Inside Kyoto.
Gu Yan, the Minister of Household, was walking back and forth in his room.
His Majesty had suddenly given Xu Qingnian a Dragon Talisman, and then promoted him to the rank of Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Household.
It was clear that something was going to happen.
The water in the Household Department is very deep.
It can be said that the water is deep.
Every official is involved in a lot of wrongdoings, and as a minister, he is also involved in it, but not in the sense of corruption.
As a minister, he had been promoted by the previous emperor, so it was impossible for him to do anything corrupt.
To be honest, when he took over the Ministry of the Household, he was also very pale, and had to think about every single thing.
He also knew what problems Great Wei was experiencing nowadays, and he had even wanted to move the imperial family line for a long time.
But what Gu Yan understood even better was that the royal family could not be moved.
Once it is moved, these princes and kings, including some of the royal sons, which one should not be called up.
The company has a number of va*sal kings who are waiting for the court to have a problem and then take the opportunity to strike.
If the interests of the royal family were to be touched, Wei would really be finished.
But the fact that His Majesty refused to see her shows that she has already made up her mind.
It is good to have the Kirin Talisman, but this is a bit hasty.
Or even too hasty.
There were still three military amulets out there that had not been retrieved, and the rebellion of the va*sal kings had not yet been completely resolved, so how could they make a move?
“Your Majesty!”
Gu Yan took a deep breath, he really didn’t know what to say.
“Right now, no matter what, Xu Qingnian should be dissuaded, he must not be allowed to act recklessly, otherwise, it will really bring about great trouble.”
Gu Yan said to himself in his heart, he knew that it would be difficult to make His Majesty change his mind.
But it was not impossible to make Xu Qingnian stop.
“Come, men.”
Gu Yan opened his mouth and called out to his subordinates.
“Lord Shang Shu, please command?”
Outside the door, a voice rang out.
“Go and call for Xu Qingnian.”
Gu Yan did not say anything more and directly asked someone to bring Xu Qingnian.
“Yes.”
The latter left at once and went to the Shouren Academy to look for Xu Qingnian.
About a quarter of an hour later.
The other party came back.
“Lord Shang Shu, Lord Xu said that he had something to do and would not be coming today, saying that he would come to the Ministry of the Household on the next day.”
The other party said so, and when this was said, it caused Gu Yan to frown slightly.
There was no sound for half a second before the voice from outside rang out again.
“Your Excellency, do you need to ask Lord Xu to come again?”
The other party asked.
“No.”
Gu Yan shook his head, since Xu Qingnian said he would come on the next day, he also had the patience to wait.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Huaining King’s residence.
King Huaining was sitting in the main hall, looking old, while a man was kneeling in front of him.
“Tell the kings that if His Majesty really dares to turn his sword on the royal line, do your utmost to impeach Xu Qingnian.”
“If Xu Qingnian does not die, kill the traitorous minister in the name of clearing the ruler’s side, got it?”
Prince Huai Ning spoke.
Ever since His Majesty’s decree had been announced, Prince Huaining had guessed what His Majesty wanted to do at first.
Suppressing the imperial lineage and paying taxes and silver to the state treasury, this matter was a good thing from the country’s point of view, and a necessary thing to do.
In times of prosperity, there would have been no problem raising a group of royal sons, but now that the country is in decline, it is natural to cut across the board.
But if this cut is made, it will not be a trivial matter.
It would be a hundred times more horrific than killing one’s own son. Killing one’s own son is only a matter for one’s own family, and the other feudal princes would only be presenting their petitions to see what His Majesty’s attitude is.
If they really revolted because of this matter, they would not dare to, because their interests were not involved.
But if they really turned their knives on the imperial family of Wei, it would be no joke. The county princes inside Kyoto were a little better off, as they were still in Kyoto after all.
The princes in Kyoto are fine, they are still in Kyoto after all, but the kings outside are not going to eat this.
Making them bleed? It would be ten times worse than killing them.
This is a golden opportunity.
Prince Huaining could not wait for Xu Qingnian to cut down this knife, as long as this knife fell, he would have hundreds of ways to kill Xu Qingnian.
And it was certain death.
Even if the empress insisted on protecting Xu Qingnian, she would not be able to do so.
The clan kings of the world didn’t care about you that much.
“I thought I was some kind of great talent, but I didn’t think it was like this, the king has overestimated.”
Prince Huaining said to himself in his heart, his opinion of Xu Qingnian had inexplicably dropped quite a bit.
