Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 1069

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, at si o'clock in the morning.

Xiao Rui, the prime minister of Dali Temple who was working in Dali Temple, received an urgent announcement from his servants, telling him to enter the palace and wait for His Majesty to see him.

When this urgent announcement was received, Xiao Rui was in his house in Luoyang, which was a very luxurious mansion. Although he was only one of the six prime ministers of Dali Temple, he was only a green-robed official from the sixth rank.But the house he lived in was considered extravagant in Luoyang City.

This is not because of his embezzlement. As the prime minister of Dali Temple who judges the temple affairs and the severity of the sentence, he doesn't have so many opportunities to get too much money.According to the Daqin system, in case of any major case, it should be tried jointly by Dali Temple Minister, Minister of Criminal Affairs, Minister of Justice, Doctor Yushi, and Zhongcheng, which is called the joint trial of the three divisions.

But the power to judge the prison rests with the Ministry of Punishment, and even if Dali Temple disagrees, it can only make the holy judgment.

In Dali Temple, the Sicheng is in charge of the review of judicial cases of various central departments and local counties and counties. Each case that has been reviewed by the Sicheng must sign and pledge with the other five Sicheng to have legal effect.

Xiao Rui's rank is not high, and he does have powers, but they are strictly restricted. However, he can live in this mansion, and even have two halberds, not because of him, but because of his father.

His father, Xiao Yu, had served as the prime minister of the government affairs hall of the imperial court, served as the minister of Zhongshu, and worked under Tong Zhongshu's family. Although he had been dismissed as prime minister, he was also the first real prince with a different surname in the Great Qin Dynasty. , owning a hundred-mile fiefdom in Yili.

In addition, the Lanling Xiao family was also a Jiangnan gentry who had been emperors for two dynasties, so although Xiao Rui was young and not of high rank, in Luoyang City, I don't know how many upstart wealthy families wanted to marry him.

Right now is the New Year's Eve, the imperial court closed the Yamen for a holiday before the year, and the Yamen will not be open for work until the eighth day of the lunar new year, and then they will go on vacation for three days on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Although the yamen has opened today, it is just past to click Xiamao, and then the yamen will go home.

Now that the emperor suddenly sent someone to announce it, Xiao Rui was a little confused for a while.

Looking at the time, it's not too early, but it's not too late either.

The sun has not yet risen to the middle, it can be regarded as morning, but it can also be regarded as afternoon. After all, many traffickers and pawns in Luoyang city have been busy for a long time, they have eaten something to fill their stomachs, and they are ready to take a rest. In the afternoon, I continued to work to earn money to support my family.

But for those noble officials in Luoyang City, it was still very early, and some of them might have just woken up not long ago.

Xiao Rui originally planned to play polo in the afternoon, and he has already made appointments with several princes' children. He even had his good horses cleaned up early, their manes were cut, their tails were cut, their hooves were re-trimmed, and their shoes were nailed. , The saddle was changed, and even the man slave was asked to walk the horse for him.

Xiao Rui is very confident in today's polo match. Although it is just a warm-up match for the princes' children, today's match has a good start.

Although Xiao Rui's father had gone to visit his relatives, the Xiao family's influence in the court was not bad. Even this time when his father returned to Luoyang from Yili fiefdom, the emperor even went out of his way to greet his father at the Zhengdan Grand Court Meeting. Afterwards, many imperial items were rewarded.

However, Xiao Rui still felt that the emperor called him a bit surprised. If he wanted to call him, he should also call his father. He is just a Dali temple minister, or one of the six ministers. A young noble son, a low-level official, it is impossible to summon him. .

Xiao Rui's accident was accidental, but he didn't dare to delay.

Take a shower quickly, and then head to the palace.

The emperor summoned him in the inner court, and the inner court was very quiet, and no messy sounds could be heard.

outside the temple.

Seeing him being brought in, the little eunuch on duty gently pushed open the palace door and let him in.

As soon as I entered the hall, I felt extremely warm, and there was a faint fragrance inside, which sprayed out from the copper mouth of the crane, permeating the entire hall.

The hall seemed very empty.

The little eunuch led him all the way to the imperial court, and sang in a low voice, "Saint, Xiao Ruixuan, the chancellor of Dali Temple, is here."

At this time, the emperor was lowering his head and pulling out an abacus, and he was calculating something himself. He didn't look up when he heard the report, but just nodded slightly to show that he knew it, and then continued to pull out the abacus.

Xiao Rui stood there quietly, bowing slightly, with his head bowed.

But he also quietly looked at the emperor from the corner of his eye. Xiao Rui is not a regular official, but he will still participate in the Shuowang Dynasty on the first and fifteenth day of every month. As long as the emperor comes, he can see the emperor from a distance, but the It's too far away to see clearly.

At this time, this distance is really not usually there.

Today the emperor casually wore a black soft-footed headgear, which is a very common crown hat, and a light yellow five-clawed dragon robe on his body.

Xiao Rui was surprised to find that the emperor pulled out the abacus very quickly, with almost no pause. Sometimes, the emperor even pulled out the abacus with both hands on the left and right sides of the abacus at the same time.

The proficiency of this abacus even surpassed that of the accountant in his mansion.

