Chapter 740 Half Moon
Benefiting from the decades of Jiajing Dynasty, the Pingxian Tax Law spread throughout the local government offices in Great Yan with extremely high efficiency. However, just like a bomb entering water, it will explode again after a period of time. During this period, all the Yan Fourteen States fell into a strange silence.
The last calm before the storm.
It has been half a month since the day of hunting in the north.
A lot has happened in the capital these days.
Although the Pingxian Tax Law caused a stir in the court, ninety-nine percent of the common people still did not know about it. Even until the moment the war broke out, they would not know the cause.
Therefore, perhaps the biggest impact on the common people in the city was that the golden-armored imperial troops outside the city were withdrawn, and the Imperial City Secretary relaxed the access control of the capital.
The emperor's peace has been at peace for a long time, and the situation has not been under military control for decades. Now that it has returned to normal, it is natural for the literati in the wine shops and brothels to talk about the reasons for these decrees.
Some people say that these forbidden troops were transferred to the front line to prepare for the war. Some people say that these forbidden troops were used to prevent the prime minister from usurping the throne from the beginning. Now that the new law has been promulgated, conflicts between the royal family and the prime minister will not break out in a short time. Others say He said that the Holy One had already eliminated the traitors, so there was no need to be wary anymore.
Some Confucian scholars and literati analyzed their own insights through some one-sided information and some completion in their minds.
If you make a mistake, nothing will happen.
If you are right, you are a prophet, which is enough to gain fame.
But the speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention.
All kinds of rumors filled the streets and alleys in Di'an City for a while, but it was also these rumors that eliminated a lot of the chill and depression that lingered over the capital.
Of course, the above are all the opinions of ordinary people in the market.
The chill in the imperial capital has indeed dissipated a lot, but in fact it is because the wealthy businessmen and small and medium-sized families in the city have received the exact news from the court.
Although the Pingxian Tax Law is a disastrous national policy, it can be said to be a complete loss.
Since the beginning of autumn, the imperial army has sealed off the city, and they are the most anxious people in the city.
These wealthy businessmen and small and medium-sized aristocratic families are no better than those wealthy people. They are not qualified to place bets at the gambling table in advance. They want to become "Tongtianren" and have no way to get names and affiliations. However, their own wealth and power make them inferior to those below. The ordinary people in the market know better.
This is really desperate.
What people fear most is the unknown,
What a force fears most is changes in national policy.
Those officials in the court had not decided on the national policy for a day, and no one dared to act on their own initiative. Now that the decision has been made, their anxious hearts have settled into their stomachs.
Now that the cloud of war is inevitable, what is left is everyone's ability to avoid risks based on their own abilities. Moreover, as the capital of the country, Di'an should be a relatively safe place in Dayan for a long time to come.
But just as they were thinking about it these days, the news from the Imperial City Division made them panic again.
The second prince from the north of the city led the army into the city.
The moon and stars are sparse.
During the past half month, Xu Yuan had been staying in Mo Yin Pavilion and looked at the memorials that came from all over the place like snowflakes.
Most of them are related to the Pingxian Tax Law.
Although the letter memorial he presented to the court that day was called the Pingxian Tax Law, it actually had no actual content. It only briefly stated the necessity of passing the fairy tax from both macro and micro levels.
If the Pingxian Tax Law is a bullet, then Xu Yuan is actually just the one who pulled the trigger.
The real Pingxian tax law is a huge system that has been gradually improved under the leadership of that father in the past few decades.
The document contains a million words, including hundreds of new laws, thousands of new regulations, various guidance opinions, implementation sequences and thousands of emergency plans.
and.
There are two parts inside and outside, one virtual and one real.
Being virtual to the outside world is the method of implementing the Immortal Tax on the surface, and it is based on the cooperation of the sects.
In actual internal affairs, the main thing is to prepare for war, and the sect's recruitment of troops is the premise.
The room was quiet, and the inscription lamp exuded a cold light. After reading the last file on the document, Xu Yuan leaned on the back of the chair with his frown, gently pressed his slightly swollen eyebrows, and recalled the contents of the memorials these days. , and finally sighed.
If he had to use one word to describe his evaluation of the implementation of the new law, then "chaos" would undoubtedly be the most appropriate.
The soldiers and horses have not moved, but the food and grass go first.
Even though all kinds of preparations were made, when the implementation started, hundreds of problems still broke out in an instant.
What comes out on paper is ultimately shallow.
The warehouses are empty, the mines have collapsed, the martial arts gyms cannot recruit enough warriors, the herbal medicines and spiritual stones cannot be produced as quickly as they should, and so on.
