She sat up, opened her mouth wide, and kept yawning, looking at her grandmother beside her stupidly. Empress Lu was quite helpless. According to the etiquette established by Shusun Tong, anyone who dared to look at the Empress Dowager yawning was
It's disrespectful, but to Liu Chang, these etiquettes are just a fiction, and he has no intention of abiding by them.
Of course, even if he doesn't comply, Shusun Tong can still find various reasons to excuse the king's crimes and yawn at the Queen Mother? No, it's because the king is busy with state affairs and is extremely tired. This shows how diligent the king is...
Relying on such a skill, Shusun Tong succeeded from the second generation to the present, and Confucianism's voice is getting bigger and bigger.
"Mom!!"
"Hungry!!!"
Empress Lu had already guessed what Liu Chang would say, and was not surprised at all. She glanced at the palace maid not far away, and immediately someone walked up to Liu Chang with rice, rice and vegetables. Liu Chang frowned, "Why not?"
Where’s the meat?”
"It's getting late, just eat some vegetables and fruits."
"But I haven't eaten meat for a day!"
"If you don't eat meat for a day, you won't starve to death!"
"oh."
Liu Chang had no choice but to accept his fate and immersed himself in eating. He ate very quickly, basically not chewing, just swallowing. Liu Chang had a huge appetite and could eat three or four other people's meals in one meal, which means he was born in the emperor's family.
If he had been born into an ordinary family, he would have depleted his family wealth long ago.
Neither Liu Bang nor Empress Lu likes to waste food. The food at every banquet must be eaten cleanly, especially for ordinary meals. Liu Bang once asked Fan Kuai at a banquet:
Have you forgotten the poor days of the past? Then he asked him to eat all the meat and bones in front of him and not to waste them.
Under the influence of the two of them, Liu Bang's descendants have never been extravagant and wasteful in the pursuit of food. They eat whatever they have, and they will eat it cleanly. On the contrary, some of the second generation Chehou
They were extravagant and wasteful, slaughtering the sheep, eating only the waist and liver, and throwing away the rest.
Liu Chang quickly ate all the food and licked the bowl clean.
Liu Chang raised his hand to wipe his mouth with his sleeve, but Empress Lu slapped him on the back of his hand. Liu Chang retracted his hand and looked at his mother aggrievedly. Empress Lu took out the silk cloth and leaned forward.
Come, raise your hands and shout: "Lower your head!"
Liu Chang bowed his head obediently and let his mother wipe his mouth.
"I told you a long time ago, don't wear Yan people's clothes, don't wear Yan people's accessories... How many days can you wear it? The day before yesterday, you were wearing plain clothes, but today you are wearing black clothes!"
"Yanren's clothes are beautiful..."
Liu Chang muttered, and Queen Lu shook her head helplessly.
"Sir...you captured two county guards from Bashu?"
"Yes, these two thieves collected bribes from merchants... There are many merchants in Bashu, and their status is too high. Even the officials dare not offend them. If they are doing business well, then forget it, but they can bribe merchants to benefit themselves.
If you seek benefits, you won’t be able to tolerate it!”
Liu Chang lowered his voice and said: "Mom, I have already inquired about it. I heard that the largest merchant in Bashu is a woman, named Wuqing or something like that. I am going to call this person to Chang'an and use her to restrict these big merchants in Bashu.
Merchant, it’s okay if she obeys, but if she doesn’t obey, haha!”
Queen Lu narrowed her eyes, "You probably can't do it anymore."
"Ah? Why does my mother despise me so much? Whatever I want to do, there is nothing I can't do!"
"But she has been dead for more than twenty years..."
"Ah?? She's dead?"
"Why, do you still want to blame the person for not informing you before he died?"
"What did my mother say? I am not as stupid as my father."
The Qing that Liu Chang is talking about is Ba Widow Qing. Her ancestors relied on the convenience of mining to have countless family properties. It is said that the mercury in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor was provided by their family. She guarded the family property and was as rich as the country. She had a huge
Private Armed Forces, the First Emperor also respected her very much. By the Han Dynasty, she was dead and the family was not as good as before, but the foundation was still there.
