The Child Emperor

The King of the East Sea carefully read the memorial of Liu Zeqin, the servant of the household, but did not see the doorway, "Your Majesty suspects that he colluded with the wealthy businessmen in Luoyang and gave them too many benefits?"

"I don't know, I just think..." Han Ruzi couldn't tell the feeling, so he asked the East Sea King and others to retreat first, and he wanted to meet the Minister of the Ministry alone.

Liu Zeqin was appointed to preside over the daily court meeting, but he did his due diligence and fell down as he passed, holding a stack of documents in his hand. It was a detailed record of the court meeting, which could make the absent emperor immerse himself in the scene.

Han Ruzi casually flipped through a few pages without looking carefully, "Liu Shilang, I have something to ask you, I hope you can speak directly."

"Your Majesty, please, this minister never dares to conceal anything." Liu Zeqin stood respectfully in front of the emperor.

Han Ruzi pondered for a moment, "I have read the memorial, is there anything I need to do?"

Liu Zeqin raised her head and glanced at the emperor, with a surprised expression on her face, she immediately lowered her head, "This minister has not considered carefully, there must be some omissions, please wait for an hour or two, and the minister will make corrections, just... …”

Liu Zeqin thought that the emperor was not satisfied with his memorial.

Han Ruzi shook his head, "Liu Shilang misunderstood, there is no problem with the memorial, I think some things may not be written in the memorial, you can tell me directly."

Liu Zeqin was even more surprised, "No, it is a great deed to benefit the country and the people by privately releasing grain for officials in Luoyang. Everything is in the memorial, and the minister dare not hide it at all."

Liu Zeqin was the kind of real court minister. Han Ruzi looked at him as if he was separated by a wall. He could only hear his voice, see no one, and did not make eye contact. They were talking to each other in the air.

"That's very good." Han Ruzi smiled and expressed satisfaction, but he knew in his heart that his questioning method was wrong, and he could only get nothing.

He then summoned Qu Zixi, a doctor of the Imperial College.

Qu Zixi, who also served as the censor of Henan County, was very serious. He had already gone for a lap outside the city, just in time to see the emperor to report the situation.

"It's really rare. The officials and merchants in Luoyang have always been known for being tricky and tricky. I thought they were going to deceive them again this time, but they were wronged. It stretches for more than ten miles and is guarded by special personnel. The refugees first register their place of origin, receive food on the basis of receipts, gather more than 50 people, select a head, and pay enough food and government certificates to allow them to return to their place of origin.”

Qu Zixi was very satisfied with the performance of Luoyang officials and people.

After reading Liu Zeqin's memorial, Qu Zixi didn't think there was any problem, "These compensations are not much, Luoyang merchants are really impressive this time. I want to apologize for my previous remarks. At that time, I thought Luoyang was a place of greed and slippery. preconceptions.”

"There is Mr. Lao Qu to stay in Luoyang for a few more days, and the beginning and the end are good."

"Undoubtedly."

Han Ruzi didn't get help from Qu Zixi either, but he still didn't give up, he always felt that things were not so simple.

He discussed with the King of the East Sea again, "Think more about the techniques of the emperor you have learned."

"What kind of emperor's technique is that? It's just a little trick to guess people's hearts." King Donghai refused to admit it, but he still picked up the memorial, read it again, and said after a long time: "There is a way to use it. Find flaws."

"tell me the story."

"It's the norm."

"Routine?" Han Ruzi didn't like convention very much. Often, convention was the wall between him and the minister.

"Yes, I forgot who said it to me. I really couldn't find any flaws in the minister's proposal, so I asked him what his practice was. There must be a reason for doing this in the first place. Let's see if this reason still exists and how many are left. , maybe we can find some clues."

Han Ruzi hesitated, "Yes, at least we have to figure out why the Kanto merchants were levied heavy taxes and restricted the number of times they entered the customs. Who should I ask? Liu Zeqin will definitely shirk and say he doesn't understand."

"I don't know about this. His Majesty should have stayed in the capital, and the entire court was by his side. If you have any doubts, you can ask the Prime Minister. Even if the Prime Minister is not clear, he has to recommend someone who knows. This is his duty. Now, His Majesty It is in Luoyang, and there are not many people around, especially when the prime minister is not there, who should I ask?"

Han Ruzi had advisors by his side, and ten scholars followed along with them, but their strengths were citing scriptures and scriptures, planning to reward the meritorious soldiers of the Southern and Northern Army, and rebuking Yang Feng. The use of allusions is enough to make the recipients grateful and make mistakes ashamed, but when it comes to the business of Luoyang merchants, no one remembers the original regulations.

"It shouldn't be a big deal, otherwise, it will definitely be recorded in the history of the country." A scholar speculated.

The ten advisors withdrew, and the King of the East Sea came up with another idea, "You can't be a scholar. Your Majesty should find those old officials who are familiar with documents."

Han Ruzi really remembered one, and called in Liu Jie, the supervisor of the Central Division, and asked, "Who puts the copy of the memorial in the capital on the table every day?"

"It's me." Liu Jie replied.

"Who gave it to you?"

"Official of Zhongshu Province."

"It's the same order in the capital?"

"Yes, the Zhongshu Province organizes the documents, and then transfers them to the emperor by someone in the palace, usually the Zhongsi Supervisor, and His Majesty can also appoint others."

"It's good for Duke Liu to do this, and call the officials of Zhongshu Province who are accompanying him."

