The best little eunuch

Chapter 133 Discussion
Chapter 133 Discussion
Liu Rufeng just stroked his beard, smiled without saying a word.This is an open secret, and the one who probably doesn't know now is the emperor.

"What if I want to change this situation? Bring back the salt tax." Lin Feng looked at Liu Rufeng and asked.

Shaking his head slightly, Liu Rufeng said: "It's impossible. Lord Lin, you will violate the interests of most people. The end result will definitely be that you won't get support. You may even get yourself into trouble."

"So, Liu Xiang doesn't support me anymore?" Lin Feng continued to ask.

Shaking his head, Liu Rufeng said: "I support Lord Lin, but has Lord Lin thought about it? Even if I support him, what's the use? Will so many ministers in the court support Lord Lin?"

"Then I have to report this matter to the emperor truthfully." Lin Feng said.Now he has no solution at all, only to make this matter public, as long as it is made public, then everyone will have scruples.

"Master Lin really decided to do this?" Looking at Lin Feng, Liu Rufeng asked.If Lin Feng did this, it would cut off everyone's money, and it would inevitably cause everyone's dissatisfaction with him.Everyone was already dissatisfied with Lin Feng's tax collection in the south of the Yangtze River. Now that Lin Feng wants to cut off everyone's money, doesn't this make everyone hate him even more?
Nodding his head, Lin Feng said, "I think so."

"Since that's the case, the old man didn't say anything. It's time for the court to spend money. If Lord Lin can complete this matter, it will definitely be a good thing for the court. I'm just afraid of this matter." It can't be done." Liu Rufeng said with some worry.

From the bottom of his heart, Liu Rufeng hoped that Lin Feng would be successful. Without him, Liu Rufeng would not be short of the 8 taels of silver, and if the court became stronger, he, the left prime minister, would be able to do it with gusto, unlike now, basically It's impossible to get out of the capital.He, Liu Rufeng, can't command any of the governors in other places.

"I wonder if Xiang Liu has any good suggestions?" Lin Feng asked Liu Rufeng.Since Liu Rufeng expressed his opinion, Lin Feng simply asked him for a strategy.

"The old man has nothing to do. This matter has been going on for many years. It is difficult to eradicate it all at once!" Liu Rufeng said to Lin Feng.The matter of Yandao Yamen is not a day or two. This kind of matter has existed for almost 50 years. It is impossible that the previous emperors did not know about it, but the emperor did not deal with it. There must be his reasons.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the previous emperors did not know about this special matter.But in that case, Liu Rufeng felt that the probability was not high, and the emperor was not a fool, so how could he not know.

"I just hope that Liu Xiang can give some support when the time comes." Lin Feng said to Liu Rufeng.

"The old man depends on the situation. I don't guarantee that I will support it. After all, the old man, Prime Minister Zuo, has to continue to do it." Liu Rufeng said to Lin Feng.

"So, thank you, Xiang Liu." Lin Feng said, got up and said goodbye, and went back to his mansion.

Calling Jin Quan, Ding Quan, Shen Xu and others, Lin Feng told them about the Yandao Yamen.

Shen Xu was not clear about this matter. It seemed that Shen Xu's official position hadn't caught their eye yet, but Ding Quan and Jin Quan obviously knew about it.Hearing what Lin Feng said, they all remained silent.

"Do you have a share too?" Lin Feng asked.

"After the lower officials came to Beijing, it changed from 4 taels to 5 taels." Jin Quan told the truth, after all, this is not a secret, most of the officials in the DPRK and China paid this price.Of course, not all the governors have money, and they will only send money to places covered by the Liangjiang Salt Road Yamen's salt transportation network.

But Ding Quan just nodded and didn't speak. Obviously, he must also have a share.

Seeing this, Lin Feng knew that this matter was not so easy to handle.

Jin Quan and Ding Quan's answers were basically not beyond Lin Feng's expectations.Looking at them, Lin Feng asked: "If I report this matter to the emperor, will you support me?"

"My lord, you will make too many enemies like this." Jin Quan said to Lin Feng: "Now how many ministers in the court have received benefits, do you know, my lord?"

Nodding his head, Lin Feng said, "I know the general idea."

"Since your lord knows, you should be able to guess the consequences of this matter." Jin Quan said: "At that time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will attack the big crowd, how will your lord deal with it?"

