May 22nd, this is already the fourth day of the turmoil in Jing'an.
It was also today that Zhao Yanxun summoned the Chang Dynasty, and the officials attending the meeting were rushing to Chongzheng Hall.
According to the organization of the Jin Dynasty, major court meetings are held on every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, except that regular court meetings are held on even numbers.
However, this rule has never been strictly enforced, including by Emperor Taizong Zhao Hongzhang who set this rule.
The more diligent emperors would miss two or three court meetings every month, while the more lazy emperors would even want to skip the court meetings.
Among the eleven emperors of the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Yanxun's diligence ranked in the middle.
He basically held the big court meetings as usual, while the regular court meetings were suspended for almost half of the time. This also attracted constant remonstrances from the imperial censor, but Zhao Yanxun and Wei Jia paid heed to them.
Since the Great Court Meeting on May 15th, Zhao Yanxun has held three regular court meetings, during which the Jing'an Rebellion occurred.
Everyone in the court knew about the specific situation, but the emperor had no clear statement on the matter, which made officials both curious and anxious.
The court meeting held today made them guess that it must be for this matter.
In any case, the court must give an official definition of what happened in Jiangxi County.
Since it is a permanent dynasty, the scale will naturally be much smaller. Only the main officials of various ministries and halls will participate in the meeting, and the number of people will not exceed forty people.
This also means that officials who can participate in the Chang Dynasty can be regarded as high-ranking officials of the imperial court.
Everyone entered the hall one after another. The throne was still empty at this moment, and all the ministers stood in their respective positions.
Although they were curious about Jiangxi County, these people did not think about these things again after entering the main hall. After all, they each had a lot of work in their hands.
If the emperor asks them later and they reply that they are at a loss what to do, they are asking for trouble.
The ministers stood in the main hall for more than ten minutes before they heard footsteps coming from behind, so they all cheered up.
In today's world, officials are very frustrated. In the past, they could give up their jobs when they were angry, but now they have to endure it and continue to try their best to get things done.
To give up the job is to put the family in danger.
The situation after Zhao Yanxun came to power has fully demonstrated that as long as the knife in your hand is hard enough, you can work hard on all things clean and dirty.
While the officials were holding their breath and concentrating, Zhao Yanxun, surrounded by eunuchs, slowly appeared in front of everyone.
I saw him wearing a black gauze winged crown and a twelve-chapter-patterned robe, showing the majesty of an emperor as he walked.
"I bow to the emperor, long live my emperor!"
"No gift!"
The ministers immediately stood up and stood respectfully, waiting for the emperor to start the topic.
In fact, the Chang Dynasty also had some rules, but after Zhao Yanxun succeeded to the throne, all these rules were abandoned.
"My dear friends, Yushan, the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, arrived at Tianyu Pass yesterday and had his first negotiation with Luo Lun!"
When Zhao Yanxun opened his mouth, he talked about the Hu people, which surprised the officials present.
"They are at war with the Western Barbarians. They are short of food and weapons. They are miserable now!"
All the ministers present listened carefully. Compared with the riots in Jiangxi County, the enemies outside the customs are undoubtedly more difficult to deal with. It seems important to hold a court meeting at this moment.
"You all must know that King Zuoxian of the Huns is equivalent to their prince. The Xiongnu Chanyu sent him here, which shows that the situation is dangerous!"
After hearing this, everyone present nodded, this argument is the truth.
"In this case, the Huns ask us for help. Do you think we should help?"
Zhao Yanxun could resolve this issue with one word, but he still brought it up to the court meeting.
On the one hand, this is respect for the courtiers, and on the other hand, he really wants to listen to his opinions.
"Now that the country is in decline, mobilizing troops will consume a lot of money. If we can drive away wolves and swallow tigers, it will be a good thing!"
The first person to speak was Lu Chaowen.
As the de facto "chief assistant" of the cabinet, he has very extensive information channels, so he has a certain understanding of the situation outside the customs.
Since the Huns are willing to fight to the death with the Western Barbarians, what's wrong with the Jin Dynasty hiding in the rear and reaping the benefits?
Therefore, Lu Chaowen was the first to express support.
At this time, Cheng Wenguang said: "Your Majesty, although I agree with Mr. Lu Ge's suggestion, I still have doubts in my heart!"
