According to standard procedure, impeaching the prime minister is the responsibility of the Censorate.
However, Zhao Huan also stated in court that this matter should not affect Xu Churen.
In fact, the emperor's meaning was already very clear: the case should be thoroughly investigated, but the operation of the newly established court should also be ensured to be unaffected.
This is very easy to handle. Just bring out a group of people from below, convict them, and execute them.
After that, He Ye and Liu Yanzong, those two scoundrels of the emperor, went on to relentlessly attack the Council of State in the court, to the point that the two sides were about to fight.
Finally, the emperor stepped in to play the good guy and, from the highest level of the empire, educated these quarreling ministers.
This demonstrates the emperor's wisdom and intelligence.
As a result, the arrogance of the Council of State, which had just been soaring high because of its excellent execution of the Emperor's plan, was suppressed.
Thus, a balance was maintained in the court, and the emperor put on a show once again.
Most importantly, the most pressing issues were also raised and were quickly resolved.
Zhao Huan can now use this method of play with ease.
He had the ministers speechless and they kept praising the emperor's wisdom.
Nowadays, the imperial court is undertaking large-scale construction projects, not only expanding the capital city of Tokyo, but also several of the most important cities in the Song Dynasty.
It is said that a large number of people migrated to both the capital city of Tokyo and the northern capital of Youzhou, and these people needed places to live.
New urban areas are rapidly taking shape, and the huge demand can no longer be met, which has created enormous business opportunities for merchants.
Although terms like "essential needs," "hard currency," and "high leverage" didn't exist in the Song Dynasty at that time, and no one had summarized the underlying principles, merchants, with their keen business sense, had already sensed the hidden wealth within.
As Zhao Ding, the head of the Great Song Bank, said: The expansion of prefectures and major cities brought the first huge amount of wealth to the commerce of the Great Song Dynasty. The court opened the door to loans to merchants who bought land, and huge amounts of paper money flowed into the people through the expansion of cities.
In later Europe, there was a famous economist named Keynes who said that there is an invisible hand in the market that can regulate everything.
This is the most classic theory of the free market, which was regarded as the voice of God by European and American countries for hundreds of years. It was not until the large-scale economic crisis that spread throughout the Western world in the 20th century that people began to rethink the positioning of the free economy.
In this era, Keynes' classic theories no longer exist.
However, while merchants in the Song Dynasty, which had been thriving in commerce for over a hundred years, smelled the scent of wealth, some officials in the court sensed an unprecedented crisis.
Liu Yanzong did not have a deep understanding of the essence of commerce. His point that the soaring rents in the New City South District led to soaring prices was entirely driven by political demands.
He doesn't care whether the economy is doing well or not.
But after this incident, Xu Churen clearly realized the seriousness of the problem.
Profit-driven merchants began to exploit the people for money by any means necessary. If the imperial court did not take control at this time, the frenzied land grabbing would lead to a bottomless abyss of darkness.
Xu Churen didn't know whether to be angry with Liu Yanzong or to thank him. If it weren't for Liu Yanzong's timely discovery, a storm would have quickly swept through Tokyo and even spread to the four newly built deputy capitals.
If that happens, no matter how many more construction projects the government provides for the people, and no matter how hard the people work every day, they will still not be able to afford food.
The enormous sums of money will form a pyramid shape, concentrated in the hands of a few businessmen who will use money to buy power and protect their business empires.
On the bones of the traditional gentry who were suppressed by the emperor, a new empire forged in money was rebuilt.
The imperial court's power will gradually decline.
Merchants are driven by profit; they are not bound by morality and do not follow the teachings of sages. In an era where laws are not sound, if power is seized by greed, destruction is inevitable.
Xu Churen was not the only one who realized this.
At this moment, Zhao Huan, who was deep in thought in the palace, also realized it.
He does not reject the emergence of new powers. For a country to truly become prosperous and strong, it must be accompanied by the emergence of new powers, especially the power of capital.
However, capital is a bloodsucking beast. If used properly, it can benefit the people, but if it gets out of control, it will bring destruction.
As someone who traveled from the future, Zhao Huan had actually anticipated this situation arising during the land enclosure process.
As the top manager, his job is to keep things moving forward, and only when problems arise can he use his historical experience to solve them.
Before the problem arose, all the measures he took related to the problem were actually unnecessary.
Zhao Huan was a little nervous because this matter involved an economic crisis, not war.
In some ways, economic crises are more difficult to deal with than war.
War is a contest between strong and weak armies, while economic crises are complex and involve a combination of multiple factors.
For example, this recent surge in rents is a result of unprecedented expansion.
He believed that this phenomenon had occurred in Hangzhou, Jiangling, Guangzhou, Youzhou, and even Chang'an in Jingzhao Prefecture.
This is a war without gunfire, and the time has come to test the imperial court's control over the local areas.
Xu Churen rushed to the Inspectorate; this matter must be dealt with seriously.
When Xu Churen arrived, Tang Ke, the Minister of Commerce of the Song Dynasty, had also arrived, as had Zhao Ding, the head of the Imperial Bank of the Song Dynasty, and Zhou Chao, the Emperor's Minister of Finance and Commissioner of the Three Departments.
This incident has clearly affected their jurisdiction.
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