Wentang

Chapter 785 Untitled
Li Lizhi's due date is in mid-June, and Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, personally diagnosed her.

In fact, the date is very accurate. The reaction began at [-]:[-] am on June [-]th, and the child was born at [-]:[-] am.

Because it is the second child, everything is going well, and the mother and child are safe.

This kind of great joy naturally needs to be celebrated with great fanfare, even if Yue Shan wants to keep a low profile.I don't know how many people are staring at his house, and the news of the child's birth can't be hidden at all.

As long as the identity is sufficient, no matter whether it is related or not, a big gift will be given immediately.

Some foreign officials are not in Beijing, and they have already inquired about the date, prepared the gift in advance, and waited for it to be delivered on this day.

Usually, you can't refuse gifts for this kind of thing, anyway, it's really painful for Yue Shan to accept gifts.

Not to mention the imperial palace, it was not convenient for Li Shimin to come here, the eldest grandson Wugou lived here for several days in a row, and he was rewarded with countless treasures.

On the contrary, the eldest daughter Yue Yuhu benefited the most from the birth of a second child. The two sons are only a girl, and her status is highlighted.

Li Shimin knighted this only granddaughter.

The Lord of Le'an County.

Yue Shan was taken aback by this award, and hurriedly submitted a letter to resign, and all the officials, including the officials of the Yue family, stood up to oppose it.

In fact, this title surpassed the boundaries of a person and a minister.

During the Tang Dynasty, the titles of royal women were divided into four classes, princess, princess, county master, and monarch.

The emperor's daughter is a princess, the prince's daughter is a princess, and the king's daughter is a county princess. The children of the royal family below the kings are generally not granted titles, and occasionally they are also titled kings.

The title of Jun is quite special, it is a title shared by all women. For example, Yue Shan's mother is the Jun of Ankang County.

The first three are dedicated to the children of the royal family.

Conferring Yue Yuhu as the head of Le'an County is the treatment of princes and daughters, and it is an exceptional reward. If someone holds on to it, it is trespassing.

Yue Shan naturally didn't dare to continue like this, and it was inevitable to write a letter to resign.

It's just that Li Shimin is obviously determined to grant the reward to no one, and Changsun Wuji also surprisingly did not object, but explicitly expressed his support for the reward.

In this way, Yue Yuhu became the county head without knowing anything.

While Yueshan was busy with housework, the imperial court's actions to clean up the Nanyang sea owls and the moths inside the Tang Dynasty never stopped.

After the Langya Wang family, four more big families were overturned because of this incident, one of which was the Central Plains family, and three were Jiangnan families.

In the previous reforms, the Jiangnan aristocratic family, which had been staying out of the matter and not being affected, was purged in this wave.

Four of the powerful families of the Twelve Aristocratic Families in the South of the Yangtze River collapsed at one time, and the number of other small families that were destroyed as a result was not known.

The imperial court not only attacked the power of the aristocratic family, removed the obstacles hindering the imperial power, but also made a wave of windfall.

The most prominent one in this matter was Prince Li Chengqian. Whenever the emperor wanted to kill, he would come out to stop him.

In fact, he bought a lot of people's hearts, and his reputation of benevolence was completely confirmed.

What's more, the scholars in the capital also became noisy.

June [-]th is the annual Beijing Examination Day. Tens of thousands of scholars with reputations as scholars gathered in the capital to compete for the [-] Jinshi places.

When people talk too much, it becomes complicated, especially when so many scholars gather together, it is hard to think whether it is lively or not.

Especially some time ago, in order to increase the population of the fief, the princes and kings swept all the Qinlou and Chu halls, resulting in a precipitous decline in the quality and quantity of prostitutes in the capital.

Scholars have no place for recreation and can only get together to hold essay meetings. On the one hand, they hope to make themselves famous through essays, and on the other hand, they also hope to increase their knowledge through exchanges.

When there are too many people, there will inevitably be conflicts, civil and military disputes, regional conflicts, academic disputes, and school disputes.

In previous years, the school dispute was the most intense, and the new school and the ancient school could not wait to fight.

But this year's situation is different. After more than ten years of suppression, last year the new school brought out the oracle bone inscriptions of Yin Shang, which completely overwhelmed the ancient school.

The scholars of the new school want to take advantage of the victory to pursue, but the students of the ancient school don't give them a chance, so I avoid you.If you really can't avoid it, you won't speak casually. You can say whatever you like.

Let the scholars of the new school have nothing to do.

But I don't know when, a brand new topic suddenly appeared, and it quickly spread to the entire group of scholars rushing for the exam, becoming the most concerned issue of everyone.

In a certain restaurant, dozens of scholars sat together to hold a literary meeting.

