You Zhicheng had a headache on his face and pulled the sleeve of the Minister of Industry, not knowing what to say.
"Master Wei, the Emperor is in his prime. It doesn't matter if the mausoleum is to be topped out later. Now the armies in the east and north are spending money every day. I am really stretched. This treasury does not belong to my family. You don't know how much money is in it. ?"
"Last year, I finally managed to raise enough money for King Che to attack the Linyue Kingdom. As a result, another Snow Kingdom appeared. Although the north is just a garrison and the battle has not started yet, I have to eat a lot of food every day. Not to mention how much it will cost if we really go to war with Snow Country."
"When the time comes, the emperor will issue a decree and ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to dig out the money. Even if the ministers cut off their heads and sell them as meat, it won't be enough! Just do it, can you wait a little longer?"
The Minister of Industry and Commerce pulled back his sleeves forcefully, which was very inhumane.
If you are in trouble, shouldn't I be in trouble?
The spring and Autumn period are still in their prime, it’s a shame you can express these words.
No one knows what is going on with the emperor. In two or three years, he may have to step into the coffin. Otherwise, he would not be in such a hurry to attack Linyue Kingdom.
The Minister of Industry asked, "Just tell me when the one hundred thousand taels of silver will be available?"
When You Zhicheng saw the serious face of the Minister of Industry and anger all over his body, he sullenly put his hands on his hips and turned his head to relieve his inner depression.
Queen Susou turned back to look at the Minister of Works, "When the war on King Che's side is over, we only need to face the north, and the treasury will have extra money."
The minister of the Ministry of Industry glared angrily, and his feet almost jumped half a meter off the ground.
"Bah, you shameless person. Who knows how long this battle with King Che will last? You are fooling me. Let me tell you, the mausoleum is related to the royal family's face. This is a big deal. Since you, You Zhicheng, have become the Minister of Household Affairs , you have to get money. On the first day of July, the one hundred thousand taels of silver must be in place. "
You Zhicheng was shocked. Seeing that the Minister of the Ministry of Industry was about to leave, he kicked the chair made of huanghuali to the ground, startling the Minister of the Ministry of Industry who had just stepped out of the threshold. He quickly turned around and looked .
"Let me tell you, asking for money is not life-threatening. I, You Zhicheng, am not like Li Lin. If I don't do corruption, the money in the treasury will only be there. If you force me, it doesn't matter if the Minister of the Ministry of Finance doesn't do it." You Zhicheng took off the black gauze hat on his head and put it down. On the table, he turned around and left the hall.
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry stood stiffly at the door, his chest rising and falling sharply, he fiercely opened his sleeves and left You Zhicheng's mansion.
After confirming that the person had left, Shangshu Hubu turned back to the hall and took back the black gauze hat.
We are all on the same level, so I can’t let you go if you are older. Don’t even think about it.
This matter is not over yet.
In the morning of the next day, the Minister of Industry first took the lead in telling the emperor that he had no money to cap the imperial mausoleum and that the Ministry of Revenue would not allocate money in front of all the civil and military officials.
A sharp light flashed in the eyes of You Zhicheng, who was standing opposite, and he guessed that you were going to do this.
The emperor asked: "Shang Shu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, why haven't the 100,000 taels of silver for the capping of the mausoleum been allocated to the Ministry of Works?"
You Zhicheng stood up, handed over the banknotes he had prepared early in the morning, knelt on the ground, and shouted with a sad look on his face: "Your Majesty, it's not that the ministers don't care about me, but that the Ministry of Finance really can't come up with any money. This is the money left in the treasury after the year, and all the expenditures in the past five months, Wei Chen is really powerless. "
His forehead hit the ground hard, and many people present heard the sound of bones colliding with bluestone bricks.
Li Jingxing spread out the folding book. He knew every major expenditure recorded on the folding book. There were also some small expenditures that he did not pay attention to. He looked at the last remaining figures on it and the end of it and You Zhicheng's needs for the march to the north and east in the next year. Estimating the amount of money and food needed, he silently closed the fold.
There is indeed still money in the treasury, but it has already found its home.
Even though one hundred thousand taels of silver may not seem like much, it would be extremely difficult to earn these one hundred thousand taels elsewhere.
This year's tax money hasn't even been collected yet, and the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue has already marked a place for them.
The emperor put the paper aside, looked up at the Minister of Works and said: "The construction of the mausoleum is temporarily suspended. We will talk about it after a while."
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry immediately bent down and obeyed the order, "I accept the order."
The construction of the mausoleum was ordered by the Ministry of Industry. If it could not be completed as scheduled, the emperor would be held accountable, so the Minister of the Ministry of Industry was so anxious and pressed every step of the way.
But now that Li Jingxing had given the order, he could no longer be blamed for the delay.
You Zhicheng stood up and silently returned to his original position. The two ministers looked at each other in silence, already understanding in their hearts.
After going to court, Shangshu Ling and the prime minister were called to the imperial study room.
Li Jingxing showed the two people the folder handed over by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, "Tell me what you think."
Shangshu Ling raised his eyes slightly and looked at the emperor, "These expenditures written by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance are indeed unavoidable. The loss of food and grass during the march is huge. If we have to fight against the snow country in the future, the situation of the snowfield glaciers is complicated, and the expenditure may be even greater. ”
Prime Minister: "There is no trade between Beidi Kingdom and Snow Kingdom, but there is trade between us and Linyue Kingdom. During the war, I am afraid it will have a great impact."
"Besides the annual taxes from various places, are there any other sources of income?"
The minister ordered the prime minister to remain silent.
After Shangshu Ling thought for a moment, he spoke hesitantly: "I heard that the Linyue Kingdom had previously lowered the tax on transactions with the eight major imperial merchants in the capital in order to allow its merchants to donate money to the national treasury. Perhaps we can follow suit."
The Prime Minister immediately raised an objection, "Wen Mingting lowered the tax rate because he had previously raised the tax rate specifically to suppress the imperial merchants in the capital from earning money from the people of Linyue Kingdom. This increase and decrease is equivalent to the same as before. Linyue Kingdom's treasury has received hundreds of dollars in vain." Thousands of taels. Now that the two countries are at war, transactions have decreased, and those businessmen who donated silver don’t know what will happen.”
"Once we follow suit, the people will think that we are the same as Linyue Kingdom. Only the weak will use this method to oppress innocent people. At that time, everyone will only think that under the dual pressure of Linyue Kingdom and Snow Kingdom, the imperial court has Without the strength to resist, this is impossible.”
Shangshu Ling lowered his head in silence. What the Prime Minister said was indeed reasonable.
……
A few days later, the emperor called in the Minister of Industry and asked, "To what extent has the cross-river dam been built now?"
Princess Che, a prostitute, didn't know how to write notes to the palace.
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry replied slowly: "Fei Yi wrote a family letter to the government yesterday. The Fei government also sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry. It said that about one-tenth of the work was not completed. Princess Che ordered to slow down the work." progress, but it should be completed before the flood season.”
"Why should we slow down the progress if everything is going well? Is the construction not going well?" Li Jingxing asked.
The Minister of Industry pursed his lips, "From what Fei Yi said, it seems that Princess Che is out of money."
The muscles on the emperor's face relaxed, and he waved his hand to signal the Minister of Industry to go out.
