Chapter 580 Special Industry!

Hearing the answer given by Murong Lun, Lin Shize's face immediately darkened. He had carefully prepared for this imperial meeting, in order to take advantage of the opportunity that Jiang Guang was supervising the battle in Jianmen and Duke Chengguo Zhao Yuanan was unable to handle the situation alone, to force the young emperor Jiang Rui to agree to Sun Liangyu's entry into Shu...

Although Jiang Rui is now just a decoration and a mascot in the court during the southern tour, he is the emperor of the Great Zhou after all, the nominal ruler of the world, and the emperor's words are golden, so as long as he can force Jiang Rui to nod on this issue, he can use this as an excuse to thoroughly promote Sun Liangyu's entry into Shu.

Before today, although Lin Shize did not think that Murong Lun was a member of his faction, he also did not think that Murong Lun was Jiang Guang's man. Moreover, Lin Shize also artificially thought that Murong Lun had a close connection with his side compared to Jiang Guang, so his political stance would most likely lean towards his side.

It was for this reason that he was confident that he could rely on his numerical advantage in the cabinet to force the young emperor Jiang Rui to submit. However, Murong Lun's ambiguous attitude just now completely thwarted his plan, which also made the 70-year-old prime minister extremely angry.

After taking a deep look at Murong Lun, Lin Shize changed the subject and said:
"Minister Murong, I heard that your son has resigned from the Ministry of War?"

Hearing Lin Shize mention this matter, Murong Lun remained calm on the surface, but his heart was also moved. Just when he wanted to say something, Lin Shize's old hand patted him on the shoulder and said lightly:
"It's bitterly cold in the north, Minister Murong, please be careful!"

·························
·························
Yijing, Gu Mansion

"Master, we're home!"

The old servant pulled open the door curtain of the carriage and said to Gu Zhongshi who was sleeping inside:
Hearing the old servant's voice, Gu Zhongshi in the carriage slowly woke up. Realizing that he had arrived home, he slowly got off the carriage with the help of the old servant and stepped on the stone bricks of his home. Gu Zhongshi looked back at the carriage and whispered to himself:

"This Second Manufacturing Bureau is really useful. The carriages they make are much more stable than before!"

Although he was only the deputy governor, because Youyan was in a state of disrepair, Ye Mingsheng launched a series of plans to benefit the people, such as promoting the use of fertilizers, developing water conservancy projects, and building roads. Therefore, the governor's workload was very heavy recently.

Therefore, the old and frail Gu Zhongshi has been a little exhausted recently. He always drags his tired body home, eats a meal, washes up and then goes to bed. However, today is a little different. Just when Gu Zhongshi and his wife Liu finished their meal and were about to rest for tomorrow's work, Liu said with a twinkling look in her eyes:
"Zhongshi, Shoude has come to Yijing and said he has something to tell you..."

After saying this, he was exhausted physically and mentally. He was stunned for a moment, then gradually reacted and said in a deep voice:

"What trouble has this brat made again?"

Shoude mentioned by Liu is Gu Zhongshi's eldest son, Gu Shouting's elder brother, Gu Shoude. Although according to feudal etiquette, Gu Shoude, as the eldest son, is the future heir of the Gu family, he is stupid, indulges in drinking, whoring and gambling, and often uses the family name to stir up trouble. He is a complete playboy.

Therefore, Gu Shoude has always been disliked by Gu Zhongshi. This time when Gu Zhongshi came back to serve as deputy governor, he did not bring Gu Shoude with him, but left Gu Shoude in his hometown of Yuyang, because he was worried that Gu Shoude had caused trouble for him.

And now Gu Shoude doesn't stay at home obediently, but comes to Yijing to find him. It is very likely that he has done something wrong again and needs his father to clean up the mess for him!
After hearing what Gu Zhongshi said, Liu, as a mother, hurriedly tried to smooth things over and said:

"Shou De is not as bad as you say, but he must have encountered some troubles this time. You should talk to him properly later. Shou De is your eldest son. Don't be angry with him all the time. It's not good for your health!"

