"Eunuch Cheng, how is Your Majesty's mood?" outside the announcement room, Cen Wenwen and other important ministers asked cautiously. They were summoned by Lu Zhaoci overnight. Although there were people on duty in the Xuande Hall, in case the emperor had a decree or had questions.

Yes, the ministers on duty in Xuande Hall will come to report, but just like today, Cen Wenwen, Cui Renshi, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, known as the six ruling ministers of Xuande Hall, came together.

The phenomenon is very rare.

"Your Majesty went to Chang'an West City today and met with businessman Dou Yi." Eunuch Cheng did not dare to offend Cen Wenwen and others. He was someone close to Lu Zhaoci. Although he was an eunuch, he still had a distinguished status, and some ministers would fawn over him.

.But in the eyes of the six people in front of him, he still did not dare to be presumptuous. He quickly said cautiously.

"Dou Yi?" Changsun Wuji's expression changed and he asked in surprise: "But that Dou Yi who is known as the richest man in the West City?"

"Why, Lord Changsun knows such a cunning person?" Cui Renshi asked pretending to be surprised.

"Your Majesty also knows this person?" Changsun Wuji sneered: "What's more, there are heroes in the market, and this Dou Yi is not a simple person."

"What Lord Changsun said is true, and His Majesty also said so." Eunuch Cheng led everyone towards the announcement room. When he heard Changsun Wuji's words, he also echoed.

"Oh. I understand." Cen Wenwen nodded, with a strange look on his face.

"What does Master Cen know?" Cui Renshi asked quickly.

"Haha, of course you will know when you see Your Majesty." Cen Wenwen did not say anything. Instead, he said lightly, which made Master Cui Ren hit a soft nail. Master Cui Ren was too angry to express his anger, so he could only snort coldly.

One sound.

After a while, everyone entered the announcement room. After seeing the ceremony, they saw Lu Zhaoci sitting behind several tables, with a faint look of exhaustion on his face.

"It's good for Your Majesty to worry about state affairs, but the dragon body is more important!" Cen Wenwen said cautiously.

"I'm still young and still have energy. But if I get old, I won't be able to worry about it like this. Ten thousand years is too long, just seize the day! Everyone, sit down!" Although Lu Zhaoci looked tired

He looked pretty, but he was also in a happy mood. He pointed at the several brocade stools in front of him and said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Cen Wenwen and others didn't know why Lu Zhaoci was so happy, but since the Emperor is happy, it means that they and others will not be unlucky. Of course, this also depends on their own luck, such as Wei Zheng

People, with him around, sometimes, an originally cheerful atmosphere will break up unhappy in the end. But the existence of people like Wei Zheng is indispensable.

"At the beginning, there were rumors in Chang'an City that they wanted to enfeoff ministers with meritorious service. Haha, they were only half right. I really wanted to enfeoff ministers with meritorious service at the beginning." Lu Zhaoci showed a trace of embarrassment on his face and waved his hand: "But I didn't want to enfeoff ministers with meritorious service.

Instead, I enfeoffed the aristocratic families and allocated the Western Region to them."

"Your Majesty is smart and wise. Since you want to divide the family, I'm afraid you have something to ask for!" The modest smile on Cen Wenwen's face did not change, but he said lightly.

"Yes, what I wanted originally was land, and I gave them the title of Duke and the seven cities in the Western Region. But they had to give up the land." Lu Zhaoci smiled slightly and said: "I was too naive.

"

When everyone heard this, their hearts moved. Although they did not dare to show it on their faces, they did think so in their hearts. There are more than tens of millions of lands owned by aristocratic families in the world. I am afraid that 60% of the land in the entire world is in the hands of aristocratic families. It is Cen Wenwen.

These ministers also have a lot of land in their hands. Once they have extra money, they mostly use it to buy heaven and earth. Most of the fertile land by the Wei River belongs to big bureaucrats. Although the Western Regions are very rich, the conditions given by the emperor are not

It's not generous, but if the land in hand is handed over, such conditions are still open to discussion. Whether it can be agreed is still unknown. Lu Zhaoci's move is indeed naive. It's just that no one dares to say it...

"Your Majesty is so kind, it must be because he pities the poor people who have no land in their hands!" Fang Xuanling said after hearing this.

"What Xuan Ling said is true." Lu Zhaoci nodded. "People can't survive without land in their hands. But most of these fields are occupied by aristocratic families. Even I don't have much land to distribute."

, in case of a famine year, the court is unable to provide disaster relief, and if someone is provocative, the peasant uprising will arise, repeating what happened at the end of the Sui Dynasty, with seventy-two roads of smoke and dust, and thirty-six roads of rebellion against the king.

, the great rivers and mountains are disturbed with evil spirits. The people of the world will fall into war again, which is what I don’t want to see."

