"The star of the moon is drunk and drunk, hahahaha~~~"
The drunk Dongfang Shuo returned home with a smile on his face and handed the food box in his hand to Shaojun, "Take and enjoy the food given by the emperor."
Dongfang Shuo's wife hurriedly stepped forward to take the food box, handed it to the servant, and helped Dongfang Shuo undress and wash up.
After finishing all this work, the lady asked with a smile, "My husband is so happy, but is there any happy event?"
"Um."
Dongfang Shuo sat on the cushion and propped up one leg and said with a smile, "Your husband and I have been reused by the emperor."
As soon as these words came out, the lady immediately beamed with joy, "My husband is astonishingly talented and learned. Now that the emperor has placed him in a position of great importance, he must show off his talents and ambitions. I wonder what duties the emperor has arranged for my husband?"
"The Emperor appointed me to be the Minister of Rites."
"Etiquette, Minister of Rites?" Madam frowned and thought carefully, "Is there such a position above the court?"
The most important people above the court are naturally the three gongs and nine ministers, and then below are the subordinate officials of these three gongs and nine ministers.
After all, Dongfang Shuo's wife lived at the feet of the emperor, and her husband still had to serve as a minister, so she was naturally very concerned about matters in the court.
But after much thought, she couldn't figure out what the position of the Minister of Etiquette was.
"Your Majesty intends to reform the government affairs of the court and proposes to establish six departments with responsibilities." Dongfang Shuo explained kindly, "A certain person is the Minister of Rites, in charge of imperial examinations and education."
"this."
The lady thought for a while and asked, "How much is the salary?"
In this era, the nine-level Zhongzheng system has not yet appeared. To measure whether a position is important, in addition to power and responsibilities, the most important thing is to look at the salary.
Under normal circumstances, the salary of two thousand dan is a watershed. The county guards in various places only have two thousand dan, which is already a big official.
"Haha~~~"
Dongfang Shuo took the drink brought by the servant, drank a glass, and said calmly, "Tentatively, it is two thousand stones."
The lady breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "That's great."
Jumping directly from Lang Guan to two thousand stones, this is definitely a leap forward, and of course I will be happy.
"His Majesty intends to reform government affairs. In the future, salaries will also be changed to direct payment of money, and all other items will be cancelled."
"The Emperor is a wise man." The lady stood up with a smile and went to get the food box. "Thank you for your hard work, husband. I will go and heat the food and wine for you."
"Um."
Seeing Shaojun go about his business, Dongfang Shuo restrained his smile and began to think seriously, "To be appreciated by the emperor, I should risk my life to repay him." The school affairs must be done well. '
Li Yunze really wanted to reform the government affairs of the court, because the court in the Qin and Han Dynasties was too loose, so he wanted to subdivide the court and compact it.
On this day, Li Yunze summoned Yan Yibi, who was out on inspection.
"His Majesty."
After bowing and taking a seat, Yan Yi immediately took out the record he had written on his inspection tour and handed it to Li Yunze, "I inspected Guanzhong, and also went out to Hangu Pass to inspect various parts of Guandong. The situation in various places is really worrying."
Li Yunze lowered his head and looked at Yan Yi's records, "What do you say?"
"Guanzhong is better. After all, it is at the foot of the emperor, so it is somewhat restrained. But after leaving Hangu Pass, mountains are being mined and mines are being dug, and construction workshops are everywhere. Firewood and salt are boiled on the seashore as far as the eye can see, and merchants and motorcades are coming and going in an endless stream. Ironware and salt are sold everywhere.
I heard that some people were even bold enough to smuggle ironware and other items outside the Great Wall. "
"Many prisoners from various places are sold to the mines, and some even kidnap them directly."
In the early Han Dynasty, Huang Lao's technique was implemented, which was to rule by doing nothing.
This laissez-faire attitude quickly enlivened the vitality of the people. Not only did the population recover rapidly, but social vitality also increased significantly.
Merchants from all over the country have also encountered the best of times, but they do any business that can make money, especially in the two extremely profitable industries of salt and iron, which has reached the level of frenzy.
This kind of thing may seem like an explosive economic development, but there are huge hidden dangers inside.
First of all, in terms of production, various violent conflicts have emerged in an endless stream in order to compete for minerals and salt fields.
Moreover, in this era of scarce productivity, the only way to increase production is to kill people, which has led to various means of arresting people.
Don't think that the common people will benefit if there is too much salt and iron. On the contrary, as the prosperity of private salt and iron becomes more and more prosperous, the unlucky people will still be the unlucky ones.
Not to mention being forced by various means to mine or boil salt. What is even more frightening is that merchants have the power to set prices and sell salt and iron to the people at high prices to extract wealth.
In the end, the people paid the price and were forced to buy high-priced salt and iron.
But it was the merchants and local officials who benefited.
As for the imperial court, they couldn't even get a single penny of tax revenue.
If things continue like this, people will soon have no money to buy daily necessities such as salt and iron, and will go bankrupt buying land.
When the number of bankrupt people reaches a certain level, it will be time for the princes and generals to make a call.
Yan Yi was a little excited. "I saw with my own eyes local officials arresting people, sending them to mines for mining, and to salt fields for boiling salt. According to the people who were rescued, not to mention paying wages, they even had to eat." Can't do it. Usually a few months and half a year
time will be exhausted. "
Li Yunze's eyes were slightly cold, but he didn't speak.
He knows that capitalists will do anything to make profits.