Hearing this, Gu Zhongshi sighed and felt a little helpless, but after all, Gu Shoude was his eldest son. Although he, as a father, couldn't stand it and saw that he acted like a dandy and lazy boy all day long, he still had to help him. He waved his hand and after getting the signal, Liu hurried to find Gu Shoude...
After a cup of tea, a middle-aged man who was a little fat but looked a bit like Gu Zhongshi came to Gu Jianzhong cautiously. This man was Gu Shouting's elder brother Gu Shoude. Seeing Gu Shoude's timid look, Gu Zhongshi snorted in dissatisfaction and said:
"Your Majesty!"

Gu Shoude trembled when he heard this, but he still knelt down in front of Gu Zhongshi obediently. Seeing this, Gu Zhongshi said coldly:
"Tell me! What trouble have you gotten yourself into again!"

Gu Shoude, who was kneeling on the ground, said with some grievance after hearing this;
"Dad, I really haven't done anything during this period. I just stayed at home and listened to your advice and studied, but..."

Just as Gu Shoude was hesitating about how to start speaking, he heard Gu Zhongshi's cold voice.

"Why are you here when you were studying at home? Stop talking nonsense and tell me what's going on!"

Hearing that his father didn't believe him, Gu Shoude's eyes flashed with grievance, but he could only continue to say:
"I just got the news that Zhao Sheng was arrested by the Coordination Office, and all his businesses were also sealed up by the Coordination Office!" Gu Zhongshi's eyes immediately became fierce when he heard the words "Zhao Sheng" and "Coordination Office" from Gu Shoude. He kicked Gu Shoude, who was kneeling on the ground, and angrily shouted:
"Didn't I tell you not to have any contact with this scoundrel? Did you go out to gamble again?"

A few years ago, Gu Shoude was addicted to gambling and often lost hundreds of taels of silver in one night. Although the Gu family was wealthy, they could not afford Gu Shoude's extravagance. So in order to make Gu Shoude quit gambling, Gu Zhongshi cut off his source of income. However, he did not expect that Gu Shoude would actually go to others to borrow money for gambling and signed a gambling debt of up to thousands of taels.

In the end, this gambling debt was repaid by Zhao Sheng, and his purpose in doing so was very simple, that is, he hoped that Gu Zhongshi, the then deputy provincial governor, would help him settle the lawsuit. Gu Zhongshi was naturally unwilling to do so. Although he was not a good official, he was more or less careful about his reputation. Zhao Sheng was notorious, and helping him to settle the lawsuit would bring many negative effects...

In addition, Gu Zhongshi also looked down on Zhao Sheng, a ruffian, so instead of agreeing to Zhao Sheng's request, he planned to arrest Zhao Sheng. This way, Gu Shoude would not have to pay off his gambling debts, and he could also gain credit by arresting Zhao Sheng!
However, just when Gu Zhongshi was preparing to kill two birds with one stone, what he didn't expect was that Zhao Sheng was able to thrive so well in Yijing and was very resourceful. Not only did he receive the news in advance and evade Gu Zhongshi's arrest, he also mobilized many people to greet Gu Zhongshi, and among them were members of the Zhao family!
At that time in Youyan under the rule of Zhao Fuqu, the Zhao family could be said to be the royal family. If you used the name of the Zhao family, even if you committed a crime and destroyed someone's family, the officials would not dare to do anything to you. It was precisely because of their fear of the Zhao family, and because Gu Zhongshi at that time was obsessed with climbing up the ladder and becoming the Liaoyang Censor, and did not want to make a big deal out of it, so he eventually rescinded his decision and helped Zhao Sheng settle his lawsuit.

Although he finally chose to compromise, Gu Zhongshi was still angry. After that incident, he severely taught Gu Shoude a lesson, confined him to his home for half a year, and severely warned Gu Shoude not to have any contact with Zhao Sheng again.

And now Gu Shoude mentioned this person again, which undoubtedly meant that he turned a deaf ear to his words. It was just talk!
Feeling his father's thunderous anger, Gu Shoude was also very afraid and said timidly:
"I don't have much involvement with him. I just take care of his business in Yuyang..."

When saying these words, the grievance in Gu Shoude's expression was almost beyond words. Because he had a history of gambling addiction, in order to prevent him from relapsing into his old ways, Gu Zhongshi only gave him twenty taels of silver a month for living expenses. For an ordinary family, twenty taels of silver was a considerable sum of money, which could allow a family to live comfortably and wealthy for a year without having to worry about their livelihood!

