Chapter 435 Is there a need for the court to exist?
Chapter 435: Is it still necessary for the imperial court to exist?
The highest official he has ever seen in his life is Su Zhenting.
Back when I went to donate an official position, I knelt in front of someone's house all night before meeting him.
In addition, the highest rank of the officials he came into contact with was only from the third rank, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was the Crown Prince, who was at least 108,000 miles away from him.
Zheng Baorong was trembling with fear, fearing that he had said the wrong thing and his head would be damaged.
The sound of "Your Highness the Crown Prince" frightened the curious book boy next to him.
The little book boy never imagined that a random guest this afternoon could be the prince?
After thinking about it carefully, he felt that he was not disrespectful to the prince. The little book boy breathed a deep sigh of relief.
No one here cared about the little book boy's inner changes.
Li Chen looked at Zheng Baorong, who was kneeling tremblingly in front of him, and ignored him for the first time. Instead, he turned to Mr. Jingzhi and said, "How about I borrow the hall from Mr. Jingzhi?"
Mr. Mirror stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Your Highness, you can do whatever you want."
Nodding, Li Chen looked at Zheng Baorong and said calmly: "Do you know why I asked Dongchang to bring you here?"
Zheng Baorong immediately replied: "Wei Chen knows because His Highness's horse and horse encountered a fight between officials and fishermen on the way. Later, after the fishermen reported it, Wei Chen was suspected of increasing taxes. All kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes made the fishermen miserable. Your Highness is kind."
, couldn't bear the suffering of the people, and was angry at the humble minister for his daring behavior, so he asked Dongchang to bring the humble minister."
Li Chen said: "Yes, you should have figured it out along the way. If so, what else do you have to say?"
The fat on Zheng Baorong's fat face trembled, and he said with a sad face: "Reporting to Your Highness, it is true that Weichen has increased taxes, but it will not make it impossible for fishermen to survive. Moreover, Weichen dares to use his own head and the head of the whole family to guarantee that over the years,
, none of the taxes collected by Weihaiwei will be used for personal gain, all of them will be used for the management and development of Weihaiwei. If you make any false statements, I am willing to face the death penalty."
"Arrogant!"
Li Chen scolded with a stern face, making Zheng Baorong tremble.
"The power of taxation has always been at the center of the imperial court and has never been delegated to the local areas. Even the taxes collected from local city gates must be reported to the city for review and approval before changes can be implemented. Who gave you such a big power?
The power to levy taxes without authorization? You can plausibly say that it is to build Weihaiwei, but you just want to build Weihaiwei, so you can ignore the king's law and seize the power of the center?"
"Just by setting up an extra tax without authorization, I will take off the heads of your entire Zheng Baorong clan right away!"
"If the prefectures, prefects, prefects, and envoys under the Great Qin Empire all follow your example, Zheng Baorong, then can the imperial court be dissolved?"
Zheng Baorong's face turned pale and he knelt on the ground without uttering a word.
Li Chen's words were very serious. Even on the way here, he felt that he had not committed corruption and all his income was used for local development. Therefore, Zheng Baorong, who had some confidence, also realized that he had really caused a huge disaster.
No matter what Zheng Baorong's starting point is, and whether Weihaiwei is managed well by him, standing in Li Chen's position, he absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of behavior continuing.
Because it damages the prestige of the imperial court.
As Li Chen said, if the court lets such behavior go unchecked, will other local officials follow suit?
They have used the tax power, so will the military power also want to use it?
By then, what kind of chaos will the world be like?
The imperial court, is there still a need for the imperial court to exist?