It was not just Xu Qingnian, but also the Empress.
He had just gotten the Kirin Talisman, and he was so eager to make a move?
Ridiculous!
At this moment, the An Guo Gong Mansion.
After His Majesty’s decree was announced, he knew what the Empress was thinking at first.
Xu Qingnian had already gained prestige by making a fuss at the Ministry of Justice and beheading the county king, and then proceeded to investigate the Ministry of the Household, targeting the most troublesome taxes and silver.
How could they not be anxious.
“This time if nephew Xu dares to make a scene, something big is going to happen.”
Lu Guogong opened his mouth and was the first to speak out.
“En, nowadays, the only one who can move the tax and silver of Great Wei is the imperial lineage. When Great Wei was founded, the imperial lineage also had to pay taxes and silver and stand on their own feet until later on when the prosperous era came and the country became rich, which led to many favours.”
“Right now, the Great Wei state is weakening, if Your Majesty really wants to start with the imperial lineage, I’m afraid it will only lead to great trouble in heaven.”
“Duke An, you are the head of the state and have a good relationship with Nephew Xu, why don’t you go and talk to Nephew Xu about it? Otherwise, it will really cause trouble when it happens.”
Several State Dukes spoke openly, including some of the Liege Marquises.
Although they were noble state princes and liege lords, they were not able to enjoy the benefits of the royal family, and only the royal lineage had the privilege.
So they gathered together, not because of their own interests, but because they were afraid that Xu Qingnian’s temperament of this kind of character would cause great trouble.
“All right! Stop talking.”
An Guo openly opened his mouth, the crowd was talking beside him, but he didn’t even listen to them.
It’s not like he didn’t know about this matter, did he need this group of people to keep talking about it?
Hearing Duke An Guo open his mouth like this, the crowd quieted down.
“His Majesty’s decree is for Xu Qingnian to be in charge of the tax and silver, the imperial power is specially ordered, this is something we cannot change.”
“The tax and silver of Great Wei, which is already as high as 30%, can no longer be taken from the people, but only from the royal family.”
“But don’t worry, nephew Xu may look reckless, but he is actually well thought out, if we can guess it, he can also guess it, and he should already know something about the current situation in Great Wei.”
“In this way, the old man personally to go to him a trip, but how exactly the old man dare not say explicitly, should advise will advise, you also do not worry.”
“Just ……. Do a good plan, two-handed preparation, certainly right.”
The state duke is worthy of being the head of the state, he knows what he is facing now, but also knows Xu Qingnian’s character, so he didn’t say anything directly, just try to dissuade as much as possible, whether it will work or not he is not sure, but will also tell the people’s mind.
He was not sure if it would work out, but he would tell them what they wanted to do.
If things really went wrong, they would have to take it hard.
“En.”
The crowd nodded, while inexplicably feeling a bit emotional, since Xu Qingnian had come to Kyoto, it was really a bit outrageous, every time he moved a bit, it was always shocking.
And it was more exaggerated than once, making it really difficult for people to figure out.
“Alright, you guys can wait here.”
Duke An got up and walked towards the Shouren Academy.
There was no way out, things had come to this point and a trip had to be made, usually Xu Qingnian could make a scene any way she wanted, but this time she really couldn’t mess around.
An Guo Gong left, and the crowd looked at An Guo Gong’s back, each fell into silence.
A quarter of an hour later.
Outside the Shouren Academy.
Duke An Guoguo crossed his steps and happened to see a silhouette, that of Zhang Jing, the Minister of Penalty.
“Shang Shu Zhang.”
Duke An shouted, the latter was about to enter the Shouren Academy, yet he could not help but stop upon hearing Duke An’s voice.
“Greetings, An Guo Gong.”
Zhang Jing walked up to An Guo Gong and said very politely.
Just as quickly, Zhang Jing continued to speak.
“Is this the Duke of An …… looking for Shouren?”
Zhang Jing asked.
“En, looking for him on some matter.”
Duke An nodded.
“Alright then, then my humble servant will first leave.”
Zhang Jing did not expect that Duke An would also come, so the first thing he wanted to do was to leave, after all, he had something else to find Xu Qingnian, and with Duke An present, he was afraid that it would not be too good to talk about.
“Don’t go, go together, you and I have the same intention.”
An Guo Duke stopped it, instead he told Zhang Jing to stay.
He did not say much and entered the Shouren Academy together with Duke An.