But for a dandy like Gu Shoude, it was simply a disaster, and it was not enough for his expenses. So when he saw that he could not get money from the family, he had a crooked idea, threw his father's warning behind his back, and once again became involved with Zhao Sheng. Gu Shoude used the family's influence in Yuyang to take care of Zhao Sheng's industry in Yuyang, and thus obtained shares in Zhao Sheng's industry. With this, not only did Gu Shoude's expenses meet, but he also made a lot of money!

Looking at the aggrieved Gu Shoude, Gu Zhongshi temporarily suppressed the order in his heart and pointed at Gu Shoude's nose and said:

"What business of Zhao Sheng's in Yuyang did you take care of?"

Under Gu Zhongshi's questioning, Gu Shoude hesitated and said in a low voice:
"Gambling dens, brothels..."

Hearing this, Gu Zhongshi's heart suddenly sank, but he still held out a glimmer of hope and asked:

“Do you have a license plate?”

Under Gu Zhongshi's gaze, Gu Shoude could only shake his head honestly. Seeing this, Gu Zhongshi felt dizzy and his feet were shaking. He was about to fall to the ground. Fortunately, Gu Shoude was quick to support Gu Zhongshi and let him sit back on the chair. After about a cup of tea, Gu Zhongshi's consciousness returned to normal. Seeing Gu Shoude in front of him, he was immediately furious and slapped him in the face and cursed:
“You’re a bastard who is always causing trouble but can’t do anything for you. How could I, Gu Zhongshi, give birth to a bastard like you…”

As early as when Ye Mingsheng just took over Youyan, while promoting a series of tax and fee reduction activities to win the hearts of the people, Ye Mingsheng also introduced a series of policies based on his own government's philosophy of strengthening industry supervision and giving full play to the vitality of market ownership.

These mainly target industries closely related to people's livelihood and national defense, such as grain, cloth, iron, salt, vegetables, meat, etc., but Ye Mingsheng also focuses on special service industries such as gambling dens and brothels.

As a modern man, Ye Mingsheng is well aware of the dangers of these industries and the series of social problems they cause. However, in today's feudal context, it is very unrealistic to completely replace these special industries. They have existed for thousands of years. Even if policies are introduced to crack down on them, it will only force them out of the sun and into the underground. It is impossible to make them disappear completely.

In addition, Ye Mingsheng is fighting for hegemony over the world, so he needs a strong army. To maintain a strong army, a large amount of taxes are needed to provide military expenses. These two special industries are the important pillars of taxation in feudal society. According to the survey statistics of the Governor's Office, these two industries provide nearly 15% of the tax revenue.

Therefore, what Ye Mingsheng can do is to strengthen supervision, summarize the opinions of various parties in society and issue "Opinions on the Management Measures for Special Industries in Yanliao", set up industry entry thresholds in Yanliao, crack down on illegal activities in the industry, enforce the licensing system, issue licenses to related industries that meet the requirements of government management, and forcibly ban industries that do not meet the requirements...

Because Ye Mingsheng's series of ideas were unprecedented, many high-ranking officials of the Governorate and the Censorate were skeptical at the beginning of their implementation. They openly and secretly tried to persuade Ye Mingsheng to give up this idea, saying that doing so might trigger more social problems, cause public resentment, and reduce the government's fiscal revenue.

But in the end, Ye Mingsheng still withstood the pressure from the bureaucratic system and implemented his will in the land of Yan and Liao. This was because special industries such as gambling dens and brothels were almost always connected with local criminals, and the relevant policies introduced by Ye Mingsheng would undoubtedly affect their jobs, so there was no doubt that they would use both soft and hard tactics to resist the government's policies.

However, under the strong suppression of the Fengwu Army, the actions of these lawless elements were undoubtedly futile. Ye Mingsheng's ideas were still implemented, and soon Ye Mingsheng's related reforms achieved remarkable results. The social problems caused by these special industries were also greatly reduced!

As for the taxation issue that the government is most concerned about, because of the strengthened supervision, the profits that belonged to the criminals also came into the hands of the government, causing the tax revenue to increase instead of decrease, accounting for 20% of the government's fiscal revenue...
(End of this chapter)