Emperor Qin's conferment on Zen was completed.
It's night, and the official is sleeping on the top of Mount Tai.
It was said to be a temporary palace, but in fact it was just a simple house temporarily built by the Jibei County Sheriff for the emperor. It could only accommodate the emperor, his son and several important ministers.
In terms of productivity and technology in this era. It would be great to be able to build the two Taishan roads in the north and south in half a year. In addition, it is almost impossible to build large houses on the top of Mount Tai.
Zhao Tuo had a high title and was qualified to live there, but he gave it to an elderly minister.
He originally just heard what the First Emperor said during the day, and had a heart attack. He wanted to watch the stars at night to relieve his depression. Unexpectedly, he was praised as "respecting the elderly".
Zhao Tuo found a flat rock and sat down, taking a small sip from his wine bag while looking at the stars in the sky.
Not to mention, it was a rare good day in Fengchan. Not only was the sky clear during the day, but it was also full of stars at night. The mountain breeze was blowing. Looking at the stars, my mind gradually broadened.
Not long after, footsteps were heard from behind. Zhao Tuo turned around and saw Ziying.
During this trip, Zhao Tuo's subordinates, such as Fan Kuai, Xiao He and others, returned to their hometowns after receiving titles, waiting for their subsequent appointments. Or maybe he was like Chen Ping, who was greedy for profit and took the initiative to ask to follow Ren Xiao south to conquer the southwestern barbarians to achieve meritorious service. Or maybe Li Shiqi, Shejian and others stayed behind in Xianyang to take up posts and did not follow him, leaving Zhao Tuo with few people to talk to on the road.
This actually brought him closer to Ziying, and they became friends over time.
Zhao Tuo is twenty-three this year, and Zi Ying is just over thirty. The gap between them is less than ten years, and they have a lot in common.
"How come you, Lord, are drinking here alone? Why don't you let me accompany you?"
Ziying chuckled, walked over and sat down next to Zhao Tuo, took the wine bag from Zhao Tuo's hand, and took a sip into his mouth.
Zhao Tuo smiled, thinking that when Ziying was in Luoyang before, he had lamented "Where is the man who can replace Qin's virtues?" Perhaps he was not only lamenting the cycle of the Five Virtues theory, but also aware of the hidden dangers of this empire.
Zhao Tuo looked at the starry sky and asked, "Master, do you know what the world of Qin is like today?"
Ziying put down the wine bag, looked at the sky and said: "The emperor destroyed the six kingdoms and unified the world. He conquered the four barbarians. His merits are unparalleled in ancient and modern times. Today's Great Qin is the largest country in the world and the master of the sea."
Zhao Tuo nodded and said softly: "Then what are all the people in the world like today?"
Ziying was silent, he knew what Zhao Tuo meant. Zhao Tuo didn't say a word, only the mountain wind whistled in their ears.
After a long time, Ziying sighed: "I heard that Shaofu and Zhisu Neishi's two houses can no longer make ends meet."
"After the emperor unified the world, he overhauled the palaces, pavilions and gardens, built the corridors of the palace, and expanded the original royal mausoleum of Lishan Mountain into the imperial mausoleum. He wanted to cut the mountain, cut rocks, and imprison three springs. He also collected mercury from the world and irrigated them to create hundreds of rivers. Rivers and seas, these expenditures cost hundreds of millions, and most of the wealth of the Shaofu has been emptied."
"In addition, there were constant military conflicts. After the Qi Dynasty was destroyed, the emperor ordered General Li to take over Liaodong, General Feng to take over Baiyue, and Shu commanderies to conquer the southwestern barbarians. As for the princes, they led an army of 300,000 to conquer the Hu barbarians in the north. The expedition to the head of Guizhou was very heavy. The amount of grain and fodder required is incalculable. In addition, each county sent people to build the Chi Road, the eldest son supervised the construction of the Zhi Road, ordered General Wang Li to conquer the Yueshi, and now Feng Chan's eastward tour..."
"Even if the emperor introduced the methods of retting and plowing to help farmers and mulberry trees, the current management of millet is still difficult to meet the needs. The emperor has twice added money and calculated taxes, and the current tax has reached every An acre is only a stone and a half, and the head of Guizhou is resentful, saying that it is difficult to live."
Zhao Tuo was silent. It’s only been over a year.
I remember that when he was serving in the Shaofu, the State of Qin had just annexed the world and collected the gold and jade from the six countries and the grain stored in various places. He was actually very rich. In addition, he donated fertilisers, plows and plows to enhance Qin's productivity, and used wheat to expand food types, making the Qin Dynasty in this era stronger than the same period in history.
That's why Zhao Tuo was able to carry out various inventions and reforms when he was the young man, and proposed infrastructure such as Chidao. It was precisely because Qin's national power could sustain it.
Little did he know that the emperor was not in peace. In addition to repairing the Chi Road, he also wanted to send an army of 500,000 to conquer Baiyue. Although Zhao Tuo diverted the troubled waters to the north and dragged him to fight the Xiongnu and Yueshi, he also sent 300,000 troops. Not only did he have to sacrifice his troops for the expedition , consumed countless grains, and also caused these people to delay the spring plowing and autumn harvest that year.
