Ji Tang

It was already late at night in Tai Chi Hall, but Li Chengqian was still reading the memorial under the bright light.

Tap tap tap~
Rapid footsteps sounded. Li Chengqian paused and looked at the person.

"Xiao Xizi, is there any news?"

Xiao Xizi looked solemn, holding a bamboo tube in her hand, with cold sweat pouring from her head. Who would have thought that in the peaceful and prosperous times, heinous crimes would occur all over the world in just a few days. Some people would dare to make an issue of the basic national policy of the Tang Dynasty and the imperial examination system, and dig into the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Are they really not afraid? die? Or do you think God is merciful?

Li Chengqian took the bamboo tube. This was already the fifth copy. For three consecutive days, falcon letters from various places had been sent to Chang'an. This should be the last one.

It is also the farthest one.

"Mingzhou."

Seeing the words Mingzhou, Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief. After reading it, he silently put the letter aside and suddenly said to Xiao Xizi: "How do you think I have been since I took charge?"

"Your Majesty's virtue will shine all over the world, the people will be healthy, all nations will come to court, and the country will be strong and prosperous!"

"Ha~"

Li Chengqian sneered: "I should add that I am too kind. I don't want to raise the butcher knife, but some people think that I am too weak, so I am fearless."

bang~
"What do they want to do? They are so blatantly cutting down the roots of the hall. All the civil and military officials are deaf and blind, and they all hide it from me. The peaceful days have been too long, and they all want to be rich for generations to come?"

"It's a beautiful thing to think about. Since I don't want to live the good life, I just don't want to live it anymore."

Li Chengqian's roar came from outside the Taiji Hall, and the guards and eunuchs outside all became energetic, fearing that they would accidentally be implicated and lose their lives!
-
The tide of the Chunjiang River connects to the sea, and the moon and the sea coexist.

It was still deep winter when I went south, but now more than a year has passed, and it is already late spring when I go north again. For more than a year, it was like a dream.

This time, he did not go north from the inland, but went directly from the sea to Dengzhou. After Deng'an in Dengzhou, Dengzhou Yingyang Mansion would escort the property to Chang'an. By then, his mission would be over.

"I'm really unwilling to go back so soon!"

Li Tai has been listless since he boarded the ship. At first, he thought he was seasick, but later he found out that it was caused by not wanting to go back.

Ji Song ignored him. This guy was careless. When he went south, he caused a lot of harm to the place. He didn't harm the people, but specifically harmed the officials. He also liked to fight injustices and wouldn't talk to you at all. rule.

Encountering such an unreasonable master, the local officials had a hard time. They were worried that they would find out that this man had arrived in their territory the next day. They were all on guard, for fear of being caught.

That was all. But when he learned that these two guys set out from Chang'an with hundreds of guards and ran out without even saying hello to Li Chengqian, Ji Song immediately felt a toothache.

Li Chengqian also had a hard life. Meeting these two unattractive brothers would be unlucky for him for eight lifetimes.

"You, you'd better be honest and ask me to go back. If you continue to harm people outside, I think your mother will have to be taken back by you. You said that you were quite good when you were young, but now you are going backwards as you live? "

"They deserve it!" Li Tai argued.

"Yes, they deserve it. Sometimes I wish I could kill them all. But Qingque, have you ever thought about it? You can be sure that the person who replaces him will be a good official?"

Li Tai was stunned for a moment, scratched his neck and said: "Then keep killing until they dare not, then I won't believe it. Is there anyone in this world who is not afraid of death?"

Ji Song held his forehead, looked at his eyes, nose, nose and heart, and Li Ke said as if I didn't exist: "Go, you brother said to your brother, don't say you don't know, believe it or not, I will slap you!" "

He was completely impatient. Is this guy stupid because of studying? How could he, a very smart person, become a fool now?
Li Ke's neck shrank. These brothers had grown up in Ji Song's shadow since they were young. Ji Song would always be someone else's child, and they were often disliked in the beginning.

But he was beaten again and again, and if he complained, he might be punished again. Over time, everyone became very scared in front of Ji Song, because he really beat him, beating him to death.

Even if the father and mother saw it, they would pretend they didn't see it. Who can they ask to reason? They all began to wonder if Ji Song was their long-lost eldest brother.

"That idiot, Qingque, it's not that you are unreasonable as a brother, you really did a bad job in this matter!"

