Confucian and Taoist scholar

Inside the main hall of the palace, a group of princes and ministers had been waiting for a long time.

Many people had serious expressions and didn't smile, making the atmosphere somewhat solemn.

As for why I'm not smiling, it's naturally because I've had too many upsetting things going on lately.

In particular, some new national policies are a direct attack on them and the families behind them.

Those policies were not discussed with them beforehand, but were directly issued to the people.

Orders cannot be changed overnight; it's too late to stop them.

Only a few officials appeared relatively relaxed; these were the reformists in the court, and they belonged to the most radical faction.

These people have long wanted to implement policies that benefit the country and its people, even if it would harm their own interests.

An Taixuan slowly walked into the main hall, sat down, and accepted the homage.

His gaze slowly swept over the people in the hall.

An Taixuan said calmly, "It seems not everyone has arrived?"

Someone hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty, several people are involved in the case and are currently being questioned by the Ministry of Justice..."

An Taixuan said, "Is that so? Then we won't wait for them."

Seeing An Taixuan's calm attitude and tone, the officials knew he already knew the situation, and his question was clearly a warning to them.

An Taixuan then said, "The new policies were promulgated yesterday, but some national policies and guidelines need a detailed plan before they can be implemented. Please share your opinions..."

No sooner had An Taixuan finished speaking than An Jing stepped forward to offer his advice.

An Jing solemnly offered a series of suggestions, roughly explaining that the implementation of various national policies still needed to be prioritized, and that some policies involved huge expenditures, which the national treasury did not have enough funds for...

Among the new policies are measures to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, such as reducing or even eliminating welfare benefits for cultivation groups, local families, and certain special groups, and imposing certain taxes on them...

Only by filling the national treasury can we have the capital to carry out construction and development.

As the saying goes, with great wealth comes great responsibility.

Now that Anguo is to become prosperous and strong, everyone should make their own contribution.

Some large families should also convert a portion of their existing assets and wealth into state property.

An Taixuan said leisurely, "It's indeed difficult to get things done without money. We should first collect money to replenish the national treasury. What do the others think?"

The princes and ministers remained silent. They weren't fools; they knew the government wanted to bleed them dry first!
"Cough cough..."

An official coughed and then said, "I feel there is something wrong with this."

An Taixuan narrowed his eyes and said in a slightly cold voice, "What's wrong with it?"

The officials kept their heads down, feeling a chill run down their spines even without looking into An Taixuan's eyes...

The official hurriedly said, "I believe it is inappropriate to completely abolish the tax exemption for scholars! The reduction of their welfare before has already caused considerable discontent; to completely abolish it now would be detrimental to the foundation of the nation..."

"Our Great An Dynasty was founded on Confucianism and Taoism. Scholars study diligently for years, even decades, to obtain an official title. They spend so much time and money, yet they receive no preferential treatment after obtaining the title. How many people will be willing to study in the future? If this continues..."

As the official spoke, he became quite eloquent, going on and on about the drawbacks of this approach.

He was thinking of starting with small problems first, and then moving on to other aspects later.

An Jing, standing not far away, met his gaze with cold eyes and interrupted, "Do you all study and pass the imperial examinations just to enjoy different treatment from ordinary people and pursue wealth and glory?"

"Please tell me, Lord Wu, which sage taught this? And from which classic text does it originate?"

An Jing stared sharply at a certain official surnamed Wu.

"Ah this..."

Upon hearing this, the official surnamed Wu's expression changed, and he blushed and was speechless.

An Jing said with a serious expression, "A true scholar should think of the country and its people, and study for the rise of the nation! The sages and worthies of the past did not write books to teach people how to be selfish..."

"Most of the scholars in Anguo now come from wealthy families and don't care about these privileges. Only a small number come from poor families, but the court will later exempt the people from taxes, so it won't affect them... In this way, we can better select scholars who are beneficial to the country. What's wrong with that?"

The official surnamed Wu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Your Highness is right. It was my oversight."

An Jing then looked at the other princes and ministers and said quietly, "Have you all forgotten the principles in the classics of Confucian sages? Do you really want Confucius and Mencius to personally teach you a lesson?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed slightly, and they felt inexplicably uneasy.

Is this a threat to them? Yes, it is.

