.

"Shilarious Minister Di, what did I do wrong?" Ximen Chong still didn't see the critical point.

"It's not just a mistake, it's simply ridiculously wrong..." Di Renjie sighed.

It's not too much to blame Ximen Chong.

How many levels do I have to be an official? Usually, I only go to the officialdom, especially those who are from poor families, want to do something. But in the officialdom, I can't get to the top with just one's own achievements. Then I gradually understand that some officials will slowly realize that it is not that I can continue to be promoted after doing so much. I also have to curry favor with my superiors, intrigue with my colleagues, and win over my subordinates in order to support myself. Some officials fell in the process of degeneration, and coupled with the dazzling material enjoyment brought by power, they lost their nature. Except for encountering a high-ranking court, this type of official is generally difficult to achieve.

In the upper-level officialdom, if you want to assign an official to the position, you have to look at the approximately character of the official. If you don’t even care about this, the country will be over. Either the official who has not changed and is still young is difficult to assign it. It is to show Hai Rui. Or Bao Zheng, he met a good emperor, and then he looked at his same year (the same Jinshi), Han Qi, Wu Yu, Zhao Guai, Wen Yanbo, and then he was mourning for his parents for ten years at home. What does it mean to be a Song Dynasty that values ​​filial piety? So as soon as he entered the official career, it was like a rocket. Moreover, his unchanging behavior also did many things that were not good to the Song Dynasty.

The third type knows to build a network of relationships. Di Renjie only woke up in his forties and took the initiative to find the prince to join him. It is not just to see the prince love the people. This network of relationships may not be maintained with money. It is a inferior network of relationships. There are many ways to find a big backer, or to attract more capable colleagues, or to join relatives, or to attract talents, and to stretch out his hand when he is embarrassed, or to have a friendship between teachers and students, etc. The fourth type knows the true meaning of power, which is the interweaving of interests. Even the emperor cannot escape this custom, otherwise it may not even be able to protect the throne.

Ximen Chong is quite good, he is also a talented person, and he is good at being an official. But he is still young. Although he has been with the prince for many years, he has a weak foundation and has not seen much inside information in the officialdom. He can only just enter the second level. This is not surprising. When he was in his twenties, he was similar to him, so he almost went to prison.

The Queen Mother found him and also took a fancy to him.

He has little experience and little knowledge. He wanted to open a breakthrough when the emperor was away, but he did not expect that Ximen Chong gave this gift to the empress dowager.

Officials’ income depends solely on salary, and it is difficult for senior officials to maintain their lives. There are less than 100 officials who can live on salary alone. Of this 10%, at least nine percent of the families have good financial conditions. If they do not expect this salary, promotion is only an honor, otherwise one percent is not enough. However, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the administration of officials is still fair, and only half of the officials who really take the people’s heads are fish and meat. What should be done with other officials? There are many ways, such as letting family servants or relatives run. Many officials have a hidden second income. First, there are some diverse incomes, such as planting banquets, birthday banquets, wedding banquets, funeral banquets, and even concubine banquets, sons and grandchildren arrest Zhou banquets, and lower officials and those who are flattering must give gifts. Second, the end is this fire consumption.

This is very important.

Even some prefecture and county officials cannot handle government affairs without it. Ximen Chong is a Taicang Order and does not need it. However, what about as an assassin and a county magistrate?

For example, some poor counties are only equipped with one county magistrate and county magistrate, and they don’t even have a lord. However, these counties are the most difficult to manage. The simplest one is to have yamen runners and documents. The court also has salaries, but it is not the official salary, but is deducted from local finances. However, if the difficult areas are motivated, they must pay enough salary. If the government orders are not fulfilled, can the efforts be made publicly stated in the finances? No! Therefore, these expenses are also deducted from the fire consumption.

These situations have occurred since ancient times.

Li Wei also discussed this with Di Renjie.

But both of them were just a little bit, and Li Wei didn't say it in depth, and there was no way to say it. If the court deducted the salaries of officials, the more greedy they would become. High salary would be to support integrity, people would be indifferent, and they would still be greedy. One thing, Li Wei had not said that Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials the most. His parents and his two brothers forced corrupt officials to death. So after ascending the throne, he killed tens of thousands of corrupt officials. At the highest, 364 officials were released in a year, and six were executed one year later, 358 people were killed and scattered, and none of them moved, but did not remove corruption?

It seems that this is also a virtue of China. Once you become an official, you must be greedy. If you are not greedy, you are not Chinese.

