The Imperial Garden of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the ancient cypress and old locust trees, various strange flowers and plants in the garden, as well as the scattered pavilions, palaces and pavilions, and the crisscrossing flower and stone roads, make the whole garden elegant and quiet, without losing the style of the palace.

There is a lake in the garden where colorful koi are swimming around, which is eye-catching. On the octagonal pavilion by the lake, there are various exquisite pastries on a stone table. Five old men sit around the stone table to taste pastries and talk about national affairs.

The old man sitting upright in the main seat wearing a five-clawed golden dragon robe was Ji Tong, the current emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Ji Tong said with a smile: "The four ministers and officials are my humeral ministers and the Grand Secretary of Hongwen Pavilion. Now my health is getting worse every day, but the prince has no children and is disabled and cannot inherit the throne. You see who among the princes can replace the position of the prince."

The four great masters were shocked, and the emperor was indeed determined to depose the prince.

Fu Wanqing was even more shocked. The emperor said that the prince was disabled, which should mean that the prince fell off a horse and was injured, which led to inhumane things. Unexpectedly, the emperor had known about this matter a long time ago.

The four of them were thinking about their thoughts, and they seemed to know nothing on their faces. They stood up calmly, bowed down and sang in unison: "The emperor is full of blessings and blessings, and they will definitely recover as before!"

"Haha! Hurry up and settle down! This is not the court, so there is no need to be too polite. Today we are not called the king and the ministers, but gather together with old friends for many years. You all tell me which prince can take over the position of crown prince." Ji Tong was in a bad mood and joked.

One of the bearded old men bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister believes that all the princes have the posture of dragon and phoenix, and can all take over the position of crown prince. If the order of seniority is in order, the second prince should take over the position of crown prince."

Another Grand Secretary beside him also stood up and bowed: "My minister Mu Baokun, to reconsider Grand Secretary Chen's point of view, the second prince has long been appointed as the king and is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. There has been no mistake for more than ten years. It can be seen that the second prince has outstanding abilities and can take over the position of prince."

Fu Wanqing did not like the style of the second prince. He colluded with his fellow disciples to suppress dissidents and secretly used all kinds of disgraceful means. If the second prince became the emperor, he would definitely not be a benevolent king.

Fu Wanqing stood up slowly with a stone chair, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the old minister believes that the Western Zhou Dynasty governs the country with filial piety, the sixth prince has outstanding literary talent and unparalleled benevolence and filial piety. He inherited the position of crown prince and must be a benevolent monarch!"

The Grand Secretary sitting beside Fu Wanqing stood up and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I think Grand Secretary Fu is right. My Western Zhou Dynasty is indeed governing the country with filial piety. It is not necessary to let the sixth prince replace the position of crown prince, but..."

Ji Tong felt a little strange. Qiu Zitong, the youngest of the four great ministers, did not agree with the sixth prince who was unparalleled in taking over the position of prince, and asked curiously:

"But what? Today I just want to hear your views on each prince. You can say anything you have. Don't have any concerns. If you say something wrong, I forgive you for not being guilty!"

Qiu Zitong said worriedly: "Your Majesty, now it is not as serious as before. Now our Western Zhou Dynasty has serious land annexation, and many ordinary people are forced to become tenants of wealthy gentry.

After working hard for a year, I lost the rent of the landlord's family and paid the taxes from the court, I could only leave 20% of the 100% of the year, and no more than 30% of the maximum.

Landlords and gentry with land do not have to pay taxes, while poor people without land have to pay the landlords’ rent and pay the imperial captive tax. Once a natural disaster occurs, they have to sell their children and daughters to pay the tax.

I am worried that the public will become more and more grievances. Once someone takes the lead in causing trouble, the world will be in chaos. Therefore, I beg the emperor to cancel the population tax (capital tax), change to collect land taxes, and spread the population into the acres!"

"Stack the dime and make the acres!"

Qiu Zitong is crazy!

The other two great scholars and Ji Tong thought at the same time. This is to be willing to risk the world's quarrels and gentry in the entire Western Zhou Dynasty!

"Emperor! Qiu Zitong is crazy about gaining and losing! What he said must not be adopted!" Grand Secretary Chen knelt down and bowed: "Emperor, I established my country in the Western Zhou Dynasty to rule the world with the gentry and gentry. If I rashly ask them to pay taxes, I am afraid that it will affect my whole body and cause chaos in the world!"

