"Your Majesty, I think differently than you do."
Zhao Ping shook his head and said.
"What is the difference?"
Chen Xuan asked.
"I have divided my priorities."
Zhao Ping said: "First, enrich the people."
"Secondly, strong troops."
"Only when the common people are rich, have enough to eat, are warmly clothed, and have their families to rely on, can they be recruited into the army and serve the country without any worries."
"Otherwise, if people have had this meal without finishing their meal, how can they think about protecting their home and country?"
“How to enrich the people?”
Chen Xuan asked again.
"There are two points."
Zhao Ping said: "First, reduce taxes."
"The taxes of our Dawei Dynasty are too heavy. Even if the weather is good every year, after paying the taxes, there will be very little left. With wild vegetables, it can barely support the next year's harvest."
“But what if it’s a disaster year?”
"The imperial court has money and food allocated in disaster years."
Chen Xuan said.
"hehe."
Zhao Ping sneered, "We won't mention the far ones, let's talk about the close ones."
"I heard that when the plague occurred in Xiping Village, you also allocated money and food, but what was the result?"
"Did Xiping Village receive a copper plate?"
"this……"
Chen Xuan blushed and explained hesitantly, "Didn't you conquer the plague in Xiping Village?"
"I just thought I wouldn't be able to use the money or food, so I issued an edict to recall him."
"Have they all been recalled?"
Zhao Ping asked, "Have you returned to the treasury?"
"I want to hear the truth."
"No."
Chen Xuan said awkwardly: "I issued an edict, and they carried it out. However, the bandits in Yuzhou are so rampant that they dare to rob even the money and food I allocated for disaster relief."
"That's why I personally led the troops to suppress the bandits. I must give peace to the people of Yuzhou."
"hehe."
Zhao Ping sneered again, "Were you robbed by bandits?"
"I would like to ask, did the bandits eat the courage of a bear's heart and a leopard's courage? They dared to rob even the money and food allocated by His Majesty for disaster relief?"
"Don't they want to live?"
"Isn't it because officials from all over the country were corrupted that they couldn't recall them all? That's why they put the blame on the bandits?"
"this……"
Chen Xuan couldn't explain it.
After all, that's what he thought too.
But isn’t this kind of statement slandering the court’s incompetence?
"So, Your Majesty, the people are still hungry due to allocations alone."
Zhao Ping continued: "We must exempt the common people from all kinds of taxes. In this way, they can grow enough food to satisfy their hunger and still have some food left over, which can be exchanged for some daily necessities."
"Such as cloth, salt, etc."
"That's one of them."
"Second, encourage business."
“Why encourage business?”
Chen Xuan asked curiously.
"There is no business without treachery. If everyone becomes a treacherous businessman, wouldn't the entire Dawei Dynasty be in chaos?"
"How can ordinary people live a good life?"
“It’s true that businessmen pursue profit, but not all businessmen are profiteers.”
Zhao Ping explained patiently, "Your Majesty, think about it, the merchants in the south worked hard to transport the lychees grown in the south to the north and received a little more money. Is it wrong?"
"That's a normal transaction."
"It's not a forced purchase or sale."
"Just like my acacia wine, it comes from Xiping Village, but it needs to be transported to the capital, which is more than two thousand miles away. Doesn't it require manpower and material resources?"
"What if I encounter bandits and get robbed along the way, don't I need to bear the loss?"
"These are costs."
"That's why after the acacia wine arrives in the capital, the price will be much higher than that in Xiping Village."
"If you put it this way, the businessman is not so hateful."
Chen Xuan stroked his beard and tasted it carefully before agreeing with what Zhao Ping said.
Then he asked, "But doing business can only make those businessmen rich, so what does it have to do with the common people?"
"Where did the businessman come from?"
Zhao Ping asked rhetorically.
Without waiting for Chen Xuan to answer, he answered himself: "I'm definitely not a born businessman."
"They are either from ordinary people, or they are family members, relatives, friends of high-ranking officials, or people from aristocratic families, etc."
"We don't need to talk about dignitaries and aristocratic families. They are wealthy themselves."
"Just talking about the common people."
"For example, if I go into business alone and become wealthy, my first thought is to help the villagers in Xiping Village become wealthy."
"Then it will spread to the surrounding areas with Xiping Village as the center."
"Nowadays, many people in Yun'an County, and even Donghai County and Qingzhou are working in Chen's factories to make money to support their families."
"They produce for me and can bring benefits to me."
"I will give them monthly money to meet their basic needs."
"The wider my business is, the more workers it will need, and the more people will depend on me for a living."
"I am just one person. If there are ten, dozens, or hundreds of businessmen like me, under their leadership, why worry about the people not being rich?"
"After tax cuts, people will have food."
"People can work and have money."
"With food and money, the people will also be grateful for His Majesty's benevolent government."
"I believe it will be much easier if we recruit troops again."
"If a powerful enemy invades, your Majesty may not need to say anything at all. The common people will spontaneously organize to resist in order to maintain that kind of beautiful life."
"Can it really reach this point?"
Chen Xuan didn't quite believe it.
Take the initiative to join the army.
He also actively resisted powerful enemies.
is it possible?
Will the common people be so kind?
"able."
Zhao Ping vowed: "We are all human beings. As long as we are not the kind of heinous people, let's compare our feelings."
"If you are good to them, they will naturally be good to you."
"The country is destroyed and the family is destroyed."
"Once the country is breached, can the people still live a stable life?"
"They are not resisting foreign enemies for the Wei Dynasty, but for themselves."
"Okay, that's great."
Chen Xuan praised: "Mr. Zhao, please listen to me."
"I will make you the prime minister, and you will assist me in the future to jointly govern the Dawei Dynasty."
"this……"
Zhao Ping hesitated.
Be an official?
Not what he wanted.
"What? Don't you still agree?"
Chen Xuan asked with a dark face.
"Your Majesty, I am just a village man from the mountains, and I am not qualified to be the prime minister."
Zhao Ping said bitterly: "Besides, the position of prime minister has been abolished long ago."
"You suddenly activated it, didn't you make the people in the court jealous?"
"I have offended them quite a lot in the first place. After this, can I still maintain a stable foothold in the capital?"
"What are you afraid of?"
Chen Xuan said proudly: "From now on, you will follow me. If anyone dares to kill you, I will chop off his head first."
"Your Majesty, you are the emperor. You stay in the palace all day long. Not only are there guards, but there are also various guards, so naturally you are not afraid."
Zhao Ping said: "Where is Dan Chen?"
"As officials in the court, those people may not have the guts to kill ministers."
"What if I leave the palace and His Majesty's care?"
"I'm afraid I'll just cut him into pieces."
"Then live in the palace."
Chen Xuan said.
"Your Majesty, apart from eunuchs and princes, how can the palace accommodate other men?"
"Hahaha, that means someone else becomes the emperor."
Chen Xuan laughed and said, "But I am different."
"When I am the emperor, anyone can live in the palace."
"As long as I am happy, let alone staying in the palace, even if you fall in love with my concubine, I can reward you."
"I……"
Zhao Ping was speechless for a while.
But there is also some caution.
Your Majesty, as rumored, is not a womanizer.
But, these words can easily be considered to be almost male-sexual.
Zhao Ping was even more afraid to go to the palace.
He could only evade: "Your Majesty, if you want me to be the prime minister, you just want me to help you manage the Dawei Dynasty."
"Actually, that's not perfect. It's better to..."
