The huge hall is at least ten feet in diameter. The hall is brightly lit, a breeze blows suddenly, and the candle flames sway with the wind, illuminating Yuan Ke's face.
Just when I was wondering what kind of evil the emperor was going to do again, I suddenly heard him say: "Are you really not the person appointed by heaven?"
Coming again?
Li Chengzhi's heart was trembling wildly, and he stood up anxiously: "Your Majesty, which part of me looks like a gift from heaven?"
This sentence was very rude, but he accidentally caught Li Chengzhi's face and turned pale with fright. Instead of blaming him, Yuan Ke started laughing.
At least it doesn’t look like this kind of courage!
Yuan Ke pointed down cheerfully: "Why are you panicking? Sit down and talk!"
Li Chengzhi knelt down and wondered: What did you want me to say?
Why did he suddenly bring up the topic of "Tianzhi"? Is it over yet?
With thoughts swirling in his mind, he tried again: "Today's few songs are really a flash of inspiration..."
As soon as he heard this, he knew that Li Chengzhi had gone astray. Yuan Ke waved his hand, meaning that this was not what he was asking.
The emperor really didn't have much suspicion.
The world is not without talented people, and there are some living ones, such as Tao Hongjing of Nanliang. People in the Southern Dynasties said: He knows everything in the world, and he knows half of what is in heaven.
Even the Southern Emperor Xiao Yan highly praised him, saying that he was a talent that had not been born in five hundred years.
But what’s the use?
Even Li Chengzhi can offer me advice, knowing full well that skills like "the art of making iron" can only be beneficial to the country and the people if they are presented to the imperial court.
As for Tao Hongjing, it must have been more than ten years since he discovered this skill, but the Nanliang Army still uses soft iron swords?
Therefore, Yuan Ke is not afraid at all that Li Chengzhi knows more. The more, the better.
Because Li Chengzhi doesn’t hide anything...
The reason why Yuan Ke brought up the old matter again was because of the 120,000 gold.
It’s also strange that the money brought into the palace was not even a copper penny missing? Even if he sold a pound of ice, Li Chengzhi’s accounts were kept clearly?
Is this behavior really like that of a rare person?
It's not that the emperor doesn't trust his ministers, or that he wants to kill his heart, but that the world is like this: not to mention Yuan Yue and Yuan Yong, even if ministers like Liu Fang and Cui Guang are sent to handle this matter, the result will be one or two percent less.
No problem at all.
It's good for Li Chengzhi. I'm afraid that if he gets a penny involved, I will chop off his head, like avoiding snakes and scorpions?
Do you want to say that Li Chengzhi doesn’t love money?
See how much effort he puts into selling ice?
Afraid that I would be jealous of his business and that he would be taken as an official, you actually tempted me to sell the ice that was originally given to the officials to the monk?
Yuan Ke was extremely excited when he thought about the wonderful expressions on the faces of hundreds of courtiers after hearing the news.
Do you want to say that Li Chengzhi is timid?
Nonsense!
Li Chengzhi's thoughts in this are obvious: this is for money, and he is almost risking his life.
Not to mention the things he did in Jingzhou: even the governor of a state and relatives of the royal family dared to kill without permission, it was so audacious!
That's why Yuan Ke was surprised: Since Li Chengzhi is brave and loves money, why can he not be greedy for anything?
After thinking about it, I can only attribute it to my nature!
Yuan Ke naturally thought of Xi Kangsheng, Gao Meng, and the evaluation of Li Chengzhi by Jingzhou officials, scholars, and people.
He cares about the common people, knows how ill they are, has an innocent heart, and is virtuous... This is the evaluation of Xi Kangsheng and those who have been favored by Li Chengzhi.
Talented, well-spoken, erudite, capable of both literary and military skills. But he is arrogant, unruly, unruly, and extremely rude... He is so fierce that Li Chengzhi almost made his lungs explode.
