After Jia Ke returned, all of Jia Yingchun's affairs were handed over to Qin Keqing, and Qin Keqing lived up to Jia Ke's expectations. From that day on, she took over all of Jia Yingchun's affairs.
Jia Yingchun's life started to get better from this day on. No matter how much Wang Xifeng gave her monthly money, Wuyang Houfu would give her another share according to her status.
All of Jia Yingchun's meals are now taken care of by Wuyang Hou Mansion, and a small kitchen is arranged for Jia Yingchun in the Zhujin Building where Jia Yingchun lives, and a cook is sent.
These benefits made Jia Baoyu a little jealous. Although he was the most favored young master in the Rongguo Mansion, he did not have such benefits as a small kitchen.
Soon Jia Mu knew about this matter. She was confused about it at first, but she soon put it aside and stopped caring about it. Jia Mu has always been very tolerant of Jia Ke's matters.
After Jia Lian learned about this, his face became gloomy for several days. But he did not dare to say anything to Jia Ke in person, so he could only endure it. From then on, the relationship between the two became more and more distant.
After Jia Ke finished dealing with Jia Yingchun's matter, he seemed to have let go of one thing on his mind and refocused his energy on matters in the court.
During this period, the emperor had another misfortune. During an early court meeting, Jia Ke was unexpectedly attacked.
In a morning court meeting in July, after all the ministers paid homage to the emperor, they thought it was nothing major. After dealing with some trivial matters, everyone could go back to their respective homes.
Suddenly the emperor stood up from the throne, walked to the imperial steps and said to the ministers: "My dear lords, all other matters have been discussed. I have something to announce to you."
The ministers looked at it and said, since the emperor has something to do, everyone should just listen. Anyway, it doesn't matter if you go home a little late.
The emperor saw all the ministers standing there respectfully listening to his teachings, and the smile on his face became more and more popular. "My beloved ministers also know that there are floods in the south and drought in Shaanxi this year. The imperial court does have some problems."
We can’t make ends meet. So I’ll discuss it with everyone to see if there are any ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.”
When the emperor said this, all the ministers felt helpless. There were already natural and man-made disasters this year, and there was a shortage of 3 million taels of silver. Naturally, it was stretched. Now the emperor has to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, how can such a good thing happen?
When the emperor saw that everyone was silent, he was not angry either. He still smiled and said to everyone: "Since you have no choice, I will tell you something."
"We have decided to increase taxes this year by 30%. What do you think?" When the emperor said this, he began to smile.
He had been thinking about this method for a long time. He thought that the imperial court's taxation was not high in the first place. It was only 1 in 15 taxes. If he increased it by 30%, it would only be changed to 1 in 10 taxes. Although the people would suffer some losses, they would not be able to survive.
If we don't go on, we can just wait until next year when the economic situation improves and then lower taxes.
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the ministers below were in an uproar.
Now that the imperial court is in its prime, the ministers in the imperial court still have some conscience. They know that the people are not easy. Although it seems that the imperial court only pays a tax of 1 per fifteen, in fact the tax is several times that. After all, the officials below also have to live, and they also have to
To live a good life, the money will naturally come from the common people. I'm afraid the emperor is the only one in the world who doesn't know about this.
The ministers below began to worry. If the current tax rate is the same, the people can still survive. If three more layers are added, the people below will increase the tax several times to collect the three layers. What will the people do then? Life?
While the ministers were discussing there, Liu Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was the first to stand up and support the emperor, "Long live Qi, I believe that the emperor's method is the only way to solve the crisis in the court at present. I support it." The emperor’s thoughts.”
As soon as Liu Yu finished speaking, Old Meng Ming beside him couldn't help it anymore. When he saw him jumping out, Liu Yu stood next to him and pointed at him and scolded him: "You are a traitorous official who has brought disaster to the country and the people. I used to think that you were just a person with the ideas in your heart and others." It's different, I didn't expect you to hide such trouble."
When the emperor was happy, he saw Lao Mengming being the first to stand up and scold Liu Yu, and he felt angry for a while. He was not scolding Liu Yu, but he was clearly scolding himself.
"Meng Ming, you are also the Minister of Military and Aircraft. How can you say something rude in the court and not return to the squad?" The emperor roared at Meng Ming so loudly that the entire Qianqing Gate shook.
When Meng Ming heard the emperor's words, he quickly turned around, knelt in front of the emperor and said: "Long live this tax increase method must not be implemented. If this policy is implemented, the world will be in chaos."
"Meng Ming, don't rely on your old age. Tell me, why is the world in chaos? I still don't believe it. Just add a few layers of taxes and the whole world will turn against you." The emperor's temper has also risen now, and he must give up. Meng Ming made it clear in public.
If it were anyone else, he would have backed down by now. But this old Meng Ming is a young man. Even though he is so old, his temper is the same as when he was young.
"Long live my lord, after being the emperor for such a long time, I'm afraid I'm still confused." Meng Ming also took the risk and said sarcastically to the emperor.
