The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1071: The Attitude of the Aristocratic Families (Part )

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed, your servant!"

Ma Zhou had a complicated expression and an uneasy tone, as if he wanted to refuse but was reluctant to do so. He seemed to stutter and was unable to muster the strength to organize words to refuse.

It was the discussion of politics in the imperial study today that really opened his eyes. In the past, the court would be very careful with money, even if it was tens or hundreds of thousands of strings of cash. But today, it was easy to discuss the scale of hundreds of millions, even hundreds of millions.

After some discussion, people felt that one hundred thousand was not that much.

Compared with the total value of the entire East Factory, it is only one thousandth, which makes Ma Zhou feel that this little money is nothing.

Li Yan knew at a glance that Ma Zhou was not the upright and loyal person like Wei Zheng. He waved his hand with a smile and said, "Since they all have it, if you are the only one without it, it would seem that you are not sociable. Everyone knows your situation. I don't think you will think too much about it."

Li Yan looked over and saw several people nodding with a smile, but they were actually cursing in their hearts. Since there was going to be a reward, everyone should have a share, and they couldn't just save it because they were rich. It was really a bargain for Ma Zhou, who got 100,000 taels of silver for nothing.

Everyone looked at Ma Zhou with complicated eyes, and Liu Bo and Zhangsun Wuji both had hints of jealousy in their eyes.

Li Yan smiled slightly. The sage said: It is not the lack of rewards that is worrying, but the inequality. Ma Zhou got such a large reward for no reason, and everyone must be feeling unfair. If Ma Zhou accepted it, it would inevitably cause a bad relationship with everyone.

If he didn't accept the job, Ma Zhou's health wasn't very good, so he would only be able to survive for another year or two.

This was granted by the emperor himself, in the name of rewarding his loyalty to the country. It would be a pity to miss such a reasonable and legal opportunity to leave a legacy for future generations just for the sake of a one or two year relationship with his colleagues.

Because he is strong without desires, Ma Zhou accepted the reward and decided to work wholeheartedly for Li Yan in the next one or two years.

This was Li Yan's plan. With only 100,000 strings of cash, he could distinguish Ma Zhou from the crowd and bring him under his command. In this way, he would have two votes in the core, one for Cen Wenben and one for Ma Zhou.

With Xiao Yu remaining neutral, it would be difficult for Changsun Wuji to dominate the country.

Ma Zhou was weighing the pros and cons in his mind, his face changing rapidly, his fists tucked into his sleeves clenched and unclenched, loosened and clenched again, and finally he thought of his frail body, his old wife who had suffered a lifetime with him and lived on coarse cloth and a vegetarian diet, and his several children who were still in school.

I have lived a poor life and have not saved much wealth. If I refuse this time, what will happen to my wife and children when I pass away?
Finally, Ma Zhou fell to his knees with tears in his eyes, and said in a sonorous voice: "I, Ma Zhou, thank the emperor for his reward. I will devote the rest of my life to repay your majesty and the emperor for their kindness."

Li Yan slowly stood up, walked to the desk, and helped up the famous Tang official who seemed to have upheld his lifelong creed and felt ashamed to have been trampled upon by him.

Caressing his hand, he said earnestly, "My dear, I know that you have been an upright official for more than ten years, and you have never accepted gifts or gifts from others. Even though you are a third-rank official, you have nothing at home and have to eat coarse grains all day long."

"My wife, children and old family can't afford a new piece of clothing all year round."

"The Emperor has also told me that loyal and honest ministers like you should not have such a hard life, and the court should give you more rewards. And this time, I will pay for the share myself, and will not use a single cent from the court."

"This is the reward from the Emperor and I, on behalf of the people of the Tang Dynasty, for your hard work and dedication over the past decade. I am not trying to bribe you. I am the emperor, the master of all people, and I am rich. Everything under this world belongs to me."

"I don't need to bribe anyone specifically, but I want you to always remember to put the people first and the country first."

"Take the world as your responsibility, perform your duties faithfully, and benefit the people."

Li Yan's impassioned speech and awe-inspiring righteousness gave Ma Zhou the best redemption, making the old minister, who was about to reach the end of his life, shine again in his cloudy eyes. He said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I understand. I will stick to the ideals in my heart and stick to them."

"Do everything with all your heart and repay the expectations of the emperor and the people."

Li Yan nodded in satisfaction, patted Ma Zhou's hand again, then returned to the imperial desk to continue discussing matters.

The five important ministers had different thoughts. At this time, after most of the day's discussion, they had completely understood what Li Yan wanted to do.

It must be admitted that the new emperor did learn a lot from the West. From their perspective, the emperor's move was in the interests of the country, increased the power of the court, and finally took into account his own private interests.

It also left some space for other ministers, which can be said to have taken care of all aspects. For many years, the court has not had such a good policy that achieves multiple goals at once!

