Chapter 276 Borrow some money from Uncle Four

Tian Fen.

Familiar name.

Liu Jugang had been sitting alone at a table by the window on the second floor of a restaurant adjacent to the west side of the Prime Minister’s Mansion for half a quarter of an hour when these two words floated into his ears.

Across the street, beside the road extending from the side door of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, there are many carriages parked at this moment. Judging from their shapes and patterns, it is clear that the owners are either rich or noble.

As the restaurant patrons had said, the side door, which was neither wide nor narrow, had one or two people in fancy clothes coming in and out from time to time.

Toot, toot.

Liu Ju knocked on the table, and Jin Midi, who was standing behind him, stepped forward, bowed and asked, “Your Highness?”

“It’s only been less than five days since the Prime Minister’s Office started selling positions. How come others suddenly thought of Tian Fen from more than 20 years ago?”

Such a coincidence?
Liu Ju didn’t believe in coincidences, but fortunately Jin Midi knew that his master didn’t believe it, and he didn’t believe it either.

“A few days ago, the Minister Shao Zhou made a slip of the tongue at a banquet after drinking, claiming that it would be no problem to buy an official position.”

“From the way he spoke, it seemed as if the Prime Minister had received the emperor’s endorsement, but when others asked him about it, he stopped talking and looked unfathomable.”

Jin Midi bowed and whispered, “The Minister is a close minister. Shao Zhou must have received a hint from His Majesty and intended to pass this information to the outside world.”

“I guess it was to add fuel to the fire.”

That’s all I have to say.

He glanced at the bustling scene outside the window and said coldly, “Since that day, the number of people coming to the Prime Minister’s Mansion has suddenly increased, leading to today’s situation.”

Yes, it is very similar to the time when Tian Fen was the prime minister…

The emperor today has many prime ministers, but Tian Fen is unique. He is arrogant, greedy, and bold enough. He even dared to ask the emperor to raze the court offices and build a private residence for himself!

This Lord has quite a personality.

It left a deep impression on the people of Chang’an, so much so that more than 20 years later, when a prime minister appeared who was only three-quarters like Tian Fen, the gossipers in Chang’an began to talk about him with relish.

just.

It is impossible for ordinary people to learn to be a person like Tian Fen, and Shi Qing will not learn from him. The reason why he looks a bit like…

“Father, oh father, you know everything. The court has no money, but they insist on fighting. But money is a problem after all, and it must be solved.”

“Then, let the Prime Minister solve it?”

In this way, the Prime Minister is very likely to be dealt with in the future…

Liu Ju looked at melancholy, thinking in his heart, and sighed: “Father is a little anxious.”

Jin Midi continued, “The treasury is empty and urgently needs to be replenished. We can only resort to extraordinary measures. It is normal to secretly add fuel to the flames. On the contrary…” He paused and said in a deep voice, “The prime minister has been put on the fire!”

Being compared to Tian Fen is not a good metaphor.

Don’t even think about it.

What was Tian Fen’s fate?
Liu Ju retracted his gaze, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then said in a daze: “If it weren’t for this, why would Shi De come to me for help?”

Today, after the cases of Li Cai and Zhao Zhou, many people have discovered the truth that the emperor was a “prime minister killer”.

Shi De is obviously one of them.

“He doesn’t want the prime minister to follow in Zhao Zhou’s footsteps in the future, but His Highness has already saved a prime minister, and now…” Jin Midi hesitated to speak, with a look of fear on his face.

He wanted to say:
If I save Zhuang Qingzhai and then try to save Shi Qing, I’m afraid that will anger His Majesty, but if I stand by and watch without saving Shi Qing, I will ruin my good reputation.

“Hoo.” Liu Ju blew the tea gently. His face did not have the tangled worry of Jin Midi. He said calmly: “It’s just another dilemma like before.”

“But I am no longer the same as I was back then.”

