The Duke of Huai invaded the territory of Chenzhou and allowed his men to kill people. Now he has been found out by Wei Min and is to be arrested. However, at this time, public opinion in the court unanimously believes that this matter is difficult to handle.
The implication of his words is that a Duke has a title after all, so how can he be arrested like a commoner?
It didn't matter if the Duke of Huai died alone, but there were many officials in the court who had the same title as her. They only realized the seriousness of the matter at this time and couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
The emperor was still more inclined towards the aristocracy, but the invasion of land involved many people, so he was inevitably hesitant. Finally, he pointed out Wei Min, "What do you think, Wei Qing?"
Before Wei Min stepped out to speak, a man holding a court board stepped out from among the civil officials before her, stood in the center of the hall, and said with a folded hand, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
Jiang Kunjun looked up and saw that the person in the line was Jin Lao, who rarely attended the court to participate in politics. He couldn't help but become interested and asked, "What do you want to say, my dear? You can't wait to get ahead of Wei Qing? If you can't say anything good or bad, don't blame Wei Qing for taking advantage of your seniority to bully the newcomer."
Old Jin smiled and said, "This old minister is indeed older than Lord Wei."
"What I want to say is nothing else but one sentence, 'The emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people,'" Jin Lao turned around and asked the ministers, "How does the Duke of Huai compare to the emperor? If not, then why can't she be arrested?"
When the ministers were asked this question, they looked at each other and were speechless.
The tone of these words coming from the respected Mr. Jin is completely different from that coming from Wei Min, a fourth-rank official at the Dali Temple who is in his early twenties.
When the former said this, the ministers did not dare to refute it. At most, they would say behind his back that Mr. Jin was stubborn and did not know how to adapt, but there was nothing they could do about it. But if it was Wei Min, the ministers would say that she was young and arrogant, and would definitely find opportunities to find fault with her and report her in the future.
This is also the reason why Mr. Jin asked this question before Wei Min spoke.
Jiang Kunjun placed his palms on his knees, and swept his majestic eyes over the ministers, finally stopping at Wei Min, and asked her, "Wei Qing, what do you think about this matter?"
Wei Min stepped out holding the court board, stood behind Jin Lao, and said, "I think the Duke of Huai has committed plunder and murder, has no regard for the people, and has no heart for Your Majesty. This is an unforgivable crime."
Jiang Kunjun frowned slightly, his face thoughtful, neither saying yes nor no.
Wei Min went on to say, “But this is the fault of the Duke of Huai alone, and his family should not be implicated.
I believe that the Duke of Huai should be arrested to give an explanation to the people of Chenzhou and to deter those who encroach on the land and evade taxes.
However, after the execution of Duke Huai, her title can be inherited by her eldest daughter, so as not to discourage some old ministers. This incident will make them remember Your Majesty's grace and be loyal to Your Majesty. ”
The gentry has deep roots and is difficult to uproot. I can only give him a slap and then feed him a sweet date.
Although this method did not achieve what the gentry wanted, it was already the best result.
Jiang Kunjun's brows relaxed, and a slight smile finally appeared on his face. "Wei Qing, this is a good idea. I'll do as you say."
Jiang Kunjun clapped his hands on his knees, looked at Jin Lao at the bottom of the stairs, and asked her, "My dear, do you have anything else to say when you come to court today?"
Jiang Kunjun did not ask this for no reason, but rather hinted that there were some words and ideas that were not suitable for her to say or do as an emperor, so she expressed them through the mouth of a minister.
Especially for today's matter, it would be more effective if it was said by Mr. Jin, who is highly respected but has no real power, than by others.
After receiving the hint, Jin Lao stood up again and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, did you see that? This old minister does have something to say."
Jiang Kunjun liked her being so understanding. He raised his hand and pointed at her, smiling, "I don't know you yet? Tell me."
Jin Lao then said: "What this old minister is talking about is still related to the Duke of Huai.
Duke Huai of Chenzhou invaded the land and massacred the people who resisted... She is definitely not the first person to do such a thing, nor will she be the last. There must be many people like her who occupy the people's land.
