Volume 4 Chapter 51 Finance
"I heard that you were scared by me last time?"
After taking off the twelve-chapter royal crown and changing into his daily cotton clothes, Zhao Jiu, who was tired after a day's work, rested for a while. He got up in the evening and had a small meal in the permanent military camp. But when the meal was served, he only had a bowl of porridge, and then he took it down according to his duty. Then he looked at a notebook he had written by himself, and suddenly spoke while reading it, and it was unknown who he was talking to.
"Absolutely not." Yang Yizhong, who was standing inside the door, immediately turned around and bowed, but he did not pretend to be confused and say that he didn't know what it was.
"If this is not the case, then why did you secretly send away the maids?" Zhao Jiu continued to flip through his notebook without looking up. "And he didn't dare to send away too many at once. He sent away three people in more than half a month, and paid five strings of cash to each person..."
"minister……"
"I don't mean to blame you. You didn't know it that day, but don't you know it these days? What I said I must do has nothing to do with you... I just asked casually, you misunderstood."
"I know."
"You know shit?" Zhao Jiu didn't even raise his head. "If you really know, you should know. There are some things I can only tell you... Apart from you, who else would know that I am actually afraid of personally taking charge of government affairs? Apart from you, who else would know that I have actually been avoiding those royal relatives?"
“…”
"Why don't you speak?"
"The emperor is still the emperor after all. For example, on the battlefield at Yaoshan, the emperor bent his bow and shot an arrow but missed, but it did not prevent the emperor from raising his hand to shoot down the eagle. The so-called fear and avoidance are only temporary. If you really take a step forward, you will definitely achieve great success."
"Then what?"
"Then, I am only a lucky minister after all. I was blessed to be in the central government, in charge of intelligence and the imperial guards. This is a prominent position that I would never dare to dream of in my lifetime... I should have been more careful and restrained."
"It's a bit like Hu Quan, the editor, who would not even be replaced by a minister?"
"Almost, but..."
"But Hu Quan is much more comfortable than you. You mean "living with a king is like living with a tiger", right? "
“…”
"Do you want to be transferred to a post outside the capital?" Zhao Jiu finally looked up. "If you are transferred to a post outside the capital, you can be a deputy governor under Han Shizhong or Zhang Jun, or even a prefecture governor and then a civilian position..."
“…”
"How could I possibly allow you to be exiled?" Zhao Jiu continued to sneer. "If you were to be exiled, I wouldn't even be able to find the 'Ninwang Defending the Country Sutra'."
Yang Yizhong remained silent in the end.
"Almost done." Zhao Jiu reviewed his notes and finally stood up. "Tell them all to come to the central army tent to see me!"
Yang Yizhong bowed his head and obeyed the order, but hesitated before leaving: "Sir, do you want to change into the twelve-chapter imperial crown?"
"What do you want to change?" Zhao Jiu, who had already stood up, shook his head repeatedly. "If it weren't for this one piece of old clothes of the Supreme Taoist Emperor, I wouldn't want to wear it at all..."
As he spoke, seeing the other party leaving, Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, then took the notebook in his hand again, and then walked out openly.
When he went out of the house, it was already evening. The autumn cicadas were chirping non-stop and the sunset had not yet set. Zhao Jiu saw countless civil and military nobles, Buddhist and Taoist tycoons entering the central army tent with their own thoughts... It was called a tent, but in fact it had already been made permanent. It was just a rough and practical brick and wood structure hall... He waited for a while with his hands behind his back, until Yang Yizhong returned, and then he came here under the escort of the imperial guards.
At this moment, although they were only gathered together for a moment, all the bureaucrats, nobles, monks, Taoists, merchants and laymen in the room had already felt uncomfortable.
Now, how can these people feel comfortable with each other?
The serious bureaucrats who arrived today were all members of the Secret Cabinet. These people were the real superiors of the empire. They looked at the rest of the people as if they were chickens and ducks. They stood solemnly and looked around, and were extremely arrogant. The noble monks and Taoists were divided into different levels. The higher ones, such as the two fathers-in-law of the emperor and several idle scholars who had been serious officials, were naturally at ease. The lower ones, such as the monks and Taoists who had just arrived, were nervous, so they kept talking and trying to get some information. As for the few wealthy merchants who no one expected to appear here, their performance was the most unified... These people didn't need anyone to remind them. They honestly went to the corners, and they were all stunned and didn't dare to make a sound.