When Zhuang Qingzhai was targeted by the ‘Prime Minister Killer’, Liu Ju acted somewhat roughly and rashly. Now that he has more experience in the court, Liu Ju will not be the same as before.

Teacher, be saved.

Trouble must also be avoided.

How to save and how to avoid it all depends on the method. Coincidentally, Liu Ju had an idea early on…

Standing up and leaving their seats, Liu Ju and his entourage quietly returned to the Prince’s Palace without attracting anyone’s attention.

After returning to the palace, Liu Ju ordered people to invite Zhuang Qingzhai, Liu De and other staff members. When they entered the palace, Liu Ju was already waiting in Jiaguan Hall.

“Your Highness.”

“I have met His Highness.”

“Teacher, please take a seat.” Liu Ju bowed slightly to Zhuang Qingzhai, and signaled to Liu De, Zhang He and others that there was no need for formalities.

After everyone was seated, Liu Ju said bluntly: “Everyone, the court is in financial difficulties right now. I want to borrow some money from the royal family for emergency. Do you think it is feasible?”

Not bad.

Liu Ju’s way of helping his teacher Shi Qing out of trouble and avoiding getting into trouble was to ask the royal family for money!
The reason why Shi Qing was put on the fire was, in the final analysis, the word “money”.

As long as Liu Ju has other ways to fill this hole, instead of the method of “eagerly selling official positions”, wouldn’t it be enough? He thought of it in a beautiful way, having the best of both worlds.

But Zhuang Qingzhai and others were shocked!

When the prince summoned them, they guessed that there was something important to discuss, but they didn’t expect that as soon as they met, the prince would use a big move – borrow money from the royal family?

borrow?
Regardless of how the imperial court could save face by borrowing money from the royal family, let’s just talk about the reality: has the imperial court ever borrowed money from the royal family?

No, the imperial court only robbed money from royal family members!

While the others were secretly shocked, Zhuang Qingzhai stroked his beard, as if remembering something, and asked suspiciously, “After your majesty offered sacrifices to the ancestors in the first month of the year, the princes returned to their fiefdoms according to the rules, but the royal family marquises stayed.”

“Did His Highness instruct you?”

“Yes.” Liu Ju nodded and admitted.

Liu Ju had the idea of ​​making money from the royal family as early as years ago when the emperor was preparing to worship his ancestors and summoned the kings to Beijing.

be honest.

At that time, he targeted the royal family simply to supplement the government’s finances. Now, he had another reason, to prevent his teacher from being cheated to death…

Nowadays, if one wants to increase revenue for the imperial court at the national level, it doesn’t matter what fancy tricks are used; what matters is which class to exploit.

common people?

To put it bluntly, ordinary people have already been squeezed very hard. If they are squeezed further, they will either go bankrupt or rebel.

Rich family?

I’m sorry, this group of people have been fleeced by the emperor many times, and the little they have left is now jumping around in the emperor’s mouth.

Liu Ju wanted to make money, so he would not look for poor people, and if he couldn’t find rich people, he would only look for whoever had money!
Just ask.

In the Han Dynasty, which class was the richest? Is there still a lot of money now?
The answer is undoubtedly the royal family!
It is said that the royal family members of the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of money and food. In fact, compared with the royal family members of the Han Dynasty, they are nothing but dwarfs meeting a giant.

The imperial court collected money and food from the descendants of the Ming Dynasty and then distributed them to support them.

And the Han Dynasty.

There is no need for the court to issue it at all. They collect it themselves. The land, population, and taxes legally belong to them!
The royal family was so rich that it could rival a country during the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. In the current emperor’s time, it may not be as rich as a “rival country”, but it is inevitable that they will become a “rival county”.

Some wealthy fiefdoms.

It is not impossible to defeat an entire state!

The vassal states did not have to bear the responsibility of border defense, pay huge military expenses, or spend on numerous officials’ salaries. All the income from the fiefdoms belonged to one person.

How do you think King Huainan Liu An could afford to support his three thousand retainers?