Mu Baokun was also very angry. He had thousands of acres of fertile land in his hometown. If he had to pay a large sum of money, he would have to pay it every year in the future. How would he support the many concubines, a large group of maids, servants and singers in his mansion in the future?

Mu Baokun also knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, you have collected taxes on people's heads for tens of thousands of years. If you suddenly collect taxes on land, it will definitely cause a mutiny among the gentry and gentry in the world!"

Fu Wanqing felt a little complaining to Qiu Zitong. The two of them had already agreed to wait for the right opportunity to promote the big event of digging into the acres.

Now it suddenly says it. When it is spread, it will arouse fierce opposition from the gentry and gentry in the world, and add a lot of difficulty to the future implementation of the taxi-stake.

But since the matter has been told, we have to fight for it.

Fu Wanqing also left his seat and knelt down and said, "I heard from the emperor, and the old ministers also believed that we should promote the implementation of the taxes. Now, in order to evade taxes, the people of our Western Zhou Dynasty have reported the population or sold their children.

There are many wealthy and powerful people in the world, and there are hundreds of maids and singers, but because they are gentry, they do not have to pay taxes.

The poor people cannot support themselves and have to pay taxes to serve labor, which has led to the resentment of the people becoming increasingly serious. Once the public resentment breaks out, it will be out of control!"

Ji Tong did not expect Qiu Zitong and Fu Wanqing to say such words. He knew this disadvantage, but he had no choice. After all, the stability of the Western Zhou Dynasty still depends on the gentry from all over the country. If he rashly rectified this disadvantage, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the gentry in the world, and his Ji family's gentry would be unstable.

"Qiu Aiqing, Fu Aiqing! This matter is important, let me discuss it again! My body and energy are gone. When the new emperor takes office, the new emperor will solve this matter!" Ji Tong said helplessly.

Qiu Zitong suddenly knelt down and bowed to the ground and said, "Emperor! If bandits are everywhere today, there will be wildfires to spread the prairie fire. If it is allowed to develop, the country will be in trouble. Please make a decision early to relieve internal troubles!"

"Qiu Zitong!"

Grand Secretary Chen shouted loudly: "Now the fifth prince is leading troops to suppress bandits, and sooner or later the bandits will be wiped out! You are the Grand Secretary of Hongwen Pavilion, talking nonsense and disturbing the holy heart, where is your intention!"

Qiu Zitong said without changing her expression: "Emperor! Every word of my heart is all about me. Do you still remember that the Canglang Kingdom in the north had tens of thousands of people frozen to death last winter, and countless cattle and sheep were frozen to death?"

Although Ji Tong is old, he still remembers it very clearly. Last winter, many people were frozen to death in the Canglang Kingdom, and he even celebrated it with a title.

Suddenly, Ji Tong felt a bad premonition in his heart, and stood up in shock and said, "Qiu Aiqing, what do you mean is that the Canglang Kingdom will invade my Western Zhou Kingdom this year?"

Qiu Zitong replied bluntly: "Emperor, the Canglang Kingdom's usual style is to plunder our Western Zhou Kingdom. I am worried that they do not have enough cattle and sheep to spend the winter this year, and it is very likely that a large army will go south to invade our Western Zhou Kingdom."

Mu Baokun said with a contemptuous expression: "Your Majesty, there is Zhenlang Pass in the north, the world's largest pass, which has stopped the Canglang Kingdom for more than 30 years and cannot step into our Western Zhou Kingdom. In addition, the 100,000 troops in the border town guard the border. Even if millions of cavalry of Canglang Kingdom swept over, it is impossible to capture Zhenlang Pass!"

Chen Dashu smiled and said with great admiration: "This is all the wise wisdom of the emperor. When the emperor first ascended the throne, he issued an order to start the construction of Zhenlang Pass. It took ten years to connect the city walls built in previous dynasties and turn into a natural chasm that the enemy cannot cross, making the Canglang Kingdom unable to ride south for more than 30 years. The emperor's great achievements are comparable to that of our founding saint king of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is enough to be recorded in history and admired by future generations!"

"Haha! How can I compare to the great achievements of the founding Holy Ancestor?"

Ji Tong felt so happy that he remembered the helpless mood of his enemy facing Zhenlangguan. He felt extremely comfortable. He twisted his white beard and said with a smile:

"Canglang Kingdom is not worth worrying about, you all get up! Qiu Aiqing, who do you think is more appropriate to replace the position of crown prince?"

