The emperor was unaware of Lao Meng Ming's current psychological activities. He saw the emotion on Lao Meng's face and felt proud of his courtesy as a corporal.
"Old dear, please continue talking. I want to hear how the officials in this world support themselves." The emperor stood in the center of the hall, with a cold light in his eyes. All the ministers who looked at him felt a little guilty.
Meng Ming heard the emperor's question and said bravely: "Your Majesty, the officials below can only increase their tax expenditure in order to live. As a result, the burden on the people actually exceeds the taxes collected by the imperial court.
If the emperor increases the taxation by three more levels, I am afraid that the people below will have no way to survive."
After listening to Meng Ming's words, the emperor stood there silently. Only now did he realize that the taxes actually paid by the people were not what he thought.
At this time, Liu Wan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Meng is right. If the emperor wants to increase taxes, I am afraid that officials from various places will double the amount. By then, the people will probably be even more miserable."
Liu Wan paused for a moment, then looked at the ministers in the court, and saw that all of them had unkind expressions on their faces. He knew in his heart that he had offended everyone by exposing this matter in the court.
But as a loyal minister of the emperor, we must never let the emperor make any mistakes. You must know that the emperor is walking on thin ice now. If he makes a mistake, he will fall into the ice hole and never come out.
The emperor turned around silently, climbed up the imperial steps again, came to the throne, and held on to the armrest of the throne, not knowing what to say.
Finally, the emperor turned around and asked Jia Ke directly, "Jia Aiqing, you are the foreman of the Military Aircraft Department. Now the court is seriously short of pay. Please think of a way to increase the court's tax revenue."
The emperor just broke the pot and threw the problem directly to Jia Ke to see what you can do. If it is handled well, it is my emperor's kindness. If it is not handled well, it is your fault, Jia Ke.
Jia Ke didn't expect that the emperor would push this mess onto him. Jia Ke had no idea of accepting this trouble. Jia Ke thought for a while and then thought of a solution that the emperor would never accept.
"Long live my Lord, for the present plan, the only thing I can think of is to collect taxes from the gentry in the world. These people all have considerable land. If the tax revenue from the imperial court can be increased by at least fifty percent,
In this way, the court's troubles will be solved." Jia Ke said happily.
As soon as Jia Ke finished speaking, all the ministers in the hall started making noise together. Everyone present, including Jia Ke, was not a big landowner or tycoon. Jia Ke's method was simply digging into their roots.
After listening to Jia Ke's method, the emperor originally thought it was very good. Asking these rich people to contribute some taxes was only a drop in the bucket for them and did not hurt the fundamentals.
Unexpectedly, when I saw the ministers below making noise together, I felt a chill in my heart. If this method was passed, it would be tantamount to offending the gentry all over the world.
The foundation of this dynasty is these gentry. Once they no longer support the court, I am afraid that the court will be in danger of overthrowing.
The emperor broke into a cold sweat thinking of this, and when he looked at Jia Ke, the cold light in his eyes swept over him. Jia Ke clearly wanted to separate himself from the officials and gentry of the world, so that he could control the world.
What a cruel means and vicious thoughts.
The emperor thought of this and slapped the imperial court, "Shut up, Jia Aiqing, what are you talking about? If you do this, the court will immediately chill the hearts of the people in the world. Never mention this matter again."
The civil and military officials below breathed a sigh of relief when they heard what the emperor said. They were really afraid that the emperor would act like a fool and follow Jia Ke's plan to collect taxes from the gentry in the world.
Jia Ke said helplessly below: "Since the emperor does not accept my suggestion, then I really have no choice."
When the emperor sees Jia Ke acting like a rogue, it means that this is my method. If you don't adopt it, you will have nothing to do with me.
Liu Yu actually thinks that Jia Ke's method is very good, but now is not the time to mention it. If the emperor has the power and there is no powerful official like Jia Ke, then this method can naturally be implemented smoothly. To solve the problem of the court, it is just a simple matter.
Two years' time.
But now there is internal instability in the imperial court, and Jia Ke is always watching eagerly from the side. As long as the emperor makes a mistake, Jia Ke will pounce on the emperor like a vicious wolf and bite the emperor to pieces.
Liu Yu thought for a while, then walked out of the class and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this year's tax revenue will definitely be reduced due to the drought in Shaanxi and the floods in the Huaihe River area. In this way, next year's tax revenue will be even less.
At that time, the imperial court will be completely unable to support it."
When Liu Yu said this, he looked at the ministers below and said, "I have put the problem here. Can you think of a way to solve it?"
Jia Ke naturally knew what he meant, but now was not the time to speak. You stood there silently, as if there was no other way.
The ministers below are also well aware of this matter, but they remain silent. As long as it does not offend their interests, it doesn't matter what you do.
Seeing that all the ministers were silent, Liu Yu said to the emperor again: "Long live my lord, I'm afraid it's inappropriate to increase the tax by 30%, but it can still be done if we only add one layer."
When Liu Yu said this, he looked at Lao Meng Ming again. He was the most fiercely opposed to this matter. Now let's see what he means.
