amaotonovel Chapter 596 This official is competing with the people for profit? None of you shall live!
Chapter 596 This official is competing with the people for profit? None of you shall live!
"Dengzhou Medical College can spare one hundred doctors to accompany the army."
"These people's methods are a bit rough, but they should still be able to provide first aid on the battlefield."
"As for the corresponding medicines, the Duke of Wei will need to arrange for someone to transport them."
"In addition, the corresponding medicinal materials also need to be sent by the Duke of Wei... Never mind, the Duke of Wei should just have the medicinal materials sent to the army, and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences should also send a few people who know about pharmaceuticals over there."
Yang Shaofeng continued rambling on and on.
This time, it was the turn of Li Shanchang, Yang Siyi, and other civil officials to have their eyes light up.
In particular, Qian Yongren, the Minister of Rites, wished he could simply pack up the entire Dengzhou University and transport it back to the capital.
"And Ningyang County as well."
"The supply of compressed dry rations has never stopped, and the fried noodles have never stopped either."
"We'll have Zhang Wuba and the others fill up some alcohol with a high enough alcohol content later."
"If you are slashed on the battlefield, or suffer any minor superficial wound, washing the wound with alcohol will increase your chances of survival."
"However, the Duke of Wei and the Duke of E must remind the soldiers in the army in advance that they must not drink that stuff, as it can really kill people."
"There are also down jackets. There aren't many of these. You can't make many throughout the year. Duke of Wei, Duke of E, and Vice Commissioner Lan, you guys can divide them up."
"..."
Yang Shaofeng continued rambling on and on, this time it was the Minister of Revenue, Yang Siyi's turn, to say that he wanted to move the entire Ningyang County to the capital.
Just how many treasures are hidden in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture!
Why can't it be done right under my nose!
"By the way, I've also heard that there are large areas of black soil in Liaodong, so fertile that you could squeeze oil out of it with a handful."
"It is said that there are many mineral deposits, such as coal mines and iron mines."
Yang Shaofeng knew of coal mines in Shenyang and Fushun, and iron mines in Anshan.
"It is said that there is a Great Xianbei Mountain, where there is plenty of high-quality timber."
"If the Duke of Wei can really take back the territory from Liaodong to the Onon River and relocate a large number of people there, then at least the resources of our Great Ming for the next few hundred years will be guaranteed."
"..."
Emperor Zhu glanced at Yang Shaofeng and said angrily, "What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean by seizing territory? It's clearly about recovering lost land."
Minister of Rites Qian Yongren also spoke with righteous indignation: "What Your Excellency says is absolutely right. Our Great Ming Dynasty inherited the Han and Tang Dynasties and succeeded the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Under the whole sky, all land belongs to the king, and on the shores of the land, all people are subjects of the king. Whether it is Liaodong or the Onon River, these places originally belonged to our Great Ming Dynasty. So how can there be talk of seizing territory?"
Yang Shaofeng blinked.
I admire you scholars; your hearts are all filthy, yet you still manage to utter words that claim to be righteous and honorable.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was secretly complaining, Emperor Zhu smiled and reached out to pick up several memorials, which he then had Chen Zhong hand over to Yang Shaofeng.
"Look, it's all about impeaching you."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, and unconsciously turned his gaze to Liu Bowen.
Liu Bowen felt a chill run down his spine and waved his hands repeatedly in denial: "Don't look down on me, this matter has nothing to do with me. No one in the Censorate would impeach the Prince Consort for such a trivial matter as competing with the people for profit."
Our Censorate is very particular about how we handle things. Usually, we would only impeach you, Yang the Madman, for crimes such as doing nothing right, being extravagant, oppressing envoys, and beating and scolding the people.
At most, they would be charged with crimes like audacity and deceit.
Who the hell would be so stupid as to impeach you for competing with the people for profit?
Seeing that Liu Bowen's expression didn't seem fake, Yang Shaofeng was even more confused.
Competing with the people for profit?
I?
No.
Is this official competing with the people for profit?
Yang Shaofeng opened a memorial with suspicion.
"Impeach the son-in-law, Prefect Yang of Dengzhou, for building salt fields but not allowing the people to produce salt themselves, and for searching for mineral deposits but not allowing the people to mine them."
After reading through several memorials and finding that the contents were largely the same, Yang Shaofeng simply smiled and closed the memorials.
Liu Bowen glanced at Yang Shaofeng, stroked his beard, and asked, "Your Highness, how are you feeling?"
Yang Shaofeng curled his lip and sneered, "They're just parroting what others have said; there's nothing new about them. If they could just say something like 'prioritizing the essential over the trivial, greatly benefiting agriculture,' I might think more highly of them."
Liu Bowen rolled his eyes and said, "If they can say 'the treasury is empty and the defenses are lacking,' how can they not know the principle that 'the treasury is empty and the defenses are lacking, leaving the soldiers guarding the borders hungry and cold, how will they be fed?'"
Lan Yu blinked and asked, "What does 'prioritizing the essentials and neglecting the trivial, benefiting agriculture' mean? Why is this statement worth giving them any special consideration?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce and industry means emphasizing farming and suppressing industry and commerce."
"But there is another sentence before these eight characters: We wish to abolish the salt, iron, and wine monopolies and equalize the transportation system."
"What Cheng Yibo said about the empty treasury and lack of supplies for defense, leaving the soldiers guarding the borders hungry and cold, is a rhetorical question posed by Sang Hongyang, the Imperial Censor of the Han Dynasty, regarding the issue of prioritizing agriculture over other industries."
"Simply put, the problem is: the country has no money, it can't settle its people domestically, and it can't defend against enemies externally. What will happen if chaos breaks out?"
To put it more bluntly: Who collects taxes? From whom are taxes collected? How are taxes collected?
As soon as Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the expressions of all the civil and military officials present changed, and the entire Qianqing Palace fell into an eerily quiet silence once again.
Of the civil and military officials present, apart from Chang Yuchun and Lan Yu, who were from outlaw backgrounds and had not read "Discourses on Salt and Iron," the rest, such as Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and even Xu Da, had all read it.
While secretly relieved that no one in the Censorate had impeached Yang Shaofeng for "competing with the people for profit," Liu Bowen was also troubled by Yang Shaofeng's recklessness and ruthlessness.
Since everyone here is a scholar, if someone impeaches you for competing with the people for profit, you can counter with the same questions raised by Sang Hongyang. This can be considered a battle of wits.
But you come up here and immediately flip the table, skipping over the surface and going straight to the essence. This is no longer a battle of wits or a battle of wits; this is a damn attempt to kill someone!
But Yang Shaofeng showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he continued, "What they impeach is never the officials competing with the people for profit. What they impeach is the officials competing with them for profit. They impeach the salt and iron monopolies that are not under their own control."
"So, who exactly wants to loosen the salt and iron monopoly, leaving the imperial court and government with no taxes to collect and no money to use?"
"Do they mean the millions of ordinary people under heaven, or themselves, when they talk about the people?"
"Are they hoping for the court to collapse, the people to wail, and foreign tribes to be free, so that they can run rampant across the land?"