There are also things like: insidious and cunning, cunning and mean, hiding a knife in a smile, capricious... I think these should be people who have been offended by Li Chengzhi, such as the Anding Hu family!
If he just heard about it, Yuan Ke would naturally not care. After all, each flower is in his own eyes, the benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise see wisdom. The same person has thousands of faces in the hearts of thousands of people, which is normal.
But what makes Yuan Ke feel strange is that these rumored qualities seem to be possessed by Li Chengzhi?
Not only Guanzhong, but also Yongzhou and Liangzhou also reported that there were tens of thousands of refugees and tens of thousands of grains of grain passing through the border... The refugees were of course rebels from the Mahayana sect in Jingzhou, and they were sent to Hexi. And tens of thousands of grains of grain,
Naturally, it is temporarily assigned to Li Chengzhi’s tens of thousands of acres of monk land.
From this point of view, the comment of "knowing the sufferings of the people" is true.
As for the others... what has Yuan Ke never seen before?
Whether Li Chengzhi is talented or not...anyone who has met him knows it!
Whether he is crazy, arrogant or arrogant, rude or not, Gao Baoer and Yuan Xuanyi must have felt the deepest feelings...
Let’s look at how many tricks he used to sell ice: crossing the sea, secretly crossing into Chencang, surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao, fishing in troubled waters, borrowing knives to kill people, going up to the house to take out the ladder... This is a vivid interpretation of cunning and cunning.
He also said that he would fall out whenever he wanted to, but even Gao Zhan would beat him up whenever he asked?
It was when he saw that scene that Yuan Ke suddenly had a whim and couldn't figure out why such a complex personality could be concentrated in one person?
And when it’s time to wink or bow down, it’s not ambiguous at all, just like today: May the Wei Dynasty prosper for thousands of years, and may my emperor be in good health... It really speaks to my heart.
He is simply a genius, why didn’t I meet him earlier?
Yuan Ke's heart moved and he looked at Li Chengzhi with a smile: "Shall I give you an official position?"
Li Chengzhi's eyelids twitched: So good?
The "plus" in the emperor's mouth naturally means "sheng"...
He blinked: "May I ask Your Majesty, who is your official?"
Look, I just said he was bold and here he is in the blink of an eye?
If you want to spare ordinary courtiers, no matter how big or small, they would have to bow down and thank you early. It would be better for Li Chengzhi to ask first?
If this job doesn’t suit your taste, is it possible that you still won’t do it?
Perhaps he was used to seeing his ministers being frightened and trembling when they were facing each other. Yuan Ke found it very interesting and actually asked Li Chengzhi for his opinion: "What do you think of an expert and an expert (the emperor's aide-de-camp)?"
An expert but an expert?
Li Chengzhi searched his mind and couldn't remember what kind of official he was.
It’s not that he has limited knowledge, but that the official system of the Northern Wei Dynasty was not as chaotic as usual: the same official had seven or eight names. There were even the same official name, with high grades of two or three, and low grades ranging from eight to nine...
…
Seeing him thinking hard, Yuan Ke deliberately threatened: "Liu Teng has served as this official before..."
Li Chengzhi's hair stood up in shock...
Why have I offended you? You want me to be a eunuch?
Seeing that his face was as white as paper and his pupils were as narrow as needle eyes, Yuan Ke laughed again.
For some reason, when he saw Li Chengzhi's bewildered expression, he felt extremely happy. Compared with Yuan Yong, Yuan Yue complimented him hundreds of times and made him feel better.
Of course, it’s also because Li Chengzhi is unusually good-looking and very good at talking...
Feeling happy in his heart, Yuan Ke even sneered at the idea of a "man given by heaven".
Even the city of Li Chengzhi has absolutely nothing to do with the word "God's teaching"...
"Don't worry, I won't let you become an eunuch. Otherwise, wouldn't I be a waste of natural resources?"
