In the Tongquetai Hall, Cao Pi was wearing a marquis crown and looked like he had been waiting for a while.

Step by step ~

The sound of footsteps came, Cao Pi turned his head and saw Cao Cao in black mysterious suit appearing in front of him at the door.

The King of Wei, Cao Pi, quickly bowed his head and bowed to Cao Cao.

"My son pays homage to the father!"

Originally, Cao Pi's face was still the same, but behind Cao Cao, Cao Chong's figure appeared slowly.

When Cao Chong saw Cao Pi's mouth twitched unconsciously, but his face turned as usual.

"I don't want the prince to come too."

Cao Cao walked in gently and slowly walked in the main position, while Cao Chong stood beside Cao Pi.

"How can my second brother have the time to come to Tongquetai to pay homage to his father today?"

Cao Pi smiled and turned to look at Cao Chong, and asked with a smile: "I am just a marquis. In addition, the marquis's house has nothing to do, so I may have more and more free time. On the contrary, the prince should be in a daily life. If you have time to see your father, it shows that the prince is filial to his father. When he sees this, he will feel relieved for his brother."

Uh ~

Cao Chong was stunned for a moment. Cao Pi and Cao Zihuan were so angry that today, the style of painting was wrong.

Cao Chong was surprised, but he did not show it on his face.

"Although my second brother is not as free as my palace, being able to come to see his father is also a sign of filial piety."

Cao Pi just smiled softly at this.

"Forget it. Although you two flatter each other, why did you hear the meaning of disagreement for your father?"

"Father, where do you start?" Cao Chong hurried up to speak.

Cao Pi also nodded on the side.

"The father, the son minister and the prince are not in harmony."

Cao Cao curled his lips, too lazy to continue talking.

"Give a seat."

Cao Cao waved his hand, and in an instant, an eunuch gave Cao Chong and Cao Pi a seat.

Cao Chong's seat is on the left side of Cao Cao, and Cao Pi's seat is on the right side of Cao Cao.

In this era, the left is respected, and the seating arrangement is a symbol of status.

Cao Pi didn't say anything about this, but just knelt down gently.

"Speaking of this, it's been a long time since we were together."

Cao Pi nodded.

“It’s been a long time since I saw you.”

After Cao Pi said this, the palace maids brought wine and food to the three of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Chong and the other two.

"The prince has been busy with the affairs of the Wei Kingdom these days. I heard that Zihuan's Chang'an Marquis's affairs are getting less and less. I wonder what Zihuan is busy with these days?"

Cao Pi held the wine jar's hand and said with a smile: "Is it fun to travel around the mountains and rivers?"

"Is it true?"

"It's true!"

Cao Cao nodded slightly and did not continue asking, feeling like he was about to stop.

"Crown Prince, in these days, can he do other things besides state affairs?"

Other things?

Cao Chong was stunned, shook his head, and said, "My son is busy with state affairs, so how can he have other things to do?"

Cao Cao nodded softly and asked again: "I have read your decrees, which are quite interesting. I wonder if I can tell you about it?"

Cao Chong was stunned for a moment, not knowing Cao Cao's intention for a moment, but of course Cao Chong couldn't say that he couldn't do it anymore, so he had to nod slightly.

"I don't know what my father wants to listen to?"

"What I want to ask is why the prince lifted the curfew and broke the boundaries of the market?"

It turns out that's the problem!

Cao Chong had thought about Cao Cao's question before, so he naturally had a set of rhetoric to convince Boss Cao. Therefore, although Cao Chong was asked at this moment, he did not show surprise, but instead looked confident.

Cao Chong saluted Cao Cao slightly and said, "My father should be worried that after the curfew, there will be more thefts at night, and Yecheng will be difficult to manage, but?"

Cao Cao nodded, this was what he was worried about.

"The prince has a solution?"

The trouble of curfews and the disadvantages of curfews. In ancient times, people were not fools, so how could they not know?

But even so, the rulers of all ages still wanted a curfew, so there is naturally a reason. The so-called existence is reasonable. Since the curfew exists in this era, it makes sense.

From Zhou to Tang Dynasty, ancient Chinese cities generally adopted the "lifang system".