Probably because the development time is still short, there is still some distance from the Central Plains, and the environment itself is superior. There are still many big merchants of the Bashu generation, and the Widow Qing is just the most famous among them. Their existence has indeed played a role in protecting the border in some aspects.
, the role of accelerating assimilation, but for centralized dynasties, their existence is not a good thing.
"The land of Bashu can be the granary of the Han Dynasty. Qin and Han both relied on this to achieve their great achievements. You cannot underestimate it."
"Don't worry, Mom, I will never do this."
"Who asked you to strictly inspect the land of Bashu?"
"It's my own decision."
"Then why does it look so like what Liu Jing taught?"
"How did my mother know?"
Liu Chang grinned, "My mother is wise! My mother..."
"alright!"
Empress Lu glared at him and then said: "Liu Jing is a man of great talent, but his ideas are too radical. We cannot kill all these merchants. If you kill them all, how will the specialties of Bashu be sent to the Central Plains? You, Tang State's
How can goods be sold to the State of Chu? Only by frequent exchanges of merchants can all countries be like one family and exchange materials, which is beneficial to the people."
"It's what my mother said..."
"Suppressing business does not mean destroying business... You can charge them high business taxes to subsidize mulberry farming, but you can't kill them all!"
"What does grandma mean?"
"Don't use too severe punishments on those merchants who pay bribes. Use them for your own use...use them to revitalize agriculture and make the people more convenient. If you want to hide wealth and provide it to the people, then you must use merchants to repurchase this wealth."
Received from the treasury, the cycle continues..."
Empress Lu carefully explained to Liu Chang the correct use of commerce and agriculture. Liu Chang could understand what Empress Lu meant. Make the people rich, let the merchants make money, and then earn through business taxes.
The money in the hands of merchants does not harm the farming of mulberry trees. It uses commercial taxes to make the national treasury sufficient, and then subsidizes the farming of mulberry trees. This cycle repeats, taking advantage of the characteristics of commerce to the extreme.
"You sit on a boat and fish, and you have to raise all the fish in the water. The water will flow slowly, and you can't exhaust the lake to catch fish..."
"But I don't like fish."
Liu Chang used the ancestral back talk until Empress Lu narrowed her eyes slightly, and then Liu Chang nodded hurriedly, "My mother is right!"
"What about Liu Jing?"
"Let him have a good time, how can he fish without a fishing rod?"
"good!"
Empress Lu liked Liu Chang's straightforwardness. No matter what he did, Liu Chang would never hesitate. He would do it as he said. Even if he made a mistake, he would do it first.
What Shuzi can't compare to is that he does things coquettishly and has no courage at all... Empress Lu was silent for a moment and suddenly asked: "How is Liu Ying doing lately?"
"He...has been depressed all day long. Every time I go to see him, he asks me about my mother's condition. She hasn't eaten much in the past few days and her health is getting worse. The imperial doctor said that he can no longer drink alcohol in the future.
Already..."
Queen Lu didn't speak, just waved her hand and said, "Go and do your own business."
"good."
When Liu Chang walked out of Changle Palace, he shook his head helplessly. His second brother just didn't understand his mother. If his mother said she wouldn't let him come, he really wouldn't come. He rushed straight in to find his mother. Who knew?
How dare you really stop him? How could my mother really punish him?
However, Liu Chang had more important things to do now, so he ignored his second brother's matters for the time being.
Liu Chang summoned Wang Tianqi and Liu Jing in the Xuanshi Palace.
Wang Tianqi had known for a long time that the king was going to see him, so he was prepared, but he didn't understand why Liu Jing would appear here. Wang Tianqi and Liu Jing knew each other but were not familiar with each other. Their relationship was just that they knew each other.
As Jiuqing, Liu Jing is more like a lonely minister than Wang Tianqi, a court official.
Liu Chang was pretending to be looking at the bamboo slips. When he saw the two people arriving, he hurriedly put down the bamboo slips and said with a smile: "The two father-in-laws are here!"
"Don't dare!"
Wang Tianqi trembled and saluted hurriedly.
It's not a good thing to be called "Father Zhong" by the king. Liu Chang stood up, smiled and pulled the two people to his side, asked them to sit down, and then asked: "Your Majesty, how was the interrogation of the two people?