Yuan Ke smiled and replied, "Liu Teng did hold this position, but Yang Bo and Yang Chun (Yang Shu's eldest and second brothers, who served Empress Dowager Feng) also held this position, so it was not specially designed for eunuchs...<
/p>
This official is also known as Dayu Zhen, Qi Zuoguan. He can do things when there are no edicts, he can also stay in the guard, and he can also pick up things and deal with things, and give things by analogy... But you don't need to be in the palace every day, you can do both.
..."
Li Chengzhi breathed a sigh of relief: Did you tell me earlier?
"I thank your Majesty!"
He stood up and made a bow. When he sat down, Li Chengzhi raised his sleeves again, subconsciously trying to wipe away the sweat. Seeing Yuan Ke staring at him with a smile, he was suddenly startled and put down his hands again.
"It's okay, and there is no polite official here, so feel free to do whatever you want!"
As he spoke, the emperor actually lay down on his side, as if setting an example for Li Chengzhi.
Li Chengzhi secretly slandered: Forget it, do you really think that Yushitai is just doing nothing?
Seeing that he was restrained, Yuan Ke knew that he could not succeed in one fell swoop, so he did not force it. After a pause, he asked again: "Why did you think of selling the ice to the temple?"
In his opinion, Li Chengzhi's move was like a stroke of genius: Aren't all the important ministers preventing me from rectifying the monks' affairs?
That's because you feel that the monk has not hindered you for the time being... Yuan Ke has even begun to think about whether there will be anything like ice sold to the monk again, which will not only make the officials feel pain, but also cause unspeakable suffering... <
/p>
Perhaps he was shocked by Yuan Ke's bluff, but Li Chengzhi blurted out without even thinking: "Is the monk rich?"
After the words were spoken, he was shocked to realize that something was wrong: the emperor was a Buddhist, who knows if he would be annoyed by this?
Seeing his confused face, Yuan Ke almost laughed out loud again, struggling to endure it: "No...it doesn't matter, just say it..."
Li Chengzhi didn't know that the emperor had hidden thoughts. He only knew that since Emperor Taiwu, every emperor who believed in Buddhism almost believed in demons.
Otherwise, why would it be that nearly 30% of the country's young adults are monks or monk households, and nearly 30% of the country's land is monk farmland that does not pay even half of the tax?
Li Chengzhi quickly gathered his thoughts and carefully probed: "It's strange that I'm a little impatient. When I thought of selling the ice for money instead of silk and grain, I first thought of the temple...I wanted to sell the ice to the temple.
There must be something wrong?"
How could it be wrong? It couldn’t be more wrong!
Seeing that Li Chengzhi suddenly became careless, Yuan Ke scolded him coldly: "You have only been an official for a few days, but you dare to talk duplicity in front of me? Tell me the truth..."
Li Chengzhi lowered his head fiercely, accusing him repeatedly, but he cursed Yuan Ke in his heart: Did I believe you?
Who doesn’t know that you are a smooth donkey?
Last time I said I would give you a dog to test the elixir. How scared were you of Liu Fang and Cui Guang? You don’t believe I could come out alive...
"It's okay not to learn, but to learn these crooked ways?" Yuan Ke felt very depressed and threatened, "If you dare to look down on me again, do you believe I will add another 20% tax on your ice?"
Li Chengzhi was a little suspicious.
Of course he could tell that the emperor was scaring him, but he just felt that today's emperor was unusually out of touch, and actually made jokes to himself again and again?
It seems that the two sentences shouted by the people today have accurately captured the heart of the emperor...
Well, flattering?
Thinking of this, Li Chengzhi suddenly thought: If you are an expert and a small person, you should have a consultant waiting for you?
This is obviously because it was so comfortable to take pictures of the emperor today. Yuan Ke actually wanted to stay by his side and take pictures of him every day?
Am I that kind of person...
Li Chengzhi thought to himself: After all, he has lived two lifetimes, and yet he is so generous with his talents. How can he be a lucky minister?
At most, I just say some nice things to you occasionally...
I was thinking in my mind and heard the emperor ask again: "I'm just asking you, what do you think of Buddhist affairs? Tell the truth!"
