Wei Yingwu ordered the incense burner to be sent back to the government office temporarily, and he rushed directly to the Wei Mansion. Wei Yingwu was really angry, and actually forced Pan Liao to use this method to return the bribe. The head of the family was really embarrassed.
The head of the family, Wei Huan, is Wei Yingwu's cousin, but Wei Yingwu has his own house and doesn't have much contact with each other. We can only get together during festivals or sacrifices.
Not long after, Wei Yingwu came to Wei Huan's house. Hearing that Wei Yingwu was looking for him, Wei Huan didn't want to answer. He was really dissatisfied with his cousin. When his cousin came back, he actually became the third-rank Jingzhaoyin. If he took up the actual post,
However, he could only serve as the governor of Shangzhou from the fourth rank. Wei Huan could not afford to lose this face, so he accepted the post of counselor.
The counselor is actually a consultant. He has no real power or decision-making power. He only consults when the superior thinks of you. It is simply unacceptable to a power-hungry person like Wei Huan. He just has no choice.
Wei Huan never felt that he was incompetent. He had already served as the Minister of Punishment in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and he was also the head of the Wei family who was famous all over the world. Why couldn't he go in and out of the Counselor's Building with the title of Zhizhengshi?
In the end, he handed over the responsibility of not being reused to two people. One was Du You. Du You occupied the Guanzhong family quota that originally belonged to the Wei family in the counselor's building. The other was Wei Yingwu. It was impossible for His Highness the King of Jin to appoint two Weis at the same time.
My family is a high-ranking official, and this cousin has hindered my career.
Hearing that his cousin had something urgent to do with him, Wei Huan reluctantly came to the living room. His attitude was cold and he didn't even want to serve tea, so he asked directly: "What do you want from me?"
Wei Yingwu felt his brother's coldness. He couldn't help but said with dissatisfaction in his heart: "I have a purple, gold and sapphire incense burner there. It belongs to my eldest brother, right?"
Wei Huan was startled. Wasn't this incense burner given to Pan Liao last night? Why was it at Wei Yingwu's place?
He didn't think it through for a moment, so he asked: "Why is the incense burner where you are?"
Wei Yingwu could hardly hold back the anger in his heart. He said coldly: "Pan Mansion came to find me and said that someone lost an incense burner in front of their house. They wanted me to help find the owner. I recognized that the incense burner was
Brother, please send someone to get it back!"
It's not nice to lose a thief, so Wei Yingwu, considering his eldest brother's face, tried to keep the matter as vague as possible, so that everyone would be aware of it.
Wei Huan's old face turned red. He couldn't bear to lose face. He said angrily: "It's really inexplicable. What does Pan's incense burner have to do with me? Whatever you want, it's up to you!"
He stood up and walked away. Wei Yingwu shook his head secretly. No wonder the King of Jin looked down on him. The situation was too small. Bribery was used to compete for the position of prime minister, which was really disgusting.
He also didn't think about it. Pan Liao already had that kind of status, and he would still want a bribe? Even relatives and friends would not ask for it, let alone strangers. He simply didn't know what his elder brother was thinking.
Wei Yingwu returned to the official office, and immediately sent someone to deliver the incense burner to Wei Mansion, and the matter was settled.
Unexpectedly, the entourage dragged back a pile of incense burner fragments. Wei Yingwu was stunned and asked quickly: "What's going on?"
The attendant shook his head, "I don't know what happened. The head of the Wei family ordered the incense burner to be smashed to pieces and thrown out of the house. I didn't know what to do, so I had to drag it back."
Wei Yingwu sighed after a long while. The relationship between him and the head of the family was at loggerheads.
.........
In the official room, Guo Song met with Wen Ji who had returned from the Southern Tang Dynasty. Wen Ji was the Minister of Household Affairs and the envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He nominally held financial power, but in fact, the financial power was in the hands of the eunuchs, and even the official salaries could not be paid.
The title of Minister of Household Affairs can only be in name only.
"The biggest advantage of the Eunuch Party is that they control the army and Yushitai. In addition, they also have a secret surveillance agency Zuoyintai. All officials will be impeached if they are even slightly dissatisfied. Nanya can only swallow his anger and either leave or resign.
Keep your head up and be a good person.”
Guo Song smiled and asked: "But I heard that Zhang Yanshang and Song Chaofeng reached a compromise, and Nanya's life should be easier!"
Wen Ji gave a wry smile, "That's a little profit gained by selling the last dignity. Three of the five prime ministers in the Political Affairs Hall were recommended by the Eunuch Party. Moreover, major military and state affairs are subject to a voting system. In fact, the Eunuch Party controls political affairs.
Tang, Nanya and Beiya are all controlled by the eunuchs."
"I heard that Song Chaofeng retreated behind the scenes, why did he push Ju Wenzhen out?"
Wen Ji smiled and said: "Song Chaofeng's retreat behind the scenes has something to do with the internal fighting among the eunuchs. Of the three prime minister positions in Nanya, Song Chaofeng, Dou Wenchang and Huo Xianming each got one, while the fifth Shouliang, Zhang Shang and Jiao
The three of them were dissatisfied, so they joined forces to force Song Chaofeng to resign from the position of Privy Councilor in Beiya. Song Chaofeng took the opportunity to retreat and resigned from the position of Privy Councilor on the grounds of old age. He also petitioned the Queen Mother to grant Ju Wenzhen the title of Privy Councilor.