However, the military officers in the camp were all beaming with joy at this moment, talking to the monks and Taoists about the five Vajra Bodhisattvas, five thousand great gods, the twenty-eight constellations descending to the earth, and the three hundred and sixty-five star gods following them. It was as if they knew what the monks had said in the afternoon and the counterattacks from the Taoist temples next door, and a battle was set up there at this moment.
Of course, everything became quiet as Emperor Zhao, who had been in the limelight today, entered the central army hall. Everyone became solemn, and many monks, Taoists and wealthy businessmen who were meeting the emperor for the first time didn't know where to put their hands. Some even fell to their knees with a thud... but no one laughed at them.
However, Emperor Zhao paid no attention to the chaos, but just sat behind the military desk in front of him with a bound notebook. At the same time, nearly a hundred armored imperial guards, led by Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan, poured in from both sides, took control of the hall and lit countless braziers and lights on both sides of the hall.
The sudden bright lights made everyone feel dignified.
After Emperor Zhao looked around at the densely packed heads, he sneered: "Speaking of which, when I started from Huaishang, I only lit one candle in my bedroom, and was laughed at by the Queen Mother... People also said that I openly talked about utilitarianism, but in fact I was posing as a moral person. Today I suddenly became so extravagant, but I wonder if someone will say that even my morality is fake."
Several ministers took the lead in apologizing with a smile, and then the Prime Minister Zhang Jun stepped out from the crowd, bowed and said: "Your Majesty has always admired Wang Shuwang (Wang Anshi), but you don't know that Wang Shuwang's utilitarianism is also based on morality and reason. How can morality and utilitarianism go against each other?"
Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, and all the ministers nodded as well. Even Li Guang did not react to this statement. However, among the people who were smiling apologetically below, many of them were already alert.
"I asked you all to come here today because it's a rare grand ceremony. Since everyone is gathered together, why not take this opportunity to explain two things?" Zhao Jiu waited for the audience to gradually quiet down before speaking. "The first thing is to set up the public cabinet; the second thing is to take advantage of the public cabinet and the secret cabinet to take this opportunity to talk about the major policies of the court in the next few years... Prime Minister Lu."
Lu Haowen was obviously well prepared. He stepped out from the crowd and gave a brief talk on the establishment of a public cabinet which had been discussed long ago.
The atmosphere gradually became peaceful as the uncle and nephew of Duke Yansheng, Han Xiaozhou, the head of the Meihua Han family, the two fathers-in-law, the emperor's uncle Zhao who had always been in poor health, the great scholar Hu Anguo, the 19 masters who were selected this time, some unexpected but wealthy merchants who had actually formed close in-laws with the Zhao family in the previous hundred years and were no longer businessmen in name, and former officials who lived in seclusion at home such as Wang Shuzhan, came forward one by one to express their gratitude.
Because no matter how you look at it or listen to it, it feels like a favor bestowed after a grand sacrifice in the past. It's nothing more than this willful official throwing away all the previous things and changing the way of playing in order to save trouble... And besides, many people here have paid for it, so it's justified.
Of course, those wealthy merchants who were not businessmen in name still aroused everyone's dissatisfaction, except for one of the two fathers-in-law of the emperor, Wu Guozhang, and the imperial concubine Wu. Because of their backgrounds, it was difficult for everyone to say much... In fact, wasn't there the example of Wang Lun?
Therefore, after the bestowal, some people were indifferent and calm, some were obviously disappointed, and some seemed particularly excited... However, after Lu Gongxiang announced that he would serve as the chief of the Gongge, and then the Gongge meetings went directly to the emperor and the capital, the atmosphere still reached a predetermined climax.
After all, there is still a little political status and theoretically existing political power... For many people who have never been exposed to political power before, and for those who desire political power to a certain extent, how can they not be happy?
Thus, this first incident ended happily with the bureaucrats watching coldly and the officers being indifferent.
Then, the second thing is... talking about major policies.
"In the next few years, what should we do to ensure that the Northern Expedition can be advanced within a few years?" Zhao Guanjia flipped through his notes and waved his hand. "Everyone present today can speak freely!"
There was silence below… Having said that, the ministers, chancellors, and vice ministers were all here. If they didn't say anything about the major policies, would Duke Yansheng be allowed to say it?
"Your Majesty!" As expected, it was the Prime Minister Zhao Ding who stepped out after a moment's hesitation. "The Northern Expedition is certain, but if we want to mobilize troops, we still need to govern the country. If we talk about the basics of governing the country, we can either follow the root or investigate the harm... Following the root means starting from the governance itself, looking at what can be done in terms of personnel, finance, laws, sacred learning, engineering, and military preparations; investigating the harm means starting from the problems in front of us and seeing how to solve them."
