Xu Qingnian’s standing words.
There was no heaven and earth vision.
Nor was there any Xuanhuang light or radiance rushing into the sky.
However, at this very moment.
Inside the Great Wei Imperial Palace.
With the sound of a bell ringing, the crowd rose in alarm.
The first person to be startled was King Huai Ning in the Huai Ning Palace.
Inside the hall, King Huai Ning stood up, his pale face showing a shocked expression as he looked at the location of the palace, his body trembling violently now.
“Zhen Guo Zhong, this is the Zhen Guo Zhong, this Xu Qingnian, why can he win the hearts of the people of the world? What kind of a man is he?”
King Huai Ning spoke these words in an almost roaring voice.
The Great Wei had two divine weapons of state suppression.
The Taizu Long Sword, which was the weapon of Emperor Taizu, accompanied him on his conquests, eventually pacified the turmoil, laid the foundation of the Great Wei Dynasty, united the nation’s fortunes, and possessed terrifying power.
This is a divine weapon created by the Five Dynasties of Emperor Wen, as the prosperity of Great Wei was immense and the national fortune was strong.
If it rings seven times, it will mean that Wei has surpa*sed all dynasties of the past and present, and if it rings nine times, Wei will be unified.
Now, when the bell rings, it means that Xu Qingnian has gained the hearts and minds of the people of Great Wei.
Xu Qingnian’s speech did not bring about a vision of heaven and earth, but it did bring about the ringing of the Zhen Guo bell, which meant that Xu Qingnian had gained the hearts of the people.
To King Huai Ning, Xu Qingnian’s threat was instantly increased a hundredfold.
He was the one who wanted to rebel, and what was the most fearful thing about rebellion? Isn’t it the people’s discontent?
As the saying goes, if the people of the world are well-fed and well-drunk, whoever rebels will die.
The problem is that they do not have the absolute force to suppress it, they have the capital to rebel, but it is unknown whether they can succeed or not.
But with Xu Qingnian’s standing words today, the situation was instantly turned around.
“I regret that I should not have handed over the military amulet.”
King Huaining let out a whimper, what was hardest for him now was not that Xu Qingnian had won the hearts of the people.
Rather, it was the fact that he had handed over the Qilin Talisman himself.
Originally, according to his plan, handing over the amulet to the empress would bring trouble to the empress and make her make a mistake, and then he could bring in other hesitant clan kings to join the rebellion.
There was nothing wrong with the plan, but then there was Xu Qingnian.
A Xu Qingnian who has won the hearts of the people of Wei.
Xu Qingnian has the hearts and minds of the people of Wei. If the va*sal kings revolt, the people will not agree to it if Xu Qingnian intervenes, and if they don’t have the hearts and minds of the people, it will be a big problem for them.
The Qilin talisman, coupled with Xu Qingnian’s speech for the people, turned the original 30/70 split into a 50/50 split in an instant.
In this way, those who are already hesitant will be even more hesitant, while those who have joined but have not yet made up their minds may also be hesitant.
This is a great calamity.
He regretted it.
He regretted why he had handed over the amulet of the Qilin army, he was so foolish, he was so blinded by lard.
The Great Wei Palace of Literature.
Chen Zhengru looked at the Great Wei Palace, the sound of the Zhen Guo bell still echoing in his ears.
“I am the only torch flame.”
Chen Zhengru’s voice rang out as he murmured, his gaze retracting from the Great Wei Palace before landing on Xu Qingnian.
His eyes were full of praise, Xu Qingnian’s speech for the people was somewhat similar to his, he was making a speech for Great Wei, expecting that one day, Great Wei would return to its heyday.
Xu Qingnian, on the other hand, was doing it for the people, which meant the same thing.
In the Palace of Literature, all the great scholars were silent. If they had some disdain for Xu Qingnian, it was because Xu Qingnian was only a seventh-ranked scholar.
Before the seventh rank, no matter how fast you are, you are only as fast as your talent.
But from the seventh grade onwards, every step up is a qualitative change, making a speech, writing a book, which is not something worthy of attention?
Especially if this person is Xu Qingnian.
If you do the maths, Xu Qingnian has only been at school for three or four months, and he has already established a sixth grade.
If this goes on, won’t Xu Qingnian be promoted to the rank of great scholar within this year?
If that were the case, Xu Qingnian would really have the qualifications of a saint.
If Xu Qingnian really wrote a book and became a Confucian this year, then they would have to admit Xu Qingnian’s talent and his saintly qualities.
Apart from a few Confucians, most of them did not have much to say about Xu Qingnian.
