"Commander Qi, those cars belonging to Mr. Lu are full of money!" One of the Imperial Guards whispered in Chang He's ear. There was a hint of greed in his words. As the first hurdle to enter the palace, they He often accepted things from those officials, so when he saw the boxes of money on the carriages brought by Lu Chen, his greed naturally appeared.
In the past, Chang He turned a blind eye to their "taking advantage of others" behavior. Occasionally, he would get some "filial respect" from these subordinates, but Chang He knew better than these subordinates what kind of temper Mr. Lu was. Too much. If you offend this gentleman, you will have to skin him even if you don't die. Even the officials of the aristocratic family have their calves cramped when they see this gentleman. If they go to take advantage of this gentleman with their own gang, that is like seeking death. What's the difference?
"It's all money, right?" Chang He looked at the forbidden soldier with a sneer. Following the sound of "pop", he saw the forbidden soldier directly covering his mouth, a trace of bright red flowing down the corner of his mouth, and Chang He's sudden With a sudden movement, Lu Chen, who was watching his men packing the boxes on the carriage, was startled. He turned his head and looked at Chang He in surprise.
"Don't hold me back if you want to die!" Chang He stared at the soldier who had been slapped by him and shouted fiercely.
"What's wrong?" Hearing Chang He's words, Lu Chen came over curiously, looked at the guard who was slapped in the mouth by Chang He, and then turned to look at Chang He who was looking angry. asked.
"This kid actually coveted the goods on the father-in-law's car, so he was taught a lesson by the subordinate!" Chang He didn't hide anything, but he emphasized the word "goods" very strongly and said to Lu Chen.
"Oh! That's it!" Lu Chen glanced at the Imperial Guard who was covering his cheek, "You can handle this matter yourself! This is not my subordinate, but if things continue like this, this military discipline... .Haha!" Lu Chen shook his head, turned around and left, calling his own people to go straight into the imperial city.
Looking at the back of Lu Chen leaving with the convoy, Chang He fell into deep thought. After all, Lu Chen's words made Chang He feel shocked. Now he dares to "take cards". If they really go to the battlefield, these soldiers will Can it still be used? At the same time, I saw the Beiwei Guards who followed Lu Chen, I saw the military discipline of the Beiwei Guards, and then I looked at the military discipline of these Forbidden Forces. This comparison clearly showed the superiority.
"Your Majesty, Duke Lu is outside asking for an audience!" At this time, a chamberlain had conveyed Lu Chen's request to see Li Yuan, and Chang Bao also reported it directly to Li Yuan.
"Oh?!" Li Yuan raised his eyebrows when he heard Lu Chen begging for an audience outside. He put down the memorial in his hand and looked at Chang Bao, "Did this kid come by himself or...?" The auction has been over for a while. Li Yuan has actually been thinking about how much he can share. Now that he heard Lu Chen came to ask to see him, he looked at Chang Bao expectantly and asked.
"Mr. Lu also brought several carriages!" Chang Bao bowed again and said. Chang Bao didn't understand why Li Yuan asked this, but he still answered truthfully.
"Let him come in!" Li Yuan nodded and then told Chang Baodao.
"Yes!" Chang Bao responded and left.
At this time, Lu Chen was standing at the entrance of the palace, holding his hands and looking up at the cornices and brackets above the hall. After hearing the footsteps, he looked back and looked in the direction of the footsteps, and saw Chang Bao walking over.
"Governor Chang, you look good!" Lu Chen looked at Chang Bao and greeted Chang Bao with a smile.
"Mr. Lu looks good. Your Majesty has summoned you. Come with us!" After hearing Lu Chen greeting him, Chang Bao could only say hello to Lu Chen and at the same time motioned for Lu Chen to follow him to see Li Yuan.
"Thank you!" Lu Chen nodded and told others to watch the carriage while he followed Chang Bao to Nuange to meet Li Yuan.
After taking his crown and fluttering his sleeves, Lu Chen stepped into the Nuan Pavilion and saluted Li Yuan: "Your Majesty, Duke of Chang'an County, Lu Chen, pays homage to your majesty!"
"No courtesy!" Li Yuan waved his hand directly and said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lu Chen saluted again, and then sat cross-legged directly opposite Li Yuan. Lu Chen's posture directly made Chang Bao on the side twitch his lips. Although Li Yuan said that Lu Chen did not need to observe the posture of sitting down, but every time Seeing Lu Chen sitting so boldly for the first time, Chang Bao was not used to it, but Li Yuan turned a blind eye.
"You kid won't come to me if you have nothing to do. Tell me, what's the reason for coming here this time?" Li Yuan looked at Lu Chen and asked with a smile in his eyes.
"Isn't this a gift for His Majesty?" Lu Chen said simply and directly.