Lao Mengming stood nearby and listened carefully. He analyzed the current situation of the court and was not optimistic about the tax situation next year. Now Liu Yu's proposal to only increase one level of taxation can be regarded as a compromise by the emperor, and in this way,
It has a much smaller impact on people's lives, so it's not a solution within a solution.
So Meng Ming kept silent there, which meant that he agreed with Liu Yu's method.
When the emperor saw that Meng Ming had already acquiesced to this matter, he finally felt a stone fall in his heart. Although he did not achieve his goal of collecting 30% of the tax, he could barely cope with this level of tax. As long as the various yamen next year,
Even if we streamline some expenses, we can manage to cope with it.
Unexpectedly, the emperor just breathed a sigh of relief, and a young censor stood up from underneath.
This censor was only in his 20s and looked like a newbie, but his eyes were very firm.
The censor stood up, knelt down on the ground, and choked with sobs and said to the emperor: "I am reporting this to your Majesty, I have my own integrity."
When the emperor saw Zhang Zhi kneeling underneath, he couldn't help but smile. This man could be considered as coming out from under his hands.
To say that Zhang Zhi was born into a poor family, during the last examination, it was his own discernment that picked him out from the failed papers and made him a successful candidate. Therefore, Zhang Zhi has always been grateful to him.
Loyal.
"Zhang Aiqing, if you have anything to say, just say it. Am I an intolerant person?"
After listening to the emperor's words, Zhang Zhi still choked with sobs, but he stubbornly raised his head and looked at the emperor.
Jia Ke, who was standing at the front, looked at this and understood what Zhang Zhi was going to say.
"Long live my Majesty, please take back your life. Otherwise, disaster is not far away."
The emperor was stunned after hearing this. Just now he admitted that he had made a compromise. Originally, the tax was increased by three levels on the original basis, but now it is magnanimous to only add one level. What is this little censor doing?
"Zhang Zhi, what do you mean?" When the emperor said this, his face became extremely gloomy.
Zhang Zhi did not stop because of the emperor's unkind expression, "Long live, I am from the people, and I know that the lives of these ordinary people are not easy. They go out early and come back late every day, just for one bite of food. Is this still the case without enough food all year round?
"
When Zhang Zhi said this, he couldn't bear it anymore and started sobbing non-stop in the court. It seemed that he was thinking of his own sadness.
After hearing what he said, the emperor wanted to get angry, but in the end he endured it. After all, Zhang Zhi was also thinking about himself.
"Zhang Aiqing doesn't have to worry too much. He even increased the tax revenue this year to help the court tide over the difficulties. It will naturally be reduced next year. The people's hard work this year can be regarded as contributing to the court."
Although Zhang Zhi was crying, his eyes were firm. After hearing the emperor's self-righteous words, he actually suppressed his sadness.
"The idea of Banzai is probably just to deceive myself. I am afraid that when the time comes that Banzai wants to stop collecting taxes, the lowest officials and those cruel people will not comply."
After hearing these words, Jia Ke kept nodding. If it were when the emperor was in power, perhaps the officials below him would be able to restrain themselves due to the emperor's authority, but now the emperor is forced by himself to take care of himself. Where can he have the energy to take care of himself?
Nowadays, the officials below are becoming more and more unscrupulous due to the affairs below. I am afraid that the emperor's idea is nothing more than carving a boat to seek a sword, and using fish and trees to seek fate.
Jia Ke actually admired this little official now, and was afraid of what the emperor would do to him in his anger, so he winked down.
Xie Xiang, the deputy censor on the left, received Jia Ke's signal and immediately stood up.
"Long live Qi Zhi, what Zhang Zhi said is the truth, please take back your life."
With this beginning, a large number of people from Jia Ke's lineage immediately knelt down and said, "I implore the emperor to take back the order for the sake of the people."
The emperor stood next to the throne, feeling his temples pounding and his body a little unsteady.
Xia Shouzhong saw the emperor's appearance and hurried over to support him.
But the emperor pushed Xia Shouzhong away and stood beside the throne, glaring angrily at the people kneeling beneath him.
"Okay, you are all loyal ministers and upright officials who seek orders for the people. I am a foolish king. I will just collect the tax. What do you want?"
Liu Yu was already a little angry when he saw the emperor, but Jia Ke seemed to be still standing there with his eyes open, knowing that the emperor's matter was plotted by Jia Ke again.
If today's incident spreads to the people, the emperor's reputation as a coward will be sealed.
So Liu Yu hurried out of work and said to the ministers who were kneeling on the ground: "What do you want to do? Don't you know that the court is in trouble this year? If taxes are not increased, how can the court be maintained?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished saying this, Zhang Zhi spat at him, "Treacherous minister, not long ago, you and Sun Yan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, proposed to the emperor the matter of defrauding the emperor, and the whole world was already boiling.
As a result, the punishments and prisons are unfair, the people have suffered, and there is no place to redress their grievances. Now you support the emperor to increase taxes. I don't know what your intentions are. Are you willing to let this world repeat itself?"
Now that Zhang Zhi saw so many ministers supporting him, he became even more excited. The young man's fearless energy was brought to full play by him. He even openly reprimanded the military minister in the court.