The privy envoy received the support of Dou Wenchang and Huo Xianming, and the fifth Shouliang and the others suffered a loss and had no choice but to admit it."
"How does Ju Wenzhen compare with Song Chaofeng?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
"This person's methods are a little smarter than Song Chaofeng's. The first thing he did when he took office was to increase the salary of hundreds of Nanya officials. At the same time, he confiscated the houses of the Guanlong family, fugitive officials and merchants who moved north, and distributed them to the middle and low-level Nanya officials.
The officials did a good job of appeasing the Nanya officials and stabilizing the boiling situation. Of course, Ju Wenzhen was just Song Chaofeng's puppet, and these measures were approved by Song Chaofeng."
Guo Song nodded and asked: "Wen Shijun has been back for more than half a month, and he has been understanding the people's sentiments in Chang'an and Guanzhong. What aspects do you feel the government still lacks?"
Wen Ji pondered for a moment and said: "Since His Highness asked me, I will tell you the truth. I feel that some officials in Chang'an have become a little lax, or have begun to indulge in arrogance."
Guo Song was startled and asked solemnly: "How do you say this?"
"I know that His Highness advocates diligence and frugality, promotes cotton and linen, and opposes silk and brocade, but in the colorful boat parade on Xi'anmen Street every evening, half of them are singers and dancers displaying colorful clothes, all of which are silk and satin, and even Su embroidery and Shu brocade.
It is not uncommon. It is indeed stunningly beautiful under the light and makes people yearn for it. But what hint does this give to the people of Chang'an? In this extravagant atmosphere, will everyone still like the simplicity of cotton and linen?
Also, His Highness treated the merchants favorably and gave them too many benefits. Not only did they improve their status, but they also provided various tax exemptions. I can understand this. Business exchanges can bring prosperity to the market, and it is understandable to treat merchants well. But, what did they pay for the Jin Kingdom?
?Soldiers go to war, and people work hard at farming, weaving, and paying taxes. What about businessmen? They only care about making money, but are they willing to send their children to the battlefield?
Your Highness, in the past, the imperial court restricted businessmen not entirely to exploit them, but because most businessmen were unscrupulous and most of them only saw their own interests and never considered national interests. Your Highness is treating businessmen favorably today, but you cannot go too far or go too far!"
Guo Song's face was burning up. Although the colorful boat parade was created by Zhang Lei, he completely followed his wishes. The fashion show that followed was also his idea, but he forgot that advocating simplicity was his consistent purpose.
Guo Song smiled bitterly and said: "Thank you, Lord Wen, for your kind words and warning. Cai Chuan did do something wrong in some aspects. I will correct it in time. But regarding the businessman, I need to explain to Lord Wen."
Wen Ji did not expect that Guo Song would listen to advice so humbly. He was really moved and said quickly: "Your Highness is too humble. I am willing to listen to Your Highness's opinions!"
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "Being kind to businessmen is actually a strategy. Although businessmen have a low status, in fact, one-third of the world's wealth is in their hands. Both Zhu Si and the eunuchs regard businessmen as fat sheep and do everything possible to exploit and cut them off."
Wool, this is an opportunity for us. I deliberately created an atmosphere of favoring merchants and attracted merchants from Chengdu, Luoyang, and Yangzhou to Chang'an, and their wealth followed.
They came to Chang'an to buy a house and live in it. There was no land in the city, so I made rules, canceled the curfew, and kept the city gates open at night. The city outside Chang'an developed rapidly. In the past few months, the court's income from selling land outside the city alone was
It has exceeded one million yuan, various shops have opened, and workers are being recruited everywhere, and poor people have also gained income.
In addition, Zhu Si and I signed a transit agreement, and a large amount of goods were continuously transported from Jiangnan to Guanzhong, and Guanzhong prospered. This was actually sucking the wealth of Zhu Si and the Southern Tang Dynasty, but through merchants, it was relatively hidden.
I don’t realize it yet.”
Guo Song's theory of wealth made Wen Ji nod repeatedly. He had to admit that Guo Song was thinking in a longer term than himself. He was considering the problem from the perspective of the entire world. In comparison, he was still a little narrow-minded.
Wen Ji thought for a moment and said, "If a large amount of money pours into Chang'an, will it cause prices to skyrocket and affect people's lives?"
Guo Song nodded, "It will definitely have an impact, but I have already considered it. There are four basic commodities that are firmly controlled by the government, wheat, salt, coarse cloth and cattle. Coupled with the large-scale promotion of low-cost government rental housing, in fact,
In terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation, except for transportation, I have no control over the other three items. No matter how much money pours in, it will not affect the basic survival of the poor.
But if you want to live more spaciously, eat more sumptuously, dress more colorfully, and travel more comfortably, then the price will definitely be higher."
Wen Ji sighed slightly, "His Royal Highness governs with both restraint and expansion, courage, responsibility, and long-term vision. He is the blessing of the world!"