In the past, Bianjing City was prosperous and noisy, with people and traffic on the streets.
But today's Bianjing City seems particularly peaceful.
Apart from the creak of the carriage moving forward slowly and the sound of gold and iron clashing with armor, there was no other sound.
The farce caused by the officials in Bianjing City was suppressed by Kou Ji with thunderous force before it could fully exert its power.
The carriage moved forward slowly and arrived at the residence of Qian Pingzhi, the prison chief of Dali Temple.
The mansion is not big, covering an area of about five acres. There are two majestic stone lions guarding the door, and there are a row of horse tethers at the door.
The door of the mansion was closed tightly, only the restless almond tree stretched out its arms, jumped out of the stronghold, and swayed in the wind.
Someone in the mansion was lying in the crack of the door to observe what was going on outside. When he saw Koji's carriage and 3,200 soldiers stopping at the door of the mansion, he was so frightened that he collapsed on the ground.
A crackling sound came from behind the door.
"Arrest people!"
Kou Ji gave a calm order, and the tiger warriors behind him swarmed up.
They violently broke into the residence of Sizhi Qianpingzhi, the prison chief of Dali Temple, and rushed in amid screams and howls.
Screams, wails, curses, and cries instantly filled the entire mansion.
Two-quarters of an hour later, the soldiers escorted Qian Pingzhi, the director of prison affairs at Dali Temple, and everyone from his residence, old and young, appeared outside the residence.
Except for the young children who were still crying loudly, the rest of the people had already shut their mouths under the torment of the soldiers, and knelt down on the ground with disheveled hair, shivering.
"I beg you, Prime Minister Kou, to save your life!"
After Qian Pingzhi was taken out of the mansion, he screamed in fear and wanted to beg Kou Ji for mercy. However, before he could reach Kou Ji's carriage, he was kicked over by the Yang family's tribe who was guarding the carriage.
He rolled twice on the ground before he stopped.
A mouthful of black blood spurted out.
Kou Ji opened the curtain of the carriage, glanced at this middle-aged man who had worked for more than twenty years to reach the position of a capital official, and whispered softly, "If I had known about this, why did I do it in the first place? You guys had to lie down.
If you act recklessly on the head of an official, you must be prepared to bear the wrath of the official."
"Kou Xiang..."
"seal!"
"..."
A piece of smelly black cloth was stuffed into Qian Pingzhi's mouth and thrown into the crowd of Qian's house.
The leader of the Royal Guards took out a volume of documents, opened it in front of everyone, and read out in detail the crimes committed by Qian Pingzhi, and also read out Zhao Zhen's verdict against Qian Pingzhi.
"All female relatives will be brought into the Jiaofang Division, and the male ones will be killed without mercy..."
When the leader of the Royal Forest Guard shouted these words, everyone in the Qian Mansion looked ashen.
Some people wanted to shout for help, but before they could open their mouths, they were kicked shut by the soldiers around them.
Kou Ji led the soldiers and everyone in the Qian Mansion to the next place.
Not far from Qian's Mansion is the residence of Cheng Yong, the guest secretary of the Ministry of Rites.
When Kou Ji passed Yong's mansion on the road, the door of Cheng's mansion was open, and Cheng Yong stood at the door, sweating all over, standing with his body bent.
Kou Ji opened the curtain of the carriage and glanced at Cheng Yong. Cheng Yong shivered.
"You have to thank your third concubine. If she hadn't persuaded you over and over again to only keep money and not bully the officials, your whole family would have died.
The officialdom has been ups and downs for more than ten years, but it is not as clear as a woman's family.
You are considered stupid. I will fine you a year's salary and confiscate all the shops in your home. Do you have any objections?"
"I would like to thank the officials for not killing me..."
Cheng Yong responded with a trembling voice.
Kou Ji nodded, said nothing more, lowered the curtain of the carriage, and ordered the groom to move on.
Cheng Yong kept bending forward and sent Kou Ji to the end of the street, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, his clothes already soaked through with sweat.
