Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

Hearing Zhou Zhengquan's words, everyone fell silent again. These words were not said casually. If they were slightly bad, it would be a serious crime of confiscating the family and exterminating the clan.

"No one is allowed to speak out about what we are talking about here today. If anyone wants to take refuge in Jin Yiwei and betray the secret..."

Yu Wenhua didn't say the following words, but his meaning was already obvious.

The weather was getting warmer day by day. When the battalion commander was wandering around the small garden, he found that the apricot trees were in buds, which meant that spring had really come.

Seeing these budding branches, Ning Fan couldn't help but think of Xiao Lingxi, Xina and others far away in Jiangzhou.

Zhou Qun is an astonishing talent. If he is trained well in the future, he can at least take up the role of Cheng Wei.

Of course, this stage was the time to hire people, so Ning Fan decided to issue an imperial edict to summon Zhou Qun and others from Jiangzhou to Kyoto to fill the vacancies among these officials.

Zhang Wen is just the beginning of Ning Fan's attack on the ministers. The purpose is to test the reaction of these noble families. If these noble families can bear it, Ning Fan will take further action. Anyway, it is boiling frogs in warm water and cutting flesh with a dull knife.

Ning Fan has two principles. The first is not to provoke fierce resistance from these aristocratic families, and the second is not to allow these aristocratic families to stick together for warmth, but to recruit groups to defeat them and disintegrate them from within.

Thinking of this, Ning Fan called Li Chuan with his hands behind his back.

"Publish my oral edict to Wang Huayun, the Minister of Household Affairs."

After receiving the order, Li Chunan hurriedly took the two inner guards and hurriedly conveyed the order, while Ning Fan stood in the small garden for a while and then returned to the Nuan Pavilion.

Looking through Yueying's information about Wang Huayun, Ning Fan quite admired the Minister of Household Affairs. He came from a poor family and relied on the imperial examination to reach his current position step by step.

Of course, this does not mean that Wang Huayun is absolutely clean, but that Wang Huayun is relatively unacceptable to aristocratic families. Whether in aristocratic families or in the court, Wang Huayun is an object of contempt and has always been out of touch with others.

Moreover, this person was reused during the Tianan period and made many achievements.

"My lord, Wang Huayun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, is here to see Your Majesty."

Not long after, Wang Huayun hurried to Xiaonuan Pavilion, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Ning Fan and said hello.

Ning Fan sat there with a golden sword, and did not signal Wang Huayun to stand up, but asked Wang Huayun to kneel like this.

The monarch and his ministers looked at each other condescendingly.

Wang Huayun was in his forties, when he was in the prime of life.

His face is very white, his sparse beard reveals a bit of a scholar's demeanor, and his small eyes are shining with integrity. He dared to look at Ning Fan without stage fright, which showed that Wang Huayun was at least clear in his heart.

"Yesterday, I got a lot of silver from checking Zhang Wen's house. You can take some of it back and put it into the Account Department's account temporarily."

The big eyes of the monarch and the minister were so big against each other. After a while, Ning Fan signaled Wang Huayun to stand up.

Wang Hua Yunqing won the Shangzhao Sword and was very worried. He didn't know that he would get money when he came here, and he suddenly felt relieved.

He is in charge of the household department, and he has always done nothing but patchwork, all of which are bad things.

Today, I am already a little tired of it.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty is old and feeble, and is no longer suitable for this position. Please allow me to retire and return to my hometown to take care of myself."

Wang Huayun knelt on the ground again, begging Ning Fan to let him go.

Ning Fan had only heard that there were officials who refused to give up, but today he met a new one. Wang Huayun, who took the initiative to push power outwards, seemed to be a different kind.

"Do you know what kind of official is the most hateful?"

Ning Fan did not continue Wang Huayun's question, but asked Wang Huayun a question that made him very strange.

"Of course they are evil officials who plunder the people's wealth, force good girls into prostitution, and bully the market. Such corrupt officials make the people eager to eat his flesh and drink his blood!"

Wang Huayun was stunned for a moment and then said impassionedly.

Hearing what Wang Huayun said, Ning Fan couldn't help but laugh.

1 He shook his head and said, "The officials you are talking about must be the most hated officials in the hearts of the people. The people hate corrupt officials the most. It is precisely because of the insatiable greed of corrupt officials that the people's lives are miserable."

"What kind of officials do Your Majesty think are the most hateful? Aren't they those corrupt officials? If it weren't for those corrupt officials, how could there be only a hundred thousand taels of silver left in the accounts of the Ministry of Finance? How could we, a big country like ours, have only a few hundred thousand taels of silver left? Isn't it because of those corrupt officials that we are so poor?"

Wang Huayun disagreed with Ning Fan's words. He felt that he was right.

"Let's talk about right and wrong. Let me ask you a question first. Why can't we collect the tax burden of Dakang now? Why is the annual income of the imperial court not as good as that of a wealthy family?"

Ning Fan looked at Wang Huayun.

If Wang Huayun couldn't even answer this question, then there would be no need for Dakang's Minister of Household Affairs to stay.

Hearing Ning Fan ask this question, Wang Huayun laughed directly.

"His Majesty may not have done the necessary homework when he has just ascended the throne. Let the veteran minister give you an overview of Dakang's financial revenue and expenditure."

"Since the founding of our country, Dakang has formulated a policy that literati do not have to pay taxes, which means that officials do not have to pay taxes to the court."

"Besides that, the taxes and fees are mainly divided into two parts. The first part is the land tax, and the second part is the commercial tax."

"In addition to these two major sources of taxation, seigniorage was also collected in the early years of Dakang, and during the Taizu period there were even government-run farms, which would bring huge revenue to the court every year."

"What's the situation now?"

Ning Fan asked with a frown.

In fact, Ning Fan doesn't know much about the current tax situation of Dakang. In Ning Fan's opinion, the entire state machine of Dakang is now at a point where it cannot operate. Not to mention suffering, even the normal administrative Whether the order can be issued is still a question.

"Let's talk about the land tax first. This part of the tax mainly comes from the agricultural tax. The common people have fields in their hands. After they grow food, they will pay taxes to the country every year. But now the people have no money at all. The fields are in the hands of the wealthy families, so the agricultural tax It’s getting less and less every year.”

"Let me talk about commercial taxes again. Our Dakang's commercial taxes are not high, only 20% of merchants' profits. However, our Dakang's business has been neglected for years. Now there are very few merchants doing business everywhere."

Wang Huayun had a disappointed look on his face.

"Why is no one doing business anymore? Business is still very profitable."