The emperor was very focused, and it took about two quarters of an hour before the emperor stopped. He picked up a pen and wrote a few words on the notebook in front of him, and then pushed the abacus aside.

At this time, the emperor finally raised his head.

"I heard that you recently bought a Dawan BMW and named it Green Eyebrow. Is there any reason for this?"

The emperor's tone was very kind.

But Xiao Rui felt a chill down his back. He just bought the Dawan horse three days ago, and he named the horse Lvmei just last night.

He didn't even mention it to anyone except a few servants in the mansion, but the emperor was in the deep palace, so he already knew everything.

"Returning to Your Majesty, Deng Tuzi's lustful poem describes the daughter of the east neighbor, with eyebrows like emerald feathers, muscles like white snow, waist like a string of plains, and teeth like shellfish."

Eyebrows like emerald feathers, of course, do not mean that the eyebrows are shiny green, but that the eyebrows are very black.

Therefore, the meaning of Xiao Rui's green eyebrows is very clear, that is, he is a black horse, so he named it Green Eyebrows, which means that the horse is as black as the eyebrows.

The emperor even knew that Xiao Rui named the newly purchased horse Green Eyebrow in private at night, so how could he not know that he was a dark horse.

The emperor just smiled.

"The horse must have cost a lot?"

So Xiao Rui had no choice but to respond truthfully, "It costs [-] guan, not including the tooth money for the dentist."

Luo Cheng nodded, and asked again, "A horse with 90 guan, plus tooth money, it is estimated to be more than [-] guan, [-] yuan to buy a horse, Xiao Sicheng is very chic."

Xiao Rui hurriedly said that he dared not dare.

"I heard that Xiao Sicheng is very fond of playing polo. There are more than 30 good horses at home, each of which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also bought dozens of horse slaves to take care of your hobby. A special polo field training, the cost must be several million, right? Your salary is definitely not enough, even if your father has a fief of a hundred miles, it must not be enough, right? "

Xiao Rui felt the sweat dripping from his forehead, "Returning to Your Majesty, the minister's family still has some family business, and they still make some money every year."

"I know that the ink of your Lanling Xiao family is very famous. Your Lanling family owns three points of the world's ink. In the past, Taiyuan Wang's ink also accounted for two points. Your two families accounted for half of the world's ink. Isn't that true? With a little income, the annual income is more than tens of millions."

"Some small family business, insignificant."

Luo Cheng nodded, "The Xiao family in Lanling is very famous for its ink. Besides ink, you also have a paper workshop and a brush-making workshop in Lanling. They are all pretty good. You even make inkstones. It can be said that your family has a pen, ink, paper and inkstone. They are all involved, and there are a lot of projects every year.”

Xiao Rui's head was sweating, he felt that the emperor was eyeing these properties of their Xiao family, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

"Don't worry, although the royal family also has the Papermaking Bureau and the Printing Bureau, etc., I am not the kind of person who likes vicious competition. As long as it does not violate the laws of the Great Qin Dynasty, does not violate morality, and does not deliberately vicious competition, I will encourage it. You have to remember to pay taxes truthfully, you can’t evade taxes, as long as you follow the rules, I will support you.”

"but!"

The emperor suddenly raised several pitches.

"You, Xiao Rui, can't make a living by yourself, but at the same time instigate other scholars and officials to write in the newspaper that the royal workshop competes with the people for profit. If you really want to talk about profit, it is your Xiao family, your Xiao family's workshop. But there are many illegal operations. For example, you used disgraceful means to force you to buy a paper mill. Also, the actual tax paid by your Xiao family in recent years has not been paid. A lot of tax evasion has been done through false accounts and other means."

Xiao Rui's legs became weak all of a sudden, and he knelt down.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty, the Xiao family is willing to make up all the taxes."

Luo Cheng smiled slightly.

"I called you here today, instead of sending someone to the door, I just gave you a chance. After you go back, check yourself carefully. I don't want to find out whether it's your Xiao family's stewards who are messing around, or whether you were instructed by your father or son. In short, All the evaded taxes will be paid up, and the Xiao family will take out the money equivalent to the tax evasion and donate it to the nursing home and the orphan home. You must not lose a penny, otherwise, there will be no next chance .”

"I must." Xiao Rui is not his father Xiao Yu, who was so frightened by the emperor's few words that he was scared to death.

"This time, I will give you a chance. I will neither degrade your position, nor punish your salary, nor even name you. But in the future, remember to be as stable as possible in both life and work. Don't Discussing the court and criticizing state affairs at every turn. Also, the four words of fighting for the interests of the people cannot be said indiscriminately."

"Remember, sir!"

Xiao Rui's head was already stuck to the ground, and he didn't even dare to lift it.

"In the future, if you have energy, you should focus more on your ministry. Don't keep thinking about playing polo. Polo is just entertainment, and you can't put the cart before the horse."

"I don't dare to play polo anymore."

"You still have to play polo, but you have to control your own pace. Okay, let's step back."

Only then did Xiao Rui dare to get up, "Minister Xiao Rui resigns!"

After exiting the Hall of Hundred Million Years, Xiao Rui's clothes were already wet with cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)