"
"Your Majesty, they have all confessed their crimes. Please take a look at them."
Wang Tianqi was still very serious about his work. He wrote down the evidence of the crime, their confession records, and the appropriate punishment results. He knew the king's level, so what he wrote was relatively straightforward and simple, without too much nonsense. It was clear at a glance.
Liu Chang nodded with satisfaction and read all the evidence carefully.
"Why do you think the combined wealth of these two county governors is more than your own?"
"Just accepting bribes can do this. If I had known earlier, I should have made myself the King of Shu. Why should I be made the King of Tang!"
"Are Shu people so rich?"
Liu Chang squinted his eyes, but this time he looked at Liu Jing.
Wang Tianqi immediately understood why Liu Jing would appear here. Liu Jing said seriously: "Your Majesty, it's not that the people are rich, it's the rich families, the merchants are rich, and the merchants of Bashu are richer than the country, and richer than the princes. They fish and eat the people.
, win over officials, install cronies, recruit private soldiers, and ask the king to capture and kill him!"
Liu Chang looked at Wang Tianqi and asked, "What do you think?"
"I thought... they hid the armor secretly..."
"Okay, don't say any more, Mr. Liu, I have thought about your words for a long time. Now that the world is peaceful, the people are rich, and there are more and more merchants, Chang'an alone is not enough for the cities and towns, and we have to
Several cities were set up outside the city, with more than 20,000 merchants coming and going every day, and more than 600 cartloads of goods brought..."
"Chang'an has been made very prosperous by them."
Liu Jing was quite disdainful, "If they don't do anything, no matter how many merchants there are, they can't add a drop to the national treasury. What's the use? The king should restore the system of Qin and make all the cities and towns belong to the temples!"
Today's market issues in the Han Dynasty are still controversial. Many of the markets in the Qin State are government-run. In Shang Yang's idea, the temple should be used to host trade matters, allowing the people to farm and fight with peace of mind, and other matters should be left to the temple.
To solve the problem, restrictions were gradually relaxed in the early Han Dynasty, and Empress Lu even loosened a series of special restrictions on merchants to develop the economy of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Chang laughed and said, "Mr. Liu, I have been thinking about this matter these days."
"I have been exempted from a large amount of taxes, which has reduced the pressure on the people and allowed them to farm with peace of mind. What do you think?"
"The king is indeed a benevolent and righteous king, and I admire him!"
"Well, you think I did the right thing, right? But after that, the Han Dynasty's granary was empty, and it couldn't withstand the war. Even if you want to do anything, you have to sell titles... Do you think I want to
How can we replenish the treasury with food?"
"Your Majesty, this matter can be left to me... I will give you three months, and I promise to fill the treasury with food... so that your Majesty can use it inexhaustibly..."
Two red lights seemed to appear in Liu Jing's eyes, filled with murderous intent, and Wang Tianqi beside him was startled.
To be honest, for a moment, Liu Chang was moved. It was difficult for him to do things now because there was no food. If it were inexhaustible... But soon, Liu Chang came to his senses again, because he guessed Liu Jing's
I was thinking, what should I do if I don’t have food? Wouldn’t it be better to kill the merchants and rob them of their food?
Liu Chang took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Mr. Liu, I heard that the Spring and Autumn Period of the Lu family said: If you fish all the water, you will not get anything, but next year there will be no fish!"
"Now that we can't raise agricultural taxes, we can only raise commercial taxes to replenish the national treasury. If we follow your idea and we kill all the fish today, what will we do next year?"
Wang Tianqi looked at Liu Chang in surprise. Unexpectedly, the king had actually read Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals.
Liu Jing frowned and said, "Your Majesty, this is not a fish, but a finless porpoise! If you eat it, you will die, and it will cause hundreds of harms."
Liu Chang didn't speak anymore, just stroked his chin, "In that case, let's wait until the court meeting to discuss it."
Liu Jing agreed and left. After Liu Chang saw him off, he complained to Wang Tianqi: "This man is too stubborn. He dares to contradict me..."
Wang Tianqi knew that the king was very tolerant to talented people, and did not speak ill of Liu Jing. He just asked: "Does the king really want to attack the merchants of Bashu?"