When the emperor heard his disrespectful words, he could not bear to say directly to the warriors in front of the palace: "Get this old man and throw him into the sky prison. After hearing this, he will be punished."
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, four or five warriors came to the palace to capture Lao Meng Ming.
Jia Ke couldn't stand it anymore at this time. Anyway, Old Meng Ming had helped him before, and he had also come to his side during this time. She could never look at him and be dealt with by the emperor like this.
"Long live Lord, please calm down. Please let me spare Jia Ke just this once because of Long live Lord's extrajudicial kindness." As soon as Jia Ke stood up to plead for mercy, those golden armored warriors did not dare to tie up old Meng Ming anymore. I stood there in a daze, not knowing who to listen to.
The emperor was also a smart man. He was just angry for a moment. Now he was embarrassed to see several warriors standing there in front of the palace. He knew that they did not dare to take action because of Jia Ke. So he could only wave to them from the donkey down the slope. Let them go down first.
The emperor calmed down his anger and then asked: "Meng Ming, if Jia Ke pleads for you, I will spare you this time. Do you know now that you were wrong?"
Little did he know that Meng Ming was now a strong leader. He straightened his neck and said to the emperor: "What I just said is the truth. There is nothing wrong with me."
When the emperor heard this, he immediately became angry again, "Okay, tell me then. Where is the mistake? If you are right, I will spare you. If you are wrong, today is the day you die."
Old Meng Ming was now willing to take risks. He raised his hand and bowed to the emperor, and then said: "I'm afraid the emperor doesn't know how much the salary of this dynasty is, right?"
The emperor stood there and sneered: "Why do I still make you ministers hungry? Looking at you all, you don't seem to have any money to eat."
Old Mengming raised his head and said, "I'm afraid the emperor doesn't know that, as the Minister of Military and Aircraft and the Head of the Hanlin Academy, my annual salary is only one hundred and eighty taels. If I lived on this little money, I would have died of hunger long ago.
Not to mention those petty officials of the sixth and seventh grades."
The emperor was really shocked when he heard this. Although he had been the emperor for several years, he had never cared about the salary of the ministers. He always thought that each of these ministers was well-dressed and well-fed, which was given by him as the emperor.
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Liu Yu stood up and faced Old Meng Ming at this time, "Sir, do you think Emperor Taizu is unfair?"
When Jia Ke saw Liu Yu criticizing Lao Mengming as soon as he came up, he also came out and said to him: "Don't slander others randomly. When did the boss say such things? Could it be that you saw that he was disrespectful to you just now, so now he wants to do it in public
frame him falsely."
When Liu Yu wanted to say something else, the emperor said angrily from above, "Shut up, you two. First listen to what this old man has to say, and then you can talk."
Jia Ke heard that the emperor was so rude and was not prepared to argue with him, so he quietly retreated to his class.
Liu Yu had no one to argue with him, so he could only step aside and watch what Old Meng Ming had to say.
Old Mengming continued: "Does Your Majesty think that with this small amount of money, we can still feed and clothe our family?"
Old Mengming's words only made the emperor speechless, but he was even more dissatisfied with this old guy in his heart. How could any minister in the imperial court be so embarrassed by the emperor?
When Old Mengming saw that the emperor was silent, he continued to hold his head high and said: "Since those people below have no money to support their families, they naturally have to find other ways. They can only work hard on taxation. Now the emperor collects a
If you share the tax, the people at the bottom will be willing to take three cents."
When the emperor heard what Old Meng Ming said, his face turned into a scapegoat. Only now did he realize that his dynasty was not as stable as he thought. If Old Meng Ming hadn't confided the matter to him today, he would have thought that the people would live and work in peace and contentment.
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The emperor did not become angry, but stood up and walked to the imperial steps, giving the ministers below a sharp look.
When the ministers saw the emperor's unkind expression, they all lowered their heads and looked carefully at their feet, as if there were some flowers on them.
These ministers are now filled with resentment towards Lao Mengming. Originally, collecting firewood was a rule left over from past dynasties, and the officials below also depended on him for their survival.
And they, the big men in Beijing, also rely on fire consumption to get ice and carbon respect in order to maintain their own dignity.
Now that Meng Ming has said this in the court, everything is open. How can we give this money to the people in the future? What will they do with their lives in the future?
Old Mengming had already put his life and death at risk. He felt that if he told the truth, the emperor would not be able to spare him. However, he did not expect that the emperor would deign to condescend and help him up personally. Old Mengming was still very moved in his heart.
If it was before Meng Ming made up his mind, then the emperor, this action would be enough to make old Meng Ming grateful and die-hard. But now, although he is moved in his heart, he has not wavered in his determination to continue to follow Jia Ke.
Because Meng Ming knew that the emperor had no chance, and now the emperor was just struggling to death. After Jia Ke finished the arrangement, he could make the emperor fall into the dust with a backhand.