The majority of the Confucian scholars, such as Chen Xin and Chen Zhengru, had no problem with Xu Qingnian because of their preconceptions.
Xu Qingnian, a Confucian scholar of the eighth rank, disliked the Confucian scholars in anger, which was a great disrespect, and then even started a school, trying to overthrow the Zhu Sheng lineage. How could they not be angry?
But if Xu Qingnian becomes a saint, then all these opinions will vanish into thin air, because Confucianism is recognized by heaven and earth, and it is useless for them to disagree.
At this moment, the Confucian scholars of the Great Wei Palace of Literature had a true understanding of Xu Qingnian.
And in the middle of the imperial palace.
The empress stood up and looked in the direction of the Zhen Guo Zhong, looking silent.
Li Guangxiao, on the other hand, stood up with a look of delight on his face.
“Xu Qingnian has set up a speech for the people, this is a step that really reverses the situation.”
Li Guangxiao’s face showed delight, he had also been thinking about the matter of va*sal kings everywhere for some time, but the situation today was not favourable to the empress.
But now it was different, Xu Qingnian had established a voice for the people and had a very high status among them, so he could perfectly control these va*sal kings.
Especially now that the Empress is in control of the Divine Machine Battalion and the Qilin Army, and with Xu Qingnian, the situation has turned from a previous disadvantage to a draw in an instant.
This was great good.
“Pa*s on my decree!”
“Xu Qingnian is a pillar of the nation for standing up for the people, he is indeed a pillar of the nation, ennoble Xu Qingnian with the title of Anmin, a Viscount, appoint a Servant of the Ministry of the Household, an official of the fourth rank, repair the title house, reward ten maidservants, five thousand taels of gold and silver, various types of jade, five sets of title clothing, and two sets of royal items.”
The empress spoke, and she directly pronounced the decree, directly conferring the title of office.
The head of the Household Department was from the seventh rank, and directly jumped six levels, directly appointing the Servant of the Household Department, from the fourth rank, this promotion speed is also fast and scary.
But the most important thing was the knighthood.
What is a knighthood? A title means that Xu Qingnian is a powerful person in Great Wei, not to mention a viscount.
But Xu Qingnian is only 20 years old, and he has been made a viscount. Even Prime Minister Chen Zhengru does not have a title in the imperial court.
In official circles, Xu Qingnian had to call Chen Zhengru Prime Minister or Shang Shu.
In ordinary times, Chen Zhengru had to call out to Xu Qingnian as Lord Viscount.
This was the importance of the title.
The change of status was complete.
Outside the Ministry of Justice.
The three Shang Shu’s eyes could not help but fall on Xu Qingnian.
Gu Yan was silent, he was the minister of the Ministry of Household. Xu Qingnian had made a statement today, and had received both a title and an official ranking, and had also gained the hearts of the people, in the future Great Wei, Xu Qingnian would be a shining light.
Zhang Jing and Zhou Yan were silent, they just marveled at what Xu Qingnian had done, it was more dangerous than ever, yet time and time again, it turned out to be a miracle, this man is really a demon.
The King of Zhenxi, on the other hand, was completely silent, for he knew that the momentum had gone.
A faint beam of light coalesced from the people and entered Xu Qingnian’s body.
This was the direction of the people’s hearts.
Each faint ray of light came from one of the people, seemingly faint, but together, they reflected Xu Qingnian like a sage.
But at this very moment, Xu Qingnian inexplicably felt that this public opinion, like an ocean, could strengthen his own Confucian Dao ranking.
Yes, the talent gained from writing the An Guo policy was basically depleted, and later on, when he composed the Nan Yu Ge preface, a thousand famous words, he also gained a lot of talent, but just now, his own sixth grade standing speech was directly depleted.
It was even partly short, but now with the support of the people’s hearts, it allowed itself to reach the sixth rank like a bamboo break.
After the seventh grade of Confucianism, one grade is one heaven, and now that I have succeeded in making a speech, it is definitely not the case that if I want to become a great Confucian, I can immediately become a great Confucian by writing a superb book now.
It still requires talent to be augmented, and having talent qualifies you to break through the ranks, while writing a book qualifies you to become a great scholar.
Under normal circumstances, a Confucian who establishes a book and wants to become a great Confucian, it would take decades, if not decades, just to accumulate talent qi.
However, Xu Qingnian discovered that public opinion could actually replace talent qi and be added to his body, eliminating this link.
This meant that if one had enough public opinion, as long as the books one wrote were not bad, one could instantly become a great scholar, eliminating this accumulation process.