"Oh? What did you tinker with again?" Li Yuan looked at Lu Chen and asked. Although he knew that Lu Chen had brought several carriages, and Li Yuan also guessed that Lu Chen should have brought money to him, he also Knowing that the guy in front of him was not a master who acted according to common sense, there might be something else on the carriage, so Li Yuan still asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, this time it's just money, nothing else!" Lu Chen said with an "I'm not lying" expression on his face.
"You're talking about the so-called auction's...dividends, right?" Li Yuan looked at Lu Chen and asked again after thinking about it.
"Exactly!" Lu Chen nodded and responded, "Your Majesty takes 30%! The total is ten thousand..." When Lu Chen was about to report the number of Li Yuan's share, Li Yuan directly raised his hand to interrupt Lu Chen's words, and at the same time motioned to Chang Baoping retreated, Chang Bao could naturally see the look in Li Yuan's eyes, and directly called the palace maids and chamberlains, as well as himself, to exit the Nuan Pavilion.
"Your Majesty, it doesn't have to be like this, right?" Lu Chen asked with a smile after watching Chang Bao and the palace maids exit the Nuan Pavilion, looking at Li Yuan's cautious look.
"Hey! You kid, you don't know! In the early days of our Tang Dynasty, money was used everywhere. If those guys knew that I had so much money, they would probably clamor for money from me!" Li Yuan looked at Lu Chen said with a forced smile.
Li Yuan's words are not nonsense. With the increase in iron production, there are correspondingly more places to spend money. Xiao Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Qu Tutong, Minister of the Ministry of War, complain to Li Yuan from time to time that there is not enough money. In addition, Warrior Xun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, also asked Li Yuan for money from time to time, which directly caused Li Yuan's headache. If they knew that Li Yuan suddenly gained more than 20,000 yuan, these three old guys would definitely come to Li Yuan. Want money.
There was still a lot of food left over from the Sui Dynasty, but money was really not much.
Lu Chen was not surprised when Li Yuan said this. As for whether the Tang Dynasty had money, yes, it did, but it was not in the hands of the court, nor in the hands of the emperor, but in the hands of the aristocratic families. Moreover, there was no salt and iron tax in the Tang Dynasty during this period. Yes, as for the business tax, it is not high. Even due to the war, it is unknown how many people there are in the Tang Dynasty. The aristocratic families have hidden their wealth, and the common people who are avoiding the war have also hidden their wealth. This is equivalent to "hiding wealth among the people" .
Having just experienced war, the Li family wanted to make a living with the people. This resulted in the fact that in the early Tang Dynasty, the poorest people were the imperial court and the royal family, and the imperial court needed money everywhere. Naturally, the finances must be somewhat stretched. .
Lu Chen remembered that during this period, Li Yuan did not pay salaries to officials, but instead established a self-operated financial system that was independent of taxation. For bureaucrats, the government does not pay salaries or allocate office funds. Instead, it gives these officials some public land and public money, allowing them to rent out the land and collect taxes themselves. Let the officials use the money to lend money at usury, earn interest, and get their salaries from it.
This method seemed to be able to solve the temporary problem, but this method later proved to be "drinking poison to quench thirst". Officials were granted a portion of Yongye Field according to their title, and this portion of the field could be passed on to future generations.
According to the official's occupation, the government will grant another occupational land. This land is used to pay the official's salary and office expenses. After the official leaves office, this part of the land must be handed over to the next official. It seems that Gongshetian is a good plan, but many problems will arise in actual operation.
These officials are all scholars. From leasing to tax collection, the process is not simple. In addition, the food produced, how to transport, store and buy it, are all technical tasks. If you don't have a little business acumen, it will be very difficult. It is easy to fail in business.
As a result, many officials do not have salaries. However, as the number of officials increases, the number of professional fields becomes more and more serious, and the phenomenon of occupying people's land becomes more and more serious. Once this happens, it will not stop. In the end, the people will lose their land. If there is no land in the house, no food, no clothing, no warmth, then they will start to rebel again!
But now this method can solve the urgent need of the court. Although Lu Chen wants to change it, it cannot be changed in a moment. It is effective and effective. If you want to turn it around, you can imagine the difficulty. Besides, Yes, this kind of thing requires an opportunity. As for where this "opportunity" is, Lu Chen has already prepared it.
"Your Majesty, why not impose a commercial tax?" Lu Chen looked at Li Yuan and asked. Lu Chen originally wanted to bring up the "salt and iron tax" issue. He even wanted to say that if this "salt and iron tax" If all of them were nationalized, wouldn't the court have money? However, Lu Chen then thought about it. Nowadays, "salt and iron" are all controlled by aristocratic families. If he mentions it rashly, it will have the opposite effect. Therefore, Lu Chen The concept of "commercial tax" was proposed.
"Commercial tax?" After hearing Lu Chen's words, Li Yuan smiled bitterly, "It's easier said than done! I'm very pleased that you are willing to share my worries, but is Datang really stable now? If there is no solid foundation, how can we talk about business tax? Where's the tax?" Li Yuan looked at Lu Chen and asked, and Li Yuan's words made Lu Chen a little confused as to how to answer.
