"If you have something to do, start to act, if nothing happens, leave the court!"
Tai Chi Hall.
Wang De's voice was high-pitched and sharp, kicking off the grand meeting.
It's almost New Year's Day, which is also Chinese New Year. The Spring Festival of the Tang Dynasty is called New Year's Day, Yuan Day, Yuan Zheng. The first day of the Lunar New Year is the Yuan of the year, the Yuan of the time and the Yuan of the month, also known as the Three Yuan. As a rule, before New Year's Day
It is necessary to hold a major meeting to review the past, clear up the backlog, and look forward to the coming year.
The hall was full of civil and military officials of fifth rank and above, and many lower-rank officials were also standing outside. In this freezing season, most people really couldn't bear it, but no one complained.
It is such an important event to honor one's ancestors by coming to attend the imperial meeting.
First, the six ministers summarized the work of the past year, and proposed some important unfinished matters. For what reasons, they were blocked. If they could be solved, they could be solved on the spot. If they could not be solved, they would also propose solutions, which was efficient.
After the six departments took turns to report, the disciple, Zhongshu, continued to report.
Wu Xun had nothing to report if he wasn't fighting. Everyone had a low eyebrow and their own thoughts.
Dachaohui is almost the home court of civil servants.
After a while, the process was completed and the main hall became quiet. According to the past rules, it was time to disperse and get up before dawn. Everyone came here despite the wind and cold. Everyone was tired and sleepy, and they could no longer bear it.
At this time, Tang Jian, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out of the crowd and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, New Year's Day is coming. According to the rules, the salary will be distributed today, so that all officials can have more money and feel at ease on New Year's Day, but the Ministry of Revenue really cannot afford it.
There is so much money and food, can you please ask the inner treasury of the Holy Spirit to turn over some of it?"
Li Er was angry when he heard it. The inner treasury was his own private money, and he didn't have much money from the public. All civil and military officials had to pay their salaries, so he didn't have to spend money on his harem?
The thought flashed through his mind, and Li Er said in a deep voice: "Salaries have always been paid by the state treasury, why can't the Ministry of Household Affairs provide the money?"
"this……"
Tang Jian, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, hesitated for a moment and then explained: "Your Majesty, Jiangnan, one of the three major granaries, and the coastal area have suffered from floods. Coupled with the continuous banditry, many places have not collected grains, and taxes cannot be collected.
, the imperial court also provided a lot of subsidies. There was a rebellion in the north, and the people were also struggling and in need of relief. The imperial court's last tranche of silver and grain was shipped to the west a few days ago to fight against the Tubo, and I really can't afford the money."
Li Er's face stiffened. Floods in the south of the Yangtze River, rebellion in the north, and Tubo's rebellion all required money, food and grass. Li Er thought of this result, but he didn't expect that he would unknowingly empty the court.
The palace became oppressive, and the court was short of silver, which meant that salaries could not be distributed. How could this be possible?
Fang Xuanling glanced at Tang Jian with dissatisfaction. How could such a sensitive matter be brought up to the court? Isn't this adding chaos? She asked coldly: "The salt law has been in effect for some time. Where is the tax? At the beginning, your Ministry of Household Affairs
But if we promote the implementation of the Salt Law, we can ensure that the imperial court collects two million yuan in taxes. Where is the money?"
"this……"
Tang Jian's face froze and he could not go back.
The Salt Dispute Law meant that salt was priced, transported, and sold by the imperial court, and a large amount of tax could be collected from it. The Ministry of Household Affairs originally guaranteed at least two million guan, and Li Er agreed because of this amount of money.
Seeing Tang Jian's troubled expression, Li Er's heart skipped a beat and asked in a deep voice: "The prime minister is right, where is the tax money?"
Tang Jian saw that he could not escape, so he had to tell the truth: "The salt law is handled by a separate department of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The person in charge is Mr. Lu Jiansheng, the head of the Lu clan in Fanyang. I have no right to interfere."
At the beginning, in order to support the Li family and the Lu family of Fan Yang in Zhao County, Li Er gave full responsibility for the promotion of the salt law to Lu Jiansheng, the Lu family of Fan Yang, and placed him under the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The Lu family and the Li family in Zhaojun joined forces to betray the country and were exterminated.
This pot was too big, and Tang Jian didn't want to bear it.
Li Er's face became ugly and he didn't want to scold him, so he asked and looked at Fang Xuanling.
Fang Xuanling lamented in his heart, what kind of thing is this, but he had to take care of it, and asked: "The Lu family is treason, but the tax money will not escape, where is the money?"
"Going back to the Prime Minister, most of the tax money was taken away by the Lu family, and its whereabouts are unknown. Only a small amount returned to the national treasury, less than 500,000 yuan. A few days ago, it was all shipped to the west to fight against Tibet." Tang Jian said simply.
said.
"this……"
Fang Xuanling didn't know what to say and looked at Li Er.
When Fang Xuanling was first introduced to the salt law, Li Er was deceived by the two million tax money. As a result, all the tax money was embezzled. Now that the Fan Yang Lu family is dead, God knows where the tax money went.
Already?
Li Erlao blushed, but did not admit his mistake. He asked with a straight face: "The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the world's wealth. Now you tell me that the treasury is empty. What use do I need from you?"