Yuan Qun, a scholar from Yizhou, said impassionedly: "Since everyone has passed the imperial examination to become an official, then all powers and benefits should be exactly the same, and there should be no difference."

Wei Yi, a scholar of Dingzhou, said: "Oh? Isn't the treatment of all the officials who come from the imperial examinations related to their rank? I have never heard of differential treatment. I don't know what the difference is what Brother Yuan said?"

Yuan Qun said: "Good question, what is the difference? I believe everyone is as confused as Brother Wei. Now I will tell you that the difference lies in the tax-free privilege."

Jingzhou Liu Jingli said suspiciously: "After passing the Jinshi examination, everyone can be exempted from taxation and corvee. How can there be a difference?"

Yuan Qun said loudly: "It seems that there is no difference, but in fact the difference is very different. Some people have a lot of money and a lot of land, and the annual tax exemption is enough for ordinary people to live in."

"Some scholars come from poor families and their families have nothing to lose. What use is tax exemption to him? Is it fair to him?"

"Maybe everyone will feel indifferent at first, but in the long run, they will definitely feel uncomfortable. The same imperial examination is the same as an official, why can he have rich clothes and fine clothes, and I can only eat bran and swallow vegetables?"

"Besides, my family is poor and I have worked harder and suffered more than him. Why did he benefit in the end? What is the use of my tax-free privilege?"

"If this person is a little more extreme, it is inevitable that he will have unreasonable thoughts. By corrupting the law to increase his own property, it will eventually lead to the corruption of officials."

"So I think the tax-free privilege is only superficially fair, but actually the biggest injustice."

Wei Yi clapped his hands and sighed: "So that's the case. You can only know the reason after listening to Brother Yuan's words. The tax-free privilege is indeed unfair. I just don't know if Brother Yuan has a solution?"

Yuan Qun said ashamedly: "Please forgive me for being incompetent and unable to think of a solution. However, if we join hands to play together, the princes of the court will definitely be able to think of a suitable solution."

Wei Yi said: "That's right, all the princes in the imperial court are heroes in the world, so there must be a good prescription. When Brother Yuan writes a letter, I would like to sign my name to participate in the grand event."

Liu Jingli also said excitedly: "I would also like to be attached to Jiwei."

"I would also like to..."

Many people were persuaded to write a letter, but some people had different opinions.

"Absurd, this statement is really absurd. Other people's property is hard earned, why can't they be exempted? You don't blame yourself for not working hard, but you blame others for being too hard. It is really shameless." Someone stood up and shouted. road.

"Oh? Dare I ask where is Xianxiang, brother with the surname Gao?" Yuan Qun was not angry at all, but asked politely.

"If you don't change your name when you walk, you don't change your surname when you sit down, Jiangzhou Sima Qing." Sima Qing said proudly.

"It turns out that he is Sima Qing from Jiangzhou. He is indeed a talented person."

"I heard that he is the first Daoist in Jiangzhou, and his talent spreads far and wide. He is the scholar who has the best chance of being ranked in the imperial list this year."

"I've also heard of him, but I didn't expect to see him with my own eyes today."

Hearing him announce his name, many people whispered.

Hearing the praise of these people, Sima Qing seemed very proud.

Yuan Qun said: "It turns out that it is Sima Qing, a talented scholar from Jiangzhou, who has been famous for a long time. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Just meeting is not as good as being famous."

"You..." Sima Qing was furious.

"Do you know the family background of this talented Sima?" Yuan Qun said loudly to everyone.

Most people shook their heads to express their ignorance, and a few people showed expressions of all thoughts.

"I just heard about some of them, so I'll introduce them to you." Yuan Qun said:
"It is said that the Sima family in Jiangzhou can be traced back to the former Jin Dynasty, and has the blood of the Sima royal family. You are all educated people. You must know something about the Sima family's deeds in the former Jin Dynasty, so I won't go into details."

"Let's talk about the Sima family in Jiangzhou. In the former Sui Dynasty, it was just a small local family. There was only one county magistrate in the family."

"However, relying on this county magistrate, during the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, their family's farmland increased by a hundred times, and they became one of the most powerful people in Jiangzhou."

"As for what happened in the middle, I won't say much. You can find out for yourself, so that no one will think that I am taking personal revenge."

"Zhuzi, An dare to insult me." Sima Qing was filled with shame and anger. If he hadn't seen Yuan Qun's tall and strong man, he might not be able to beat him, so he would probably rush to beat him.

"That's why. I said why he supports the tax-free privilege so much. It turns out that he is a powerful man."

"Hehe... It's too easy for this tyrant to come, I don't know how much blood he drank behind his back."

