Li Xunying was full of energy and quite considerate towards her. Chen Yun'er felt that she had found her true love.
Life in the Eastern Palace was very smooth at first, and Chen Yun'er even looked forward to life in the harem many years later.
For women at this time, getting married was the second reincarnation.
At that time, Chen Yun'er felt that both her first and second children were in good places, and it must be God's care.
The emperor and the empress were also kind to her, and she lived a very comfortable life. But the good times did not last long. When the prince began to get involved in government affairs, the conflicts between the prince and the empress gradually increased...
"The emperor and the empress felt that they wanted to take care of it slowly, so they put it aside first. But the prince said that such matters must be done in one go. Once he was afraid of the difficulty and put it aside, he would no longer have the courage to take action. In this way, he was in the previous court... By the way, both the government and the public at that time had a problem.
The gang is supporting the prince!"
"If someone wants to sink, there must be someone who wants to rise up." The emperor said.
"He went to clean up the abuses in the army and offended a number of generals. But in the end... the emperor suppressed the matter. From then on, many people in the army became his opponents."
"He went to rectify the administration of officials and came up with several ideas. At the time, it seemed that he was trying to crack down on corruption. But later I figured out that he wanted to clean up the power of the wealthy and powerful in the officialdom by cracking down on corruption."
"A roundabout way? That's not bad." The emperor nodded.
Chen Yun'er shook her head, "Then, more and more people impeached him. But he still refused to give up. He went straight to the wealthy families and proposed to restrain land annexation and restrain good people from being enslaved..."
They are all good strategies for governing the country! But the late emperor failed to achieve it, but your majesty did it... Han Shitou, who was behind the emperor, was full of emotions.
"That time, a fierce dispute broke out between the crown prince and the empress. I didn't hear much about it. I only knew that he said that if he didn't take action now, there would be no chance for the Tang Dynasty to rise. Then, he was banned."
The grounding was a signal to let the outside world know that the emperor was dissatisfied with the prince.
"This is for those wealthy families." Han Shitou explained.
"You are..." Chen Yuner looked at Han Shitou.
Han Shitou saluted, "My slave, Han Shitou, has met your empress."
"Han Shitou..."
"I was just a handyman in the East Palace back then."
"No wonder." Chen Yun'er nodded, "After the prince was grounded, more and more people from the outside world impeached him. He was grounded, but I could walk freely, so I went to the emperor and empress to plead for mercy. At that time..."
Chen Yun'er thought for a while, "It was Empress Wu who saw me. She said with a cold face that the prince was domineering. I was shocked when I heard it. If there is a conflict of views on political affairs, it is easy to say, but domineering, this is not a good sign. I explained,
But Empress Wu just asked me to go back and persuade the prince with a cold face..."
"What should you advise him?" the emperor asked.
"Encourage him to study hard."
"This means he is ignorant!" The emperor closed his eyes.
"Yes. I went back to tell you, but the prince just listened calmly and said nothing. It would be okay if he refuted, but being silent like this is a bit scary."
"When a man encounters trouble, he usually hides it from those close to him and wants to bear it alone." The emperor analyzed the mentality of being filial to the emperor at that time from his own perspective.
"The days went by like this. He was released from confinement, but his relationship with the emperor and empress was somewhat alienated. Occasionally, I would hear him say something... The expenses of the Ministry of Revenue were increasing, and the taxes received
But it is becoming less and less. Everyone knows that this is wrong, but the monarchs and ministers in the court turn a blind eye."
"Meat-eaters avoid taxes, and the tax-paying population and fields are annexed by them. However, the number of officials and annual rewards are increasing day by day. Expenditures increase while income decreases. Days like this..."
The emperor was aware of the difficulties of the Ministry of Revenue when he was in northern Xinjiang. Yang Songcheng took charge of the Ministry of Revenue and adopted the method of increasing taxes, which in turn squeezed the people. The people were poor and would become refugees in the event of natural or man-made disasters. And the meat-eaters took advantage of the situation.
Annex their fields and turn them into your own slaves...
A perfect closed loop emerged.
"Less than half a year passed. On that day, the prince proposed in the court to abolish the poll tax and levy taxes according to acres of land..."
If taxes are attributed to land, whoever owns more land will have to pay more taxes.
Once this move is successful, it will not only solve the problem of fiscal revenue and expenditure, but also reduce the burden on the people. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
"On that day, the emperor and empress jointly suppressed the matter. I also learned about it from his mouth after he was placed under house arrest."
The emperor's eyes narrowed... Isn't this just sharing the same family?
Incorporating the poll tax into the land was a brilliant debut.
It was also a well-prepared ambush.
The history of collecting poll tax is too long, which makes the people miserable. During times of war, or at the end of the dynasty, people would even drown their newborn boys in order to avoid the poll tax.
This was a beautiful counterattack that stabilized the Tang Dynasty, but would shake the foundation of the meat-eaters.
You just go and annex the fields, and I will collect taxes according to the fields. Without the poll tax, the people will be completely free.
