Prime Minister

Chapter 1292 I am where I am today thanks to you

Chapter 1292 I am where I am today thanks to you

Looking at the account books piled up like a mountain in the Chuigong Hall, the emperor was also overwhelmed.

The government had no choice but to punish Cai Que. Now everything in the court was about money. He was now targeting Zhang Yue for money.

When should we rely on ministers like Zhang Yue who are capable of doing things, and when should we use ministers like Cai Que who are there to maintain the imperial rule.

The official's heart is as clear as a mirror.

Before his ambitions were realized and he achieved the imperial legacy like Emperor Taizong of Tang, he had no choice but to put Cai Que in a difficult position.

After watching Cai Que retreat from the hall with a pale face, the emperor sat on the throne with an expressionless face.

After watching Cai Que and other officials leave, Zhang Yue glanced away and then returned to the emperor.

At this moment, the emperor frowned and said to Zhang Yue, "I don't understand. After the Xining and Yuanfeng reigns, the court has had a lot of financial resources, and the annual income has increased a lot, but why the annual expenditure is still high, so that the income is not enough to cover the expenditure."

"Taizu's income when he founded the country was only 17 million guan, but in the second year of Zhiping, the annual income was 43 million guan."

"By the ninth year of Xining, the number had increased to 60 million (the original figure was 59 million)!"

"Now, in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, the Ministry of Revenue estimates that it can be increased to 72 million guan (the original data was around 70 million guan)! Why is it still not enough?"

This data is a net income, excluding income from grain, silk, cloth, charcoal, and fodder other than copper coins. Considering the fiscal variables of Zhang Yue's reform, the income is only slightly higher than in history. Historically, the largest source of fiscal revenue was the exemption money, which reached 18 million strings of cash a year in the late Yuanfeng period. However, Zhang Yue exempted the fifth-class households and female households from the exemption money, so this income dropped to less than 9 million strings of cash. In the Yuanyou period, Sima Guang abolished the exemption law and other new laws, and the central fiscal revenue dropped sharply to less than 50 million strings of cash.

According to historical data from the seventh year of Yuanfeng, the revenue of the Right Department of the Ministry of Revenue (Si Nong Temple) in currency alone reached 23 million strings of cash.

The exemption money was 18,729,300, the market management money was 55,900,000, and the grain, silk, stone, and cloth were 976,657,000.

In addition, there are more than 3 million strings of Qingmiao money.

As for market trading, although it can earn a lot of interest, there are also a lot of bad debts, so it is good enough to be able to break even.

That is to say, the revenue of the Right Division of the Ministry of Revenue was about 27 million guan. It can be said that the majority of the revenue from Wang Anshi's reform came from the exemption from military service.

The emperor said to Zhang Yue, "The revenue of the imperial court is increasing day by day, but the expenditure is increasingly insufficient to cover the income. What can we do?"

Where did the money go?

This is a long-standing problem.

Zhang Yue said: "All of them are for the support of the army!"

That’s right, military spending is always the biggest expense, and it’s a huge one.

The official nodded and said, "Xihe Road now has an annual expenditure of 2 million guan (historically 4 million guan), and after conquering Liangzhou, another 1 million guan will be added."

Zhang Yue said: "This is my fault. Now Xihe Road has 100,000 regular soldiers, and another 200,000 Han and Fan soldiers who work in the fields, a total of 300,000."

One imperial guard cost fifty strings of cash, one garrison soldier cost thirty strings of cash. During the reign of Emperor Zhiping, the imperial court's military expenditure was 48 million strings of cash.

During the Xining and Yuanfeng years, a royal guard cost 60 strings of cash, and a garrison soldier cost 33 strings of cash.

Zhang Yue had planned to use the profits from the Silk Road trade after opening up Liangzhou to allow the court to achieve self-sufficiency in the direction of Xihe Road.

