Only three days later, at the Chang'an court meeting, Sun Yan, the chief official of the general meeting, took the lead in attacking the city department in the name of the censor.
Changsun Yan said loudly in front of hundreds of officials: "In the early years of Tianbao, Xu Kuang in Quanzhou was originally a maritime merchant. Later, he took his fellow villagers and used Nanyu as his nest to practice banditry, plundering the countryside and committing all kinds of evil. In order to eradicate it, the imperial court
It took three years and 20,000 troops to completely defeat this bandit. The city headquarters knew clearly that the maritime danger was serious, but they only focused on political achievements, made indiscriminate propaganda, ignored good and bad, and flouted the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Their crime was very serious."
Lu Ensheng, the Minister of the Municipal Department, walked out of the queue, first saluted Zhou Jun, and then said to Changsun Yan: "Xu Kuang's business was a lie back then, but the pirates were real. Now that this thief is a Japanese, how can he be compared with the people of Tang Dynasty? Back then, it was a lie.
When the imperial court sent troops to encircle Xu Kuang, the trading houses in Yazhou, Quanzhou, provided money and people to help the imperial court eliminate the maritime troubles. What was the reason? It was precisely because the merchants knew that pirates had cut off the way of making money from trade and must be eradicated. Therefore, the maritime
The root cause of the problem does not lie in guidance, but in governance."
Zhai Zhuo, the young Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, stood up and said: "When the Tang Dynasty was founded, Taizu Taizong made a decree that those people who went to sea must be strictly monitored and not allowed to go at will. But now, the city department requires all ministries to facilitate it.
Issuing ultimatums indiscriminately is contrary to the emperor's holy will..."
Lu Ensheng interrupted him and said: "One moment and another. When the Tang Dynasty was founded, most of the court's taxes came from field taxes, Ding taxes and corvee taxes. But now, the bulk of taxes are commercial taxes. Private overseas trade can stimulate business development and technological innovation.
, and it can also bring a lot of taxes to the court, shouldn’t this be promoted?”
"And, there is another one. A hundred years ago, in the Tang Dynasty, silk, pottery and other commodities were mostly transported to the west by land, and the sea route was not used frequently. But now, the shipbuilding industry in the Tang Dynasty has developed rapidly, and the sea trade routes are also perfect. More importantly,
What is surprising is that to the east of the Tang Dynasty, there is a golden continent that can only be reached by sea ships... For the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, we should adapt to the situation instead of sticking to the rules."
At this time, Zhai Zhuo planned to continue to use the imperial order left by Taizong to refute Lu Ensheng.
Yuan Zai, who was standing in the front row of officials, looked up and saw an impatient expression on Emperor Zhou Jun's face.
Yuan Zai thought carefully for a moment, put his hands behind his back and made a gesture.
Changsun Yan saw Yuan Zai's gesture and stood up and said: "Shilang Lu may have misunderstood. What we object to is the indiscriminate issuance of ultimatums, not the request to ban the sea."
Hearing this, Lu Ensheng was stunned.
Chang Sun Yan: "If among the people who go to sea, there are some who have ulterior motives and plan to do rebellious things overseas, can the city department take measures to deal with it?"
Regarding Chang Sun Yan's question, Lu Ensheng did not expect it and fell into silence for a moment.
Upon seeing this, Changsun Yan continued: "The order Taizu Taizong issued to strictly investigate going to sea actually had a deeper meaning. It was to prevent some people from going to sea under the guise of going to sea, but actually doing treason by tearing apart the soil to support themselves.
trip.”
Changsun Yan turned his body to Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the trend of people going to sea is booming. This is a good thing, but it needs to be carefully screened to prevent some evil people from plotting evil and going out to do evil under the guise of sea trade."
Zhou Jun looked at Changsun Yan: "Tell me, what should we do?"
