Xiaohuangmen came up to change the tea, and Zhao Zhen said: "Tribute tea a year ago, knowing that Yu Jing of Taiping Prefecture followed the tea on the "Tea Theory", and said the benefits of Yongzhou new tea. It is said that Lingnan is hot, if you brew a cup of strong tea, you will be refreshed and the heat will disappear. Moreover, the new tea is easy to brew and labor-saving to make, which is not comparable to the previous inferior loose tea. ”

Zhang Shixun said: "I have also drunk the tea in Yongzhou, and the taste is acceptable." However, they are all loose vegetables, which are laborious and expensive to transport. Now the group tea is often piled up in the tea field, rat rodent bites, loose tea, that is still available? ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Gong Yin doesn't know, Yongzhou also has cake tea like group tea, which is extremely resistant to storage and will not be bad for many years." There is trade with Dali and Tubo and other places, and tea is used for horses, all of which are cake and tea, which is extremely convenient. ”

Zhang Shixun was an old minister of the East Palace when Zhao Zhen was the crown prince, and his affection was not comparable to others, in order to show his closeness, Zhao Zhen has always used the old name of the year. This is also the reason why Prime Minister Lu Yijian is sitting here, Zhang Shixun still rushes to speak, and others do not feel abnormal, which is also the reason why Lu Yijian does not say anything and feels uncomfortable in his heart.

Listening to Zhao Zhen has been talking about the benefits of Yongzhou tea, where does Zhang Shixun still not know what he means? The reason why Xu Ping has always disagreed to directly change the tea method to the first year of Tiansheng is based on the success of the Yongzhou tea law. Otherwise, how could he, a lightly experienced deputy envoy of salt and iron, withstand the pressure of so many ministers?

The more Zhao Zhen supported Xu Ping, the more disgusted these old ministers were. Now all the systems of the imperial court are set in their hands, and they are already very familiar with them, and they feel easy to handle political affairs. If there is a large-scale change of course, it will be troublesome and awkward for the gray-haired people to become familiar with the new system. Not to mention, if it is to be changed, it will show that the previous system is flawed, and it is in itself a negation of the achievements of these old ministers.

The deep-seated reason is that from the founding of Taizu to the completion of Taizong's unification of the world, and then to several defeats against the Khitan, the whole country has entered a state of recuperation. Although the imperial court advertised Confucian governance, in fact, the ruling ideology was Taoist quiet and inaction, which reached its peak in the Zhenzong period.

Politics has inertia, and now that Zhao Zhenfu is in power, he will change this and that, and the ruling minister will not adapt to it, and he will oppose it out of instinct. The other young Zhuang factions are just talking and playing tricks, but Xu Ping is here to be serious, the money law must be changed, the tea law must also be changed, and it must be changed to be different from before, which one will give him a good face!

Seeing that Zhang Shixun was holding back, he didn't know that Xu Ping had also made large tea bricks in Yongzhou, which were specially sold to Dali and Tubo, and made a lot of profits, so Lu Yijian took over the conversation.

"Yongzhou is located in Lingnan, and the geographical weather is very different from that of the Central Plains, and the tea method is naturally different. Today's deliberations in the palace are supposed to discuss the current southeast tea law and eliminate the disadvantages of the times. Let's put down Yongzhou and talk about the two Huai tea fields. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Okay, let's discuss the tea method." ”

Xu Ping just returned to his seat and sat down, when he heard the tea method, he was in charge of himself, and he was busy standing up to explain.

But I heard Lu Yijian say: "Since the first emperor was there, Ding Wei supported Lin Te's reform of the tea method, but the old disadvantages did not disappear, and the new disadvantages were born. In a few years, there were many internal and external complaints, businessmen were incompatible, old tea was piled up in the officialdom, and the gardeners had no food and clothing, and it was difficult to survive! ”

Speaking of this, Lu Yijian glanced at Kou Yang and Xu Ping, who were sitting together, as if unintentionally.

Xu Ping's heart sank, back then, Ding Wei was the third envoy, Lin Te was the deputy envoy of salt and iron, Lu Yijian meant something!

Without waiting for Xu Ping to speak, Lu Yijian said: "In the first year of the Heavenly Sage, because the tea law was unsustainable, the Holy Decree ordered Weichen and Zhang Xianggong to take advantage of each other, and set up a system to change the tea law and salt alum taxes. Li Shi was the third envoy at that time, presiding over the matter, changing the original "three sayings" of the tea law to the "cash method", and practicing the "sticking method" in the southeast tea field. In one year, the number of money saved and increased increased to more than 6.5 million, the border grain and grass storage, before the new tea in some states and counties less than a year, after the implementation of the new law, the general state and county storage is enough for four years, less can also support more than two years, the effect is remarkable! ”

As soon as Lu Yijian's words came out, the Chongzheng Hall was silent for a while.

At that time, there were two prime ministers who supported the new tea law, as well as the privy deputy envoy Li Zhi. As for the other people, the governor of the political affairs chapter seems to be Lu Yijian's person, Han Yi in the imperial history and Sun Zude of the prefect's court came to observe, but it was just to comfort the hearts of the Taiwan counselors who were hit by the abolition of the matter, so that they would not talk nonsense after the new law was issued.

As for the privy envoy Wang Zeng, who has nothing to do with the tea law, although Cai Qi, the governor of the council, has also served as the third envoy, he has not caught up with the reform of the tea law in office, so he is considered an unrelated person.