However, Sun Lu and Wang Hou kept asking the court for more soldiers and generals, and at the same time recruited local foreign soldiers as soldiers, which was also an effective means of stabilizing the local area.

In the end, the budget for Xihe Road could not be reduced any further.

As for the cost of building the various routes in Shaanxi, as well as the cost of attacking Liangzhou and the battle of Pingxia City, it was also an astronomical figure. This almost all the money from the reform of Zhangyue Salt Notes was used up, resulting in the court still owing a lot of debt to the local government.

But the good thing is that by this point in history, the local people had already been overwhelmed. Especially in Shaanxi, after the five-way attack on Xia, the government sent Li Shunju to the local area to investigate, and the report was that if the war continued, the entire Guanzhong would rebel.

In fact, taking Xining and Yuanfeng as examples, although the people of the Song Dynasty did not curb annexation, their lives were still better than in many dynasties.

At this time, the common people were able to have enough food and clothing, and it was also at this time that the habit of eating three meals a day was promoted from top to bottom. This was something that many dynasties in ancient and modern times could not do.

Even in the late Qing Dynasty, when the population increased to 400 million, the contradiction between population and land intensified, and many places reverted to two meals a day.

Zhang Yue is currently at least maintaining the living standards of the people at the beginning of the Xining period.

The emperor said, "I don't mean to blame you. The court's military expenses are increasing day by day. The cost of minting coins is only a little over a million strings of cash. If you include the profits from the Korean sea trade, it is only a few hundred thousand strings of cash a year."

"Right now, Hebei and Hedong both need money, and this is just a drop in the bucket compared to military spending."

Zhang Yue thought to himself that war is a waste of money.

Maintaining an army on a normal day is an expense, and war is another expense.

Zhang Yue tried every possible means. When he was the prime minister, he fought three major battles with the Dangxiang in Lanzhou, Liangzhou and Pingxiacheng. He had tried every possible means and barely managed to keep the finances from collapsing.

After all, Zhang Yue is now thirty years ahead of history, and has also recovered Liangzhou, which the Northern Song Dynasty was never able to recover.

Historically, after Zhang Qie fought the Battle of Pingxia City in the Yuanfu year, he took the initiative to ask the court for peace talks with Western Xia, because the savings he had accumulated with great difficulty after the Yuanyou year had been used up in the battle.

However, Zhang Dun, who was in power, refused and insisted on continuing to fight with Western Xia.

In the final analysis, governing a country and maintaining its security is all about money. Without money, nothing can be accomplished. Even a good cook cannot cook without rice.

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, please allow me to report that since the introduction of salt notes and Jiaozi, the cash shortage in the court has been alleviated in recent years."

"Take the Qingli reign as an example. One tael of silver was worth two thousand wen for one piece of silk. At the beginning of the Xining reign, it was worth one thousand two hundred wen."

"But now the money shortage has come again, and the local surplus has dried up again. For now, we should keep quiet and not cause trouble with the Liao Kingdom again."

The emperor said, "But the Liao Kingdom will not withdraw its troops from Hedong and Hebei. How can I spare my hands to fight against the Tanguts?"

"I think the expedient measure now is to either collect exemption money from the fifth-class households, or the court prints more salt notes and Jiaozi."

Zhang Yue thought to himself that the government was returning to the path of making the people suffer. Previously, Mencius was allowed to be worshipped in the Confucius Temple, and Mencius was promoted to a concurrent classic, and the words "people-oriented" were highly praised.

You changed your ways so quickly, aren't you slapping me in the face?

Seeing that Zhang Yue was silent, the emperor asked, "Does it seem difficult for you to agree?"

Zhang Yue thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, what do you think of my appearance?"

The official heard this. ???

Are you serious?

Zhang Yue said: "I was not bad looking when I was young! I attracted many women, many of whom were from wealthy families."

"Even later, when I was studying at the Imperial College, Master Taishan valued me and chose me, a boy from a poor family, as his son-in-law. Master Taishan did not abandon me and married his beloved daughter to me."

