Placid Chang'an

At the Great Court Meeting on the second day, Su Cen witnessed a scuffle.

The cause of the incident was the flood in Xuzhou.A natural disaster wiped out the national treasury that had just been filled with salt, and everyone couldn't help but learn from it. Among them, several officials headed by Liu Zhen proposed the idea of ​​​​establishing free warehouses among states and counties.

The proposal of Yicang is not out of thin air. Long before Yicang, there were already Taicang, Zhengcang, Juncang and so on.The grain in Taicang was only used for the salaries of officials in the capital, the main warehouse was used for taxation by the state, and the military warehouse was mainly used to supply grain and grass for the military.The food in these warehouses can move the whole body by a hair, and cannot be moved easily, so the righteous warehouse came into being.

The so-called righteous warehouse is essentially a warehouse, which stores grain in good years through donations, and its purpose is to relieve victims in times of famine.At the beginning of its establishment, it was not within the scope of tax collection, and there was no fixed tax amount. The amount paid was entirely voluntary.The idea was beautiful and the starting point was good, so Li Shi didn't make it difficult at the beginning, and approved it easily.

It's just that the implementation was not as smooth as expected. It was said that the free warehouse was built voluntarily, but the grain handed over by the states and counties voluntarily could not even cover the bottom of the warehouse.After slapping his face, Liu Zhen finally realized that he is a fool who only cares about the short-term interests and doesn't care about long-term development at all.

Liu Yu has been the prime minister for so many years, so he naturally has a bit of iron and blood skills. He made a decisive decision and turned the righteous warehouse into one of the mandatory taxes, which is bound to fill up the righteous warehouse.

This will inevitably lead to a war of words and guns. At the end of the fierce battle, Liu Yu's party was lucky to win, the righteous warehouse was built, and the public anger was suppressed. It was originally one of Liu Yu's few victories. A month later, something happened again.

Some people took this matter as a new speculation, and impeached Liu Zhen to impose taxes, which caused the people to live in poverty.

The person who presented this memorial was Sima Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who was usually considered Liu Yu's chief henchman.Now the dog's leg turned against the water and bit the master back, it went deep to the bones, it was impossible to guard against.

What's strange is that there are quite a few seconders who follow along with them. They are all the empress dowagers who followed Liu Zhen's leadership, a group of gentle ministers, but they bite like mad dogs.

Liu Zhen stood on the main hall, his fingertips trembling with anger, unable to speak a word.

Back then they were the ones who kept saying that they would benefit all the people, but now they are the ones who are calling for harm to the country and the people. At the beginning, these people praised him to the sky, but now they trampled him in the mud and wanted to make up for it a few more times.

Only Cui Hao is still struggling.

"Since the warehouse was established, Prime Minister Liu has never touched a grain of grain in it! All the entry and exit of the warehouse are recorded in the register. How can you say that Prime Minister Liu is full of private pockets?!"

"Nowadays, the tax is a little bit heavier, but this is also collected on the basis of careful planning and not affecting people's livelihood. It is a little bit harder now, but when there is a natural disaster and there is insufficient preparation for the new year, this can save lives!"

"Besides, the amount of grain received is not generalized. Millet is distributed according to households. It is divided into upper households, middle households and lower households, and the amount of millet output decreases in turn. The righteous warehouse mainly depends on the princes and nobles. The upper and upper households have almost filled it. You can’t collect much money if you quit the house, so where’s the burden of ruining the family!”

Cui Hao wanted to argue any more, but felt a pair of cold hands lightly covering the back of his scorching hands, extinguishing the evil fire in his chest together.

It was followed by a heart-wrenching cold.

He looked around, those who had nothing to do with himself, those who were watching the excitement, those who were waiting to make trouble. From the beginning to the end, no one cared about what he was talking about. He stood among a group of people, and what he staged was just a joke.

Cui Hao suddenly understood that he was not the only one called by the Empress Dowager Chu yesterday. Every aggressive person with red teeth and white teeth here had been asked one question—whether they were interested in Liu Xiang's position.

He suddenly wanted to ask loudly in the hall, do you have any conscience.

Which of these people had an accident before, Liu Zhen didn't try his best to help, but now, when he sees Liu Zhen falling out of favor, he will fall into trouble faster than one.

Cui Hao held Liu Zhen's hand with his backhand. Since there is no room for them here, there is no need for him to stand here and imitate them.

Just as he was about to step up, he heard a voice from the main hall.

"At the beginning, the Yicang system was passed by the ruling at the court meeting. It is already a law of my Great Zhou. Everyone present should support it. The time limit for the implementation of the Yicang system is still too short. Whether it is good or bad cannot be judged. Then Let’s wait for a trial run for a while before discussing.”

Everyone was taken aback, and they all looked up.I saw Prince Ning leaning lightly on the back of the chair, propping his forehead with one hand, obviously impatient.

There was no sound in the hall for a while.

Li Shi stood up and glanced at His Highness, "Let's come here today and retreat."

When everyone was gone, there were only two figures left in the empty hall.