How else can I watch it?
If Buddhism is used well, it will naturally be a weapon to assist the royal family and the court to rule the people: such as Nanliang!
Do you really think that Xiao Yan believed in Buddhism to the core and insisted on becoming a monk, crying and shouting, and was ordained four times in a row? Even the emperor was not willing to do it?
This is nonsense!
If they were really good men and women, how could they kill their masters and usurp the throne, killing everyone?
Just because the class contradictions in Nanliang have accumulated to the point where they are about to break out, in order to paralyze the people at the bottom and poor families, Xiao Yan has to vigorously promote Buddhism to provide a reasonable basis for class hierarchy.
To put it more bluntly, according to Buddhist theory: There are three, six, and nine levels of life when you are born, and there is no way to change them in this life. Do good deeds and strive to have a good pregnancy in the next life.
This means that if you are a good leek honestly, the more you get cut in this life, the more likely you are to be a high-class leek in the next life.
The reason why the emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty strongly promoted Buddhism was partly due to this, but more of it was to check and balance the Han family.
It is indeed very effective. It has only been a short fifty years since the death of Emperor Taiwu when Buddhism began to rise. Look at how far the noble families of the Northern Dynasties were suppressed.
The nobles in Shandong seem to be in a good position, but they only gained it by cutting off an arm. Look at Liu Fang, Cui Guang, and other important ministers, how much more can they do in their families?
Although the Guanlong gentry stood firm and refused to give in, they also paid an extremely painful price: Li Fu (brother of Li Chong, uncle of Li Xin) was almost wiped out, and the Li family, their ancestral home, was also destroyed.
The seven Yang brothers are like gourd babies. If one person is unlucky, all seven brothers will be implicated. The officials are getting smaller and smaller, and the land is getting less and less...
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
There are also a series of official selection systems reformed by Yuan Ke: official promotion and joint guarantee (nobles and clans must guarantee each other when recommending officials), student selection and examination (take exams first before becoming an official), and casual examination (especially for promoting officials from poor families)
The system formulated by the government) and the four primary schools (official schools established specifically for the common people, all fees are free), are directly or indirectly weakening the clans and strengthening the centralization of power.
Everything almost hit the seven-inch mark of the powerful families. If it were left to the Southern Dynasty, the emperor would have been changed long ago. But in the Northern Wei Dynasty, why do all the noble families seem to be collectively blind?
There is no other reason, just because since Taiwu, the emperors of several generations have not been as smart as usual. They use methods such as beating a stick to give a sweet date, such as sinicizing Xianbei, improving the treatment of Han officials, etc., and slowly boiling frogs in warm water.
Let the gate valve lose its vigilance.
When I look back, I see that even if I want to work hard, there is no one and no place...all occupied by temples!
But the sequelae are also quite serious. Just like today in the Yuan and Wei dynasties, Buddhism has almost become a trend that cannot be lost.
It's not that the imperial court didn't think of ways: for example, it had always promoted Mahayana, which is the branch of "saving all living beings". But after Yuan Ke became emperor, it changed to promote the "upper seat", which is also commonly known as Hinayana. This branch
His thoughts are similar to Taoist thoughts: Pay attention to saving me first!
To put it simply: it won’t accept so many believers, and it won’t occupy so much land!
The measures taken by the imperial court include: Xiansuo nobility, which means that as long as monks and officials donate grain and land to the court, if a certain amount is reached, they will be given a certain title. But the prerequisite is that they must return to secular life, marry a wife, and have children.
In addition, the central, prefectural and other monks and officials were gradually replaced by Hinayana Buddhists.
But how can Mahayana, which has been popular for decades, be willing?
Therefore, during Yuan Ke's reign, there were only so many Mahayana believers who rebelled...
Therefore, Liu Fang, Cui Guang, Yuan Yong, Yuan Yi and others did not dare to let go.
It's a bad thing, it's like a dynamite bag, it might explode, and then no one will be able to play...