"master……"
The old housekeeper quickly ran to Cheng Yong and wanted to help Cheng Yong up, but Cheng Yong raised his hand to stop him. He said with lingering fear: "Go and tell everyone in the house that from now on, the third lady will be the eldest lady in the house.
She has the final say on matters in the house, and anyone who dares to disobey will be served with a stick."
"That big lady..."
"Let her pack up and go back to her parents' home. I will send someone to send He Lishu there later... If she hadn't forced me to open my eyes for her brother, why would I have done this?"
"master……"
"I've already lost a layer of my skin! If I keep that scourge, I will lose my life sooner or later!"
"Here!"
"..."
Kou Ji led the soldiers to visit each house according to the list given by Zhao Zhen. Some people, like Qian Pingzhi, were instantly imprisoned, while others, like Cheng Yong, were fined and had all their property confiscated.
Kou Ji wandered around the city of Bianjing all night before visiting all the people on the list.
More than 6,000 people were arrested, including more than 4,700 servants, who were dispatched on the spot.
More than 800 female family members were imprisoned in the Jiaofangsi, and more than 400 officials, big and small, and the men in their families were escorted to the execution ground.
When the sun rose, Kou Ji invited all the officials in Bianjing City to watch the execution at the execution ground.
"cut!"
On Kou Ji's order, more than 400 officials, big and small, and the men in their families were beheaded.
The execution ground was stained red with blood, and the officials watching the execution were more horrified than the others.
After all the monsters and monsters have been dealt with.
The Imperial Army quietly withdrew from Bianjing City.
Bianjing City has not returned to its former prosperity.
In addition to the policemen patrolling the streets, there were only stewards from various official residences running around.
They are quickly selling their property.
They were afraid that after early this morning, the Imperial Guards who had just withdrawn from Bianjing would enter the capital again.
Zhao Zhen showed his determination to kill through Kou Ji.
No one dared to hope that the three-day deadline set by Zhao Zhen would change.
After Kou Ji finished killing the people, he did not leave. He remained sitting in the execution ground.
Someone asked Kou Ji why he stayed at the execution ground and refused to leave. Kou Ji simply said that maybe he would have to be killed tomorrow.
After this word spread, everyone was really frightened.
Officials are selling the industry much faster.
Yang Wenguang passed by Kou Ji's eyes unknowingly.
Not long after, it passed Kou Ji's eyes again.
Kou Ji put down the order in his hand and glanced at Yang Wenguang, "Okay, don't turn around. If you have anything to say, just tell me."
When Yang Wenguang heard this, he quickly stopped and said to Kou Ji: "Kou Xiang, my brothers are waiting for you to save their lives. The third day is about to pass. I can't lead my soldiers to kill my brothers, right?"
Kou Ji pondered for a moment.
Yang Wenguang said quickly: "You promised to give the brothers a way to survive before. The brothers believed in you, so they did nothing."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said: "Send someone to tell them to split up the family quickly and leave all the family business to the split family with no official or nobility, and then go to Kaifeng Mansion to write a household letter and transfer the family."
The matter is nailed to an iron plate."
Yang Wenguang was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed: "Why didn't I think of such a simple method?"
Kou Ji glanced at Yang Wenguang and said quietly: "The method is simple, but is it you who has the final say whether the court approves it or not?"
Yang Wenguang's face turned bitter.
Kou Ji is right, dividing the family is also a way.
It's just that whether the court approves or not approves this move is up to Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji.
If they both agree, then dividing the family is one solution.
If they don't recognize each other, they will both die after the separation.
Such a simple method could not be thought of by military ministers, but civil servants would certainly be able to think of it.
But why didn't the civil servants use it instead of using relatively extreme methods to force Zhao Zhen to surrender?
It's because civil servants know clearly that whether family division counts or not is up to them.
Zhao Zhen only issued an iron rule that officials were not allowed to engage in business, but did not set down specific details.
So in terms of details, only Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji have the final say.
So they don't dare to gamble.
Seeing that Yang Wenguang was still stunned, Kou Ji reminded Yang Wenguang in a nonchalant manner, "It's getting late..."
After Yang Wenguang heard this, he came to his senses and immediately sent people to various mansions to spread the message.
