bookrandom Chapter 1123 Guilt
Chapter 1123 Guilt
Chapter 1123 Guilt
Countless candles were burning in Chongzheng Hall.
After the emperor recovered from his illness, this was the first time he summoned officials above the rank of senior official to discuss strategies for war and defense.
All the ministers sat on chairs.
"Your Majesty, the world's financial resources have reached their limit, and the people's strength has been exhausted. We can no longer launch a large-scale military campaign." Sun Gu, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, made another suggestion.
Since the emperor issued the edict of blaming himself, opposition to advancing military action against Xia has grown.
The government frowned upon hearing this. Since Zhang Yue changed the exemption law, the government's income has indeed dropped significantly. The government lost 6 million guan of income every year. Zhang Yue said that the money would be supplemented from other places. After Zhang Yue stepped down, there was no further news.
After saying that, the official looked at Zhang Yue, who drank a sip of tea calmly.
The three prime ministers of the Secretariat are like this now. Zhang Yue is in charge of finances and the war against Xia. One is responsible for finding money, and the other is responsible for spending money.
Yuan Jiang was in charge of ceremonies and tribute examinations, which was the most insignificant thing.
Wang Gui was in charge of other aspects.
The official looked at Zhang Yue with obvious intention of money?
Zhang Yue did not speak, but saw the Third Secretary Huang Lu stand up and say: "Your Majesty, in the past two years, the Third Secretary has promoted maritime trade between Goryeo and Song Dynasty."
"Because of the currency in Goryeo and the promotion of Dali, the annual sea trade can make a surplus of nearly 800,000 strings of cash."
"As for the tax reduction implemented by the three ministries, it has saved 500,000 strings of cash each year."
The government frowned and said last year that the post station from Bian Jing to Luoyang and then to Shaanxi was changed from a government-run post to a government-run private enterprise, saving the court millions every year.
But there are only more than two million strings of cash here, which is a big gap from the six million mentioned by Zhang Yue.
Yuan Jiang said: "The salt notes and Jiaozi have always been used continuously, but since the attack on Xia, the value of the notes and Jiaozi has greatly depreciated."
Huang Lu said: "Your Majesty, this is because the court and the public have heard that the court is going to issue more salt notes and Jiaozi. I think the prices of money and Jiaozi were stable before, so it is reasonable for them to fall a little now. If they continue to fall, the three ministries and the Jiaoyin Office will have surplus money and will buy back the excess money from the people."
Huang Lu's input resolved Zhang Yue's request for the emperor to explain why he had not yet obtained six million strings of cash.
Actually, if you think about it carefully, Zhang Yue has been out of office for nearly a year, so it is not his fault. But now that Zhang Yue has returned to the position of prime minister, he has to take on these responsibilities again.
The official nodded, and Huang Lu said, "Your Majesty, some people say that the salt notes are reliable, but the Jiaozi is like water without a source. I don't think so. As long as the court maintains the credit of the two items, the court will have an endless source of income from them."
Zhang Yue listened to what Huang Lu said and felt that Jiaozi was becoming more and more like a credit currency.
To prevent counterfeiting, the paper money was selected from the Zhu paper produced in Lianghuai, and was abolished every three years. The court reissued new currency.
Huang Lu sat down after he finished speaking. The emperor said, "Mr. Huang has made great contributions to the country by managing the national treasury over the years."
"I think the best thing about money is to collect taxes on coinage and alleviate the money shortage among the people. Although the amount collected each year is not much, it is an endless supply. Excessive issuance of money is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I will not do it!"
The ministers all agreed.
The official wanted to speak.
But Lü Gongzhu came out and said, "Since the exemption law was changed to the conscription law, there have indeed been fewer rebellions by the common people in various parts of the court, and the gatherings to resist taxes have also stopped. This shows that this is the good of the law revision. As long as we don't exploit the people and harass the common people, we can achieve moderate prosperity."