In Tai'an City today, there truly is someone who can invite sages like Confucius and Mencius.

Instead of coming here to discuss national affairs with them, Lu Zheng exerted invisible pressure.

A minister hurriedly said, "We would never forget the teachings of the sages. Lord Wu was only concerned about the country and may not have thought of so much at the time... Your Highness does not need to generalize about individual actions."

Wu: ...He was initially grateful to his colleague for coming to his rescue, if it weren't for that last sentence.

We agreed to face the problem together as a team, but now you're isolating him, right?
The officialdom is truly like a battlefield; when a real fight breaks out, you also have to be wary of being betrayed by your allies.

Just as the atmosphere became tense, a person stepped forward and faced Xiang An Taixuan.

Everyone turned to look, and saw that it was Prince Anyu, a very wealthy prince who usually made many friends and enjoyed life.

Prince Anyu raised his hand and pulled out a wooden box from somewhere.

The box was opened, and inside was a stack of contracts.

"I eat the people's food and do the people's work. I am willing to contribute ninety percent of my family property to the country for the benefit of the people... From now on, my royal stipend shall also be cancelled!"

Upon hearing this, the assembled officials were astonished and surprised.

Even An Taixuan couldn't help but sit up straight, looking at Prince An Yu with a puzzled expression.

He was not notified of this in advance.

Zhongliang quickly stepped forward to take the heavy wooden box and then took out the contract inside to examine it.

There are land deeds and house deeds, deeds for all kinds of properties, and even deeds for spiritual mines and spiritual veins...

The overall value should be estimated in units of hundreds of millions of taels of silver.

Zhongliang quickly glanced at it and nodded slightly to An Taixuan.

As a wealthy prince of Tai'an City, the officials and ministers in the court all had a general idea of ​​how much wealth Prince Anyu possessed.

When Zhongliang nodded in confirmation, some people in the hall couldn't help but gasp.

Are you really going to give up 90% of your fortune? Are you going to starve after this?

This doesn't even qualify as bleeding and cutting; it's more like amputation below the head...

Of course, the Anyu Wang family is very wealthy; even if only one-tenth of their assets remain, they are still richer than many people.

But many people present did not have such courage.

An Taixuan was surprised, wondering why Prince Anyu was so frugal. Could it be that An Jing had some leverage over him?
If there were truly some major incriminating evidence that would allow someone to bring out such a large fortune, the matter would likely be serious enough to warrant confiscation of the property, making it seem unnecessary to use threats or coercion.

An Taixuan pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Very good, very good. Prince Anyu is wholeheartedly devoted to the country and its people, and should be a role model for Anguo..."

"A decree is drafted to elevate the title of Prince Anyu by one rank, making it hereditary and perpetual..."

In Anguo, the title of prince is divided into several ranks, and the treatment of each rank is different.

Moreover, many titles are not hereditary; descendants must possess both civil and military achievements to have a chance of inheriting the position. The number of titles that can be inherited indefinitely is extremely limited.

An Taixuan was in a good mood, so he granted An Yu Wang a hereditary title.

In the end, there's no need to grant Prince Anyu a title and salary, so this kind of commendation is essentially a non-substantial reward.

Many princes and ministers expressed no envy whatsoever...

Prince Anyu appeared calm, expressed his gratitude, and then returned to his original position.

Another prince stepped forward and offered to contribute 70% of his family fortune.

This prince didn't have the same substantial wealth as Prince Anyu. The fact that he had to give up 70% of his fortune had already kept him up all night with heartache…

One by one, those kings and nobles stepped forward, and at least 60% of their family fortunes were donated.

This really startled the other powerful and influential people.

Judging from the expressions of some princes and the demeanor of His Majesty, it's not an act for them.

When they get ruthless, they don't even spare their own family members.

After the princes and nobles donated their property, An Taixuan looked at the others.

Some ministers were secretly lamenting that they couldn't avoid this matter and could only calculate in their minds how much to give, as His Majesty was not easy to fool.

A general stepped forward and offered to contribute most of his family fortune.

Seeing this, the other military officers also spoke up, expressing their willingness to contribute to the country by donating money.

The civil officials hadn't expected the military generals to be so decisive at this time; they truly had a patriotic heart.