This is simply a great blessing for oneself.
After all, I don’t lack anything, except for poetry and famous words, so I can write books and poems, but it is still difficult to accumulate talent by relying on the best articles and poems.
When you write one thousand poems, your talent rolls on, but when you write a thousand poems, you don’t have much talent left, and it takes a lot of time to accumulate it, because your poems have to be pa*sed on gradually.
Otherwise, if you recite a poem, you can become stronger straight away.
But public opinion can, and public opinion is endless. Xu Qingnian could feel that as long as he did practical things for the people, he could gain a lot of public opinion, and this public opinion could allow him to break through the Confucian Dao rank quickly.
Even becoming a saint would not be impossible.
Although this was a bit exaggerated, there was no problem in theory.
Take a deep breath.
Xu Qingnian withdrew all his distracting thoughts as he bowed to the people, while the people, who were gathered around, also bowed in unison towards Xu Qingnian.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Qingnian turned his gaze towards the King of Zhenxi.
“Your Majesty, do you have anything else to say?”
Xu Qingnian asked calmly.
The King of Zhenxi had nothing more to say, Xu Qingnian had already made her words and was bent on serving the people, what else did he have to say? If he said anything else, he would really become the target of all.
“Xu Qingnian, I hope you will really sing all the way.”
The King of Zhenxi opened his mouth, leaving behind an intriguing sentence, before turning to leave.
He had already lost this battle, and he had lost badly, so to stay here would only add to the joke.
Seeing the King of Zhenxi leave, Xu Qingnian then fixed his gaze on these merchants.
Sensing Xu Qingnian’s gaze, the group of Fan merchants spoke again.
“Lord Xu, we promise, we promise.”
“Lord Xu, we are willing to pay the tax, as much as we can.”
They hurriedly shouted, watching King Zhenxi leave, they were inwardly relieved ah, if King Zhenxi had remained here, they really didn’t know what the result would be.
“Words are no proof, sign and draw as proof.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and then had the long-prepared notes listed out, with all the terms and conditions clearly written on them, making up three years of taxes at 30%, while levying 40% of taxes after previous years.
The merchants did not hesitate to sign the agreement, not only them, but also the entire Kyoto merchants, and even the entire Wei merchants, but the big project could not be done until after it was over.
But this big project could not be done until after it was finished. Just let this group of people sign first.
One hour later.
When all the merchants had finished signing and pledging, Xu Qingnian continued to say the third rule.
“Thirdly, from now on, all of you who do business, buy and ship goods will be documented, one copy for the people, one copy for you and one copy for the Ministry of the Household, and the monthly account book must be sent to the Ministry of the Household for thorough investigation.
“All the people, in future, when you buy something from a merchant, you must leave a receipt, if there is a receipt and you buy fake goods, the Ministry of Finance will open a case to investigate, and the fake one will be punished by ten, and the shop will unilaterally compensate, but if there is no receipt, even if you are cheated of a thousand taels of silver, the Ministry of Finance will never pursue!”
“After this, stopping women from doing business is not in the law, but in all of you, to all the people to monitor well, do not happen again this kind of thing.”
Xu Qingnian said the third rule, and also told the people in the future to buy and sell the things of the Fan merchants, must leave receipts, even a penny must have a receipt, as long as there is a receipt, you feel unfair, you can go to the Ministry of Justice to file a case, if there is no receipt, even if you really have been cheated, it is your own problem, the Ministry of Justice does not care.
Once this rule was said, the Minister of Household Affairs, Gu Yan, couldn’t help but have a shrewd look in his eyes.
He had not expected that Xu Qingnian’s real killing move would be this.
To be honest, Xu Qingnian made such a big fuss just to levy taxes and make up for them, which he did not think highly of.
Once their energy is restored, they are bound to think of various ways and exploit various loopholes, and when the time comes to really make them pay the tax, it will definitely be a lot of trouble.
But Xu Qingnian even used this trick to block the retreat of these merchants.
The people of the country have to keep it as an accounting, the people have to keep it as a receipt, and the people have to keep it as an accounting, and the people have to keep it as an accounting, and then send the books to the Ministry of Finance for accounting.
You can of course sell the stuff and then not give receipts, but the question is will the people agree? For something that costs tens of taels of silver, who dares to guarantee that there are no problems?
So this trick, directly blocked this gang of Fan merchants to play foul.
Good tactics, good tactics, good tactics.
And this method can be extended to the whole country ah, after all, there are many big Wei merchants will also play these fishy, but if with the strict law of the Ministry of Justice, with receipts to file a case, without receipts will not be filed, even if these female dry merchants want to evade taxes and tax evasion.