They invaded the land, owned large amounts of land but paid very little tax, and the insufficient taxes caused the treasury to be empty. The people will lose their land and be displaced, and in serious cases there will be civil unrest, causing social unrest. ”
Elder Jin bowed, half-raised the court board in his hand, and said, "So I think that this matter cannot be dealt with by Duke Huai alone, but should be taken seriously."
As soon as Mr. Jin said this, the court was in an uproar, with objections coming one after another, and people believed that this matter was making a fuss out of nothing.
Although Jiang Kunjun was not a wise ruler, he was not vague about major issues. At least on one thing, he did not want his treasury to be penniless. She, the emperor, was not as rich as the Duke of Huai.
It is tolerable if local officials are rich, but if some powerful court officials are rich, who knows what they will think?
After listening to the court officials quarreling for a while, Jiang Kunjun slapped the dragon chair and said angrily: "Noisy, no ...
The ministers shut up reluctantly, and the hall finally became quiet.
Jiang Kunjun looked impatient and said, "I think what Master Jin said makes sense. If the border war is tight in the future and there are disasters of varying sizes in various places, and the treasury is empty, who among you is willing to pay out of your own pocket to replenish my treasury?"
Liu Wen, the Minister of Revenue under the Left Prime Minister, stepped out and said, "Even if we are willing to contribute money to the country, even if we spend all our savings, it will only be a drop in the bucket. How can it compare to the taxes paid by the people?
Your Majesty can completely reformulate the tax system, increase the number of tax collection officials, and strictly control the tax items. The people are living a good life now, and for the sake of the court, they are willing to pay one cent more in taxes on top of the original taxes. ”
Old Jin held the court board with his hands folded on his lower abdomen. He couldn't help but sneer when he heard it, and glanced at Liu Wen, "Lord Liu, you sound so easy. You just increase taxes. How do you know that the people are living a better life? Or is it that Lord Liu can only see the people eating meat, but not the frozen bones on the roadside?"
Liu Wen's face turned red after being told this, and he naturally started to make excuses again.
A group of civil officials, none of them was inferior to the other in eloquence, and their words were full of thorns. You stabbed me and I fought back, and neither of them was willing to back down and compromise.
Mr. Jin has been in the Hanlin Academy for many years. His teeth are better than those of ordinary people, and his eloquence is also more fluent than that of ordinary people. You respect my seniority and speak in a reserved manner, but I don't have to worry that you are young and can't stand the stimulation, so just go ahead and quarrel.
Jiang Kunjun saw that they were yelling again, and he felt his head buzzing. He couldn't help but yelled angrily: "Shut up!"
She glanced at the ministers with an irritated look and said, "Mr. Wei, you are the one who handled the case of Duke Huai's land invasion. You are familiar with this matter. Submit to me a solution on how to deal with the land invasion tax in a few days. That's it, I am dismissing the court."
Wei Min bowed and nodded, then said, "Yes."
After the emperor left, the ministers in the court looked at Wei Min differently.
When the left prime minister left the court, he walked to Wei Min's side and said to her with a chuckle, "Sir Wei is really young and promising. You must work hard and don't let the emperor down."
The Left Prime Minister's party was the most vehement in opposing Jin Lao's proposal today.
Wei Min smiled, "I will remember the teachings of the Left Prime Minister."
Just when Zuo Xiang wanted to say something else, Old Jin came up from behind and deliberately squeezed between the two of them.
The left prime minister's face turned sour, but he quickly suppressed his expression and held back his outburst.
Wei Min took the opportunity to bow to the left prime minister and say goodbye.
After returning to the Wei Mansion, Wei Min did not go to the study, but walked towards the main house, went into the inner room, found A Ruan who was sitting on the couch making shoes for Wei Qi, and sat down next to him.
When they were still in Zhucheng, Wei Lian asked Wei Min to name their daughter Liuliu. Wei Min thought about it all night, and when he got up in the morning he picked up a pen and wrote the word "Qi", and named her Wei Qi.
Little Wei Qi is three years old this year. A Ruan doesn't have any children either, so when she has nothing to do, she uses the good cloth left over from making clothes for Wei Min to make shoe uppers for her and sew a pair of shoes.
When A'ruan heard the noise, she looked up and saw Wei Min coming back, and couldn't help but smile at her.
