People are always like this, and when they are about to drown at the hardest, a plank is enough to be overjoyed.

But when the risk of drowning is gone, they will sigh at the thorns on the board, how nice it would be if it were a boat.

Song Gongzitian is such a mentality at this time.

When the coup d'état came and the Chu people besieged the city, all Zitian looked forward to was to keep his position as duke and not to be expelled from the country by the people.

When all these dangers were removed, Song Gong was full of alarm and panic about the growing popular movement in Shangqiu.

The people of the Mo family used funeral rites to delay time, and in order to keep his basic plate, Song Gong had to be the one who maintained the Zhou rites, so that there could be enough taxis for his own use.

Even though he was participating in the funeral ceremony, even if he was busy alliing with the Chu people, Song Gong was still concerned about the situation in the city.

Because this matter is so important, so important that Zitian feels that his interests are seriously threatened.

Originally, as a monarch, he also had his own fiefdom, and the land of the Song State was not only the land of the Song Duke, if it could be achieved that all the territory of the Song State was the monarch's land, there would not be so many coups d'état.

According to the Zhou rites, the scholar has a fief, the doctor is twice as much as the sergeant, the secretary is twice as the doctor, the secretary is twice as much, and the monarch is twice as much as the secretary.

This is different from the taxes that are generally levied.

Taxes are nominally returned to the public, taxes are for sacrifices and some weekday ceremonial expenses, and taxes are military obligations and military expenses, even according to the weekly rites, which are not for the monarch to use privately.

The monarch's personal fief is a completely different situation, the taxes in the fief belong to the monarch himself, and some daily expenses are also obtained from the fief.

A part of the public land belonged to the Song State, not to the Song Dynasty, and the Mohists seized this point and strived to consult the Government Yuan to have the power to discuss the use of these tax expenditures.

The distinction between public and private has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and this matter is a smooth sailing, easy to achieve, and easy to explain the reason.

This is what Song Gong is dissatisfied with.

Nowadays, the policy within the fiefs of the nobles and the monarch remains unchanged for the time being, and the basic plate of the Mo family is the free commoners in the Shangqiu, not the serfs in the fiefs of the nobles and the monarch.

After hearing some rumors in the city, Song Gong sighed bitterly with the ministers who were clearly on his side before: "I originally thought that the Mo family's method of cultivating crops and cattle could levy more taxes. Originally, the two were still insufficient, thinking that now that the art of harvesting is changing, more can be collected, but the Mo family is clamoring for the people to agree on the amount of taxes. ”

The minister said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this matter can't be easier." The people are all villains, the Mo family is profitable, and the people of the country don't obey? If not, what can you do? If you don't agree, the people will expel you. Besides, if you don't agree, I'm afraid that my uncle will agree......"

Zitian patted his leg and sighed, "Why don't I agree to this?" How can you not agree to this? ”

"The people of the Mo family have already explained the truth: the wealth of the monarch is the sum of the wealth of the people of a country, so if I am the king of the Song Kingdom, it is said that I have no money and half a gold and still have all the wealth of the Song Kingdom."

"The truth is that even if I don't want to accept it, the people can't agree to it."

"It's just that I'm fiefdom, what should I do? If I levy too much on my fiefdom, the people above me will be dissatisfied, and they will not be dissatisfied with the heart of competition? Or fleeing? ”

The minister hurriedly said: "Yesterday I was in the market, and I heard Shi talk about this matter, but I said a solution. ”

"It is said that it is the land of the king, and it can be rented to the Inquiry Yuan. The Inquiry Council then sent someone to take charge of it, and provided the wealth and food acceptable to the king every year, and these wealth and food were used by the palace. ”

"And he said, The annual payment of these lands shall be greater than the previous king's gain."

After Jinchen said this method that sounded perfect, Zitian said angrily: "If this person is suitable, can we believe it?" ”

"Does he think of us 'princes and nobles'? As everyone knows, it is said that wealth comes from labor, and princes and nobles are silverfish, and his words cannot be believed! ”

The minister hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I heard that the people of Pei County have a lot of wealth, and they want to come to the Mo family to have a way to do business." Mo Zhai is a great talent, and his disciples are also talented, and they say that if you rent the land to the Inquiry Yuan, you can pay more wealth and food to support the office, and this is what you can do. ”

Zitian smiled bitterly and said, "Then what do I have left?" Money? Grain? If there is a coup d'état to seize the throne, where will my soldiers come from? On those fiefdoms, there is not only money and food, but also soldiers. ”

"If the land is not mine, where shall I have my own soldiers?"

The minister said: "It is appropriate to say, Shangqiu and Liyishi." When the time comes, if there is a national war, the righteous teacher must fulfill his obligations. And if someone violates the covenant, the righteous teacher will also uphold the covenant. Si Cheng, Da Yin and others, even if they want to do usurpation, they can't. ”

"You have seen the methods of the Mo family, tens of thousands of Chu troops can penetrate the formation and form an alliance, are Da Yin and Sicheng actually more majestic than the Chu army?"

Zitian gritted his teeth and said, "What the righteous master upholds is the law. Whoever respects the law is the Duke of Song, so what is left of me, the Duke of Song? What if I break the covenant? ”

"Even if I have money and food, what can I do? Daily wine pond meat forest? ”

The minister was speechless, knowing that this was an unavoidable problem, and it was also a dead knot that could not be untied.

It sounds good if the monarch can keep the law, but what is the monarch if so? Just a rich man? A symbol of the Song Kingdom?

But if the monarch doesn't want to do this, the contradictions between the nobles and the organized people will make this Song Duke and even the name of Song Duke disappear.