After receiving the message from Yang Wenguang, the military officials quickly moved into action.
One by one, they put all the business in the house under the name of their brothers or sons, then kicked them out of the house and established another business.
He also specially went to Kaifeng Mansion and set up a separate register to completely nail the matter.
Civil and military officials were busy all day and night.
In a blink of an eye, three days have passed.
Four officials, whose property was too huge and had not yet been dealt with, were captured by the Royal Forest Guards and taken to the execution ground. They were beheaded by Kou Jijian and sent to the Palace of Hell.
As the fourth day passed quietly, the civil and military officials breathed a sigh of relief.
It's just that the huge changes in Bianjing's business have caused the business in Bianjing to fall into a depressed situation.
The smell of killing has not dissipated completely, and there are very few pedestrians on the streets.
Nearly 60% of the shops are closed.
A newspaper appeared quietly at the door of every house.
Strange businessmen appeared quietly in Bianjing City one after another.
The shops that had been confiscated into the treasury were opened one by one.
After another five days of depression, Bianjing City regained its prosperity.
One by one, petty officials wearing soap hats were walking among the merchants in Bianjing City, and a government office named the Taxation Department quietly appeared in front of everyone.
After the common people learned the contents of the Di newspaper under the reading of the young man at home, they felt relieved one by one, opened their doors and took to the streets.
The people originally thought that after experiencing a turmoil, the vitality of Bianjing City would be severely damaged.
But when the people appeared on the street, they discovered it.
Everything is still business as usual, even better than before.
All kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the market have disappeared, and the evil servants running around chasing small merchants and hawkers have also disappeared.
Instead, there were petty officials wearing soap hats.
The clerks arrived in front of the small merchants and hawkers, set the business tax according to the location of the small merchants and hawkers, put down the tax stamps, took the money and left.
The small merchants and hawkers were a little frightened after receiving the tax stamps, thinking that the imperial court had sent an evil official to exploit them.
But after they had been doing business for a day and the usual evil servants collecting taxes and the green-skinned gangsters who plundered them showed up, they were completely relieved.
Although the imperial court had no famous words, they clearly felt that the imperial court had taken back the power of commercial taxation.
From now on, those evil people who exploit them by collecting business taxes will never appear again.
As long as they paid the imperial business tax, they could do business with confidence.
The vendors were cheering and shouting.
The common people were also mobilized.
Only the big merchants had sad faces.
When the clerks wearing soap hats entered their shops one by one, showed their identities and asked for an audit, and announced the court's new rule of 13 taxes per 100 pounds, as well as the court's new rules for tax collection,
The big merchants were in mourning.
Big merchants all know that it will be very difficult to evade taxes in the future.
The new tax law of 1 out of 13 taxes will take away a lot of their huge profits.
Of course, some people cheered.
For example, those who are pure businessmen.
Because the tax collector clearly told them that as long as they paid taxes according to the rules, no one would make it difficult for them to do business in the future, and they no longer had to rely on anyone to trust anyone or give gifts.
Others were indifferent.
They are the shopkeepers who came out of various shops that were confiscated by the imperial court.
They are the retired stewards of Kou, Li, Gao and other families.
Now that he is back in business, he is trying to help the court stabilize the market and earn a family fortune for himself.
The rules set by the imperial court for them are very simple. All the shops and goods are converted into money. They only need to pay off the money converted from the shops and goods within twenty years, and pay a certain high amount of interest. Twenty years
After that, everything in the shop belonged to them.
They made a contract with the court, and the contract also stated that the sooner the money was repaid, the lower the interest would be.
After some calculation, they saw that the facade was profitable and decisively signed a contract with the court.
Although the new tax law of thirteen taxes and one tax imposed by the imperial court was high, they didn't like it very much.
But they won't object.
Because they are still members of the court until now, and after they pay off their debts, they can leave the court and become pure businessmen with a business.
The motivated people sell hard in order to pay off their debts as soon as possible.
The unmotivated people also started hawking under their leadership.
Bianjing City suddenly became more lively than before.
