Duan Lun looked at the dozen or so ministers of the Ministry of Revenue who walked out from behind Sun Fujia. He grinned and rolled up his sleeves.
"Where are the people from the Ministry of Works? Come out. Someone beat up your minister.”
"All of you from the Ministry of War, step forward!”"When it comes to fighting, who has the Ministry of War lost to?" Li Jing sneered.”
All of a sudden, Shangshu Province was in chaos. More than thirty people in official robes roared and fought.
Originally, the three ministers from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Rites were watching the show with interest.
Suddenly, a document and two stools came crashing down on them.
Li Daozong rolled up his sleeves with a livid face." Who the f * ck threw the stool over just now? Stand out!"”
Gao Shilian gasped in pain and cursed,""Who cares about that? Just beat them up. It's not wrong to kill any of them!”
Doulu Kuan didn't say a word. He picked up the stool on the ground with a straight face and threw it at the people who were fighting.
"Stop!"
Pei Ji was so angry that his nose was almost crooked. The Imperial Court was already in such a mess, and you still had the mood to make a move?
Can't you be more promising!
It was fine if they fought over other things, but if they fought over something, they were not afraid of being laughed at by others!
"If you don't stop, this old man won't say anything!" Pei Ji said with a black face.”
Hearing this, all the officials present stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.
Pei Ji said in a deep voice," This old man's plan is not as easy as you think. Even ten or twenty people won't be able to finish it. Why don't all the officials do it together? What do you think?"!”
Even ten to twenty people couldn't finish this?
All the officials present narrowed their eyes. What was going on?
Duan Lun suddenly thought of something and looked at him warily."
"Duke of Wei Pei, don't think you can cause any trouble in the King Qin Residence, right? If it's such a thing, I won't do it!”
" Do you think I'm a fool?" Pei Ji glared at him. King Qin's Imperial Residence was a beehive. If anyone dared to poke it, the eldest grandson of the emperor would not forgive them.
Moreover, if he really had such thoughts, who would put this scroll aside? They were arguing about what to do.
"Duke of Wei Pei, just tell me what it is," Li Jing said.”
Under the gazes of all the officials, Pei Ji solemnly said,
"From the memorial, you can see that our Great Tang treasury has less than a million strings of coins left.”
"Our Great Tang has been established for nine years, and there are still many things to do. We need money everywhere, but where will the money come from?”
"Taxes," said Duan Lun.
Pei Ji nodded." That's right. The money in the Great Tang's treasury basically depends on taxes.”
"The greater the population of the Great Tang, the more taxes we collect, and the more the treasury will be filled.”
"But right now, right in front of the Great Tang!”
Pei Ji raised a finger and said in a deep voice,
"There are still some people who don't need to pay taxes. Who are they?”
"These people do not engage in labor, but they enjoy the comfort that our Great Tang has brought them.”
"As a result, many commoners ran to become monks and Taoists in order to avoid taxes.”
Pei Ji glanced at the civil and military officials who were listening attentively and continued,
"This is especially true for monks. From the founding of the Great Tang to the present, and throughout all the dynasties, the greatest number of monks have fled to the temples to avoid taxes.”
"If this continues, the more monks there are, the fewer people who pay taxes for the Great Tang. What will the people who pay taxes think?”
"We're all the same people, all citizens of the Great Tang, so why is it that monks don't have to pay taxes, have no worries about food and clothing, and live a peaceful life?”
"Some of them were indignant, but there was nothing they could do. Some of them simply ran off to become monks.”
Pei Ji sighed." I can't see anything now, but if in another ten, twenty, or fifty years, the number of people paying taxes will decrease and the number of monks will increase. What will the Great Tang look like?!"
"Damage to the foundation of the country will bring endless trouble.”
The officials listened to him attentively, and their expressions became more and more solemn.
Li Daozong nodded in agreement with his words and asked,"Duke of Wei Pei, do you mean to start from this aspect?”
Pei Ji acknowledged and said,
"That's right, it's time to help the root!”
"If we do this well and let the monks who don't work as producers return to asceticism, let them go into business and agriculture, they will naturally pay taxes for the imperial court. The more such people there are, the more taxes the imperial court will collect, and the national treasury will naturally be more abundant.”
"This is a matter that benefits the country and the people."
Pei Ji looked at everyone and said,"Do you think we should do this?"”