Just entering a state of combat readiness, Xu Yuan felt suffocated by the chaos below. If a fight really broke out, he didn't dare to imagine what the chaos would be like.
But the only good thing is that these chaos are still within the acceptable range of the Prime Minister's Government. In other words, the people who formulated the "Pingxian Tax Law" have anticipated that such incidents will happen below, so they have reserved a large amount of margin in advance. .
Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan thought about these ridiculous things and laughed out loud:
"It's time to drag these insects out and kill them."
"Kill them, and no one will work for you."
A seductive voice came from outside the top floor of Mo Yin Pavilion.
Xu Yuan opened his eyes and Lou Ji pushed the door open and walked in.
Tonight she wore a white plain robe, but she still maintained the habit of saving fabrics. The plain white fairy spirit and the old aunt's temperament formed an alternative kind of coquettishness.
Arriving in front of the case, Lou Ji raised her hand with a smile and crooked eyes.
Then,
"Boom!"
There was a muffled sound,
More than a dozen two-foot-thick files were piled in front of the case that Xu Yuan had just cleared.
Lou Ji said with a smile:
"My sister has approved the latest news from the Black Scale Guards for you. Take a good look at it yourself."
Xu Yuan swallowed subconsciously: "So many again?"
Lou Ji shrugged and smiled teasingly: "Hua Hong is said to have piled up a room full of them and is preparing to deliver them to you tomorrow."
Paper authenticity doesn’t cost money, right?
With a groan in his heart, Xu Yuan finally steeled himself again and prepared to start a new round of study.
Opening a file and seeing clearly the events inside, Xu Yuan's head started to hurt, and he once again confirmed the problem with the prime minister's system.
In a village under Tianshui County, Pinglin County, Guanghuai Prefecture, clan members led a crowd to cause trouble and block the autumn harvest convoy. Wouldn't it be over after the village officials handled the incident and reported it to the county?
Forget it involves military, political and commercial matters, can such trivial matters be sent directly to the Imperial Capital?
Is this reasonable?
Xu Yuan read half of it and subconsciously wanted to say something to Lou Ji, but in the end he held it back. No matter how big the problem was with the "monarchy core system" established by his father, it would not be possible to change it in the face of war. Everything would have to wait for this. Let’s talk after the war is over.
Bite the bullet and continue browsing, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lou Ji pulling out a chair and sitting down. She had no intention of leaving immediately. Xu Yuan also asked with full concentration:
"What's going on with my father?"
After Xu Yinhe returned from hunting in the north, he directly entered the secret room in the black prison of the Prime Minister's Mansion for seclusion. At that time, Xu Yuan was still in the palace of the breast-wrapped princess, reminiscing with her, cooking wine and talking about the world, and happened to be separated from his father. .
It has been half a month since this old man went into seclusion, and no news has come out yet.
Lou Ji shook her head and said:
"I don't know."
Xu Yuan clenched his fingertips slightly when he heard this.
There was a big information gap in the Prime Minister's Mansion about what happened during the Northern Hunting. Although there were spies inserted by the Black Scale Guards in Li Zhaoyuan's Unreturnable Army, the level was not high enough. We only knew that a battle had broken out, but we didn't know what the details were.
He suspected that the old man had unlocked part of the sealing secrets during the battle and was targeted by that thing in the sky.
Lou Ji saw Xu Yuan's worry and said in a clear voice:
"Changtian, you don't have to worry about your father, and I saw him that day, so it shouldn't be a big deal."
Xu Yuan did not explain the matter to Lou Ji, because the other party knew that there was nothing he could do, so he said instead:
"Okay, sister, you have been so busy recently and you still stay here with me. You must have something to say, right?"
Among the core senior officials of the prime minister's office, Lou Ji and Hua Hong were the closest to him, and they both came to deliver the files in person. However, at this critical time, Lou Ji and Hua Hong had heavy burdens on them. He, Xu Yuan, just needed to review them, and they But it is necessary to make decisions about the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, so usually, after delivering the file or saying a few words of ridicule, or a few words of concern and encouragement, he will leave directly.
Hearing this, Lou Ji sat up slightly, curled her long hair with her slender fingers, and said:
"Changtian, today I received some news about Beishou."
"Bei Shou?"
Xu Yuan murmured and raised his eyes: "National Preceptor?"
Because the old man is in seclusion, there are three mysteries that remain unsolved in the Prime Minister's Mansion regarding the Northern Hunting.
How would the emperor respond to Xu Yuanqiang's method of overcoming the immortal tax?
Is Xiang Guo injured?
as well as,
The national teacher is alive or dead.