"Shouldn't this kind of family be thoroughly investigated?"

"Isn't there a county magistrate in his family? Why doesn't he have tax-free privileges?"

"I'm from his family's Lin County. The county magistrate of his family died early. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, I have never been an official again."

"So it's like this, hehe, their family spent a lot of money to train him, right?"

"It's no wonder he's so supportive of tax-exempt privileges."

Hearing everyone's pointing and pointing, Sima Qing was ashamed and angry, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he would only humiliate himself, and fled after leaving a sentence, let's wait and see.

Seeing his embarrassed appearance, everyone burst into laughter, thinking it was very funny.

Then, under the call of Yuan Qun, Wei Yi, and Liu Jingli, many scholars from poor families agreed to write to the court, and many even agreed to privately connect more scholars from poor families to write together.

This kind of thing does not happen once in one place, but in various places in the capital.

"Tax-free privileges must be abolished."

"Absurd. This has been the prerogative of officials since ancient times. How can it be abolished as soon as it is said?"

"Is it true since ancient times? Then why are Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties gone?"

"quibble……"

"Is it a sophistry or some people's buttocks are sitting crookedly..."

……

"There are too many officials who will be offended by this. I am afraid that the imperial court will not dare to do this."

"Twenty years ago, 20% of the officials in the world came from powerful families. Who would have thought that there would be such a situation today? If no one does it, it will never change."

"Yes, even if we fail this time, there will be tomorrow, and more like-minded people will join us. One day we will be able to change this unfair place."

"Scholars of my generation should have the courage to be the first in the world."

"Xia Guogong's four lines of the dragon's first sentence are my motto..."

……

"Our strength is too weak. If we want more people to join, we must let them see the benefits."

"Although it's not for a gentleman to put benefits in his mouth, we are all laymen, and we have to think about the temple of the five internal organs. We really have to talk about the benefits that we should have."

"Everyone, don't be ashamed to talk about profit. Xia Guogong once said that a gentleman loves money in a proper way, treats it with a degree, and uses it with restraint. There is nothing wrong with what we are seeking legitimate interests."

"Yes, the abolition of tax-free privileges has indeed harmed the interests of officials. Although poor families are not well-off, they can still save some money by exempting some taxes. It is best to make up for these losses."

"How to make up?"

"Increase salary."

"...This is really a good strategy."

"Exchanging higher salaries for tax-free privileges is an exchange of interests, and it is feasible."

"It's more than that. In this way, no matter what your origin or family background, you can enjoy the same treatment, which is the fairest way."

"Since everyone agrees, then we will submit the letter according to this method."

"Okay, I agree."

In the discussion of many scholars, a complete appeal gradually took shape, and with the discussion of scholars, it quickly spread outside the capital.

The eight university newspapers also came to join in the fun, and published the news on the front page one after another.

Weishui Academy mobilized all the resources it could mobilize in Dizhou, Huanghe, Shencheng, Guangzhou, Emei, Fanyang, and Liaodong, and joined forces with local Confucian scholars to establish seven academies.

Collectively known as the Eight Academies of the Yue Department.

Relying on Yueshan's relationship, these academies have obtained the right to start newspapers.

Among them, Weishui Journal is a national newspaper, and the other seven are also the most famous local newspapers, with influence covering the whole country.

The last time all journals reported together was the publication of oracle bone inscriptions, this is the second time.

Their reports also made this matter officially out of the circle and became a topic of discussion among all scholars in the world.

Unsurprisingly, most of them are against it. Regardless of the ancient school or the new school, they all have one thing in common, they are unwilling to give up their vested interests.

Trying to get them to give up their tax-exempt privileges is like killing them.

Even if the person who made this suggestion was targeting officials with imperial examination backgrounds, it would not work.

They are not stupid, some things cannot set a precedent, otherwise it will cause global changes very quickly.

And in the future, the only way for the imperial court to become an official is the imperial examination. In a few decades, the older generation of officials will die, and the new generation will lose their right to tax exemption through the imperial examination.

At that time, these rich and powerful families will have to pay taxes together. They still have this vision.

Therefore, the local opposition has the absolute upper hand, and the supporters can hardly make much noise.

The capital city is better, but the public opinion is gradually changing, mainly because the bureaucracy has discovered that the situation is wrong, and it is beginning to end.

But no matter how many people oppose it, they can't change the minds of the scholars.They still jointly wrote a letter to the court, demanding that the tax-free privilege be changed to an increase in salary.

At first, everyone thought that this matter would not cause much trouble in the court. After all, most of the court officials are vested interests, so how could they agree to this suggestion.

However, a group that no one thought of stood up and shouted for the reformists.

That is the princes and kings.

(End of this chapter)