To be honest, Wang Sheng has not heard the news about the Yuzhou Rebellion.

Although the news from the photo studio was also very fast, it was still not faster than the emergency reports from the counties.

The speed of relaying and changing horses from one station to another is certainly not something that Wang Sheng Photography Studio can match.

The chaos in Yuzhou was related to the new land tax, and of course, it was definitely related to the King of Qi.

Since this incident happened in Yuzhou, the King of Qi was certainly to blame, and it happened at a time when the emperor announced that he would train troops in Xuchang.

This timing is such a coincidence.

It seems that this is King Qi’s way of dealing with the emperor!

Mr. Wang thought for a while and said: "Internal officer, I would like to ask you to change your clothes. Today I am going to hunt in the field. If I go to see your majesty in this outfit, I am afraid that everyone at the Yushitai will say that I do not understand etiquette."

Already."

"If you want to change your clothes, you should hurry up. This incident in Yuzhou has made your majesty very angry. If it is delayed for a long time, it will not be good news for you."

Wang Sheng nodded slightly.

"I understand, don't worry, I won't make it difficult for the internal officials."

Returning to the inner courtyard from the waiting room, Mr. Wang first went to see Princess Guangping.

"Xiang'er, I'm afraid I can't go to Mang Mountain for spring hunting today. Something big happened in the court. I'm afraid it will be difficult to leave for the next two days."

Princess Guangping nodded slightly, with no trace of blame on her face.

She came out of the palace and has a very good view of the overall situation.

Furthermore, since she wanted to be Wang Sheng's wife, she wanted to be a good wife.

As long as she could help Wang Sheng, she would naturally help him.

"It's okay, it's still an important matter. Spring hunting can't be done these days. It won't be too late to go after Wang Lang's things are finished. Xiang'er, that girl, Nannan, will go and have a good talk. Don't worry."

Wang Sheng nodded slightly.

"Then I'll bother you more, princess."

Being powerful means that it is difficult to take care of your family.

Wang Sheng hopes that Nannan understands this truth.

The reason why Nannan was angry was of course because she cared about Wang Sheng.

If she didn't care about Wang Sheng, there was no need for her to be angry.

Wang Sheng embraced Princess Guangping in his arms. After a moment of tenderness, Wang Sheng stopped delaying.

If we continue to wait and see, not to mention the emperor in the Tai Chi Palace, I am afraid that the internal eunuchs of the Tai Chi Palace in the waiting room will all be anxious to death.

After changing into court clothes as quickly as possible, Wang Sheng took Jinguyuan's chariot and drove towards the Luoyang Palace.

After a while, Wang Sheng arrived at Tai Chi Hall and met Emperor Sima Yu.

When he heard the news about the rebellion in Yuzhou, Sima Yu was furious at first.

But after thinking about it for a while, the anger gradually disappeared.

This matter is related to King Qi. If he loses his composure now and makes a wrong decision, wouldn't he be laughed at by King Qi?

Furthermore, since he is an emperor, he must keep his emotions and anger in check.

Now, he himself is still doing too poorly.

Therefore, when Wang Sheng saw the emperor, Emperor Sima Yu's face no longer looked angry, but instead became calm.

Very peaceful.

"My lord, I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty. Your Majesty will live forever."

"Get up, you know I summoned you here today. What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, it's because of the incident in Yuzhou."

"It seems that the chief minister has also told you something. Very good. The central leader Hua Heng is not doing well. I want him to speed up the new land tax. But I don't want him to speed up so much that people all over Yuzhou will complain.

It's boiling, just take a look."

Sima Yu pushed up several memorials that had been prepared long ago.

The chief minister agreed and took the memorial to Wang Sheng.

Of these three memorials, one is from Yingchuan County, one is from Xiangcheng County, and the other is from Runan Kingdom.

The content inside is very similar, and can even be said to be exactly the same.

Even the templates are exactly the same.

If Wang Sheng had only doubted it before, now his suspicion could be confirmed.

This matter must be closely related to King Qi.

"Your Majesty, this chaos in Yuzhou is quite strange."

"Of course it's strange."

Sima Yu's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Since this incident happened in Yuzhou, it must have something to do with the King of Qi. The memorials in these three places all say the same thing. Haha, the King of Qi is really good at cheating to death.

, if he causes trouble for me now, he will do it too."

The emperor spoke in a calm tone but full of anger.

"There is chaos in Yuzhou. If Zhang Guangyi goes to Yingchuan to deal with this, it may be in danger."

