As soon as the words fell, a group of censors knelt down and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please think twice, this case must not be made!"
After hearing this, Emperor Wanli slapped the table, stood up and said loudly: "You keep saying this is not possible and that is not possible! I ask you to collect taxes but you can't collect them. I send people to collect taxes and you say no, why don't you do nothing? Let others do things? What a bastard!"
As soon as Emperor Wanli called here, all the officials immediately knelt down and shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, calm down!".
But what frightened Emperor Wanli was that a large number of the guards and eunuchs in the hall knelt down together. Only a few of them were still standing, but there was a look of horror on their faces!
Emperor Wanli could see clearly that these people were just promoted by Zhang Jia, and the remaining people were self-evident! Seeing this situation, Emperor Wanli couldn't help but sit back on the dragon throne!
At this time, Zhang Juzheng stood up first and said: "Your Majesty, since the time of Taizu, there has never been a sinner in our court for speaking out, so I ask your Majesty to spare the ministers to prevent the court from blocking the way of speech!"
At this time, Zhang Siwei also stood up and said: "Your Majesty, please note that Wu Chen and others do not know the principle of the reconciliation of yin and yang. They are just blindly acting recklessly. That is why Wu Zong was in trouble with Jiang Qian! Therefore, Your Majesty must not trust villains and be shaken. Guo Ben also hurt the compassionate hearts of the two Queen Mothers!"
Originally Emperor Wanli wanted to refute, but when he heard the words "two empresses", his brows jumped! He immediately remembered what Liu Haojia had reminded him many times, that is, King Lu had not surrendered yet and was still lingering in the palace. This was the root of great disaster!
So he said in a relaxed tone: "Everyone in your family, please get up first!"
After hearing this, the officials stood up and quickly exchanged glances with each other, feeling quite proud in their hearts! I think I can probably suppress Wu Ninghou’s memorial this time!
But they suddenly heard a distant voice from behind the imperial court saying: "Since you all have objections to Tianjin's tax collection, you might as well use Tianjin as a pilot project! As the saying goes, crossing the river with a smooth stone is always the best. I have to try! So I decided to set up an yamen in Jinyiwei to collect taxes! And with the supervision of the imperial censor, this will be okay, right?"
When the ministers were feeling proud, they suddenly heard this sentence and were all stunned! But what Emperor Wanli said made sense, and he couldn't refute it for a while, so he had to look at the elders again.
Zhang Juzheng took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty's golden words, if you want to issue an order, the ministers will naturally obey it. But the court has laws and regulations, so how can we set up a special yamen among the Jinyi Guards to be responsible for taxation? This is something that has never been done before in our court. Your Majesty, please take back your life!"
The courtiers were about to join in the pressure, but suddenly they heard Emperor Wanli say quickly: "Mr. Zhang, I have heard a saying since I was a child, which is called the shore of the land. Could it be the land of the king? Is this correct?"
Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt something bad after hearing this! But he didn't know how many times he said this to Emperor Wanli, so how could he possibly refute it! He could only bow and say, "Of course this is right!"
Emperor Wanli leaned forward slightly and said loudly: "Well, Mr. Zhang, people in the world dig mines on my land, plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms on my land, take soil from my land to bake porcelain, and use my canals to Why do you refuse to pay taxes when shipping goods from north to south?"
The officials who asked this question were so full of words that they couldn't even say anything! Because on the shore of the land, could it be the land of the king? This sentence is also a common expression for them. They usually use it to fool the emperor, but now they are asked back, but they can't and dare not refute!
Moreover, even Zhang Juzheng could not refute for a while and could not help but lower his head slightly! But Emperor Wanli didn't want to let them go. He said again: "Mr. Zhang, who built those roads connecting various places?"
Zhang Juzheng hesitated and said, "Of course it was built by the imperial court!"
Emperor Wanli continued: "Mr. Zhang, who built the walls of each city?"
Zhang Juzheng could only say: "Of course it was built by the imperial court!"
Emperor Wanli felt that even asking a few words had embarrassed everyone including Zhang Juzheng, so he gained a lot of confidence, so he stood up and said loudly: "The soldiers and horses on the nine sides, the soldiers patrolling the streets ,return
Whose servants are there in the Yamen? "
Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng knew what Emperor Wanli was going to say, and couldn't help but secretly groan in his heart! But he still could only say: "Of course he is from the imperial court!"
Emperor Wanli clapped his hands and said: "The roads were built by the imperial court, the city walls were also built by the imperial court, and the army and officers were recruited by the imperial court. Don't you need to pay for these things? Only with these, can the people of the world live in peace. But How can we build roads without money? How can we maintain city walls? How can we support soldiers and servants? By the way, the salary of everyone here must also come from taxation, right? So I collect taxes from the people and use them all for the people. Where can I go? Wrong?"
All the officials were stunned when they heard these words. Even Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei were speechless for a while! But the most important thing for civil servants is to stir up trouble without reason. When they found that everyone was speechless, some people who were good at sophistry came forward one after another and said: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, a gentleman is known for his righteousness, and a villain is known for his benefit! Your Majesty Talking loudly is not the way to prosper!"
Emperor Wanli immediately said: "Sage Kong was also a commissioned official, and he also advocated collecting a tax! Now Wu Ninghou is in charge of a tax of fifteen to one, which is already loose enough! If you don't understand, go back to study! I can tell you You are in "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan"!"
After the man retreated in shame, someone else came forward and said, "Your Majesty, if you continue to do what you do outside, you are competing with the people for profit, which is inconsistent with Taizu's way of governing the country!"
Emperor Wanli sneered and said, "What's the point of competing for profits with the people? Ordinary people are farming in the fields or working, so why have I ever collected taxes from them? The people I want to tax are merchants! Don't you often say that merchants are profit-seeking and unjust?" , they only know how to transport goods, amass money, and get something for nothing! I am now levying taxes on them to let them know the plight of the people!"
Seeing that the root was about to be uncovered, someone hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Taizu once said that corvee should be taken lightly and taxes should be paid lightly. This is an ancestral system and must not be tampered with!"
Emperor Wanli even loudly said: "What ancestral system cannot be tampered with? Do you want to take the "Great Edict" promulgated by Taizu and compare it one by one with you?"
Before the man could retreat, someone stepped forward and said, "Throughout the history books, whenever state affairs are controlled by factory guards, they will inevitably impose excessive taxes, and in the end they will make the world angry and resentful! This is a recipe for disaster. Your Majesty, you should think twice!"
