Ji Tang

Chapter 1455 Ji Song’s new position!

It was an accidental farce that made some people happy and others sad, but in the end everyone gained something, and it was considered a worthwhile trip. After the fun was over, everyone began to talk about business. They did not enter the main hall. Just in front of the main hall, on the high platform, the monarchs and ministers sat down.

Li Shimin caressed the general's belly, looked around, and said with a smile: "This time Ji Song returned to the capital, not only solved a huge hidden danger for the Tang Dynasty, but also brought back a huge amount of wealth. However, a storm disappeared invisibly. His contribution is huge! "

"Tell me, what reward do you want? As long as I can do it, I will never refuse!"

Everyone looked at Ji Song with envy, wishing they could take his place in his place, but he had real merit, so even if they wanted to, there was no way!

Ji Song stood up solemnly, bowed and said: "Your Majesty praises me. This mountain boy is able to achieve today's achievements because of your Majesty's trust, but I dare not bow. As Cai Chen said in his article, without Your Majesty, I am a bole." You can only lose everyone, so why do you live in a high court and be a high-ranking official?"

"And these are all things a minister should do. As a minister, it is extraordinary to share your worries for the king?"

Li Shimin: "."

Everyone: "."

"."

Everyone secretly thought: You are noble, you are a loyal minister, and we are all villains?

"What the Duke of the State of Xi said is wrong!"

Li Chengqian had no choice but to say: "Gong is merit. When ministers perform meritorious service, superiors will reward them. This is the eternal truth, otherwise outsiders will say that I and my father are stingy!"

Ji Song smiled bitterly in his heart when he heard this. It seems that he can't refuse today's reward!

"Thank you, Your Majesty. How about giving the three warships to me?"

Everyone was stunned, Li Shimin and Li Chengqian were also stunned, thinking, didn't you build it yourself? Why do you still need me to give it to you?

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes and understood immediately. He whispered a few words in his father's ear with some amazement. Only then did Li Shimin react. He pointed at Ji Song and smiled bitterly: "You are still so cautious, okay, from now on." That’s yours, are you satisfied now?”

Ji Song was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"In this way, I don't have to hide it every time I go to sea. I can use it openly and openly!"

Yes, those three large ships were built by him privately without any registration. In the eyes of others, this matter was a major matter for the imperial court, but in his position, it is not a big deal to say that it is big or small. It's a matter of course, but it's still a hidden danger. Now that it's legitimately his, it's a worry that has settled for him.

"Okay, apart from that, it's Wuyingge's burden."

"His Majesty!"

Before Li Shimin could finish speaking, Ji Song interrupted loudly and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, with all due respect, Wuying Pavilion is at its peak at this time, and all the generals have done a good job, and Wuying Pavilion is the highest military institution of the Tang Dynasty. , power should not be too concentrated, it is best for the emperor to preside over Wuying Pavilion himself. "

"Your Majesty, please see me clearly!"

Everyone was stunned. I had never heard of anyone denouncing their own power. The emperor's intention was very obvious, that is, to let Ji Song continue to serve as the head of Wuying Pavilion and continue to lead the military, but he refused?
"This" Li Shimin was speechless for a moment. Of course he knew this was the best. This was the reason why he wanted to split up Wuying Pavilion.

But Ji Song was different. Because of his trust, he never thought that Ji Song would become a threat in that position. He just thought that with him sitting in Wuying Pavilion, the generals in the world would not dare to act recklessly.

"Father, since Duke Xi has said so, let's make other arrangements!" Li Chengqian came out at the right time and said.

"That's fine."

But Ji Song obviously did not stop there, and also said: "I have resigned from office. Your Majesty has approved it, and I have no intention of continuing to be in the court. Please accept your resignation."

This time it was Li Chengqian's turn to be surprised. Before, he was just let out for a while and reused when he came back. But now this guy is obviously giving up. How can this be done?

"No!"

Li Chengqian shook his head and said: "You are only one or two years older than me. When you are in the prime of life, I and the Supreme Emperor couldn't bear to have you tired because of your legs. But now that you have recovered, it would be inappropriate to resign." ”

Li Chengqian and Li Shimin, father and son, looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes: Ji Song must not be let go! How can such a capable minister be shelved in a cabinet? Isn't this the greatest waste?

"His Majesty."

"Okay, stop talking. Since you don't want to go to Wuying Pavilion, you have to have somewhere to go!" Ji Song was interrupted by Li Chengqian before he could speak.

"Xu Aiqing!"