Qiu Zitong just stood up and felt disappointed. The Canglang Kingdom was eyeing its Western Zhou Kingdom, but the emperor thought that he could rest assured with just a heroic pass, but he did not know that the biggest enemy was that his country was instability. It seemed that he could not place his hope on this foolish monarch. He hoped that the new emperor who succeeded to the throne would be a wise monarch, otherwise the Western Zhou Dynasty would be over.

When he heard the emperor ask him, Qiu Zitong bowed with great worries: "Your Majesty, I think the second prince is most suitable for taking over the crown prince."

"Let me tell you, how do you think he is suitable?" Ji Tong sat on a stone chair covered with a layer of marten velvet leather with the support of the eunuch beside him, and asked happily.

Qiu Zitong said directly: "Emperor, the Second Prince has been managing the Ministry of Revenue for many years and is extremely clear about the shortcomings in the country. Moreover, the Second Prince is neat and neat, and is more competent in the position of the crown prince than the other princes."

Ji Tong heard Qiu Zitong's words and closed his eyes and thought.

Fu Wanqing sighed in his heart. The dispute over the throne had already come to an end. Three great scholars supported the second prince to take over the position of crown prince. Moreover, the second prince was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. The fifth prince, who was a compatriot of his mother, also had military power. The emperor would definitely pass it to the second prince.

After a long time, Ji Tong opened his eyes, had already made a decision in his heart, and said with a smile: "You all sit down. Today I invite you to the Imperial Garden, mainly for other things."

The four of them bowed and said, "I will listen carefully!"

Ji Tong was in a good mood and said, "Haha, I heard that Fu Aiqing's three daughters and Qiu Aiqing's little daughter are both beautiful and beautiful, and are listed as the three stunning beauties in Nan'an City. Several of my princes and grandchildren have come to ask me to match the matchmaker before and want to take your daughter as a concubine. I also want to be in-laws with you. What do you think?"

"It's true that I'm here! I didn't expect that even Qiu Zitong's little girl would be spared." Fu Wanqing thought to himself.

Grand Secretary Chen Xiaojun said charmingly: "What the emperor said is that Lord Fu's concubine is a beautiful lady of a great family. The two daughters she gave birth to are first-class beauties. By then, both daughters will become princesses, which is a good thing. The most beautiful concubine of Mr. Qiu was originally a brothel courtesan. I remember that Lord Mu also wanted to take this courtesan as his concubine at that time, but in the end, Lord Qiu won the hearts of the beauty and hugged the beauty back."

"Chen Aiqing, I really remembered what you said. At that time, Qiu Aiqing had not yet become a Grand Secretary, so he should still be a Secretary of the Zhanshi Mansion. At that time, Qiu Aiqing was willing to sell land and borrow money to redeem the courtesan, which became a temporary talk." Ji Tong smiled endlessly.

Mu Baokun has always been worried about this matter, and the beauty he likes has been thrown into the arms of others, which is also the reason why he has always disliked Qiu Zitong.

He stood up and said, "Congratulations to the Emperor, Lord Fu and Lord Qiu...uh!"

Qiu Zitong and Fu Wanqing actually knelt down at the same time. Wouldn't they want to become in-laws with the emperor?

Ji Tong asked in confusion: "Two dear friends, what do you mean?"

Qiu Zitong hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, the little girl has a bad temper, doesn't understand the rules in the palace and can't serve others. The little girl really has no blessing to be a princess."

Ji Tong's face was calm, and he continued to ask, "Fu Aiqing, why are you?"

Fu Wanqing knelt down and replied, "Emperor, the little girl has no blessing to be a princess. She has already had a marriage contract and is scheduled to get married in two days. My future son-in-law has already lived in my mansion."

Mu Baokun smiled evilly on the side. He had to agree with what Qiu Zitong didn't want, and said:

"Mr. Qiu, it's not a big problem to be aware of people. As long as the people in the palace are trained, they will understand the rules and serve people."

Qiu Zitong was almost fainted when she heard this and said in a frustration: "Mr. Mu, I heard that you have several daughters, why don't you marry all your daughters to the prince and grandson as concubines? Then someone will be trained to serve others!"

"You are shameless!" Mu Baokun was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at him. Qiu Zitong said the word "training" tone. He was so angry that his chest felt ache, and he was almost vomiting blood.

"You are despicable!" Qiu Zitong replied directly.

Ji Tong's face turned gloomy and shouted, "Enough! You are all first-class seniors, how can you be so noisy! This ends with this matter. I am tired, you can step down!"

"I'm going to leave!" The four of them hurriedly bowed and stood up and slowly retreated.

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!