Li Wei also hated him, but since he grew up to now, he has three masters in recent years, one is Di Renjie, the first person to tell him all kinds of truths, the second is Pei Xingjian, who taught him military affairs, and the third is his mother. He is guarding against his mother and studying in secret. Therefore, he gradually became open-minded about this, as long as he doesn't do too much, just live by it.

Especially fire consumption, it is even more impossible to mention. This topic is more about annexing land and buying and selling people.

If you can't reveal it, whoever reveals it will be embarrassed.

But the two also talked about something.

Mainly gold, silver and treasures. As a currency system, gold and silver officially arrived in the Song Dynasty, but it was still not common. Although trade was developed and there was little gold and silver, it could only be used as a quasi-monetary system, and it was even worse than the status of the Tang Dynasty today. After the Ming Dynasty, there was more silver and it became one of the mainstream currencies in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Li Wei had good intentions and made it out in advance. He also took various measures, including anti-counterfeiting, promotion and increasing the number of sources. However, the disadvantages were still quickly generated.

The first disadvantage is the instability of prices. It is not only a quasi-currency, but also a precious metal. This is not like paper money. Except for money, you can be stupid? Writing, painting or wiping your mouth? It brought a lot of gold and silver from overseas. However, how big was the total economic output of the Tang Dynasty? It is not taxation. The average tax in the Tang Dynasty was only one-eighth of the Song Dynasty. Don’t look at such a large territory. But this is caused by the underdeveloped commercial taxes and too many tax-free large families. Similarly, the Ming Dynasty was poorer than the Tang Dynasty. However, this is not the case among the people, and the difference is at most one-quarter of the Song Dynasty. Once recognized by the people and circulated quickly, the gold and silver of the Tang Dynasty were not enough. Moreover, the people continue to need it to make exquisite utensils and jewelry.

So the price gradually rose as Li Wei sent someone to threaten. After the rise, it also caused a result. Chinese people like to follow the trend. The more the price rises, the more people collect it and are reluctant to take it out and use it. If it continues for a long time, no official will melt the gold, silver and treasures again for the sake of fire consumption, and there will be private people melting it for the sake of the price difference in the middle.

Another incident happened. A small island in Nanyang is rich in gold. I don’t know how to let this group of seaguards know. But there is a small country on which Buddha swore that has never interacted with the Tang Dynasty before, and its civilization is also very backward. For seaguards, it is a big country. Therefore, several seaguards united to attack this small country. After several fierce battles, they finally destroyed this small country, killing and injuring hundreds of heroes. They don’t care about this.

What Di Renjie was worried about was the front point. In the end, the source of gold and silver would increase, but the people would melt gold and silver treasures. Once there were more, the price would become a downward trend. It doesn’t matter to big investors, and some big investors were even more sensitive than the court. Once they were sold in advance, they would still suffer losses. That would bring a small disaster to the people and cause many disputes.

Li Wei was very surprised. Di Renjie was talking about the bubble theory, but it was not unreasonable. Therefore, he had to say something and take a look in two years. If the situation is bad, the court will make another adjustment. He only knows the basics of economics, and he can only do this.

The second disadvantage is not fire consumption, but taxation.

At that time, in order to reduce unfairness, Li Wei used two forms of tribute tax and tribute tax for grain and tribute tax for coins and tribute tax for each other. It is not only convenient for the people, but also fair, but also has some benefits. For example, in the same prefecture and county, in Nanshan, one must pay grain in Beishan, but there is a small river in front of Nanshan, and the grain can be transported out after it is loaded on board. Then I can sell it on site in Nanshan and use cash instead of taxation in Beishan. This is a convenience in some areas.

And according to equal divisions, the bribes were divided into bribes, which eliminated the loss of transportation. The taxes obtained by the court did not change in the end, but the people paid less large amounts of taxes. This was also equivalent to reducing the burden on the people. Of course, the court also gained real benefits. A process of transportation and a process of storage losses would save considerable expenses every year.

The intention is good, but the implementation process is not the case.

Just as Huang Zongxi of the Ming Dynasty mentioned a problem in his book, whether it is the two tax laws or the one whip laws, the motivation for implementation is very kind. However, once it is implemented, taxation is always added, that is, every time the agricultural tax changes, farmers' taxes will be added. It is also called Huang Zongxi's law. Unfortunately, Li Wei has never read this book, and even if he has read it, he has neglected and forgotten it.

