Xu Qian's words sounded a little bit thorny to Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing...
Xu Qian was equivalent to putting all the responsibilities on the head of commercial tax, which was originally implemented and led by the cabinet. Indirectly, it was accusing the cabinet of disregarding the lives and death of the people, and even the people were dissatisfied and could not bear it anymore, so that something happened.
Yang Yiqing sneered and said, "What Lord Xu said is inaccurate. The commercial taxation is levied. What does it have to do with the people? What is the fault of the court collecting taxes from merchants? According to me, it is obvious that someone secretly provoked right and wrong and induced ignorant people to fight against the government."
Yang Yiqing's defense was a little pale, and Xu Qian couldn't help but laugh and said, "Is that true? Lord Yang said this, wouldn't it mean that these people are fools and fools, so they can't even distinguish between good and bad. If someone instigated a little, they dare to confront the government and cause trouble for the court?"
Yang Yiqing sneered: "That's true. It's reasonable that the foolish people in the countryside can know what they are instigated by people with ulterior motives."
Xu Qian sighed and said, "Don't you feel ruthless when Lord Yang said these words?"
Yang Yiqing said angrily: "What do you mean?"
Jiajing watched coldly. Now that such a big thing has happened, several important officials of the court debated fiercely. He did not rush to speak, but wanted to take the opportunity to see what the attitudes of these three important officials were.
At this time, Xu Qian said, "The great man always said that they were foolish people, but the news received by the officials was that although the people surrounded the government, they raised signs, saying that Your Majesty was wise. Not only that, the people also sang and praised Your Majesty. The great man said that they were foolish people. Does the great man mean that only the foolish people praised the emperor?"
Yang Yiqing was stunned.
However, Jiajing seemed to have a little interest, and his anxiety gradually decreased.
From the beginning, he thought that someone was going to rebel, and gathered as many as one million people. After reading the report, Jiajing was scared and sweated. If this matter was handled improperly, the consequences would be many times more serious than those of King Ning during the Zhengde Dynasty. Especially the location of the accident was in Zhizhe, which was a heavy land for the Ming Dynasty. If one was not good, half of the Jiangnan area would be lost, and even the entire country would fall into the hands of others.
However, Xu Qian said with certainty that these so-called rioters called His Majesty the wise and sang and praised themselves. If Xu Qian said the truth, then it would be a bit inappropriate to say that they were rioters. At least in Jiajing's eyes, these people were definitely not rioters.
But Yang Yiqing was speechless at this time. Xu Qian's words made him irrefutable. Some of the memorials made it clear that the rioters were shouting His Majesty's wiseness, and the slogans of the new policy, and the annihilation of the thieves and harming the country. If these people were fools, then why would the fools call His Majesty's wiseness? Or, since the fools were deceived, could these unrepentant rioters still teach the people to praise the emperor?
This principle obviously doesn't make sense, and Xu Qian's words made Yang Yiqing realize that Xu Qian's intentions were very sinister. This person clearly wanted to put His Majesty on the opposite side of the court and stand with those noble people.
Xu Qian said again: "Your Majesty, there is a letter here, written by Liu Yu in Qingtian. Please read it."
"Liu Yu?" Jiajing pondered: "Is it the one Liu Yu from Qingtian?"
Xu Qian nodded and said, "That's right."
Jiajing nodded. Liu Yu was naturally noble after he had the auxiliary fortune. In Jiajing's heart, he was also a trustworthy person. At least in Jiajing's eyes, nobles were often much more reliable than officials. Because nobles and Daming shared honor and disgrace, the Ming Dynasty was the same, their glory and wealth were essential. On the other hand, officials were different. They were doing the work for those with the surname Zhu and doing the work for those with the surname Liu. These people may not be reliable.
Jiajing took the memorial and read it carefully.
In this memorial, the words were very plain, but they truthfully explained the story of the matter and the positions of all kinds of people in Naozhe.
After seeing this, Jiajing fell into deep thought. It was obvious that his uneasiness had gradually calmed down. Things were not as bad as he thought. The "disrupting people" did not resist the court, but commercial taxes. In other words, they did not resist the emperor or corrupt officials.
Although it was still inappropriate and it was a false alarm, but since the matter was not serious enough to be irreversible, Jiajing's heart gradually calmed down.
He looked at Xu Qian and said, "It is a commercial tax. Why are so many people causing trouble? I still don't understand it until now."
Xu Qian said: "Your Majesty, I have previously submitted a charter to collect commercial taxes. In the current situation of the court, if the commercial tax is not collected, it will be a long time before the expenditure of annual income will be difficult to recover. It's just a pity that the Wei-Minist's charter has not been recognized by the people of the cabinet. On the contrary, the cabinet has also formulated a charter, which is also levied commercial taxes. However, in the eyes of Wei-Minist, this charter is not only considered, but also a disaster to the country and the people. The commercial tax was originally collected by merchants, but Your Majesty think about it. If the commercial tax is heavy, how can the workshop in Zhizhexi be maintained?
