Chapter 1023 The imperial court’s countermeasures (1)
Crown Princess Li Xiyue returned to the East Palace and entered the study to find Prince Su Shu.
She saw that Prince Su Shu was concentrating on reading the information in the hands of the reader.
She gently knocked on the door to remind Prince Su Shu.
"Husband, my father came to chat with me today. He mentioned that business is very difficult now.
Are times already this difficult?
The major companies I manage have not experienced a decline in profits."
Prince Su Shu put down the information in his hands, looked at Crown Princess Li Xiyue, and chuckled: "Xiyue, of course you can't feel the economic crisis coming.
Donggong's properties are all business dealings with government-owned companies.
By the time we felt the economic crisis, the situation was already broken.
Power flows from bottom to top, and profits are gradually distributed downwards from the powerful class.
The distribution of interests has been this way since ancient times and has never changed.
The current situation in the empire is that the economic crisis has not yet broken out, but many companies are doing very poorly due to the debt crisis.
If some company shareholders fail to trade in stocks, the company they run will go bankrupt.
The bankruptcy of one company will affect many companies, causing a chain reaction.
Many ordinary people at the bottom have lost their jobs. Now statistics from various provinces show that more and more people are receiving relief food.
We Han people are more concerned about face, so we receive the government's mixed noodles as relief food, which was previously said to be food that is not as good as pig food.
Such a person really cannot survive.
It's just that these people have no channel to speak out. How are they living?
Many people don't care.
The top businessmen are by no means the worst off.
However, due to the bad overall environment of the empire, their interests will definitely suffer some losses.
But to say that I can't survive is an exaggeration.
The empire industrialized and expanded its interests thousands of times.
The rich and powerful get more benefits, but the bottom of the country gets a little benefit, which is enough to make their lives very good.
As long as the workers and farmers at the bottom can afford to eat, their lives will not be too turbulent.
The economic crisis is a life-or-death test for many businessmen.
But for the empire, it is just a minor illness and will not cause turmoil in the empire."
When Crown Princess Li Xiyue heard her husband's explanation, she was completely relieved.
She nodded in agreement and said, "I have read in ancient books that when officials in ancient times provided disaster relief, some knowledgeable officials would add sand to the disaster relief grains.
Only this kind of food can truly reach the hands of merchants.
Now the imperial court distributes relief grains, but the grains used are mixed noodles that are difficult to swallow.
This kind of corn flour, potato flour, cassava flour, taro flour, sweet potato flour, plus some bran leftover from rice and flour processing in some grain processing plants.
This kind of mixed noodles is difficult to swallow. People who are used to eating fine grains will not be able to swallow this kind of grain.
A wealthy family will definitely not cheat and receive relief grains just for this little bit of mixed noodles.
This will ensure that relief food is accurately distributed to the people in need.
When the people have enough food to satisfy their hunger, no matter how difficult their lives are, they will not have the thought of rebellion.
The empire has an extremely abundant amount of arable land, and the food produced is enough to feed several times the current population.
The imperial court controlled a large number of national farms, and the imperial court controlled the grain trade.
As long as the imperial court still has a certain degree of control, the people at the bottom will not starve to death.
This is entirely due to the fact that growing grain is far less profitable than growing cotton, mulberry trees, and rapeseed flowers.
The emergence of industry has made many powerful people no longer covet the value generated by land.
Only then can a scene similar to the world of Great Harmony truly emerge, allowing the people at the bottom of the empire to have enough food and clothing."
Prince Su Shu showed a satisfied smile and said: "This is what a monarch should do.
As long as this is done, no matter what kind of disturbance occurs in the empire, there will not be too much turmoil.
Peasants and workers are the anchor of the empire.
As long as they don't mess up, the empire will be as stable as Mount Tai.
Xiyue, you don’t have to worry about the economic crisis.
My father asked me to take this time to inspect various industries and write a memorial and send it to you.
The imperial court must introduce some policies to ensure the stable development of industry and commerce.
Industry and commerce contribute more than 90% of tax revenue.
For this huge tax, the imperial court cannot ignore anything."
Prince Su Shu and Crown Princess Li Xiyue finished discussing this topic.
He continued to read the information and wrote the memorials that his father needed.
Prince Su Shu knew that this was a big test for him by his father.
His position as crown prince is very stable, and no one among the princes in Beijing can threaten his position.
But the prince Su Shu knew that his father was worried that the second generation would die after the Qin unified the world, and that the second generation would die after the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system.