At the same time, the Qin State was at war on all sides. Although Li Xin, Feng Wuze, and Li You did not have many troops, they still had to recruit soldiers and consume food.
There are palaces, imperial mausoleums, Chidao and Zhidao inside, and there are wars from all directions outside.
Hundreds of thousands of people have given up farming and transporting crops back and forth to serve. Which country can withstand such consumption?
The Qin State was not without money or food. Countless treasures were accumulated in the emperor's countless palaces, and millions of stones of food and grass were stored in important warehouses such as Aocang.
It's just that how can the emperor's treasures be used for state purposes? Aocang's grain is also a strategic material, and it is impossible to use it at will.
What should I do if the income of the Shaofu and Zhisu Neishi is insufficient? They can only continue to increase exports and tax to the heads of Guizhou in the world to meet the increasing needs of the empire.
Therefore, in the past, the emperor would rather give empty titles to all the people in the world than reduce or reduce taxes. Even if Li Si and Zhao Tuo proposed it, in the end, the reduced share was not too much.
Seriously speaking, Qin's finances are now somewhat unable to make ends meet. Although it is not bankrupt yet, it is still experiencing frequent deficits.
Zhao Tuo estimated that the emperor knew very well, otherwise he would not increase taxes to maintain the country's expenses, but the emperor was unwilling to stop, or it was difficult to stop the pace of progress.
Since Shang Yang's reform, the carriage of Qin has been on a high-speed road, surpassing the six countries at an extremely fast speed and annexing the world. But similarly, the imperial carriage that has been traveling at high speed for hundreds of years is not so easy to stop.
Ziying raised his head, looked at Zhao Tuo with some hope, and said: "The prince has always been very wise, and he has inherited the secret law from the public. He has repeatedly contributed the method of strengthening the country. There may be a way to increase revenue and alleviate the current situation."
"How to make money through open source?"
Zhao Tuo turned his head and looked at the palace with lights still on in the distance.
He certainly has such a method.
Now that we are almost at the Qidi seaside, we can start with the salt policy and reform the salt boiling method that currently consumes a lot of fuel wood and manpower into the sun salt method, reduce costs and increase production, and use this thing that all people need to provide the empire with Increase financial resources.
Is it just that useful? The more money, the more food.
The emperor's ambition and pace will only grow bigger, and his progress will never stop. After Zhao Tuo came back this time, he understood that it was useless to follow the First Emperor's back.
He will come up with schemes to benefit the people, such as the salt-drying method, but not now.
"Perhaps we should find a way to let the emperor see what kind of life the people of Guizhou under his rule are living." Zhao Tuo looked up at the stars.
The words spoken by the First Emperor during the day of Zen ceremony rang in my ears again.
Zhao Tuo did not compliment or flatter him at that time. He just used metaphors to express his own opinions to the emperor.
"You want to be a sun that never sets, but how many years can you withstand the sun's exposure in this world?"
Taishan was very calm all night, and there were no accidents.
In the early morning of the next day, the First Emperor did not go down the mountain immediately. Instead, he took his ministers to the top of Mount Tai again and watched with his own eyes the scene of the rising sun in the sea of clouds.
His expression was serious, and his eyes were always staring at the sun rising from the sea of clouds.
It wasn't until the sun rose high in the sky that he withdrew his gaze.
No one knows what the First Emperor was thinking at that moment.
After watching the sunrise, the First Emperor led his officials down the shady slope of Mount Tai.
Then the entire Fengchan team went non-stop to Liangfu Mountain in the south of Mount Tai, where they built an altar to offer sacrifices to the earth, and finally completed the Fengtian Chandi and completed the entire Fengchan ceremony.
The ceremony of enshrining Zen was successfully completed, and the primary task of this eastward tour was completed.
In the warm atmosphere where the "common people" organized by the Jibei County Governor shouted "Your Majesty for ten thousand years", the First Emperor was very happy. Under the surge of passion, he no longer considered the issue of the empire's finances. With a wave of his hand, he decided to exempt the entire Jibei County. One year of corvées and taxes.
Such generosity triggered a burst of warm cheers, and everyone shouted "Your Majesty is benevolent".
Zhao Tuo saw that when he heard the emperor's announcement that Jibei County would be exempted from taxes, Wang Wu, the governor of Su Nei, had turned into a bitter face.
In addition to Wang Wu, there were also those deposed Confucian scholars who were also livid.
The ceremony of enshrining Zen is the etiquette of the Holy King that their Confucianism has always advocated. It was they and the alchemists who kept persuading and advising, which made the emperor want to grant Zen. In the whole process, they spent a lot of thought and energy.
But when the time came, the emperor kicked them away. What a big deal.
Fortunately, Chun Yuyue was deprived of his doctorate status and dismissed as a punishment, and left Prime Minister Wang Wan and Zhou Qingchen comforted him, so these Confucian scholars did not gather together to ridicule and complain.
But resentment is essential. The way they look at the ruler of the empire is no longer the way they look at a holy king.
"The emperor does not use words of loyalty to depose virtuous people like us. He is headstrong and arbitrary. He is truly a one-man king!
Some people died, but not completely...