The person who abolished the Li Shi Tea Law in the third year of the Heavenly Sage, Sun Zheng was extremely trusted by Zhao Zhen, but he had passed away, and the other was Xia Zhu, who was now demoted, and even Lu Yijian didn't want to provoke him now.

In addition to these two people, the minister with the highest status who supports the "three statements" is Kou Ying.

At that time, Li Zhi changed the tea law, and it was indeed because the Lint tea method had many drawbacks. The problem is that the Li Shi tea method is not perfect, and two or three years later, it will be chaotic. Because of the expenditure of too much copper money, the treasury in the capital was empty, and the tea field carried out the "sticking method", and all the good tea belonged to the merchants, leaving the government that no one wanted, and pasting the money in vain.

Lu Yijian only said when he made the most profits in the first year, and skipped it when he lost money later.

But now everyone in the hall, although they know it, who can stand up and refute Lu Yijian?

Zhao Zhen sat on it and looked at the situation below with some embarrassment. He supports Xu Ping's idea, but if there is no minister who stands up, how can he speak? Zhao Zhen doesn't have that courage yet.

"The tea method in the first year of Tiansheng is indeed very profitable and has achieved remarkable results. However, as far as I know, the reason why there is such a considerable effect is not all because of the credit of the tea method, but more because of the old exchange quotation and the discount exchange. When the old exchange is completed, the profit will drop sharply in the second year, and it will be unprofitable after two or three years. ”

Wang Zeng's face was kind, and he looked at Lu Yijian and said slowly.

When Lu Yijian heard this, he turned his head to look at Wang Zeng suddenly, but he didn't expect that it was his old boss who refuted him. Although he is the same age, Wang Zeng's qualifications are older than Lu Yijian, and he is a privy envoy at this time, although he is said to be a head lower than the prime minister, but Wang Zeng is in charge of the Privy Council as an envoy, and he still has the same Zhongshu as a subordinate of the Privy Council, and his status is not much lower.

Seeing Lu Yijian looking at him, Wang Zeng's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded to him and said, "Tanfu, today's discussion of the tea law is very important, and the pros and cons must be explained clearly, and a proper strategy must be found." Otherwise, it will not only be inconvenient for the people, but also at a loss for the border states and counties, and it will also harm the credibility of the imperial court decrees. ”

Lu Yijian looked at Wang Zeng for a while, took a deep breath secretly, and nodded: "What the cardinal minister said is true, I was reckless, and the tea method still needs to be detailed, and it must be foolproof if it is changed this time." ”

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at the privy deputy envoy Li Shi: "Li Shi, you presided over the reform of the tea law back then, between the pros and cons, you should have seen it clearly for so many years, what do you say?" ”

Zhao Zhen looked at it coldly, and when he saw that Lu Yijian bypassed the third division and still let Li Shi speak, he felt a little unhappy. The reform of the tea law in the first year of Tiansheng achieved remarkable results in the first year, when Zhao Zhen was young and did not understand the affairs of the imperial court, only a sharp spirit, and specially asked the three divisions to unveil the list to the merchants, saying that this tea law will not change in the future. I didn't expect that after three years, I would have to let Sun Zheng and Xia Zhu be abolished, which made me so embarrassed, and Lu Yijian is here again now.

The conscience of heaven and earth, Li Shi really did not collude with Lu Yijian and Zhang Shixun, he cared about the tea law purely because of the consciousness of a ruling minister, seeing that there are many disadvantages now, he has to change it, and he has no other thoughts at all.

Seeing that Lu Yijian called himself, Li Shi got up and bowed his hand, and said thoughtfully: "What the cardinal minister said just now is indeed the truth. In the first year of Tiansheng, because of poor consideration, there were many drawbacks. Over the years, I have been paying attention to this matter, and I have a solution to the shortcomings of the year. ”

After that, we talked eloquently, from increasing the proportion of merchants' profits, to encouraging businessmen to bring money into Beijing, and even if the capital is not enough, you can owe it on credit, pay half of the money when you pay it after mutual insurance, repay it after half a year, and double it after the deadline.

From Li Shi's words, it can be seen that he was really thoughtful, and he did not re-turn the measures he took back then to deal with things and sell his reputation.

In the end, Li Shi said: "In the trip to the tea law, it was the tea merchants who sold tea, and the merchants who entered the middle along the border grain and grass relied on the middle merchants, but they were all in other places, and they were not familiar with the geography of Beijing, and they were all exploited by the merchants in the capital over the years. Merchants were reluctant to sell tea in China because the interest rate was too low, and a large part of the profit was taken away by the traffic shop in Beijing, and it was not entered into the government. Most of these shops in the capital are attached to the families of the powerful in the imperial court, and they are really moths in the tea law! From now on, the merchants who enter the Chinese government will no longer use the guarantee of the transfer shop to the Beijing Division, and go directly to the goods to verify the facts, and give cash according to the delivery. Give the profits of the useless people to the merchants who enter the business, and make them willing to do the business! ”

Hearing this, Xu Ping's heart moved, and he couldn't help but think of the experience Xu Chang had told him about dealing with Jiaoyinpu. Those people were extremely poor and luxurious, and they didn't know how much money they had grabbed from this tea trade and how many people in the capital had fed. Li Zhi is right, those people are the moths of the tea method, in fact, not only that, it should be said that they are abscesses raised under the entire Great Song Dynasty monopoly system, absorbing the nutrients of the court and the people, and eroding the entire organism.

It's just that I didn't expect that it was Li Shi who punctured this abscess, and this thing is getting more and more interesting. (To be continued.) )