The official smiled and said, "I have heard about it."

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, but I declined later and insisted on waiting until I passed the imperial examination before getting married."

The official nodded.

Zhang Yue said, "There is one thing your majesty doesn't know. Before I entered the county school, my fellow villager Chen Shengzhi valued me and called me to be a book boy. I don't know whether I knew that Chen Shengzhi would become a prime minister in the future. At that time, I almost couldn't even afford to go to school, but Chen Shengzhi gave me a way to study."

"But I didn't agree at that time."

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, from childhood to adulthood, I have never chosen the path that seems to be the most advantageous and the fastest."

"Instead, we take the most difficult, longest and most arduous path."

"I call this seeing a road but not taking it! Because this road is neither the right nor the wrong. I always insist on doing things that seem to have no short-term benefits and I am not tempted by benefits."

"Even though I have such a good marriage, I am still studying hard in the Imperial College. I am not a person with lofty ambitions, nor do I have the integrity of a scholar. I don't know that I will definitely win the top prize and become an official in the future. It's not that I don't love fame and fortune, but I have never been willing to compromise myself in front of fame and fortune."

"So I am still a minister. I cannot be called good to others, but I have never been ashamed of myself!"

The emperor praised: "I understand. Your character can shine like the sun and the moon."

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, I am ashamed to accept your words. I lack the courage and responsibility. During the Xining period, scholars were conservative and officials were conservative. If you want to reform, you must go too far and tear down the house and rebuild. It cannot be done without great courage, great skills, and a person who can judge the right and wrong of the world."

"I am not as good as Wang Anshi in this regard, so I recommended him to Your Majesty, and as a result, the Xining Reforms were achieved. As for the current Yuanfeng administration, I will correct the impatience and recklessness of the Xining Reforms to avoid the drawbacks of being too rigid and easily broken."

"I have always believed that the principles of governing a country and being a human being are the same. You have to take the long road, enter the narrow gate, and cultivate the lean land. Sometimes, speed is actually slow. And taking it slow is actually the fastest."

"The Tao Te Ching says, 'Let me be sensible and walk on the great way, and I will be afraid of giving. The great way is very easy, but people prefer shortcuts.'"

What this means is that if I can understand the truth, I should walk on the road. But the road is too smooth, and rulers like to take shortcuts.

"For example, collecting exemption fees from the fifth-class households, and printing more salt notes and Jiaozi, these are all very simple things for a monarch, but it is because of such shortcuts that there are huge disasters behind them. I am afraid that Your Majesty will obey him too easily and do what he wants."

"To seek temporary gain will sow long-term harm."

The official said: "This is good advice for governing a country, but how can Liao resist without money?"

Zhang Yue said sternly: "Your Majesty, the Liao Kingdom has long been strong on the outside but weak on the inside!"

The official was shocked and asked, "Are you serious?"

Zhang Yue replied: "Your Majesty, have you heard where Liao has expanded its territory over the years? I only heard that he has been suppressing rebellions."

"Since ancient times, the barbarians have never had a hundred-year fortune. Why has the Liao Dynasty lasted nearly two hundred years? It is because they have obtained our Youyan land, adopted our Han system in the south, and received tribute coins from our dynasty, so they have been able to maintain themselves."

"But because the system of the barbarians is neither barbarian nor Han, and they do not study the essence of our Han system, their national strength can only decline day by day. Sooner or later, civil strife will break out. Liao has a million strong soldiers, but so what? They can only threaten me with empty words. Otherwise, why are they neither advancing nor retreating in Hedong and Hebei? Your Majesty, as long as you are patient and wait for the day when there is a change in Liao, then you can lead a million troops to the west!"

The official slammed the table and stood up, saying: "Your words are really insightful!"

The emperor walked down the steps and said, "I am where I am today because of your good advice! You are both my Xiao He and my Zhang Liang!"