"Please explain it in detail, sir." Zhao Jiu blurted out.
At this time, many members of the cabinet below were already secretly complaining in their hearts, thinking that they were here to serve as a foil today... What else? Based on this answer, if it is said that the government and the prime ministers did not communicate well, that would be nonsense!
Of course, everything has to be communicated between the government and the prime minister.
As for the White Horse Shaoxing incident in the past, it is said that Emperor Zhao had reached an agreement in advance with the prime ministers and the Chief Censor.
"Personnel, in fact, the government is promoting the matching of name and reality, which is an excellent measure. It can be said to have swept away the trend of various official positions being mixed since the Five Dynasties, and it has also improved efficiency accordingly." Zhao Ding was relatively calm. Rather than discussing the problem, it was more like reporting on the work of Emperor Zhao and several ministers. "Laws , the court is now formulating a new "Imperial Song Criminal Code", which focuses on pardoning people and comforting them..."
"Wait a minute." Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something. "What do you think of the matter I mentioned to you a few days ago?"
"Reporting to the emperor." Zhao Ding said calmly. "The ministers and the officials discussed it in front of the emperor first, and then submitted it to the secret cabinet for public discussion, and then submitted it to the Ministry of Justice to formulate detailed rules. It has been written and is waiting for the emperor to review... But in any case, as the emperor proposed, the lowly slaves will be abolished and replaced with hired maids; the Zhenzong reform will also be abolished, and the criminal system between the master and the hired maids will be punished as good families; as for the matter of pawning wives, we also think that this is against human ethics, but such things are not easy to cut off, and we have set a three-year deadline, starting from the New Year's Day three years later, the pawning of wives will no longer be allowed; as for the release of some official prostitutes, the emperor has issued an order in the first half of the month, and special matters will be handled specially, so there is no need to say more."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly.
In fact, these are the many basic aspects, or the most direct incidents, triggered by the prostitute incident that day... Yang Yizhong's conclusion of the investigation is very clear. It is meaningless to simply discuss prostitutes. The key is personal liberation and preventing economic relations from endangering the basic human rights of the grassroots people.
You should know that when the Song Dynasty was founded, a major progress was to replace the lowly slaves of the previous Tang Dynasty with hired slaves. The so-called lowly slaves in the Tang Dynasty were like cattle and horses to their masters, while hired slaves were good families who came to work temporarily for their masters. The two parties had an economic employment relationship and did not involve basic personal belonging.
Of course, judging from the actual legal provisions and the reality, there were still quite a few slaves. In other words, the personal liberation of the Song Dynasty was not complete.
Not only that, as time passed, this real relationship between good and bad people began to influence the law. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, there were legal amendments that stipulated that in case of disputes between masters and slaves, the master's crime would be reduced by one level... This was a typical step backward in history.
Moreover, this reversal is getting worse and worse. At this time, many articles have been amended to the disadvantage of slaves, and the folk customs are becoming more and more unfavorable to slaves. Even in another time and space, after the Southern Song Dynasty stabilized, it took great strides to impose various personal restrictions on slaves, and to some extent restored the system of nobles and inferiors... Therefore, Zhao Jiu's emotion and vigilance are not groundless.
Since he had thought of this problem, he naturally persuaded the prime minister in the name of winning over the people's hearts and relieving the pressure from the grassroots, and corrected this basic problem in reverse.
It can be said that the system of nobles and inferiors has been completely abolished, and the basic human rights of a considerable part of the lower class have been guaranteed.
As for the violation of human ethics such as pawning wives, it goes without saying that it is legitimate to abolish it at this time.
Frankly speaking, this series of events has in fact affected the interests of the powerful, wealthy businessmen, and even monks and Taoists. But as the saying goes, who are you in front of the emperor, bureaucrats, literati, and the army?
Even if the people below had some thoughts at this moment, they just felt that they were going to be unlucky today. Who cared about this?
"As for the sacred learning, there is no need to say more. The government has formed rational learning and new learning, and advocated the original learning. The alternation of the old and the new has created a local atmosphere." Zhao Ding saw Zhao Jiu nod, so he continued to introduce. "In addition, the government established the Daxiangguo Temple Cannon Workshop, reorganized the Military Equipment Bureau, and set up a steamship workshop, all of which are timely measures. As for the military, there is no need to say more, it is in full view of the public and everyone knows it."
"So, I and you gentlemen have done a lot of things?" Zhao Jiu looked away from the notebook and responded with a smile.