It doesn't matter if you have the power to back you up and oppress the people.
Yan Yi recounted one by one what he saw during his inspections in various places.
Especially in those mines and salt fields, what you saw and heard was like hell.
During the Rebellion of the Seven Kings, the reason why the Kingdom of Wu was so powerful was that King Liu Bi of Wu purchased prisoners and even common people from all over the country, and used them as coolies to mine and mint money, and to boil salt in salt fields, thus gaining the strength to fight against the city of Chang'an.
Nowadays, many vassal kings in various places do this.
When Yan Yi finally stopped talking, Li Yunze also closed Yan Yi's record book.
He turned around and told the chamberlain beside him, "Call the Marquis Changping."
"Here."
Wei Qing, who was chatting with his brothers and sisters at home, hurried to Weiyang Palace after receiving the imperial edict.
"Greetings to Your Majesty."
"Yes." Li Yunze pointed to Yan Yi's side and motioned to Wei Qing to "sit down and talk."
The ministers of the Qin and Han Dynasties all sat in front of the emperor.
By the Tang and Song Dynasties, it evolved into standing and talking.
By the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, people had to kneel down and call themselves slaves.
On the one hand, this is the continuous strengthening and concentration of imperial power, and on the other hand, the 'enlightenment' of Confucianism is naturally indispensable.
After all, no one can expect a person who takes the lead to lower his dignity and kneel down to have any integrity.
"I intend to go to the Salt and Iron Official Camp."
Li Yunze said to the two of them, "From now on, all mines and salt fields in the world will be owned by the imperial court. Anyone who mines and cooks salt privately will be punished as treason."
"Leave the relevant yamen to Yan Yi to make arrangements." Li Yunze reached out and tapped Yan Yi, "I order you to serve as the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs and set up the Ministry of Household Affairs to take charge of all matters related to money, food and revenue in the world. The first thing you do is We must run the Yantie official camp well."
Yan Yi, with a solemn expression, saluted respectfully, "Here."
"As for you."
Li Yunze looked at Wei Qing again, "I order you to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, responsible for setting up the Yamen of the Ministry of War and taking charge of all military matters in the world. You go and select a group of soldiers and horses, form a team and give it to Zhidu. Let him take it with you. Go around every county in the world."
Wei Qing hurriedly asked, "May I ask, Your Majesty, how strong are these troops and what is their purpose?"
"Five thousand people are enough." Li Yunze waved his hand, "Zhidu has gone to deal with the affairs of King Hengshan. When he comes back, I will personally arrange how he will do things. You first prepare the troops, horses, food, grass, and military supplies."
"Here~~~"
Zhi Du dealt with King Hengshan neatly and neatly.
Kill those who deserve to be killed, arrest those who deserve to be arrested, and confiscate the homes of those who deserve to be.
After doing these things, Gongsun Hong stayed in Hengshan Kingdom and was busy with the matter of abolishing the country and changing the county, while Zhidu escorted the important prisoners back to Chang'an City.
When I returned to Zhidu in Chang'an City, I hurried to Weiyang Palace without even having time to go home.
"The affairs of Hengshan Kingdom are well done." Li Yunze invited Zhidu to have dinner together. "The follow-up matters will be handed over to Zhang Tang. I have something here that I need you to do."
"Please give your Majesty's orders."
Li Yunze handed the inspection record sent by Yan Yi to Zhi Du, "Let's talk about it after reading it."
Zhidu took the record and looked through it carefully.
The tragic things above that made people angry could not move Zhidu's face at all.
As a veteran and cruel official, Zhi Du has already been hard-hearted.
By the time Zhidu finished reading the records, the food and wine on the table in front of him were already cold.
Li Yunze asked the servant to get a new one, and then asked Zhi Du, "How is it?"
"These people deserve to die." Zhidu's response was very consistent with the image of a cruel official, who just killed, killed, killed, killed.
"I have prepared a troop of troops for you. There are five thousand troops. They are all elites drawn from the Northern and Southern armies."
Li Yunze said, "Local county soldiers may not be reliable. Take these soldiers and horses to inspect various counties and counties in the world, especially those places where mining is mined and salt is boiled."
He reached out and clicked on Yan Yi's inspection record, "Those who are guilty will be dealt with."
This is what Zhidu is best at, so naturally there is nothing wrong with it.
He saluted Li Yunze and said, "Here."
"Especially the feudal states in various places." Li Yunze followed up and told him, "These vassal kings are greedy for profit and treat the people like rotten dogs. Go and investigate. If there is any problem, there is no need to worry about their identity. If you find the evidence, send it to Chang'an. I will issue the national edict immediately
for you. "
As soon as these words came out, Zhidu, who had been calm and calm before, finally showed a happy look and said, "Here."
For a cool official at the level of Zhidu, ordinary merchants, officials, local tyrants, etc., are no longer able to excite him.
On the contrary, it was the feudal emperors who could make him feel the excitement.
"I plan to set up a new yamen, called the Punishment Department, to be in charge of the world's punishments. I intend to appoint you as the Minister of Punishment, to be in charge of all matters in the Punishment Department."
Here in Zhidu, I feel slightly embarrassed. "If I am in charge of punishment, then what about the Tingwei?"
"It doesn't matter." Li Yunze smiled and waved his hand, "He will be the imperial censor."
Zhidu suddenly realized that it seemed that the construction of the new city had begun to take shape, and the current imperial censor, Zhufu Yan, was about to become the prime minister.
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