This phenomenon also exists in later generations. Two counties have the same income. For political achievements, one county leaders said that we are a well-off county. Wow, they were promoted. The other county loves the people, saying that we are a poor county and the officials do not want to be promoted, but the people benefited. The people in the well-off county are still wondering. It is almost the same no matter how you look at it, why have we become a well-off? Don’t forget, you are just the common people and can’t complain. The former is a bastard, and the latter is not advisable. They all love the people. The country needs tax exemption and subsidies. What should the national finance do? It is best to seek things in a practical way. But how many officials can do it? And it is definitely the former. Promotion and wealth are the most important ideas of officials. Love the people as their children, which is a bad idea?

The same was true for the Tang Dynasty.

This tax was saved, but officials believed that the people still had potential to tap, so they added other taxes in disguise to improve their political achievements. Their idea was also good. You used money instead of taxes, saving transportation labor and loss. I have achieved political achievements, and you did not increase the burden. But this is not the case. For example, in the former example, the people of Beishan continued to pay taxes in kind, but the loss did not decrease, the labor did not decrease, but the tax increased twice.

As a result, the court's finances increased, and it must have increased partly. However, many places have begun to complain. This investigation is not easy to investigate. Of course, doing so has increased the fire consumption, and officials' private pockets are getting stronger than before.

Li Wei has no choice but to do anything about this. After all, if he deals with it seriously, he will offend many officials. In this political situation, it is not a rational approach. He can only wait until he officially takes over the power before dealing with it seriously.

But the harm is definitely not as great as Ximen Chong's proposal.

Ximen Chong had never thought that it was uncomfortable, and the other was that he was afraid that Wu Zetian would take the opportunity to suppress him. It was too easy for the empress dowager to suppress him. So he put forward this topic and used it as self-protection.

But Ximen Chong still didn't understand. Di Renjie didn't want to talk to him anymore and said, "You go."

Big trouble is coming.

Moreover, when Liu Rengui was placed in Chang'an, Li Zhi used his son to go to the Western Regions and reshuffled the court. He thought he was still energetic and energetic to the point where he could seal the Five Mountains. The ministers also understood that this was already very restrained for the father and son in the royal family. If it were other fathers and sons, the ten-day *** would have been a big fight. However, Di Renjie's intuition told him that this was not the case. The court had made some major changes. Liu Rengui was the biggest card for the imperial party. What would the emperor think when he sent to Chang'an?

This approach is very unwise, but Di Renjie smelled a breath, a breath that was very beneficial to the emperor. Di Renjie didn't know the specific one, nor did he know what the physical condition of the Supreme Emperor was. At this time, he had to save the emperor from any major accidents. So he found Wei Yuanzhong and discussed for a long time. In desperation, he had to come up with a stupid way to lose his car to protect the coach.

Wu Zetian took action the next day.

But she didn't say anything. It was Li Zhi who summoned the ministers in the palace and said Ximen Chong's words in its original form. Then she said dissatisfiedly: "If it weren't for Ximen Qing, I would still be in the valley today. Why didn't anyone mention this to me?"

Li Zhi was really angry. Li Zhi would know some of the cat tricks in the middle, but he grew up in the deep palace and did not know enough about the folk things, so he didn't know how deep the cat tricks were. Most ministers lowered their heads, and they climbed up from the grassroots level step by step, more or less affected by the smell of fire consumption.

But a few people looked at Ximen Chong together, and then looked at Di Renjie and the others, thinking, are you stupid?

It was said that it was a fire loss, and Ximen Chong knew that it could not be cured, but he originally wanted to say it, one was to protect himself, and the other was to think it was a ill of the Tang Dynasty. Can there be a way to improve it? But isn't this the case?

If you want to control fire consumption, more than 70% of the national officials may go into the water. This is a disadvantage. In the past, the court's method of handling it was always too bad. Send people to check it, and it may even become a tool for political enemies to suppress the enemy. However, this is a gameplay of both sides and losses, and few officials use it. Normally, dealing with officials who have done too much will play a shock-capture role, but this is not the case. Ximen Chong made a suggestion, but he has another identity, an important aide to the prince.

As long as the words came out of his mouth, officials would inevitably have some ideas, believing that the emperor was trying to burn out. The emperor had similar cases, such as being dissatisfied with the annexation of the land and making some small moves.

Once officials have such ideas, one-third of the officials will turn against each other. These are officials, which are more severe than the impact of large households. Not to mention local officials, even officials in the court, how many are there any suspicion of being too busy?

Before Li Zhi finished speaking, Wei Yuanzhong immediately bowed down and replied: "The Supreme Emperor, this matter has been around for a long time. It is not our dynasty, but it has been in all previous dynasties. If you want to deal with it, it is very involved. The country is in trouble, so it is better not to move."

