The eleventh day of the first month of the third year of Song and Yuanfu

The snow has been falling heavily for half a month, and the weather is also extremely cold. The air seems to be frozen. In these cold days, noble people use all means to keep warm and avoid the cold, while ordinary families risk their lives to make a living.

Heavy snow, running around.

The Song Gengchen Provincial Examination has already entered its third day. The three consecutive days of the Rites Examination have already made all the candidates exhausted. The weather is unusually cold, and some weak and poor scholars cannot withstand the torture of the cold.

, withdrew from Gongyuan early, sadly lost the opportunity to enter the society, and sadly lost the opportunity to achieve great things and benefit the world at the same time, which makes people sigh with regret.

But despite this, most of them still grit their teeth and persevere, still struggling for their own future.

The same is true for Li Sanjian.

Li Sanjian's body was relatively strong. Although there were many charcoal basins placed in the Gongyuan, his face was green and black from the cold. He looked at the current policy in front of him with his hands that were almost frozen.

"The chapters are divided into upper and lower chapters: the first is accounting, the second is copper and iron money, the third is Huizi, the fourth is salt, the fifth is tea, the sixth is wine, the eighth is alum, the ninth is commercial tax, the tenth is market changes, and the tenth

The first one is about losing money, the twelfth is about field tax, and the thirteenth is about mutual trading of ships. Whether it is a loss or gain depends on the state; the state does not use etiquette as a benefit, so it is listed below..."

This current affairs policy enumerated the thirteen main tax items currently in the Song Dynasty, and ordered all the officials to demonstrate the pros and cons. What was surprising was that the market shipping tax was proposed for the first time, which surprised all the officials.

It was also caught off guard.

You must know that so far, the Song Dynasty has only established municipal shipping departments in Guangzhou, Mingzhou, Hangzhou, and Quanzhou. The Quanzhou shipping department was established not long ago. It is said that Emperor Zhao Xu of the Song Dynasty watched the first move.

After reading Zi's article, he issued an edict to establish the Quanzhou Shipping Department.

Therefore, the market shipping tax was insignificant among the tax items in the Song Dynasty, and its proportion was extremely small.

In the past provincial examinations of the Song Dynasty, the examination questions also related to tax matters, so this current affairs policy is not biased. All the scholars have been prepared for this, but how did the vast majority of them know that there are still merchants in this world?

The theory of tax? I have never heard of it before.

But Li Sanjian was different. Li Sanjian had written an article about Shibo Company a few years ago, so he was very familiar with it at this time. After thinking for a moment, he wrote and argued the topic.

"Everything in the world can be beneficial! The bustling world is all for benefit, the world is bustling, all is for benefit. Stories can benefit people and they are virtuous. Words that can benefit the world are articles..."

After Li Sanjian solved the problem, he demonstrated the pros and cons of each tax item, focused on the municipal shipping tax, and lightly pointed out the pros and cons of the municipal shipping tax in the collection process.

At present, the payment of shipping tax in the Song Dynasty is mainly in kind, that is, mainly in the form of extraction. Li Sanjian has already studied under Hu Wenhai in Guizhou and consulted many issues in this regard.

I have a more detailed understanding of ship tax.

The so-called extraction means that the goods are divided into thick and thin colors. After the government extracts a certain number of portions according to a certain proportion, the selected goods are sent to the capital to collect a physical form of shipping tax.

After Li Sanjian learned about it, he discovered that there were many drawbacks. There were three main ones. One was extrajudicial extraction; the second was forced buying and selling; and the third was the disadvantages of tempering steel. External extraction means extracting it clearly in the official document.

In addition, they also forcibly removed the merchants’ cargo privately. Many merchants dared to get angry and

Dare not say it, forceful buying and selling, as the name suggests, means forcing the merchants to buy their goods at a price far lower than the market price, or forcing the merchants to sell their own private goods to the merchants. The merchants are suffering terribly, and the disadvantages of steel vending are

It was the officials of the Shipping Department who exchanged the things that should be delivered to the court for other goods, etc. They did everything from trading, stealing, and credit, which is shocking.

Although Li Sanjian was aware of these shortcomings, he only wrote about them lightly without elaborating in detail. The reason is that Li Sanjian did not have an in-depth understanding. As the saying goes, you have no right to speak without actual investigation. Also, Li Sanjian was

He is just a candidate for the exam. For something like this that may involve the interests of various forces, even the palace, how dare Li Sanjian belittle himself?

Therefore, Li Sanjian only wrote a few words in a relatively obscure way. Li Sanjian mainly discussed the importance of the Municipal Shipping Department and the Municipal Shipping Tax, and predicted that if the coastal areas are continuously opened up and the ocean is valued, then the Municipal Shipping Tax will become an important issue for the imperial court.

Taxation, at the very least, will account for a large proportion of taxation.

After spending more than four hours, Li Sanjian finally finished answering the topic on current affairs policy. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and felt a little strange at the same time.

What is strange to Li Sanjian is that among the five current affairs policies in this provincial examination, three actually involve the ocean, especially the Lingnan coast, and none of them involve sensitive areas of government affairs, which makes Li Sanjian very confused.

It is not only Li Sanjian who feels this way, but also all the scholars.

The imperial court has always focused on the land rather than the sea. At this time, the wind direction suddenly changed, making all the plans unprepared.