But with receipts, you wouldn’t dare to be too reckless. It’s impossible to completely eradicate, but to do partial prevention, the treasury can add another wave of income ah.
This Xu Qingnian is really a great talent in the Household Department.
Gu Yan was a bit emotional.
At this moment, the merchants kneeling on the ground were somewhat silent, they did not panic when they heard about the taxation, after all, they could also play foul with the taxation, but now they had to keep the receipts and give the accounting to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
But now they have to keep receipts and give them to the Ministry of Household Affairs for accounting. This is very troublesome, and with the hatred of the people, even if they ask them not to issue receipts by reducing the price, they will probably not agree.
Sensing the hesitation of the merchants, Xu Qingnian was calm.
Slowly, he spat out a word.
“Chop!”
Xu Qingnian spoke softly, he did not have any respect for these Fan merchants, and the word “chop” fell.
In an instant, four people were caught out and without saying a word, four heads fell to the ground directly.
In an instant, the fannish merchants screamed in disbelief.
“Lord Xu, Lord Xu, we promise, we promise.”
“Lord Xu, we just thought about it for a moment, we didn’t have any other ideas at all, we promise.”
“Lord Xu, don’t think wrong, we didn’t mean anything else at all, we just thought a little more.”
The merchants cried out loudly, they really didn’t know what to say, was this Xu Qingnian addicted to killing them?
But in the face of the merchants’ pleas for mercy, Xu Qingnian didn’t even look at them, he had given them a chance and yet he still dared to hesitate?
Do you really think you are a paper tiger?
A quarter of an hour later.
A dozen more heads fell to the ground. Xu Qingnian drank his tea and then looked at the merchants, who were already kowtowing frantically on the ground, their foreheads dripping blood as they cried out frantically, begging Xu Qingnian to spare their lives.
They really regretted why they had hesitated just now, for if they hadn’t, nothing would have happened.
“Lord Xu, we really know we’re wrong.”
The foreign merchants cried out and begged for mercy, they were really scared, scared of being killed by Xu Qingnian.
“It’s alright.”
Xu Qingnian waved his hand, and the officers of the Ministry of Punishment stopped their hands.
“This official will give you one last chance.”
“After signing and pledging, within a day, pay the tax back and do what you have to do from now on.”
“If you do not sign and pledge, your heads will fall to the ground.”
Xu Qingnian said blandly.
As this voice rang out, the merchants no longer dared to act recklessly and began to sign and pledge one by one.
Of course silver was important, but life was most important.
Xu Qingnian did not say a word, and it took a full hour to sign and sign.
However, the first group of merchants to sign were the bigger ones, while the rest of the ordinary merchants were detained at the court, so it would take a day to get them all signed.
It would take a day to get all the signatures, but the people below could do that.
“The prosperity of Kyoto depends on the people, so if you have any grievances in the future, come to the Ministry of Justice.”
Xu Qingnian bowed once more to the people.
The three officials also got up, bowed to the people, and followed them.
The matter of the foreign merchants is over here, but as for what comes next, that is the next thing.
No one can guarantee that these merchants will not turn against them afterwards, but what has been done has been done, and it is impossible to kill them all, for that would really cause a big problem.
Soon, in the inner hall of the Ministry of Justice.
Zhang Jing sat at the head of the table, Gu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, sat on the left, the Minister of War sat on the right, and Xu Qingnian moved a stool and sat down, not being polite.
“Shouren, although you have succeeded in establishing your authority today, you are still a bit aggressive, these merchants are probably related to many clan kings, and there are also many forces in Kyoto that are related to them.
Zhang Jing, the Minister of Justice, was the first to speak up, he had no idea and directly pointed out what Xu Qingnian had done wrong.
“Shouren ah, it’s not that I’m talking about you, you killed too many people today, more than four hundred people before and after, the King of Zhenxi is absolutely right, it will really lead to war, nowadays Great Wei can’t afford to fight, I wanted to advise you, but after thinking about it you wanted to establish your authority at that time, if we discourage you, I’m afraid it will only be to your disadvantage, alas.”
Gu Yan, the Minister of Household, also followed suit, somewhat helpless.
However, Zhou Yan, the Minister of War, was different, as he gave a light hum and said.
“You are just too weak, it’s good to kill these foreign merchants, I think it’s good, you did the right thing, you should kill them, if you really want to fight, then you should fight, are you really afraid of a bunch of small foreign states?”
Zhou Yan sneered.
