Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 392: The Thief of the Nation

"Asshole, absolutely bastard!"

An Taixuan stepped into the imperial study with an angry look on his face.

Seeing this, the eunuchs nearby all lowered their heads and dared not breathe.

An Taixuan paced in the hall with a gloomy and ugly expression.

"When I used the treasury's money to improve people's livelihoods, they didn't object. But when I wanted to increase commercial taxes to fill the treasury, they all jumped out!"

An Taixuan angrily said, "They say this is inappropriate and that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Do you think I don't know what they are thinking?"

Among all the officials, princes and nobles in the court, which family is not doing business?

Increasing business taxes would mean bleeding them, so naturally some people would stand up and strongly oppose it.

An Taixuan said, "They say this is not allowed, that is not allowed. Ultimately, they are biased towards their own family power. If they really want to serve the country and the people and give their full support, and the local aristocratic families take the lead, what negative impact can this small commercial tax bring? Who would dare to make trouble from below?"

"Everyone is so reluctant to shed their blood, sitting on a mountain of gold and silver and not spending a cent! That's my money! The people's money!"

An Taixuan was furious. If it wasn't really difficult to fall out with the officials in the court, he would have pointed at those people's noses and cursed them.

Whenever he wanted to implement new policies and reform the law, as soon as a policy involved the interests of certain people, someone would come out to oppose it, which made An Taixuan very unhappy.

An Taixuan thought of Lu Zheng and couldn't help but say, "He's right. These are a bunch of traitors who stole the country!"

The eunuchs were horrified when they heard this, and each of them wanted to poke out their ears, not wanting to hear these words that they shouldn't hear anymore.

An Taixuan cursed for a while, then sat back down on the couch, the anger still lingering on his face.

He hadn't even considered directly weakening certain people, but had already suppressed the merchants. So many people were against it. How could he reform the country and make the people rich and strong?

An Taixuan said quietly, "The wealth accumulated by a local gentry is far greater than even a thousand farmers can afford. How did all that money come from? Do you really think I'm stupid and don't know? Even small local gentry are like this, let alone the aristocratic families..."

Not long ago, An Taixuan also read some information that An Jing brought back from Kaiyang County and Tong County in Hongzhou.

Among them was a detailed investigation of local people, which shocked him.

A glimpse of the whole picture reveals how many wealthy families in Anguo are sucking the blood of the people and the court.

If those monies could be collected, Anguo would have been rich and strong, and the treasury would have no shortage of money.

However, it is not easy to make those people vomit out what they have eaten.

"The streets of heaven are full of nobles and officials, I want to do it too..."

An Taixuan's expression changed, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes.

The eunuchs beside him felt a chill down their spines.

"Your Majesty, please calm down."

Zhongliang on the side couldn't help but speak.

If An Taixuan really took action against the princes and ministers in the court, the situation would be difficult to control.

At this moment, there was a sound outside.

"Father, your son requests to see you!"

When An Taixuan heard that it was An Jing coming, he said, "Come in!"

An Jing entered the imperial study, bowed again, and then said, "I have heard about today's court meeting, so I came to see the emperor..."

An Taixuan said calmly, "What do you think?"

An Jing said, "It's obvious that they don't agree to the business tax increase, so there's no need to rush. Implementing the new policy requires manpower and resources, and the treasury is short of money. Since some people are unwilling to bleed, let's just kill the pigs."

"There are many wealthy businessmen in Tai'an City. If you really investigate them, you'll find that none of them has clean backgrounds."

"When the time comes, we'll arrest some, kill some, punish some, and then directly confiscate some industries and nationalize some..."

"Those ministers in the court can fight each other slowly. There will always be someone who will understand the situation."

An Taixuan had a cold face and nodded slightly, saying, "Okay, you can ask someone to do it."

"Oh right." An Taixuan paused, then asked curiously, "I heard your school has already opened? And it's recruited quite a few people?"

An Jing smiled and said, "We have indeed recruited some talented people, but they are far from being able to be used."

"Is that so..." An Taixuan couldn't help but say, "Let people run the school properly. Some people have quite a few complaints about this new institution you built."

An Jing heard this and said, "Let them talk. I know what I am doing. The more they oppose, the more it proves the correctness of the matter, doesn't it?"

An Taixuan couldn't help but smile when he heard this, and said quietly: "That's exactly right, those bastards..."

When An Taixuan thought of certain things, he couldn't help getting angry.

An Jing couldn't help but say, "Anger is harmful to your health. Please don't be so angry... Besides, it's not worth it for them."

An Taixuan took a deep breath. "I used to think they were quite conscientious in their work, but now it seems that their selfishness outweighs their public spirit. How can I not be angry?"

"They all studied the books of sages, so how did they become like this?"

"They are all hypocrites and villains who use the books of sages to seek personal gain..."

"If Confucius and Mencius were still alive, who knows how many Confucian scholars would be expelled from the Confucian school!"

Thinking of this, An Taixuan couldn't help but sneer, full of contempt.

However, governing a country requires people, and now we can only face the situation with a pinch of our noses.

...Hongzhou, Kaiyang County.

