Guo Xu issued an imperial edict requiring all merchants in the Zhou Dynasty to pay sales tax, shipping tax, road and bridge tax, city entry tax and more than ten kinds of taxes specially set up for merchants. As a result, merchants had to pay
You have to pay twice as much tax as before to do business. The court's explanation is so convincing that it is impossible to refute it. The main idea is: You merchants have used the court's money to build roads, open rivers and docks, and build markets and transactions.
However, the money earned is all your own, which is unfair. The court's money is spent for you, and you have to pay money back to the court. This is a fair transaction.
The merchants were complaining, but they had no excuse. Apart from paying the money, they were afraid they would have to go out of business. However, Guo Xu was not aware of the consequences of this stupid measure. He was not the one who calculated the economic accounts.
They would not realize at all that this would dampen the enthusiasm of merchants, and would instead reduce the court's income in the future. The prosperity of merchants was the biggest contributor to the Zhou Dynasty's prosperity today. Merchants had
Some decided to go out of business, and some wildly raised the price of goods to pass on the lost money to others. The resulting series of skyrocketing prices and social chaos affected not only the merchants, but would soon affect the people of the entire Zhou Dynasty. This would bring about
It caused great turmoil, caused a situation where the people were in dire straits, and destroyed the already fragile people's livelihood. Guo Xu couldn't even consider it.
Now Guo Xu is just doing what he wants to do as he pleases, and the knowledgeable people in the court, those officials who know the consequences of doing so, dare not speak out. Lu Zhongtian has also been appointed as the temporary Privy Councilor.
It is incredible. Although the court's explanation is only temporary, it has already destroyed the foundation of the system since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. When Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengshen established the Regulations Department, they only had a very small part of the military and financial power.
They were vigorously impeached by Lu Zhongtian and others, saying that they had destroyed the ancestral system and were suspected of being dictatorial. But now Lu Zhongtian himself has done the same, and he has seized the military, political and financial power of the entire court. This shows that Lu Zhongtian is a hypocrite.
It’s not that the ancestral system cannot be changed, but it depends on who the power is given to. Of course it cannot be given to others, but it is fine if it is given to yourself. This is Lu Zhongtian’s true psychology.
Under this situation, some officials in the DPRK and central government were really intolerable, but they could not change the status quo. They could not afford to offend me, so they could afford to hide! So some people resigned and left, and some ran away without even saying hello.
It was because everyone could see that the imperial court was hopeless and smelled something unusual.
For Guo Xu and Lu Zhongtian, it is not a terrible thing for some officials to resign and leave. What they are most worried about is the reaction of the army after Yang Jun is killed. What they are most afraid of is commanding 250,000 troops stationed in the northwest.
The reaction of Yuan Zhenqian, the powerful general of Zhenxi. Yuan Zhengqian was the chief warrior promoted by Yang Jun. When he followed Yang Jun to conquer Xixia, he was Yang Jun's deputy general. Yang Jun had to resign from the military because of the extermination order.
After retreating into seclusion for a while to avoid the limelight, he recommended Yuan Zhenqian to take over his position as commander of the Northwest Army. This shows that Yang Jun admired Yuan Zhenqian very much.
After Yang Jun became the Privy Councilor, he was never stingy in the supply of equipment and supplies to the Northwest Army. It can be seen from this that Yang Jun himself regarded Yuan Zhenqian as a direct descendant. The reason why Yang Jun was able to maintain a stable position in the court was largely due to It is to have a direct lineage of the Northwest Army
Ma Yuan was stationed in Xixia, and anyone who wanted to touch Yang Jun had to consider the consequences. Therefore, when Yang Jun was killed, what Guo Xu and Lu Zhongtian were most worried about was Yuan Zhenqian's reaction. Although Yang Jun was asked to plead guilty and then kill him, It seems reasonable to reject him, but whether these leading generals recognize it, especially whether Yuan Zhenqian recognizes it, is still the biggest worry in the hearts of Guo Xu and Lu Zhongtian.
After Yang Jun was executed, Guo Xu sent his personal servant to the northwest carrying the original confession of Yang Jun, the imperial edict appointing Yuan Zhenqian as privy deputy, the seal of the general, and the imperial edict of the third-class dukedom. This was to appease Yuan Zhenqian. Yuan Zhengqian found out his attitude. He appointed a deputy privy envoy, was granted the title of general, and was granted the title of duke. These three major rewards were extremely generous. Guo Xu also spent a lot of money. That's all. Lu Zhongtian also returned He gave a treasure treasured in the house to the eunuch who took it with him, and wrote a personal letter. The gift was a sword, which was the Snow Ji Sword, one of the top ten famous swords in the legend. According to legend, it was a Taoist master. The Sword of the Gate is extremely rare and valuable.
The reason why Lu Zhongtian asked someone to bring this Snow Ji Sword to Yuan Zhenqian was because of a small episode. A few years ago, when Yuan Zhengqian returned to Beijing to report on his work, Lu Zhongtian once hosted a banquet for Yang Jun and Yuan Zhenqian. Of course, it was just a courtesy exchange. Yuan Zhengqian seemed to be at the banquet. He drank too much and said that he was the ninth great-great-grandson of Yuan Tiangang, a Taoist priest in the Li and Tang Dynasties. Who was Yuan Tiangang? He was the immortal who wrote the "Tui. Back Picture" that could predict the national destiny for thousands of years. Folk opinions The magic he preached was so magical that people in the Taoist sect were even more proud of it. Naturally, no one believed Yuan Zhengqian's words. Yuan Zhengqian also said that his ancestor originally had a sword, which was passed down from his ancestors. It was a sacred object of the Taoist sect named Xue Ji. The sword was later lost in the war. He said that it was his responsibility to find the sword.