The civil and military officials looked up at the suddenly changed Bianjing City and sighed.
Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen had more smiles on their faces.
Inside the Zishi Hall.
Zhao Zhen held up a document in his hand and said: "Fan Zhongyan just sent someone to deliver the document. Today, the Taxation Department collected nearly 20,000 yuan in taxes for the imperial court in just one day.
I'm afraid there will be more in the future.
In one year, there are nearly 7 million in tax revenue.
You must know that the total annual commercial tax of the imperial court only hovers around 9 million to 12 million yuan.
Every year, Bianjing city merchants sell off their tax rights, amounting to about 700,000 guan.
The rules set by our predecessors are really stupid, giving away such a huge amount of revenue to the evildoers."
Speaking of this, the smile on Zhao Zhen's face froze again, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Those rebellious ministers and traitors know that business taxes can make money for the court, but they all pretend to be deaf and mute, and they keep trying to steal money from themselves behind their backs.
Amassing money in the house is a damned thing.
The city of Bianjing alone could contribute 7 million in taxes to the imperial court every year. If other places were added together, the figure would probably reach a huge figure.
In the past, I was reluctant to drink mutton soup in order to save money for the treasury.
I think it's because the royal family has consumed the people's wealth and anointing, causing the national treasury to be empty.
Now it seems that the royal family’s expenses are only a drop in the bucket, and the real big part has been swallowed up by them.”
Kou Ji pondered and said nothing.
Zhao Zhen put down the paperwork, looked at Kou Ji, and asked, "What is fourth brother thinking about?"
Kou Ji said frankly: "Now the city of Bianjing is completely stable, but the commercial turmoil in other places has just begun.
The officials should send someone to keep an eye on it."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "In order to deal with these rebellious officials and traitors in Bianjing City, I suppressed the Di Bao from appearing early, and did not let the people from the Taxation Department rush to the surface.
This will not be the case among the people. When conveying my iron law, I have already sent the Di Bao to the people, and also asked people from the tax department to appear in front of people early.
I believe that the people will not cause such a big commotion in Bianjing City."
Kou Ji pondered and said: "Some people among the people will do many stupid things for the sake of money, and the officials have to guard against it."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "I have already ordered the people from Wude Division to keep an eye on it, and I have also ordered local soldiers and horses to be ready to dispatch at any time. As long as someone dares to cause trouble, I will let them know how powerful the imperial court is."
Kou Ji nodded and said nothing more.
Zhao Zhen looked at Kou Ji and said with a smile: "Fourth brother sent troops to the capital and frightened everyone in Bianjing into submission. Now some people are singing that fourth brother is our number one tiger minister in the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji smiled calmly and said: "The officials in our Song Dynasty are too soft and need to add some prestige."
Zhao Zhen nodded in agreement.
Kou Ji put away the smile on his face and said to Zhao Zhen: "The prince really wants to beg for bones?"
Hearing this, Zhao Zhen lost the smile on his face and sighed slightly, saying: "Wang Zeng has made up his mind. He handed over three books, but I rejected them all.
But he still didn't stop.
I sent Chen Lin to visit the palace. Chen Lin said that Wang Zeng was not in good condition.
I will go to the palace to visit in person in a few days.
Fourth brother, let me go first to see if there is any room for recovery for Wang Zeng."
Kou Ji pondered for a moment and nodded.
After bidding farewell to Zhao Zhen, Kou Ji left the palace and ordered the groom to drive to the palace.
The palace looked a little depressed, as if it was infected by Wang Zeng's mood. There were no smiling faces in the palace.
Kou Ji arrived at the palace and sent someone to report the matter.
Wang Zeng's stepson Wang Yi hurried to the door to greet him.
Wang had three wives, who gave birth to four sons and three daughters, but they either died in infancy or died young.
Wang Yi is the son of Wang Zeng's younger brother Wang Fen.
After Wang Zeng's children died in infancy, they were adopted into Wang Zeng's name.
The longer Kou Ji stayed in the Song Dynasty, the more he felt that Zhao Heng was not a good emperor.
