From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 359

At night, Zhou Yuan sat in the hall of the government office and drank a glass of wine.

Although the Central Plains had won such a great victory, he had not drunk a drop of wine for several months, not to mention the celebration banquet. Now that he had arrived in Kaifeng Prefecture and faced the complex reform situation, he finally couldn't help but have a drink to relax his tense nerves.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Li Yu'an frowned and said, "Why do you have to reform? You are a soldier and have made great military achievements. After returning to Shenjing, the second-class earl directly became the first-class marquis. You are the only young military marquis in Dajin, with great power. Why do you care about the affairs of those civil officials?"

Zhou Yuan said lightly, "Sister Saint Mother has made great contributions to the creation of nature, and has profound Taoism. She has long transcended the mundane world. She will have no problem with wealth and glory in her life. Why do you always want to return to Goryeo?"

Li Yu'an was stunned and said randomly: "I want revenge, I want to save the people of Goryeo."

Zhou Yuan said generously: "You want to save the people of Goryeo, why don't I want to save the people of Dajin? Lin'an Prefecture set a great ambition late at night, how can it give up halfway because of wealth and glory?"

"Reform is difficult, much more difficult than fighting, but the benefits are greater than fighting."

"This Dajin world is deeply corrupted and sick to the bone. If there is no reform, there will be no way out."

Li Yu'an looked at Zhou Yuan, with doubts in her eyes, but she did not refute.

She was silent for a long time before shaking her head and saying: "I still don't understand those. I have learned something about military affairs, but I know nothing about government affairs."

Zhou Yuan stood up and said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because I don't know, so I don't know what to do, and I don't know where to solve the problem."

"Dong Yu, Dong Yu!"

He couldn't help shouting.

Dong Yu hurried in and saluted, saying, "General."

Zhou Yuan said, "Ask the kitchen staff to prepare a table of food and wine, and call Deng Su and others to the banquet hall. Tell them that we are having a meal, and I will speak at the same time."

"Yes."

Dong Yu left in a hurry.

Zhou Yuan looked at Li Yu'an and smiled, "You should come with me. You should listen to what I say tonight, and you will gain something."

Li Yu'an was not used to the tone of a superior like him, but she curled her lips and said, "Anyway, I have to protect you, and I must stay with you all the time."

Soon, the banquet hall was full of people, including more than a dozen officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, including Deng Su and Dong Zhongliang, most of whom were key members who assisted Deng Su in implementing the new law.

Zhou Yuan raised his wine glass, looked at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "The situation in the Central Plains has become clear. The extraordinary achievements of my five military camps will spread all over the world. I, Zhou Yuan, am not a conservative person, nor am I stingy with money. I still have to hold a celebration banquet."

"So tonight, not only we are here, but the entire five military camps are drinking strong liquor and eating meat. Please relax and have a good meal."

"It is normal for the implementation of the new law to encounter difficulties. There is no need to be obsessed with the failure in front of you. You should have a longer-term vision."

"Therefore, for the previous achievements and the future achievements, I toast to everyone. Everyone has worked hard."

Zhou Yuan drank it all in one gulp, leaving no drop of wine.

"Thank you, Grand Commander!"

Many officials were originally nervous and uneasy. After all, Zhou Yuan's achievements were too terrible and his prestige was too high. At this moment, they relaxed a lot after hearing these words.

Zhou Yuan did not talk about business, but talked about romantic and interesting things while drinking and eating meat.

"Jiangnan has its own advantages, and Shenjing has its own advantages. Take brothels for example. Shenjing looks at status and money, but Jiangnan doesn't care about your status or money. What it looks at is literary talent."

"If you have talent and can write a few good poems, the women in the brothels will be eager to spend the night with you and will never accept money."

"In Shenjing, even if you are a prince of the dynasty, you have to pay enough money, otherwise nothing will be discussed."

Dong Zhongliang laughed and said, "It's the same in Kaifeng. Those girls don't recognize literary talent, but only money and reputation."

"Of course, the great literary talent of the Grand Commander is naturally what the girls want. Even a rough man like me has heard of the Grand Commander's poems."

Zhou Yuan squinted and smiled, "Don't talk nonsense. Who knows if you are a rough man or a delicate man? You talk a lot, but you may be just a dried cowpea when you take off your pants."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

Deng Su was drinking, and when he heard this, he immediately spit out the wine, and his face turned red.

The main reason was that it was too contrasting. Everyone thought Zhou Yuan was a very dignified and serious person, but he made such a vulgar joke, which confused everyone.

Then Dong Zhongliang was not convinced, and he was drunk and insisted on taking off his pants for everyone to see. No one could stop him.

In the end, Li Yu'an gritted her teeth and said, "Do you think I don't exist? That's enough!"

Although everyone deliberately ignored her,Her face was so charming that Dong Zhongliang blushed and was too embarrassed to make trouble.

Zhou Yuan said: "General Dong seems a little unconvinced, but it doesn't matter. There is another round of drinking. Let's go to the brothel to continue drinking, without Miss Li."

Dong Zhongliang's eyes lit up and he said happily: "Marshal Jie, you are serious!"

Zhou Yuan said: "Of course, but you have to treat me."

Dong Zhongliang immediately waved his hand and said: "Absolutely not, I don't have much money on me, I'm afraid I can't afford it."