The merchants worked hard and used all the money they earned throughout the year to pay commercial taxes. Why did they maintain the workshop? If they could not make money, the workshop would be closed. The workshop would be closed. How would these millions of workers and disciples deal with it? These people lost their livelihoods and had no other differences. Should they sit and wait for death to starve to death? They are humans, and all the adults in the court are all humans. People have to eat, dress, and have karma. The adults are raised by the court, so naturally they are not enough to think about this issue. But since the court does not expect the merchants to support them, can the court support them?"
Xu Qian paused for a moment and then said, "So the officials thought that the commercial tax implemented now must be abolished, and the court should reconsider the collection of commercial taxes. Previously, the regulations of the Ministry of Revenue were the current methods that were beneficial to the court and allowed merchants to accept. Otherwise, if this continues, millions of people will have no food and no clothes to cover themselves, and this will be a disaster."
Xu Qian's words and opinions were all criticized by Yang Yiqing's commercial tax collection. Yang Yiqing was so angry that he was so angry that he just wanted to argue, but he had no way to start.
But Yang Tinghe said calmly: "Xu Butang, we are talking about the rioters in Zhizhe, don't care about him."
Xu Qian said decisively: "What the Xiaguan is talking about is the fundamental problem, and the root of the problem lies in commercial tax."
Yang Tinghe said: "Since that's the case, how to solve the problem of Zhizhe, Xu Butang seems to be confident and has a solution long ago. But I don't know what Xu Butang plans."
Jiajing had a gloomy face and kept silent. After Xu Qian's words, he roughly understood what happened in Zhizhe, but what Yang Tinghe said was not without problems. It is meaningless to pursue these things now. Of course, it is inevitable to settle the accounts after the autumn, but the key to the current problem is how to calm down the current situation. This is a big deal. Regardless of whether the ** people are under the banner of the Emperor's wise, if they cannot be dealt with decisively, sooner or later, it will cause a disaster.
Xu Qian said: "The current problem is easy to solve. The subordinates do not need 100,000 elite soldiers or any money and food. He only needs His Majesty to issue an order and entrust the subordinates as imperial envoy to go to Zhizhe, and give the subordinates the right to arbitrarily. The subordinates promise that the situation will be calmed down in no time."
After going around such a big circle, I finally found out the picture.
What Xu Qian wants is this so-called arbitrary power.
The so-called arbitrary means to seize life and death, and to monopolize power. However, in a sense, the imperial envoy itself means to inspect the local area in the name of the emperor. Therefore, he has the right to arbitrary, but Xu Qian mentioned it specifically, obviously hoping to have greater initiative.
Now that Xu Qian has already boasted about Haikou and is willing to calm the matter alone, Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing are not very good at speaking at this time.
The crux of the problem is that Yang Tinghe cannot solve this huge problem, nor can Yang Yiqing solve it. This incident has already happened, and the consequences are extremely serious and there is no need to make any mistakes. Once a mistake is made, the harm is probably no different from the Tumu Fort.
Yang Tinghe narrowed his eyes, looked at Xu Qian coldly, and said, "But what if Xu Butang can't solve it?"
Xu Qian smiled coldly: "If it cannot be solved, I would rather resign than eat in the corpse position. But if it can be solved, will the cabinet immediately abolish the current commercial tax and change it to the Users Department's charter to impose commercial tax? I wonder what Lord Yang thinks?"
Yang Tinghe smiled faintly, looked at Jiajing, and said, "I don't have the final say, only Your Majesty has the final say."
Everyone's eyes fell on Jiajing's head.
Jiajing said to Xu Qian: "Is Xu Aiqing really sure?"
Xu Qian said: "I am not sure about taking care of the emperor's grace, and even if I am not sure, I should share my worries."
Jiajing pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, "That's it. I will write an order to entrust Xu Qian, the Minister of Revenue, to be the imperial envoy, inspect Zhizhe, and appease the gentry and people of Zhizhe."
He stood up and seemed a little tired. Perhaps because he often took pills, he didn't sleep well at night. Seeing that it was dawn and his body could no longer bear it, he said to Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing: "Two gentlemen, go and rest. I have a few words to say to Xu Aiqing."
Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing had to say goodbye. Only Jiajing and Xu Qian were left in the warm pavilion.
Jiajing took a few steps in the warm room with his hands behind his back and said lightly: "You arranged this matter, right?"
His back was turned to Xu Qian, so that Xu Qian could not see his face, and he could not guess what he was thinking.
Xu Qian hurriedly said: "How dare I arrange such a big thing? Although the cabinet sets commercial taxes, I knew there was a problem with it, but I don't know where to start with the word "setting".
All fools know that Jiajing is testing. If he recognizes himself, then Xu will not have to hang out in the Ming Dynasty. He will be honest and lenient and sit in prison. Xu Qian understands this principle. (To be continued.)