The answer to the former was solved on the same day as Beishou. The emperor withdrew the imperial troops from around the capital and did not issue an edict to overturn the decree. He was already prepared to accept the alliance with a pinched nose.
The person who was in the middle said that there was nothing wrong with him orally, but the retreat lasted for half a month, which inevitably made people suspicious.
As for the latter.
Except for the prime minister who is in seclusion, there is no other channel to obtain information in the prime minister's palace. After all, you can't just ask the emperor himself directly, right?
After thinking for a moment, Xu Yuan reacted very quickly and said:
"News from the sect?"
"Um."
Lou Ji nodded and considered her words for a moment: "With the state master's cultivation level, ten days is enough for him to return to the Tianyuan Mountains from Gyeonggi Province. However, half a month has passed since the news of the state master's return to the sect, and the Black Scale Guards are secretly inside the clan alliance. Judging from the news sent back by the emperor, it seems that the Imperial Master has"
Speaking of this, Lou Ji stared at the young man behind the desk with her purple eyes and said no more.
The sandalwood rose slowly, and there was a moment of silence.
Xu Yuan opened his mouth, his eyes flashed, and finally sighed:
"I understand, is there anything else?"
"Changtian, didn't you ask me to pay attention to the rumors in the market earlier?"
"Is there any progress?" Xu Yuan recalled briefly and realized that this was something she had explained to Lou Ji when she returned to Beijing.
Because there are extraordinary things in the world, the dynasty does not pay too much attention to the publicity and public opinion of ordinary people at the bottom. It treats public opinion control with simple and crude brainwashing methods. The emperor's favor is vast. In all things in the world, the emperor will never be wrong. People can only live thanks to the Emperor.
For this reason, in the past few decades, all kinds of **** basins have been basically put on the head of the Prime Minister's Office, and the accusations of treachery and treason against the Prime Minister have continued one after another.
In good years, I feel grateful for the emperor's kindness; in bad years, I scold the prime minister for causing chaos in the country.
Regardless of natural or man-made disasters, it is always right to scold the prime minister.
Thinking in my heart,
Xu Yuan also put down the file and said seriously:
"In the past years, it was okay to let him scold him. Now the war is about to break out. If the Prime Minister's Mansion continues to maintain this image among the common people in the world, many things will be restricted."
Lou Ji thought for a moment and replied:
"I have discussed it with Zong Qingsheng and others. There is no need for this matter to affect the relationship between the emperor and the prime minister."
"You mean, this is part of the deal with the royal family?"
"It's not a deal, it's a tacit understanding."
"Is this so"
Xu Yuan murmured, thought for a while, pushed the file he had just read forward, and asked:
"Sister, my Xu family's grain collection convoy was surrounded by a crowd of clan members here. What do you think?"
Lou Ji glanced at it and said immediately without hesitation:
"Violent suppression is enough. The common people in the world are afraid of power but not virtue. In the end, it will not affect the overall situation."
Fear power but not virtue
Xu Yuan was silent.
The origin of the world is that violence determines everything, and extraordinary violence cannot be resisted by ordinary people. Therefore, the dynasty has been governed by power rather than virtue since ancient times.
But after thinking about it for a while, Xu Yuan still asked:
"What if I insist on doing this?"
Lou Ji rolled her eyes and said angrily:
"If you insist on doing this, then you can only go ahead and execute it."
"."
Xu Yuan, who was already prepared to be rejected, was stunned when he heard this.
Lou Ji said earnestly:
"Your father said that during his period of seclusion, all matters except military affairs would be left to you to decide. But Changtian, remember, this is for your father's sake. Without him, your prestige is not enough. To convince the public.”
Speaking of which,
Lou Ji changed the topic and said with a smile:
"Of course, sister will still stand by your side~"
Listening to this joke, Xu Yuan felt complicated in his heart.
He understood why the old man was so eager for him to make contributions and establish prestige. If he didn't have the merits to convince the public, and if what he wanted to do was vetoed by the ministers of the Prime Minister's Mansion, it would be impossible to spread the word about Mo Yin Pavilion.
This is true for trivial matters such as public opinion, let alone major military and financial matters.
And he suddenly understood why some emperors would rather believe in treachery than be wise. Just being obedient was enough for them to support treachery to high positions.
If he has not accumulated enough prestige when he becomes the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the future, he will most likely be nepotistic, and may even expand the power of Lou Ji and other cronies to send Black Scale Guards to supervise the army.
Thoughts flashed, Xu Yuan nodded gently:
"Then go and implement it."
"Can I ask the reason?"