He did not feel that Xu Qingnian had done anything wrong, on the contrary, he felt that Xu Qingnian had done a good job, killing the right thing, killing quite right.
“Shang Shu Zhang, Shang Shu Gu, Shang Shu Zhou, I already have a comprehensive plan for today’s matter, many things are not convenient to say directly, but getting rid of the foreign merchants is definitely beneficial to Great Wei and to the present.”
“Now that the matter has been settled, Shang-Shu Gu has the trouble to send someone to reconcile the books, Shang-Shu Zhang has the trouble to oversee the replenishment of taxes, and as for Shang-Shu Zhou, he should also be vigilant, the Qilin Army and the Divine Machine Battalion have been guarding the area around the capital recently, never allowing any of the Fan merchants to escape.”
“Furthermore, Shang Shu Gu, the matter of taxation of the Fan merchants should also be drafted in a memorial for His Majesty to issue a decree to standardise the whole country, including the talk of receipts, so that the whole country can follow suit and learn from it.”
The matter was settled, and Xu Qingnian did not want to continue to say anything more here.
What Gu Yan said, Xu Qingnian understood, but everyone has their own ideas, Xu Qingnian dared to do so, naturally he has his own reasoning, so there is no need to argue about anything.
The three Shang Shu nodded when they heard Xu Qingnian’s words, and there was nothing more to say.
“The final amount of tax will be handed over to me directly by Minister Gu, not through the hands of others.
Xu Qingnian got up and excused himself, when the matter was done, he had to go back, there was no point in staying here.
“Good.”
Gu Yan nodded, right now things had happened, there was nothing more to say, it would be better to leave it like this for now, as for the things behind, let’s talk about it when it comes, for now it was not like he could think of any way.
“Nephew Shouren, let’s go together, I’m going back too.”
Zhou Yan also got up and left along with Xu Qingnian.
Soon Xu Qingnian and Zhou Yan left the room.
At that moment, Zhang Jing and Gu Yan were left in the inner hall.
After Zhou Yan and Xu Qingnian had left, Gu Yan’s voice rang out.
“Alas.”
“Shouren has great talent, a great talent in the Ministry of the Household, but unfortunately, although he has great talent, he is too radical, he has killed at least four hundred and fifty people before and after, as soon as today is over, I am afraid that tomorrow there will be a mountain of folds.”
“In a few months’ time, it will be His Majesty’s birthday, the first year of the new dynasty, and messengers from all the countries will come, at that time, they will definitely impeach Shouren with this matter.
Gu Yan spoke up, he praised Xu Qingnian’s great talent, but he was still a bit dissatisfied with what Xu Qingnian had done today.
It was not that Xu Qingnian could not establish his authority to kill, but that Xu Qingnian had killed too much, there was no need to do so.
As Gu Yan opened his mouth, Zhang Jing couldn’t help but sigh.
“Shouren has great talent, the great talent of the Ministry of Penalty, he killed to establish authority, mobilize public opinion and solve the scourge of the Fan merchants, but indeed there is no need to be so radical, and it does not make much sense to make up 30% of the tax, as for the taxation old man also thinks it is a bit impractical.”
“You are worried about the impeachment of the emissaries of the nations, but I am worried about the scourge of war again.”
“If there is a real war, Lord Gu, I would like to ask, can we afford to fight or not?”
Zhang Jing was also a bit curious, he didn’t know if it would be possible to fight or not if there was a real war.
“It’s difficult.”
Gu Yan sighed and shook his head, “You say it can be fought, right? You say it can be fought, you say it can’t be fought? Can’t afford to fight either.
Anyway, it was just hard and troublesome.
“Alas, forget it, things have come to this, there’s nothing to grieve about, anyway, with Shouren around, it’s a big deal, I’ll have to talk to His Majesty about it later, Shouren has to continue to serve in the Ministry of Punishment, I have quite a few cases on hand that need Shouren’s help.”
Zhang Jing shook his head, it does not matter, what this and that, water to cover up, the soldiers will stop.
But when this was said, Gu Yan frowned a little.
“Continue to serve in the Ministry of Justice? What do you mean by that, Minister Zhang? His Majesty has already said that Shouren should come to me as a retainer in the Ministry of the Household, so how will he have time to go to your Ministry of Punishment? Now that Wei is in a state of rejuvenation, you should not come and cause trouble.”
Gu Yan spoke up.
“Adding to the chaos? It’s true that Wei is in need of revival, but the Ministry of Punishment also has a lot to deal with. Besides, Shouren was also a member of the Ministry from the beginning, right? You didn’t want Shouren to go to your Household Department before? Didn’t you want Shouren to go to your Household Department before, saying that he didn’t have the talents of the Household Department?”