Others thought this was nonsense, but it sounded different to Lu Zhongtian. Because by coincidence, Lu Zhongtian had this famous sword hidden in his home. It was found when Lu Zhongtian sealed up the Tiangong Temple in the capital. The Taoist priests who were watching did not know how valuable the sword was, but Lu Zhongtian knew about it, so he kept it for himself.
When Lu Zhongtian heard what Yuan Zhenqian said, he immediately understood that this must be a deliberate show by Yang Jun and Yuan Zhenqian. They obviously knew that the sword fell into their hands, and one of Yang Jun's most obsessed things was collecting all kinds of famous swords and weapons. Treasure. It is very likely that they knew that the sword was in their hands, so they asked Yuan Zhenqian to deliberately make up a story. If they really believed that he was Yuan Tiangang's great-great-grandson, they would probably return the sword to Yuan Zhenqian, and that would be it. Yang Jun's wish came true.
Lu Zhongtian refused to pay attention to their drama, and he pretended not to hear it at the moment. Later, Yang Jun almost made it clear what he said: "Lv Xianggangyou Kuangkuang, if you find any trace of this sword, please look for it for me. After all, it is the property of the Heavenly Master. It should be returned to you." The original owner must have meritorious deeds and so on. This further proves that Lu Zhongtian's guess is correct. These two people came to trick him into handing over this sword to them. Lu Zhongtian thought to himself: Do you think I am a fool? Just He said perfunctorily that he would definitely help with this, and after seeing the sword, he would definitely find a way to return it to its original owner.
At that time, Lu Zhongtian was not hypocritical, but now Lu Zhongtian naturally needs to win over Yuan Zhengqian. Bringing this sword to Yuan Zhengqian is to put it bluntly, to win over him.
"... I kept in mind what General Yuan said back then. I finally found out the whereabouts of this sword not long ago, so I bought it with a lot of money and returned it to its original owner. General Yuan
He is the great-great-grandson of the Celestial Master. Having this sword can comfort the ancestors of the gods and make up for the loss of this sword by his ancestors. I think I like to do the beautiful things for adults, not to mention that it is the entrustment of General Yuan, so I do my best. I also teach you. General Yuan knows that I have always been a man of promise."
These are the words Lu Zhongtian wrote in his letter, portraying himself as a trustworthy person who never forgets Yuan Zhenqian's words back then and tries his best to fulfill his instructions. It expresses his respect and respect for Yuan Zhengqian. He also uses it to describe himself as a trustworthy person. On the pretext of returning it to its original owner, he gave this priceless sword as a gift to Yuan Zhenqian. Lu Zhongtian also spent a lot of money. As for whether Yuan Zhenqian is the ninth-generation great-great-grandson of Yuan Tiangang, Lu Zhongtian doesn't care. What Lu Zhongtian cares about is, Now that he has seized the position of Privy Councilor, he must get the support of Yuan Zhengqian before he can formally take over the military power. He must win over Yuan Zhengqian, so he must spend a lot of money. If Yuan Zhengqian is a sensible person, he should know his intentions. With Yuan Zhengqian's support, His position as Privy Councilor was basically stable. And this was also an important weight that allowed Yuan Zhenqian to express his attitude towards Yang Jun's murder.
On the one hand, they took heavy action to calm down the situation, stabilize the situation, and prevent rumors from spreading. On the other hand, Guo Xu and Lu Zhongtian were also waiting with trepidation for the news of their return from the northwest. After half a month of trepidation and sleeplessness, the decree was finally delivered. The chamberlain returned from the northwest after a long journey.
The chamberlain was also a ruthless person. He knew that both the emperor and Prime Minister Lu were waiting for news about him, so he hardly rested along the way. He led his entourage on the road covered with stars and moonlight. The road to the northwest was far and difficult, but he actually only It took seven days to rush to Xingqing Mansion where Yuan Zhenqian's army was stationed. After conveying the decree, he only rested for one night in Xingqing Mansion. It took another seven days to rush back to the capital. When he arrived in the capital, The chamberlain's clothes were tattered and his skin was dark, and the entire team looked like beggars. Of course, his efforts paid off. Guo Xu later promoted him to the position of leader of the chamberlain, and he rose to great heights just after this mission. That’s another story.
The chamberlain brought Yuan Zhengqian's memorial. When Guo Xu read the memorial with dry mouth and trembling, a big stone suddenly fell to the ground in his heart. Yuan Zhengqian expressed his loyalty in the memorial and expressed his support for the court's decision. Yuan Zhengqian said that although He and Yang Jun were as close as father and son, and Privy Envoy Yang was kind to him for promotion and acquaintance, but before the national law, everyone is equal. Privy Yang committed a serious crime, and it was reasonable for him to be punished. Yuan Zhenqian said that although he was heartbroken, but As a minister of the imperial court, he could not excuse Yang Jun. Yuan Zhengqian also said that he only hoped that the imperial court would give Privy Yang a decent funeral. He had confessed his crime, and his merits and demerits should not be erased because of his sins. Hope. The imperial court can consider the feelings of officials and generals.
Yuan Zhengqian's memorial was watertight. He was obviously ungrateful, but he described it as being unable to balance his loyalty and justice. In the end, he had to express his attitude from the perspective of the country's justice. He was extremely embarrassed and heartbroken.
Sometimes people are so sanctimonious, and the bottom line of human nature is often deep and unknowable. If Yang Jun saw this memorial from Yuan Zhenqian, he would probably be angry out of the coffin. This is his direct confidant. After his death, He didn't even say a hard word for him, let alone raise any questions.
When people leave, the tea is cool, and Yuan Zhengqian perfectly interprets this word.