"Although His Majesty's move is kind, I'm afraid it won't work." Lu Zhaoci's expression changed, but he didn't speak. A wry smile appeared on Cen Wenwen and other people's faces. The person who spoke just now was none other than the admonishing doctor Wei Zheng.

This person has an upright personality and speaks directly without any speaking skills. Sometimes, he just can't get off the stage.

"I knew it wouldn't work, so I didn't issue the edict." Lu Zhaoci said angrily. For this old man, no wonder in history, after his death, Li Shimin took advantage of Hou Junji's incident to have his tombstone destroyed.

It was broken into pieces, probably just to avenge the hatred that usually kept the emperor from stepping down!

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Changsun Wuji asked cautiously.

"Since this road doesn't work, let's find another way." Lu Zhaoci showed a hint of excitement in his words and smiled: "I went to the West Market today. There is a big businessman named Dou Yi there. This guy is very good.

If you are capable, the wealth you have built over the course of decades, well, I am afraid some aristocratic families cannot compare with it."

Everyone heard the words but didn't speak. Although these people were all from Confucianism, they were not like Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi, Chen Shuda and others. They were stupid in reading, and those who opened their mouths to be polite and closed their mouths were polite to businessmen.

It was also very contemptuous, but it didn't say that there can't be businessmen. What's more, at this time, Lu Zhaoci suddenly brought up this sinister idea. Obviously, there is something else. At this time, businessmen cannot be belittled. In this case, then there is no need.

Talk and listen quietly to what Lu Zhaoci says.

"This person started his business with a pair of woven shoes, and now he has a Dou family shop. Well, Auxiliary machine, you are known as a person who is known to every corner of Chang'an City. You must also know this Dou Yi.

." Lu Zhaoci pointed at Changsun Wuji and said.

"I know that this man is a big businessman with a huge fortune. He is quite wealthy, but he is very low-key. He deals in many types of goods and is also a big grain merchant." Changsun Wuji nodded and said.

"This man is a business genius." Lu Zhaoci nodded, then shook his head and said: "Just when I was about to leave, officials from the West City Department came, tusk tusk. They came to collect taxes. It's not much, but it's a thousand pieces of gold.

.One thousand gold a month. Hehe, text, I remember that I gave you five thousand gold, and you gave it to Pei Ji, and Pei Ji became the chief clerk of Prince Qi's house!"

"Exactly." Cen Wenwen nodded.

"A thousand gold! Everyone, one month's tax is one thousand gold. I heard them say that it was one ten thousand gold. I thought it was in the time of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, ten thousand gold one. Then Dou Yi, no matter how capable he is, only one thousand gold a month.

The tax revenue is enough for them to eat a pot of food." Although Lu Zhaoci had a smile on his face, everyone could hear the coldness in it.

"Your Majesty, businessmen are profit-seeking, shameless, and not engaged in production, so they should be taxed heavily." It was Wei Zheng who spoke again.

"Wei Zheng, your clothes are made of Shu brocade. I ask you, if there were no merchants, could your Shu brocade be transported all the way from Shu to Chang'an and then made into official robes? Without merchants, Chang'an City would have millions of people.

What do people eat? It is the nature of businessmen to pursue profits. Not to mention businessmen, what can they do if they are officials? While working for the welfare of the people, aren't there officials who are also motivated by money? The same goes for scholars who don't know any sense of shame.

There are many, why are they just businessmen?" Lu Zhaoci's expression changed and he shouted coldly...

"Your Majesty, I have something to say." Cen Wenwen also stood up, with a stern face, and said with cupped hands: "Your Majesty, I understand, is to divert the attention of those aristocratic families to business, so that they can have extra money.

After making money, use the money again for business and no longer buy land. In this way, those people will also have land. There will be no more things like the last years of the Sui Dynasty."

"What Cen Qing said is true. This is what I have considered." Lu Zhaoci nodded and said: "I am going to reduce commercial taxes. All merchants only need to pay taxes where they are, and their goods do not need to pay taxes in other cities.

Tax rates are levied according to different types of goods. Jewelry and other items are luxury goods, which can be levied with high taxes, while other daily tax rates can be lower. In this way, those businessmen can be encouraged to expand their business scale.

They will not go out to buy land and compete with the people for land."

"Your Majesty, what will these businessmen do after they have money? They will ask for power. Businessmen are inherently greedy. Once they have money and power, they will want more, and they will be like those aristocratic families, and even be able to

You control the government and change the dynasty. Hasn't your majesty learned a lesson from the war in the late Sui Dynasty?" Wei Zheng stood up and shouted loudly. The smear in his mouth almost sprayed onto Lu Zhaoci's face.