Xu Jingzong, who was eating melon, suddenly heard the emperor calling him and quickly stood up and said: "Wei Chen is here!"

"As a cabinet minister and also the official minister, do you think there is a suitable position for the Duke of Nie?" Li Chengqian said bluntly.

"This"

Now it was Xu Jingzong's turn to be dumbfounded. What was Ji Song's status? Can it be done in any position? Although he also wanted Ji Song to be in a high position, he really couldn't think of any position suitable for him!
Going to Qilin Pavilion? What a joke, since the separation of civil and military affairs, Qilin Pavilion and Wuying Pavilion have been two non-intersecting lines. How is that possible?

The three provinces have become subordinate agencies of Qilin Pavilion, which is even more inappropriate. As for the six parts? That's even more impossible. With Ji Song's status and prestige, who will listen to whom? Who dares to direct Ji Song to work? "Back to Your Majesty, I really don't know how to deal with Duke Xi, so I still ask for your Majesty's Holy Judgment!" Xu Jingzong said with a bitter smile.

Everyone looked at each other in shock and sympathized with Xu Jingzong. It would be difficult to do this to anyone.

"Your Majesty, since there is no suitable place in the imperial court, why not..." Ji Song smiled when he heard this. This was exactly what he wanted to see, so he thought about the emperor's thoughts.

But how could Li Chengqian let him go like this? Without waiting for him to finish, he waved his hand and said: "Since there is no suitable position, I will suggest one, and everyone will take a look at it to see if it is suitable!"

He glanced at Ji Song, with an elusive smile hidden in his eyes, and said directly: "After discussion between me and my father, I have appointed you to be the crown prince and tutor, and you will still be the bachelor of Wuyingge, but you will no longer be in charge of specific affairs. Just discuss it during the call!”

"In addition, my emperor Li Jue is naturally intelligent. In order to stabilize the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, he will be named the crown prince and the Duke of Xi. From now on, I will leave my son Li Jue to your guidance. Don't let me down." yes!"

boom!
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was dumbfounded. How could the position of crown prince be confirmed now?
But they couldn't get involved in this matter. The emperor only had two older princes. The eldest prince Li Xiang had been dismissed from the position of crown prince and had no chance to attend the East Palace. Now only Li Jue was the most suitable.

They had already advised the emperor to establish a prince early in order to stabilize the country, but now they have no objection to it. They really have no choice!

But the Crown Prince and Tutor... This makes people jealous!

Without waiting for Ji Song to refuse, Li Chengqian continued: "I know you have no intention of going to court, so how about you go into the palace to teach the emperor for three days every ten days? In addition, as the number of books from various countries continues to increase, the translation matter becomes more and more difficult, I I want to build a library like Taibai Academy in Chang'an, but there happens to be no one in charge of it. If you are familiar with it, I'll leave it to you."

"I have no other requirements. The only requirement is that it cannot be inferior to the one in the academy, and this museum is open to the public on a limited basis. All students with merit and honor can enter it. It also allows the students of the Tang Dynasty to broaden their horizons and not be limited to the Central Plains. land."

Ji Song was stunned. He didn't expect this to happen. He had this idea when he returned to Beijing this time. He just wanted to use Ji's financial resources and influence to promote this matter to realize his ideal. He didn't expect that he would actually meet Li Chengqian. Went together?
"How's it going? Do you still want to refuse, like this?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

reject? It's a joke, how could you refuse? It's so close to your heart, only a fool would refuse?

"What about the construction cost?" Ji Song asked, looking at Li Chengqian hopefully.

"Hahahahaha! Look, does Duke Xi look like a businessman who is always willing to pay for every penny he spends?" Li Chengqian was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he laughed so hard that even Li Shimin and his eldest grandson couldn't help but laugh!
Not to mention the others, Xie Lian couldn't laugh or cry and pointed at Ji Song, not knowing what to say. He could only say: "Your Majesty has already explained this matter. Since it is built by the court, the cost will of course be borne by the court. Do you still want to pay for it yourself?" Money is not enough?”

Ji Song was overjoyed when he heard this. He didn't care about the ridicule of everyone and said quickly: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will accept this matter and will not disappoint Your Majesty and the Supreme Emperor."

"Well, I am always at ease with you doing things!"

Li Shimin said with emotion: "I have read a lot of those translated books because I want to inquire about Western architecture. Many of them are eye-opening masterpieces. What about Socrates, the seven Greek sages Thales, Plato, Su Grates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes and others were all sages who appeared in the pre-Qin period, and several of them appeared at the same time as other schools of thought."