As soon as these words were spoken, many nobles who were in a position to speak could no longer hold back and were ready to come forward to flatter him, while Chief Censor Li Guang instinctively frowned, but stood still and remained silent, without making any comment.
However, seeing that Li Guang was unmoved, the Prime Minister Zhang Jun, who had already stepped out of the ranks, could only bow his hands and say, "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words! Since ancient times, a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step. Moreover, the country has not even completed half of the journey so far. How can we be complacent?"
The nobles who were ready to make a move suddenly became solemn, but Li Guang looked at Zhang Jun as if he had eaten a fly, and more ministers immediately realized that today's matter would not be so simple... The emperor and the prime ministers, and even the Chief Censor, may have reached a consensus on something to some extent, but it was obviously a matter of great importance and required the endorsement of everyone here.
Considering that this is a military camp, the place where the government has the strongest executive power; and it is during a festival, the time when the government's authority is at its highest, if it still happens like this, then I'm afraid something big is really going to happen again.
"What Mr. Zhang said is very true." Zhao Jiu was calm and responded with a serious face. "What Mr. Zhao said just now was a discussion of the root cause, and I haven't heard any talk of harm..."
"Your Majesty." Liu Ji, the deputy prime minister of the capital, suddenly stepped forward and smiled bitterly. "The words about the harm are actually very simple."
"That's right."
"Let the government know." Chen Gui, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, who stood up at some point, sighed and twirled his beard. "If we look at the harm, it has long been determined that the three redundancies are redundant in the past hundred years of our dynasty... redundant troops, redundant officials, and redundant expenses... But this is a different time. After the Jingkang Incident, although the country's orthodoxy was preserved, the government's revival was like building a new country, and the three redundancies were basically abandoned. But although the country does not have the three redundancies, it has other disadvantages. First, it lost the territory of the two rivers, and second, Henan, Huaibei, Jingdong and Guanxi also suffered from the war. Therefore, our dynasty still has difficulties in insufficient military strength and insufficient finances... It is not to say that it is poor and weak, but it is also poor and weak."
Li Guang had no choice but to step out of the line, but he responded coldly: "Is it just about finances? Don't we want to win over the people's hearts?"
"People's hearts do need to be won over." Zhao Ding finally spoke up again. "But the biggest reason for people's hearts is not elsewhere, but precisely to support the army and to raise money, so the taxes in the southeast, Jingxiang, and Bashu are increased, and eight hundred of a thousand people's hearts are here! So after all, it's still the financial tension... If the finances were sufficient, why would the number of soldiers in the imperial camp be set at 200,000? Wouldn't it be better to support 300,000 soldiers? If the finances were sufficient, why would the people in the south have to work so hard? Wouldn't it be better to remove the newly added taxes? If the finances were sufficient, why would the national debt be raised every winter? If the finances were sufficient, why did the people have to donate money to redeem the refugees in Hebei last time, and why did the government have to sell its palace to redeem the official prostitutes this time? If the finances were sufficient, why would such a grand ceremony be held, and the government had to wear the old imperial robes of the Supreme Taoist Emperor, while the civil and military officials in the court could only wear official robes to pay tribute?! At this time, the harm is too much, one million or ten thousand is not too little, but it can be summed up in one word, that is money!"
The ministers sang the same tune and spoke so clearly that the wealthy merchants below had already felt a chill in their hearts... Are they going to be the first ones to take action?
Even the monks and Taoists were worried.
However, the rest of the civil and military officials, and even some nobles, were eager to give it a try... Since this is what the emperor and the ministers mean, then there is no reason for them not to cooperate, right?
In fact, even if they did not have a dark mentality and were truly doing it for the country and the people , there were already many scholars and officials who could not hold back... All in all, it was wrong for the government and ministers to launch surprise attacks, but the problem was naked: money.
"Your Majesty!" Minister of Finance Lin Qi stepped out and made a serious suggestion. "I have thought about finances before... Now the tax revenue has reached its limit, and increasing it will only make the people angry; the profits from the salt, iron, tea, wine, alum and tin monopoly may still increase, but it is impossible to raise the prices proactively and destroy the people's hearts in the city, and we should wait for them to enrich themselves; in addition, if Jingdong is recovered and we can operate it sincerely, it would be normal to have more than one million strings of cash in one or two years; Jingdong has always had a developed maritime trade, and the transportation between Goryeo and Japan is smooth, so perhaps we can have another million strings of cash in revenue... Besides, if we want to make money, it is nothing more than Jiaozi and national debt."