The official smiled and said, "I have heard that although the money collected from the conscription is not as good as before, the people are tolerant of it and everyone is happy."
Among the many new policies, the conscription law has always been the highest rated. After Zhang Yue's reform, there were almost no negative reviews at all, and it continued to increase revenue for the court.
Sun Gu said again: "But the fact that the court is short of money is indisputable. Since Liao is mediating and Xixia is actively negotiating peace, I think we should use this as an excuse to negotiate peace."
"This way we can avoid offending both countries and being attacked from both sides. If we continue to fight and use troops against Xixia, the court will need to continuously increase its financial resources, and the people will have no chance of living in peace."
Zhang Yue drank another sip of tea calmly. Recently, he and Wang Gui have become closer.
Wang Gui pretended to be out of energy and didn't say anything, while Zhang Yue drank tea frequently, thinking that nothing was wrong, since he was still young and had good kidneys.
Zhang Yue tried his best not to express his views in the court, but let the officials below express their views, and then tried his best to control the agenda within the process he wanted.
Try to achieve "fake cooking" during the meeting.
People outside the court thought that conquering Xia was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but in the court they would ask you, "Where's the money?"
If you have the ability to get money, you can not only destroy the Xia Dynasty, but also defeat the Liao Dynasty.
Zhang Yue has only achieved one-third of his goal of receiving six million strings of cash from the emperor.
Feng Jing, the Privy Councilor, said: "Your Majesty, the conquest of Xia involves the manpower, material resources, and financial resources. Although the court has expanded its financial resources, it is only able to maintain it. If the conquest of Xia fails again, I don't know how much money will be spent."
"So the imperial court will inevitably impose heavy taxes and levies in order to gain wealth."
After Feng Jing finished speaking, Cai Que stood up and objected: "During the Xining Reform, officials and people praised it as a convenience. How could it be that there were arbitrary and heavy taxes?"
"I think Shen Shang's way is not worth taking, but Duke Shu's method will continue to benefit the country and is sufficient to be implemented."
The official asked, "How do we do this?"
Cai Que immediately proposed several solutions. Zhang Yue and Huang Lu frowned, but the emperor nodded repeatedly.
The biggest issue in the imperial conference actually revolves around the word "money".
But the word "money" is torn between whether to continue to "make the people suffer" or the government's ambition to "restore the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties".
In the end, it usually comes to the point of appreciating the suffering of the common people.
The "suffering of the common people" can be further divided into "only suffering of officials and gentry" and "exorbitant taxation".
In Zhang Yue's opinion, financial matters can be increased gradually. On the contrary, methods of increasing income explosively are likely to leave serious consequences.
Now the reform has entered the post-Wang Anshi era.
By the end of the Zhiping period, the fiscal revenue difficulties had been alleviated.
However, although his reforms hit the mergerists and increased fiscal revenue, they also had the unfavorable side of disrupting commercial circulation and hitting the middle class.
Zhang Yue issued salt notes, repurchased Jiaozi, stabilized the value of Jiaozi, supported emerging industries such as state-run and private cotton textile industry, postal service, and exchange, and strengthened trade with foreign countries, all of which required commercial stability, prosperity and circulation.
So adjustments must be made.
In terms of finance, we insist on "sustainable development" and do not engage in one-time deals. We would rather slow down the process of destroying Xia and slow down the growth of fiscal revenue than implement large-scale taxation policies that would disrupt current commercial circulation.
This is by no means a compromise of having both, but new growth points must be accompanied by corresponding national policies.
Therefore, it is not only an adjustment in national policy, but also requires a transformation in the ideology of the entire country.
This serves the new reforms from the cultural, military and political aspects, and is also Wang Anshi's strategy to unify the world.
At this time, Hanlin scholar Zhang Dun said: "What Prime Minister Feng Shu said is wrong. The court still has a surplus. Since the reform, there has been a surplus of two to three million strings of cash every year. How can we be afraid of using military force against Xia just because Liao mediates?"
