When Zhao Xu arrived at the Qingshou Palace, he immediately discovered that the Empress Dowager's face was obviously very bad.

Just when she saw him coming, she forced a smile: "The officials are here..."

"The great mother is well." Zhao Xu stepped forward and saluted: "The queen is well."

"The official family has finally arrived..." When the Empress Dowager saw Zhao Xu, she couldn't help but say, "Something has happened to the court again!"

For the Empress Dowager, this April left a deep impression on her.

First, Zhang Dun won a great victory in the southern expedition, Jiaozhi surrendered, and the two countries negotiated peace terms, which fully satisfied the face of the Empress Dowager.

Just when she thought she could spend her birthday comfortably.

Things that made her angry happened one after another.

First, Wang Zhongxiu, Wang Gui's son, had an affair with a prostitute while observing his filial piety, which caused an uproar.

After finally calming down, Wu Anchi, the son of the former prime minister, came to commit murder in the street, causing a disturbance in the middle of the court, causing the crows at the Yushitai to chirp for several days.

It hasn't calmed down here yet, but another case of Zhang Chengyi robbing his father's tomb popped up over there.

It made the Empress Dowager feel that these people were all here for her.

I just don’t want her to have a comfortable birthday!

Now, we have encountered the case of Li Zong on Zizhou Road.

The Queen Mother just felt tired.

I just want to celebrate my birthday happily, is it so difficult?

But it’s impossible not to deal with these things.

Especially the Li Zong case, both the Central Committee and the government and the public are keeping an eye on this matter!

"It's all Wang Anshi's fault!" The Empress Dowager couldn't help complaining in her heart.

In her opinion, if Wang Anshi hadn't instigated and deceived the late emperor to violate the ancestral laws, how could there have been so many unpleasant things?

The world has long been at peace.

Zhao Xu nodded: "Replying to my mother-in-law, Sun Chen read the file before coming here."

"What do the officials think?" asked the Empress Dowager.

"Reporting to my mother-in-law, Sun Chen remembered that Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said: Water can carry a boat but it can also capsize it."

"Since Yushitai said that many of the disadvantages of Zizhou Road originated from Li Zong, the Deputy Transport Envoy, in this case, Li Zong can no longer stay on Zizhou Road no matter what."

The two palaces listened and nodded.

This is a very reasonable choice.

After all, Li Zong is now, strictly speaking, being impeached.

The evidence of his crimes and crimes are only told by the crows at the Yushitai.

Theoretically, the imperial court neither knew nor grasped the relevant facts of the case.

Therefore, investigation is required.

During this process, it is a normal process to transfer Li Zong away and conduct an off-site review.

After all, he is a scholar-official!

Be decent!

In the Song Dynasty, civil servants became high-ranking officials at the level of envoys.

They already enjoy numerous preferential treatment in politics.

To put it bluntly, even if they are in jail, they are still different from others.

For example, when Su Shi was in prison for so many years, during the most miserable period, he did not miss out on eating and drinking, and even drank and had fun with his friends.

His suffering is only relative to that of him before the training.

This is the Song Dynasty.

A feudal dynasty that ruled the world together with scholar-bureaucrats!

"Your Majesty, not long ago, didn't the capital say that there was a vacancy in Jizhou? So they transferred Li Zong to the post of magistrate of Jizhou and ordered him to stay in the palace and be on standby?" Empress Dowager Xiang thought about it and said to the Empress Dowager.

"That's fine!" The Queen Mother nodded: "Let's do it this way."

"But, what should we do about the Zizhou Road matter?" asked the Empress Dowager.

Zhao Xu replied: "For the present plan, we can only send a capable minister and an honest official to Zizhou to investigate and appease the people."

After thinking for a while, Zhao Xu continued: "If the imperial court can, it would be best to exempt Zizhou from taxes..."

His experience of studying abroad in modern times told Zhao Xu a truth - the small-scale peasant economy in feudal society was extremely fragile.

It is common for children to suffer disaster at one year old and starve at three years old.

Moreover, the recovery of the small-scale peasant economy is extremely slow.

What Li Zong did on Zizhou Road must be a huge waste of people's power.

Therefore, Zizhou farmers must be given a chance to breathe.

This is not Zhao Xu’s change of character.

But he knows the importance of this long and thin stream.

The two palaces frowned when they heard this.

Of course they know about tax exemption, but what about money?

The country's annual revenue is so much, and military expenditures consume 60 to 70 percent.

This is because since last year, the peace talks with Dangxiang have reduced military expenditures along the border from their high levels, saving seven to eight million dollars.

But the money saved was swallowed up by other places in the blink of an eye.

Especially the floods in Hebei last year and the drought across the north.

Not only did it eat up the military surplus, but it also affected this year's tax revenue - Hebei, Hedong, Henan and the Yongxing Army were all exempted from taxes.

Therefore, the heads of the two palaces now somewhat know why the late emperor wanted to change the law in the first place.

If the law is not changed, the country's finances will not be able to sustain itself.

Money, money!

Money is needed everywhere.

If it weren't for Jiaozi, and it was related to Beilu, both palaces might have accepted the advice of some courtiers and printed more Jiaozi to solve the current financial crisis.

There was no other way. Empress Dowager Xiang could only hold Zhao Xu's hand and said: "The officials don't know something. Now the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have much money."

The Ministry of Accounts originally had some money.

But in the blink of an eye, the money was already booked on Huainan Road.

That's where you have to spend money.

The disaster in Huainan must be contained!

Otherwise, once the water transportation of the Grand Canal is affected, millions of soldiers and civilians in Bianjing City may go hungry.

So now, not a penny of the money from the Ministry of Accounts can be touched.

They must all be left on Huainan Road just in case.

"If it really doesn't work, we can only use the late emperor's sealing warehouse..." the Empress Dowager sighed.

"No!" Zhao Xu and Queen Mother Xiang said almost in unison.

Queen Mother Xiang naturally felt that all this money was left to her sixth brother by her husband.

Before Sixth Brother takes charge, she, the mother, must keep an eye on her.

She couldn't let her husband's hard-earned family fortune be ruined.

Zhao Xu is even simpler.

This opening cannot be opened.

Because as long as this hole is opened, the money for sealing the pile treasury no longer belongs to him.

The courtiers will, like ants moving, empty out the pile storage in a few years.

That is, it's a bit awkward for mother and son to speak out at the same time.

The Empress Dowager was also stunned for a moment, and then reacted.

She said in her heart: "They are really mother and son!"

Then she looked at Zhao Xu: "As expected of my Zhao family!"

This person who protects wealth as much as his life is indeed her husband's grandson.

As long as I live, I will tightly cover my wallet.

Even a copper plate will not be taken out at will.
To be continued...