“Forehead……”

In the hall, Liu De, Zhang He and others exchanged glances. Before the mature and steady Zhuang Qingzhai spoke, Zhang He thought for a moment and asked first:
“Your Highness, robbing… ahem, borrowing money from the royal family, borrowing money from the royal family, hasn’t Your Majesty done this kind of thing before?”

You can hear it.

Zhang He really put a lot of effort into the choice of words and sentence structure.

Robbing money was replaced by borrowing money. When recalling the emperor’s outrageous actions, he tried to avoid and speak slowly. But the ministers were polite, but the lord was pushing it too far. Liu Ju said seriously: “Father’s methods are too polite, but not enough.”

polite! ?
In order to squeeze the princes, the emperor came up with this tricky thing called “white paper money” and has been insisting on enforcing it until now. He still has manners! ?
The corner of Zhang He’s mouth twitched.

Liu De, a member of the royal family, was even more frightened. He opened his mouth wide. After a while, he realized his loss of composure and quickly turned his head away to cover it up.

Liu Ju turned a blind eye and continued to discuss his own thoughts, “In the past, during the reign of Emperor Jing, the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion broke out, and among them, the Wu Kingdom was famous for its wealth.”

“The royal family had money and power at that time.”

“Now that the salt and iron are sold by the government, the court has recovered a major source of revenue. In addition, the Enfeoffment Order has disintegrated the vassal states into smaller states. The power of the court has also disintegrated.”

“but……”

Liu Ju looked around and said with a heavy face: “The land rent and tax on the royal family’s fiefdoms still belong to the royal family itself. The royal family’s fiefdoms, big and small, are spread all over the place, accounting for as much as 20% of the Han population!”

“Now that the imperial court is in trouble, how can they not help?”

hiss–

Zhuang Qingzhai took a deep breath and calmed himself down. This was the truth and the reason was also an old-fashioned one.

In the face of the oppression of justice, how could the royal family not help?
The point is, it is not easy to ask for help from the royal family. Zhuang Qingzhai said carefully: “Your Highness, do you have any ideas about which princes you are going to ask for help?”

obviously.

When it comes to such shameless topics, everyone speaks slowly.

When everyone looked at the prince, they saw Liu Ju shaking his head, “I am not going to attack the princes. At their level, my father needs to come.”

“What I want to do is to take down those royal family members and marquises who are still staying in Chang’an!”

Yep.

The prince has brought up the subject and is no longer pretending.

All the officials in the palace heaved a sigh of relief, not only because the atmosphere of the conversation no longer needed to be concealed, but also because of the words of the crown prince, or rather, the target of the attack –

Royal family marquis!

Although they are both members of the royal family, princes and marquises are different concepts.

The former have their own prime ministers, palace maids, lieutenants and other subordinates. No matter how oppressed they are now, in terms of status, the vassal states are much higher than the marquisates!

“Changsha State owns three counties. After the King of Changsha Ding, fifteen marquises were divided to share the three counties. After the King of Zhongshan Jing, another twenty marquises were divided.”

“There are only two princes, but more than 30 states have been created!”

“shocking!”

At this point, Liu Ju’s face was heavy and he was really hurt. “A big country has several counties, and a small country also has a county.”

“Those marquisates are just one or two counties at a time. Without any merit, they can own ten thousand households and be on par with the marquises in the imperial court!”

Everyone heard this.

Even though the prince’s words seemed exaggerated, they all truly heard his dissatisfaction, which had been suppressed for a long time, and responded seriously.

“I am going to submit a petition to the court to set up an examination for the royal family and marquises, which will be held every few years. Only those with good moral character can continue to enjoy the tax support.”

“otherwise……”

Liu Ju finally revealed his true intentions and said in a cold voice: “I will not blame the royal family too much. Just pay the fine. The fine is eighty taels per thousand people!”

This statement came out.