No one was surprised. During the Song Dynasty, the market economy was well developed, and maritime trade and the monopoly of some commercial products had become very mature. For example, Zhao Kai's tea-horse reform in Bashu was more about the court's previous restrictions on commercial and economic activities in the Bashu region, which were now released. However, there was no current situation of suppressed commercial potential in the coastal areas that the court could directly radiate to.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty, a maritime trade reward mechanism was established, whereby maritime merchants who paid more taxes would be rewarded with official positions, and things like the Marine Accident Regulations were also established...On the contrary, the time traveler Zhao Jiu once approved a very inappropriate decree in Nanyang, which was to abolish the ceremony in which eunuchs sent off fleets on the southeast coast, in order to save the country some money.
In a word, Lin Qi's meaning was very clear. Since we have to consider people's hearts, taxes can no longer be raised. As commercial taxes are an important part of the Song Dynasty's finances, although there is still room for squeeze in theory, considering that commercial taxes are actually related to the hearts of urban residents who account for a large proportion of the Song Dynasty's population, we should not force the issue by forcing it, but should calm down and let it recover slowly on its own.
But then again, waiting for it to recover slowly is certainly the right thing to do, but aren't we preparing to use troops now and are we simply short of money?
So Lin Qi simply said that if he wanted to make quick money but didn't want to lose the support of the people, he could only consider the national debt and Jiaozi... This was an inevitable direction.
In fact, Zhao Jiu had already rehearsed Lin Qi's words once when he was discussing with the ministers before. At that time, Liu Ji analyzed it in this way, and Li Guang immediately refuted him.
"I think what the Minister of Revenue said is superficial and may not be right in the end." At this time, Chen Kangbo, the chief academician of the Imperial College, stepped out of the crowd and refuted in public. "Although I am not good at money and goods, I know some basic principles... After all, the wealth of the world is there. The land tax is collected from the fields and the taxes are collected from the market. There are traces to follow. The dilemma of the court now is that the north of the Huai River has been affected by the war, and it has to raise troops to plan for the north. It has no choice but to increase taxes in the south, which has lost some people's hearts. Therefore, we must not make plans on the land, and we should not make plans on the market. Goryeo, Japan, Dali, Tubo, and even Daqin are so big that the annual trade income cannot suddenly exceed expectations. Then I dare to ask Minister Lin, if you want to use national debt and Jiaozi to make money now, there must be a place to get it, right?! Whose money are you going to use this to get?"
In the central army hall which was illuminated by countless braziers as bright as day, everyone was temporarily caught in a delicate state. Some were nervous, some were eager to try, some were terrified, and some were thoughtful.
Even though the ministers' opening remarks might have been like a rendition of "The Legend of the White Snake," there was nothing wrong with what they said from a high vantage point. The country just had financial problems.
As for the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, who took up the topic out of duty, there was nothing wrong with his analysis.
It was Chen Kangbo, the young leader of the pro-war faction, who had just been promoted to a full-time position and was full of youthful vigor. His words were direct and a little hasty, but equally irrefutable... The logic was there.
So, Emperor Zhao and the ministers sang the same tune. Who did they want to make money from using national debt and Jiaozi?
"There are some people in the world who do not work and just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. When the country is in trouble, they are unwilling to contribute a penny, but after the national crisis, they start to work like dogs and dogs, seeking wealth, official positions, land, and profit." At this moment, the Minister of Personnel, Chen Gongfu, suddenly walked out of the ranks, but did not look at the officials and ministers behind him. Instead, he turned his head and spoke proudly. "The country is in such a difficult situation now. Every penny of the financial surplus must be spent on the military. Even the Supreme Emperor has to raise fish and plant mulberry trees in the harem. What's the point of keeping them here?! Just to perform rituals and confiscate the government offices?!"
"Namo Amitabha."
As the imperial court officials revealed their true intentions, Abbot Fahe, who had been praying in his heart, felt a little aggrieved... Weren't you fine in the afternoon? I said you were a bodhisattva, and you said I was an arhat, but it's like this in the evening?
Do we really have to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, harvest all the fields, and take away all the wealth?
If this is the case, it is no wonder that no one from Mingdao Palace came... Their family had been plundered by the government four years ago, even the golden statue of the Taoist ancestor was taken away.
In fact, not to mention the monks, Taoist priests and merchants, even the Duke of Yansheng and others were somewhat inexplicably worried after hearing such murderous remarks... They couldn't even confiscate the sacrificial fields in Qufu, right? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?
When they thought of this, many people instinctively looked at Emperor Zhao who was in the middle, but unexpectedly, the emperor was just staring at a notebook on the table in a daze, and no one knew what he was thinking.