........

Song Dynasty Palace Funing Hall

After waiting for a whole day, the prime minister, the executive ministers, the two government ministers, and the three provincial ministers finally got the emperor's order, but only four ministers in power, Zhang Dun, Cai Bian, Xu Jiang, and Zeng Bu, were ordered to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

After receiving the order, the four people hurried forward and entered the Funing Hall.

After entering the hall, the four of them saw that the doors and windows of Funing Hall were tightly sealed by screens, curtains and other materials. No light or chill could penetrate from the outside. Some candles were lit in the hall, and some braziers were burned.

Warm as spring.

Empress Dowager Xiang of the Song Dynasty sat on the side of the dragon bed in her queen mother's attire, hiding her face and sobbing from time to time. The current emperor of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Zhao Xu, wearing a white horned crown and a waistcoat, sat hugging the quilt.

Zhao Xu, who has been ill for a long time, is getting thinner and thinner. The clothes that usually fit him look unusually empty. The hands stretched out from the sleeves are also pale and weak, and the cyan blood vessels in his hands are clearly visible.

However, although Zhao Xu looked haggard and his face was dark, his expression was still calm and delicate, and he smiled and looked at Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu and other four important officials of the imperial court who came in.

"I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor!" The four of them knelt down after entering the palace. They knelt on the ground and shouted "long live" three times, their voices choked with sobs until they broke down in tears.

Zhao Xu waved his hands feebly, and under the service of medical officers, palace maids, and chamberlains, he swallowed twenty pills of Fuhuo Cinnabar Pill and Seven Returns of Gold Liquid Pill. Only then did his coughing and asthma subside a little, and his sweating stopped a little.

"Amnesty, what's going on with Luan Qi?" Zhao Xu asked after closing his eyes and concentrating for a long time.

Zhao Xu's voice was unusually hoarse, and as soon as he heard it, he knew that Zhao Xu must have spent all his strength to say it.

"I have ordered all ministries and departments to take care of this matter according to the decree. I believe it has been arranged by now." Zai said.

Xiang Zhangdun replied.

If the voice was too loud, he was afraid of startling Zhao Xu, and if it was too quiet, he was worried that he would not be able to hear clearly, so Zhang Dun answered with a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, but just right.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly when he heard this, coughed a few times and then asked: "How is the tribute ceremony going? How many days will it be over?"

When the four of them heard this, they immediately looked at each other with confusion.

Why did Your Majesty suddenly think of this matter? There are so many important matters in the court that require Zhao Xu's adjudication, such as the matter of establishing a crown prince... Why did he suddenly mention the tribute matter when so many important matters were not mentioned?

You must know that some ministers tried to dissuade Zhao Xu and wanted to postpone the provincial examination, but Zhao Xu insisted on holding it. Not only did he have to hold it, he also held it in advance, which made all the ministers doubtful.

"Report to the official family." After a moment, Zeng Bu answered first: "The four-day rites examination has been going on for three days and will end in one day."

"Oh, there is one more day, I have to wait one more day..." Zhao Xu murmured after hearing this.

"What does the official mean...?" Cai Bian asked in surprise.

"The Qing family will help me pay attention to whether there is a Lingnan candidate named Li Sanjian among the candidates. If so, I would like to see his answer sheet as soon as possible." Zhao Xu weakly ordered.

As soon as Zhao Xu said this, the four of them immediately looked at each other...

Who was Li Sanjian? Although he was an ant-like figure, one of his articles almost caused an uproar in the court. Zhang Dun, Cai Bian, Zeng Bu and others are still deeply impressed by him.

Zhao Xu suddenly mentioned Li Sanjian at this time, which was extremely confusing.

How could this person be so virtuous and capable as to attract Zhao Xu's attention? The ministers secretly thought in their hearts.

"The officials and ministers will go and conduct a thorough investigation immediately." Zeng Bu answered first.

"No need." After hearing this, Zhao Xu thought for a moment and said, "There's no need to disturb him. Let him finish the exam well."

"I obey the decree." Zeng Bu nodded.

"Officials, don't talk anymore, lest you let your nerves slip." At this moment, someone on the side said to the Queen Mother.

After hearing this, Zhao Xu opened his eyes and glanced at the Queen Mother, then closed his eyes again, his chest rose and fell slightly, and he stopped talking.

Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu and the other four had no choice but to retreat when they saw this, not daring to ask questions.

At this time, the goal of the Four Faces of Saints has not been achieved at all so far.

Zhao Xu is critically ill, and the most important thing is to establish a heir. If Zhao Xu really dies, whoever can get the will or get the result he wants will be in an extremely advantageous position. At least he can make the decision.

Can't run away anymore.

So far, Zhao Xu has not established a crown prince or issued any imperial edict about establishing a crown prince. He has not even mentioned it in this regard. He has not mentioned it in a few words, which makes the ministers feel depressed, but they dare not speak out.

ask.

By the way, Zhao Xu is only in his early twenties this year, and he is still in his youth. Who can guarantee that he will definitely die? If he survives, if he survives, wouldn't it be a serious matter to raise the issue of establishing a reserve at this time?

?

At the very least, the crime of cursing the emperor and slandering the Holy One cannot be escaped.

Therefore, Zhao Xu did not say anything, and no one dared to mention this matter, for fear of causing great disaster.
Chapter completed!