My father is Emperor Wu of Han, how can I be different from him?

Chapter 83 Favors and Promises

That day.

Gongsun Hong, who was nearly 80 years old, said a lot to Li Cai, reminiscing about his predecessors and also talking about going against the general.

Proven afterwards.

Li Cai only listened to the latter and even expanded on it himself...

But the former prime ministers that Gongsun Hong sighed about - should have given Li Cai a warning, but things went against his wishes and he did not appreciate it.

To be precise.

It was Li Cai who understood the meaning, but didn't care.

Among the prime ministers of all dynasties, Wei Wan, Dou Ying, Xu Chang and others were victims of the struggle between the current emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Among the three, the first two were dismissed by the Grand Empress Dowager, and the last one was dismissed with a random excuse after the death of the Grand Empress Dowager.

The first three are too special and have no reference value.

Let’s look at the last three.

The changes of prime ministers after the emperor truly came to power included Tian Fen, Xue Ze, and Gongsun Hong.

Tian Fen's arrogance, greed, and domineering nature were unique and could not be imitated by others, so naturally there was no place for them to learn from.

Xue Ze and Gongsun Hong escaped unscathed.

After doing the math and taking another look, it turned out that no one's experience had reached a level that required Li Cai to be wary.

But why do later generations always give Emperor Wu's prime minister an extremely dangerous impression when he is mentioned? Who started it?

"Ho...ho..."

"Ho-!"

The poison penetrated deep into the lungs, and the people struggling in the cell stopped struggling.

Li Cai is dead...

His clothes were disheveled and his face was distorted and painful. He must not have died peacefully.

A prime minister, the head of all officials, was imprisoned for a crime and later died in a dark, damp and closed cell!

Who started the dangerous impression of being the prime minister to the current emperor?

Let’s start with Li Cai!
From now on, suicide, hanging, and cutting one's own throat will enter a new stage and a new climax. It will no longer be a rarity as it was during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing.

In the post-era of the current emperor, it will enter the court and the homes of officials!
If you are guilty, or the emperor thinks you are guilty.

Unfortunately.

You will have it - suicide!
As a person who is wary of others, Li Cai has set an example, but he is only the first. People will only be shocked when the second and third appear.

nowadays.

There are not many people in the court who are awake.

Gongsun Hong should have had a premonition, but he is dead. Li Cai should have realized it before, but unfortunately he is dead now...

Outside the cell, Jin Midi held the tray and retreated to the back with his head down.

The clerk led a coroner inside, and a eunuch stood outside the fence with a cold look.

The coroner verified the body's identity and confirmed whether he was dead or alive, then nodded to the eunuch.

See this.

The man from the palace turned around and left with two followers. The clerk of the Imperial Court looked at the dead body on the ground, waved his hand, and the jailer came forward...

A quarter of an hour later.

Weiyang Palace, Chengming Palace.

The eunuch bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has passed away."

The emperor did not express his opinion. The eunuch waved his hand and signaled the other party to leave.

The palace was silent for a while, and then the emperor's voice, neither sad nor happy, was heard, "I said, there won't be a next time!"

is the day.

An imperial edict was issued from the Weiyang Palace, stating that Prime Minister Li Cai had violated the Fuyi Law and the Le'an Marquisate was abolished.

King Liu Pengli of Jidong colluded with the prime minister with evil intentions. He was also arrogant and ferocious. He often teamed up with slaves and fugitives to rob, kill and plunder people's property for fun.

The crime is extremely serious and he shall be sentenced to death!
Abolish the Jidong State and change it to Daha County!
On the second day, the emperor convened another court meeting on the salt and iron monopoly. During the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture Kong Jin and Dongguo Xianyang petitioned, "Anyone who dares to privately cast ironware or boil salt will be stabbed with titanium and his utensils will be confiscated!"

No one in the court had any objection, or rather, no one spoke up...

So from that day on.