“Oh? Now that you see Shouren’s great talent, you’ve immediately changed your attitude?”
Zhang Jing said in a somewhat unpleasant manner.
“What do you mean by seeing Shouren’s great talent? I have always said that Shouren has the talent of the Household Department, when did I say that Shouren does not have the talent of the Household Department? You are slandering and defaming.”
“In short, His Majesty gave Shouren to my Household Department, so he is my Household Department’s man.”
Gu Yan was furious, he already understood whether Xu Qingnian had the talent of the Ministry of the Household.
If this kind of great talent came to the Household Ministry, other than that, at least it could make the Household Ministry collect an unknown amount of extra silver taels every year, then the pressure on the Household Ministry might be reduced, and it would also be a good thing for Great Wei.
What would you do at the Ministry of Justice? To judge cases? Just to waste this great talent for some cases?
“Shang Shu Gu, I respect you and call you Shang Shu, if you talk like this, then I won’t give you face.”
“Shouren is my man in the Ministry of Penalty, it’s useless for His Majesty to say, if you want to snatch Shouren away from me, I today, I today! Do you believe that I will beat you up today?”
Zhang Jing’s temper also came to a head, who was he? He was the Minister of Justice.
The fact that he had asked Xu Qingnian to go to the Ministry of Finance was just a favor, after all, Xu Qingnian was from his Ministry of Penalty, and the removal of the head post was just a way to give an explanation to the clan king.
The company’s main goal is to provide a solution to the problem.
“I don’t care about you.”
Gu Yan didn’t have any nonsense and directly got up to leave, pressing Zhang Jing to ignore him.
“Heh.”
Zhang Jing sneered and didn’t bother to pay attention to Gu Yan, he was sure that Xu Qingnian was his person from the Ministry of Punishment anyway, Gu Yan, an old man who wanted to steal her? You can dream big.
The two officials cursed and left.
The people were not gathered outside the Ministry of Justice, but in the shops.
Instead of gathering outside the Ministry of Justice, the people gathered in the shops and watched as the soldiers entered and brought out chest after chest full of silver, and then all kinds of treasures were brought out.
What with the white jade and coral, the paintings and calligraphy of famous people, and the antiques and curiosities, the dazzling array of treasures was brought out, causing the people to gasp in amazement.
The entire Household Department was completely busy, accounting, counting and evaluating.
Not only that, but other merchants also started to pay back taxes.
They didn’t dare to do anything fishy in this part of the tax replenishment, and took the initiative to bring out their books and calculate them according to 30%.
Although they had to pay 30% of the tax every year for a total of three years, at least they did not have their bones completely broken, and they were incredibly happy compared to those who had their heads cut off and their families raided.
It was the equivalent of giving a fifth of one’s family fortune to buy peace.
All in all, it was a very busy day in the capital of Wei, and at the end of the day many of the soldiers went into the Ministry of the Household and began to count the silver and money, and the whole Ministry was already full of exotic treasures and silver and gold.
Even the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials were all piled up.
Looking at these mountains of gold, silver and jewellery, all the officials smacked their lips, they knew that these merchants were making money, but when boxes of silver were piled up in front of them, they really did not know what to say.
There is a gap between people.
Finally, after a busy day, the following day at the end of the day.
All the numbers, thoroughly counted out.
A thick stack of account books was immediately sent to Xu Qingnian.
Shouren Academy.
Xu Qingnian took the account book and slowly flipped it open. He was a little surprised at the first page, and the more he flipped to the back, the more amazement there was in his eyes.
At the end, when Xu Qingnian saw the total, he stopped talking completely.
The total amount of the family’s money: 25,800,650,000 taels of silver, and the rest of the antiques, paintings, exotic treasures, and good land and property amounted to 47,600,400 taels].
This is the entire fortune of four hundred and thirty-seven people, with a total of more than twenty-five thousand eight hundred thousand taels of silver, a small target of two and a half.
As for the real estate, it is close to five small goals, but of course it takes time to sell these properties, and this is only an estimate, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can be sold for this price, a 70% discount is almost enough, if you want to sell them quickly, a 50% discount will be enough for half a month.
But is this possible?
Xu Qingnian is not stupid, these antique paintings and calligraphy, exotic treasures can be listed together, slowly sold ah.
As for these good land property, directly nationalized, let the Ministry of households to send people to operate, or directly to the merchants to collect rent is also profitable ah, a breath of sale is not necessary.
