After the holiday in the first month of the third year of Yande, his busy daily life returned to the core of the Wei Empire.

However, compared with the anxious and excited people on their faces at this time last year, in order to unify the world, this time, the expressions on their faces were somewhat leisurely.

The world was unified, the enemy was defeated, the goal was achieved, and the existence of the Wei Empire was unshakable.

Everyone can relax a little, enjoy it a little.

Officials were walking in groups of three or five in the official office, talking and laughing, and having fun. They were not as active and urgent as before, and the officials' spirits were not as sharp as they were last year.

After feeling this inexplicable relaxed atmosphere, Zhuge Liang, who had returned to Luoyang less than a month after returning to Jiangdong, was a little worried.

After dealing with the matter in Jiangdong, Zhuge Liang finished his long-term business trip and returned to the Luoyang cabinet to continue his work.

But after he came back, he found that something seemed to have changed in the cabinet differently than when he left.

Zhuge Liang's worries were noticed by Sima Yi, who had always been sitting next to him and worked.

"Kong Ming, what's wrong? I feel like you are not in a good mood? Are you having a conflict with the one at home?"

Sima Yi smiled and joked about Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I won't have conflicts with my wife. I'm very clear about the consequences of conflicts with my wife."

"Hahaha, could it be that the money for the wine this month was detained by the wife?"

Knowing that this friend was a little afraid of something, Sima Yi often made fun of Zhuge Liang for this matter.

The relationship between the two has become better and better since they went to Jiangdong to do business together. Both of them found that the other party was very compatible with them, whether it was talented, interested, or goals.

Sima Yi had been to Zhuge Liang's house, met Zhuge Liang's wife Huang, and had eaten and slept at Zhuge Liang's house.

Zhuge Liang also went to Sima Yi's house, met Sima Yi's wife Zhang, and also ate and slept at Sima Yi's house.

During this period, the two families have had some contacts.

"My wife has deducted my alcohol money once, but never again. A man always has to have some money to stay with me when he is away, otherwise it would be indecent to leave when he encounters something. The lady already knows about this and will not detain my alcohol money."

Zhuge Liang actually said proudly.

Sima Yi almost laughed out loud.

Sima Yi knew exactly what Zhuge Liang was doing at home.

Huang said one, Zhuge Liang never said two, and the officials in the court were afraid of it, but Zhuge Liang was definitely the number one figure.

Of course, Huang's family has a strong ability to manage Zhuge Liang's life in an orderly manner. Zhuge Liang never had to worry about family affairs.

"Since this is not the case, what's the matter?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head.

"It's not a big deal, but Zhongda, do you feel it? The colleagues in the official office were a little too lazy. I feel that after His Majesty eliminated the separatist warlords, everyone became relaxed and wanted to enjoy themselves, and no longer focused on government affairs."

Sima Yi looked around.

Indeed, many people talked and laughed at each other with a relaxed look, which was very different from the situation in which everyone worked hard when they entered the official office.

but……

"Kong Ming, it is normal for such a thing to happen. After all, everyone's official duties were very busy before, and everyone was very nervous. Now it's not bad to relax and take a break. It's always so busy, but it's going to be exhausting."

"Yes, so there will be a day off. However, I always feel that in this way, some bad things will happen. The war will be basically over, but it is not over. There are still wars in Liaodong and Jiangnan, and the things in Lingnan are not over yet. Is it really good to relax so much at this moment?"

Zhuge Liang looked worried.

Sima Yi felt that Zhuge Liang was a little worried.

He felt that there was nothing wrong with this. After so much busyness, he also wanted to relax well.

In all senses, he really wants comfortable outings and having fun, and gather with his family and friends to chat, drink and eat meat, relax and make himself happy.

He knew his situation well and knew that as a lucky former official of the Guo family, he would definitely make great achievements when the emperor was powerful, so he was not in a hurry.

The old-fashioned top gentry is being dealt with one by one by the emperor, and emerging forces will inevitably be valued by the emperor.

This is the judgment within the Sima family group.

So, as long as you abide by the rules and do not make mistakes, you will be promoted.

