A banquet among old friends lasted until the afternoon.
It was rare for Zhou Jun to be happy and he was so drunk that he drank until the end and was helped by the chamberlains to take a rest.
Zhaoyi Huayue led the palace maids and maids and sent Kong You to the gate of Tingquan Xiaozhu.
Looking back at the small courtyard that resembled the Bachuan Villa, Kong You stood in the snow and didn't speak for a while.
Seeing that he seemed depressed, Hua Yue asked, "Did you have anything else to say to His Majesty at the banquet just now?"
Kong You said softly: "Since you surrendered to Your Majesty as your master, you have been self-reliant on your talents, acted erratically, and got into trouble several times. If it had been another master, I'm afraid he would have been buried long ago..."
Hua Yue said nothing, just listened quietly.
Kong You: "Thanks to your majesty's kind heart and your kindness in the past, I was spared my life."
Hua Yue: "Your Majesty is nostalgic for the past, and this is how you treat old people."
Kong You slowly withdrew his gaze: "Yes, Your Majesty is nostalgic for the past... but although nostalgic for the past is a good thing, I hope it will not turn into a disaster in the end."
Huayue was stunned.
Kong You lowered his head, bowed to Huayue, then turned and left the door.
A few days later, the imperial court issued a relocation order, and Kong You, the imperial censor Zhongcheng, was appointed as the envoy to the south of the Yangtze River and set off from Liangzhou to the west road of Jiangnan.
In the early spring of the sixth year of the New Year, vegetation sprouted in Liangcheng.
Early in the morning, several city gates outside the imperial city, including Qiyan Gate, Anli Gate, and Deyi Gate, were opened one after another.
In the past, only officials could enter the imperial city. Today, access rights have been opened to a group of special guests from different regions of the Tang Dynasty.
Some of this group of guests are heads of top business houses in the Tang Dynasty, some are owners of large domestic workshops, and some are local officials responsible for handling affairs in the prosperous business districts of prefectures and counties.
All the invited guests, totaling more than 700 people, lined up in a huge queue, were inspected and searched by the military guards, and were finally led to the political hall of the imperial city.
Since most of the guests who came to attend the meeting were common people without official status, after entering the hall, half of everyone was excited, and the other half was trepidation.
The imperial department responsible for contacting this meeting was the State and City Supervisor with Kang Kejing as the chief officer.
Kang Kejing, who was on the side stage of the inner hall, was holding the roster and records and was carefully checking the details of the members.
His subordinate, Lu Ensheng, the right school official of the National and Municipal Supervisors, came over with a stack of books and said: "Young Supervisor, Xu Shizhong from the Provincial Department has arrived, and the people from the Internal Supervisor have also arrived."
Kang Kejing put down the roster and asked Lu Ensheng, "Did the Chamberlain say when His Majesty will arrive?"
Lu Ensheng: "Your Majesty has already left the Guangzhao Palace and will arrive soon."
Kang Kejing: "Today's meeting is not an ordinary banquet. The topic is very important. Please tell everyone to be more alert and not to let anything go wrong."
Lu Ensheng nodded, put down the book in his hand, and planned to leave.
Kang Kejing suddenly called out to Lu Ensheng: "Ensheng, you have done most of the running up and down of the State and Municipal Supervisors these past few days. There is no mistake in the process. You have done a good job."
Lu Ensheng was a little surprised when he heard this. After reacting, he could only say a few words of humility.
About half an hour later, drums and music began to play in the direction of the apse, and some chamberlains sang loudly, saying that the emperor had arrived.
The participants in the hall quickly followed the instructions of the court officials before the meeting, knelt on the ground and saluted respectfully to welcome him.
Emperor Zhou Jun, dressed in Yan uniform, came to the throne. After everyone in the audience bowed, he nodded and said, "Let's all get down."
The chamberlains led the participants to their respective desks.
When everyone was seated, Zhou Jun did not take the time to chat, but asked directly: "Last year, Tubo and Huihe harassed the border areas, and the Tang Dynasty trade route was affected by the war. I have summoned you all here today. I
I would like to ask, has your business suffered any losses? Is the supply of goods sufficient? Can the business line be sustained?"
The emperor's words shocked everyone present at the meeting.
Participants originally thought that the emperor called everyone here to have fun with the people and show his love for them.
Unexpectedly, the emperor came up and didn't even want to say any nonsense. He directly asked about business issues that were closely related to everyone.
Everyone looked at each other in shock.
At this time, even if they eat the heart of a bear or the courage of a leopard, people dare not say anything to complain.
Several high-ranking business representatives stood up and said, "The Tang Dynasty is mighty, the saints are wise, and the barbarians are no more than small, so how could they..."
Zhou Jun frowned when he heard these flattery words, stretched out his hand to stop these people, and said in a deep voice: "What I want to hear is the truth!"
Hearing the emperor's anger, the two representatives of the merchants who spoke fell to their knees and kowtowed.
For a moment, no one dared to speak.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun sighed, looked at Kang Kejing aside, and nodded.
Kang Kejing first bowed to the emperor, then walked to the center of the hall and said to the participants: "Everyone, listen to me. In the fourth year of the New Year, the total tax and tribute of the Tang Dynasty totaled 22 million yuan."
"Among them, the land rent for the tenants after taking up the acres was more than 2 million guan, and the farmers harvested more than 19.8 million hu of millet, which was enough to produce 7.4 million pieces of silk and more than 1,350,000 pieces of cloth.
If all of this is converted into silver money, it would be approximately 10.5 million guan."
Most of the people attending the meeting were business people. After a rough calculation, they discovered a problem.
The tribute tax of the Tang Dynasty in the fourth year of the New Yuan Dynasty, excluding the traditional income from rent and transfer, should have left 11 million yuan in income.
And where did this eleven million income come from?
Kang Kejing answered this question at this time: "Excluding the taxes and tributes in the fourth year of the New Yuan Dynasty, the other half of the imperial court's income was composed of commercial taxes, customs offices, Jindu, and commercial post offices...
…In other words, half of the Tang Dynasty’s taxes and tributes in the fourth year of the New Year were contributed by business.”
Upon hearing this result, all participants were shocked.
Kang Kejing: "Before this, in order to stabilize prices and reduce the burden on the people, the imperial court canceled the tax on salt, and at the same time abolished the compulsory corvee for civilians. This move also made commercial taxes and related taxes a central issue for the imperial court.
An important source of tax revenue."
"However, starting from the fifth year of the New Year, the Tubo, Uighur, Tuqishi, Geluolu and other frontier barbarians continued to invade the borders of the Tang Dynasty and launched attacks on the Beiting Trade Road and Daqi Trade Road.
Looting. The imperial court hopes to inquire about the commercial losses in Anxi, Beiting, Hexi, Hedong and other places to see if it will affect the imperial court's taxes and tribute."
After hearing this, all the participants finally understood why the emperor called these people together to hold this meeting.
At this time, Zhou Jun asked: "I ask again, were your respective businesses damaged in the past year? Are the trade routes intact?"
