back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 24 Su Shi and Su Zizhan

Su Shi also seemed to be frightened by Lu Chengqi, and said in a daze, "Have you ever heard of Xiaosheng?"

Lu Chengqi said in his heart: "Not only have you heard about it, but you also worship it! However, I am afraid that you will not have the chance to be demoted in this life, and those poems that will last forever will not be able to write that kind of charm. This is all because you are the current emperor. !"

Lu Chengqi quickly suppressed his surprise. After all, he didn't know what Su Shi's ability was. If he activated it rashly, he might be killing him.As an emperor, Lu Chengqi must be responsible for his own country.In fact, there were many famous ministers in the Song Dynasty, but only those emperors could not use them.Like Di Qing, Wang Anshi, Fan Zhongyan, Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu... which one is not famous in later generations?It's just that in this time and space, because of the changes in the previous dynasty and history, they have not yet appeared in Lu Chengqi's vision. "No, I have to go back and check to see if there are any officials with the same name among the officials. If there are, we should observe and decide whether to reuse them."

Su Shi didn't expect that Lu Chengqi would think so much in a blink of an eye. After Lu Chengqi came back to his senses, he returned to normal and said, "I seem to have heard of it somewhere. Don't be surprised by Zizhan."

Su Shi smiled wryly and said: "Xiaosheng is just a crazy student. He was imprisoned for a few days because of his radical remarks in Meizhou. How can he have any reputation. If there is, it is probably notoriety."

Only then did Lu Chengqi realize that if it hadn't been for his decree to eliminate the crime of speech, Su Shi might still be in prison now.Sure enough, Su Shi said: "Fortunately, today's emperor decreed that scholars are not allowed to talk about state affairs, so Xiaosheng was released from prison. Hearing that the emperor will open Enke again this year, Xiaosheng is confident that he can read classics, so he rushed over immediately. It's just Enke It's still early, so I have no choice but to hang up my name at Pingshan Academy, so that I can have a quiet place to study. By the way, don't you know my little brother's name?"

Lu Chengqi smiled and said, "My name is Lu Yunzhi, you can just call me by my name."

Su Shi also laughed and said: "Brother Lu is originally a national surname, so he is also a relative of the emperor?"

Lu Chengqi waved his hand and said: "The surname Lu is also very normal, how can it be the emperor's relatives? Brother Zizhan, don't think too much, I'm just a commoner."

Su Shi was a little surprised. In his opinion, having such insight, but not being an official and gentry family, seemed to be unreasonable.However, it was inconvenient for him to ask more questions, so he said, "So, Brother Lu is from Chang'an?"

Lu Chengqi said with a smile: "My ancestors lived here and never left. By the way, today's sage has issued a decree to levy business tax. I wonder what brother Zizhan's opinion is?"

Su Shi sighed: "Although the current sage is young, he can see the problem very accurately. Xiaosheng once studied the tax system of this dynasty and found it extremely unreasonable. A farmer's annual income is less than [-] yuan, but he has to bear [-]% of the national tax. Eight; while the merchants earn millions of dollars a year, they have never collected taxes. For a long time, the people have suffered. Fortunately, the Holy One has observed clearly and introduced merchant taxes. With the humble opinion of Xiaosheng, it will definitely enrich the national treasury."

Lu Chengqi was heartbroken by what he said, so he drank a cup happily, then shook his head and said, "Yeah, it's just that those officials are upset, which Beijing official doesn't have one or two shops? They didn't have to pay taxes before, they were pure income. Now When the tax is about to be levied, we will make some small moves, hoping to cancel it at once. I see, the Holy Majesty will definitely stick to it to the end."

Su Shi smiled and said: "The Holy Majesty created the Supervision Department to put an end to this kind of situation. The Supervision Department is well set up. The officials are left alone, so they are naturally eager; if someone is watching, they will not be able to make money. It's just I am afraid that the supervisory department has too much power, and in the end, no one may be able to govern."