Zhou Yuan looked at everyone and said slowly: "General Dong is at least the defense of Kaifeng City. He is a fourth-rank military general and has 4,000 soldiers, but he can't even afford to treat a brothel. It shows how difficult the world is."

"General Dong, you are from a poor peasant family. How was your family before you joined the army? "

Dong Zhongliang scratched his head and smiled: "The general said that I was a poor peasant. Of course I was poor before I joined the army. I didn't see meat all year round."

"How much silver can the family earn in a whole year?"

Dong Zhongliang glared and said: "Earn silver? Where can I earn silver? At most, I can save money and sell some grain to get 70 or 80 coins to exchange for some salt."

Zhou Yuan said indifferently: "Lord Deng, you are the governor, how much silver does a family like General Dong pay in taxes every year?"

Deng Su was the son of the second assistant, how could he know this, so he whispered: "I'm afraid it will cost hundreds of taels of silver?"

He believed that hundreds of taels of silver were not much, but it should be a lot for the people.

Zhou Yuan laughed, sighed, and said, "You really don't understand the poor people!"

Deng Su glared and said, "A few hundred taels of silver, isn't it a lot for them?"

Dong Zhongliang smiled bitterly and said, "Sir Deng, it's not a lot, but you can't earn that much in your lifetime! If it's a few hundred taels of silver a year, then the poor people in the world will have to hang themselves."

Zhou Yuan said in a deep voice, "Let me tell you, if it's a poor peasant family with eight acres of land and five people."

"Then how much food can they get from farming in a year? In the case of good weather and good harvests, most of the About ten stone of grain."

"If the weather is not good, there will be only seven or eight stone of grain, which can be exchanged for four or five taels of silver under normal circumstances."

"It means that such a family can only earn four to fifteen taels every year even if they work hard."

Deng Su opened his mouth and finally murmured: "Only... only this little silver?"

Dong Zhongliang said: "It is so much in name, but it is not so easy to have good weather and good harvests. You can only earn four or five hundred coins per mu of land."

"If it is a family of five, eight mu of land can often only produce about four taels of silver, which is barely enough to eat."

Deng Su was sweating profusely and couldn't speak.

Zhou Yuan continued to ask: "Master Deng, guess how much tax you have to pay for this four taels of silver?"

Deng Su did not dare to answer randomly, but just asked: "How much?"

Zhou Yuan said: "According to the tax law of the Great Jin Dynasty, it should be 106 wen."

Deng Su breathed a sigh of relief and said: "That, that's not bad."

"It's 106 wen per person!"

Zhou Yuan said coldly: "Five people, that's more than 500 wen. Our dynasty has a two-tax system. The summer tax and autumn tax add up to more than 1,000 wen, which is a full tael of silver!"

"After working hard for a year, 25% has to be paid in taxes, not to mention some other exorbitant taxes and corvée, not to mention natural disasters and man-made disasters."

"And the key is that more than 80% of the people don't have eight acres of land."

"Besides, how can a family have only five people? An old husband and mother, a wife and husband, and two or three children, there should be seven or eight people."

"How much money do you have to pay in taxes?"

Deng Su felt that he could no longer breathe.

Many officials were silent, lowering their heads and not daring to speak.

Zhou Yuan said: "All the family fields are taxed, and the people are taxed to death. This is the true portrayal of the people of Dajin now!"

"I can't live! What should I do? I can only pick up the hoe and sickle and rebel!"

"In this case, what will happen to the court of Dajin?"

"When will this world be peaceful?"

"Can't we reform the law!"

He stood up, looked at the people present, and said coldly: "The common people will die from taxes, and what about the nobles? There are thousands of acres of good land, but there is a lack of men and labor, and the land is not taxed!"

"Therefore, can we not reform the law!"

At the dinner, more than a dozen officials, big and small, lowered their heads, their faces covered with sweat, and dared not speak.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "Because of the Ding tax, the people dare not have children, dare not reproduce, and even cannot survive. In this case, where is the country? Where is the country?"

"What do you think you are doing? Just implementing a policy? You are saving lives! Saving the lives of the people of the world! Saving the lives of the Jin court! Saving the lives of the descendants of Yan and Huang!"

"What you are doing is the greatest cause in the world, better than what I did, ZhouWhat Zhou Yuan did is much brighter!"

"My merit is killing people, killing my own compatriots, what is that? I am just a butcher."

"Your merit is saving people, benefiting generations to come, and making a great fortune that will go down in history!"

"But you! You are so depressed because of a little difficulty! Like a bereaved parent!"

Zhou Yuan smashed the wine glass on the ground and shouted: "Your little difficulty is nothing compared to the people! Compared to leaving a name in history, it is nothing!"

"Are you afraid of the powerful? Afraid of the Yun family? Aren't you afraid of the glorious history books and the people of generations to come, who will regard you as cowards!"

"But you don't know that once this is done, the people will live and work in peace and contentment, and there will be no huge pressure to raise their offspring. The population of Dajin will soar, and hundreds of millions of future generations will treat you like parents? "

Deng Su was in tears when he heard this. He raised his head and said loudly: "Master Zhou, we were ignorant, but now we have come to our senses after hearing your words. We are really ashamed."

"From now on, we will obey your orders and go through fire and water to reform the world and the future of the people!"

The officials present could not help but shout: "Go through fire and water, and go through fire and water!"