This is passing the blame and passing the blame.
Tang Jian felt aggrieved, but he did not dare to contradict Li Er. He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I know my mistake and met with the general manager of the department store yesterday. The other party promised to give one million yuan to the household department for turnover, but he needed to pay Hedong
, Henan's two salt pipelines were mortgaged for five years."
"What, this is impossible." Fang Xuanling objected on the spot.
Hedong and Henan provinces have large populations, are relatively wealthy, and have a large demand for salt. If the salt sales in these two areas are handed over to others, the court will lose more than one million guan.
What's more, once this case is opened, the salt industry will inevitably be in chaos.
Fang Xuanling looked at Li Er and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the salt question law will cause the price of salt to rise sharply. If Hedong and Henan roads are sold to others, a monopoly will inevitably be formed, the price of salt will skyrocket, and the people will be miserable.
Don't set an example, otherwise everyone will follow it and the world will be in chaos."
Li Er knew the disadvantages of the Salt Law, but he had to do it for the sake of tax and money.
Now that the tax money has been embezzled, who can guarantee that no one will continue to embezzle it in the future? The tax money has gone into private pockets, so is it still necessary to question the existence of the Salt Law?
If we let others monopolize sales, the world will indeed be in chaos.
If the Salt Law can be abolished, what will happen if the court has no silver?
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Li Er felt aggrieved. He suddenly thought of Qin Huaidao. A small Qin family village was as rich as the country. He was rich all over the world, and his men could become fierce generals. He also occupied the honorary title of the imperial court, but
What's the point of giving out a salary when you have no money?
Am I worse than the King of Han?
The atmosphere in the hall was depressing and oppressive.
All the civil and military officials looked at each other. Is this really true that they have no silver hair and salary?
Tang Jian felt the dissatisfaction of the civil and military officials, and he was unhappy. Why should he take the blame?
There is nothing I can do, so I am willing to resign and make way for someone better." He took off his official hat and looked solemn.
Good guy, I'm quitting my job.
After the person left, the problem was not solved. Everyone looked at Li Er one after another, and a wave of dissatisfaction broke out.
Li Er felt this dissatisfaction. If he were to be dismissed from office collectively, then even if he, as an emperor, had reached his end, it would be recorded in the history books. He couldn't help but look at Fang Xuanling for help.
Fang Xuanling was also holding back her anger. Fortunately, her son Fang Yiai followed Qin Huaidao and got back a lot of money. Otherwise, his family would be stretched thin. When he thought of Qin Huaidao, he suddenly had an idea and said quickly: "Your Majesty, the salt tax is such a big sum of money.
It cannot disappear for no reason, it must be thoroughly investigated."
Li Er and Fang Xuanling have been partners for many years. Seeing Fang Xuanling speak like this, he must have a solution in mind, and immediately agreed: "Fang Xiang's words are reasonable, and a thorough investigation must be carried out. However, a thorough investigation is difficult and requires a capable minister. I don't know."
Does the housing minister have anyone to recommend?"
Before Fang Xuanling could speak, Changsun Wuji suddenly came out and said: "Your Majesty, I do not shy away from relatives when recommending virtuous people. My eldest son is quite talented and learned. He is idle at home. I guarantee that he will be able to find out the truth."
"Chang Sun Chong?"
Li Eryi was startled. Of course he knew that his son-in-law was quite talented. He was a romantic young man with little ambition. The young minister of Zongzheng Temple had just been promoted to secretary supervisor some time ago. When he was the young minister of Zongzheng Temple, he was responsible for overseeing the affairs of the temple.
But when it comes to investigating major salt tax cases, it is definitely not strong enough.
However, Changsun Wuji acted as guarantee. Li Er couldn't figure out why Changsun Wuji jumped out, but he had to give some face, thought about it, and said: "It's accurate, it will take one month, and there will be no results after one month..."
"I am willing to be punished." Changsun Wuji rushed to say.
Li Er became more and more curious. Changsun Wuji's behavior today was too abnormal, but he couldn't see the reason. He wrote down his curiosity and continued to say to Fang Xuanling: "There are regulations for the investigation, but what about the salary?"
Fang Xuanling originally hoped that Qin Huaidao would investigate and use the salt tax as collateral to borrow money. Now that Changsun Wuji had intervened, how could he ask Qin Huaidao to borrow money? His face turned cold and he became indifferent.
After being partners for many years, Li Er realized that he had done something wrong, but now was not the time to ask. He said decisively: "I will think about the salary issue carefully for a while and make a decision in the afternoon to withdraw from the court."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
All civil and military officials bowed in salute and retreated one after another.
Fang Xuanling stared at Changsun Wuji who left in a hurry, feeling suspicious in his heart. At this time, Li Jing came over and whispered: "This old fox usually keeps quiet, but today is unusual. He actually dared to provide guarantee. Is it possible that he
Do you know where that salt tax went?"
"I may not know, but I definitely have ulterior motives." Fang Xuanling said in a low voice.
"Do you want to investigate?" Li Jing asked.
Fang Xuanling nodded and looked at Wang De, who was approaching.
"Your Majesty invites you." Wang De said in a low voice.
Fang Xuanling nodded and hurried away with Wang De.