Not only did he make it difficult for his children to have heirs by taking drugs, but he also asked his close loyal ministers to take drugs with him. As a result, these loyal ministers also had difficulty in having heirs, such as Kou Zhun and Wang Zeng, who were directly exterminated.
Ding Wei's descendants are prosperous.
So Kou Ji suspected that Ding Wei might have known about the problem in Zhao Heng's pill a long time ago.
Zhao Heng gave him countless pills, but he probably never took them.
Otherwise, there is no way to explain the fact that close ministers like Kou Zhun and Wang Zeng all died out, but Ding Wei's descendants prospered.
The earliest celebrity in the Song Dynasty who took elixirs and died of heirs was Xue Juzheng, not Zhao Heng.
Although there was an example like Xue Juzheng before him, Zhao Heng still wanted to take pills, so much so that he almost died.
Therefore, according to the history books, Zhao Zhen had no heir and could not blame anyone else but his father.
Zhao Heng harmed others and himself, yet he was enshrined in the Ancestral Temple and worshiped by thousands of people.
Kou Ji felt that he was really unworthy.
Kou Ji entered the palace under the guidance of Wang Yi, and smelled a strong smell of soup and medicine in the backyard of the palace.
Wang Zeng's old wife was sitting at the door of the backyard with a sad look on her face.
When he saw Kou Ji, his face became even more sad.
Kou Ji bowed to Wang Zeng's wife, and Wang Zeng's wife sighed and ordered Wang Yi to take Kou Ji into the backyard.
As soon as he entered the backyard and reached the courtyard where Wang Zeng's bedroom was located, Kou Ji understood why Wang Zeng's old wife looked so sad when she saw him.
Wang Zeng was cursing, but his anger was a little weak.
"Not the son of man! Not the son of man!"
Kou Ji entered Wang Zeng's bedroom amidst Wang Zeng's scolding. Wang Zeng saw Kou Ji. Before Kou Ji could speak, he raised the newspaper in his hand and shouted angrily: "If you have this thing, why didn't you take it earlier?"
Come out and cause so many people to die in vain?"
Kou Ji sighed and said, "The officials won't let me..."
Wang Zeng glared and said: "You are the prime minister, you can't just leave everything to the whim of the officials. The officials want to bring disaster to the world, how can you just watch it?"
Kou Ji shook his head and said: "The official family won't..."
Wang Zeng cursed loudly, "If an official doesn't know how to do it, won't his successors in the future also know how to do it? It's true that an official is a wise king, but no one can guarantee that every official who comes out of the Zhao family will be a wise king!"
If you indulge the officials in this way, it will be a huge disaster if you become a fool and cause trouble in the future."
Kou Ji asked: "So you civil servants have been constantly suppressing the imperial power, just to prevent the emergence of a foolish emperor and bring disaster to the world?"
Wang Zeng did not answer Kou Ji's question, but said viciously: "No one can guarantee that what they do will always be right."
Kou Ji said bluntly: "If you want to make the country prosperous and suppress the imperial power at the same time, I can understand it. But you put almost all your thoughts on suppressing the imperial power and almost ignore everything else.
There has even been a culture of opposition in the DPRK and China for the sake of opposition.
Under such circumstances, the imperial power has been suppressed by you, but the country has not benefited at all.
The people are getting poorer and poorer.
In the end, only you people will benefit.
Your intentions may be good, but the final results are contrary to your intentions.
You eventually became the worms of the country and the biggest scourge of the country.
From the moment you met me in Liaoyang Mansion, you have become a person who opposes for the sake of opposition.
Although you told me that you would support me and the official family.
But you have always jumped in to stop me and the officials when we wanted to do something, or set up obstacles.
What benefit does such behavior have to the country?
What’s the benefit to you?
Just so that the officials and I can kill fewer people?
But you see, even if you intervene to stop them, the damned people will still die. Neither I nor the officials know how to save their lives.
Don't tell me that your king once had the heart of a Bodhisattva.
When your king mentioned killing people with a knife, he made more concessions than me and the officials.
When the officials asked you to investigate Changpingcang in the world, you killed a lot of people."