"Your Majesty, although Mr. Wei's words are a bit exaggerated, they are true." Cen Wenwen also said: "Businessmen are driven by profit. When they obtain a large amount of money, they will think about becoming a master. Those aristocratic families

The wealthy families are an example. They are not willing to accept that they cannot wear silk and satin, and that their descendants cannot take part in the imperial examinations. These are all the rights they want. His Majesty's original intention is good, but he does not know whether it can be obtained.

The most important thing is to achieve good results. I suggest that your Majesty act appropriately."

"Auxiliary machine, what do you think?" Lu Zhaoci frowned. He did not refute the views of Cen Wenwen and Wei Zheng. What these two people said was not unreasonable. Among the sages of the past dynasties, there were many people with great wisdom.

Naturally, we can clearly see the advantages and disadvantages of this. However, we still adopt a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business.

"Your Majesty, I think that imposing heavy taxes will force the trade routes to be blocked and merchants to annex land wantonly. But in comparison, how can the rise and fall of the dynasty be decided by these merchant families." Changsun Wuji said without thinking: "My lord,

I thought Your Majesty could lower taxes, but that’s all.”

"Your Majesty, I think what Auxiliary Machinery said is absolutely right. Taxes can be reduced, but the national policy cannot be changed. For thousands of years, China has been focusing on agriculture and neglecting commerce. There must be some truth in it. How can we do it?

Just change it randomly." Fang Xuanling said with cupped hands.

"What about land annexation?" Lu Zhaoci thought of later generations. Aren't the national policies of the United States controlled by those big plutocrats? As for the president, they are representatives of each plutocrat. They control the internal affairs of the United States.

Foreign policy and the selection of the president are also controlled by them.

"Has your Majesty ever said before that the empire's bows and arrows are to provide farming land for the people of the empire?" Cen Wenwen said: "As long as your majesty expands its borders and expands its territory, the empire will have vast land. Once disaster victims appear, or land annexation is serious,

, Your Majesty can immigrate and let the landless people regain their land."

"What do you think?" Lu Zhaoci took a breath. Although Cen Wenwen's method cannot solve the root cause, it is not impossible.

"In every year of great disaster, Your Majesty can select the strongest men among the victims and recruit them into the army." Du Ruhui said with cupped hands.

"Your Majesty, I think the tax system can be changed." Changsun Wuji said: "The tax system of our dynasty was formulated during the reign of Emperor Gaozu Wu.

Two stones of millet; Tiao refers to the silk tax, which stipulates that each ding pays 20 feet of silk, or 20 feet and 5 feet of cloth, plus a certain amount of cotton or linen; yong refers to the use of weaving or cloth instead of labor, and stipulates that each ding must perform twenty days of corvee every year

, if you do not serve, you can pay three feet of silk or three feet and seven cents of cloth per ding to replace the corvee. The basis for implementing these is the equalization system. However, as time goes by, once the equalization system is broken and land annexation becomes serious,

Tax modulation will lose its effect. In this case, why don't Your Majesty transfer the tax from the people to the land and collect taxes according to the amount of land. In this way, people with more land will be taxed more, and the people on the land can

Harvest less. In this way, the possibility of land annexation can be avoided, or if it cannot be avoided, it can also be delayed." Hearing this, Cen Wenwen and others also looked thoughtful on their faces...

"Dividing the land into acres?" Lu Zhaoci's eyes lit up, and he suddenly thought of the land taxation policy implemented by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty in history.

"Your Majesty is really a great talent. He can spread his wealth among his own family. This is indeed what he said." Changsun Wuji's eyes lit up when he heard this, and Cen Wenwen and others also looked at Lu Zhaoci in surprise.

"Auxiliary machine, do you know what the matching package for He Tanding and Mu Mu is? It's called official and gentry integration." Lu Zhaoci said lightly: "According to the current policy of the Tang Dynasty, officials above the ninth rank do not have to pay taxes.

, and there is no need to do corvee service. Do you think this is possible? If not, once the shareholding system is introduced, the annexation situation will become even more serious. Those who want to avoid corvee service will start their whole families.

Join those aristocratic families to escape the corvee." Everyone was stunned when they heard this and looked at each other. They did not expect this situation.

The so-called punishment of being a doctor does not mean that officials and gentry work as servants and pay taxes and corvees together. This has never been realized since the word official came into being. Isn’t it that these people become officials to enjoy privileges? They work as servants and pay taxes and corvees as one.

, then what’s the point of being an official? The so-called serving the country and the people has its limits.

"Let's see how it goes, even you are against it." A wry smile appeared on Lu Zhaoci's lips. Only when he reached this position could he realize how courageous Emperor Yongzheng was in history, who dared to confront the officials and gentry in the world.
To be continued...