Li Tai said angrily: "Why is it wrong? Shouldn't they be killed? Should we just let them harm the local people?"

"No, why are you angry at me?"

"What's wrong with me just making you angry? You have the ability to bite me!"

Ji Song: "."

Li Ke: "."
-
Okay, we can't communicate at this time. Li Ke looked at Ji Song speechlessly.

"I think you're full enough to hold up!"

Ji Song went up and kicked him, and said bitterly: "If you dare to act arrogant again, see how I deal with you. Listen carefully!"

He breathed a sigh of relief, resisted the urge to beat people, and said, "Why are there so few honest officials in this world and so many corrupt ones?"

"Nothing but self-interest!"

"Every bustle in the world is for benefit, and all the hustle and bustle in the world is for benefit. This has been true in ancient and modern times."

"Why do they want to be officials? Isn't it just to be superior to others?"

"Didn't you realize that the majority of these corrupt officials are from poor families? And there are very few children from aristocratic families. Do you know why this is the case?"

Li Tai was stunned. He really hadn't expected this, but looking back on what happened along the way, he found that most of them were really children from poor families, or they were simply student officials of the academy.

"Because the children of aristocratic families have never lacked these. They have received the best education since they were young. You know this better than me."

"And what do the children from a poor family have? Han Chuang studied hard for more than ten years and became famous all over the world. They have never enjoyed the treatment of a noble family, beauties and money."

"It's hard to go from frugality to luxury, and it's hard to go from luxury to frugality!"

"Without strong perseverance, how many people can survive?"

"Then why does the court still use them? Even though they know their flaws, they still do this?" Li Tai asked doubtfully.

"Because they won't endanger the imperial power, that's all!" Ji Song's words were like a heavy hammer hitting Li Tai's heart. He took a few steps back and said, "I see, that's it!"

"It turns out that this is the real reason!"

What suppresses aristocratic families, what harms aristocratic families, some are just weighing the pros and cons. Since the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, aristocratic families have become a nightmare for the imperial power. The direction of the world is all determined by the game between imperial power and aristocratic families.

The family is rich and powerful, has a high local reputation and has great influence. Once the aristocratic families unite, even the imperial power will have to give in.

From the Eastern Han Dynasty aristocratic family to the Sima family's ninth-grade Zhongzheng system, the aristocratic family has completely come to the forefront and no longer has any cover-up. There is also a saying that the king and the horse share the world.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty was the place where Guanlong military nobles circulated, and the former Sui Dynasty reached its peak. Even Yang Jian could only make slight changes back then, but he did not dare to touch the interests of those people at all.

Yang Guang is cruel, but what is the result? The Tang Dynasty conquered the world.

However, the wars of more than ten years have greatly damaged the family's strength. In addition, since his imperial grandfather Li Yuan has been continuously suppressing the family and the Guanlong nobles, his father was even more ruthless and suppressed them completely.

The aristocratic family faded out of the court and went overseas, but the court still had people to govern the world. So the poor family members appeared in front of the emperor. Although they knew that they had shortcomings of one kind or another, just one of them was enough for them to replace the aristocratic family.

That is, they will not endanger the imperial power, because they have nothing and can only rely on the imperial power. There is no family power, everything comes from the emperor's grace.

OK, everything is figured out!

Li Tai squatted on the deck, suddenly feeling unmotivated. He didn't know what the meaning of what he was doing was.
"Then there is no other way? The aristocratic family uses power to eat people, but at least they want to lose face. But once those people fall, they will really eat people without spitting out their bones, and have no sense of shame."

Ji Song shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "There is no way, this is human nature!"

"There is no aristocratic family, but the poor family will become a new aristocratic family in a few years. The survival of the fittest will only make it more terrifying!"

"There are also businessmen, this is a group that has always been ignored. These people have made a lot of money through doing business. When they are poor, they want to be rich, when they are rich, they want to be powerful, and when they are powerful, they want greater rights. ”

"This academy incident is no longer an exception. It happens everywhere in the world. It is like this in Mingzhou, Xuanzhou and Dengzhou."

"Because there are nobles and royal families in Chang'an and Guanzhong, they have nothing to do, because these people can eat them up casually."

"So they set their sights on the future. They all say that businessmen are eager for quick success, but real businessmen are the best at investing."

"And investors are the best and most profitable investments in the world!"