Several tall and fast horses were galloping on the county road outside the city.

Sitting on the leading horse was a man in white with a noble temperament. He was the governor An Dingyuan who came from Hongzhou City.

After they entered Kaiyang County, the horses slowed down.

The streets in the county town are paved with bluestone slabs, which are flat, wide, clean and tidy.

There are passers-by coming and going, making it very lively.

An Dingyuan sat on his horse, looking around and couldn't help muttering, "The county roads are better built than the state roads, and the streets in this city look better than those in Hongzhou City. Wow, it's well managed. No wonder my aunt asked me to come here..."

A minor official was patrolling the street and frowned when he saw that the horses of An Dingyuan and his companions occupied most of the street.

The clerk hurriedly called out, "Those horsemen, don't ride side by side! Keep to the right! Can't you see the line on the road? Are you from outside?"

An Dingyuan and his companions looked down and found that there was indeed a not very obvious line in the middle of the street, and passers-by were walking on the right.

An Dingyuan waved his hand, signaling his followers to abide by the rules.

He said he felt that some passersby were looking at them in a strange way, and thought that they were being recognized and thought they didn't know the rules.

An Dingyuan looked at the clerk and asked, "We are from Hongzhou City. Do you know where the county government office is?"

Upon hearing this, the clerk told a direction and continued patrolling, not caring about the identities of An Dingyuan and the others.

He just needs to do his job well and not interfere in other matters.

In the county government office, Li Yuan sat there leisurely and comfortably drinking fragrant tea.

After nearly half a year of vigorous implementation of the policy, Kaiyang County has been completely transformed thanks to the efforts of Li Yuan, Oh, and a group of officials and people. It is no longer the dilapidated county it used to be!
Li Yuan is now free from worries and is enjoying his leisure time.

His reputation in Kaiyang County is now second only to that of the general public. Wherever he goes out, he will be admired and respected by many people. This is a treatment he has never received before.

As for the person whose reputation is higher than his, it is naturally Lu Zheng.

Without Lu Zheng, he would not have been able to achieve so many political achievements.

Coupled with Li Yuan's hype, even though Lu Zheng had been away from Kaiyang County for so long, everyone still remembered Lu Zheng's kindness.

"I don't know when Lu Zheng and the others will come back..."

Li Yuan couldn't help but miss some people. Lu Zheng was gone, and he didn't know where Xiao Shan and his son were traveling.

He also wanted to share with them his political achievements during this period!
Just then, some officials came hurriedly from outside.

The officer whispered, "Sir, someone has arrived. It's an official from the Hongzhou government office, and he's brought some documents."

Li Yuan was shocked when he heard this. Could it be that he was here to commend him?
"Hurry, hurry, please come in!"

Li Yuan quickly stood up to greet him.

After a while, An Dingyuan and his companions met Li Yuan.

Li Yuan couldn't help but look at the few people. They were new faces he had never seen before.

An Dingyuan didn't waste any words and showed his ID card, "I am An Dingyuan, the governor of Hongzhou, and you are Li Yuan, the magistrate of Kaiyang County?"

Li Yuan was shocked when he heard this and quickly bowed and said, "Sir, I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person! I apologize for any impoliteness..."

He never expected that this royal descendant would come in person.

Not long ago, Li Yuan heard that this person also worshipped Lu Zhengwei as his master, but he didn't know whether it was true or not.

An Dingyuan waved his hand and said, "Don't be polite, come in and sit down and talk!"

Li Yuan hurriedly said, "Sir Governor, please come in!"

The group walked quickly into a living room, and officials quickly served them tea.

An Dingyuan sat down and said leisurely, "I've passed through several counties along the way and found that your Kaiyang County is well developed!"

Li Yuan sat upright, smiling broadly, "It is thanks to my superiors that I can free my hands and feet, and the officials and the people can work together to build Kaiyang County."

An Dingyuan said calmly, "Don't try to flatter me. This has nothing to do with me. I'm here to talk to you about something important!"

Li Yuan couldn't help but say, "Please tell me, sir. I will do my best to serve you!"

An Dingyuan tossed a document to Li Yuan and said, "The imperial court wants to implement new policies, but there are many difficulties. So this place has become a testing ground. Do your best!"

Li Yuan couldn't help but open the document and took a look. His eyes flickered with strange colors. Some of the policies in it were not the ones Lu Zheng had mentioned before...

At that time, they all thought that these policies would be difficult to implement.

The reforms and construction he carried out before benefited everyone.

Building roads, developing agriculture, water conservancy, education, etc., and spending the money obtained from the government's confiscated property, no one will object.

These new policies are aimed at targeting all the gentry and wealthy families in the county.

"This……"

Li Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get these new policies from, sir?"

An Dingyuan smiled and said, "Are you asking even though you already know the answer? Just do your best. Her Highness the Princess asked me to come and see you. Xiao Shan from your county has been reinstated as an official, and your son Li Zhao has stayed in Tai'an City to study. As for you, managing things well here is the greatest loyalty to the court. A loyal and good official will naturally have a bright future."

Li Yuan couldn't help but feel his blood boiling when he heard this, and he felt motivated again.

(End of this chapter)