Lou Ji said with a smile.
But this question is not a question, but a concern.
This method of public opinion can be regarded as Xu Yuan's first decree at the national level to "supervise the country". Although it will not consume too much resources of the Prime Minister's Office, it can be done if it fails, but if it fails, it will always affect his position in the Prime Minister's Office. prestige.
Xu Yuan didn’t think too much and didn’t hide anything:
"As long as a cultivator remains, the common people will not be able to influence the overall situation on a macro level, but they can transmit it at a micro level. If the people's hearts are with them, military rations, tax revenue, and even information on the enemy's formation will add up to a small amount, and the war will be over. "
After listening carefully, Lou Ji had something to refute, but she didn't say it.
The prime minister's office sends troops naturally in the name of the imperial court.
How can ordinary common people know the difference between "Master Wang"?
Moreover, all these reasons can be solved with the violence possessed by cultivators. When the mind and soul are swept over, all traces of the enemy formation will appear. Once the illusion is cast, a mortal can tell you his family tree.
But then I thought about it, and what Chang Tian said made sense.
If he wins the hearts and minds of the people, he can focus all his energy on the battlefield, and it will be more legitimate for him to usurp the world in the future.
After calculating the legitimate reasons and sorting out what Changtian said when taking the blame after the failure of this government, Lou Ji stood up from the chair:
"Okay, my sister will arrange this. Do you have anything else to do?"
Xu Yuan thought for a while and suddenly said:
"Sister, who is in charge of Wenshu Monastery?"
Wenshuyuan, the Chief of Ceremonies of the Prime Minister's Mansion, oversees the reports of various files and the internal affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
"Zhou Xianlin."
Lou Ji casually mentioned the name of a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office.
Xu Yuan has become familiar with these senior executives these days. After briefly recalling their resume, he said:
"Bai Muxi has broken through. Let's arrange for her to enter Wenshu Monastery as an accountant."
Lou Ji glanced sideways at Xu Yuan but said nothing.
Xu Yuan sighed when he saw this:
"Isn't it okay?"
"snort."
Lou Ji snorted angrily.
Arranging one's own servant into the Internal Affairs Office of the Prime Minister's Mansion is not an obvious attempt to seize other people's power.
"This matter comes to your father. Wenshu Monastery is not under my sister's control."
"That's it."
Xu Yuan nodded, but there was nothing unusual about it.
These days of "supervising the country" have given him some ideas of inserting his cronies into key institutions of the prime minister's government, but it seems that it is obviously not the right time yet.
Looking at Xu Yuan's expression, Lou Ji thought for a while and added:
"But Changtian, if you are willing, you can send the enchanting demon body named Su Jinxuan to my sister. I like her very much."
The meaning is obvious, the Black Scale Guards are not afraid of you seizing power, so they sent you here to be trained by your sister.
Xu Yuan shook his head and refused, saying:
"She will help the little girl from the Feng family for the time being. Let's discuss this matter later."
Seeing this, Lou Ji didn't mention it any more. She seemed to think of something and said:
"By the way, Li Zhaoyuan entered the city today, did you know?"
Xu Yuan nodded:
"I received the news yesterday."
Lou Ji blinked at Xu Yuan and asked:
"What do you think?"
Xu Yuan calmed down and said:
"As a prince, he is difficult to deal with, but he is qualified to be a future collaborator of the Prime Minister's Office."
After talking with Li Qingyan in the palace that day, he had already roughly concluded in his heart that Li Zhaoyuan would become the next emperor.
Lou Ji took a deep look at Xu Yuan and advised:
"Changtian, there is something"
"I know."
Xu Yuan's lips curled up slightly and he interrupted her softly:
"Although I don't like this prince, sitting in this position doesn't give me too many personal emotional choices."
"It's good to know. Sister, are you leaving first?"
"You can stay and read the files with me if you want."
"Forget it, sister is very busy."
Lou Ji waved her hand with a smile, rubbed Xu Yuan's head from afar, and walked out the door.
And just at this moment,
There was a slight crackling sound outside the door.
Lou Ji paused slightly as Liu Bu walked toward him, and subconsciously looked back at Xu Yuan's expression, but saw that the other person still had the same expressionless look on his face, showing no trace of happiness or anger. He just calmly put down the file and stood up from the desk. .
from time to time,
The visitor landed on the corridor in front of the door, and Bai Muxi's voice came from outside the door:
"Sir, the second prince is asking for an audience outside the mansion."
The moonlight entered the house and the room was quiet for a moment.
"You want to see him?"
"I came to the door proactively, why didn't I see you?"
(End of chapter)