In the study room of the Cai Mansion, Cai Jing, the Zuo Senior Vice-President, was reading at night.
Wearing a Dongpo scarf, a t-shirt, and a pair of crystal reading glasses, he looked at the book in his hand intently.
Just over an hour ago, he started reading from page 123, and now he only saw page 125.
Suddenly, subtle footsteps sounded outside, like a cat slowly approaching along the far courtyard wall.
"Who is here?" Cai Jing raised his head and asked towards the door.
The servant waiting outside the door quickly replied: "Alang, it's Da Langjun who is here."
"Oh, Da Lang is here." Cai Jing put down the book in his hand, took off his reading glasses, sat upright on the chair, gently rubbed the root of his nose, and waited quietly. A hint of disappointment could be seen at the corner of his mouth.
After a while, footsteps sounded at the door, and the servant who was waiting respectfully greeted him: "Young man, I've seen you."
Soon, Cai You staggered in and sang a rude song, "Father, my son is rude, you are rude."
Before Cai Jing could answer, he was hit by the smell of alcohol emanating from Cai You, and he quickly covered his nose and face with his sleeves.
"Have you been drinking?"
"Have had a few drinks. Koryo people are not good at drinking." Cai You answered as he pulled up a chair and sat across from him.
"Goryeo," Cai Jing raised his long eyebrows, "have you gotten involved with the people from Goryeo Chen Zuo's mission?"
"Yes, it's hard to refuse such hospitality - ugh!" Cai You burped, and the smell of alcohol became even stronger. Cai Jing quickly turned away, feeling very disgusted.
"How much have you drunk?" he said dissatisfied.
"One jar, or two jars, I don't remember. We were having a good time talking, who is going to remember this." Cai You grabbed the tea cup on the table. It was Cai Jing's tea, and he drank it in one breath regardless of the fact that it was already cold.
A clean one.
"Don't you know what those Koreans are planning? Do you think you can handle this matter?" Cai Jing's words were full of sarcasm.
Cai You didn't think so, but smiled.
"Of course my son knows what these Koreans want to do. These guys don't know how powerful our officials are, and they are still taking chances here. No one in this world dares to take advantage of our officials."
"Then why are you still stirring up trouble here?" Cai Jing thought of something, and his face changed slightly, "How many benefits have the Koreans promised you? Are you willing to be the first pawn?"
"My dad, the Korean people are still very rich. The Silla maids they gave away are really lovely. Dad, do you want me to give you two as gifts?"
Cai Jing didn't make a sound, and reached out to close the book on the table. The snap was particularly loud in the silent room, like a clear slap, which woke up the half-drunk Cai You.
"Father is reading a book." Cai You started to look for something to say.
"I wonder what book Daddy is reading? Oh, the new edition of "Historical Records" from Chuanshiyin Publishing House. Daddy also likes this new edition with simplified fonts and added punctuation marks?"
"Everyone is watching, can't I see it?"
"Dad, it's mainly the officials who are reading it." Cai You smiled meaningfully and continued to ask, "Which article did dad read?"
""Pingzhun Book"."
""Pingzhun Shu"?" Cai You just recalled it briefly and recited it fluently.
"'In the first year of the year, Taicang's sweet springs and warehouses were full. There were still grains left, and all the people lost five million pieces of silk. The people were not benefiting from the wealth, but the world was in need of mercy. So Hongyang conferred the title of Zuo Shuchang, with a hundred gold coins.
'Dad, did Han Sang Hongyang compare himself to himself in the past? Think about it, if dad hadn't worked so hard on planning for the position of prime minister and expanding financial resources, why would the official family have accomplished the unparalleled feat of annihilating Xia Pingliao?"
Cai You leaned forward, stretching his neck like a giraffe. His head was almost under Cai Jing's nose, and his eyes were filled with unspeakable light, like an owl watching for prey in the dark night.
Although Cai Jing is sixty-five years old, his face is rosy and energetic. Especially his eyes, although cloudy, are bright and shining, revealing unconcealed ambition.
Looking at his father, Cai You had a mocking look on his face.
"It's just that Dad, there is another paragraph in "Pingzhunshu", 'Divination: The county magistrate only pays food, rent, clothing and taxes. Now Hongyang has ordered officials to sit in the market and sell goods for profit. When Hongyang is prosperous, it is raining'. Sang
Hongyang did not end up well."
Cai Jing gave Cai You a sharp look and said unhurriedly: "Although Sang Hongyang was implicated and killed during the reign of Emperor Zhao, he was highly valued during the reign of Emperor Wu. Today's officials are less than thirty years old.
Why do you and I worry so much?"
"Sang Hongyang was highly valued during the reign of Emperor Wu, but what about you, dad? Zhongshu Shengzuo Zizheng is just a clay statue, not as powerful as Fan Laosi's Zhongshu Shengzongshi Zhongcheng. After three or four years,
When the new cabinet takes office in 2019, dad will have to decide whether he wants to go to Hongwen Academy or Sungkyun University."
Listening to his son's heart-wrenching words, Cai Jing leaned back in his chair and looked at him jokingly. The expression on his face seemed to say, "Continue, please continue your performance."
After all, Cai You couldn't defeat his cunning father. He was silent for a while and then said sarcastically: "Dad, what should you do with the Korean people?"