Sima Yu nodded slightly.

"This matter must be related to King Qi. He did this naturally to deal with Zhang Guang. If Zhang Guang is in Yingchuan now, he may be in some danger."

In fact, if we calculate the time, Zhang Guang is already in Yingchuan County now.

"But I believe in the ability of the vanguard general Zhang Guang. With my most elite soldiers at his disposal, he will definitely be able to avert danger."

"What your Majesty said is absolutely true."

Wang Sheng stepped forward at the right time to say a few words of flattery and continued: "With your Majesty's divine blessing, the vanguard general will have no worries."

"That's all, let's not talk about the vanguard general for now."

The emperor trusted Zhang Guang's ability. In addition, Zhang Guang's soldiers were all elite, so even if he could not solve Yingchuan's problem, he could still get out.

What he is most concerned about now is the issue of the new land tax.

This is his source of wealth!

"Look, my dear, the Runan Kingdom, Yingchuan County, and Xiangcheng County already collect land tax from people with more than 30 acres of land, and the amount is two or three times higher than the amount I set. This

Aren’t you going to force the people to death?”

Those who own more than thirty acres of land are no longer considered rich farmers.

Thirty acres of land is not much, especially in this era of productivity, the output of one acre of land is completely incomparable to that of later generations.

The annual output of thirty acres of land is already quite difficult for me to live on as a young child. Now I have to collect an additional new land tax, and the amount is still so high?

Doesn't this force people to sell their sons and daughters?

"Your Majesty, it is said that there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. Your Majesty's decrees will naturally change when they reach the bottom. There are countless local officials and corrupt officials. Some people want to enrich their own pockets. That's why things like this happen."

"Of course, this matter is also related to King Qi."

"Alas~"

Sima Yu held up his forehead in frustration and said: "This matter has something to do with the King of Qi, but it is also related to the dereliction of duty of the central army. Moreover, the Yuzhou Rebellion has been widely spread in Luoyang. I'm afraid

It was done intentionally by thoughtful people, and now there is already a quarrel in the court over this new land tax, and the memorials from the Censor's Office are piled up like a mountain here."

Sima Yu pointed to the hill-like memorial beside him, feeling quite tired.

"Before, I could still suppress these courtiers, but after the incident in Yuzhou came out, it will be difficult for me to suppress the courtiers."

Although many of the courtiers were directly supported by him.

But it's not certain whether the people he supports will listen to him.

They all have their own demands.

What Sima Yu admires is the art of emperors, the way of checks and balances.

Not all of the courtiers he supported were under his control.

"Your Majesty, the chaos in Yuzhou will naturally cause many voices of opposition in the court, but I believe that the matter in Yuzhou must be resolved first."

"It's just a matter in Yuzhou, how to solve it?"

How to solve the problem in Yuzhou?

"Of course we have to send troops to suppress what happened in Yuzhou."

Sima Yu shook his head slightly. Now he looked quite troubled and said: "It's just that before the matter in Yecheng, Wei County has been resolved, there is trouble in Yizhou again. Now if Yuzhou has to suppress it, I'm afraid it will be Luoyang."

Even if all the garrison troops are deployed, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

A three-front battle is of course not enough.

"Your Majesty should clearly distinguish the difference between primary enemies and secondary enemies."

Primary enemy versus secondary enemy?

In fact, it is just the difference between the main contradiction and the secondary contradiction.

"Wei County, Yuzhou, and Yizhou, among the three places, which one is your majesty's greatest concern?"

This is a no-brainer.

"Of course it's Yuzhou."

This Yuzhou is not only right at the foot of Luoyang, but more importantly, the person who is causing trouble in Yuzhou is Sima Jiong, the king of Qi.

This guy is so ambitious that people really have to guard against him!

"Since Yuzhou is a serious concern of His Majesty, it is natural that we must first resolve the matter in Yuzhou."

With the King of Qi here, even if the matter in Yecheng is settled, there will definitely be a second Yecheng and a third Yecheng.

This is the chief sin and the root of all evil.

"Instead of thinking about solving the problem in Yuzhou now, Marquis Guangyuan might as well think about how to solve the matter in the court for me."

Now the princes, courtiers, and aristocratic families are basically opposed to the emperor's new land tax.

This new land tax does not seem to offend the interests of the royal families. In fact, it does, to a greater or lesser extent.

Not all aristocratic families have titles above that of marquis. Among the clan members, most of the attached aristocratic families and their attached retainers and staff do not have titles above marquis.

