"Official!"
Looking at Li Jie walking away, Liu E suddenly felt helpless, and then she glanced at Wang Zeng who still didn't get up.
"well."
With a slight sigh, Liu E also followed Li Jie's footsteps and left Chengming Hall.
The other courtiers were also shocked when they saw this scene.
Officials leaving early?
How many years has this not happened?
On the other side, Ding Wei glanced at Wang Zeng blankly.
At this time, he was laughing wildly in his heart.
happy!
What a pleasure!
The official immediately left angrily, which shows how severely Wang Zeng offended the official.
Seeing the officials and the Queen Mother leaving one after another, and the two rightful owners leaving, the court discussion naturally ended.
Immediately afterwards, Ding Wei was the first to leave, and after him, other courtiers also stepped out of Chengming Hall one after another.
"Prince Prime Minister."
Lu Yijian did not follow the others and left, but stayed in the palace. Seeing that everyone else had left, he slowly stepped forward and gently helped Wang Zeng.
"What's the matter with you?"
It has been almost a year since Guan Jia ascended the throne. Can’t the King and Prime Minister still see who Guan Jia is?
To put it nicely, it is talking about the constitution of heaven and saying what you mean!
The more unpleasant thing is that it is stubborn and does not tolerate other voices.
In one word, that’s all!
Ban salt, ban feces!
So what?
“A gentleman does what he does and what he doesn’t do!”
Wang Zeng slowly stood up and said with determination on his face.
"The troops in the northwest border finally calmed down. If the salt ban is implemented again, the party members led by Li Deming will probably make a comeback."
If the border war breaks out again, although the imperial court may not necessarily lose, even if there is only two or three levels of probability, it cannot take risks.
Stability is the most important thing.
As the two of them talked, they slowly walked out of the palace. The moment they stepped out of the palace door, Lu Yijian stood on the terrace and glanced meaningfully towards the northwest.
After a while, Lu Yijian looked away and sighed.
"Prime Minister, I'm afraid the officials have been determined for a long time about banning salt."
"Since the day Cao Qian left for the west, the officials probably had this intention."
The destination of Cao Qian's westward journey was Tubo, although the official did not issue a clear edict, nor did he summon his attendants to discuss the matter.
But Lu Yijian thought he could guess what Cao Qian's purpose was.
It’s nothing more than four words.
Divide and win over!
Nowadays, the tribes of Tubo are fighting on their own. Although the Tubo tribe is Zanpu in name, its strength is too weak to overwhelm the tribes.
Therefore, the current territory of Tubo is more like the Five Dynasties period, where all the princes were co-organized. Although the territory is large, the army and horses are strong.
But it cannot be twisted into one, it is just a loose sand.
The party members have also recognized this point and have been cutting flesh from Tubo in recent years.
Over time, the relationship between Tubo and Dangxiang became increasingly tense.
The official sent Cao Qian secretly as an envoy to Tubo in order to introduce external forces and support Xisiluo's rise to power.
Then, either with advantage, force, or kindness, Tibet and Dangxiang were drawn into a war, thus weakening the fighting power of the Dangxiang people.
This strategy is indeed good. It can suppress Li Deming and restrict Tubo. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
According to Lu Yijian's analysis, the official's insistence on 'forbidding salt' was probably to show off to Tibet.
Although the Tubo people are not educated, they are not stupid either. They make empty promises. Why should they believe Song Ting's promise?
If Li Jie knew Lu Yijian's thoughts, he would definitely sigh.
He is worthy of being the prime minister in the future.
Really thorough look at the problem.
In fact, banning salt and wooing Tibet are complementary to each other.
The salt ban can weaken Xixia's fiscal revenue, and the salt ban is only the first step against Xixia.
In the next step, he will also organize manpower to specifically combat the smuggling trade in the northwest border.
Banning green and white salt from flowing into Song Dynasty is the first step, and banning Song Dynasty grain from flowing into Dangxiang is the second step.
Of course, the specific time to implement the second step depends on the situation in Tubo.
If the internal problems in Tubo are not resolved, the Song Dynasty will directly impose a food ban. At that time, no matter how hard Li Deming can endure it, he will probably seek revenge from the Song Dynasty.
The green and white salt cannot be sold, and the party's income is only reduced by a few points, but it cannot buy food, which is a fatal matter.
Xixia is a bitter and cold land with limited products. Apart from animal husbandry, there are only two sources of food.
One is trade, through border trade, either from the Song Dynasty or from the Liao Kingdom.
Among them, the proportion of grain purchased from Da Song Dynasty is higher.
As for the second one, it’s just a grab.
During the reign of Taizong Zhidao, Li Jiqian, the leader of the party, snatched 400,000 shi of military rations from the Song Dynasty.
However, there is a cost to robbing.
With tens of thousands of troops at the border, the cost of eating horses and chewing people is quite high. If they encounter a strong blockade from the Song Dynasty and fail to grab enough food, the business without capital is likely to become a loss-making business.
Kou Bian is high-risk and high-yield. If there is an option, party members will not be willing to implement this strategy.
Unless there is a major disaster in the country, the Song Dynasty prohibits party members from purchasing grain.
In short, Kou Bian was a last resort and a last resort.
"well."
Wang Zeng looked into the distance and sighed.
"How can I not understand Tanfu's meaning?"
"But for some things, someone has to stand up and speak out."
"There is only one voice in the court, and no matter which voice it is, it is not a good thing."
Wang Zeng was not a fool either. Although he did not think as deeply as Lu Yijian, he could figure out a little bit about the thoughts of the officials.
Not only were the officials not afraid of the war that the late emperor feared, they were even eager to try it.
Most of the heroes in history are like this.
"Prince Wang, I didn't mean that."
Lu Yijian explained: "What I mean is that we can change the approach. Officials are young and it is normal for them to be biased occasionally."
"And isn't this the meaning of our existence?"
Wang Zeng said with a normal expression: "It is our duty to speak out and advise. Today I am just fulfilling my duty."
"No matter what officials think, when it is time to speak out, as a minister, you must not back down."
Hearing this, Lu Yijian opened his mouth, but in the end he chose to swallow the words.
He knew he couldn't do something, but he did it. What else could he say?
You can't just tie up the Prime Minister and prevent him from participating in the court meeting, right?
…
…
…
evening.
"Ha ha."
"Shiqi, you missed a good show today."
Now there were only two people at the scene, Ding Wei and Lin Te, and Ding Wei could finally laugh out loud without restraint.
For Ding Wei, today is definitely the best day in recent times.
He was happier than anyone else to see Wang Zeng deflated.
"Congratulations, Prime Minister!"
Lin Te cupped his hands and congratulated: "After today, the officials will definitely hate Wang Zeng."
"Ha ha."
Ding Wei waved his hand nonchalantly and picked up the wine bottle on the table.
"We won't talk about anything else today. You and I will just drink."
If you have wine today, you will be drunk today!
In fact, Ding Wei knew very well that there was not much time left for him, and he was happy every day.