The other book.
The tax book.
Xu Qingnian looked through it carefully, page after page.
Eventually a shocking figure appeared.
[Total amount of back taxes: 43,800,000 taels of silver]
Xu Qingnian: ……
Xu Qingnian was silent.
Forty-three thousand eight hundred million taels?
Should it be so exaggerated? This was already four years of national taxes for the Great Wei.
This is a total of 70,000,000 taels of silver, which is the current silver, plus nearly 50,000,000 taels of silver in immovable a*sets, which is 120,000,000 taels of silver.
That’s 120,000,000.
That’s as much as a year’s tax revenue in the heyday of Wei, and it doesn’t even need to be spent.
With this cut, he was really rich.
At this moment, Xu Qingnian understood why the King of Western Town had protected these merchants so strongly.
They protect these merchants, and these merchants send them tribute money every year, is estimated to be an astronomical amount, 40% may be too much, 30% is definitely not too much.
Even some of the more ruthless clan kings, direct technology into the shares, draw you 50% away you do not have to say.
According to this 43,800,000 taels of silver, 30% can be taken away every year, which is 10,000,000 taels.
If Wei has a national tax of 10 million taels a year, they will take 10 million taels a year from these merchants.
That’s a lot of money!
No wonder they wanted to rebel.
Ask yourself, if you were a va*sal king and the amount of silver you took in each year was about the same as the national tax revenue, you wouldn’t be able to guarantee that you wouldn’t want to rebel.
If you have money, power and people, are you waiting to be cut into leeks if you don’t rebel?
“Quickly notify the Minister of Household, the Minister of Penalty, and the Minister of War, and ask them to face the sage together.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth and told the other party to inform the Minister of Household and the Minister of Penalty, and after saying this, he left directly to go inside the palace to tell the empress the good news ah.
A quarter of an hour later.
Xu Qingnian arrived outside the palace, he had already asked someone to inform His Majesty.
At the same time, he was also waiting for Gu Yan and Zhang Jing to arrive.
About an incense stick later, Gu Yan and Zhang Jing’s figures appeared in the area, with Zhou Yan following behind.
However, Gu Yan and Zhang Jing seemed to be somewhat separated from each other and were not walking very close to each other.
“Shouren, do you need to call us here in such a hurry?”
When he saw Xu Qingnian, Zhang Jing was the first to speak up, looking at Xu Qingnian with some curiosity.
“Shouren asked us to come over, naturally there is Shouren’s own reasoning, I think it should be that the total sum of the back taxes has come out.”
Gu Yan looked at Zhang Jing with some contempt and said.
“En, the total sum of the back taxes and the cribbing has already come out, and I intend to face the sage with the two lords and report on the matter.”
Xu Qingnian nodded, this time reporting the empress was sure to please the dragon’s face, such a credit, Xu Qingnian did not want to take it all for himself, everyone had it.
“How much silver is there? Is there 50 million taels?”
Minister of War Zhou Yan spoke up and guessed a figure.
When this was said, Gu Yan couldn’t help but shake his head.
“There can’t be only fifty million taels of silver, these Fan merchants are doing wrong in Kyoto and making a lot of money, so I think there might be ten thousand thousand taels, but of course it’s just a possibility, it could be less than ten thousand taels.”
Gu Yan, who was the Minister of Household Affairs, uttered a bold idea.
When this was said, Zhou Yan and Zhang Jing were slightly surprised, they were not from the Ministry of Household, but they knew how horrible 10,000,000 taels was.
But Xu Qingnian smiled a little bitterly, as he had wanted to speak out directly.
Just then, the eunuch’s voice rang out.
“His Majesty has an oracle, Your Lordships please.”
With the eunuch’s voice ringing out, the crowd did not dare to linger and hurriedly entered the palace to face His Majesty.
A quarter of an hour later.
Inside the Hall of the Raising Heart.
Four people entered the hall, and the empress on the dragonluster said with a calm gaze.
“What is the urgent matter?”
The empress asked this.
“Your Majesty, the Ministry of Accounts has cleared the accounts after the end of the Panshang scourge yesterday, and now the books have been released, I hope Your Majesty will check them.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up and said so.
“Oh!” The empress’s tone remained calm, then said, “There is no hurry about the account book, we can talk about it tomorrow, but since you are here, you can tell me directly how much silver there is.”
The empress was relatively calm, before Xu Qingnian burned the heavenly decree, she also knew part of it, so she was psychologically prepared, it was not urgent, but remembering that Xu Qingnian was in such a hurry, so she let Xu Qingnian say it directly.