"My dear, you can speak frankly!" Zhao Yanxun said calmly.
"No matter how sincere the Huns are, if they take the things and break the contract, then there is nothing we can do!"
Nodding, Zhao Yanxun looked at the other ministers present and said, "You can speak freely if you have anything to say, and I won't blame you if you make a mistake!"
In fact, to put it bluntly, there is nothing much to say about this matter. After all, there are only two choices.
"Your Majesty, I also agree with Mr. Lu Ge's intention. As for Mr. Cheng Ge's concerns, I don't think it is difficult to deal with them!"
The person who said this was Zeng Changsong, the Minister of the Ministry of War. Nowadays, the Ministry of War has a great say in the war.
"How to deal with it?" Zhao Yanxun asked.
"As long as the amount of food provided is controlled and the Huns can just support it, there is no need to worry about their backlash!"
"My Dajin controls the food, which is equivalent to controlling their lifeline, so they can only obey my orders!"
Zeng Changsong's ideas coincided with Zhao Yanxun's.
If we can indirectly control the Huns through food and let them isolate the Jin court from border troubles, the benefits to the Jin Dynasty will be immeasurable.
In comparison, giving the Huns 100,000 sabers, 30,000 bows and 300,000 arrows, and paying them 100,000 stone grains every month are affordable.
Of course, this is the condition offered by the Huns, and Zhao Yanxun cannot accept it in full, so the matter must continue to be discussed.
"What Qing Zeng said makes sense, and I mean the same thing!"
"This matter needs to be discussed in detail. The Huns are demanding high prices, so we can just sit back and pay back the money!"
At this point, Zhao Yanxun changed the topic and said: "This time we have increased the levy of prisoner wages, but something happened in Jiangxi County. Some people actually started a rebellion. The cause was forty acres of land!"
"Forty acres of land... just cost those rebels their lives. Do you believe it or not?"
When it comes to Jiangxi County, everyone present is familiar with it. After all, they are all discussing it in private.
The question raised by Zhao Yanxun was actually clear to them. The gentry's rebellion was definitely not because of the forty acres of land.
"Whether you believe it or not, I don't believe it anyway!"
"Every one of you is a descendant of farming and education. Your respective family is considered a big family in the village, and you are in sympathy with those who rebelled..."
This is indeed true. In essence, the interests of the gentry and officials are the same, so they can naturally empathize with the "experience" of the southern gentry.
But the key points here can only be hidden in the details. How can they be explained openly?
However, Zhao Yanxun brought this to the forefront and showed what it means to be unbridled.
"If you don't tell me, let me tell you!" Zhao Yanxun stood up.
I saw him stepping down from the throne and coming among the courtiers.
As he approached, the ministers became more and more respectful.
"Improving taxes several times is like cutting off the gentry's flesh!"
"But the imperial court's inspection of the land is tantamount to killing them, don't you think so?"
Zhao Yanxun stopped. Now he was standing in the center of the hall, and the heads of the ministers were also lowered.
"They can tolerate the cutting of flesh, but they can't bear it if it takes their lives!"
"The ownership of those forty acres of land also involves the ownership of the land they concealed, so they have to fight hard!"
"Tell me, am I right?"
It doesn't matter whether it's right or not, the key is that what happened has happened, and everyone in the world is waiting for an explanation as to how it will end.
Walking to the door of the hall, Zhao Yanxun turned his back to everyone and said: "Now that the rebels have been imprisoned, there are national laws on how to deal with it, but the case of the forty acres of land is still pending..."
"Since this case has caused a turmoil, it should be tried fairly..."
Turning around, Zhao Yanxun said in a deep voice: "You said... or not?"
As Zhao Yanxun said, the 40 acres of land case involves the concealed 400,000 acres of land, or even more...
If Liu Quan were judged to have won, the common people would definitely follow suit and go to the government to "claim" the land that the gentry had concealed.
Seeing that the ministers were silent, Zhao Yanxun suddenly laughed and said, "What? Trying this case will cost your lives?"
When Zhao Yanxun said these words, the ministers would dare to remain silent unless they really thought they were going to live too long.
"What the Emperor said is absolutely true. This case should be tried fairly..."