When Changsun Yan saw Zhou Jun asking for advice, he was overjoyed and said: "Wei Chen suggested that the people who applied for the ultimatum should be classified into first, second and third grades. Anyone who has property in the Tang Dynasty, and whose property exceeds a certain value
Yes, as long as those with enough manpower and financial resources can give priority to the distribution of documents, the rest can be slightly behind."
Hearing this, Lu Ensheng quickly jumped out and objected: "Your Majesty, what Dr. Changsun said not only refutes the qualifications of most people to go to sea, but also controls routes, raw materials, personnel, commodities and other resources in the hands of prominent households.
If this continues for a long time, prominent households will become richer and richer, ordinary people will become poorer and poorer, and maritime trade will therefore be controlled by a few people..."
Kang Kejing, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, suddenly came out of the queue and stood in front of Lu Ensheng. He winked at the latter and blocked Lu Ensheng's next speech.
Just listen to Kang Kejing say: "Your Majesty, sea trade involves court taxes, and it is also related to the stability of the border. The original intention of the city department to implement the simplification of documents is to develop the sea trade territory of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible. As for the qualifications to go to sea, Wei Wei
I think what Dr. Changsun said is reasonable."
Lu Ensheng couldn't help but open his eyes wide when he heard Kang Kejing's words.
He never imagined that at this juncture, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, his immediate superior, would surrender in public and stop insisting on the demand for equal rights in document review.
Kong You, who was standing at the forefront of the officials, turned around and glanced at Kang Kejing, thoughtfully, and then turned back.
As a result, Chang Sun Yan, Zhai Zhuo and others won the debate in the court.
Zhou Jun then decreed at the court meeting that the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the Chang'an Prefecture and other departments would be jointly responsible for the review of maritime trade documents, while the Yushitai would be responsible for checking for omissions and filling vacancies during the review process, as well as preventing official fraud, etc.
After the court meeting, Zhou Jun summoned Kong You alone to the meeting hall for discussion.
Zhou Jun: "Today in the court, a group led by Chang Sun Yan, Zhai Zhuo and others finally jumped out and began to try to control the authority to review documents."
Kong You: "These people are just pawns. There may be someone else directing them behind the scenes."
Zhou Jun: "The real big fish are always hidden at the bottom of the water. I naturally know this truth. However, the performance of the city department today is not satisfactory. I originally thought that this dispute would drag on for a few days."
Kong You: "Kang Kejing was born in the ninth surname of Zhaowu. He was originally a merchant. He was shrewd and good at discerning opinions. Today in the court, he suddenly gave up the equal rights review of customs clearance documents. He should have sensed something from His Majesty's words and deeds.
.”
Zhou Jun thought about it again, he seemed to have said nothing and expressed nothing in the court.
I was just a little annoyed in my heart and a little impatient on my face when I heard Chang Sun Yan mention that the nobles had priority in receiving documents, and Zhai Zhuo mentioned that it was Li Tang's ancestral order not to allow the common people to go to sea.
Kong You said: "Your Majesty, according to the strategy you made previously, the first step is to delegate power to the noble faction represented by Changsun Yan, Zhai Zhuo and others, and they will still control the review power of documents; the second step is to use this
Arouse the anger of the people and pit the common people against the nobles; the third step is to comply with the public sentiment and thoroughly investigate the clique and private interests behind the maritime trade ultimatum. The ultimate goal is to catch all these lawless people who intend to monopolize the maritime trade..."
Zhou Jun: "Bohong, the rest of what you said is correct, except for one thing, which is a little off."
Kong You was stunned: "Your Majesty, please make it clear."
Zhou Jun: "The ultimate goal of this bureau I set up is not to eliminate these 'kings' and their ilk, but it has a deeper meaning."
Kong You frowned and fell into deep thought.
Zhou Jun stretched out his arms and stretched: "The game has been laid. Now it depends on whether the big fish behind Zhang Sun Yan and Zhai Zhuo are willing to bite the hook."
