In the south city of Tianjin Acropolis, in the newly built "Shouzheng Hall" of the Second Palace of the Duke of Tianjin, Li Zhi's generals and bureaucrats gathered together, looking at the newly completed palace curiously.
Li Zhi's Duke's Palace of Jin was built last month, covering an area of more than 50 acres. There are city walls and a moat around the palace, crossing the white marble approach bridge. There are three main halls in front of the palace, each named "Binggong Hall".
"Shouzheng Hall" and "Huaide Hall". The three main halls are built on the top of a mountain with double eaves and look very grand.
Basically, the main hall "Binggong Hall" is a place for holding large-scale ceremonial activities and will not be used frequently. The third hall "Huaide Hall" is where Li Zhi handles official documents and summons his subordinates, while the second hall "Shouzheng Hall" is where Li Zhi
A place for meetings with senior subordinates.
The main hall has nine rooms and thirteen shelves, which is almost twice as long as the lobby of the General Military Palace and two meters wide. The ridge of the palace is decorated with tiles, and the beams, pillars, brackets, eaves and rafters are decorated with green and green paintings. According to Li Zhi's preference, the pillars inside the palace are wrapped
This tiger pattern is decorated with copper patterns. There is also a bronze crouching tiger hanging on the ceiling of the hall.
There are twenty-one incense burners in the hall, burning spices brought from Southeast Asia, so that the whole hall is surrounded by a delicate fragrance.
At this time, in the palace, the generals and bureaucrats participating in the meeting all had chairs to sit on, arranged according to their official positions.
Li Xing, the "General Soldier of Tianjin", was at the front of the crowd. His chair was made of rosewood and carved with tiger patterns. The chair was padded with cotton cushions and the backrest was covered with soft cotton pillows, making it very luxurious and comfortable.
Behind Li Xing were Zheng Kaicheng and other three regiment leaders, as well as Xue Sanku, the acting leader of the Selected Front Regiment. These four people are now serving as generals. Their chairs are slightly smaller than Li Xing's, but they are also large carved rosewood wooden chairs with soft textures on them.
pad.
Behind them are the positions of the second uncle Li Dao, the first uncle Zheng Yuan and other officials. Their chairs are smaller and the carvings are simpler.
Li Zhi's position is to the north of everyone, on a half-meter-high platform. There is a copper fence in front of the platform, and a copper crane-shaped incense burner is placed on the platform, which is very impressive. Li Zhi is sitting on this platform.
In the Grand Duke's chair, I felt that I was speaking with a bit more dignity.
At this time, all Li Zhi's important subordinates were seated. Li Zhi nodded towards Li Xing. Li Xing stood up and said: "The emperor sent an imperial edict yesterday, saying that there was a severe drought in Shandong, and asked our Tianjin Town to contribute funds for disaster relief. This matter is of great importance, and everyone will discuss it.
Let’s discuss how we should respond!”
Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this.
Everyone knows about the severe drought in Shandong. Shandong has been dry for three months. Except for a light rain in Dengzhou and Laizhou, it can be said that there has not been a drop of rain in other places in Shandong during the past three months. Officials in Tianjin have already read this in the newspapers
I know the plight of Shandong and that all the crops in Shandong have been dried up this year.
This year's crops are over, and farmers will have nothing to eat next year. Of course, disaster relief is needed. But this disaster relief should obviously be done by the court. How can the emperor leave the burden to Tianjin Town?
Li Zhi's second uncle Li Dao is now Li Zhi's general manager of military supplies. He is in charge of the manufacturing of various weapons and military supplies. He is also a prominent official in Tianjin Town. He knocked the dry cigarette on the tea table on the right
, knocked the ash into the ceramic jar, and said loudly: "The emperor collects taxes in Shandong, but we don't collect taxes in Shandong! We in Tianjin run newspapers and station troops in Shandong, and we don't make a penny! It's all controlled by Tianjin.
We have to spend money to make ends meet. No matter how hard we calculate, it is not our turn in Tianjin to do this disaster relief!"
Li Zhi's uncle Zheng Yuan said: "I think this is the truth!"
Zheng Yuan is now the general manager of Li Zhimin's supplies factory, with tens of thousands of people under his command. Over the years, he has grown a goatee, and his demeanor is quite dignified. At this time, he stroked his beard and said: "My lord, this cannot be done. Shandong First
There are tens of millions of hungry people, and this is a bottomless pit. How much money does it cost to provide a porridge shed for a year? I'm afraid twenty million taels is not enough! How can we have so much money?"
Everyone nodded when they heard Zheng Yuan's words. Zhong Feng and Xue Sanku looked at each other, stood up and said, "Sir, this is impossible. Not to mention that buying a thousand kilo of rice at the market price for disaster relief costs two dollars."
With more than ten million taels of silver, where can we buy so much food for disaster relief? If we buy ten million taels of food within a year, we will probably drive the national food price to the sky. Even if we have money, we will not be able to buy it.
"
Zhong Feng said loudly: "Sir, the emperor has thrown this burden to us, we cannot accept it!"
Li Zhi looked at Zhong Feng and said calmly: "You don't need to worry about the problem of disaster relief food. I have my own way to solve it."
Everyone was stunned when they heard Li Zhi's words. Relief for the hungry people in Shandong would require at least ten million dan of grain, but the Duke of Jin said it lightly.
How can the Duke raise this thousand dan of food?
However, Li Zhi's methods over the years have been really unpredictable, and everyone has a kind of blind trust in Li Zhi. As long as Li Zhi says he can handle it, it will definitely be done.
Everyone then ignored the issue of food sources and began to discuss the benefits of disaster relief.
Li Dao took a puff of dry cigarette and said: "My lord, the emperor wants us to provide disaster relief. Even if we can get food, we can't do it in vain. If you drop ten million dan of food, there will be a loud noise! We have to collect taxes in Shandong!"
"
Li Xing said loudly: "My second uncle said it well. The emperor asked us to provide disaster relief. We must collect commercial taxes and equalize land taxes in Shandong, just like Tianjin! This way we can recover the expenditure for disaster relief."
Li Laosi said: "My boss, although the civil servants in Shandong are obedient on the surface, in fact they are still dissatisfied with us. I think we can take this opportunity to ask the emperor to appoint the governor of Shandong. Who will be the governor of Shandong in the future will be decided by the Duke of the State.
When I come to make a decision, those local officials will naturally stop being upset."
Everyone was silent after hearing Li Laosi's words. The request for the power to appoint the governor of Shandong seemed a bit too big. If the emperor agreed to Li Zhi, he would completely divide the territory and turn Shandong into Li Zhi's independent kingdom. Why?
See, this requirement is impossible.
Li Laosi looked at the silent crowd and said: "The price is high and the price is being counter-offered on the spot. The emperor has made such a ridiculous request for us to provide disaster relief. Of course we have to repay him with some difficult conditions."
Only then did everyone feel relieved and nodded in agreement.
Li Xing thought for a while and said: "Also, our troops are illegally stationed in Shandong, and the court is not recognized by the court. If the emperor asks us to provide disaster relief, we will ask the emperor to appoint our eldest brother as the admiral of Shandong! In this way we can
Justifiably control the military and judicial affairs of Shandong."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this and they all agreed.
The generals and bureaucrats discussed for a while and talked a lot. Li Zhi nodded and finally concluded: "Okay, we will agree to the emperor's request for disaster relief. However, we put forward four requirements: the title of Shandong Admiral, commercial tax
, land tax and the appointment of the governor of Shandong by us."
"If the emperor agrees to these four conditions, we will ensure that no one will starve to death in Shandong."
