…
…
But he said that after Emperor Deqing dealt with Huang Yourong's matter, the court meeting quickly turned to the next issue. Music + Literature + Novels www.しwxs.com
Prior to this, Emperor Deqing had not held a court meeting for more than four months due to his southern tour, so the central court naturally had a backlog of many important government affairs that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
For example, the vacancy of Sichuan Chief Envoy, this year's Hegong budget, and the mutual impeachment between two court officials...
If these things were in normal times, they would all be high-profile events, which would arouse widespread attention and controversy, and even lead to overt and covert fighting and mutual criticism among the major factions in the court. However, in today's major court discussion, they They are all just trivial matters - even in the eyes of many officials, these things are only slightly more important than Li Yuran's impeachment of Zhao Shancai - so that the officials did not spend too much energy discussing them. Somewhat absent-minded.
Because all the officials in the Huangji Palace knew that there were only two really important issues in today's imperial meeting: one was Huang Yourong's imminent downfall and the redistribution of power after Huang Yourong's downfall; the other was It is the follow-up development of the commercial and tax rectification - the commercial and tax rectification policy implemented by Prince Zhu Heyu has caused chaos in the government and the opposition. Should it continue? Should changes be made? And...should the relevant people be held accountable?
Compared with these two things, everything else is trivial.
now. Huang Yourong's matter has come to an end for the time being, but the business tax rectification has not yet begun. Everyone is waiting silently, either anxiously or calmly.
However, although the matter of commercial tax is very important and closely related to the vital interests of most officials, at the beginning, all officials carefully avoided this topic. Just throw out those "irrelevant" things for discussion one after another. But he never mentioned business tax.
After all, the commercial tax matter is too sensitive and complicated. It not only affects the interests of all parties, but also involves Prince Zhu Heyu. No one is willing to light the firecracker personally for fear of blowing up themselves.
In addition, although the commercial and tax rectification matter has offended the interests of the vast majority of officials, and has therefore received widespread opposition and resistance, this opposition and resistance is only the voice of low-level officials in the court, but for example, Emperor Deqing , Zhou Shangjing, Shen Changmao, Zhao Junchen and other core figures in the temple really think. But it is still unknown. If you accidentally say something wrong when you are speaking, you may get yourself into trouble and get yourself into trouble!
The vast majority of court officials who can participate in major court meetings are "smart people." They didn't want to stand out, they just wanted to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea, and every official was very cautious. In the end, no one took the initiative to come forward, and the situation became deadlocked.
In fact, even the government officials who have always been known for their "uprightness" are unusually silent when it comes to commercial tax issues - after all, they messed up this matter themselves. Naturally, they are unwilling to expose their shortcomings.
Under such circumstances, since Huang Yourong's matter was temporarily resolved, half an hour had passed before he knew it. Emperor Deqing and the officials had successively discussed and dealt with seven or eight backlogged government affairs. But no one took the initiative to mention the commercial tax issue.
As a result, even though Emperor Deqing was patient, he gradually became impatient.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing turned his attention to Zhou Shangjing - Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing are still in the cooperation stage, so Emperor Deqing hopes that Zhou Shangjing can take the initiative to mention the matter of business and tax rectification to break the current deadlock - Unfortunately, Zhou Shangjing He just looked down with his head down, as if he didn't notice Emperor Deqing's hint at all.
After Emperor Deqing frowned slightly, he naturally turned his gaze to Zhao Junchen.
For Emperor Deqing, "looking for Zhao Junchen when in trouble" seems to have become an instinct.
Unlike Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen's influence is still insufficient. He does not dare to ignore Emperor Deqing's hints or go against Emperor Deqing's wishes, especially at this stage.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen could only choose to comply.
So, after another backlog of government affairs was dealt with, Zhao Junchen slowly came out of the queue under the attention of everyone.
******
"Your Majesty, I have something important to report." After leaving the queue, Zhao Junchen said in a loud voice.
Emperor Deqing raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? What's the matter? Tell me."
Zhao Junchen said slowly: "As far as I know, during His Majesty's southern tour, several cabinet ministers and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince conducted a detailed investigation on the current situation of our dynasty's commercial tax, discovered many shortcomings, and also promulgated a series of rectification measures. However, so far, the rectification of commercial taxation has not achieved any results. Instead, it has caused a lot of chaos. Many middle- and lower-level officials have even called on the court to change policies and suspend the rectification. This matter is not trivial and has far-reaching consequences. Therefore, I believe that the imperial court should discuss this matter in detail and make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise the chaos between the government and the opposition will further expand, and I hope that your majesty will learn from it."
