dominating the market, driving up prices, shortages of catties and pounds, and forcing transactions?"

Yan Weidong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Weichen has a lot of experience in this inspection, and I hope you will listen to me patiently." ”

Emperor Song's interest increased: "Okay, get up, I sit down and listen to you, you speak slowly." ”

After Yan Weidong got up, he took out an object from his arms, which was the Yuhua card, and Wang Jien on the side hurriedly took it and handed it to Emperor Song.

Emperor Song played twice and said: "This is the legendary Yuhua card, is Yan Qing's family going to sell me a Yuhua card today?"

Yan Weidong shook his head and said: "No, what Wechen wants to talk about today is the problem of the court's poor speech and the inconsiderate feelings of senior officials. ”

Emperor Song was a little surprised: "Oh? ”

"Your Majesty, the Song Kingdom is fertile for thousands of miles, and the people of Li are tens of billions of memories, but there is no complete set of public feedback system, the existing system of speech and officials is limited in preparation and ability, and the imperial history is also hearsay, chasing after wind and shadows, and even reduced to a tool in the hands of some powerful and high-ranking officials to deal with political enemies, which has to be sad. ”

After Yan Weidong finished speaking, he glanced up at Emperor Song, and found that Emperor Song was looking at him, as if encouraging himself to continue.

"Since the emperor's accession to the throne, the Song State has become increasingly powerful, especially in recent years, the imperial court has implemented the policy of hiding wealth for the people, and commerce has been greatly developed, which has stimulated the development of agriculture, handicrafts and mining, and the style of private business has prevailed.

However, there are many hidden worries behind the prosperity, the rapid development of private commerce, the emergence of new business models and innovations, but the imperial court does not have a good grasp of these situations, the response measures are backward, and the high-ranking officials of the DPRK and the central government do not understand the affairs of the market, and manage according to the inherent thinking, resulting in a disconnect between management and reality.

Among them, some unscrupulous businessmen took advantage of the loopholes of the imperfect legal system to evade taxes on a large scale, and there were also nobles and high-ranking officials who provided them with protective umbrellas, so there was a phenomenon of progressive wealth among the people, while the tax and silver of the imperial court stagnated.

Now that the problem has been discovered, it is not too late to make amends, and the increase in taxes on the basis of the existing commercial tax is only a symptomatic move, and it cannot really play a role in increasing the tax revenue of the imperial court, but will increase the tax burden of honest and good businessmen, and the people who evade taxes are still at large. ”

Yan Weidong's words surprised everyone present, not to mention what the purpose of his words was, just based on the examples he gave to prove that he was definitely worthy of his identity as a member of the third grade, it seems that he can get mixed into this position, Yan Weidong is not completely relying on speculation, he still has some real skills.

Emperor Song pondered for a moment and said, "So, you are against the endowment?"

Yan Weidong shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers are not opposed to the increase in endowments, they are endowed with imperial power, and the emperor, as the father of all the people, should be supported by the people. ”

"Don't talk to me about the car, you just say what to do?"

Yan Weidong said with a smile: "The emperor already has a holy judgment in his heart, why do you need Weichen to say it?"

"Hahaha!" Emperor Song laughed and said: "Yan Qing's family, I don't treat you as an outsider today, five days ago I secretly scolded you in my heart for being as stupid as a pig, I didn't expect you to have such progress in just a few days, I took back my previous words, don't be angry with me." ”

Yan Weidong knelt down in front of his official robe: "Father Jun, don't be like this, it's a matter of tormenting the minister." The day before yesterday, Wei Chen was deceived by others, and it was extremely stupid to assert the matter of Yuhua Lane without a detailed investigation.

But after these days of unannounced visits and today's personal investigation, Wechen finally found that there is a big gap between the rumors and the real situation, so Wechen repented, his thinking was clear, and he figured out the joints.

Please also ask the emperor to condemn and punish Weichen for Meng Lang's actions the day before yesterday!"

If it weren't for the fact that you were still patiently doing errands during the holidays, I wouldn't have learned the truth of the people, so I would have offset the merits and demerits, and I would no longer pursue them. ”

"Thank you for the emperor's grace, and Weichen is grateful. ”

"Alright, get up. Yan Qing's family, you tell me the truth, did you worry that you wouldn't be able to pass the test today before you entered the hall?"

"Thunder, rain and dew are all Jun's grace, and the minister is bent on doing errands, and he doesn't think so much, so he is not afraid. ”

"Haha, slippery one! Dongluhou, do you think this batch of new high-ranking officials is suitable?"