Zhangsun Wuji and Xiao Yu both stroked their beards and pondered for a long time. They felt that this move would benefit the country and might be worth a try. Even among the nobles, there was a high possibility that it would be approved.

After all, compared to Yang Guang's military annihilation, Li Shimin's land reform and enfeoffment of princes, the new emperor planned to build the Finance Temple in a unique way. If this move was to deal with the aristocracy, the method was also particularly gentle, which did not arouse hostility.

Although all the big families had to contribute money, the money was not donated, but exchanged for the soon-to-be-issued Tang Dynasty treasure notes.

It does not affect the normal use of these nobles in the market, and the nobles will not object too much. For the emperor, borrowing money from the nobles to develop his own industry can also be used for emergency response at critical times. For the nobles, lending money to the emperor and taking it back can also be regarded as supporting the emperor.

Now that the emperor has money and food, he doesn't have to worry when he really has to face the Turks.

Several important officials were puzzled. It seemed that no one suffered any loss, but the court had inexplicably gained a huge amount of money. How did the emperor perform this trick? Where did the money come from? Many people still don't know.
However, as long as the court can benefit and he himself does not suffer any loss, everyone will be happy.

Everyone began to discuss the specific details and how to establish this department as soon as possible and make it effective.

Of course, such a large project, a brand new department and system, involves many aspects. The specific operation must be complicated and requires careful planning. It is impossible to fully operate without three to five months.

Li Yan's intention was to present this plan first and let the officials of the Tang Dynasty accept it. Anyway, there was no secret about this kind of thing. It was an upright and righteous way, and only the court could do it.

From now on, we can make some preparations in advance. For example, we can determine the type of treasure notes, draw the top talents of the era from the banks of major aristocratic families, and design a complete set of treasure notes that are not easily counterfeited.

In addition, the issuance of Baochao also requires the establishment of a new currency law to ensure the smooth implementation of Baochao.

Li Yan only proposed a general idea for the establishment of various institutions in the Temple of Finance. It still depends on the people of this era to create a more reasonable institution based on the current official system to serve as the carrier to support this system.

The establishment of functions of each department, the training of relevant talents, the connection between several departments, various legal regulations, etc.

It is definitely not that simple to set it up the next day.

During the meeting that day, all the ministers had been repeatedly discussing the pros and cons of the matter, trying to understand the various tricks involved.

The ceremony lasted until the palace gates were closed at night, and then several important ministers left slowly.

In the eastern suburbs of Mei County, a group of people were saying goodbye at the gate of the ancestral home of the Jingzhao Wei family in Meicheng.

With the end of Li Shimin and the ascension of Li Yan, the Meicheng public house has become an important branch of the Wei clan with the marriage of Wei Ting's granddaughter and the crown prince Li Xiang. Wei Dezheng has also become a powerful figure in the Wei clan elders' council.

Watching Changsun Wuji leave in a carriage and rush to the county town where Du Shi was located in the south of the city, Wei Dezheng, who was seeing him off, withdrew his gaze and, with the support of his grandson Wei Mingshan, slowly walked towards the inner house.

Back to the back garden, in a pavilion where Wade Zheng often stayed.

Wei Mingshan poured Wei Dezheng some more tea and couldn't help asking, "Uncle, are you really going to support the new emperor in issuing Tang Dynasty treasure notes and send him five million taels of silver?"

"What do you mean by sending money, kid?"

Wei Dezheng looked at his nephew peacefully: "Just change the silver into treasure notes, we can use it normally, just like silver notes. The court just played the role of a bank and did not take advantage of us for nothing."

"But?"

Wei Mingshan said with an indignant look on his face: "The court's establishment of a bank will definitely have an impact on our bank. Relatively speaking, the court's reputation and influence must be greater. Our bank business will also be affected in the future."

"Moreover, I feel that this new emperor also has ill intentions. Is this move aimed at the nobles?"

"Haha, there are indeed some, but not many."

Wei Dezheng frowned and thought for a while, then slowly said: "Changsun Wuji's words have been very clear, but you didn't listen carefully, and you only had the idea of ​​the aristocratic imperial power in your heart, so you didn't understand the emperor's original intention."

"In fact, the emperor's considerations are not unreasonable."

"The Tang Dynasty is no longer what it used to be. It is no longer what it was during the Wude or early Zhenguan periods. After Li Shimin's expansion, the territory of the Tang Dynasty is now more than double what it was then, including a corner of the northeast, a large island in the south, and the distant western regions."

"Especially the vast Snow Region and Western Region. The imperial court was completely unable to govern them, so they were divided up and given to the princes."

"But the vassal states are far away from the imperial court. How can we ensure Chang'an's control and management over them? This is a big problem."

Wei Mingshan immediately said: "Uncle, if those places are given to us and the court cannot control them, isn't that better? At that time, we will have greater autonomy."

(End of this chapter)