Several people in the hall were suddenly awed. A fine of eighty taels per thousand people was imposed, which was twenty times higher than the fine rate.

At this moment, even Zhuang Qingzhai did not dare to interrupt rashly. The ministers in the field tacitly turned their eyes to Liu De, the only member of the royal family here.

Everyone politely let Liu De question first. He received the signal and asked directly, “Your Highness, a fine of eighty taels per thousand people may be paid by the vassal states.”

“But Houguo?”

Liu De frowned and said, “I’m afraid many marquises can’t afford it.”

“To be precise, the more people a marquis has, the less he can afford to pay!” Liu Ju completed the explanation for him: “If you can’t pay the fine, then pay the population and ask for a reduction in your fiefdom!”

After these cold words, Liu Ju added: “Of course, as long as the royal family members can pass the test, they don’t have to pay the fine.”

no doubt.

This method is compulsory. It might not have been possible to force the royal family to do so in the past, but now, after decades of struggle by Liu Che, the imperial court has taken the absolute initiative!
I can force myself on the overlord of the royal family…

At this time.

Zhuang Qingzhai thought about it and nodded, “This strategy is feasible. If you don’t behave well, you should pay a fine. If you can’t pay the money, you can also pay the person.”

“It’s just…” He looked at Liu Ju, “May I ask, Your Highness, have you thought about what to assess? You have to be sensible.”

“This matter is tentatively decided.”

Liu Ju said bluntly: “How to assess is secondary. The main thing is to make the royal family accept this method.”

Ok.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s words became more direct and undisguised.

The emperor issued the Enfeoffment Order, which “pushed” the great princes into a bunch of small marquises. Now his son is following closely and wants to deal with this group of small marquises…

It sounds a bit arrogant and unreasonable, but… well, the prince’s exploitation of the royal family is something that the court officials love to see.

So Zhuang Qingzhai thought about it and shut up.

Zhang He suggested, “Your Highness, should we talk to the royal family about this matter first? Feel out the situation?”

“want!”

Liu Ju nodded at him first, then looked at Liu De on his left, “What do you think of this plan?”

I……

Liu De was stunned. Oh my goodness, I represent the entire clan today! ?
Yes, Liu Ju summoned his subordinates, Zhuang Qingzhai and others were advisers, and Liu De was both an adviser and an excuse, both of whom were very important.

So, what does Liu De think?

What could he think? Liu De’s father had already experienced the blessing of the Enfeoffment Order, but his generation couldn’t even get a marquisate. Would he stand on the side of the royal family and marquises?
The answer is obvious.

Liu Ju had already planned to ask him to come…

……

Gao Street.

In the inn where the marquises stayed when they came to the capital, several figures hurried in. As soon as they entered the inner court, they saw a group of young men in gorgeous clothes gathered in a circle, and in the circle there were two roosters pecking each other crazily.

“Okay, okay, peck him! Peck!”

“Gentlemen, we have an important announcement. No more cockfighting!” As everyone was cheering, a loud shout came from behind.

Looking back, he saw that the person who came was Zong Zheng, a young man about fifteen or sixteen years old, who shouted, “What’s the big deal? Can we go back home?”

“no!”

Han Shuo solemnly announced, “The court has issued an order that you stay in Beijing for examination. Anyone who fails the examination must pay a fine of 80 gold per thousand people in the fiefdom!”

There was a moment of surprise and silence, and then the crowd suddenly exploded.

Doubts and insults were directed at Han all at once, with comments like “I don’t believe it”, “I’m talking nonsense”, “It’s bullshit” and so on, one wave higher than the other.

After being scolded, Han Shuo did not bother with these young masters, but just said loudly: “This is the prince’s palace order, who is dissatisfied? “

“Prince’s Palace?”

“What’s wrong with the Crown Prince’s Palace? The Crown Prince has to call me Fourth Uncle when he sees me! This is ridiculous, what kind of order is this!”

“roll!”

(End of this chapter)