I will never be Renzong

Chapter 62 Fire
Inside Funing Hall, Zhao Zhen was watching craftsmen installing lightning rods to other palaces outside the hall, while he was thinking about the money, equipment, etc. needed to form a cavalry.

As soon as he came up, he wanted to form a cavalry team of 2 people. Da Song's current finances may not be able to afford it. After all, what he wants to form is elite cavalry, and he even wants to form heavy cavalry, but all of this is inseparable. One thing, that is money.

Although he is an official of the Song Dynasty, he has not yet been crowned and has no personal administration, so spending money requires Liu E's approval, and a powerful cavalry is definitely the existence of krypton gold.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, the first thing he has to do now is to convince Liu E.

In the Chongming Palace, Liu E was discussing political affairs with several courtiers. During the court meeting, Zhao Zhen would participate, but Zhao Zhen would not participate in such accidental political affairs. Instead, Liu E and Zaifu They decided, and in the end Zhao Zhen just stamped the jade seal on the imperial edict.

"Big empress!"

Zhao Zhen came to Chongming Palace and bowed to Liu E.

"Official!"

Seeing this, several ministers hurriedly saluted Zhao Zhen.

"Since the official family is here, take your seat! It just so happens that the Ai family has something unresolved here and wants to hear what the official family thinks!"

Liu E naturally knew that Zhao Zhen always went to the Three Treasure Hall for nothing, but she didn't rush to ask Zhao Zhen why he was looking for him, but asked him to sit down first and discuss a few political matters.

After Zhao Zhen was seated, he asked Liu E who was behind the curtain: "I don't know what's undecided by the aunt, I'm all ears!"

Seeing this, Liu E said just now: "President Wang, this is a big matter, please tell the officials!"

Only then did Wang Qinruo explain the matter that even Liu E was hesitant to decide.

The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang Dynasty system and implemented the two-tax law for land taxation. However, the process of tax collection was not smooth sailing. There were always people who paid less or defaulted on taxes to the court. Over time, the amount of arrears became larger and larger, reaching the point where they could no longer afford to repay. As a result, Wang Zeng, Lu Zongdao, and Lu Yijian, the leaders of the Zai Dynasty, all believed that the taxes owed by the people of the world should be exempted on the occasion of the amnesty, and customs should be formed.

But Wang Qinruo thinks that this move is inappropriate. If it is really implemented, the people in the world will try their best to owe taxes. Anyway, in the year of amnesty, all debts will be gone. , the government will not be able to sustain itself.

Just after Wang Qinruo finished speaking, Wang Zeng said: "Officials! By exempting the people of the world from arrears in taxes, you can not only be kind to the people of the world, win the hearts of all people, but also achieve the purpose of hiding wealth among the people. This is killing two birds with one stone. I don’t know what Wang Xiangcun is thinking about, and he will try to obstruct things that benefit the country and the people in every possible way!"

After Wang Zeng complained a lot, Zhao Zhen frowned and did not reply directly. Instead, he turned to Liu E and asked, "I wonder what the eldest lady means?"

Seeing this, Liu E said: "From the perspective of Ai's family, this tax exemption is a good thing, but at present, the government and China are in financial difficulties. A few days ago, the transshipment envoy of the Liangzhe Road wrote a letter saying: The embankment of Taihu Lake in Suzhou is broken and the branch canal near the sea is broken. Buried and abandoned, water invaded the people's fields, and asked the imperial court to allocate funds for repairs, but the imperial court had no money to allocate, and finally allocated 50 yuan of money from the inner treasury. Is there something wrong with the taxation?"

"The reason why I object is also out of the same worries as the Queen Mother!"

Wang Qinruo hurriedly said that he had been isolated by the three people in Zhongshu, so he had always followed Liu E's lead. He knew that Liu E was the reason why he was able to serve as prime minister, so he followed Liu E's lead in everything. meaning to come.

Lu Zongdao said bluntly: "At present, the imperial court's finances are a little bit tight, but it will eventually pass! Don't offend all people in the world for a little profit, that will not be worth the loss."

Zhao Zhen just said at this time: "Dare to ask the Qing family here, have you ever done an investigation and found out who are the people who owe land taxes? How many of these people are poor people, and how many are landlords and wealthy families?"

It is true that the Song Dynasty rented land for the people all over the world to plant, but the land directly controlled by the imperial court was less than one-twelfth of the land, and more land was in the hands of landlords and wealthy families. They also rented the land to the people for planting, but This tax is much higher than the imperial court's tax. After paying the imperial court's tax, the rest is theirs. To put it bluntly, it is equivalent to the middleman earning the difference.

People's greed can never be satisfied, so these landlords and powerful people always default on the land tax of the court for various reasons.

"This minister has never investigated, but the minister believes that no matter whether it is a wealthy landlord or a poor person, they are all citizens of the Great Song Dynasty. Since they are citizens of the Great Song Dynasty, the officials should treat them equally!"

Lu Yijian said to Zhao Zhen.

"As you said, I treat everyone equally. Whether it is ordinary people or powerful landlords, all land taxes in arrears will be exempted. Ordinary people are naturally grateful and peaceful, but who can assure me that those landlords and powerful landlords will be exempted from it?" What about the land tax for the tenant farmers? Can the Prime Minister guarantee it?"

"This"

Wang Zeng hesitated and couldn't speak.

"Or maybe Lu Canzheng can guarantee it?"

Zhao Zhen turned to glare at Lu Yijian.

"This is a serious matter, and I dare not guarantee it!"

Seeing this, Lu Yijian was also discouraged.

Lu Zongdao said: "Even so, the landlords and powerful people in the world will thank the officials for this, and they will definitely support the rule of the imperial court even more!"

"Joke! Have you forgotten how the Tang Dynasty fell?"

Zhao Zhen said angrily.

Lu Zongdao was upright, and stiffened his neck and said: "The Tang Dynasty perished due to the misfortune of the party, because the monarch was greedy for pleasure, treacherous ministers harmed the country, and did not think about making progress. The officials still need to learn from it!"

Lu Zongdao seemed to have something in his words. It was not that Zhao Zhen couldn't hear it, but his target was still aimed at Wang Qinruo.

Zhao Zhen took a look at several courtiers, and said just now: "What Lu Qing said is only a subjective reason. There are many reasons why the Tang Dynasty perished, but in the final analysis, I think that the well field system was destroyed, and the land was occupied by aristocratic families and powerful landlords. Pancakes, ordinary people in the world have all become tenant farmers, owning less and less land, and can hardly survive, and eventually turned into a large-scale peasant uprising. All the ministers are well-read poets, but they are all moral People with both talents and intelligence may wish to go back and think about it carefully, looking at the past dynasties, whether the reason for their demise was all caused by land annexation."

The courtiers present did not expect Zhao Zhen to see it so thoroughly, but how could the powerful and landlords in the world be easily offended.

Wang Zeng saw that his forehead was covered with sweat, so he hurriedly said cautiously: "Officials, please be careful!"

(End of this chapter)