Chapter 46 We women want to be officials! Officials with real power!
All of a sudden, all the officials stood up and loudly objected.
The opposition was so loud and clear that even the emperor joined in the criticism.
He also blamed Li Shimin for making such rash promises when he was the Prince of Yan, saying that he was a tyrant!
[Wow, wow, wow, just now some people were against and some were for the imperial examination, but now?
Haha, I didn't know that. I thought the people sitting there were Xia Jie and Shang Zhou.
See? When it comes to money and power, men are so united!
Li Shimin let them vent for a while, then pretended to be very worried and said:
"But I have spoken my words, and I cannot go back on my words. I cannot go back on my words.
Otherwise, let them both come to court, and tell them if you have any objections."
First, Li Shimin summoned Shen Yue. As soon as Shen Yue came up, she saw a bunch of men about to start a fight with her. She spoke first and said:
"Who disagrees with me being the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau?
You three, remember to write down your names for me.
Next time, his family won't use me or my students to treat him, and they won't perform surgery or give him antibiotics. Just use the traditional methods."
Suddenly, all the officials in the court became as quiet as chickens.
Although etiquette is important, who doesn’t have headaches and fevers?
Even if you don't want to live anymore, your family members won't care about you?
Suddenly, the officials' morale weakened. When Diwu Qi stood up, he was firm in his opposition, but his tone was weak and flattering:
"Ms. Shen is certainly an excellent doctor, and we admire her, but for a woman to serve as an official in the imperial court is not in accordance with etiquette.
Why not recruit 3,000 apprentices and disciples, teach the world about medicine, and naturally leave your name in history? Isn't that wonderful?"
Yuan Zai also quickly stood up and said:
“That’s right, Madam Shen is an excellent doctor. She devotes herself to studying medicine and curing illnesses and saving lives every day.
I'm really bored. In my spare time, it's better for girls to learn embroidery to kill time."
"So you want me to pass on my medical skills to someone else without reservation, and let a man inherit my legacy and become an official?"
Shen Yue laughed twice in mockery:
"You guys are a bunch of grown men who just want to take advantage of me, a woman! You take advantage of my medical skills and techniques for free, and then you can wear my crown and my belt.
I wonder who is so shameless, it turns out to be you gentlemen!"
Having said that, Shen Yue said to Li Shimin:
"Your Majesty, I have compiled a book of epidemic prevention methods. The contents of this book can greatly reduce the damage caused by epidemics to our Tang Dynasty and can completely eradicate smallpox!"
Li Shimin was overjoyed:
"Can smallpox be eradicated?
Tell us what to do!"
Shen Yue immediately glanced at everyone, smiled and spread her hands:
"I'm sorry, since you gentlemen won't let me enter the court and you still want to plagiarize my knowledge. So I won't say anything.
From now on, I will stop practicing medicine. You are right. I will stay at home and learn embroidery. It would be nice to stay at home and learn embroidery. "
Everyone:!!!
"My dear ministers, so you see this is..."
Li Shimin was trying so hard to hold back his laughter that he almost injured himself. He pinched his thigh, put on an embarrassment, and asked everyone whether he should appoint her as an official.
All officials immediately stopped protesting.
Fine, isn't it just a technical official? Let her take it.
Anyway, the Imperial Medical Bureau's authority is limited to medical skills and does not have much power.
Since Shen Yue had already made preparations, after listening to Li Shimin's proposal, she paid great attention to marketing her reputation and recruited many male and female medical apprentices. Moreover, because she often helped patients from aristocratic families, she also had a certain network of contacts.
Therefore, now these connections all started to speak well of Shen Yue, and finally agreed.
"Okay, in that case, then officially appoint Chen Yue as the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau. After that, the Ministry of Rites will also have to change her court dress and official uniform.
After all, men and women dress differently. If it's too inconvenient to wear, it will also hinder your work in the future."
Unexpectedly, Boss Erfeng had thought of all this. Shen Yue was originally planning to propose it, so she happily accepted the position and waited for the court to end.
Although the Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau usually does not attend court, since she is here anyway, she must wait for another sister to take the position in the Ministry of Revenue!
If help is needed, she can also lend a hand.
Shen Yue was right. After all, she had been working hard for a long time before finally securing this technical position.
However, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue is a powerful position second only to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of economic land and taxation, and its nature is completely different.
Therefore, there was a lot of opposition to Wen Yuping this time.
"Your Majesty, Madam Shen is fine, but who is this Wen Yuping? We have never heard of her."
"This Wen Yuping is the female owner of Mixue Bingcheng, who opened stores all over the Tang Dynasty within a year!"
