Chapter 827 A Dream of Youth 359
If even Emperor Jing couldn't confiscate their property back then, Yan Xi certainly couldn't now. After all, things were still chaotic outside. It would be better to give them a heads-up and get them to hand over some items.
Even so, Xie Ning only targeted a few people and did not fire on the vast majority of officials.
Moreover, upon hearing this, not only were those officials displeased, but the other senior ministers were as well. Yu Xiang wanted to stand up and refute, but an official from the Ministry of Revenue took out the amount of grain donated and the register of those who donated.
If you donate, you'll be credited with a good deed; if you don't, there's no punishment.
Even the amount of grain they donated was not much, only one-third of their own salary, and it was only for one month. On the contrary, the requirements for wealthy households were much higher in the following months.
This is an attempt to "rob the rich to help the poor."
However, the words sound nice, but they are to exchange "some things". In previous years, when the treasury was insufficient, the emperor would exchange ordination certificates. Now that the momentum of Buddhism has been finally suppressed, Yan Xi naturally cannot take the lead. Instead, he will exchange privileges such as "quotas" for weaving workshops under the Ministry of Works.
Yu Xiang withdrew his foot. If Xie Ning and Yan Xi were really so ignorant as to want their subjects' property, he would definitely scold these two little brats until they woke up.
The salaries of officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty were not high to begin with, and families usually lived together as a clan. How could a monthly salary of several thousand yuan support a family of dozens of people?
The reason why officials break the law to accept bribes, live on credit, or shamelessly engage in trade with the people for profit is because their salaries are insufficient and most scholar-official families are impoverished.
This salary is extremely unreasonable. Apart from a very few honest and upright individuals, it is almost impossible for other officials not to abuse their power for personal gain or engage in corruption and bribery.
Xie Ning was aware of this, so asking officials to donate grain was just for show, to put on a show for others. Even though many of the officials were corrupt and extremely wealthy, there were still honest and incorruptible officials among them.
Those corrupt officials who are rolling in money have other ways to get them to hand over their grain.
Seeing that the matter of each family donating grain and supplies had been put aside, the Empress Dowager brought up the matter of summoning Xia Si back to the capital. Not to mention that Prime Minister Shi was seriously ill, even if he wasn't, she wouldn't use him.
The Empress Dowager did not approve of the new laws, nor did she support the new party.
Yan Xi knew that the Empress Dowager sided with the old faction, and that the current Prime Minister Yu was one of the leaders of the old faction.
However, she didn't understand why the Empress Dowager didn't approve of the new law. It was clearly a policy for the country and the people, but it had many drawbacks. She was thinking of revising the new law after the war was over and continuing to implement it.
As Ding's adopted son, Xiao Ding's ability to read people's expressions and moods naturally surpassed that of his master.
After taking the newly made tea from the palace servants and placing it on the table, Eunuch Xiao Ding said softly, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has a grudge against Lord Shi and is also influenced by others, which is why she is more inclined to side with Lord Xia and his group."
Unlike Emperor Jing, Yan Xi could not say these things to Emperor Jing, but she could say them to Yan Xi. In some ways, she was more lenient with her subordinates.
The Empress Dowager's prejudice against the new laws stemmed more from her maternal family, the Li clan, and from the palace servants around her.
The Li family were related to the Empress Dowager through marriage, and the implementation of the new laws affected their interests. For example, the Empress Dowager's brother was accused of violating the Market Regulation Law, so he naturally had no goodwill towards it.
He would often complain to the Empress Dowager, saying that this year's income was worse than last year's, and last year's income was worse than the year before. It was getting worse year by year.
This suggests that there are problems in the political sphere.
Then there were the palace eunuchs, whose interests were also harmed by the implementation of the market exchange law.
The decision-making power for purchasing goods in the palace rested with the eunuchs, and the big merchants who did business with the palace naturally had to bribe the eunuchs to monopolize the supply of a certain type of goods.
The implementation of the Market Regulation Law dealt a severe blow to the monopoly of large merchants, as it stipulated that the imperial court and government should not purchase goods through the guilds of large merchants, but instead purchase them from individual merchants.
The goal is to eliminate market monopolies and achieve rational procurement through price competition.
Furthermore, the Market Regulation Act also stipulated that the government could provide low-interest loans to merchants, thus providing relief to some small business owners.
This loan is similar in form to the Green Seedling Act, except that the Green Seedling Act was ostensibly for the purpose of revitalizing agriculture, but in the eyes of others, it was purely for the benefit of merchants.
Since ancient times, there has been a traditional concept of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce, so this law has been met with even more criticism.
The palace servants around the Empress Dowager were stirring up trouble, saying that Lord Shi was colluding with merchants, which was why the market was in a slump and the people were complaining.
The Empress Dowager was also worried that the people's grievances would escalate from individual officials to the entire court, which is why she opposed it.
Yan Xi was somewhat taken aback. She did know that some palace servants harbored resentment towards Lord Shi, but she was unaware that they were also stirring up trouble in the Empress Dowager's ear.
"Go to Fengyi Palace."
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