Meng Yi's eyes flashed when he saw that the crowd was still discussing the matter.
"As expected, everything is within my Lord's expectations.”
Meng Yi smiled and stood up. He bowed to the Empress Dowager as usual.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this subordinate has heard something from the spies in the Divine Item Palace.”
"That is, the little Emperor is trying to change the public's opinion of him, to regain his reputation, and to gain the support of the people.”
"So he decided to gain the power to control the court and then implement the tax reduction policy! The salaries of our Northern Qi officials are the highest in the world. He is prepared to reduce the salaries of some officials and the army, and then reduce the taxes of the people.”
As Meng Yi said this, everyone present was stunned for a moment before they burst into laughter.
"Foolish! Although this move could win the hearts of the people, it would offend all the officials in the world! If he really did that, he would not be the emperor before the people supported him.”
The current Prime Minister, Zhang Shilin, said.
Everyone chimed in. In their opinion, the little Emperor was at a dead end and had actually thought of such a self-harming method.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, if that's the case, we can give him the power.”
"At that time, we will add a little more fuel to the fire. We will definitely make the little Emperor the target of public criticism. At that time, the great matter will be accomplished!”
Great General Li Daoqing said. He was a member of Longxi's Li Clan, the younger brother of the Empress Dowager. Now, he had become the Great General of the court and was in charge of Northern Qi's million strong army.
After that, there were all sorts of discussions. In the end, they decided to let the little Emperor do whatever he wanted. When he dug the Great Wall himself and lost the hearts of the people, it would be the day they changed dynasties.
Walking out of the Empress Dowager's Feng Luan Palace, Meng Yi's lips curled into a cold smile. In the past, the Empress Dowager and the others would never be so careless.
They would strangle all possibilities in the cradle and not give Tantai Yue any chance.
However, things were different now. He had been arrogant and despotic for four years, and Tantai Yue had been defeated one after another. Even the last Great General Lin was gone.
They would no longer need to put Tantai Yue in their eyes. They were only waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for Tantai Yue to arouse the anger of the masses and change the dynasty.
Tantai Yue wanted to take charge of the government and implement tax reduction policies.
But Northern Qi was too big. If they reduced taxes, they would lose a lot of income.
Northern Qi had millions of soldiers, and the number of officials was no less, perhaps even more. Even a small county had hundreds of officials.
The civil officials, constables, and soldiers of the government office.
And Northern Qi treated its officials very well. If they reduced taxes, it would inevitably reduce the treatment of the officials. Even if they did not reduce the salaries of the officials, other aspects, such as various livelihood projects and various disaster subsidies, would all be reduced.
No matter what the consequences were, Tantai Yue would definitely gain the favor of the commoners at the bottom, but she would also offend the majority of the upper class.
Otherwise, which emperor would be a fool? Wouldn't direct tax cuts win the hearts of the people, but the consequences would definitely be difficult to bear. Sometimes, in order to maintain the country's operations and stability, they would even increase taxes.
Therefore, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager and the others, Tantai Yue was just struggling on her deathbed.
Night fell. Inside the Divine Martial Palace.
"My Lord, just as you expected, the Empress Dowager has given up her power.”
Meng Yi said with a smile.
Tantai Yue was also very happy because she was about to take over! For the first time in four years, he became a real emperor.
However, they were only happy for a moment. Although they were in charge of the government, other than some officials who did not have any real power, most of the people in the court were the Empress Dowager's subordinates.
In this situation, was there any difference between being in power and not being in power?
"Although the Empress Dowager controls the court, Northern Qi is so big that it is impossible for all the officials to be her people.”
"As long as the government is legitimate, Yue-er's imperial orders can be conveyed to all places, and then there will be officials to follow them.”
Lin Tian said. That was enough.
"Brother Tian, what should we do next? Was there really a tax cut? But if that was the case, the national treasury would be empty, especially in recent years, when Northern Qi had been plagued by natural disasters and there was even war on the border.”
Tantai Yue said worriedly. Cutting taxes would definitely win the hearts of the people, but it would also cause internal chaos. Some people might even rise up.
Even if they didn't rise up, it would consume the strength of the Beiqi Kingdom and lead them to destruction.
Lin Tian smiled.
"The interests of the world are flowing back and forth. The reason why the officials are willing to support the Empress Dowager is because the Empress Dowager has power and can bring them glory and wealth.”
"And what if we can bring benefits to the officials of the world, even those noble families, and so on? Even more than what the Empress Dowager could give, who would they support?”
Lin Tian's words stunned Tantai Yue and the others. Could this be done? What kind of huge benefits would it take to obtain the support of the world?
Lin Tian did not say it explicitly. He only held the endless wine pot in his hand, and his eyes flickered.
Tantai Yue and the others did not know that the Endless Wine Pot in Lin Tian's hand was not just a huge gourd. Instead, it was a magic treasure that could produce all kinds of fine wine without limit.
There were thousands of types of fine wine inside, and they were inexhaustible!
Even the lowest grade wine could crush the best wine of this era.
Moreover, all of them were cost-free. Lin Tian could produce as many as he wanted. He could even flood a city! Northern Qi revered martial arts and was a fighting nation. Almost all the people drank alcohol.
Even girls could have two glasses.
The benefits that this represented were self-evident. What Lin Tian had to do was to put the benefits in front of the officials and nobles of the world. With a huge net of benefits, he obtained an equal status with the Empress Dowager.
This was Lin Tian's plan, and it was not difficult to do all of this. Now, he had already completed the first step, taking over the power personally!
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