The reason why the military officers acted this way was mainly because a very important part of the new national policy was to increase military spending and significantly improve the treatment of soldiers.

In the past, when these military officials wanted to apply for military expenses from the Ministry of Revenue, the officials there were stingy and timid. They would either reject the application because it was unreasonable, or say that the national treasury was tight and there wasn't enough money at the moment, so they had to wait...

Going to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money was no different from begging for food.

At this point, they naturally had to stand up and support the new policy.

Since they couldn't avoid the court's move anyway, they might as well just go for it.

Everyone is suffering, but some people are suffering even more, so let them feel good about it.

The military officers stared at the civil officials, waiting to see what they would say next.

In such a situation, who could be so shameless as to refuse to give a single penny?
And this is something that can be done by donating just a little bit.

Everyone basically knows each other well, so unless you're really poor, if you donate too little, there might be something to talk about.

So the rest of them put on stiff faces and expressed their opinions one after another.

Some people's lips tremble slightly when they speak.

The family fortune accumulated over generations will likely be reduced to very little as various policies are implemented in the future.

All of this stems from that young man who was still preaching to the people in Tai'an City.

In the past, would the imperial court have dared to push them to this point?
However, some people fail to consider one crucial point: the vast wealth accumulated by these powerful families over generations is built upon the suffering of countless ordinary people.

Perhaps some people have thought about it, but don't want to face that reality.

Some people know this is true, but still feel it is only natural.

But when the scythe of exploitation cuts into their bodies one day, they feel wronged instead.

If you feel wronged, you can only suffer in silence.

The Buddhist and noble families of Wei, the demonic forces of the Northern Regions, the Confucian and Taoist families of Qi...

The fates of certain forces and figures are now widely known in Tai'an City, and some of their deeds have even been adapted into plays.

They really didn't want to be the villains in those scripts, otherwise they wouldn't have the face to face anyone even while they were alive, and their descendants would be pointed at and gossiped about.

Between two evils, choose the lesser; I could only swallow my tears and painfully hand over my assets.

An Taixuan was very pleased to see that everyone had given in. These people had donated their property, so how could their families and other powerful clans escape?
A scholar presented the drafted donation record to An Taixuan for review.

Afterwards, it was shown to the princes and ministers.

An Taixuan said leisurely, "Post this document outside the palace for the people to see. Your patriotism and service to the people should be widely publicized so that they may take it as an example..."

Some powerful figures remained expressionless. They had paid too high a price for this little bit of good reputation, and there was really no way to comfort them.

Soon, someone went outside to post the notice.

An Taixuan smiled broadly and said, "The problem with the national treasury is almost resolved. Let's continue to discuss other policies..."

Now that things have come to this, we can only continue discussing national affairs.

And so, the princes and ministers began to talk again.

The military officers were in high spirits and finalized the reforms of the military and government, reaping considerable benefits in the process.

After that, they only need to wait for the funds from the imperial treasury to arrive in their accounts, and then they can devote themselves fully to their work.

The officials discussed matters in the main hall until the afternoon before leaving the court.

Because some national policies involve too many factors, major national affairs cannot be decided all at once.

We'll need to continue discussing this in the next few days.

A group of princes and ministers, dragging their weary bodies, headed out of the palace.

Outside the palace, donation notices have already been posted in many places.

The news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching all of Tai'an City.

When the people heard the news, they were all astonished.

They never expected that those powerful and influential figures would actually be willing to donate so much wealth to build the country; it was simply unbelievable.

Someone exclaimed in surprise, "When did those adults become so generous? This isn't just empty talk, is it?"

Someone said, "How could a document issued by the imperial court be fake?"

"It's hard to say..."

"Uh, brother, watch your words!"

"In my humble opinion, this is due to His Majesty's wisdom and Mr. Lu's merit..."

"Yes, yes, if it weren't for Mr. Lu coming here to plead for the people, how could they possibly be willing to do that..."

"Mr. Lu is a great saint, his merits are immeasurable..."

……

The group whispered among themselves, praising and extolling Lu Zheng.

A nobleman, sitting in his carriage on his way back to his residence, heard the praises of the people along the roadside. Suddenly, he felt a lump in his throat, dizzy, and unable to breathe.

So, by giving away so much money, he actually helped others gain a good reputation. (End of Chapter)