When speaking, Zhao Junchen chose his words very carefully, trying not to show any tendency in his words.
However, although Zhao Junchen tried his best to appear neutral, Emperor Deqing still asked: "I am also aware of the rectification of business taxes by several cabinet elders and princes, but the differences among the officials are so serious? So Zhao Aiqing As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, what do you think about this matter?"
Obviously, Emperor Deqing was forcing Zhao Junchen to express his stance.
After hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen sighed secretly in his heart, but soon, Zhao Junchen put on a sad expression and said: "Your Majesty, since I have been in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, I have always known that I Due to the various shortcomings of the commercial tax policy, the imperial court's annual commercial tax revenue is only more than 700,000 silver. However, at the same time, due to various shortcomings and loopholes in the commercial tax policy, the imperial court loses as much as 20 million in commercial tax revenue every year. More than two silver dollars is shocking. Therefore, I have always wanted to rectify the current situation of business and taxation, and I have also conceived many plans. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find the right time! Now, I still think that the time is not ripe, but since the central government of the imperial court has We have begun to rectify the current situation of commercial taxation and promulgated relevant decrees. Then we cannot give up halfway. We should work hard and stick to the end, and take the opportunity to completely reverse the chaotic current situation of commercial taxation! In addition, out of considerations of maintaining the reputation of the court, the court’s policies cannot Orders are changed in the morning and evening!"
As he spoke, Zhao Junchen already made his position clear, and his attitude was firm.
After all, if Zhao Junchen wants to take over the business tax rectification, he must show his support for the business tax rectification at this time, otherwise Zhao Junchen will completely lose his qualifications to be responsible for this matter.
However. As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, many hostile eyes immediately turned to Zhao Junchen.
As the saying goes, "Destroying a person's financial path is like killing his parents." Zhao Junchen wants to change the current status of business and taxation. Naturally, it aroused the hostility of many officials.
Zhao Junchen had already expected the officials' hostile looks, but he didn't care.
On the other side, after Emperor Deqing discovered this, a trace of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
Emperor Deqing planned to let Zhao Junchen take over the rectification of commercial taxation. Although he wanted to use Zhao Junchen's ability to reverse the chaotic status quo of commercial taxation, he also planned to use this matter to make the officials hostile to Zhao Junchen. In this way, in order to protect himself, Zhao Junchen will have no choice but to continue to seek asylum from Emperor Deqing in the future, and Emperor Deqing will be able to further strengthen his control over Zhao Junchen.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing confirmed again: "So, Zhao Aiqing, you are in favor of the court's rectification of commercial taxes?"
Zhao Junchen also replied again: "I believe that the rectification of business taxation is related to the continuation of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years. All kinds of long-standing abuses must be rectified. We must not retreat just because of some setbacks. If we miss this opportunity, our business will be The current situation of business taxation will become increasingly bad and difficult to reverse, so I believe that the rectification of business taxation should continue.”
Emperor Deqing didn't know that Zhao Junchen had already planned and prepared the business tax rectification for a long time. Even if it aroused the hostility of the officials, Zhao Junchen would only get more in the end!
Therefore, after hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, Emperor Deqing just nodded with satisfaction, then turned to the officials and asked: "What do you all think about this matter?"
*****
But he said that after Zhao Junchen made his position clear, the atmosphere in the Huangji Palace suddenly changed. The expressions of all the officials became focused, unlike before, which was as casual as before.
After a long stalemate, the main topic of today's court meeting finally emerged.
Then, as Emperor Deqing finished speaking, Zhao Junchen's statement was naturally refuted immediately.
The first person to stand up and refute Zhao Junchen's position was the new cabinet chief Shen Changmao.
In Shen Changmao's eyes, this business tax rectification is also a great opportunity for him. As long as he can clearly show his opposition, then even if his opposition ends in failure, he can still gain most of it. With the favor and support of court officials, Shen Changmao's reputation and influence will naturally be greatly improved, and his position as the chief minister of the cabinet will also be much more stable.
Although Shen Changmao also knew the necessity of commercial tax rectification, for his own benefit, Shen Changmao took the completely opposite position.