In the middle of the academy.
Xu Qingnian took the Dragon Talisman and began to study it carefully.
The Dragon Talisman was made of pure gold, surrounded by precious stones, with the word Dragon Talisman engraved on the front and the word Da Nei engraved on the back, and the dragon painted on both sides.
It contained a ray of imperial might within, a treasure, or at least a spirit weapon level.
His Majesty did not have many pieces of this dragon talisman, and seeing the talisman was like seeing me. Xu Qingnian naturally wanted to examine it properly, and see if he could make a copy of it later, so that if His Majesty took it away and he went outside to cause trouble, he could take it out to scare people.
This is a bold idea, if others knew about it, they would probably have to praise it.
Wonderful idea.
It was also at this moment that two figures approached, and Xu Qingnian immediately looked away.
Duke An Guo and Zhang Jing.
“Greetings, Duke An!”
“Greetings, Shang Shu Zhang!”
Xu Qingnian held the Great Inner Dragon Talisman and bowed towards the two.
In an instant, the two men hurriedly bowed deeply towards Xu Qingnian.
“My subjects, pay my respects to Your Majesty!”
The two men were a little flustered, ah, what was this Great Inner Dragon Talisman? Not just a symbol, but a treasure, if they were disrespectful, His Majesty had sensed it.
Otherwise, how could they dare to say ‘seeing the talisman is like seeing me’?
Seeing the two of them, Xu Qingnian immediately put away the Dragon Talisman and then smilingly bowed towards them here.
Only this time did the two reluctantly accept the salute.
“Your Excellency, Lord Zhang, what can I do for you?”
Xu Qingnian invited the two to take their seats while asking slightly more knowingly.
“What is it? Are you still not clear yourself?”
Zhang Jing was the first to speak up, he pulled Xu Qingnian to sit down and was about to continue, but after glancing at Duke An Guo, the latter nodded, Zhang Jing had no more qualms.
“Shouren, Shouren! I told you before that you should keep a low profile and be more peaceful these days, but you turn around and come up with such things, I really don’t know what to say about you.”
“For all your previous nonsense, old man will not say anything, but this time, you must listen to old man and absolutely not touch the tax silver.”
Zhang Jing stated his intention directly, he didn’t care about nonsense or anything, there was no need to hide it.
When this was said, Xu Qingnian frowned a little.
“Minister Zhang, nowadays the treasury is empty, if we don’t touch the tax silver, it will be difficult for Great Wei to support it.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and he had to say that these courtiers were really more old foxes than one another, His Majesty had just pronounced the decree, and they all knew what they had in mind.
“I understand! But you must also know what can and cannot be touched. The matter of taxes and silver is too involved, especially the dispute between the kings, this matter is beyond the court, it is something that neither you nor I can touch.”
Zhang Jing said bitterly.
This internal problem is not only the Northern Expedition, but also the economic problem.
And this external problem is not just the barbarians at the border, there are many things, such as the rebellion of the va*sal kings, you can’t move the knife on their heads if you can’t solve it.
What Zhang Jing said was exactly right.
The An Guo Duke at the side nodded, but he did not speak, though Xu Qingnian would have joined the persuasion brigade as soon as he vetoed it.
However Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out.
“Shang Shu Zhang, where did you hear that rumour, what with the battle of the kings? How come the kings are involved again?”
Xu Qingnian felt a little baffled.
Uh?
The two of them were stunned.
“You’re not trying to find trouble with the royal lineage?”
Zhang Jing couldn’t help but ask.
“Lord Zhang, you’re thinking too much, aren’t you? How could my subordinate possibly go looking for trouble with the Royal Family lineage? Any one of them could crush me to death, Lord An, you wouldn’t mean that too, would you?”
Xu Qingnian was speaking blindly with his eyes open.
But it wasn’t blind either, because he had no intention of going after the imperial family, at least not now, going after them was tantamount to seeking death.
Before His Majesty took control of Wei, Xu Qingnian didn’t dare to touch these people, and if he did, he could buy a coffin and wait for his death.
“So this tax silver of yours, what do you do with it?”
This time both Zhang Jing and Lord An were confused.
If not trouble with the royal line, then who?
“The foreigners.”
Xu Qingnian said very directly.
“The foreigners?”
The two men were a little baffled.
“Lord Zhang, Lord An, listen to me.”
“This foreign tribe has been in our Wei for a hundred years, right?”