He admired Zhuge Liang's sense of crisis, but did not agree with it.

The world is unified and the country is no longer threatening. Everyone will naturally want to have a good rest. Everyone is not an iron man, and how can they not rest?

But soon he stopped thinking so.

Because Zhuge Liang's crow's mouth was really fulfilled.

A few days later, when the weather was still cold, their immediate superior, Cao Cao, the chief minister of the cabinet, brought the latest news about the government.

During the grand dynasty meeting, the emperor ordered that the original Lingnan land be officially set up as Jiaozhou, as a newly established state-level system of the Wei Empire, Zhang Jin was appointed as the governor of Jiaozhou and govern Jiaozhou.

It fundamentally recognized the historical and political status of Jiaozhou, gave Zhang Jin good treatment, and allowed him to settle in Jiaozhou.

Anyway, depending on the emperor's intention, I didn't care much about Jiaozhou. I probably thought that Jiaozhou was too wild, so I was not interested in Jiaozhou, and did not send officials or troops. It felt like I recognized Zhang Jin's semi-independent status.

There is really no sign in Jiaozhou.

Everyone secretly laughed at Jiaozhou, saying that the emperor was so concerned about land and taxes, no one cared about Jiaozhou, which shows how unmarked Jiaozhou is.

This news is just an explanation and summary of last year's events, and it's no big deal.

Next is the news that makes everyone feel terrified.

The emperor issued an order, and asked the cabinet and the Ministry of Finance to jointly formulate a commercial tax charter within a time limit, and impose commercial tax on the transactions of merchants and travelers in various places to subsidize the expenses of marching and combat and administrative expenditures of newly acquired territory.

Is the emperor going to impose a commercial tax?

Cabinet officials were suddenly extremely surprised.

The relaxed atmosphere just now disappeared.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi were stunned, and then looked at each other.

No one expected that this incident happened a little suddenly.

Or, no one has attracted much attention.

This happened once before.

The debate in the court was very fierce at the end of the previous year to the beginning of last year, in a few months.

A group of officials strongly demanded an increase in commercial tax.

This group of people, led by Wang Can, Minister of Finance, pointed out that the Wei State was prosperous in business, and the commercial transactions in various towns were very prosperous, and the large merchants benefited a lot from it, but the court could not collect taxes.

The collection of commercial taxation in the Wei Empire was based on the old system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. As early as the Duchy of Wei, Guo Peng abolished some commercial tax items that looked like heavy taxes, and further reduced the content of commercial tax to stimulate commercial development.

Business is developing very vigorously now, but part of the cost of business is also borne by the state.

The treasury expenditure of the imperial court is quite extensive, and the treasury cannot store more money and the remaining money is limited. I am worried that I will be unable to deal with the disaster in the future.

Wang Can cites the amount of fiscal expenditures of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for locust control along the Yellow River in recent years, as well as the budget for future locust control.

Wang Can used this to prove that in order to control the Yellow River and locust plague in the future, the treasury will face a situation where the treasury will not be able to make ends meet.

What he said is indeed a problem.

After Guo Peng established the Duchy of Wei, he appointed the Taishi Ling, so that the Taishi Ling could pay close attention to climate change.

Later, according to statistics from Taishi Ling, the climate in various places has been colder in recent years and the precipitation has decreased. Compared with before Huanling, the winter time is longer, and the spring time gradually goes backwards.

This not only affects agricultural production to a certain extent, but also causes the proliferation of locust plagues.

Since the two emperors of Huanling in the former Han Dynasty, the number of locust plagues in the Yellow River Basin has increased year by year, and the scope of influence has gradually expanded. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, locust plagues have widely appeared in important grain-producing places such as Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

Fortunately, after Guo Peng occupied Qingzhou, he actively promoted the strategy of raising ducks and treating locusts, and called on farmers to release ducks into the fields before the locusts rose.

In this way, as Guo Peng's power grew, he went west along the Yellow River Basin to build a net against locusts, gradually rescuing Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou from the scope of locust plague, thus greatly increasing the output of meat ducks.
Chapter completed!