It turned out to be her! The boss of Mixue Ice City was actually a woman?
The expressions of the civil and military officials were all very interesting. After all, who hasn’t had a cup of Mixue Bingcheng?
And most importantly, who hasn’t spent a lot of money on Mixue Bingcheng?
They just like to eat, drink and talk about things in Mixue Ice City, but it is different for their wives, concubines, daughters, mothers and grandmothers at home. They all spend money to buy custom-made perfumes, jewelry, glassware, etc.
They also say it's a limited edition. If I don't buy it this time, it will be gone next time. What's the point of wearing a trendy style? If I don't wear it, I'll look tacky and like a country bumpkin...
After earning honey snowflakes in the court, I want to take them home as soon as I leave!
Having said that, when Wen Yuping was summoned to the palace, all the officials looked at her with eyes filled with dissatisfaction and hatred.
Profiteer! The biggest female profiteer in the history of the world!
If they let her serve as an official in the court today, they would kowtow to death here!
It would have been fine if Li Shimin didn’t mention Mixue Bingcheng, but as soon as he mentioned Mixue Bingcheng, everyone was about to explode!
Even Yan Zhenqing acted as if he was going to make the whole Tang Dynasty officialdom bleed if your Majesty dares to appoint her as an official!
"Your Majesty, although Madam Wen is very good at business, her business acumen is only average.
She has never taken the imperial examination and is a woman from a humble family. How could she enter the Tang Dynasty officialdom?"
Diwu Qi, who had just been demoted from the Ministry of Revenue, was very dissatisfied!
He has been an official in the court for many years and finally became the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Why is Wen Yuping one level lower than him right from the start?
"My dear ministers, I know what you are thinking, but the treasury is empty now, and Madam Wen has made great contributions."
The treasury of the Tang Dynasty was so poor that even a rat would despise it. When Li Shimin came to power, he was stunned.
[This is really putting us, Erfeng, in a difficult position now. After suppressing the An-Shi Rebellion, we need money to fight with such a huge army, right?
Weapons require money, soldiers also need money, and the country's economy has collapsed due to the inflation caused by Li Heng!
The national treasury is running out of money to pay salaries, and some officials are taking out loans to work!
When Li Yu ascended to power, he even had to sell off the palace's treasures to cut back on food expenses. The once prosperous Tang Dynasty during the Tianbao era was now completely destitute!
Having said that, Li Shimin gritted his teeth and wanted to drag Li Longji out and give him a good beating.
The family fortune that was built up by several generations of hard work and dedication in the Tang Dynasty, was squandered by you in just a few years?
First, before solving the economic problem, he had to solve the national treasury and tomorrow's living expenses. So Li Shimin sighed and said:
"Everyone knows that the national treasury is so empty that it was Madam Wen who donated all of Mixue Ice City's profits, amounting to one million taels of silver, to the Tang Dynasty!"
Wow, this Mixue Ice City has only been open for a year and has already made a net profit of one million taels of silver?
That's all their hard-earned money!
Upon hearing this, everyone from Guo Ziyi to Li Guangbi, Li Siye and others were all shocked and glared at Wen Yuping!
What a profiteer! This woman is such a profiteer!
"Your Majesty, although a million taels can solve a temporary problem, it is like the First Emperor building a high platform for the widow Qing. How can you set such a precedent for officials in the past thousands of years?"
"That's true. A million taels is a lot, but it's definitely not enough to make me an official."
Wen Yuping then spoke:
“I proposed the nationalization of Mixue Ice City. I am merely an agent and operator. Your Majesty is the owner.
From now on, all the property and profits of Mixue Ice City will belong to Your Majesty and the Tang Dynasty!
I’ve only been running Mixue Ice City for a year and have only made one million taels. Next year, I plan to increase profits tenfold, the year after that tenfold again, and the year after that tenfold again…”
Good boy, you earn a million silver this year, tens of millions next year, and the year after next you have to set a small goal of earning 100 million!
All the officials were stunned. They felt sorry for the money they spent, but were also surprised by the girl's ability to make money and her wealth.
If that's the case, with so much money all going to the country, then giving her an official position does seem like... they're not losing out, right?
[Hahaha, no one can resist bowing to money. If they don’t bow, it’s only because——
Not enough money! 】
My rich sister is so awesome! She spent a million taels, and everyone is dissatisfied?
Then give me 10 million. If that’s not enough, then give me another 100 million, and another 100 million! And another 100 million, and another 100 million…]
Under the overwhelming financial onslaught, no one could withstand it. Everyone fell silent, and then Prime Minister Liu Yan stood up:
"Well, if that's the case, Madam Wen does deserve a reward. But the Ministry of Revenue is a key position that manages the country's taxes and finances.