Shen Changmao came out and said: "Your Majesty, I dare not agree with Zhao Shangshu's idea! I have also heard about the commercial tax matter! As far as I know, because of the chaos in the government and the opposition caused by the rectification of commercial tax, we must definitely The situation is much more serious than what Zhao Shangshu described! Since the imperial court implemented the commercial tax rectification policy, it has only been more than a month. Not only has it not achieved any results, but it has seriously hindered the circulation of goods in various places, causing private prices to rise sharply. The common people are complaining, and the commercial tax revenue of local government offices has been greatly reduced, making it difficult for local officials. If things go on like this for a long time, the imperial court will completely lose control of the situation between the government and the opposition! It can be said that the rectification of commercial tax is unprecedented. The benefits can only be seen before the harms. Therefore, the veteran believes that the imperial court should suspend the policy of commercial and tax rectification, and do not try it lightly until the correct and suitable method is found!"
As Shen Changmao finished speaking, he immediately received a lot of support.
after all. Shen Changmao's speech safeguarded the interests of the vast majority of officials.
"Your Majesty, I agree with Shen Chieffu's proposal. Business and tax matters are the most sensitive and complex. If you are not fully prepared, you must not touch it easily, otherwise it will be counterproductive!"
"Your Majesty, Shen Shoufu's proposal can be said to be a mature way of planning for the country. The various policies of commercial and tax rectification are now difficult and unsustainable. Both officials and people are opposed to this. This is public opinion and must not be easily violated. , I hope your Majesty will learn from it!"
"Your Majesty, due to the various policies of commercial and tax rectification, the situation between the government and the opposition is now on the verge of getting out of control. I believe that the court should focus on stabilizing the situation now, and must resolutely suspend various measures to rectify commercial and taxation, otherwise the consequences will be difficult to deal with. !”
"Your Majesty, Zhao Shangshu's proposal is just a scholar's opinion and completely ignores the difficulty of the current situation. It is absolutely not feasible..."
"His Majesty……"
As Shen Changmao voiced his objection, there was a response, and the emperor's palace suddenly became turbulent, and a large number of officials immediately stood up to support Shen Changmao's opinion.
After all, the chief minister of the cabinet took the lead in opposition. Officials don't have anything to worry about.
However, because of Emperor Deqing's attitude, while the officials opposed the rectification of business and taxation, they were careful to avoid the factors of Prince Zhu Heyu.
On the other side, the support from hundreds of officials also made Shen Changmao's eyes flash with pride, knowing that he had made the right choice. After this incident, many officials will definitely regard Shen Changmao as a spokesperson for their interests. In this way, Shen Changmao will The reputation can also be improved a lot.
However, Zhao Junchen insists on rectifying commercial taxation and also has many supporters.
Ironically, the first person to stand up to support Zhao Junchen's views was Zhao Junchen's political enemy, Prince Zhu Heyu.
This is natural. After all, the rectification of commercial taxes has been promoted by Prince Zhu Heyuqiang from the beginning. Now he sees that all the officials are opposed to it, and he blames all the fault of the chaos in the government and the opposition on the rectification of commercial taxes. Prince Zhu Heyu was naturally furious.
Therefore, Prince Zhu Heyu immediately came out and expressed his position: "Father, I believe that the court's original intention of rectifying commercial taxes is good. After all, once this matter is successful, the national treasury revenue can increase by tens of millions of taels of silver every year. It can be said that It’s a great success! There is nothing wrong with the policies implemented by the imperial court. It’s just that the officials below have violated and secretly obstructed it, causing the imperial government’s decrees to fail. This has led to chaos in the government and the opposition! As long as the imperial court strengthens local supervision and severely punishes Officials who have violated government orders have allowed the various policies of commercial and tax rectification to be implemented smoothly. I believe that the chaos in the government and the opposition will soon be under control, and the commercial and tax rectification will soon be effective!"
Following the statement of Prince Zhu Heyu, members of the "Prince Party" also expressed their support one after another.
At the same time, the officials of the "Zhao Party" naturally did not want to see Zhao Junchen become the target of public criticism, but they also spoke one after another and cheered for Zhao Junchen.
For a time, "Zhao Dang" and "******" actually supported each other and cooperated with each other tacitly.
It can be seen that in the officialdom, position is often the most unreliable thing, and only interests are eternal.
The hostile attitude of the "Prince. Party" towards the "Zhao Party" is well known to the world, but now, for its own benefit, it is also willing to reach a temporary alliance with the "Zhao Party".
Then, as with any usual dispute, officials with different positions started to debate, fight and criticize, and refuted each other's views with the most intense attitude. The situation in Huangji Hall once again became chaotic.
This time, Zhao Junchen and Prince Zhu Heyu faced too strong opposition, but they were gradually at a disadvantage.
As a result, Emperor Deqing had to take control of the situation again!