"Zhongpei..." Cui Hao called Liu Zhen a few times before he came back to his senses, and realized that the hands of the two were still holding each other, one was as cold as water, and the other was as hot as fire.

Liu Zhen moved her knuckles, gently released Cui Hao's hand, looked at the empty dragon chair again, and shook her head: "Let's go."

"Are you okay?" Cui Hao followed closely, "You don't need to be as knowledgeable as they are, they are just jealous."

Liu Yu smiled wryly, jealous?What kind of talent does he have that can be envied by these people? It's just that he covets the power behind him, and now seeing that he has fallen out of favor, he wants to replace him.

It's just a poor man like him.

"You should follow them to crusade against me. Only when the party fights dissidents can we survive in this officialdom."

Cui Hao frowned, "This kind of officialdom doesn't matter."

"Don't talk nonsense." Liu Jue scolded, went out of the hall, looked at the majestic Longwei Road for a while, and suddenly didn't know what to do.

"Go home." Cui Hao said behind him.

"Home?" Liu Zhen was stunned for a moment, looking at the [-] ups and downs of houses with roofs and tiles outside the palace wall, he suddenly felt sad. Chang'an City is so big, but there is no room for him.

"You go back first," Liu Zhen turned his head to Cui Hao and said, "I'm going somewhere."

The Empress Dowager Chu had just finished pruning the last Yaotai jade phoenix when the servants came in to pass it on. Clusters of flower branches as white as snow were bound in a wrist-thick hand-mouthed vase, carrying a restrained beauty.

The Empress Dowager Chu put down the sharp scissors with her slender hands, looked at them with satisfaction for a moment, ordered her servants to place them in a conspicuous place in the hall, and then nodded, "Let him in."

Liu Yu was brought in by the maid of Qingning Palace, and she saw the delicate and beautiful white chrysanthemums in full bloom at a glance, and then lowered her head, the broken branches and willows that had been replaced had not had time to clean up, and were discarded aside, and the ground was full of wreckage.

Some people love to raise flowers, some people love to raise birds, but what the Empress Dowager Chu loves is to cut off these flowers that are waiting to bloom, put them in a vase, bathe in the sun, and bathe in nectar. Controlled, if you follow it, you will live, and if you go against it, you will die.

He was also such a flower before, but now that it has bloomed and failed, it should be scattered and turned into mud.

The Empress Dowager Chu noticed that Liu Jue's eyes were not on the jade phoenix she had newly planted in Yaotai, but instead she was looking at the remaining flowers on the ground, and smiled softly, "How many years have you been with Ai's family?"

Liu Zhen closed his eyes, bowed his head and replied: "I have followed the late emperor since I became an official, and now it has been exactly 12 years."

Speaking of the first emperor, the Empress Dowager Chu's eyes softened a little, "Yes, Ai Jia remembers that you were the new champion of that class, standing in front of the Hanyuan Hall in high spirits, and the late emperor allowed me to sit behind a green gauze curtain After taking a look, I thought at the time, what a handsome man in green shirt, if I have any sisters or relatives who have not left the cabinet, I really want to ask the late emperor to marry me down."

Liu Yu arched his hands: "I am ashamed of the entrustment of the late emperor."

"No, you've done a good job. If it weren't for you, the current situation wouldn't be possible." The Empress Dowager Chu paused for a moment, narrowed her eyes, and said, "It's just that the Ai family wants to do better."

At this point, Liu Zhen finally understood the reason why he was abandoned. He tried his best, but he could only share the world with Li Shi, and what the Queen Mother Chu wanted was something he couldn't give, the whole world.

The world is unified, so there is no theory of regency. It is not him, but Li Shi, that the Empress Dowager Chu has to deal with.

Liu Zhen sighed silently in his heart. After fighting for so many years, it was the first time that he felt tired from his bones. He really wanted to take a rest.

Kneeling on the ground, Liu Yu said: "I have been an official since the 22nd year of Yonglong. I have been an official for [-] years. I have worked hard. Although I have not achieved anything, I dare not slack off for a day. Now I am sick from overwork and can't bear the responsibility. I request Resign to avoid sages, decline personnel, and grow old in the village, please allow the Queen Mother."

The Empress Dowager Chu probably didn't expect Liu Yu to be so happy. She was taken aback for a moment, and then she covered her lips and smiled again, "Liu Qing is only in her prime, and she is in her prime. Where did all these labors and illnesses come from? The emperor is young and mourns his family. I still have to rely on your help."

Liu Zhen looked up in doubt, with a blank expression on his face.Obviously she was the one who chose to abandon him, and now she was the one who said she wanted to use him. For a moment, he was not sure what this woman meant, so he could only hold his head up and wait for the next word.

I saw the beautiful red lips of the Empress Dowager Chu opening and closing, and then said: "What can you do for Your Majesty?"

Liu Jue ignored the tightness in his voice, "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and I am willing to do my best for His Majesty, until after I die."

"That's very good." The Empress Dowager Chu pursed her lips and smiled, "The Ai family happens to have something I want you to do."