How about Your Majesty conferring upon the daughter the title of County Lady, or perhaps a Lady of Imperial Consortship, or even a Duke?"
"Master Liu, what you said sounds nice. Does that mean I can only spend a lot of money to get a nice-sounding title for fun?
You mean I won't get any real power at all, right?"
No, why are you being so blunt? How rude does that sound?
"Madam Wen, not to mention that you are a woman and have never been involved in the management of these matters.
And what if you get pregnant and give birth? Do you think I have to put my Ministry of Revenue's financial affairs on hold for months, or even a year or two?"
"That's right, Your Majesty. If these two women marry in the future, what will happen to their official positions?
"Would their husbands' families agree to their wives being seen in public every day? And then the official positions would be taken back? Wouldn't that be ridiculous?"
[I’m so annoyed. I’m a female college student who is about to graduate. I’m so angry when I hear about the arrangements for marriage and childbirth!
Every time a woman is applying for a job, they ask whether she is married, has children, and how many children she has!
[Haha, men really know how to manipulate women!
Many boys’ grades from elementary school to university are not as good as girls’, and their resumes are not as good as girls’. They just play games for fun every day, but they find it much easier to find a job than girls!
Just because they are men, they don’t need to have children!
This is the advantage of being shameless in the workplace! 】
[Especially now that we have our third child, finding a job is harder than climbing a mountain for Chinese women!]
From ancient times to the present, men have used family and children to control women in the workplace, but Wen Yuping is not afraid of this.
After all, she is the female president of the Asia region who has risen through the ranks of male leaders and has faced this kind of problem countless times.
So she quickly replied:
"Master Liu, what you are talking about is not a problem at all, because our family will be extinct with me!
I will not have children, I will not marry, I will be a self-employed woman, without a husband, children, or clan!
Are you relieved now?"
At this time, Shen Yue also stood up and added:
"Yes, when we women serve as officials, we don't marry, we don't have children, we don't have offspring, and we cut off our bloodline!
We women put all our energy into the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty's cause. Can you men do the same?"
Everyone:!!!
The pupils of the civil and military officials were so shocked that their mouths could fit eggs.
No, isn't it just to be an official? As for the direct extinction of the family line, why not nine generations of the clan?
Do you want to play so big?
These two girls are werewolves, they can’t keep up!
"So, Master Liu, I don't want children, and I don't want nine generations of my family. But you men are bringing your families, including wives, concubines, and children, to ask His Majesty for property and salaries?
Isn’t this unfair and shameless?
If you are loyal to His Majesty, you should be like me, leaving behind a wife, children, and clan to save money for His Majesty and the Tang Dynasty. That is what it means to devote oneself to the cause until death!"
Liu Yan and everyone:!!!
【Ahahahahahaha! Sister, you are so bold. If you can speak, please speak more!】
[Of course, this is actually a problem with the system!
But since the system doesn't guarantee us women a sense of security in having children, then of course we can only choose between having children and making money!
All the men are almost subdued by these two ruthless women.
Liu Yan stammered and talked a lot before he finally got himself out of the strange logic of the nine clans and infidelity, and then said:
"No, let's not talk about that child for now.
Your Majesty appoints people based on their talents. My lady, while you know how to make money, you may not necessarily understand how to manage the wealth of the world."
"Okay, let's have a competition!
Who understands and who doesn't? Let's debate it today in the court in front of His Majesty!"
Wen Yuping spoke so confidently that Liu Yan certainly didn't want to fall behind.
He had originally been the Minister of Revenue. When Your Majesty came to power, he had already come up with several ways to help the country raise money:
"Your Majesty, please be considerate of the people's opinions. Although the salt tax law is good, it should be reformed.
I suggest that the government collect the money and the merchants sell it to avoid corruption and personal gain.
Because of the two traitors An Lushan and Lu Shi Lu, a large number of people fled, and it was difficult to collect taxes based on the number of people. It would be better to change the tax from population tax to tax based on assets and land.
At the same time, the canal transportation was dredged, the currency was simplified, the land was remeasured, and the population was censused…”
[What is this blah blah about? I don’t understand!]
[Summary: During the An-Shi Rebellion, the salt tax was very high, and the fact that all salt was state-run made it easy for corruption, so he proposed that the government should monopolize salt, but have merchants sell it.
It can prevent corruption and lower the price of salt.
The second one is even more powerful. This is the prototype of the Two-Tax System in the late Tang Dynasty, which formally changed the head tax to a tax based on the amount of assets and land.
The more assets you have, the more tax you will be charged; the less assets you have, the less tax you will be charged! Isn’t this our modern progressive tax rate system?
