I stayed in the Qinling Mountains for three days, fishing, hunting, talking about love.
Forget modern times, forget the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yuanxing completely calmed down his heart.
Responsibility must be shouldered only after you have a certain ability. If you don't have that ability, shouldering responsibility will not only be irresponsible to yourself, but also increase unnecessary pressure on those around you.
On the evening of the third day, before Li Yuanxing entered Qinwangzhuang through the back door, he saw Zheng He running over from a distance.
"Your Highness, many guests are here!"
"Guest?" Li Yuanxing was very surprised. It was already evening, how could there be so many guests in his village?
You know, the Tang Dynasty had a curfew system. If these people stayed in Zhuangzi, they had made up their mind not to leave at night.
"Where is the long history?" Li Yuanxing asked.
"When I return to Your Highness, the two chief ministers are greeting guests in the front hall." Zheng He answered from the side.
Wei Zheng is back? Li Yuanxing was overjoyed. Wei Zheng's return means that Liaodong has settled down and the trade routes have stabilized. Otherwise, Wei Zheng would not have rushed back in a hurry.
Li Yuanxing couldn't help but walk a few steps faster. As he walked, he said to Cui Yingying: "You should go back and rest first. I will go to the front yard to take a look." After saying that, without waiting for Cui Yingying's response, Li Yuanxing said to Zheng He again: "Quickly.
Lead the way quickly!"
After entering the back door, Li Yuanxing sat in a soft sedan chair, and the person carrying the sedan chair trotted towards the front hall.
On the way, Li Yuanxing heard Zheng He reading the guest list. The more Li Yuanxing heard it, the more shocked he became. He was now the Qin Wangzhuang, the entire Tianying Pavilion, the six ministers, and the five deans of the Admonition Academy.
When we arrived at our own Qinwang Village, what was going on?
For the locust plague?
No!
Li Yuanxing shook his head gently. If only a few high-ranking officials were present, then the reason for the locust plague could be justified. Li Yuanxing did not believe that everyone was so dedicated to serving the country.
Therefore, it can only be for business tax purposes.
In the living room of the conference, four people, Wang Jishan, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, and Li Jing, came out to greet them. They could be said to represent the four forces above the Tang Dynasty. They represented the aristocratic families, the emerging nobles, the old Qin Palace, and the military.
.Although the four forces have their own intersections, they are not so clearly divided.
However, when fighting for their own interests, the differences are quite obvious.
"I came here because the Thousand Dumplings Banquet is too famous, so I came unexpectedly. Your Highness, please forgive me!" Wang Jishan smiled and bowed his hands in salute. Li Yuanxing returned the salute and then approached the four of them: "You came here for a meal. You said you are yourselves."
Believe it or not!”
Hahaha! Wang Jishan smiled heartily, and then followed Li Yuanxing into the hall.
It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, the important thing is that this is an explanation for outsiders.
"Go down and prepare the banquet!" Li Yuanxing ordered Zheng He, and Zheng He immediately turned around and ran away.
Lu Maofeng closed the door outside at this time, and even the maids were called out of the conference living room. The only maids left here were Qiuxiang and Yuanchun. An empty cup and a thermos were placed in front of each guest's seat.
There are three boxes of tea of different varieties. To put it simply, if you want to drink water, pour it yourself.
"Your Highness, let me tell you something serious first. Pirates have attacked the Snow Salt Farm. This matter is very serious!" Qin Qiong was the first to stand up, and then saluted Li Jing: "Li Shangshu, the intelligence shows that this is a hundred
Ji Ren did it. He robbed a hundred tons of snow salt and injured hundreds of our salt workers."
Li Jing didn't say anything, just looked at Li Yuanxing.
"The king agrees to sanction Baekje and ask them to hand over the murderer and return the snow salt, otherwise all Baekje people will be expelled!"
"The non-war strategy is approved by the Ministry of Rites." Wang Jishan was the first to express it.
"Fighting Baekje requires water warfare. At present, Datang's water warfare is weak, and the Ministry of War agrees." Li Jing also said.
It has been a long-established fact that Baekje must be dealt with. Because Li Yuanxing is in charge of Admiral Tiance's Mansion, he needs to adopt a certain situation on the surface.
Since this expulsion method was last used on the Goguryeo people, many officials believed that it was a good strategy. After cutting off the financial resources of Goguryeo merchants, they could increase smuggling to Goguryeo in Liaodong, and their income increased several times.
The Tang Dynasty still looked good in face when faced with foreign countries.
Next, Cui Junsu stood up: "Your Highness, we think that the commercial tax can be changed. But regarding the luxury tax, we don't agree. Unless Your Highness has a very good reason to convince us, Tianying Pavilion will vote against it unanimously.
."
Li Yuanxing smiled: "How much do you spend on luxury goods a year?"
"Your Highness, which one of the things we are going to spend on is not a luxury item?" Cui Junsu did not give in at all.
Li Yuanxing also stood up: "If you come to my village for this matter, you are really here to eat dumplings. I can make you agree with just one sentence. If you don't believe it, how about we make a bet? If I
The king lost, so I will personally cook today and prepare eight dishes and one soup for you all!"