Now Cai Jing's face was full of sarcasm, "Didn't I just say that? How could you get involved in this matter?"
"Dad, if you accept others' mercy, you have to give it a try."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"If you don't succeed, how dare the Koreans ask me to spit out all the gifts?" Cai You looked like a scoundrel, and turned his eyes to be humble again, "It's just a father who is honest and honest. Please help your son."
Come up with an idea."
"Any idea?" Cai Jing looked at his son for a while and finally said, "This matter is actually very simple. The Korean people did not abandon the Nine Cities and spit out the land thousands of miles east of the Yalu River. Even if they died in front of Donghua Gate,
Even the officials will not blink an eye. After one or two months of negotiations, the knowledgeable people among the Korean people must have noticed this."
"It's just that you can do whatever you want with private matters, but you have to worry a lot about official matters. You don't have to mediate and do that thankless thing. Why not help the Korean people find a way out."
"Find a step to go down?" Cai You understood. He thought for a while, raised his head and asked, "Dad, what kind of cotton have the Lifan Department been playing with the Koreans in the past two months? Now my Song Dynasty has abundant military virtue, Liaodong and Liaoxi
, Liu Fa commanded more than 100,000 Pingliao elites, and was assisted by more than 100,000 Qinglong Banner cavalry. By the time you waste this talk, you have already gone to Goryeo to open the capital?"
"You are the only one who is smart? There are three outstanding heroes in the Northeast: Sun Xuanming, Zeng Maoming and Liu Fa. When it comes to marching and fighting, even Zeng Maoming, who specializes in civil affairs, food and salary, is better than you. There is a reason to fight, and there is a reason not to fight. You
Why are you worried about this? Just be honest and find a way to earn the generous gift from the Korean people."
Cai You said with a playful smile: "Dad, you have more respect than me, how about——"
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Cai Jing, "Don't even think about it, I still have things to do as a father!"
"What's the matter? Read the new edition of "Historical Records", write a few more comments, and publish them in newspapers and magazines to attract the attention of officials?" Cai You said sarcastically, and then he thought of something and his face changed.
"Dad, you can't be..." Cai You thought for a while, finally thought of a suitable word, and lowered his voice and asked, "Aren't you willing to give in?"
"Are you willing? Are you willing? Sima Wen is willing, but is Wang Jinggong willing? Zhang Zihou is willing, but Zeng Zibu is willing? Han Shipu is willing, but Lu Jifu is willing?"
Cai You couldn't help but said: "Uncle is willing to accept it, but dad is not..."
Cai Jing's eyes were like two sharp swords, flying straight over and cutting off all Cai You's words.
"Thank you dad for your advice. My son will go and find a way to find a way for the Koreans to get off the stairs and settle this matter." Cai You said goodbye in a panic.
After a while, someone else entered the study.
A faint smile appeared on Cai Jing's face, "Sanlang is back."
Cai Yi raised his hands and said respectfully: "My son is back."
"How did things go?"
"It went very smoothly." Cai Yi replied enthusiastically.
"A few days ago, the Ministry of Finance ordered the abolition of postal fields, and now it has to abolish the 'tax exemption', standardize salaries, cancel various subsidies and other measures. In addition, it has previously abolished the official compensation system, and abolished local levy and customs.
, city gates, river crossings and other profits and taxes have long caused many officials to complain and complain. As soon as my son mentioned it, they enthusiastically participated. "
Cai Jing has been a prime minister for many years and knows that tax exemption means that items carried by officials when they take office or leave office are exempt from any tax.
It was originally a measure to facilitate officials, but later because there were too many taxes and customs in various places, some merchants listed a large number of goods under the names of officials, used this measure to evade taxes, and then shared huge profits with the officials.
Since the beginning of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, the dynasty has treated civil servants very favorably, "with generous salaries to support honest people." In addition to job opportunities, there are also numerous subsidies and benefits. Even when officials hire servants and mothers go out to buy groceries, they will be subsidized.
Such preferential treatment, coupled with the generous subsidies and the wide opening of the door to Jinshi, resulted in redundant officials and personnel, huge expenditures, and huge military expenditures. In order to maintain it, the court could only collect taxes desperately.
Not to mention the city, bridges, city gates, river crossings, as long as merchants, vendors and even ordinary pedestrians pass by, all have to be taxed. And they are collected once for each place, overlapping one after another, and the burden is extremely heavy.
These miscellaneous taxes, as well as rules such as supplementary subsidies, were gradually abolished when the officials came to power, causing a large reduction in the income and welfare of civil servants.
Now they are canceling job titles, tax exemptions and other preferential benefits. At the same time, they are standardizing salaries through the establishment and budget system and prohibiting random allowances. Of course, many officials are very dissatisfied.
Cai Jing nodded with satisfaction, "That's good. Thank you for your hard work, Sanlang."
Cai Chen quickly replied: "Dad, my son is not working hard. It's just that these are just small minions and can't make much trouble. Moreover, since the New Deal, the censor responsible for impeachment has changed his responsibilities, so it is difficult to achieve the same level as before."
effect.”
"Sanlang, the rules have changed, but the essence remains the same. Don't look down on the small miscellaneous fish. If there are more of them, the storm will gather." Cai Jing said confidently. This chapter has been completed!