Chapter 324

"Yes." Cheng Ze said.

"Let me guess: you did not participate in the nobles' siege of the city not long ago." Zhuge Liang said.

"The Prime Minister is as wise as a god; neither I nor my father participated." Cheng Ze said.

"Hmm." Zhuge Liang nodded: "You came to find me; are you acting as a lobbyist for them?"

Cheng Ze couldn't help but be shocked when he heard this.

He thought this Prime Minister Zhuge was truly like a god; how did he know everything?

"The Prime Minister is right; I am here to pass on a message for Prime Minister Feng."

Cheng Ze said.

"Is it Feng Feng Qiji? Is he a distant relative of your Cheng family?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"You are truly a god; you guessed it completely!" Cheng Ze showed a look of admiration.

"Feng Feng Qiji mixed with people like Wei Pao, and his close relatives would also participate in it just like him."

"So your Cheng family should be a distant relative of his."

Zhuge Liang said.

"Although we are distant relatives, Prime Minister Feng Feng Qiji once invited us to oppose the imperial court together with them. However, my father refused."

"Because my father broke his foot and it was inconvenient to move."

Cheng Ze said.

"I guess your father’s foot wasn't really broken, right?" Zhuge Liang said indifferently.

"This... it wasn't broken, but it was very painful..." Cheng Ze showed an awkward expression.

"Let's not talk about these; whether your father’s foot was really broken or fake has nothing to do with me."

"Now let's talk about the business; what message did Feng Feng Qiji ask you to pass on?"

Zhuge Liang asked.

"Prime Minister, the message I want to pass on is not just Prime Minister Feng’s meaning, but also that of General Meng, several princes, and Lord Wei, etc."

"However, I am just a messenger; their opinions have nothing to do with me or my father."

[Requesting flowers]

Cheng Ze said.

"Don't worry, I won't blame the messenger. Say everything you have to say; don't have any reservations." Zhuge Liang said.

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister Feng asked me to bring you a message, saying they are willing to negotiate. As long as the imperial court agrees to reduce the tax to fifty percent, this disturbance can be quelled." Cheng Ze said.

"Heh heh..." Zhuge Liang said: "Do you think that is possible?"

"I personally feel it is not very possible!" Cheng Ze said: "But Prime Minister Feng and the others did indeed tell me that."

"Forget about fifty-fifty; if the Emperor only collected seventy percent of their taxes, the vast majority of them would pay honestly!"

"It is precisely because the Emperor didn't even give the nobles thirty percent but only ten percent that this disturbance of the nobles stirring up trouble occurred."

"So Feng Feng Qiji and the others are simply indulging in wishful thinking, and sending you here is just a waste of your time and mine!"

Zhuge Liang said.

"My lord, they are just asking for an exorbitant price to be in a favorable position during negotiations."

"Their main purpose in letting me come is to sit down and talk with the imperial court; if the imperial court is willing, both sides can set a time and place to talk. I think it is possible to negotiate for an eighty percent tax!"

Cheng Ze said.

"Eighty percent is also impossible!" Zhuge Liang shook his head: "Do you know why the Emperor wants to collect ninety percent in taxes?"

"This... I don't know." Cheng Ze said.

"The Emperor believes that those nobles possess a large amount of land, but they can obtain a large amount of benefits without doing anything."

"And the peasants work hard, but in the end, they can't even get enough to eat."

"The Emperor believes this is unfair and not conducive to the development of our Great Qin."

"So he wants to change all of this and will not allow those nobles to suck the blood of the common people!"

Zhuge Liang said.

"The Emperor’s words make sense, but not all nobles are blood-sucking waste!" Cheng Ze said.

Zhuge Liang glanced at Cheng Ze, then said indifferently: "Of course the Emperor knows this; otherwise, he would have wiped out all the nobles long ago; how could he allow them to act recklessly?"

"Prime Minister, I believe we should not push the nobles too hard, otherwise it will be disadvantageous to Great Qin and the Emperor!" Cheng Ze said.

"Oh, tell me, how is it disadvantageous?" Zhuge Liang asked.

175. Vicious Plan

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister Feng and General Meng are currently leading a great army and have retreated to defend within Huashan."

"Although they were defeated, their strength cannot be underestimated; the total number of troops, roughly calculated, is still nearly a million."

"Prime Minister Feng and the others believe they still have the strength to fight; if the imperial court pushes them to a dead end, they will perish together with Great Qin!"

Cheng Ze said.

"Perish together? How to perish together?" Zhuge Liang laughed.

"Prime Minister Feng said that although General Li Li Yuanba is powerful, they will just avoid General Li."

"When they see where General Li is, they will immediately leave and go to attack other cities."

"Not just cities, they will also attack small villages and towns; it can be said that they will kill everyone they see and leave after killing!"

"In this way, Great Qin will inevitably suffer a great loss of vitality. If less than one in ten of the Great Qin subjects survive, then how will the Emperor govern this country?"

Cheng Ze said.

"What a vicious approach!" Zhuge Liang said angrily.

If Feng Feng Qiji and the others really did this, it would indeed be very troublesome.

Currently, the imperial court is strong in two points: the divine general Li Li Yuanba and the possession of cannons.

But if the other side does not confront the imperial court directly but burns, kills, and plunders everywhere, then the imperial court would be in a very difficult position.

"Prime Minister, they are already at the end of their rope; if things go wrong, they might really do this!" Cheng Ze said.

Zhuge Liang stood up and paced back and forth in the room for a while.

After half a stick of incense, Zhuge Liang stopped his pace.

"Go back and tell them that I cannot make the decision on the tax issue. The Emperor has not returned yet; after the Emperor returns, I will report to the Emperor. At that time, whether to talk or fight will be entirely up to the Emperor!"

Zhuge Liang said.

"Okay, I will go back and tell them immediately!" Cheng Ze said.

"Wait, there is one more thing I want to tell you." Zhuge Liang called out to Cheng Ze, who was about to leave.

"Please speak, Prime Minister." Cheng Ze said.

"The Emperor does not intend to wipe out the nobles; he just doesn't want the incompetent nobles to suck the blood of Great Qin and the blood of the common people."

"So capable nobles will also be reused."

"In the future, the Emperor plans to establish an examination system; no matter who it is, as long as they pass the examination, they can become an official."

"Those with particularly excellent results may even have their taxes reduced or exempted!"

"Additionally, I heard the Emperor say that this policy is prepared to be implemented among the nobles first, and then it will be targeted at everyone in Great Qin."

Zhuge Liang said.

Selecting talent through the imperial examination was something Ying Su had long wanted to do.

It was just that there were too many important things a while ago, so it was delayed again and again and not implemented.

And now, Zhuge Liang believed the time was ripe.

So he revealed the news to Cheng Ze.

On one hand, he felt this young man Cheng Ze was good and could let him serve the imperial court.

On the other hand, he also wanted to take the opportunity to divide and disintegrate the nobles.

Although most noble children were parasites, there were also many excellent talents.

The saying that dragons beget dragons and phoenixes beget phoenixes had some truth to it.

If the older generation was excellent, then the children would also inherit a portion of the excellent genes.

Plus, nobles didn't have to engage in labor and had a large amount of free time that could be used for learning.

Therefore, there were not a few people with talent among the nobles.

If these people were all straw bags, it wouldn't have given Ying Su such a headache.

It was precisely because some of these people were very strong that they became the imperial court’s number one enemy at present.