Chapter 40 |
"Change the rules?"
Zhang Wuji's eyebrows twitched violently, a barely perceptible glint of coldness flashing in his eyes. He slowly stepped out of the ranks, raising his jade tablet above his head with both hands, his tone unyielding: "Your Majesty, the Five Wards Military Command's jurisdiction over the security of the capital is an ancestral law established at the very founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. A slight move in one part affects the whole. I believe it must not be altered lightly!"
Zhang Wuji's heart was filled with disdain at this moment. This little emperor, having been on the throne for only a few days, was relying on his grip over the capital's military to shake the foundations of the great aristocratic families? What kind of place was the Five Wards Military Command? It was the capital's purse, a private plot for the major noble houses to plant their cronies and amass wealth! And he wanted to strip it away with a single sentence? It was simply a fool's dream!
As Zhang Wuji spoke, the group of aristocratic officials in scarlet robes behind him lowered their eyelids one after another, like clay idols, yet their defiance was glaringly obvious.
However, Wang Hao, the Emperor of the Great Zhou seated on the dragon throne, did not back down.
He quietly looked down at Zhang Wuji and let out a cold sneer.
"Ancestral law?"
Wang Hao suddenly straightened up and slammed his palm fiercely onto the desk!
"Bang!"
"What a fine ancestral law!" Wang Hao stood up abruptly, pointing his finger through the air right at Zhang Wuji's nose, and shouted sternly: "Is the ancestral law in your mouths meant to let that bunch of useless gluttons run rampant in the capital? Is it meant to let them accept bribes from merchants and shield brothels and gambling dens? Is it meant to leave the national treasury of the Great Zhou empty year after year, to the point where we cannot even issue winter coats to the soldiers at the border!?"
"Quell your anger, Your Majesty..." The ministers dropped to their knees in a massive wave, leaving only Zhang Wuji and a few cabinet elders standing with stiff necks.
"My mind is made up, and there is no room for negotiation!" Wang Hao gave Zhang Wuji no chance to retort. "Effective today, the Five Wards Military Command is abolished! Its authorities over security, night patrols, fire prevention, and bandit apprehension are fully stripped and immediately transferred to the unified jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice!"
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Justice, Li Xian, who had been kneeling on the ground prepared to fight to the bitter end alongside Zhang Wuji, suddenly raised his head. His pupils contracted violently, and his breathing became incredibly heavy in that instant.
What?! Giving the security powers of the Five Wards Military Command to the Ministry of Justice?!
Li Xian's brain was spinning wildly. It should be known that although the Ministry of Justice was nominally one of the Six Ministries, in charge of penal law across the realm, within the capital region, it was often constrained by the Five Wards Military Command and the Shuntian Prefecture. The Ministry usually only handled major and critical cases and could not intervene in the capital's general security at all.
Now, for no apparent reason, the Emperor had just dropped a massive, tangible power—one that commanded tens of thousands of soldiers and governed inside and outside the nine gates of the capital—right onto his head! This was bona fide military power and absolute jurisdiction!
Li Xian glanced at Zhang Wuji standing in front of him out of the corner of his eye, his heart plunging into an intensely violent struggle. It is true that I was promoted by the aristocratic families, but Lord Chief Minister, the Emperor is simply offering too much! If I swallow this piece of fat meat, my status in the court will rival that of the cabinet elders. I am sorry, but the Emperor is offering too much!
With almost no hesitation, the words of protest that Li Xian had prepared in his throat were instantly swallowed back down. He knocked his head deeply against the golden bricks and shouted, "I, Minister of Justice Li Xian, kowtow and thank Your Majesty for your divine grace! I shall do my utmost to purge the capital and will never fail Your Majesty's profound trust!"
Hearing this, Zhang Wuji's face darkened instantly, and his hands, hidden within his wide sleeves, clenched fiercely into fists.
"Idiot! Short-sighted idiot!" Zhang Wuji roared madly in his heart. "This is the Emperor's open scheme! This is a tactic to divide and conquer! A tiny bit of petty profit is enough to make your Ministry of Justice switch sides. Can you not see that the Emperor is dismembering the power of our civil official faction?!"
Wang Hao looked at Zhang Wuji's fluctuating old face, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. How satisfying. The great man who said to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible was speaking absolute truth. He sat back down on the dragon throne. His tone suddenly became calm, but the words he spoke were like a heavy bomb detonating in the deep sea.
"Since the authority over security has been handed to the Ministry of Justice, the Five Wards Military Command's original authority to collect commercial taxes naturally cannot go to waste."