The emperor issued an edict, appointing Kong Jin, Dongguo Xianyang and Sang Hongyang to jointly take charge of salt and iron affairs, and officially implemented the salt and iron monopoly.

After the imperial edict was issued, the Linqiong Zhuo family, a wealthy iron smelter, was the first to respond.

He sold his family's mine to the court at a low price, dismissed nearly a thousand slaves from his home, moved his family to Maoling, and donated one million yuan to support the poor people who moved to the border.

The emperor was very pleased.

It is said that the Zhuo family has helped the country in times of emergency and the people are in great distress, so Zhuo Chengye, the head of the Zhuo family, is summoned to be a counselor, and is granted ten hectares of land, and the announcement is made to the world!
Yes.

Zhuo Chengye did not die in the Supreme Court. He survived the major case that exposed the prime minister.

The apparent reason was that Zhuo Chengye was stripped of his title and had to pay money to atone his sins.

Money is easy to understand, but where does the title come from?
Martial arts title!
It was the system created by the emperor himself. Buying a military title could give priority in becoming an official or reducing one's punishment. Zhuo had no shortage of money, so he naturally bought it, and was saved today because of it.

Of course, this was the public statement. In private, the real reason was that he had succeeded in "making up for his crime" and the emperor let him go.

Otherwise, I would really kill someone.

Even the title of marquis cannot be kept!
The iron smelting leader, Linqiong Zhuo's abandonment of darkness and joining the light gave a shot in the arm to the salt and iron monopoly, but Zhuo's defection brought much more than that.

and also……

Shangguan Back Street.

In front of a house with a plaque with the word "Du" hanging high, soldiers stood in a row. The leader raised his eyes and waved his hand: "Go in, search the house!"

"How dare you! What are you doing? Do you know me, the Du family of Jingzhao?"

"I know, it's your house that was copied!"

The same situation occurred not only in Chang'an, but also in all counties of the Han Dynasty, and those whose homes were confiscated were all local wealthy families.

If you look closely, you will find that these people have appeared on a piece of paper, a piece of paper that was burned to ashes by Li Cai...

They all resented the Prince's Palace because of the appearance of paper.

Want to support the new crown prince...

This scene was naturally promoted by Liu Ju. Not long ago, the prince made a deal with the Minister of Agriculture Kong Jin.

Kong Jin no longer targeted the Zhuo family, but instead targeted these wealthy families spread across the counties. He did not need to take the initiative to do anything, he just had to enforce the law impartially in the process of promoting salt and iron!
And the prince will remember his favor.

There will be a reward in the future.

The answer can be seen from today's situation. Kong only gave the Prince's Palace a face.

Those powerful families who were hostile to the Crown Prince's Palace even dared to interfere in the fight for the throne. How could they not pretend to obey the orders in the Salt and Iron Department?

The emperor is far away, there are countermeasures for every policy from above, collusion between officials and businessmen, deceiving superiors and bullying subordinates, and so on. All kinds of shady tricks are at their disposal.

If you want to find a loophole, there is always a way.

As long as they use it and keep an eye on their Minister of Agriculture, their political achievements will come.

If an ordinary merchant like Kong Jin can handle it himself, he can do it. If he can't handle it, he will call for reinforcements. Once Zhang Tang appears, he will definitely uproot the whole thing!

The merchants colluded with the county governor and the magistrate, and anyone who broke the law was taken away.

Just right.

One in the east, one in the west, and everywhere else was frightened into submission.

Killing a prime minister, Liu Ju not only agreed to a favor, but also made a promise to Zhuo...

Let’s talk.

There are three gates on the south side of Chang'an City.

The gate next to the Weiyang Palace is called Xi'an Gate, and the gate next to the Changle Palace is called Fu'ang Gate. After passing through Fu'ang Gate and getting on the official road, after walking five miles, you will come to a river.

The name of this river: Kunming Channel.

Next to the canal, there is a palace rising from the ground, named Bowang Garden.

(End of this chapter)