Li Mingyue's words were actually quite polite. Lu Chen's original words compared everyone in the court to dogs.
But even though Li Mingyue had said it very tactfully, some of the adults present still felt their blood boiling with anger.
"Brother Zhao, do you think these wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou are really that rich? Then what are the tributes they usually give to me?"
"Brother Zhang, be careful with your words. What filial piety? I don't understand what you are talking about at all. Anyway, I didn't receive any so-called filial piety."
"It's already this fucking time, why are you still pretending? These salt merchants are clearly making fun of us."
"You can't say that. They have connections to make, and they have a lot of money to spend. Besides, the business is ultimately theirs, so what if they make a little more?"
"Earn more money, what the hell? We're risking our lives on many things. Are our heads only worth a few dollars?"
What is the essence of business? It is to make money by taking advantage of information asymmetry.
The officials of Da Qi did not know how much money they could earn in a year, nor did they know how much money they gave to other officials. This in itself was a kind of information asymmetry.
The total amount of various tributes to a fifth-rank official in a year would not exceed three to five thousand taels of silver. It would be enough for each salt merchant to win over seven or eight such officials.
Tens of thousands of taels of silver are really nothing to the salt merchants, just a drop in the bucket.
But several thousand taels of silver was a huge sum of money for these officials whose monthly salary would not exceed five taels of silver.
If you just take the money but don't do the job, these people wouldn't be so resentful. The key point is, why should they let you just take the money and not do the job?
I've spent so much money on you throughout the year, you should at least do your part when it comes to critical moments, right?
And this so-called critical moment may very well be the time to commit crimes.
Everything is afraid of comparison. Looking at the gold, silver and jewelry in front of them, the officials present will definitely have their own ideas.
Li Zhuo was also shocked when he saw the jewels in front of him. He knew that salt merchants made money. After all, it was a monopoly business. If salt merchants did not make money, then there would be no profitable business in the world.
But Li Zhuo never expected that the salt merchants could make so much money.
Any one of these treasures could be sold for at least a thousand taels of silver, and these treasures were just the gifts from the group of merchants to Lu Chen.
At that moment, Li Zhuo felt extremely frustrated. Where was the promise of being the common ruler of the four seas? Where was the promise of the whole world belonging to the king?
At this moment, Li Zhuo finally understood why all the wealthy businessmen who had been as rich as a country since ancient times had no good ending.
The reason is very simple. This world belongs to my family, but you earn more than me and live better than me in my family. Why?
There is no profound political conspiracy, nor does it involve any class issues, it is just simple human nature.
Increase taxes! You must increase taxes! Even if the king of heaven comes today, even if our ancestors are resurrected, we will still increase taxes!
Li Zhuo slammed the table and shouted, "Raise taxes! The Ministry of Revenue, give me a regulation within three days!"
Upon hearing this, an official immediately jumped out and said, "Your Majesty, the salt tax of our Great Qi was personally determined by our great ancestor. This is the law passed by our ancestors and cannot be changed!"
"Come here, drag him away, dismiss him from his post and investigate!" Li Zhuo said with red eyes.
This shout stunned all the officials. When had they ever seen such a decisive Li Zhuo? It seemed that he was determined to increase taxes.
The court suddenly became quiet, and everyone could see that Li Zhuo was really irritated.
He is very emotional now, so even if he has any objections, he cannot raise them now.
Besides, those salt merchants had indeed eaten too much, so it would not be a problem to ask them to vomit it out a little.
As long as we can make some adjustments to the amount of the tax increase, everyone can still live a good life.
So after the court session, countless fast horses galloped out of the capital and headed straight for Yangzhou.
At this moment in Yangzhou, the salt merchants had not yet realized what terrible disaster they were about to face.
In a private room on the top floor of Cuifeng Tower, Yangzhou's finest restaurant, Liao Huasheng looked helplessly at the person sitting across from him and said, "Fourth Master, there's really no need to do this. Why would you provoke that demonic Taoist priest for no reason? He's still the Imperial Master recognized by the court, and His Majesty holds him in high esteem. If we really start a fight with him, it won't do us any good."
Sitting opposite Liao Huasheng was Mr. Qiao Si. It seemed that Mr. Liao had lied. Not only did he know Mr. Qiao Si, but the two of them also had a good relationship.
The Fourth Master Qiao in front of him was not as dissolute as Liao Huasheng described him to be. In fact, he was now in charge of many of the Qiao family's businesses.
After hearing what Liao Huasheng said, Qiao Si chuckled disdainfully and said, "I just can't stand him. In previous years, whenever the imperial court sent people to Yangzhou on business, they would always pay a visit to our old man first. But he didn't even receive a visiting card after he arrived, let alone a visit."
"Since he doesn't understand the rules, I'll teach him what they are. If he's a bit more sensible and behaves well for a while, that'll be fine. But if he really dares to make trouble, I'll let him know what it means to be in a difficult situation!"
Liao Huasheng sucked his teeth. He knew that the man in front of him had a bad temper, but he didn't expect that he would be so arrogant.
He is the national teacher of Da Qi, appointed by the emperor himself. He came here with the emperor's order. How dare you compete with such a person?
"My Fourth Master, please listen to my advice. This matter ends here. He can only stay in Yangzhou for a short time. We should just leave him alone. He is sent by the imperial court after all. There is really no need to make things so awkward with him. If he really has a crooked mouth and says something unpleasant to the Emperor in court, we will be the ones who suffer."
"Hahaha, the imperial court? Lord Liao is worrying too much. He's just a stinking Taoist priest who knows a few tricks to deceive the emperor. If you really say he can influence the government, you're overestimating him."
"Besides, our family has been operating for so many years, and we have many students and old friends in the capital. If he really wants to make trouble for us in the court, our friends will not stand idly by!"
"Besides, he's in Yangzhou, so he doesn't have the final say here. I've heard that many people in the underworld are eager to peel off his skin and drink his blood. If he were to be ambushed while walking on the street, it wouldn't be our fault, right?"
Liao Huasheng was suddenly startled and looked at Mr. Qiao Si in front of him with horror. He never expected that this gentleman had become so arrogant!
After leaving the restaurant, Liao Huasheng immediately called over his trusted subordinate and said, "Take my token and go see the old man of the Qiao family immediately. Give him this letter and ask him to make a decision as soon as possible!"
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