Cheng Jue had no choice but to continue waiting, but he was also very strange in his heart. He thought it had been so long, why didn't Qiao Xingjian come?
In the study room, Zhao Yun was reading slowly with a book in his hand, not in a hurry at all.
"How is Cheng Jue?"
Gao Shi smiled softly and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Cheng Shijun has been waiting there for almost half an hour. His feet are probably numb from standing."
"Bring him a pot of tea and let him sit down and drink slowly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Gao Shi followed Zhao Yun's instructions and went.
Zhao Yun raised the corners of his mouth, showing a sneer, and continued reading.
Soon, a pot of warm tea was put into Cheng Jue's hand. Cheng Jue waited for a long time. Just when his mouth was dry, Gao Shi put it down and left.
After pouring a few glasses, I felt much better immediately.
Cheng Jue sat there and continued to wait, but Zhao Yun never came. He smelled the fragrance of tea and drank the whole pot of tea unknowingly.
Zhao Yun read the book for a while again, estimated that the time was almost up, and went to the main hall.
However, Zhao Yun did not come out to see Cheng Ju, but secretly observed Cheng Ju behind the main hall.
At this time, Cheng Jue had been waiting here for almost an hour, and drank a pot of tea in the middle. At this time, he couldn't help but feel his lower abdomen bulging, had the urge to urinate, and wanted to go to the toilet.
However, Zhao Yun hadn't appeared at this time, so he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. He had no choice but to endure and continue to wait, hoping in his heart that Zhao Yun would come soon.
Zhao Yun secretly observed from behind the main hall, and saw an anxious look on Cheng Ju's face. He was standing uneasily and couldn't help but push his legs inward. Knowing that this guy was about to go to the toilet, he couldn't help but smile on his face, feeling a little proud.
But Zhao Yun still did not come out, but continued to quietly watch Cheng Jue's every move.
Urinary urgency is really uncomfortable to hold in, and the more you hold it in, the more uncomfortable it becomes. Now Cheng Jue has really experienced this feeling. Seeing that there was no one around him, he didn't care about much, so he wanted to leave the main hall first and go to the toilet for convenience.
"Oh, I really feel sorry for keeping the Qing family waiting for so long. Don't blame the Qing family."
When Cheng Ju was about to leave, Zhao Yun came out and stopped Cheng Ju so that he could not leave.
Cheng Ju resisted the urge to urinate and raised his hand to salute Zhao Yun, "I, I don't dare, I have seen your majesty."
Cheng Jue was obviously so suffocated that he couldn't even speak, which made Zhao Yun laugh in his heart.
Zhao Yun suppressed his laughter and waved his hand to signal Cheng Ju to sit down. Cheng Ju felt uncomfortable and did not dare to sit down. He quickly asked Zhao Yun, "I wonder what important matter your Majesty has summoned me for?"
Zhao Yun looked as if nothing had happened and said: "It's nothing, I'm just a little curious about the taxation of our dynasty. Officials have always said that our trade in the Song Dynasty is prosperous and transactions are prosperous. Logically speaking, in such a good environment, the taxation should be
It's quite sufficient. Why do you, as the third envoy, often cry out in front of me, so I summoned you to ask questions, and also asked the Qing family to answer my questions."
"this."
Cheng Juqiang suppressed his urge to urinate and hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, our dynasty's commercial taxes are indeed considerable, accounting for 70% to 80% of the dynasty's tax revenue. However, no matter how much tax we pay, it cannot support our family's great business.
Your Majesty, we have more than one million soldiers in the Song Dynasty, more than 400,000 officials, as well as clans, nobles, annual coins,,, no, no, no, not annual coins, but rewards from foreign countries, and they often have to suppress them.
If the rebels and bandits go to war abroad, the expenses will be huge. If all these are added up, the family will naturally have no money left."
"Oh, that's it. There are more than one million soldiers. This is a bit too much, but it's acceptable. After all, raising an army for a thousand days can be used in a short time to be prepared for any trouble. But the officials have more than 400,000, which is a bit too much. The Qing family
Tell me, why do you support so many officials?"
Zhao Yun looked like he was studying seriously and looked at Cheng Ju expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Cheng Jue felt uncomfortable holding back his urine at this time and just wanted to escape quickly. However, Zhao Yun looked serious at this time and he was too embarrassed to talk about going to the toilet and couldn't say it out loud.
Cheng Ju had no choice but to endure it and said: "This story has to start with Emperor Taizu's founding of a business. It is said that Emperor Taizu's benevolence moved heaven and gave him a great responsibility. He replaced the Zhou Dynasty and established the Song Dynasty.
.
But after all, the Great Zhou Dynasty was also a powerful dynasty for a while. At that time, many officials still loved the Great Zhou Dynasty. In order to ensure a smooth transition of the dynasty, Taizu's benevolence did not carry out large-scale executions. He retained all the officials of the previous dynasty and gave them titles and titles.
, In this way, a bloodless change of dynasty was achieved.”
At this point, Cheng Jue felt uncomfortable holding back and wanted to go to the toilet. Zhao Yun quickly asked: "What happened next?"
"Later? Later, these officials continued to serve, but they were officials of the previous dynasty after all. Emperor Taizu was naturally not completely reassured, so he appointed a group of officials to serve as yamen. In this way, when there are more officials, their powers will be greatly weakened, even if
They were prime ministers, many of them in name only. From now on, no one could threaten the new dynasty. At the same time, because of the decentralization of powers, it was not easy for powerful ministers to appear, which was beneficial to the country. Therefore, successive generations of officials followed this method, which eventually led to the current situation of 400,000 officials.
.”
Cheng Jue's face turned red, he paused for a while, and then said: "This is still 400,000 after the southern crossing. Before the southern crossing, the number of officials reached 600,000, which was ten times that of the Tang Dynasty."
"Oh, I see that's the case. Is there any way to reverse it? After all, there are too many officials and the people have a heavy burden."
Zhao Yun peppered Cheng Jui with questions one after another, which only made Cheng Jui so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, I have some personal matters that need to be dealt with urgently. Your Majesty, please wait a moment."
In the end, Cheng Ju couldn't bear it anymore, so he apologized and hurriedly ran out of the hall.
"Gao Shi, come and have a look."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Gao Shi bowed and agreed, then chased him out in small steps.
But he said that Cheng Ju ran out of the main hall of Funing Palace and was about to look for the toilet, but Funing Palace was the emperor's palace and he had never used the toilet here before, so naturally he didn't know where the toilet was.
But at this time, he put down his face and asked the guards. One by one, the guards said they didn't know, which only made Cheng Jue furious.
With no choice, Cheng Jue had no choice but to rush to the political hall.
But after holding it in for a long time, he couldn't bear it anymore. In the end, Cheng Jue had no choice but to hide in a corner to solve the problem.
Just halfway through the solution, not to mention the comfort, but who would have thought that Gao Shi suddenly appeared not far away with a few palace maids Xiao Huangmen. The group was talking and laughing, and they were about to notice Cheng Jue.
Cheng Jue was shocked.
If the dignified three ministers and the court's prime minister were seen peeing in the corner of the palace, wouldn't they be laughed at to death? I'm afraid that the history books would be recorded as a laughing stock. If that were the case, wouldn't it be embarrassing and cost thousands of people?