"Although their masterpieces and ideas conflict with our Chinese civilization, as the saying goes, we reach the same goal by different paths, many ideas have made me suddenly enlightened. Things that I had never understood are now suddenly clear to me."

"Stones from other mountains can attack jade. Western sages attach great importance to logic and tracing back to their origins. They explain the world from small things and understand the subtle things. But I, the sages from the East, explain the way of heaven from the macroscopic view, the big world, one from small to big, and the other from big. Although the paths are different, the end result is the same.”

"Now I finally know that when you sent your disciples to go to sea, you told them that nothing else is important. Only the essence of those civilized books are the most important. I deeply understand that although wealth is valuable, it can only be rich for a while, but as long as our China integrates By discarding the dross and taking the essence of different civilizations, we will gain the countless accumulations of another civilization over thousands of years, and this is the precious wealth we will leave to future generations.”

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes full of solemnity, and collectively bowed and said: "I would like to be taught!"

"Well, people talk more as they get older, so I won't talk about these. If you have time, you can go and take a look. Many of the ideas are extremely shocking and go straight to the essence. I think they will also be helpful to your future governance. A lot of inspiration!”

"I will obey your orders!"

Since the Supreme Emperor has said so, let's go and have a look. Maybe there will be something to gain?

At their current position, many things in the world no longer interest them. China has a splendid civilization that lasts thousands of years, and any problem can be solved in history books. But with the rapid development of the Tang Dynasty, many things they had never seen appeared one after another, which caused them to hesitate in the process of governance, for fear of something going wrong. In this case, they went to see if it was as magical as the Emperor said. !
"Okay, that's it for now, let's talk about other things!"

Li Shimin didn't want to waste any more time and continued: "Does everyone know about the merchants' infiltration of scholars before?"

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Li Shimin said gloomily: "You are really brave. No wonder they have been suppressing merchants since the pre-Qin Dynasty. It seems not unreasonable. At that time, Lu Buwei compared Ying Yiren's people to goods, and finally gained a thousand times, ten thousand times. The greater the ability of such a person, the greater the harm. Every dynasty has suppressed merchants since ancient times, and the Han Dynasty reached the extreme! "

Everyone nodded. During the Pre-Han Dynasty, merchants were the group with the least status. Whenever there was a war, sons-in-law, idle men, and traders would be the targets of transfer, and their status was only slightly better than slaves.

"Now that business taxes have increased significantly, I feel that they have contributed and relaxed the control on them. Unexpectedly, in just a few years, they have already begun to infiltrate officials and courts."

"According to Baiqisi's investigation, over the past ten years, no fewer than ten thousand scholars have been funded and corrupted by Qi, and most of these people are somewhat talented, and 90% of them are from poor families and farmers."

"There are more than a thousand officials below the seventh rank, and there are more than a hundred officials above the seventh rank and below the fifth rank. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Otherwise, after a hundred years, half of the officials in the court will be their spokespersons."

Li Shimin shuddered when talking about this matter. This is simply scarier than the aristocratic family. At least the aristocratic family cares about reputation, and the family is not short of money. Even if many people put the interests of the family first, at least they will not damage their reputation due to corruption. Many people Don't dare to put things out in the open.

Moreover, the aristocratic families are all on the bright side, and it is clear at a glance. But businessmen are different. They don't care about reputation and are willing to sell anything for profit. If they can gain a foothold in the court, what's the point?

He shuddered when he thought that in the future, officials in the court would fight endlessly for the interests of those behind them, regardless of the suffering of the people and the interests of the Tang Dynasty!

That kind of scene is really unimaginable. At that time, the government and businessmen were integrated, and they wanted money and the right to speak. The harm was a hundred times more serious than the harm to aristocratic families. Rites and music have collapsed, people’s hearts are not as old as they used to be, and everything is at risk. Without etiquette, justice and integrity, all kinds of men are stealing and women are being prostituted.
Thinking of this, he looked at Li Chengqian and said solemnly: "Emperor, you have to remember that businessmen are available because they contributed a lot of tax revenue to the Tang Dynasty, which can reduce the burden on the people and cannot be beaten to death. But at the same time, they are also restricted, for Businessmen are not allowed to be officials, and officials are not allowed to do business. This will be written into the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Once Li Ji is found to have dismissed his official position, he will not be allowed to be an official for three generations!"

"You must not be careless about this matter and let them take advantage of it."

(End of this chapter)