Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 124: Some things are so heavy that even a thousand pounds cannot weigh them down!

Taxation was not only the most difficult problem during the Later Han Dynasty, but it was the same throughout all dynasties.

However, in the Later Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu, the actual founding emperor, did not deal with the unfinished projects, which made it even more difficult for future generations to deal with them.

It is precisely because of this that the wealthy and powerful families have become more and more aggressive in encroaching on land, hiding people, evading taxes, and even openly beating tax collectors and refusing to pay taxes. In the past two hundred years, this phenomenon has even become an established rule for officials.

Large amounts of land were encroached upon, the population continued to hide, and tax evasion became increasingly serious. In order to replenish the national treasury, the court had no choice but to levy additional taxes.

However, the more taxes were levied, the more overwhelmed the people became. They could only sell their land at low prices to wealthy families and evade taxes as slaves. This exacerbated the problems of land encroachment, population concealment, and tax evasion, which further led to a reduction in taxes. A vicious cycle was formed, forcing the court to further increase taxes.

As for the practice of secretly levying heavy taxes and levies in the name of the imperial court, Taishan County was definitely not an isolated case. However, even so, the full 5 billion coins in taxes were reduced by 40%, and only 3 billion coins were finally delivered to Luoyang. This was something Liu Bian could not accept.

The annual salary expenses of court officials and year-end bonuses alone would cost a full 2 ​​billion coins. If the court only had 1 billion coins in liquid funds a year, how could it accomplish anything?

Could it be that all the money has to come from the treasury of his Prince’s Mansion?

The Later Han Dynasty minted 2.5 billion coins every year and flowed into the imperial treasury, which was called Shuiheng coins. The Shaofu also had an income of 2 billion coins. Adding the two together, the Prince's Mansion had a total annual income of 4.5 billion coins.

But this is the treasury money!

In the sixth year of Guanghe, the palace's expenses amounted to 700 million coins, covering the palace's food, clothing, housing, transportation, salaries of concubines, maids and eunuchs, maintenance of royal gardens and parks, and sacrifices in ancestral temples, all of which came from the treasury.

This was even after he took over the government in April of the sixth year of Guanghe and prevented the foolish emperor from making more expensive expenditures such as building palaces to satisfy his personal entertainment needs.

Moreover, the military pay of the five schools of the Northern Army, which have 10,000 men, the Yulin Cavalry, 4,000 men, the Huben Imperial Guards, and 3,000 guards from the Prince's Palace, totaling 20,000 full-time soldiers, is all borne by the Prince's Palace Treasury.

Even the lowest-ranking Hu Ben Imperial Guard has a rank of 200 dan and an annual salary of 324 dan. The Yu Lin Cavalry is not as good as the Yu Lin Lang and only has a rank of 200 dan. The guards of the Prince's Palace also have a rank of 200 dan. The five schools of the Northern Army have a rank of 100 dan and an annual salary of 192 dan. The annual salary of these 20,000 full-time soldiers is 5.16 million coins!

Each person consumes six dan of rice per month. Based on the current price of 150 coins per dan of rice, the annual cost of rice alone is 216 million coins, not including the consumption of vegetables, meat, clothing, bedding, and food for war horses and pack horses.

By this calculation, without 500 million yuan a year, it would be impossible to support such an elite full-time force.

Due to so many such expenses, coupled with various natural and man-made disasters, the court's finances had long been on the verge of collapse. It was entirely relying on Guo Tu's plundering and the friendly sponsorship of the Ten Attendants, Madam Cheng, and Empress Dowager Dong to barely maintain its existence.

However, due to many issues such as tax reform and tax evasion by wealthy families, Liu Bian cannot act rashly at the moment. He must at least wait until the situation on all sides gradually stabilizes, otherwise this already crumbling building may collapse in an instant.

Therefore, Liu Bian had no choice but to continue killing the chicken to get the eggs!
Liu Bian glanced sideways at Cao Song, who was seated at the table of the Nine Ministers. Cao Song nodded quietly in response, then stood up and left the table. Holding his tablet, he bowed and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, I, the Minister of Agriculture, Cao Song, have a report!"

"Okay." Liu Bianxu raised his left hand.

Cao Song did not speak immediately, but first carefully adjusted his official robe, smoothing out every wrinkle with extremely slow and meticulous movements. Then he slightly raised his head and used both hands to straighten the Jinxian crown on his head.