With Emperor Deqing's severe rebuke, the debate among the officials finally subsided a little.
Then, Emperor Deqing's eyes passed over Prince Zhu Heyu, came to Zhao Junchen again, and asked: "Zhao Aiqing, you have also heard the objections of the officials! As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, you , know the most about commercial tax matters, so I still want to hear your opinion, what do you think of the officials' rebuttal?"
In fact, Emperor Deqing also maintained a supportive attitude towards the rectification of commercial taxes, but he did not disclose his position and only asked Zhao Junchen's opinion again.
Emperor Deqing's approach also had profound meaning - through Zhao Junchen's repeated statements, Zhao Junchen replaced Prince Zhu Heyu as the leader of commercial and tax reform, and diverted the attention of officials. In this way, , the officials will gradually ignore the factors of Prince Zhu Heyu, and transfer the resentment of business tax rectification to Zhao Junchen.
To put it simply, Prince Zhu and Yu Qiang’s self-implementation of commercial tax rectification offended too many relevant forces and caused too much trouble. If they want to divert the anger of officials, they can only rely on Huang Yourong as a scapegoat. It was not enough, so Emperor Deqing added Zhao Junchen.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen had already expected Emperor Deqing's attitude, but he did not resist. He just replied with a calm expression: "Your Majesty, Shen Shoufu just said that before the correct and suitable method is found, business tax rectification You must not try it lightly. I deeply believe that. I also believe that the reason why the rectification of commercial tax will cause chaos in the government and the opposition is because there are also flaws in the strategies and methods of rectifying commercial tax! As your Lordships have said, Commercial tax matters are the most sensitive and complex and need to be handled with caution. In this regard, I am completely consistent with my colleagues’ views.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen changed the topic and said: "However, even if there are problems with the policies implemented by the court, it does not mean that the court should not rectify the commercial tax! After all, the chaotic status quo of commercial tax makes the court have problems every year. The state treasury revenue with a loss of tens of millions of taels of silver is extremely bad, and we must not turn a blind eye! On the other hand, if the court can find a suitable and feasible strategy, it means that business tax rectification is imperative!"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Shen Changmao came out again and questioned: "Is it possible, Mr. Zhao, that you have found a feasible strategy?"
At the same time, Shen Changmao secretly made up his mind. No matter what method Zhao Junchen proposed, he would find a way to find loopholes and refute it.
After all, it is not easy to find solutions to problems no matter what, but it is easy to find faults.
However, Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "Of course I have thought of some methods, but before these methods are actually implemented, I can't guarantee that these methods are correct and feasible. But if you don't try, how will you know these methods? The method must be ineffective?"
Shen Changmao sneered and said: "Try? It's easy to put it! What if it causes the chaos between the government and the opposition again like before, or even worsens the chaos between the government and the opposition? How much energy does the court need to put in to stabilize the situation? This How can we shirk the responsibility inside just by saying 'try'?"
Faced with Shen Changmao's doubts, Zhao Junchen's expression remained calm and he said slowly: "What Shen Shoufu said is reasonable, so the younger generation does not dare to fully implement the method he has thought of. Instead, he suggested that the court conduct a pilot first to test these methods." feasibility of the method.”
This time, before Shen Changmao could question, Emperor Deqing asked: "Oh? Pilot? What do you mean?"
Zhao Junchen explained: "Back to Your Majesty, what I call a pilot is to try it out in one or a few places before the imperial court fully implements a policy, to explore, verify, and demonstrate, and to gain experience and find out the shortcomings of the policy. If the pilot proves that this policy is feasible, then it can be expanded to a certain point and fully promoted. On the contrary, if it proves that this policy is not feasible, the chaos caused will not spread too widely, and the court can completely control."
In later generations, so-called "pilot projects", "test fields" and "pilot areas" can be said to be everywhere.
But in this era, the so-called "pilot" was still a very new concept, but it also interested Emperor Deqing.
After all, Emperor Deqing has always put stability first. Although he is now determined to change the current situation of commercial taxation, he is not willing to see too much chaos caused by the rectification of commercial taxation. In addition, although Zhao Junchen is good at financial management, He has a good hand, but whether Zhao Junchen can successfully rectify the current situation of commercial taxation is still unknown.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing also appreciated Zhao Junchen's pilot proposal.
So Emperor Deqing asked: "I see, this proposal is good, but where are you going to conduct the trial? What is the specific method you have in mind?"
…
ps: Well, a 6,000-word chapter!
In addition, there will be at least two more updates today!
above.
…(To be continued.)