Xu Qingnian asked.
“More than that.” The two men immediately gave their answers, it was not like the foreigners had come to Great Wei for a year or two, especially during the first few dynasties, when Great Wei was so rich that the first thing these people from small countries did when they came was to pay tribute.
Although the tribute was all rags, the benefits received were extremely high, and it can be said that back then, Great Wei fed an unknown number of foreign countries.
“It’s been more than a hundred years, so fine, I’ll keep asking.”
“Lord Zhang, Lord An, this group of foreign countries came to Great Wei to do business, I won’t say how they did it, I believe you two have heard about it.”
“They do business here and don’t pay taxes, it was because the several previous emperors were benevolent at the beginning and considered these people poor, now hundreds of years have pa*sed, they should be rich too, right?”
Xu Qingnian asked.
“En.”
The two nodded, the means by which the foreigners came to do business in Great Wei, they had indeed heard of it, basically it was just slightly forced buying and selling and bumper sticker hobby, considering the atmosphere of the great nation, often when they encountered such things, generally speaking it was just to make peace.
Don’t get into anything with the foreigners.
Especially Zhang Jing, the Ministry of Penalty has a lot of this kind of thing every day, and the people in the capital have learned their lesson, but many tourists come to Kyoto every day, and these people often suffer, and the magistrates in the streets of Kyoto are also headaches for this.
However, in order not to create a bad influence, they usually discourage them and pay some money, as those who can come to the capital are not poor.
The Ministry of Justice has also established some rules for this purpose, so that visitors can be more careful.
As for the suppression of discipline, this is not feasible, these foreigners are very smart, as long as one person is in trouble, a group of people will flock to the city and start to make trouble.
The seven northern expeditions were in fact a failure, but they still had to say that they had carried out seven northern expeditions to raise our country’s prestige.
There was nothing wrong with Xu Qingnian’s statement.
“Then you mean to say …… levy their taxes?”
Zhang Jing inquired.
“No!” Xu Qingnian shook his head before speaking slowly under the curious gazes of the two.
“It’s not to levy their taxes, it’s to make them pay back the taxes.”
Xu Qingnian spoke his thoughts.
“Make up taxes?”
The two were a little confused again, how could they pay back taxes? Even if you were to target them now and levy taxes, they could understand, but what did it mean to pay back taxes?
“En, back taxes.”
“They are earning silver in the Great Wei Dynasty, buying and selling by force, and even more so bumper-to-bumper trading, which extremely affects the image of Kyoto, they were supposed to be fined, but I thought about it, Great Wei is a country of etiquette, and a heavenly country, so a fine would be a bit unpleasant.”
“Let them pay back the tax for three years, it’s too much for them to bear.”
Xu Qingnian said so.
“Make up three years? Then how many percent will be made up?”
The two men continued to ask.
“Not much, let’s make up 30 percent, and then levy 40 percent of the tax, and all kinds of tariffs.”
Xu Qingnian said what he thought.
“Thirty percent? A 40% levy? And tariffs?”
Although he did not understand the Ministry of Household Affairs, he did understand taxation.
Now that Wei was in decline, the people were suffering from the 30% tax, but Xu Qingnian was going to levy a 40% tax? Would this group agree?
There is also the tariff, although I don’t know what it means, but it sounds like another expense.
Xu Qingnian’s knife was too harsh, right?
“Shouren, you are exaggerating with this levy, aren’t you? I’m only afraid it will cause public discontent.”
Zhang Jing couldn’t help but speak up, but his tone was fine, after all, it was aimed at people of a different race and not the royal lineage, so it was fine.
If this was a levy on the royal family, not to mention the 30% to 40% of the silver, 10% of the silver would have caused a big problem.
The levy on the foreigners is much better.
It was just a bit exaggerated.
“Public discontent?”
Xu Qingnian gave a cold laugh, then spoke.
“This bunch of foreigners are so reckless in Kyoto, doing business by force, why aren’t they afraid of stirring up public resentment?”
“And if they dare to be so reckless in Kyoto, what do you think will happen elsewhere? There are many such cases in the Ministry of Justice, and there are even many cases where people have been killed.”
“It’s true that the Wei Dynasty is a polite country, a heavenly country, but we have to look at the situation at the right time, and it’s important to be cheeky, but the development of the country is more important.”
“I’m not afraid of stirring up public resentment, instead I think the people will have some support.”
Xu Qingnian said with all seriousness.