"It should be done, but it's not easy."
The 44-year-old Minister of Rites, Doulukuan, frowned and said,"
"It's not like the previous Sui Dynasty did not do such a thing. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty issued an imperial edict to force monks to return to secular life, and it had a huge impact.”
The civil and military officials nodded slightly. They had also heard of this matter. After the previous Sui Dynasty did this, it caused the people to be filled with resentment, and in the end, it was left unsettled.
Pei Ji said firmly,
"We can talk."
"Talk to them."
"As long as these monks are willing to renounce asceticism, won't it be fine?”
"Can those bald donkeys voluntarily renounce asceticism?" Sun Fujia asked in confusion. If you become a monk, you don't have to pay taxes or do hard labor. If I were a monk, I would definitely resist you to the end.”
Pei Ji thought for a moment." What do you think? If there are monks who are willing to renounce asceticism, we can give them some benefits.”
At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,"
"Should we report this matter to His Majesty?”
Hearing this, all the officials trembled and glared at the middle-aged official who spoke.
Pei Ji said unhappily,
"Let His Majesty know? Do you believe that he will do it for you!”
"Do you think His Majesty is a weakling?"
Li Daozong also glared at the official in annoyance." Think before you speak!”
Duan Lun snorted at the middle-aged minister and said,""Right now, the civil and military officials are quarreling endlessly just to get things done.”
"You're good. You directly handed the matter to the little Emperor. Then wouldn't we really be trash?”
The middle-aged minister smiled awkwardly. Feeling the hundreds of angry gazes, he shrank his neck and did not dare to say anything else.
"To prove that we are not trash.”
Li Jing stepped forward. As the Minister of War, in order to make the officials look at the Ministry of War again, he said in a deep voice,"The Ministry of War will take care of this matter and discuss it with those monks!”
"The Ministry of Works agrees too," said Duan Lun.”
Sun Fujia nodded slightly." The Ministry of Revenue has no objections.”
"The Ministry of Rites agrees," Doulu Kuan said.
"The Ministry of Justice also agrees," said Li Daozong with a smile.”
"As long as it can be done, the Ministry of Personnel will agree," Gao Shilian said.”
Seeing that the ministers and assistant ministers of the six ministries had the same opinion, Pei Ji swept his gaze across the civil and military officials. After seeing that they all agreed with what he said, he decided,
" Since no one has any objections, send someone to invite the abbot of each temple in Chang 'an. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Central Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will discuss this matter with them!”
"Yes!" The officials all stood up and bowed.
————
Taiji Palace, Yin and Yang Palace.
"Are you saying that the civil and military officials fought in Shangshu Province for the sake of doing things?”
Li Chengdao was stunned when he heard this. He looked at Yu Huatian, who had brought back the news, in confusion."Are they that free?"
"..." Wang Yu looked at Li Cheng faintly.
How could all the civil and military officials not be idle now? Wasn't it all because of you?
If it wasn't for Li Chengdao handling all the big and small matters of the three provinces, six departments, and twelve divisions in half a day, it would have been impossible.
If the officials had nothing to do, how could they fight over something?
Yu Huatian continued to share the news he had heard,
"Your Majesty, Pei Ji has sent people to invite the abbots of the temples in Chang 'an to Shangshu Province. He said that he wants the monks of the temples to renounce asceticism.”
Li Chengdao raised his eyebrows." Why didn't I see them report this?”
Yu Huatian pursed his lips and didn't say anything, but he looked at Li Chengdao with a strange gaze.
Wang Yu also cursed in his heart. Would the civil and military officials dare to report this matter to you? They were afraid that you would find out about this and help them deal with it.
Because of Li Chengdao's generosity, all the officials felt like they were trash. They couldn't wait to find a chance to prove to Li Chengdao that they weren't trash.
"Forget it. Since they want to do something, let's ignore them for the time being.”
Li Chengdao shook his head, then looked at Yu Huatian and said in a tender voice,"Zhen thought of a few things just now.”
"Yes!"
Yu Huatian cupped his fists in response, then pricked up his ears to listen to Li Chengdao's instructions.
He listened for a full two hours.
Seeing that Li Chengdao hadn't finished saying 'a few things', Yu Huatian's eyes twitched. Wang Yu was even more hesitant whether he should remind the little Emperor. Was he f * cking talking about' a few things'?
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