Each yard is separated from the outside world by a 2.5-3m thick wall. The yard gate is beating the bell and drums at sunrise and sunset. After the yard gate is closed, it is strictly forbidden to walk on the street, which is a curfew.

But the ancients did not have nightlife. Although curfews restricted people from activities outside the yard, the yard was not restricted. Some yards even roared day and night, and the lights were endless.

This inconvenient system was adopted because some early cities had their main political functions, or to serve rulers and nobles, and the city planning must be based on the needs of the rulers.

The Lifang system facilitates the rulers to manage their subjects and ensure their own safety, and the square layout is also in line with the etiquette system.

The Lifang system was gradually established from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. Later, with the development of the economy, the economic functions of cities were greatly enhanced. The Lifang system was slowly broken. In the Song Dynasty, it was generally replaced by open street markets, and the curfew was relaxed.

It is actually not difficult to understand the inconvenience of night ban.

We just think of ancient rulers as school managers and treat the city as a school. Why do schools turn off lights at night? The reason is to let you rest early and facilitate management, and the same is true for cities.

In ancient times, the night was dark and the wind was high, which was a good time to kill and set fire.

The thieves' activities are perfect when it's dark. Not far away, the thieves climbed over the wall into the yard, raped the thief alleys, and robbed the city at night.

Moreover, the market and the curfew are only part of it, and even a yard needs to be built between the markets.

The so-called building of a fence means that except for the main street, every road that can communicate with other roads is equipped with fences.

At night, the gatekeeper is responsible for locking the gate, and even requires the door to be closed and the door is not allowed to appear.

If you encounter labor or have an emergency illness, you must go to Baojia to get the door number before you can release it, and the rest will not be released.

Once a thief breaks the gate, the person who controls the gate beats the gong, because it is at night, when the gong and drum beat, something will definitely happen.

"The gong sounds this gong, and the other gong responds. If the gong is in line with the junction, then the gongs will be ringed everywhere, and every family will prepare. Will there be any thieves who are not brave enough to escape?"

It can be seen that in ancient times, in order to prevent people from doing bad things at night, I thought of everything.

The effect of banning theft at night is very obvious, but the side effects of hindering the economy are far higher than the benefits it brings.

This is also the reason why Cao Chong abolished the curfew system in the market.

It is good to have thieves at night, but you can set up more yamen runners to increase the punishment for thieves.

If you steal things at night, you can behead your head, see who dares to steal it?

Thinking of this, Cao Chong immediately organized the language and said it.

"Although curfew and market system can make thieves unable to hide to a certain extent, they hinder the economic development! Do you know if your father knows the meaning of the four words "exploiting income and reducing expenditure?"

These four words are concise and easy to understand, so Cao Cao naturally nodded.

"Opening the source means opening up the source of fiscal revenue, reducing expenditure means reducing unnecessary expenditures as much as possible, or spending less money and doing more. Xunzi said in the "Fuguo" chapter, "Therefore, fields and counties are the foundation of wealth; the granaries are the end of wealth; the people are harmonious and the careers are the source of money; the treasury is the flow of goods. Therefore, a wise ruler must maintain harmony, maintain its flow, open its source and consider it at the time."

Hearing Cao Cao's words, Cao Chong nodded and said, "According to the words of his father, the curfew system only has the principle of reducing expenditure and no opening up of sources."

"How do you say this?"

"Although the curfew system reduces the criminals and commits crimes, it reduces the transactions between the people and reduces the commercial taxes..."

Cao Chong had a lot of talk before he could understand what he meant.

"Your words make some sense. Before, the imperial court collected capita tax and local tax was the main one. But if the economy you said was developed, commercial tax should not be underestimated."

Fortunately, people in this era were not ruled by the stubborn ideas of later generations, and Cao Cao was also good at changing, not the kind of pedantic people. Otherwise, even if Cao Chong had a hard time talking, it would have no use in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Cao Chong's long speech made Cao Pi's eyes brighter on one side.

He never thought of this, even though Cao Pi didn't want to admit it, it was the case.

Cao Chong does have the ability to govern the country, and perhaps it is better than himself.

Is this what the father wants him to know?

To give up?

Cao Pi looked at Cao Cao, then lowered his head.
Chapter completed!