"That won't happen, but it's better to let Liu Jing scare them..."
"I don't feel comfortable leaving this matter to anyone else. It's up to you to handle it...cooperate more with Liu Jing, but you must also prevent him from going too far."
"I understand!"
Liu Chang then sent Wang Tianqi away. He couldn't help stretching and sighed. He had to deal with so many things today. He was really tired. A wise and diligent king like me had been doing this all day.
He spent his time in exhaustion without even having a good meal, but for the sake of the big man, what could he do?
Liu Chang sighed with emotion for his hard work, hummed a song, and walked towards the Hall of Houde.
A figure appeared in the distance. When the two sides met, Liu Chang could no longer hum his song.
The visitor was none other than Chen Ping.
Chen Ping's face was hard to describe, especially after he saw Liu Chang. His face was really complicated, complicated and filled with emotion. Liu Chang cleared his throat and walked forward with a smile, "Zhong
Father!! Why do you come to the palace at this time?"
Chen Ping was silent for a long time, but his mind was recalling what happened last night.
"Your Majesty... I'm here to see the Queen Mother."
"Ahem, the Queen Mother has taken a rest. Come back tomorrow."
"The Queen Mother's important ministers are here."
"Father Zhong... just tell me, how do I treat you on a daily basis?"
Chen Ping thought about it seriously, and it really didn't matter.
Liu Chang stepped forward, took Chen Ping's hand, and spoke sincerely, "Father Zhong, if my mother asks me about my drunkenness, I don't need to tell the truth. What if my mother gets angry and loses her health? Right? I feel like this
Your food fief is a little short, and you have made so many contributions, so you should be granted more food fief..."
"Your Majesty, you don't have to be like this. The Queen Mother is looking for me for other reasons, not because of your Majesty."
"Oh? What's going on?"
"Why don't your Majesty ask the Queen Mother in person?"
Liu Chang let go of Chen Ping in embarrassment and let him leave. He narrowed his eyes and quickly returned to Houde Hall. He also asked Cao Shu to be called back. When Cao Shu and Fan Qing appeared in
When Liu Chang was in front of him, Liu Chang said seriously: "I am going to Bashu to personally manage the merchants there."
"Ah? Your Majesty has just returned from the south, why is he going to Bashu? The Chi Road has not been repaired yet. I don't know how long it will take for Your Majesty to go..."
"It won't take long. I don't have many people with me... Marching in a hurry will not take much time."
Fan Qing muttered and asked displeasedly: "Did you hear my brother say that Bashu is so beautiful, so you want to go to Bashu?"
"There is no such thing. Although your brother told me several times, and even said that he would find a beauty for me from Bashu, I never agreed!"
Fan Qing immediately narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and muttered bitterly: "Wait until I get home..."
Cao Shu felt the difference between Liu Chang and asked, "Did the king get into trouble again?"
Liu Chang shook his head, "It's not me, it's my mother."
"Um???"
"My mother said something to me, asked about my brother's situation, and then suddenly summoned Chen Ping... Although Chen Ping didn't say it, most people could guess that my mother planned to abolish my brother and let me
Enthroned as emperor."
"Ah? How can your Majesty see this?"
"My mother will only meet Chen Ping when she has to do the most important things... My mother has always had this idea after she came back this time."
"Then the king is going to Bashu to escape?"
Cao Shu said helplessly: "The king cannot hide...this throne will belong to the king sooner or later."
"I know! That's why I'm going to Bashu. In this way, even if I ascend the throne in the future, it will be considered as having fun. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to go to such a far place again..."
Both of them knew they couldn't persuade Liu Chang, so they didn't say anything. Cao Shu looked a little worried, "If this is the case, the king can bring more people."
"Well, okay, don't worry."
While they were chatting, Liu An walked in. When he saw Liu Chang, he subconsciously turned around and left, but was stopped by Cao Shu. He had to sit obediently next to his mother and secretly looked at Liu Chang.
"An, your father is going to Bashu... Please stay with your father during this period and don't go out."
Liu An's eyes lit up, Father is leaving? What a good thing!!
"Father! Just feel free to go! I'm here! Don't worry!"