"I have decided to completely separate the authority of commercial taxation and establish an independent bureau based on it! The new bureau shall be named the 'General Taxation Bureau of the Great Zhou', with a rank of upper second grade! It will be directly governed by the Cabinet and will specialize in the collection of commercial taxes, mining taxes, and customs duties across the realm! All traveling merchants and local traders in the world must pay taxes to the General Taxation Bureau. Violators will be punished as traitors, their homes confiscated, and their entire clans executed!"
Boom!!!
If the abolition of the Military Command just now was merely a clap of thunder, then right now, a magnitude ten earthquake had erupted in the entire Fengtian Hall!
Everyone's mind buzzed, as if they had been viciously smashed by a heavy hammer.
An independent upper-second-grade bureau? And it was going to exclusively collect commercial and mining taxes across the world?!
The Great Zhou Dynasty had been established for a thousand years. Historically, the main force of tax revenue had always been the bottom-tier peasants who faced the yellow earth with their backs to the sky, paying land taxes and poll taxes. As for commercial taxes? They had always been extremely low, and in many places, they existed only in name!
Why couldn't they be collected? Because the true masters behind the world's largest merchant guilds, the most profitable salt and iron mines, and the most lucrative maritime smuggling operations were all standing right here in this imperial court! They were all these aristocratic families who were full of talk about benevolence, righteousness, and morality!
By establishing this limitlessly powerful General Taxation Bureau and even setting down the draconian law that "evading taxes is tantamount to treason," how was the Emperor merely collecting taxes? This was clearly taking a red-hot boning knife and stabbing it straight into the hearts of these aristocratic families to carve out their flesh!
"Your Majesty, you must not! Absolutely not!!!"
The Minister of Rites, Zhao De, practically stumbled and crawled out of the ranks, dropping heavily to his knees with a thud, not even caring that his black gauze official hat was knocked askew. He wept bitterly, his voice as shrill and mournful as if his own father had just died.
"I beg Your Majesty to reconsider! Since ancient times, the imperial court has relied on agriculture as its foundation, maintaining light corvée labor and low taxes. Competing with the people for profit is an omen of national ruin and is not the conduct of a wise ruler! If Your Majesty establishes such a draconian bureau and forcibly collects commercial taxes, it will inevitably cause the merchants of the world to lose heart and close their markets. At that time, prices will skyrocket, the people will be deprived of their livelihood, and the world will descend into chaos right before our eyes, Your Majesty!"
Zhao De cried with snot and tears streaming down his face, as if he were truly worried about the state and society of the Great Zhou. But what was truly making his heart bleed was this: once this General Taxation Bureau was established, how much silver would his Zhao family have to hand over every year for their dozens of silk shops and over a dozen iron mines in Jiangnan? That was cutting away his very life!
Watching Zhao De look as if he were mourning his deceased parents, the sharp eyes of the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Zhuge Huaijin, suddenly lit up with astonishing brilliance.
Zhuge Huaijin understood all too well! Why was the Great Zhou's national treasury so empty that horses could run through it? Why couldn't officials from poor backgrounds like them, who had studied bitterly for a decade, even receive their meager monthly stipends in full, to the point of relying on their wives weaving cloth to subsidize their household expenses? Meanwhile, this group of aristocratic officials could buy massive mansions in the capital and keep the most popular courtesans as mistresses?
Because the lifeblood of the Great Zhou Dynasty had been completely drained by these bloodsuckers!
"Utter nonsense!"
Zhuge Huaijin sprang forward, pointing a finger right at Zhao Dezhu's nose as he unleashed a torrent of curses.
"What a fine excuse, claiming the state 'competes for profit with the people'! Lord Zhao, these 'people' you speak of—are they the miserable peasants who toil with their faces to the yellow earth and backs to the sky, unable to even scrape together a full meal? Or are they the wealthy merchants and tycoon elites, draped in fine silks and satins, traveling in grand carriages, possessing wealth that rivals the nation itself?!"
Zhuge Huaijin's voice grew hoarse with fury. He whirled around to face Wang Hao and threw himself to the ground, knocking his head heavily against the floor. The resounding thud echoed off the roof tiles. "This old minister seconds the motion, Your Majesty! The crushing burden of the realm's taxes rests entirely on the shoulders of the most destitute farmers and military households, forcing them to sell their own sons and daughters just to survive! Meanwhile, those filthy rich noble clans and merchant overlords, hoarding ninety percent of the world's wealth, hide behind the privileges of their ancestors and refuse to pay a single copper! You call this a prosperous and peaceful era? You call this a just and orderly world?!"