“Tax only the property owners!”
The emperor clenched his fists.
But this will bring about a problem: property owners will not pay taxes willingly. Especially those meat eaters, they will yell at filial piety, make various threats, and even subvert the Tang Dynasty for this matter.
In the endless history, many things seem accidental, but in fact they are inevitable.
There are two biggest factors that affect a dynasty: money and food.
The former is the guarantee of purchasing power, and the latter is the lifeline of the dynasty.
Money can be collected from merchants, but food must be demanded from the land.
As the dynasty continued, more and more land was controlled by the carnivores. As a privilege of the gods, they naturally did not need to pay taxes.
But at this time, the dynasty's expenditures were increasing. At this moment, the emperor was faced with two choices: either attack the meat-eaters, or attack the already overwhelmed common people.
Whether from an instinctive or rational point of view, the emperor felt that he should attack the carnivores.
But whenever they shouted at the carnivore, they would bar their teeth at him and ask:
Countryside and taxes can only be the same!
Which one do you choose?
Almost all emperors shrank when faced with this situation.
The emperors could only turn their attention to the people suffering in hardship, who were their staunchest supporters.
The emperors knew that the people could not bear this kind of oppression for a long time, but they had no choice.
If you don't exploit it, your country will be destroyed immediately.
If you squeeze it, you can survive for a while.
Almost all emperors chose to live.
Occasionally, a few "daring weirdos" died soon due to various inexplicable reasons.
"The situation at that time was full of flowers, but there was an undercurrent, and the people's life was gradually becoming difficult. If taxation had been reformed at that time, the Tang Dynasty could have continued for at least another three hundred years. The late emperor had a bright vision and a far-sighted vision... This was the best choice.
But the only problem is that he needs to face those greedy gluttons."
The emperor shook his head.
The father of an idealist!
"To accomplish this, he must have an army at his disposal!"
Chen Yun'er nodded, "What your Majesty said is true. But at the beginning, he rushed forward with bare hands and amidst the shouts of a group of people. The result..."
"Heads are broken and bleeding!" The emperor smiled, with a hint of sarcasm, "Everyone knows what he is facing. It is a wall, a high wall that has been unshakable for thousands of years."
Without the support of the emperor... In that situation, Emperor Xuande obviously chose to shrink his eggs. Then, he watched his beloved son hit the wall.
How tragic!
"Then the affair with Concubine De happened." Chen Yun'er said calmly: "I know him, he is a proud man, and compared with Emperor Xuande, he is almost flawless in terms of women's beauty."
Emperor Xuande's lecherous behavior makes historians unable to write. If you want to write it truthfully, it will affect the image of Emperor Xuande. If you don't write it truthfully, your conscience will be troubled.
"After the De imperial concubine incident, the impeachment memorials almost filled the spacious bed of Emperor Xuande. Three days later, the emperor summoned the prince and reprimanded him..."
"Did he argue?" asked the emperor.
"I was there that day, kneeling side by side with him in front of the emperor and empress." Chen Yun'er reached out to tuck her long hair that seemed like it shouldn't be here, and said:
"He just looked at the emperor and empress calmly without saying a word."
What a proud father!
The emperor squinted his eyes, imagining the situation at that time.
"The emperor and the empress also announced calmly...the prince is deposed!"
After Chen Yun'er finished speaking, she asked: "Does Your Majesty still want to know about the follow-up?"
"Of course, it's just... how about you sit down and talk." The emperor pointed to the pavilion, "After all, in terms of seniority, you are my elder."
"I'm used to standing." Chen Yun'er said, she didn't even need to change her stance. "The prince was deposed, but the empress allowed him to keep his staff and guards. In the place of confinement, the prince read books every day.
Or write something, and take a walk when you’re tired.”
"Where are those things he wrote?" The emperor suddenly became interested.
"They were all burned." Chen Yun'er said: "Three months after the crown prince was dethroned, the emperor and empress regretted a little and often sent people to visit. The prince told me at that time that this was a life-threatening talisman."
"He knows that someone is behind it. If the emperor and empress do nothing, then he can still live. That's all. He is so proud, how can he be willing to live."
"Yes. After that, the prince stopped writing. One day, smoke filled the sky outside his study. Those people rushed in and saw that he was burning paper inside, and what he burned were the things he wrote."
"His heart was probably burned to death at that time." At this moment, the emperor seemed to have become a filial emperor.
Years of hard work and persistence have gone to waste, and there is no hope in the possible future. For a proud person, this is death.
"Aye is looking for an opportunity for someone to visit and tell me that the prince is in danger." Chen Yun'er's eyes were bleak, "That night! The fire was soaring into the sky. He just sat there calmly, watching you being taken away by Yi Niang, and then said to me
, Gu has missed you in this life. Remember in the next life, don’t marry Gu! Then, he picked up the jug with poisonous wine, poured two glasses of wine, and said to Mr. Huang, “Come on, you and Gu will go together!”