[Amazing! These ancient people really shouldn't be underestimated!]
Liu Yan had been preparing these rules and regulations for a long time, accumulating them over the years. Today, he finally had the opportunity to demonstrate them before His Majesty, and the more he spoke, the more excited and proud he became.
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Wen Yuping beside him, raised his head and said arrogantly:
"Do you think a woman like you can understand and implement these contents?"
"That's right, Your Majesty. What does a girl know about the world's financial power? She has long hair but little knowledge. You should just go home and manage your husband's family's property!"
Diwu Qi was originally the Minister of Revenue, but was squeezed out by Liu Yan.
Originally, the two of them were very incompatible and were holding a grudge against each other, but in the end they united to make things difficult for a girl.
[Seeing these two people teaming up to make things difficult for our rich sister, you will know how much hostility a man can have towards a strange woman?
It's like having a woman in power is a death sentence for their entire clan, haha!]
Wen Yuping was very confident and did not argue with them. She stepped forward and said:
"Although Sir Liu's method has its merits, it is ninety-nine percent full of loopholes!
Land surveying sounds good, but most of the high-quality land is in the hands of wealthy families. How can you measure it clearly if they don’t cooperate?
As for the Two Tax Law, although the idea is good, in practice, how can you manage the assets of the rich?
If they bribe local officials to conceal the truth and pay taxes according to the poverty of each household, then the total local tax payment will not be enough and local officials will certainly let the people bear the rest.
If it is not implemented properly, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer!"
Li Shimin originally thought that Liu Yan's two-tax system proposal was not bad, but after hearing this, he suddenly felt a headache.
"So what do you think?"
"Your Majesty is concerned about the livelihood of the people, so my first priority is to abolish the salt tax, return salt prices to the market, and make salt affordable for the people!"
This was indeed in line with Li Shimin's wishes. He never used salt tax even during the difficult times of the early Tang Dynasty.
"You sound nice, but what about the Tang Dynasty treasury?"
"Simple, based on the national credit of the Tang Dynasty, we will issue government bonds to the wealthy!"
Wen Yuping quickly explained the concept of national debt.
Of course, in ancient times with the existence of usury, the repayment of national debt principal and interest seemed stable, but the benefits were not attractive, so she added:
"If we want to ensure the stable operation of the national debt, we must curb usury. We can stipulate that loan interest rates across the country shall not exceed 8%!"
[Hahaha, when our descendants bring out the management experience accumulated over thousands of years, I'll ask you who else has it!]
After Wen Yuping finished her explanation, all the civil and military officials were very surprised. Li Shimin also nodded frequently, thinking it made a lot of sense.
“Since we are talking about the national debt, and prices in the Tang Dynasty are rising, Your Majesty should re-coin the currency and at the same time take back the coinage rights of the world and make them state-owned.
The Tang Dynasty should establish a mint to research how to produce counterfeit-proof, full-value copper currency. Furthermore, monthly statistics on the basic prices of food, housing, and medical care should be compiled and reported to the court, forming a price stabilization project for the people's food basket.
The concept of modern CPI was suddenly introduced into the ancient Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin slapped his thigh when he heard it, and felt that Wen Yuping's proposal was exactly what he wanted!
"Listening to your words today is more valuable than reading for ten years!
Although this policy sounds good, upon closer inspection, there are still many details that need to be clarified. Please come back and show me the specific regulations."
"Your Majesty, there is no need to look back, I am ready.
This is my economic summary report for the year at Datang, as well as detailed policy proposals for the future. I've printed 100 copies, one for everyone. Feel free to offer any suggestions you have."
Li Shimin:!!!
You modern people, your efficiency is too high, isn't it?
Although his Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were also very useful in the past, they were not printed out into books on the spot and given a copy to each person.
It also includes a report of tens of thousands of words on current problems and details of the policy solutions!
Li Shimin praised it while reading it, and sighed a few times:
"If all my ministers could be as efficient as you, I would be truly content!"
Everyone else: …???
It doesn't matter that you come from a poor family, but why are you, a girl, so arrogant?
Don’t let all their officials live!
Comparison is the thief of joy. The internal competition among modern workers has made all officials of the Tang Dynasty feel a sense of crisis.
However, this is just the beginning of an internal circulation. Wen Yuping roughly talked about her important ideas one by one:
"If so many reforms were implemented nationwide at once, it would be difficult to implement and would cause a lot of confusion.
It would be better to first establish pilot reform zones, implement them in one area, then summarize the lessons learned, and then make improvements before rolling them out nationwide."