The damage to these people is naturally equivalent to the damage to the Zongwang family.

after all...

Since it was a dependency, it was necessary to pay "tribute", but after the emperor's new land tax was collected, the "tribute" items became less or even non-existent.

Can the king not be anxious?

certainly...

This is the voice of most people who oppose the emperor's new land tax. In the view of Prince Pingyuan, Wang Yan and others, the new land tax will undoubtedly damage the credibility of the court and make the originally fragile relationship between the local government and the central government precarious.

The original good impression of the emperor in the hearts of the people and the grassroots officials disappeared.

This is not good for the emperor, nor is it good for the court.

This is the reason why Pingyuan Wang and others objected.

No matter what kind of voice it is, there are not many people supporting him around the emperor now.

Being alone, now the emperor felt like being alone.

certainly...

It's not like no one supports the emperor.

Now Yan Wang Sima Tong and others are naturally standing by the emperor's side.

But these people alone are not enough.

"For the current plan, we have to stop collecting the new land tax first."

pause?

Sima Yu just shook his head slightly after hearing this.

"No, if there is no money from this new land tax, how will I have money and food to fight the war?"

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that the Central Leading Army has collected tens of thousands of gold. Although tens of thousands of gold is not much, it can temporarily relieve the current urgent need. Besides, the storm is booming now, and Your Majesty asked the Central Leading Army to collect it at this time.

Land tax is probably even more effective with half the effort, and will also be dissatisfied by the world."

Wang Sheng’s meaning is very clear.

It is not that the new land tax is directly cancelled, but now that the incident in Yuzhou has come out, the new land tax is the target of public criticism. If the emperor still does not back down at this juncture, then wouldn't he bite the bullet and move forward?

At that time, I'm afraid it will make both parties feel embarrassed.

Sima Yu felt that the courtiers did not understand his thoughts, and the courtiers felt that the emperor took things for granted and was too nonsense.

"What you said makes some sense."

Sima Yu thought briefly and understood the meaning of Wang Sheng's words.

"I just want to stop collecting taxes. I'm still a little reluctant. Since the new land tax can be put aside for now, can the matter of selling nobles be put on the agenda first?"

Hearing Sima Yu's words, Wang Sheng shook his head.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's even more inappropriate to rush into selling your title."

Looking at Sima Yu's confused face, Wang Sheng said: "I'm afraid some courtiers have already thought that your Majesty is messing around with the new land tax. If the matter of selling titles comes out, I'm afraid there will be many courtiers kneeling outside Taiji Hall.

Yes, by then, things will not end well for Your Majesty. Is it possible that His Majesty will dismiss half of the officials like last time?"

The last time we dismissed half the officials of the dynasty, we had no choice but to do so.

And after dismissing these officials, Sima Yu immediately learned a lesson.

That is, the speed of issuing government orders has become extremely slow, and his personal affairs have more than doubled.

It was also during that time that Sima Yu asked Wang Sheng to enter the palace and handle some memorial matters for him.

Otherwise, he might die from exhaustion on this document.

The way I handled things last time was still too impulsive and immature.

If the current Sima Yu could go back to that time, he would definitely not use such a simple and crude method.

"Then the matter of the new land tax will be stopped for now, and let the turmoil in the DPRK slowly calm down."

"good."

Wang Sheng nodded lightly and then said: "Now that the incident happened suddenly, and the hundreds of officials in the court and the nobles in Luoyang were able to get the news so quickly, I am afraid that there is someone with ulterior motives behind it. Moreover, Your Majesty can let the Chinese

The leader is here. Based on my understanding of the leader, although the leader is anxious, he will not lose his head. He is so thorough in collecting taxes in Yuzhou. I am afraid there is something fishy about this matter."

Wang Sheng glanced at Sima Yu lightly and said: "The person who caused the trouble is probably the King of Qi. Your Majesty will explain the reason then and issue an edict to make the traitor Sima Jiu's deceitful death and conspiracy known to the public. This new land

Naturally, the focus of the tax has shifted to King Qi, and after that, the new land tax can be carried out again."

"What Aiqing said is so true that I was almost confused."

The leader Hua Heng is not very capable, but he is also not that courageous.

As long as it can be explained that the affairs in Yuzhou have nothing to do with Hua Heng, then the King of Qi will be implicated.

The matter of the new land tax is over.

And he can continue to collect taxes.
Chapter completed!