His series of actions attracted the attention of all the court officials.

What does this guy want to do?
However, no one thought that Cao Song was just putting on an act, because the act of adjusting his official uniform often meant a life-or-death remonstration!

Dying for advice does not mean threatening the king with one's life to accept advice, but speaking the truth at the risk of one's life!

Who? Even a treacherous villain like Cao Song would die for his advice? Suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on Cao Song. Cao Song naturally noticed these gazes and slightly tucked in his abdomen, trying to shrink his fat belly a little. Then, with a solemn and serious expression, he looked directly at the Crown Prince with a look of determination in his eyes. He said, "I intend to impeach Zhao Rao, Lord of the Ping Clan!"

As soon as the words fell, all the court officials were in an uproar.

Zhao Rao, the Princess of Ping, was the emperor's wet nurse and made great contributions to the emperor's personal rule, and was therefore bestowed with great favors by the emperor.

In the first year of Xiping (172 AD), Xie Bi, a doctor of the Five Officials, impeached Zhao Rao, the ruler of the Ping clan, and was demoted by the emperor to the position of magistrate of Guangling Prefecture. He was then arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges by Cao Shao, the nephew of the eunuch Cao Jie and the governor of Dongjun, and was tortured to death.

Is Cao Song crazy?

There is nothing wrong with impeaching eunuchs, after all, they are the emperor's slaves.

But no one has ever impeached the emperor's two wet nurses, Zhao Rao and Madam Cheng. After all, wet nurses have the grace of feeding the emperor. Impeaching the emperor's wet nurses is forcing the emperor to be unfilial.

Even though the one in power now is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Zhao Rao is still a relative of the Crown Prince. It is inappropriate to deal with Zhao Rao in terms of reason and human ethics. Isn't this forcing the Crown Prince to be unfilial? How can the Crown Prince accept advice?

Moreover, if the emperor knew about this, even though his power would be lost, it would not be difficult for him to kill Cao Song.

However, Cao Song, as if ready to face death, bowed three times to the Crown Prince, and then said, "Zhao Rao, the Lord of the Ping Clan, has relied on his favor to exceed the rules and act presumptuously. His actions are unforgivable in three ways!"

"First, he is insatiably greedy, hoarding wealth that exceeds the treasury. He is a thief who is undermining the state. Second, he requests titles and bestows titles arbitrarily. He made his two sons marquises without merit, and promoted his brothers, though mediocre, to prefecture governors. This is the evil of chaotic government. Third, he usurped the throne room, building a mausoleum that resembles the emperor's, with carved eaves reaching up to the clouds and jade steps reaching up to the Han Dynasty. This is the worst violation of etiquette!"

"In the past, Zhou rituals clearly distinguished between superiors and inferiors, while Han laws were stricter than ever. Now, Zhao Rao, the ruler of the Ping clan, has abused his power and authority, violating the law and harming the people. According to the law, he deserves severe punishment. Executing this great villain will not only serve as a warning to others, but will also serve to clarify the laws and regulations, so that the world will know that the court's principles and rules still exist, and that the laws and rites are as clear as the sun and moon in the sky!"

"I humbly await your holy judgment to enforce order in the court!"

After saying this, Cao Song slowly exhaled, his expression relaxed, like a loyal minister who risked his life to give advice, and waited patiently for the monarch's decision.

He raised his head slightly, his eyes showing a hint of calmness and fearlessness, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly, as if there was a hint of a smile.

Of course, all this is just political theater.

As a politician, acting is just the most basic and necessary skill.

Not to mention that this impeachment was driven by the prince. Even without the prince's involvement, Zhao Rao's fate would not have escaped the result of his entire family being exterminated.

Eating, drinking and taking some more things are not actually a big problem. The real problem is the garden tomb that Zhao Rao built for herself in advance. Its shape and specifications are even more magnificent than the emperor's tomb.

Just because of the violation of the rules, the emperor would not tolerate Zhao Rao no matter how much he remembered their friendship, especially when the matter was exposed to the public and known to everyone in the court.

Some things are not as important as they seem unless they are weighed.

But when you put it on the scale, it can't even weigh a thousand pounds.

If Zhao Rao is not dealt with, what dignity will the royal family have in the future?
(End of this chapter)