Princess, he is rich enough to rival the country

"Everything goes into the mu..."

The emperor looked at the detailed plan in his hand, as well as the familiar self and the words and phrases in the plan, and a gleam of unknown meaning flashed in his eyes:

"This method was also proposed by Princess Li?"

"If you go back to the emperor, yes."

Wen Qingyan leaned over slightly, and replied respectfully.

The account books of the Ministry of Households are the secrets of the country. Even if there is a double-entry bookkeeping method as an excuse, it is too far-fetched.

Wen Qingyan dared to take the risk to hand over the account books to Gu Yanshu, in fact, the emperor's connivance was indispensable.

Therefore, Wen Qingyan was not surprised when he received the imperial edict summoned by the emperor, and directly entered the palace with the plan that Gu Yanshu had just sent over.

After arriving at the imperial study room, it was exactly as Wen Qingyan had imagined.

His every move with Princess Li in the household department was watched by the emperor, and the emperor didn't even say any other nonsense to him, so he directly asked for the plan.

After a long silence, Wen Qingyan heard the question just now.

After Wen Qingyan answered, the imperial study room fell into a moment of silence.

At this time, in the imperial study room, apart from the emperor and the prince, only Wen Qingyan was there, feeling the emperor's gaze, even Wen Qingyan did not dare to look up at the emperor's expression at the moment.

If he didn't dare to make small moves, he naturally couldn't know what the emperor was thinking at the moment.

Just when Wen Qingyan was feeling flustered, he heard another question from the emperor:

"Has Wen Aiqing read this plan?"

"Back to the emperor, I took a cursory glance."

Not long after Wen Qingyan got the plan, he received a summons from the emperor. Even if he wanted to take a closer look, he didn't have the chance!

"Since I've seen it roughly, what does Wen Aiqing think, this way of getting everything into the mother...how about it?"

The emperor didn't care what Wen Qingyan was thinking, looking at the plan in his hand, a flash of thought flashed in his eyes.

Wen Qingyan never thought that the emperor would ask him this question.

Subconsciously raised his head and glanced at the emperor, after meeting the emperor's gaze, he immediately realized his disrespect, and quickly lowered his head.

However, even with just a glimpse, Wen Qingyan seemed to have a little understanding of the emperor's mood at the moment.

After a moment of silence, Wen Qingyan finally gave an answer:

"My minister thinks that this method is feasible."

The emperor frowned slightly, and asked with great interest:

"Huh? Tell me?"

……

If God gave Wen Qingyan another chance, he might choose to continue to be an ordinary spokesperson in the inspector, and it would be better than being raised by the emperor alone for questioning at this moment.

At this moment, the emperor asked one question after another, putting Wen Qingyan under more pressure than being randomly checked by his father when he was a child.

After all, when Wen Xuefei randomly checked his homework, if he really couldn't answer well, Wen Qingyan could play tricks and act coquettishly with his father, but when facing the emperor, Wen Qingyan absolutely did not dare to do so.

"Weichen thinks that although it is difficult to implement, if it can be promoted, the advantages should outweigh the disadvantages."

Naturally, it was impossible not to answer the emperor's question. After hesitating for a moment, after hearing the emperor's slightly urging voice, Wen Qingyan could only bite the bullet and express his opinion:

"In addition to the effective suppression of land mergers and other issues written in the plan, the biggest benefit should be the population change that can be brought about after the abolition of the poll tax."

Having said that, Wen Qingyan paused for a moment, subconsciously raised his eyes to look at the emperor.

In the end, he unexpectedly received a look from the emperor asking him to continue, and the uneasiness in his heart suddenly eased a lot, he calmed down, and continued:

"Since the founding of Tianqi, the frontier has not been stable. Although the situation has improved over the years because of King Li, I believe that we still need to be prepared for danger in times of peace."

"En." The emperor, who had been silent since the very beginning, finally hummed lightly at this moment, and it was not difficult to hear that he still strongly agreed with Wen Qingyan's words.

The emperor's statement also made Wen Qingyan feel relieved, and even his voice stabilized a lot:

"My court's annual conscription in the spring is also the same. I don't understand the affairs of the military department, but I can see that the number of recruits in the army at the beginning of the spring is decreasing year by year. .”

"In addition to the relatively stable borders in the past two years, there is another reason that cannot be ignored. In recent years, the number of people in Tianqi has been decreasing year by year. , can also be seen."

"I believe that if this situation is allowed to continue, when the border war resumes in the future, I am afraid that Tianqi will be in a situation where no one can be used."

"My minister thinks that the decrease in the population of the people in our Tianqi territory, and the fact that ordinary people dare not have children, should be closely related to the poll tax. Dividing the population into the mu is indeed a solution."

After finishing speaking, Wen Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't dare to put his heart in his stomach completely, and began to think about whether there were any mistakes in his remarks just now.

Just as Wen Qingyan was thinking like this, he heard the emperor's question again:

"Finished?"

Wen Qingyan recalled in his heart the plan that Princess Li gave him, as well as what he said just now, and gave the answer with a little hesitation:

"It's over..." Right?

"Wen Aiqing, let's go back first. I'll leave this plan with me first."

The emperor nodded slightly, ignoring Wen Qingyan's uneasiness at this moment, waved his hand, and started to chase people away.