"Although the two expeditions against Xia were defeated, they were still glorious. Taking Lanzhou and Tiandu Mountain were both extraordinary achievements. In the past, the imperial court often got trapped by the Westerners when they went out of the border. Once they got out of the border, they entered the desert, where there was no water or grass, and no human habitation. Before they saw the enemy, our army was trapped."
"Although the Westerners have crossed the desert, they are still in their territory. Every day they cross the mountains to gather troops and get food. They use this to break through the border. If they get into our territory, they will definitely gain something. This is why the Westerners always make a profit. Today, all the mountains are ours, so the desert is the boundary. They have no place to gather troops and get food, so it is difficult for them to break through the border."
"Xi'an Prefecture included Tiandu. From Tiandu to Qinzhou Gangu City, it was 500 miles from north to south, covering an area of nearly 1,000 miles. Jingyuan advanced to occupy Tiandu, and Xihe built a fortress from Ruzha to Huizhou. Therefore, the two roads were connected, and Qinzhou became the center."
"This is a great opportunity. We should establish a co-operation and then conquer it. I think anyone who talks about peace again should be killed!"
Zhang Dun's righteous words immediately won the favor of the emperor.
Now Cai Que and Zhang Dun are both vying to be admitted to the Zhongshu, and they are also the people that the emperor hopes for. Cai Que and Zhang Dun have repeatedly said things that agree with the emperor's wishes on the conquest of Xia and finance, which also increases their weight in entering the Zhongshu.
Feng Jing said: "This is wrong. What good will it do to the country if we acquire a few barren lands?"
"Almost all the troops in Fuyan Road were annihilated, and more than 100,000 troops from Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road and Xihe Road were unable to relieve the siege of Mingsha City. Why should we cover up our mistakes after such a defeat?"
Although Feng Jing argued with Zhang Dun, Zhang Yue felt a little embarrassed.
He was not responsible for the defeat at Fuyan Road, but he was the one who presided over the relief of Mingsha City, but the result was still that the city was destroyed and the army was defeated.
Many people in the court had high expectations for Zhang Yue's comeback this time, including the emperor, who also expressed his great expectations for Zhang Yue, saying, "You are ordered by a defeated general and you are ordered to act in times of crisis."
As a result, after Zhang Yue was reinstated as prime minister, Mingsha City was still captured by the Western Xia in front of hundreds of thousands of Song troops. The Song Dynasty was forced to negotiate peace with the Western Xia.
At this time, Zhang Yue stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Mingsha City was destroyed because of my poor handling of the matter. I cannot shirk my responsibility!"
Zhang Yue spoke and everyone in the hall fell silent.
In fact, before Mingsha City was captured, Wang Gui and Zhang Yue both pleaded guilty, and Zhang Yue asked to be demoted three levels, but was rejected by the emperor. Now Zhang Yue is asking again.
The official said, "There is no need to do this, Mr. Zhang. You have no idea of the outcome."
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, in military campaigns, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined. Otherwise, how can you command the troops and make them obey your orders? If you do not blame me, you will not be able to rule the army."
Cai Que came out again and said, "Since the Prime Minister has said so, and Your Majesty has issued an edict to accuse himself, we should do as he requested. Otherwise, the world will think he is unreasonable. I think we should agree to it."
When Cai Que spoke, the emperor also remembered the previous debate between Zhang Yue and Wang Anshi.
Of course the government knew what the purpose of Zhang Yue’s debate with Wang Anshi was.
But in the eyes of the government, Ren Zhangyue's appointment as prime minister was for two reasons: one was to make money, and the other was to spend the money (to destroy Xia).
Don't interfere in other matters.
The emperor thought of this and said, "Well, then I will demote Zhang Qing by one rank and fine him fifty catties of copper."
Zhang Yue's original position as the Minister of Rites was demoted to the Minister of Works. However, the demotion was actually of little significance to Zhang Yue at the moment.
But it is significant in another respect.
(End of this chapter)