The industrialization done by the Great China Empire far exceeded the turmoil caused by these two things.
The father must choose a capable heir to the throne to ensure that the empire's industrialization policy continues to be implemented.
After two generations of hard work, the new forces will completely crush the old forces, and the situation in the empire will become stable.
Prince Su Shu knew Emperor Su He well, and he strived to do his best in everything related to industry, and would never dare to do anything perfunctory.
…
Emperor Su He held an imperial meeting in Qianqing Palace.
At this imperial meeting, only a few people came from the Governor's Office, most of them were officials from the cabinet and various ministries.
Emperor Su He looked at the officials below and said: "This imperial meeting mainly discusses economic issues.
This meeting will be chaired by Prince Su Shu."
Prince Su Shu saluted Emperor Su He and said: "My son, I obey the decree."
After he finished the ceremony, he immediately looked at Zhao Shiheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry.
"Secretary Zhao, please briefly introduce the economic situation of the empire."
Zhao Shiheng immediately stood up. As the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, he was mainly responsible for formulating various industrial and commercial policies.
Some time ago, he accompanied Prince Su Shu on an inspection trip to various places to understand the current economic situation of the empire.
There are some words that cannot be said as the prince Su Shu.
His official position is neither high nor low, so he is suitable to say these words.
Zhao Shiheng spoke straightforwardly, without adding his own opinions, and began to describe the facts he saw.
"There were serious problems with the empire's economic situation.
This problem originated from the debt default of Cao and Wei, but the fact that it broke out so seriously meant that there was a major problem in the empire's industry and commerce.
Nowadays, all the kids on the roadside know how to make money by running factories.
Some unscrupulous businessmen open factories that produce inferior goods.
A large number of counterfeit and shoddy goods flood the market.
There was no problem when the flowers were blooming, but the debt crisis caused market fluctuations, which immediately made the goods from these inferior factories unsaleable and overstocked in warehouses.
These low-quality factories have a backlog of goods, and they cannot pay the money they owe upstream.
In this era, you could make money by opening factories, and major companies in the empire were expanding their business, resulting in an extremely large number of triangular debts.
Some factories were unable to pay for goods, which immediately made the serious triangular debt situation unsustainable, causing related companies to go bankrupt.
The minister investigated the situation of Songjiang Prefecture and Guangzhou Prefecture.
Then judge based on tax information and industrial and commercial information from various places.
The scale of the triangular debt is as high as 1.3 billion taels of silver coins."
Chief of General Staff Qin Xiangkun had previously ignored the matter.
He heard that the scale of the triangular debt was as high as 1.3 billion taels of silver coins.
This scale of debt directly shocked him.
He couldn't help but said in surprise: "The war between Cao and Wei was stopped because of tens of millions of taels of silver coins.
The scale of the debt is as high as 1.3 billion taels of silver coins. How many battleships and tanks can be built with this much money."
Not only the officials of the Metropolitan Government, but also the civil servants who had frequent contact with money were amazed when they heard that the scale of the Triangle Debt was as high as 1.3 billion taels of silver coins.
They originally thought that the debt scale exceeded 100 million taels of silver coins, which was far higher than imagined.
Unexpectedly, the actual debt scale would be as high as 1.3 billion taels of silver coins.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing has known about this survey result for a long time. His speech today and the policies he proposed are all based on this huge debt scale.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing said excitedly: "The scale of this debt is too huge, and the court must not underwrite this scale of debt.
It must be left to market regulation to completely clear the debt.
The imperial court collected taxes, but also provided the support that the imperial court should provide for the development of industry and commerce.
It was impossible to make money, and the court only collected a little tax.
The merchants lost money, but the court had to support them."
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing has already set the tone for solving the problem as soon as she opens her mouth.
The cabinet can issue policies to solve problems, but it will never provide money to solve them.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing's speech won the support of many officials.
The hole was too big for the court to fill, and the court had no obligation to pay for the merchants' own mistakes.
Seeing the look in Prince Su Shu's eyes, Minister Zhao Shiheng continued: "The continued development of the triangular debt problem will inevitably cause an economic crisis.
After the economic crisis occurs, it will lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of companies. I suggest that the court respond to the economic crisis in advance and prepare corresponding countermeasures in advance to minimize the damage of the economic crisis to the empire."
Emperor Su He then spoke: "I have read the story of Dayu's flood control. The ideas of the sages must have endured for a long time.
When encountering a flood, blocking is not a good idea.
Economic crisis is a new word, but this phenomenon is by no means new.
