Marquis Yongning naturally knew these two people. After pondering for a while, he said, "In that case, let's lock them up for now. It's better to keep them in our hands than to let them go back to the mountains."
Zheng Boyuan smiled and said, "My brother-in-law thinks so too. Grandfather, I saw the Ministry of War's transfer order. I can go to Wuzhou within a month. I heard that there are some unusual movements in the Great Yan in Wuzhou. Is that alright?"
Marquis Yongning said, "I have spoken with Prime Minister Feng about this matter. His family, Prefect Feng, has managed things very well in Wuzhou. The border guards were all trained by Prefect Feng himself over the years. The reason he asked you to come to Wuzhou within a month is because Prefect Feng pities you for leaving home at a young age and not returning to the capital. You should take this opportunity to spend time with your family."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Boyuan said, "When we get to Wuzhou, we must thank Prefect Feng properly."
When Xu Rao returned home, he heard that Zheng Boyuan was in the Marquis's study, so he came directly from the stable. After carefully looking Zheng Boyuan over, he smiled and said, "Boyuan has grown taller and stronger in the past two years. Not bad, not bad."
After bowing, Zheng Boyuan said with a smile, "I've heard everything from Xiao Jiu. Father-in-law has been working very hard for my sister. I thank you, Father-in-law."
Xu Rao waved his hand and said, "We're family, so let's skip the formalities. It was your sister Yuanyuan who was so generous, spending so much money. We can't let the person who paid for it not receive any benefits."
Xu Rao went to the Imperial Study today and told Emperor Liang Cheng about this matter. Zheng Yuanyuan contributed 35,000 taels of silver for the Jiang family in Wuzhou, and Xu Zhi and Shen Mingwan added 5,000 taels, bringing the total to 40,000 taels. This amount is more than enough to make a set of warm winter clothes for each of the 20,000 soldiers in Wuzhou. However, Zheng Yuanyuan also wants to make a cotton quilt for each of them and is currently raising the money.
Xu Rao then began to tell Marquis Yongning and Zheng Boyuan about his visit to the Imperial Study that day.
Xu Rao went to the Imperial Study because Emperor Liang Cheng wanted to see the tax revenue from various regions over the past two years. In the past two years, the situation in different regions has been different. Some places have enjoyed good weather and abundant harvests, while others have suffered from continuous disasters and famines. As a result, the national tax revenue has not been collected very well.
Seeing the huge deficit, Emperor Liang Cheng sighed and said to Xu Rao, "Minister Xu, in your opinion, how should we manage things from now on?"
Xu Rao, who is now the de facto head of the Ministry of Revenue, replied when Emperor Liang Cheng asked, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should vigorously develop commerce. After all, the liquidity of money in the hands of merchants is greater. As long as money is circulating, the economy will naturally improve. Furthermore, we should allow the people to recuperate and rebuild. We should not increase land taxes. We should thoroughly investigate the tax situation in various regions and ensure that corrupt officials do not embezzle money from tax revenue."
Upon hearing the suggestion to vigorously develop commerce, Emperor Liang Cheng frowned and said, "Since ancient times, the social hierarchy has been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Merchants have always held a low social status. If we want to develop commerce, we will inevitably have to raise the social status of merchants. I am afraid that this will provoke objections from the court officials and cause turmoil in the court."
Xu Rao naturally knew this; it was something ingrained in his mind since childhood, and he wouldn't allow anyone to destroy it. If Xu Rao were to bring it up at the grand court assembly, he would probably be drowned in the spittle of those court officials on the spot.
Xu Rao said, "I knew that raising this in public would provoke opposition from the officials, so I am speaking to Your Majesty here."
Then, Xu Rao began to analyze for Emperor Liang Chengdi the relationship between productive forces and relations of production, as well as social development, and the role of productive forces in various stages of social development in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
Xu Rao had been teaching for decades and was a doctoral supervisor in socioeconomics. Explaining these things to Emperor Liang Cheng was a very simple matter for him. He could talk for a long time about the simpler things in his mind, the more taboo things, and the things that could be connected with real society.
This explanation opened a door for Emperor Liang Cheng, who then forgot all about the memorials on his desk and listened with great interest. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he didn't hesitate to ask questions. The emperor and his minister were so engrossed in their conversation that one was speaking with great enthusiasm and the other was listening with rapt attention. There were still people waiting to see the emperor outside the study, and Chen Wufu really couldn't bear to interrupt the two of them. However, the people outside were urging them on, and Chen Wufu realized that too much time had passed—more than an hour had gone by. If they didn't finish soon, the palace gates would be locked, so Chen Wufu finally came over to interrupt them.
Emperor Liang Cheng hadn't expected to listen for so long. He now felt that bringing Xu Rao back from Liaodong was indeed a good thing. At least, Xu Rao had worked at the grassroots level for more than ten years. Although some of his theoretical knowledge was quite advanced, it had been integrated with the social situation at the time, which allowed Xu Rao to explain it clearly and logically. Listening carefully, people could quickly resonate with him.
After Chen Wufu came in for the third time, Xu Rao checked the time and said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late, I must take my leave now."
Emperor Liang Cheng sighed, still somewhat unsatisfied, and said, "My only wish is for peace and prosperity throughout the land. However, the Great Liang Dynasty has only been established for a little over a hundred years. Not only has the country not been out of war for very long, but many of our people are still struggling to make ends meet. There are too many places where we need money, and too few ways to earn it. For example, Wuzhou has been asking for winter clothing for the past three years. I would like to trouble Minister Xu to find a way to handle this matter."
Just as the conversation turned to this point, Xu Rao quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My daughter's aunt, Madam Zheng, has heard of the troubles in Wuzhou and wants to contribute money to help resolve the situation. My daughter came to discuss this with me the other day, but I am somewhat undecided. After all, she is a young woman who is not yet engaged, and it would be difficult to decide if she could give up so much money all at once, as it would inevitably cause controversy."
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