"I have an edict to issue, and the Grand Secretary will give me a edict."

After hearing the routine report, Cheng Qian nodded to the cabinet's votes, and then when everyone thought the emperor was about to leave, Cheng Qian sat there without moving.

The emperor orally wrote an edict by the scholar.

Today's drafting of the imperial edict was drafted by Hanlin scholar Xu Jingzong.

The emperor's edict was surprising, and Xu Jingzong frowned more and more as he wrote it.

After the emperor finished dictating, Xu Jingzong had not finished writing it yet, but he could no longer hold back and put down his pen in the middle.

He asked the emperor, "Your Majesty wants to increase taxes, and it sells wine, sugar, silk and porcelain like salt, iron tea, and heavy taxes. Why doesn't Your Majesty discuss with the ministers such a big thing? Is this an edict issued? Can the cabinet agree? Can the Academy of Sciences agree?"

"I am a Hanlin scholar named by Your Majesty and consulting with Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty has never mentioned such a big deal to me. Now I will draft an edict. I really don't understand. If Your Majesty does not trust me, please tell me clearly."

Cheng Qian pinched his chin, and a short beard had already grown there. He said slowly, "Sir Xu is quick to speak, but I also have a question. Please teach me."

"My Majesty, please ask."

"Isn't I still the Emperor of Tang?"

Xu Jingzong was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.

What exactly is monarchy? How big is monarchy? Are there any restrictions? What are the restrictions?

For thousands of years, this question is hard to say.

During the eight hundred years of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou emperor's authority was very high during the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, when King Ping moved eastward and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty began, and entered the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Zhou emperor's authority was worse and worse.

He was even won by the King of Chu.

Although the princes respect the king and expel the barbarians, they can compete for hegemony. Who really takes the Emperor of Zhou seriously?

Qin Shihuang unified the world, and the emperor's ruler was reinvigorated in the world, and the imperial power was so powerful for the first time. But in the Qin court, the Qin prime minister still had great power, and the emperor's ruler had to compromise with the prime minister.

When Qin was destroyed and Han Dynasty was prospering, the prime minister still had great power, and it was not that the emperor could do whatever he wanted. Even the power in the Qin and Han Dynasties was much greater than that in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

Of course, after the Eastern Jin Dynasty crossed the river, the royal family was weak, and there was a saying that the king and the horse shared the world.

The general trend is that since the Han Dynasty, the prime minister's power has been constantly being weakened.

From the prime minister to the later system of general prime ministers, from the prime minister being able to set up appoint aides, to the later ministers' affairs halls and the ministers' affairs offices under the jurisdiction of politics, the trend of strengthening the imperial power and weakening the prime minister's power.

Especially during the Zhenguan period, the emperor's civil and military achievements surpassed the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, and the emperor's authority was even more powerful. The prime minister just said that.

When the increasingly arrogant emperor was forced to abdicate by his ministers and exiled to America, he now inherited Qian as the emperor in the court, but the central system has been reformed again.

A completely new situation has now been formed.

Chengqian is of course the emperor, but this does not mean that he can do whatever he wants.

Ma Zhou took the initiative to stand up without waiting for Xu Jingzong to answer.

"Your Majesty is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. My ministers are ministers of the Tang Dynasty. My ministers assist the monarch in governing the country. They are your assistants and should be the person you trust the most. But now your Majesty has such a major matter, but you don't have to do anything to me. You suddenly want to draft an edict. What is the reason?"

"The world is full of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, and billions of people." Ma Zhou continued, "No matter how wise and powerful your Majesty is, you cannot govern such a large territory. The country is like a person's body. Your Majesty has that mind, and your Messenger is the limbs. If Your Majesty does not trust your limbs, then no matter how good your Majesty has, it cannot be implemented."

Chengqian finished listening quietly.

"Now you know about this, I'm asking for your opinion now."

Xu Jingzong said bluntly, "I object!"

"Salt and iron tea are already a monopoly of the court, and therefore they receive no less than 50 million chunks of qian per year, accounting for half of the court's wealth. The high salt tax is actually a disguised head tax. In addition to the taxation of the operators themselves, the court also imposes a heavy tax of 20%, which has some impact on the development of iron and tea."

"Now, silkworm cocoons, porcelain, sugar and wine must be monopolized, and heavy taxes are given. Have your Majesty ever thought about whether this is reasonable? If the tax is too high, the operating cost will be high and the price will be high. The price of sugar is too high, and many people may not eat sugar in the future. After all, sugar is not salt, and it is not a must-have. If many people do not eat sugar, the sugar industry will be greatly affected, and many sugar merchants may go bankrupt, and even the people who grow sugar cane will lose."

"Have Your Majesty ever thought about the consequences? If the sugar merchant goes bankrupt and the sugar seed farmers lose money, the court will not only not be able to collect the sugar tax, but even the ordinary sugar industry tax will not be able to collect the tax. The court will not only not increase the income, but will also seriously lose taxes, and even the people will complain about it."