The Marquis of Donglu was still lamenting Yan Weidong's wit and eloquence, and suddenly the emperor asked him, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this minister doesn't dare to comment." However, since ancient times, the court has used officials, and the word virtue is the first priority, and there are debates in each dynasty about what is important.

In the eyes of the old minister, the virtue of being an official, living up to the trust of the monarch and father, and not forgetting the expectations of the people, can be regarded as a good official, as for some private virtues, as long as it does not touch the laws of the Great Song Dynasty, it should be fine. ”

"Okay! I was the great general who was so slippery now, and I can't say a word of affirmation in my mouth, which really disappoints me. Emperor Song sighed.

Donglu Hou smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister is already old, so he wants to guard the emperor and live a stable life, and those killing decisions should be left to the young people to do." The minister is a prince of peace, and the emperor is a holy king of peace, that is the blessing of the people. ”

"Okay!" Emperor Song patted the soft handrail, got up and said: "Donglu's words are reasonable, I have more than one thing is better than less, and it is still my unchanging national policy to share weal and woe with the people and hide wealth from the people, I believe that as long as we persist for another hundred years, the Song Kingdom will surely open the prelude to a prosperous era." ”

"Long live the emperor, long live the Song Kingdom!" everyone shouted long live together.

After Song Huang and the others finished shouting, he said, "Since you don't want to and don't dare to tell me what to do later, then I'll ask our little friends." Tianhuo, tell me how to clear the way and how to increase the national tax?"

"Me?" Tianhuo was a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty, it is the turn of the kid to talk a lot about national affairs." ”

"It's you! Before you report to Taiyi Academy, give me an idea first, and after a year you come out, if the method works, I will be rewarded, and if the method does not work, I will beat you up. ”

The emperor's words were full of pampering, and everyone's surprise was even higher than just now.

Emperor Song has always been majestic, even if he has never spoiled the underage prince like this, the nineteenth prince wondered for a moment whether Tianhuo was the illegitimate son of his father and his own younger brother.

But he quickly dispelled this idea, after all, the matter of Tianhuo and Ah Li was no longer a secret in the royal family, and Emperor Song would never let his illegitimate children marry.

Dongluhou's performance towards Emperor Song seemed to be unwavering, and Yan Weidong was glad that he had made the right bet this time, if he said bad things about Tianhuo as soon as he came today, it is estimated that he would have been demoted to the rank at this moment.

The most surprising was Li Mao, who didn't expect this righteous brother to be so favored in front of Emperor Song, and couldn't help but be happy for him.

Tianhuo said with a bitter face: "Weichen didn't prepare, the emperor suddenly wanted to ask, Weichen is really embarrassed!"

He raised his eyes and peeked at Emperor Song, and found that Emperor Song's face was pulled down, and hurriedly said: "But the emperor's order cannot be violated, and Weichen reluctantly said it, if you don't say it well, the emperor can't beat me." ”

"Well, I forgive you for your innocence, and you can say it quickly. ”

Tianhuo cleared his throat and said: "My Great Song Dynasty has accumulated a lot of experience for many years, and I am about to enter the most prosperous period, and it is definitely a great fortune for Qi Tian and others to be born in this world."

To say that there is not much problem in the administration of the imperial court now, the only weakness is the official supervision system, our emperor is merciful and rarely punishes officials, even if the mistake is just a demotion of the official and the title, there are few cases that are really put into criminal law.

Therefore, the officials of the Song State have less reverence for the country's criminal law, this mentality must not be promoted, otherwise it will be a big disaster in the long run, as for how to supervise the officials, Weichen once had a policy discussion, which has a detailed discussion, I don't know if the emperor has seen it?"

Emperor Song was obviously stunned, the good boy dared to take me into the army, he coughed: "Well, I received it, I read it the day before yesterday, although the idea is a little immature, but there are many methods that can be tried among officials."

Okay, today's time is limited, that's all for official supervision, can you talk about how to increase the imperial court's taxes?"

"Time is in a hurry, and Weichen can not think of much, only the following three items:

1. Cancel or reduce all types of franchises, including royal concessions, and all business activities in the Song Kingdom must be included in the tax system, and franchises can be given a three-year transition period for transformation or transfer.

2. Open the household registration of all state capitals, and encourage rich rural gentry to go to the city to do business, and they can directly purchase officially developed houses, and after purchase, they can enjoy urban household registration, and there is no need to purchase, hold or rent urban housing through citizens.

3. Open the sea and build customs, and turn private smuggling into an orderly operation under the supervision of the imperial court. ”