"What if someone loses?"
"How about singing or dancing to cheer up the banquet?" Li Yuanxing said with a smile.
In the Tang Dynasty, letting high-ranking officials sing and dance at banquets was not an insult, but a kind of intimacy. According to historical records, when Li Zhi was born, Li Er held a banquet, and the Supreme Emperor Li Yuan sang and danced at the banquet, which was very lively.
.And as a person with no identity, you are not qualified to go to the dance floor.
"It seems that Your Highness is very confident, and I am all ears!" Cui Junsu raised his head and saluted.
"In a word, have you ever thought clearly about whose tax the luxury tax really is?"
Cui Junsu was stunned. Wang Jishan, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, and everyone present were also stunned. In their view, this luxury tax is increasing their taxes, increasing their cost of living, and in turn subsidizing the poor.
They all stood up to oppose it.
"Your Highness, could you please clarify?"
Cui Junsu was speechless when asked for the first time.
"Cui Shangshu, as far as I know, half of your family's expenses are self-produced and the other half are exchanged with other aristocratic families. Speaking of workshops, I dare not say that your Cui family's workshop is occupied by all walks of life.
But for daily expenses, I believe that Cui, Wang, and Lu, just these three families, your exchange of items is enough, right?"
"Yes!" Facing Li Yuanxing's question, Cui Junsu thought about it and realized that this was really the case.
"There are still a few. It can be said that what is really needed to buy is less than 10%, and it is considered to be 20% at most, right?" Li Yuanxing asked again.
Cui Junsu was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. After a quick calculation in his mind, he replied: "It seems that the content is less than half. I think in the future, if the products are richer, they will naturally increase."
"How many foreign merchants were there in the Tang Dynasty? How many were there in Chang'an?"
Cui Junsu suddenly understood and saluted Li Yuanxing: "I am confused, but Your Highness is wise."
"Some people will naturally suffer. Those low-level nobles, their luxury goods may be 10% or 20% higher in price. However, for the entire Tang Dynasty, Cui Shangshu should be more concerned about the increased income.
The king calculated more carefully."
Who cares about the lower class nobles?
However, Cui Junsu said, "If the court encourages the creation of industries, there will naturally be some other exemptions and reductions. It is not a big deal to buy one less new clothes a year. Paying more taxes will help the poor people in the world."
It is a great good thing to survive the cold winter. Your Highness, I support this luxury tax!"
"Support!" at least half of them responded.
Benefits, everything is profit. Li Yuanxing smiled bitterly and shook his head. It seems that as Li Yuanxing said, it is the foreign merchants who really increase the cost. Their increase will compensate for the extra expenses of the big family.
Fortunately, this is not the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no people risking their lives to talk about the royal family competing for profits with the people.
But, in a few years, ten years or so.
When the luxury tax is formalized, Cui Junsu cannot see the output of the family, the income of the family, and the taxes that the family needs to pay, and he cannot calculate it.
When everyone saw Li Yuanxing shaking his head, they naturally didn't know what Li Yuanxing was really thinking.
In their opinion, Li Yuanxing thought that these people were all fools, and only saw the immediate loss of a small profit, but did not see the long-term benefits, so he disappointed His Highness the King of Qin.
"Okay, you should know about the locust plague by now." Li Yuanxing looked back down to see the reactions of the ministers.
"We know that your Majesty has already issued an imperial edict on this matter, and everything is subject to His Highness's arrangements. Throughout the dynasties, locust plagues will only bring destruction to life, and the people can only wait silently for death. Even in the court, we have no choice. In the past dynasties, what happened
After the locust plague, I always pray to the emperor."
What Wang Jishan said is true, and as a superior, he also has the people's interests at heart.
Li Yuanxing also understood that in ancient times, people were afraid of natural disasters.
"Brother Yao, I want to mobilize the Twelve Guards. The four guards of the Chang'an City Forbidden Army will remain stationary to protect Chang'an. The Twelve Guards will first mobilize the four guards, and the three guards will go to the east of the Wei River urgently. I want to repair the river."
Li Jing had no objection and agreed immediately.
Cui Junsu asked: "Your Highness, we are willing to obey the arrangement, but can you tell us the deeper meaning of this arrangement and let us know that in the pre-Sui Dynasty, there were more than seventy recorded locust plagues, and there were more than ten truly terrible ones."
This time, the disaster was huge and there were many casualties!”
"Your Highness, I also think that Your Highness should explain in detail." Wang Jishan also said.
Li Yuanxing sat back on his seat: "Then, I will first tell you what this locust is. Eat first, and after eating, I will also make some preparations. Locusts are not worth mentioning in my eyes!"
The ministers looked at each other and nodded.
At this time, Cui Junsu and Wang Jishan realized that it seemed a bit ridiculous that they came to Qinwangzhuang in a hurry for the luxury tax matter. I really don’t know who was so excited and clamoring, making everyone think that the family’s money was
Was robbed. (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!)