"Yes, Wei Chen retire."

Although Wen Qingyan was not sure what the emperor meant, but since the emperor had already spoken, he naturally couldn't stay in the imperial study for a long time.

In the end, he only bowed his body and saluted, and retreated from the imperial study room. At the same time, he was thinking in his heart, after returning to the mansion, he would ask his father what the emperor meant by this move.

Wen Qingyan came to the palace, and left inexplicably with a mind full of question marks.

What Wen Qingyan didn't know was that after he left, just now he was still facing the unpredictable emperor in front of him, and with a "snap", he took a picture of the plan written by Gu Yan in front of the case :

"Look, look, I don't know that I, Tianqi, have such a talent!"

In his tone, there was even a couple of points of sullenness.

"The emperor appeases his anger, isn't Princess Li hiding something private?"

Seeing this, the prince at the side hurried forward to appease the emperor.

The prince has been serving the emperor all the time, so how could he not know what the emperor is angry with at the moment.

Coincidentally, a few days ago, the emperor called several confidant ministers under his command to discuss matters, and it just so happened that the issue of taxation and the population of the people was mentioned.

The population of people in Tianqi is decreasing day by day, and the number of newborns has hit a record low in recent years. The court has naturally noticed these problems, and even became the top priority of the emperor and ministers.

After discussions among many ministers, everyone agreed that the decrease in the population and the reluctance of the people to have children were inextricably linked to the poll tax.

Even though the emperor was kind and never increased taxes during his more than [-] years of reign, the current head tax in Tianqi is still a considerable expense for the people whose families are not well-to-do.

At the same time, some ministers also proposed solutions such as reducing or exempting the poll tax, or halving the poll tax for newborns.

But these proposals were quickly rejected by others.

Gu Yanshu just glanced at the account books of the Ministry of Accounts, and he can see that the poll tax is one of the main sources of the national treasury.

If the poll tax is reduced, the treasury may be empty again next year.

We must know that the pressure on the national treasury next year will not be small.

Leaving aside the rebuilding of concrete dams and city walls, let’s just say that when conscription began in the spring of this year, the emperor expanded the scale and number of conscripts at the request of King Li.

The cost of clothing for these recruits, as well as the military salary, which one does not cost money?Which sum of money does not need to be paid by the treasury?

At this juncture, the imperial court is already under great pressure not to increase taxes, how can it be possible to meet with taxes again?

Later, some courtiers also suggested that the reduction or exemption of poll tax can be made up from other places.

For example, increase the taxation of merchant trade.

However, this proposal was quickly rejected.

One is that Tianqi puts emphasis on agriculture and restrains business, and the tax on merchants is already very high.

Although the ministers in the court did not follow the way of merchants, they also knew the truth that "the wool grows on the sheep". The increased taxes for merchants will always be added to the price of commodities in the end, and ordinary people will bear them.

The second is that this year the imperial court united with merchants to pave concrete roads in Tianqi territory, and then increased taxes.

In the end, the controversy came and went, the emperor's confidant ministers, the best in civil and military affairs, among the dragons and phoenixes among the few, none of them came up with a relatively perfect solution.

These days, the emperor has quite a headache because of this matter.

I thought it would take a long time to discuss, but who knew that Princess Li would come up with such an excellent plan so lightly with a "bang".

Moreover, this plan seems to be extremely detailed, how can this make the emperor not angry?

I am afraid that compared with being angry with Princess Li, the emperor is more angry with the incompetence of those ministers under him.

"No secrets?"

Unexpectedly, it would be good if the prince didn't speak, but when he spoke, it was like poking a sensitive spot in the emperor's heart, so the emperor couldn't help but snorted:

"How can he not hide his secrets? Did you care about me when there was a storm in the capital a few days ago?"

"Oh, I made a scented soap before, and I knew that I would send it to the palace. Now I have iced drinks, rouge and gouache, and I am making a lot of noise. Why don't you ask if there is a shortage of ice in the palace?"

Speaking of this, the emperor felt angry.

And still more and more angry.

Especially thinking that a few days ago, he specially summoned Qin Lu to the palace, but the unfilial son actually came empty-handed!

I don't know how to feel sorry that he has no ice in the palace, no ice to drink!

Wang Gonggong never thought that the emperor would start to turn over old scores if he disagreed with each other.

The point is that he can't pick up this old debt!

A few days ago, Prince Li's mansion didn't send anything into the palace. Wasn't it because the emperor wanted His Highness Prince Li to take a concubine, and ended up falling out with someone?

At that time, His Royal Highness Li Wang looked so weird that he could send things into the palace!

Of course, the prince did not dare to say these words, so he could only pretend that he didn't know anything, and listened to the emperor's scolding.

Fortunately, the emperor had been sitting on the dragon chair for more than twenty years. After a little digging through the old accounts and complaining a few words, he didn't continue to talk about this topic.

Finally, he set his sights on the table again, on the "Plan for Allotment to Mu" listed by Gu Yanshu.

After pondering for a moment, he waved at the prince:

"Go and send someone to call Pei Aiqing and others into the palace, and say that I want to discuss something with them again."

"Yes."

As soon as Wang Gonggong heard this, he knew that the emperor had regained his senses. He bent slightly and retreated from the imperial study.