Li Shimin nodded his head as he listened, and this time he didn't need anyone to say anything against it. He made the decision directly:
"Okay, I'll keep the position of Langzhong in the Ministry of Revenue for you. I'll now appoint you as the Imperial Commissioner. Choose a place and go ahead with your economic reforms. I'll wait and see the results!"
Wen Yuping was also very happy and immediately accepted the order.
All the officials were silent. They looked at each other, and no one said anything.
Even Diwu Qi and Liu Yan, two ministers who had made great contributions to the economy, were silent and speechless.
No, where did this girl come from and how could she come up with so many novel things?
No wonder they can make so much money with just Mixue Bingcheng!
Everyone is angry with those who engage in involution, but they can't fight back.
Thinking about having to pay her for the honey snow flower in the future, I get even angrier!
"But what's that Olympiad math problem at the end of your report?"
Li Shimin took a look at it. It was a question about how many legs a chicken and a rabbit have when they are locked in a cage, and a question about a pool with water flowing out and flowing in at the same time.
Wen Yuping immediately revealed an evil smile that is unique to modern people:
"Oh, this is for the end to entertain everyone.
These questions are the ones I often needed to answer when I was a child of six or seven years old, so I’m sharing them with you adults.
After all, some people say that I, a woman with long hair, have little knowledge. So, you all have a lot of knowledge, so can you answer the questions we asked when we were six years old?"
This question of how many chickens and how many feet they have is really dizzying. And as for that pool, can't you drain the water first and then fill it up?
Why do you need to drain water and fill it at the same time? Are you bored?
Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other generals were stunned. They thought that this person who put chickens and rabbits in the same cage and asked questions was too vicious!
This is not only torturing the chickens and rabbits, it is also torturing their brains today!
Liu Yanzhu was considered a very good student, but she had never seen such a strange question before. She was stunned for a moment, her mind full of chickens and rabbits. She thought about actually studying the chickens and rabbits in the cage later.
Li Shimin was also a little amused and helpless, and quickly put aside the chicken and rabbit problem in his mind, otherwise he would not be able to do anything that day.
【Hahahahaha finally, the elementary school math Olympiad that tortured me finally didn't let these Tang Dynasty people off!】
So what are you modern people learning?
It's really weird!
Li Shimin sighed inexplicably, and felt a little respect in his heart, and then said:
"It's getting late, let's call it a day."
Li Shimin was about to leave the court when workers number one, two, and three raised their hands and shouted:
"Your Majesty, wait a minute. We have already summarized today's court meeting and the minutes!
Your Majesty and all the gentlemen, please give each of you a copy before leaving the court!"
"You've copied over a hundred copies so quickly?"
Li Shimin and all the officials were very surprised.
Li Shimin took it and saw that there were actually two copies!
One copy contained everything he said to all the officials, word for word, and even included descriptions of their expressions and actions;
The other one is the minutes of the court meeting, which is divided into major points such as one, two and three. Each point is summarized reasonably and objectively, which is convenient for future summary and clear at a glance.
"I didn't expect you guys to be so efficient! You wrote every word without missing a word. You could write tens of thousands of words right on the spot and give everyone a copy.
Gentlemen, do you have any thoughts after watching it?
Watch more, learn more! How can they achieve so much so quickly and so well even though they are both receiving salaries from the imperial court?
Civil and military officials: !!!
No, where did you get these weirdos from? You just want to use your own excellence to highlight our lack of ambition, right?
How can you be an official like this!
Official thief!
However, not only that, when Li Shimin was about to leave, the three modern workers immediately knelt on the ground and shouted:
"Long live His Majesty!"
Everyone:!!!
We can’t live like this anymore, you three, get out of here!
This scene is very enjoyable for modern people to watch. After Li Shimin returned to the palace, he quickly took his wife's hand and told her about the interesting things that happened during the court session that day.
“These modern people seem to be really useful when they’re not fighting!
This is so efficient that one salary can do the work of three people!"
Li Shimin was very satisfied with having such a good worker.
Soon, he remembered the daily records that he had never seen before, and he immediately felt itchy and asked Worker No. 4 to come over and show him the daily records:
"I see you writing behind me every day. Your writing must be more detailed than their court meeting minutes!"
Worker No. 4 toiled around Er Feng every day, recording and typing on his tablet. Of course, he nodded immediately:
"Don't worry, boss. Modern workers like us are absolutely reliable and serious in our work!
I will absolutely not distort the facts, nor will I, like Sima Guang, write personal stories about sucking breasts. I will always seek truth from facts and be completely objective!
Li Shimin was very satisfied and immediately took the Erfeng Diary written for him by a modern person.
After opening it, he took a breath and was completely stunned!
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