The person arrived soon, "Wei Chen Zhongshu Sheren Zhao Ruosu greets His Majesty." This is a middle-aged man in his thirties. .

The people of Zhongshushe were not qualified to participate in the court meeting. Han Ruzi had only a vague impression of Zhao Ruosu. He was always among a large number of followers, very close to the emperor, but separated by many obstacles. If it wasn't for the emperor's summons, he would never have a chance. Speak directly with the Emperor.

Han Ruzi was a little hesitant. This person doesn't seem to be a person who dares to speak out. He doesn't know anything about him. After thinking about it, he still asks: "You are from Zhongshusheren, can you read the previous official documents?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"How long ago was the earliest?"

"Every ten years, the Zhongshu Province and the Secretary Provincial Capital transcribe copies of official documents over the years. Wei Chen was fortunate enough to participate once and saw all the official documents since the Taizu Dingding."

Han Ruzi was taken aback, and King Donghai didn't believe it, "All? It's taller than a mountain, right? Can you read it?"

"Weichen is good at recognizing wrong words. He is in charge of the primary school. We must take a look at the reprinted official documents."

"It's not called reading, it's a scan at most. You didn't even know what was written on the official document, did you?"

"Most don't know, some still remember."

The East Sea King sneered, still in disbelief.

Han Ruzi didn't want to worry about trivial matters, so he asked directly: "I ask you, when was the levy on merchants in the Kanto region and the number of times of entry into the customs limited, do you have an impression?"

"Yes, these two are the rules set by Taizu in the first year of his ascension to the throne."

Han Ruzi and Donghai King looked at each other, but they didn't expect that this humble Zhongshusheren actually remembered the official document more than a hundred years ago.

"Why did Taizu set such a high tax?" Han Ruzi asked.

Zhao Ruosu thought for a while and then replied, "A memorial at that time said that the people in Guandong were rich, but people's hearts still turned to Zhao and Qi, and heavy taxes must be levied to stop them from rebelling."

At the beginning of Taizu's decision to fix the cauldron, the power of Zhao and Qi had not been completely eliminated, and it was not limited to the current Zhao and Qi. The area was much larger, so Taizu deliberately suppressed Kanto.

"The Great Chu has been going on for many years. The original Zhao and Qi countries have long been forgotten by the people. Why hasn't the heavy tax been reduced?"

"Wei Chen doesn't know, this is never mentioned in the official documents that Wei Chen has seen."

The King of the East Sea responded quickly at this time, and said with a smile: "What's so hard to explain, Kanto merchants can afford it, are they getting richer and richer over the years? As for the capital, after getting used to this income, it suddenly decreased, On the contrary, I didn't adapt to it, so I kept it all the time, and the public reason said that this is the rule set by the Taizu and cannot be changed."

"Can't the rules set by Taizu really be changed?" Han Ruzi felt that the heavy tax could be reduced a little.

The King of the East Sea pouted and did not answer, Zhao Ruosu said, "No one has ever said no, but the Ministry of Rites may object."

"Ministry of Rites?" Han Ruzi did not understand what this had to do with the Ministry of Rites.

"Every year in the twelfth lunar month, the Ministry of Rites will worship the ancestors at the Taimiao Temple. One of the rituals is to report what the Majesty has done in the past year. The Ministry of Rites may say that changing the old rules will anger the spirit of the Taizu in heaven."

Han Ruzi was so surprised that he was speechless. After thinking about it carefully, it really seemed like something the Ministry of Rites would do.

"What about the limit on the number of entries? What's the reason?"

"The reason at that time was very simple. The old officials of Zhao and Qi still didn't give up. They once tried to assassinate Taizu and the generals in the DPRK. The merchants brought in a lot of people and goods, and it was easy for assassins to get involved."

"According to the idea of ​​the Ministry of Rites, this old rule cannot be changed?"

Zhao Ruosu thought for a while, "This is not necessarily the case, taxation is a major event, Taizu issued the imperial decree at the beginning, and there is evidence to check, limiting the number of times of entry is a suggestion made by the general guard, Taizu approved, and did not specifically issue the decree. Therefore, in the view of the Ministry of Rites, this may not be regarded as changing the old rules of Taizu."

"If you have trouble with Zhao Sheren, I already understand, you should step back."

Zhao Ruosu exited the tent.

"This is a talent." Han Ruzi said.

"Hey, I just have a better memory. This kind of person is caught in every major department." Donghai Wang didn't care much, "Liu Zeqin is so courageous, he must know that tax reduction is not feasible, but he deliberately wrote it in the In the memorial, when the Ministry of Rites rejected it, His Majesty would be furious, and he fell on the ground to plead guilty, and as he came and went, he forgot the matter of entering the customs."

"What Luoyang merchants really want is to increase the number of entries? They won't rebel, they just want to do more business, right?"

"Liu Zeqin is self-defeating. Originally, the matter was very simple, but he insisted on covering it up. Your Majesty must guard against it."

Han Ruzi pondered silently. He was going to set off early tomorrow morning, and there was only one night left. Apart from some speculation, he had no other evidence. He really didn't know what to do.

When Liu Jie entered the tent to report, Wang Jianhuo asked to see him.

The Ugly King also went for a run outside Luoyang City, and what he saw and heard was the same as Qu Zixi, but he came to a different conclusion, "According to what Caomin sees, many homeless people outside the city are fake, but the real homeless people can't get relief. Caomin is willing to be an official, and would rather offend thousands of people than save more people."