"Those students, as long as one out of a hundred enters the imperial court, it will be their victory. With a little help, perhaps a huge community of interests will be formed in a hundred years!"

"When scholars, businessmen, and officials join forces, it will be a real disaster!"

Although Li Ke could see clearly, he now felt that he was shallow. He shuddered at the thought of the three groups of businessmen, scholars, and officials merging together!

What a huge interest group these soldiers have?
"When the time comes, there will be no right or wrong. All they will do is fight against each other for the interests of their own groups. Compared with previous party struggles, this party struggle that does not ask about right or wrong and has no moral bottom line is the most terrifying thing. of."

"This is why your brother wants to nip it in the bud this time, because once it spreads and more students and officials are dragged into the water, it will be too late."

Li Tai was completely dumbfounded. He didn't expect that there were so many calculations involved.

merchant? A group that has never been cared about by the world, no matter in prosperous times or troubled times, is the target of exploitation and is a lamb to be slaughtered.

But now, they have found a way to kidnap everyone. Once these people get through, he really can't believe what will happen to the officials in the world by then?
Everything is to serve the people behind you. Scholars, businessmen, and officials are all beneficiaries of this group.

The targets of exploitation have become unsuspecting common people.

Ji Song stopped talking. He believed that Li Tai would understand with his intelligence. When I walked into the cabin, I saw Lao Sun reading a book.

Ji Song didn't bother, picked up the teapot and started filling it. In the end, perhaps because he couldn't bear it any longer, Sun Simiao said, "Is it really going to be like that?"

Ji Song nodded silently, and Sun Simiao frowned. He had met countless people and visited countless places in his life. The people I have met are all-encompassing.

In the early years, those businessmen were very humble, no matter how rich they were. But as the imperial court loosened its grip on merchants, these people began to wear silk and satin, and began to show off in front of others, and some of them also received a promotion in status due to donations.

Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants seemed to have gradually turned into scholars, merchants, workers and peasants.

"What if we focus on agriculture and suppress business?" he asked unwillingly.

Ji Song smiled bitterly and said, "Do you know how much of the imperial court's share of commercial taxes is now?"

"Sixty percent, a full sixty percent of the tax revenue is contributed by merchants, focusing on agriculture and suppressing business? Who will make up for the shortfall? The common people? Or the officials?"

"This is already the best state. Although businessmen groups have begun to emerge, they are only in their infancy. This time the court takes action in a big way. I am afraid that they will be dormant in a short time. Even those who have ideas can only bury them deep in their hearts and dare not move. !”

"Because commercial taxes have risen sharply, the imperial court no longer attaches great importance to agricultural taxes. Whenever there is a disaster, local people will be exempted from taxes, even for several years."

"Why? Because the imperial court is rich!"

"Actually, as long as the merchants can pay taxes in full, everything else is secondary. The fastest way to make money in the world is through merchants. This is an indisputable fact. In recent years, Datang has used commercial means to gain a lot of money. A lot of benefits, which is why business taxes are getting higher and higher.”

"Okay, why are I telling you this? You, just be your living god. Businessmen, this is a group that people love and hate. But it is not difficult to restrain them. In this part of the Central Plains, In the territory, officialdom has always been the rule. As long as they stick to this point, even the biggest merchants can only follow the imperial court. They have no other choice but to go far away! "

Sun Simiao glanced at Ji Song and simply stopped asking. Since he knew what was going on, he felt relieved!

Their conversation outside just now frightened him. Who would have thought that a businessman who was at the bottom and could only be used as fish and meat would have such great courage and blackmail scholars and the court?
It's good now. If you steal the chicken, you'll lose the rice. Maybe you'll even lose your name this time. It is said that people's hearts are not as good as snakes swallowing elephants. This is the result of greed.

Ji Song returned to his residence and saw his wife making clothes for the children, so he said helplessly: "Don't do needlework on the boat. It's swaying and it's easy to hurt your eyes."

"Okay, it will be over soon. There is really nothing to do on the sea, and there won't be any more in the future!"

After saying that, he bit off the thread, stretched out his clothes, and said with satisfaction: "It seems that my skills haven't deteriorated yet. Look, it's not bad, right?"

Ji Song smiled and nodded. She had been good at needlework since she was a child, and was taught embroidery by her mother-in-law. The things she made were certainly not bad, but why did these sleeves look like trouser legs? (End of chapter)