"Wei Qing, you are honest and famous. Does the country have such disadvantages? You can sit back and see?" Li Zhi said angrily.

He didn't know much about the situation, and listened to Wu Zetian's retelling and added some fuel to the fire. This was his money. It might be that millions of dollars a year would be lost, not to the pockets of ordinary people, but to the pockets of corrupt officials. But he was in a very bad mood.

Di Renjie had no choice but to interrupt and said, "The Supreme Emperor, this is not the case. Low-level officials have a meager salary and are difficult to support their families, so they have caused these waste. I have thought about this before. If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if the person is careful, there will be no disciples. If you want to investigate, it will cause serious consequences."

He is also a person who wants face. In order to eliminate the negative influence of the emperor, even the clear water said nothing like "Shui Zhixue Wuyu". He continued: "And the losses in various places do exist, and it is difficult to say that a Zi Chou Yin and Mao. Even if he sends out any smart officials to check the accounts, it may be difficult to find out. And once he checks, officials in various places will immediately feel uneasy and turmoil. Besides, the reason why the Supreme Emperor Fengshan was because he sued the heavens and was auspicious. However, the country was full of disasters and difficulties. The people in Guanzhong were displaced and hungry. The four barbarians invaded and rebelled. If they had any trouble, they would lose the beauty of Fengshan."

This sentence is very sharp, it is said, but you can't listen to it like this. It's already the time to go, and you still have to think about the five mountains and the upper beams are not straight, but the lower beams are crooked. How can you make the officials below be honest?

It was only then that Ximen Chong realized that he had made a serious mistake and immediately said: "I believe that this is a young minister and he is not aware of the truth, so he made some pedantic comments. I hope the emperor will forgive him."

There is no way to control fire consumption. Even the people who brought advice took the initiative to think it was a pedantic remark, so the matter was let go. But Li Zhi was still very angry and angry. After all, Di Renjie and Wei Yuanzhong were in harmony with their advice, and they lost their ethics. They took the opportunity to demote Wei Yuanzhong to Youzhou as the chief minister. Not only did they return to their original form, but the situation in Youzhou was not very wonderful and would be invaded by the Turks at any time. So they were exiled. Di Renjie was also demoted to Weizhou as the governor. As for Ximen Chong, he became a villain who repeatedly and demoted to a small county in Chaozhou as the county magistrate.

This time, the Imperial Party suffered the most severe blow.

The six major kings and Pei Xingjian's condition worsened. Liu Rengui went to Chang'an, and then Wei Yuanzhong and Di Renjie, leaving only Zhu Jingze and Li Yiyan. Everyone knows Li Yiyan's talent, Zhu Jingze's status is not too high.

This is good news for the post-party.

However, the other person suffered a small retribution.

The northern Tielle saw Gudulu in Yujinshan Liya, thinking that they were weak, so they organized three thousand troops and launched an attack. However, they underestimated Gudulu's appeal and expansion speed. Gudulu personally led two thousand troops and fought fiercely with the Tiel people on the banks of the Dule River. In this battle, the three thousand Tielle army was completely defeated, and countless soldiers were killed. This victory caused the Tiel tribes in the north to regain their fear of the Turks. Gudulu quickly expanded its power to the north of the desert.

But it was not enough, so Ashide Yuanzhen was sent to establish Nanya in Heisha. The Tang Dynasty's policy at this time was to wait until the drought in Guanzhong was curbed before preparing to call for troops. Anyway, the scale of the Turkic riot was far less than before, and it was deep in the desert, so it was planned to make a long-term plan.

However, the Turks returned to Heisha. Zhang Qianxu, who was stationed in the Shanyu Protectorate, could no longer bear it and took the initiative to lead his troops to attack. The two armies fought, but the result proved that Zhang Qianxu was at least a brave general, not a famous general now, nor was he a famous general, and not as he and Cheng Wuting said, Ashina Funian and Ashidewenbo were defeated by them.

In the battle of Heisha, the Tang Dynasty's army was defeated and countless casualties were injured. I was embarrassed to report it, but I just vaguely wrote a memorial, exaggerated the Turkish forces, and presented it to Mount Tai. But Gudulu was not satisfied. He was a subordinate of Ashide Wenbo, and also reported some of Wenbo's thoughts. The Tiel people were afraid of the Turks, and the Turks were afraid of the Tang people, but at this time the annoying emperor went to the Western Regions, and Pei Xingjian was seriously ill, which was a good time to attack the Tang Dynasty.

He wanted to build the confidence of Turkic warriors with victory after victory.
Chapter completed!