The low price of grain hurts the farmers, and the high price of rice hurts the people. This is the economic crisis in ancient times.
The trend of economic crisis is already obvious. It cannot be stopped by blocking, but must be channeled.
The imperial court must ensure the bottom line and prevent people from starving to death, large-scale unemployment, and major unrest."
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing and other civil officials were slightly relieved when they heard what Emperor Su He said.
Emperor Su He has already made a request, which is not too high.
This was the bottom line in Emperor Su He's heart. People should not starve to death due to the economic crisis, and there should not be a large-scale unemployment wave.
The occurrence of these two situations will inevitably cause turmoil in the empire.
What is unrest?
If someone raises a counter-flag and revolts, this is turmoil.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing is confident that she will lead the cabinet team to handle this matter.
He holds so many cards and causes unrest in some places, which shows that he is too incompetent.
Emperor Su He only had this request, which would tacitly acknowledge the occurrence of the economic crisis.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing does not understand the economic crisis. Does he have no idea what the consequences of the economic crisis will be?
Emperor Su He asked the cabinet to prevent the economic crisis from happening, and Prime Minister Lin Wenjing was unable to do this well.
He knew that members of the cabinet were confused about the economic crisis.
They don't know how to deal with things that have never appeared before.
But if the economic crisis is allowed to happen, what consequences will the economic crisis have?
What kind of policies will the cabinet choose to enact based on the consequences of the economic crisis?
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing believes that the cabinet still has this capability.
But he can't not come up with any countermeasures. Doesn't this make him look like a waste?
Former Prime Minister Qian Mingyi went to Europe to establish his own country.
The Prime Minister of the Empire is vacant, and cabinet ministers are eyeing the position of Prime Minister.
Cabinet ministers can generally only serve two terms unless they are appointed by Emperor Su He.
Many cabinet ministers are young, and they don't want to go home early to retire.
The official position of Prime Minister is also extremely important. Under one person and above ten thousand people, it is already the top official position among ministers.
Cabinet ministers only have the right to make recommendations on national policies.
Unless Emperor Su He designates a certain cabinet minister to handle a certain matter.
Only the Prime Minister can plan the future development of the empire.
The Prime Minister of the Empire is extremely attractive to civil servants with ideals and ambitions.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing had extremely powerful opponents at the time, but he had served as Minister of Industry and stood out from many cabinet ministers with his understanding of industry and commerce.
Prime Minister Lin Wenjing stood up and said: "The economic crisis is inevitable, and the Ministry of Industry believes that the economic crisis will lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of companies.
Huge companies, the resources of the shareholders behind them and the resources they control are extremely considerable, and they are by no means the first companies to go bankrupt.
These large companies have a greater chance of surviving the economic crisis.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! A large number of bankrupt companies will be companies with less than 50 employees.
Chen learned that the mainstream companies in the market that accommodate workers are these small companies.
A large number of bankruptcies of small companies will inevitably lead to large-scale unemployment of workers.
In order to prevent a wave of unemployment, the court must provide a sufficient number of jobs.
Whenever there was a major disaster, the imperial court would carry out work-for-relief measures.
The consequences of the economic crisis can also be seen as a disaster.
The imperial court should continue to use the idea of relief through work.
Build more railways, roads, reservoirs, and bridges.
Building these roads and water conservancy facilities requires a large number of construction machinery and jobs.
As long as the court is willing to invest, it can definitely absorb the unemployed people caused by the economic crisis.
These unemployed people have a job, even if it is not a suitable job.
They all have hope of living, instead of being filled with despair and embarking on the path of rebellion."
Emperor Su He listened to Prime Minister Lin Wenjing's advice.
The Prime Minister he chose was not the wrong person.
Lin Wenjing is an official with a strong view of the overall situation, and he is also good at handling specific government affairs.
Without understanding the economic crisis, he proposed a large-scale infrastructure plan to solve the problem of workers losing their jobs due to the economic crisis by adding jobs.
Emperor Su He praised: "Lin Aiqing said it very well. This countermeasure is one of the ideas to solve the economic crisis.
Investing in roads and water conservancy facilities is a good thing that will benefit the present and future generations.
The imperial court should not care about some economic benefits, but insist on doing this well."
After Emperor Su He finished his praise, he looked at the many ministers in the Palace of Qianqing and encouraged: "We, the emperor and his ministers, are discussing ways to solve the problem.
Don’t be afraid of saying the wrong thing, let’s talk freely.”
Emperor Su He's encouragement made many officials ready to express their opinions.