Cheng Qian said, "Don't exaggerate. The salt tax in the court has been implemented for more than ten years. Hasn't it been implemented very well? The court only has salt tax collected at least 300 million to 400 million in recent years. After the tea tax was adjusted, the 11th tax was imposed. The tea industry has not gone bankrupt, and hasn't it become more and more prosperous?"

Ma Zhou smiled bitterly.

"There is always a limit. The original tea has no monopoly. Later, the tax was increased by 30 tax one, and then the tax was changed to 20 tax one, and then 10 tax one. Now Your Majesty wants another five tax one. The patience of tea farmers and tea merchants is also limited. Now the price of tea is also rising, and the people are no longer very happy."

But Chengqian couldn't listen.

"Do you have any comments?"

Ma Zhou and others also gave some reasons to oppose the tax increase.

After hearing this, Chengqian nodded.

"Well, I have consulted you, and I have heard all your opinions one by one. Okay, my meaning remains unchanged now. Please send this edict to the cabinet for seals and then to the Academy of Sciences for review and refutation."

Xu Jingzong felt angry in his heart.

What does the emperor mean?

Have you consulted, heard of opinions, and then continue to do your own thing?

How much does this mean?

What do bachelors say in their ears?

"Your Majesty, even if we are willing to draft an edict or use seals, this edict may not be passed in the cabinet. If the cabinet is approved, there will be six refutations."

Cheng Qian looked unhappy.

"The Hanlin Academy is just my consulting agency. You are drafting an edict for me, but you have no right to refute it!"

Ma Zhou was also very angry.

The emperor took the wrong medicine early this morning and spoke so voluntarily.

"Your Majesty is right. The Hanlin Academy is only Your Majesty's advisory body and has no right to refute it. But we have the right to refuse to draft an edict for Your Majesty!"

Many of the responsibilities of the Hanlin Academy were similar to those of the past Secretariat. The Secretariat made decisions and drafted edicts, reviewed and refuted by the school, and implemented the Secretariat.

The Hanlin Academy did not enfeoff the power to reject the emperor's edict, but they had the right not to draft the emperor's edict.

In the past, the Secretariat did this a lot. If the emperor's edict was too much, the Secretariat refused to draft the edict.

"Ma Zhou, this is what you mean by yourself, and what do you mean by all the bachelor's?"

"My Me, Ma Zhou, refused to draft this edict."

"My minister Xu Jingzong refused to draft this edict."

"Minister Kong Yingda"

There were nine bachelors in the Hanlin Academy, and Ma Zhou was a bachelor of Hanlin Chengzhi. He refused to draft an edict, and the other eight bachelors also refused to draft an edict.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the Yu Study Room was very stiff.

"Without Butcher Zhang, you don't have to eat pigs with hair. If you don't draft an edict, I can draft an edict yourself."

In the past, the one who drafted the edict was the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat, and later the Hanlin scholars could also draft the edict, and they could separate the internal and external edicts with the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat.

Now the power to draft edicts is in the Hanlin Bachelor.

But Chengqian was the emperor and the Hanlin scholar refused to draft an edict, so he himself was able to write an edict directly.

When Ma Zhou and his friends met such a stubborn emperor, they had no choice.

They can't rob the emperor's pen and not let him write it, right?

A silence.

The scholars stood there as cold as frost, watching the emperor write the edict himself in silence.

Xu Jingzong still couldn't help it.

"Even if Your Majesty draws an edict himself, this edict cannot be passed in the Cabinet and the Academy of Sciences. There is no seal of the Cabinet, no seal of the Six Sections, and no signature of their names. This edict is just a mere edict, and the officials below can refuse to implement it. What will Your Majesty plan to do then?"

Without rules, you cannot achieve a square.

The court also has a system.

Without the system, wouldn’t it be a mess?

This system of decision-making review and implementation is not available now.

Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, this system has become more and more mature.

The emperor restricted the power of prime ministers and created a system of three provinces and six ministries. Now there are cabinets, Hanlin Court, inside and outside ministers. Similarly, the emperor's authority is not to do whatever he wants.

The emperor's edict must be passed through the Hanlin edict, the seals are used by the cabinet, and the final seal is passed through the six departments. If any pass is not passed, the emperor's edict will become an invalid order.

Service officials may refuse to enforce it.

This is the system.

Under this system, what is needed is a agreement between the monarch and the ministers, and sometimes it is necessary to compromise and concessions with each other, or to exchange interests.

Even when Li Shimin was so powerful, he had an imperial edict to be returned by the Secretariat. Not to mention now.

"Of course they can reject my edict!"

Cheng Qian snorted disdainfully, and now he wanted them to reject it.

Since the agreement cannot be reached, then turn the table up.

Otherwise, he, the emperor, will never stand out and will always be a puppet controlled by the prime ministers.
To be continued...