Lu Chengqi said meaningfully: "This depends on the law. If everyone abides by the law, how can such a thing happen? Brother Zizhan, what do you think?" Lu Chengqi remembered that in the original history, Su Shi wrote The result is the policy theory on the law "On the Ultimate Punishment and Reward for Loyalty", which shocked Ouyang Xiu, the chief examiner at that time, into a heavenly man.

Su Shi pondered for a while, and said: "The penalty should not be too heavy, otherwise it will repeat the same pattern as the Qin Dynasty. It should not be too light, otherwise the reward and punishment will not be clear."

Lu Chengqi clapped his hands and praised: "Brother Zizhan is a high opinion. In fact, in my opinion, the law is the bottom line of morality. If you violate this bottom line, you must be punished. Killers pay with their lives, and those who beat others go to prison. No rules. Fangyuan, if the law is appropriate and its majesty cannot be questioned, then the cost of crime will increase greatly, and the number of crime cases will naturally decrease. At the same time, it is necessary to popularize legal knowledge to the people and tell them what is legal and what is illegal. Only the law can control Only when it is in the hands of the majority can the greatest effect of the law be achieved, not to punish crimes, but to prevent crimes from happening.”

Su Shi thought for a long time when he heard this passage, and sighed: "Brother Lu is really Zhang Liang in the present age! Listening to the king's words is better than reading ten years of books. Su Shi has been taught!" Said: "Brother Zizhan will kill me, I'm just exaggerating, you don't have to take it to heart. With your current knowledge, you will become the pillar of the country in the future!"

Xu Chongguang and others saw that Lu Chengqi and Su Shi had a very happy conversation, and they also talked about state affairs, so they couldn't help but keep it in their hearts, including Su Shi.In Enke next year, if the little emperor fails to meet Su Shi during the palace examination, it will be a great blessing.

But who can understand Lu Chengqi's thoughts?He thought that Su Shi became famous as a young man, but his official career has not been smooth. Apart from his own integrity, not meeting a good emperor is also the main reason.But if there is no hint of jealousy in it, Lu Chengqi would not believe it either.To be honest, he didn't want Su Shi to end up depressed like in history, with his lifelong ambitions unfulfilled.

The two completely left their companions behind, and drank until dawn. They talked about everything from astronomy to geography.This also allowed the relationship between the two to advance by leaps and bounds, and they were short of burning yellow paper to become brothers.Later, both of them got drunk, and Lu Chengqi didn't know how he returned to the palace.

When he woke up, it was already noon, Lu Chengqi shook his still dizzy head, and thought, "If he was still in his usual body, he would have suffered a serious illness long ago. Fortunately, he has eaten a reasonable diet and exercised in the past month. Just get back to basics."

After Lu Chengqi woke up, Zhou Zhiruo brought a bowl of hangover soup, almost forcing Lu Chengqi to drink it.The dizzy head disappeared miraculously, and I felt my mind was clear for a while, and even the air I breathed was much fresher.

Zhou Zhiruo said angrily: "Your Majesty, you can't get drunk anymore. You are the Emperor and you have many state affairs to deal with!"

Lu Chengqi said with a smile: "Didn't I make a decree to give the officials in Beijing a two-day holiday? This state affairs continue, when will it not be? Well, Zitong, I promise you, I will report to you when I drink in the future, how about it?"

Only then did Zhou Zhiruo feel happy.It was rare to have a two-day vacation without dealing with government affairs. Lu Chengqi and Zhou Zhiruo went out of the palace together, and spent two days in Chang'an City. When they got excited, they went out of the city gate and went to the countryside to experience first-hand the hardships of farmers.

Seeing the hard-working farmers, Lu Chengqi felt that the burden was even heavier. He had the responsibility to pass on his own country, and he had the responsibility to let the hardworking Chinese people stand on the top of the world and avoid the Jurchens and Mongols in the future.Thinking more and more, Lu Chengqi felt that he had gradually integrated into the role of Emperor Dashun.

(End of this chapter)