Moreover, with the size of the Song Kingdom, it seems that nothing can be done: a dead end for foreign expansion.

This kind of thing, Song Zhengwei and other small countries have not happened once or twice, and many exiled monarchs are living examples.

If this kind of thing was three hundred years ago, he would ask Zhou Tianzi for this kind of thing, and Zhou Tianzi would naturally announce to the world that the princes would send troops to maintain the etiquette system.

But now Zhou Tianzi himself is difficult to protect, nominally respecting Zhou Tianzi's three Jins, and because the Chu people are unable to easily meddle in the affairs of the Song State this time Shangqiu Chengmeng.

After Zitian thought about it, he also understood the advantages and disadvantages of this matter.

Yu You, as long as he abides by the law and the things agreed upon by the Inquiry Yuan, then his position as the Duke of Song is unshakable.

The people of the country originally had the power to abolish the monarch, and although the issue of inheritance could only be within the clan, it was easy to find a person within the clan who was willing to be the law.

The advantage is that the rest of the nobles are unlikely to get involved, and there is no possibility of getting involved: the coup must be approved by the people of Shangqiu, and now the people of Shangqiu have been clamored by the Mohists, and will only recognize the law.

is inferior, that is, you can only be a symbol of the Song Kingdom, and you can't do anything you want to do. You can't easily raise taxes, you can't go to war easily, and even in the future, you need to take out money from your own money to hire people.

This is an almost unacceptable condition for the monarch of a large country.

But at this time, Song Gong, even if he was resentful and dissatisfied, was not unacceptable.

In the war with foreign countries, Zitian, who was originally ambitious, had been thoroughly educated and sobered up by the Chu people: the surrounding countries such as Zheng, Chu, and Sanjin could not be defeated at all.

Originally, before ascending the throne, Zitian despised his father, believing that it was impossible to restore the hegemony of Xianggong.

When he really ascended the throne and really faced the conspiracy of the aristocracy, the dissatisfaction of the people, and the siege of the big country, Zitian realized that what he could do was not necessarily better than what his father did.

After thinking about it disgruntled for a long time, Zitian finally shook his head, and said in his heart that he should think about how to bargain with the Inquiry Yuan and the Mo family, let his fiefdom be rented out, and provide more wealth and grain every year.

At least the land near Shangqiu had to do this, otherwise it would be impossible for the people above the fiefdom to see the people of Shangqiu without resentment in their hearts.

…………

In the Sicheng Emperor's Mansion, the royal father's family, who had experienced this siege, were even more dissatisfied.

Originally, the emperor's father, Yue Ling, hoped to take advantage of the opportunity of the siege of the Chu people to invite the three Jin to help, and then gain the recognition of the people with the help of this feat, and then seize the judicial power from Zitian, so as to prepare for the usurpation.

It's just that the appearance of the Mo family made the plan of the emperor's father Yue Ling completely bankrupt: before the Three Jin Dynasty sent troops, the Chu people were defeated, and now the people in the city only know the Mo family, but they have no chance to know that the imperial father's family can invite the Three Jin Dynasty to help.

Now that the wood has been completed, even if the covenant has been completed, the fiefdom of the nobles will not be moved within ten years, and the official responsibilities of the nobles will not be lightly moved, but compared to the dream of the Sicheng family, it is much worse after all.

Once the covenant is successful, the Sicheng Emperor clan knows that unless the inheritance is changed, there is no possibility for their clan to ascend to the throne.

Although his own branch is separated from Dai Gong, if he has a clan, it can be regarded as a separate family, and it has nothing to do with the office.

With this inheritance law at this time, even if the Chinese expelled the Duke of Song, they could only elect one person from the office to take the throne, and foreign surnames were not qualified to interfere.

The emperor's father Zang frowned sadly, and only laughed at himself after a while: "Now it seems that the Mo family's method of choosing the Son of Heaven may not be bad. If the Son of Heaven is chosen, why can't Song Jun choose? ”

"If you choose, you must be famous, and our clan is still possible. Now that the matter of consulting the government has been completed, I am afraid that it is difficult to make a difference. ”

The emperor's father, Yue Ling, was looking through some Mo family papers, and when he heard his father say this, he got up and said, "That's not the case." I look at the truth of the Mo family, but I am afraid that this inquiry will be completed, and the major affairs of the Song State will belong to the inquiry Yuan, but the political affairs must always belong to Ling Yin, who was elected by the Inquiry Yuan. ”

"And Ling Yin's choice can only be chosen from the Gentlemen's Court, and non-nobles are not allowed to do anything. Does my father know about Zhou's official affairs back then? Do you know what happened to the Republican back then? ”

Imperial Father Zang nodded and said, "Naturally, I know." The regent is under the king, but the decrees are all issued by the Duke of Zhou and the Gongbo. ”

Imperial Father Yue Ling waved his hand and said, "That's right." The Duke of Zhou became the king, and after the establishment of the Song Xun Political Yuan, it was nothing more than that. It is dated by the name of the Zitian year, but the decrees are all issued from the order of the Inquiry Yuan. So who is the real Song Gong? ”

After he finished speaking, the imperial father Zang pondered for a while, and if he realized, the imperial father Yue Ling said again: "Da Yin and others, I'm afraid that we won't agree to our clan as the order of the government court, and in the Junzi Courtyard, we can't compare to them." But what about the common people's house? This is a force that can be borrowed. ”

"The common people's court is only afraid to listen to the words of the Mo family. What do the Mo family want? This is an exchange that can be considered. ”