I clearly wanted to be a tyrant, but how did I become the greatest emperor of all time?

All the ministers in the court were scholars who studied Neo-Confucianism.

Ministers in the court and the public also regulated themselves according to the requirements of Neo-Confucianism. If their personal morals were flawed, they would be attacked by the entire court and the public.

Regardless of whether they are pretending or not, these four ministers are moral role models.

I am so unlucky!

In the previous dynasty, if one met a minister like this, he would be treated as a treasure.

Why is it that when it comes to me, there are always such loyal ministers appearing in the court?

But what about the other two?

Li Tian immediately said to Xiao Weizi: "Where is the Minister of Works? And the Minister of Revenue? Do they have any problems?"

Little Weizi immediately lowered his head and said:

"Your Majesty, people in the court and the public are saying that the Minister of Finance Qian Duoming is a money-grubbing person and a stingy person."

Li Tian asked, "Stingy?"

Little Weizi replied: "There was a joke before, saying that an official from the Ministry of Works went to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money, and Mr. Qian personally asked, what does the Ministry of Works need the money for?"

"The official from the Ministry of Works said that a government office in the imperial court had a broken beam and needed to be rebuilt."

"Master Qian pointed to the roof of the Ministry of Revenue and told the Ministry of Works to remove the main beams of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Hahaha!"

Li Tian burst into laughter.

Little Weizi added: "This money is also very stingy at home."

"Master Qian's son loves to eat eggs, but the servants spend a lot of money every time buying eggs."

"Master Qian did not allow his servants to go out to buy eggs, and asked his son to raise chickens in the yard."

"Every time she lays a few eggs, you can eat a few. If she doesn't lay, you can't eat it."

Li Tian burst into laughter again.

Little Weizi said: "So people in the market joke that Mr. Qian is a miser, a money-eating beast that only allows money to come in but not to go out."

Pretty!

Of course Li Tian was very satisfied with such a minister!

"Where is the Minister of Industry?"

Little Weizi said: "If Lord Qian is stingy, then Lord Qi Shunyi, the Minister of Works, is lazy."

Li Tian asked doubtfully: "Lazy?"

Little Weizi said: "This Lord Qi is also from a wealthy family. It is said that he has had more than a dozen servants serving him since he was a child."

"Lord Qi's residence is also the largest among the six ministers."

"I heard that Master Qi still doesn't know how to dress himself until now, and he has to be helped by servants every day."

"The Ministry of Industry is busy, but Mr. Qi leaves work on time every day and never works overtime."

"When I ask Lord Qi, he will complain that the Ministry of Personnel does not give enough positions and makes everyone work overtime."

"He also said that there are too many things to do in the court and that we need to expand our manpower."

"It's also because he keeps shouting about expanding the number of officials. Mr. Qian from the Ministry of Revenue is a sworn enemy of Mr. Qi."

Li Tian asked in confusion: "Why?"

Xiao Weizi immediately said: "If the number of officials is expanded, a large amount of salary money will be increased."

"Then the money will naturally have to be paid by the Ministry of Revenue."

"Of course the Minister of Revenue is not happy."

"I heard that these two not only have conflicts in the court, but also have big fights in the cabinet every few days."

"After returning home, the two of them often quarreled, and everyone knew that their relationship was not good."

"Lord Tang was helpless and had to mediate every fight."

Li Tian’s eyes lit up!

These two people are great!

The miser in the Ministry of Revenue, and the lazy guy in the Ministry of Works.

It’s better than those workaholics and moral role models!

Li Tian immediately said:

"deliver an imperial order!"

"Minister of Finance Qian Duoming and Minister of Works Qi Shunyi have entered the cabinet and assumed the posts of Deputy Ministers!"

"While Prime Minister Tang Xiaoren is in charge of Western Xinjiang, all cabinet affairs are handled by Qian Duoming!"

Xiao Weizi looked at Li Tian in disbelief.

After all I said, Your Majesty actually chose the two people with the worst reputations to join the cabinet?

Was all that I said before in vain?

wrong!

It is definitely not Your Majesty’s fault!

It must be my fault!

Your Majesty must have something in mind!

Xiao Weizi immediately said, "As you command, Your Majesty!"

Just before Tang Xiaoren and Jia Renyi left the capital, the eunuch who announced the imperial edict in the inner court took the white hemp imperial edict and went to the homes of the Minister of Revenue Qian Duoming and the Minister of Works Qi Shunyi to announce their appointment as prime ministers.

The government and the people of Kyoto were shocked.

Qian Duoming, the miserly Minister of Revenue, became the temporary Prime Minister to assist His Majesty in handling all matters.

Qi Shunyi, the Minister of Works who had always been lazy, became Qian Duoming's assistant.

When did these two gain the favor of Your Majesty?

The other four ministers were also shocked. These two guys actually entered the cabinet?

However, the appointment of the cabinet has always been the exclusive right of Your Majesty.

The cabinet is composed of inner court officials and His Majesty's confidants, so no matter how the people do not understand, these two people still take office.

The first day of the new cabinet chief and deputy chief ministers taking office.

It seemed like it was a very unpleasant thing.

The cabinet of the Great Zhou was located inside the palace gate and occupied a large area, but the office conditions of the cabinet were very poor.

Because it is in the imperial palace, it is considered the emperor's property, and the outer court has always opposed the royal family using money from the national treasury to build royal palaces.

However, emperors of all dynasties did not want to use their own small treasury to build the cabinet house.

That’s why the cabinet house has always been in such a dilapidated state.

Qi Shunyi, the former Minister of Works, was a very particular person. He found it intolerable that the roof of the cabinet was leaking.

"Master Qian, this cabinet is really broken!"

"We should write to His Majesty and rebuild the cabinet."

Of course, a miser like Qian Duoming wouldn't take it seriously.

The two had an unhappy first day at work in the cabinet.

According to cabinet officials, the new cabinet chief and deputy chief ministers did not communicate for a whole day.

This tense relationship made the atmosphere in the entire court tense.

Li Tian was very pleased when he heard Xiao Weizi's report about the cabinet.

You guys are right to compete!

If the new cabinet is still as harmonious as before, why would I need to make any adjustments?

The cabinet was now in turmoil, and the entire court was also shaken.

After that, the first and second chancellors of the new cabinet stopped talking.

The first thing Qian Duoming, the chief minister of the cabinet, did after taking office was to advise the court to increase taxes!

This time, of course, there were constant voices of opposition from both the government and the public!

Li Tian looked at Qian Duoming's memorial with admiration!

Raising taxes is good! Great!

Why didn’t I think of this trick before!

Raising taxes is a very good idea!

However, Qian Duoming's tax increase was not levied on ordinary people.

The Zhou Dynasty, like previous dynasties, was relatively tolerant in levying commercial taxes.

Da Zhou also adopts a self-declaration policy.

To put it simply, in addition to the fixed stall fees in the market, there is also a carriage tax on passing vehicles.

There is also Jia Renyi’s latest invention, the city tax levied based on turnover.

All commercial taxes in the Great Zhou Dynasty were declared by merchants based on their own profits and then paid by themselves.

Why let merchants declare on their own?

The reason is very simple, that is, the Zhou Dynasty court did not have the spare energy to calculate how much money the merchants actually earned.

There were no computers in that era, let alone bank-like settlement systems.

I guess even the shop assistants don’t know how much a person earns.