Zhao Jiu and Xu Jingheng were both stunned, and then had different reactions.

The former was overjoyed, but the latter sighed and immediately shook his head.

"When collecting taxes every year, the various military governors come forward and adjust the average price of money, grain and silk in the previous year to give a fair price." Zhao Jiu hurriedly explained to Xu Jingheng. "If there is a disaster, this kind of general price will be abandoned, and a disaster area will be designated to deal with it... To be honest with you, Minister Xu, when I was in Tokyo, Minister Lin told me about this matter. It is to unify the measurement and calculate the national income. However, the country is still at war, so it is not easy to implement it hastily. But if we can first use the most important money, silk and grain to circulate, it will be a great progress."

"I'm not saying it's bad or impossible." Xu Jingheng saw that Emperor Zhao had misunderstood, so he quickly explained. "I was actually just going to suggest this strategy as a backup plan, and I even thought about allowing the people to buy national debts with grain and silk from now until the end of the war... After all, grain can be used as military rations, and silk can be used as military funds, and the soldiers will not complain. In turn, the credibility of national debt can be used to stabilize the price of grain and silk..."

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment: "Why didn't Mr. Xu tell me about this good plan earlier?"

"Because this kind of thing only treats the symptoms but not the root cause, it is at most a temporary backup strategy." Xu Jingheng responded seriously. "Please think about it, Your Majesty, if you use this strategy for a long time, after a long time, when Cai Jing is in power and Zhu Zhen is the governor, who can imagine how far they will go in this pricing strategy in order to plunder the local areas? The Song Dynasty is so vast that a unified pricing system across the country would be unfair to many places. Therefore, in the end, we still need to make money flow smoothly so that silk and grain can circulate naturally among the people."

Zhao Jiu nodded suddenly, but he looked at Lu Yihao first, then at Xu Jingheng, and then smiled bitterly: "So, Mr. Xu has been prepared for this, and just wanted to remind me that debts must be repaid after all?"

Xu Jingheng bowed slightly: "I am only doing my duty as a minister... I have no intention of blaming Your Majesty, the court, or Prime Minister Lu."

Zhao Jiu laughed again.

But Lu Yihao suddenly said: "Your Majesty, since you have made up your mind and have a backup plan, you should just go for it! We can talk about things after the Northern Expedition. This matter was originally started for the Northern Expedition!"

"I was just thinking of borrowing the kindness of Prime Minister Lu!" Zhao Jiu was immediately inspired, and then thought of something else. "Since we are going to do this, can we give these four people who wrote the letter a task and make a gesture?"

Using political power to buy off the literati and wealthy families to reduce the resistance to tax reform was a self-evident thing for Emperor Zhao and the prime minister. Moreover, although Lu Yihao was harsh to his colleagues and subordinates, he was more or less particular about treating the emperor. He immediately nodded and said:

"I know the backgrounds of these four people. Lu Xi is from Yuezhou and is the son of a prime minister. He started as a county magistrate and served as a judge in the imperial court. He even served as the director of tea and salt affairs in the capital. He also defended Chenliu during the Jingkang period. He has enough practical experience... I think it would be a good idea to give him a judge and let him go to investigate the land. As for Chen Yi, although his father was just a local tyrant who could not read, he died in the Jingkang period as a loyal minister. He is more or less the son of a meritorious official. We can give his father an explanation and make him a county magistrate. He will definitely be grateful to the court. As for the other two, they are chaotic people. Let them follow Master Lu to run a newspaper..."

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, but couldn't help being curious: "From the documents, Lu Yu and Chen Yi are at least knowledgeable people, and Lu Xianggong said that they are the sons of prime ministers or meritorious officials, so why do they have to be searched in the government office?"

Lu Yihao turned his head and looked at Xu Jingheng without saying a word.

Xu Jingheng, who had the upper hand this time, was frightened by the look and immediately asked back, "What does Mr. Lu mean?"

"Let Lord Xu know." Lu Yihao bowed slightly. "The reason why Lu Yu fell into such a situation is because of you, Lord Xu, and Lord Lu (Lu Haowen)..."

Xu Jingheng was at a loss for a moment.

And Lu Yihao did not keep the secret, and directly bowed his hands again and said: "Lu Zhen was transferred from the southeast. He once worked under Zhu Zhen, one of the six thieves. After the Jingkang Incident, the Supreme Emperor Yuansheng ascended the throne, and Lu Gongxiang and Xu Xianggong were suddenly employed. They hated the six thieves and the new party, but on the one hand, they tried their best to resist the Jin people, and on the other hand, they spread rumors in the court. They identified the Lu Zhen brothers who had just stopped the Jin people as traitors, and then crossed them out and drove them out of the court... It's a pity that the people who were crossed out by the prime minister in power dared not seek a future, especially in the following years, Lu Gongxiang and Xu Xianggong became more and more prosperous, so they had to give up their official careers in their thirties and forties. From then on, they were unemployed for seven or eight years. It is said that they only enjoyed fencing at home all day. His nephews, the oldest was in their teens and the youngest was less than ten years old, were all known as child prodigies, but they were also forced by him to fencing at home all day."

Xu Jingheng was stunned, but he couldn't refute it... because he must have done this, and this was the political stain that he and Lu Haowen would never be able to wash away under the values ​​of the new Jianyan Dynasty.

From the Jingkang period to the early Jianyan period, these two people could not escape the rut of party struggles, especially Xu Jingheng, who retired early and thought he could leave without a trace after waving his sleeves. However, he was not as good as Lu Haowen in picking up the original knowledge and gradually becoming a half-saint. Today, he was still caught back to do the "implementation of new laws" that he had always been afraid of and resisted... Of course, Lu Yihao probably didn't know in his lifetime that the reason he couldn't enter the central government to govern was entirely the result of someone's "heartfelt words".

This fate is really strange.

"As for Chen Yi's father." Just when Xu Xianggong's mind was drifting to who knows where, Lu Yihao, who felt a little relieved, continued to sigh with his hands clasped in the sound of crows. "It has nothing to do with Xu Xianggong, but it has something to do with the emperor..."

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