“Your Majesty! Four hundred and thirty-seven people have been copied from their families, and the current silver, totaling about twenty-five thousand eight hundred million taels, and forty-seven thousand six hundred million taels of other a*sets.”
Xu Qingnian spoke.
The voice fell.
The Great Hall went quiet.
Gu Yan’s face instantly changed.
Twenty-five thousand eight hundred million taels of cash silver?
Forty-seven thousand six hundred thousand taels of other a*sets?
What the hell?
Great Wei’s annual income is only ten million taels?
Xu Qingnian, don’t fool me.
Not to mention Gu Yan, on top of the Dragon Luang, the Empress was also stunned when she heard this figure.
Even though she was prepared for it, she did not expect it to be so exaggerated.
Wouldn’t this add up to 70,000,000 taels?
Seven years of tax revenue for the Great Wei.
Goo.
Inside the main hall, the sound of swallowing saliva rang out, from Zhang Jing and Zhou Yan.
Let alone 70,000,000 taels of silver.
Even 10,000,000 taels of silver was too much for them, but 70,000,000 taels?
Are you robbing money?
“What about the back taxes?”
The empress opened her mouth, but her voice was a little unsettled.
“Forty-three million eight hundred thousand taels.”
Xu Qingnian took a deep breath and said this shocking figure.
Empress: “……”
Gu Yan: “……”
Zhou Yan: “……”
Zhang Jing: “…….”
Forty-three thousand eight hundred million taels?
Back taxes?
A crooked day??
Everyone was quiet, uncharacteristically quiet, while Xu Qingnian presented the account book up.
After a long time.
The Empress’s voice rang out.
“Aiqing has worked hard, Aiqing go back first, tomorrow at the court, I will discuss this matter again.”
The empress didn’t know what to say this time, this amount was really astronomical, she didn’t know how to spend it for a while.
This happiness had come too suddenly, hadn’t it?
“In compliance with the decree, long live my emperor.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up, knowing that such an amount had to be given to His Majesty to think over, not to mention His Majesty, he himself had to think over it.
The crowd left.
Xu Qingnian was fine, at least he quickly calmed down.
However, Gu Yan, Zhang Jing and Zhou Yan were somewhat frozen.
The astronomical figures Xu Qingnian had told them were still in their minds.
They didn’t even care when Xu Qingnian excused herself and left.
After a long time, Gu Yan came back to his senses, and he grabbed Zhou Yan, his face incomparably serious, and said.
“No, yesterday I felt that there were some other Fan merchants who had problems, Shang Shu Zhou, hurry up and arrest them, we absolutely cannot let a bad person go.”
Gu Yan said seriously.
What the hell, how come they only killed four hundred merchants?
Why didn’t they kill more?
These D*mned Fan merchants.
“Stop it, I’ll go back now and check to see if that Fan merchant has a record, Shang Shu Zhou, you remember to cooperate with me.”
Zhang Jing also spoke up, he came back to his senses and the first thing he thought of was to go over the case and find out if there was anyone with a criminal record.
Add some more silver to the Great Wei treasury.
The three Shang Shu numbed up.
And so it was.
A few hours later.
A great night filled the sky.
The moon and stars were thin.
Inside the Shouren Academy.
Kyoto was completely and utterly quiet.
The matter was settled, and now it was time to wait for tomorrow’s court meeting.
Xu Qingnian stood under the moonlight and began to think about some things.
Now he was already a sixth-ranked Confucian.
The demon seed in his body would explode in two more months.
With Hao Ran Zheng Qi in place although it could partially suppress it, the demon seed would also soar.
So one, too, had to raise the speed of the martial arts.
Otherwise it would really be a bit of a high wire walk, there was no need to take the risk.
With that, Xu Qingnian didn’t think much about it and began to meditate and cultivate, intending to enter the eighth rank in the next two days.
With that, Xu Qingnian began to cultivate.
However, one incense stick later.
Xu Qingnian opened his eyes.
His brows were locked, and his eyes were filled with doubt.
This was because, just now, he had run through the Golden Crow Body Tempering Technique himself.
However, it was found that ……. his own cultivation speed seemed to have dropped.
It was not a little drop.
Rather, it had dropped a lot, a lot.
Was it rusty?
Xu Qingnian frowned, he didn’t know what had happened and after thinking about it could only a*sume that it was just a little rusty.
At that moment, he decided to practise once more.
Another incense stick later.
At this moment, Xu Qingnian’s face became a little ugly.
It was over.
Something had gone wrong.
The pagan arts had failed?