Wei Min sat beside A'ruan without saying a word, put his arms around his waist, and leaned his head on his shoulder.
Ah Ruan felt that Wei Min was a little abnormal today, so she put down the needle and thread in her hands, turned her head to look at her inquiringly, raised her hand to touch her forehead worriedly, and then turned it to touch her own forehead for comparison.
Wei Min rested his head on A Ruan's shoulder, closed his eyes lightly and let him move. She was not sick, but she felt that she had broadened her horizons after seeing the debate among the ministers in the court today. At the same time, she was quite excited, not because she was in charge of taxation, but because of Mr. Jin.
Only when you reach a position like that of Mr. Jin can you achieve the state that even though I have no real power, when I scold you, you cannot scold me back directly when you are unhappy. Even if she is the daughter of the Left Prime Minister, you have to give her some face when you meet her.
If she became the prime minister and handed over the real power after a few decades, would she be able to do the same as Mr. Jin?
A'ruan likes peace and tranquility. When Wei Min gets old, he doesn't plan to stay in the whirlpool of the capital to try to stir up the political situation. He only hopes to take him back home in the future to live out his retirement and have a good end.
Wei Min raised his hand and clenched his fingers, looked at his empty palm, and lowered his eyes as if thinking about something.
Ah Ruan frowned, holding Wei Min's hand with a worried look, pursed his lips, sat sideways, and moved her eyes to his fingers, and asked:
--What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere, or did something happen upwards?
Ah Ruan thought of the last time he was exiled, pursed his lips and said:
——No matter what, I will stay with my wife.
After saying that, he moved closer, climbed onto Wei Min's shoulders, tilted his head back and gently kissed her between the eyebrows. After the kiss, he slid down gently and leaned into her arms, holding her waist.
Wei Min was startled for a moment, then smiled and hugged A'ruan in his arms, bent down and kissed his hair, and said: "A'ruan, don't worry, I'm fine. Your wife is not being demoted this time, but will be promoted. By then, I will earn you a first-class husband, how about it?"
Ah Ruan smiled. He was relieved when he heard his wife say that everything was fine. As for the first-class husband she mentioned, he didn't care much about it.
Wei Min played with A Ruan's soft and boneless fingers and said, "In two or three years at most, my wife will give you a bigger yard and set aside a piece of land to build a lotus pond for you to grow lotus roots and fatten carp. We can raise as many as you want."
After the tax issue was over, she would no longer be a small fourth-rank official at the Dali Temple, and her Ah Ruan would no longer have to live in this two-story courtyard. Even if she wanted to grow lotus roots, she would have to consider that the pond was too big and took up too much space.
Actually, Ah Ruan just mentioned it out of boredom, saying that lotus seed porridge in summer was delicious, and Wei Min remembered it, thinking that he wanted to grow lotus roots.
Seeing that his wife had nothing else to think about after her promotion, A'ruan thought about changing the yard to grow a lotus pond for himself. Sweetness overflowed from the bottom of his heart, and a smile filled his eyes. He leaned in her arms, scratched her palm with his little finger, and looked up at her with bright eyes.
A'ruan's hands were no longer the rough, dry and calloused ones they were three years ago. Instead, they were white, tender and delicate after being raised by Wei Min. There was no sign that he had ever done hard labor. Instead, they looked like the hands of a young master who had never been involved in domestic activities.
Not to mention the hands, even the skin on the body is white, tender and shiny, not as pale and dry as before.
These were all carefully cultivated by his wife over the past few years, and she naturally couldn't let go of the results.
A'ruan was lying on the couch with her back tickled by Wei Min, her body twisted and tears in her eyes, but she refused to admit defeat.
It was not until Wei Min raised her hand as if to lift up his shirt that Ah Ruan finally stood up and begged for mercy, but she raised her hand and pushed him down again...
…
Afterwards, A'ruan lay in Wei Min's arms, entwining her hair with his own with his fingers. Looking at the two hairs tangled together and unable to be distinguished from each other, his heart was filled with joy.
He has been married to his wife for more than four years. Their lives are getting better and better, and he loves the woman in front of him more and more.
The author has something to say: Wei Min: Oh, this is an unexpected confession (raised eyebrows and smirked)
A Ruan: (/▽╲)
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