"The imperial court needs to collect taxes, the imperial court needs money, and Jiangnan needs money even more." Lin Feng said: "Without money, it is difficult to move an inch."

"Didn't your lord go to collect business tax?" Ding Quan asked.It stands to reason that when commercial taxes come up, it is basically the same.

"It's not enough, the navy is burning too much money, and the commercial tax is definitely not enough." Lin Feng said.Since Lin Feng intends to get a navy, it is impossible for him to be a casual navy, and if he wants to get it, he can get an elite one.

"My lord, the commercial tax is not enough, we can think of other ways, but the idea of ​​using the Yandao Yamen will definitely not work," Ding Quan said.In any case, Ding Quan is considered a veteran in the officialdom, so he naturally knows more than Lin Feng. His opinions are basically similar to Liu Rufeng's, so don't be hostile to most ministers.

"Do you also have the same opinion?" Lin Feng looked at the others and asked.

Nodded silently.Including Shen Xu who didn't take the money, because Shen Xu can also see that this is not an easy task.Against all the ministers in the court, Lin Feng does not have that strength yet.

"Then I'll think of other ways." Lin Feng said.He told Liu Rufeng that he would report this matter to the emperor, and after thinking about it, he also knew that it was just a momentary decision in his head.If he really did this, then even if the emperor supported him, he would inevitably be impeached every day.So many officers and soldiers in the court hated him, as long as he made a small mistake, it would be completely finished.

After Ding Quan and the others left, Lin Feng began to think about the solution.It is definitely not feasible to directly report this matter to the imperial court. Other methods must be thought of, but what else can be done?

After much deliberation, Lin Feng decided to meet Li Henian first.After all, Li Henian is also an important figure among them.

Li Henian was not surprised at Lin Feng's arrival, it seemed that he knew that Lin Feng was coming. "Why did Lord Lin come to this old man?" Li Henian said politely.

"I have something, I want to talk to Li Xiang." Lin Feng said.

"Then Lord Lin went to the old man's study?" Li Henian said, leading Lin Feng towards his study.

After Lin Feng sat down, Li Henian asked someone to serve him tea, "I don't know if Lord Lin came to see the old man, what's the matter?"

"Does Li Xiang know about the fact that Yandao Yamen gave money to officials in the court?" Lin Feng asked directly.

After being stunned for a moment, Li Henian seemed to understand what Lin Feng meant, and said, "Surely they also gave money to Sir Lin? It has always been like this. There are not a few officials of the imperial court who have received money."

"Li Xiangke knows, where did the money come from?" Lin Feng continued to ask.

After laughing, Li Henian said, "If Lord Lin has something to say, just say it."

"What can Li Xiangke do to cure this matter?" Lin Feng continued to ask.

Shaking his head, Li Henian said: "It's very difficult. I've been taking money for a long time. And I'm not the first to start taking money, so this thing didn't happen recently. It's hard to cure it!"

Li Henian didn't hide it, he admitted it frankly.He wasn't afraid that Lin Feng would use this matter as an excuse to threaten him, unless Lin Feng was crazy, otherwise, it would be the same whether he said it or not.

"However, this is taken from the state's salt tax. In a disguised form, the state's money is used to enrich private pockets." Lin Feng said.These people are not taking a little bit, but taking a lot of money.The original national salt tax of 500 million taels has become a mere 100 million taels. Even if the money distributed to various officials is excluded, it is conservatively estimated that at least 100 million taels have been distributed to the people behind the scenes.

Think about it, one million taels a year, after all these years, how much money has been taken away, who knows?

"Lord Lin, the old man you are talking about knows better than anyone else. When the first money was brought to the old man, the old man wanted to refuse, but the person who gave the money said something, and the old man was very happy. The money is accepted." Li Henian said to Lin Feng.

Looking at Li Henian, Lin Feng asked, "What are you talking about?"

"They told me that it doesn't matter whether I take the money or not. Anyway, the ministers in the court are taking the money. Even if I don't want the money, it won't do anything to them. On the contrary, it will make those in the court The minister who took the money was wary of me." Li Henian said: "After listening to what they said, I knew that I had to collect the money. So, I accepted the money without hesitation."

"Does Li Xiang know who is behind this scene?" Lin Feng asked.Now, Lin Feng can also see that this matter must be manipulated by someone behind the scenes. As for who this person is, he doesn't know.

(End of this chapter)