Chapter 1554: To decide to send troops: Yin Lianggan speaks
Chapter 1554: Decision to send troops: Yin Liangqian speaks
Zhao Shen took a deep breath, cursed 'bastard' a hundred times in his mind, and warned himself not to be pissed off by these bastards!
After the situation calmed down, Ruan Liang from the Ministry of War came out to announce, "Your Majesty, I believe that this is a God-given opportunity! Although food and grass are scarce, there is still a solution! We should send troops northward!"
Hearing this, Yu Deshou, the household secretary, smacked his teeth and stood up with an old face, "Your Majesty, our Song Dynasty has been suffering from natural and man-made disasters in recent years. The rebellion of Li Jin in southern Hunan and the rebellion of Bailian Society have consumed huge amounts, and now the national treasury is empty. , and even have a lot of credit, even now that the summer harvest has arrived, it is only a slight relief. If the war starts now, the people will be miserable in the next six months, and even the salaries of my colleagues may not be able to be paid."
"Your Majesty, the Song Dynasty just signed a peace treaty with the Jin Kingdom last year, and now we are taking the initiative to start a war. Wouldn't it be a breach of trust?"
Wei Qi from the Ministry of Rites stood up with a grin on his face and said, "If this is the case, how will my country win the trust of others!"
Feeling the emperor's eyes on him, Ma Shao felt that his mind was filled with lawsuits. He gritted his teeth and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have no money..."
It is said that it is difficult to be the leader, but it is even more difficult to be the leader of a country! Nowadays, the annual tax is only 60 to 70 million, but the huge military expenditure accounts for more than half. Add in the salary and various odds and ends expenses, and it is simply impossible. There's not much left.
And in the past few years, where have you not spent money?
Not to mention those little fights, if you save a little bit, you can get by with just a little bit.
But let’s just say that in the war with the Jin Kingdom last year, the Song Dynasty participated in the war with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Even if they boiled their mashao into oil, how many taels of silver could they get out?
This is because the Shaosheng and Sheng caravans helped transport the grain, which greatly reduced the loss. Otherwise, relying on civilians or local officials to transport the grain, the loss would increase by at least 30 to 40%.
It is no exaggeration to say that Ma Shao's eyes are green when he talks about silver! Moreover, every time Ma Shao sees the Minister of the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Industry, he wants to bite them twice. No other... These two departments are too... Money spent.
Thinking about the war, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses would be used at least, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses would be used at most. The consumption of food, grass, ordnance, military pay, and Ma Shao felt as if his whole head was going to explode.
Seeing Ma Shao's hard work, Zhao Shen looked sluggish at first, and then felt a little heartbroken! He also knew that he was not a good steward, and he had really made things difficult for Ma Shao these years.
The power of the three ministers is not small, but faced with an empty money bag, there is really nothing they can do.
Zhao Shen decided to allocate three to two million taels of silver from the encapsulation treasury to Ma Shao after the next court. In the past two years, although there was not much silver allocated from the state treasury to the inner treasury, every year Shen Tang let the Shao family The caravan brought back a lot of finances from the west! These finances were naturally shady, so most of them went directly into the inner treasury, which really made Zhao Shen a small fortune.
"Your Majesty, there are many difficulties in starting a war with the Jin Kingdom. However, the internal rebellion of the Jin Kingdom is probably behind the deception and support of Mongolia, Xia Kingdom, and Liao Kingdom. In this way, it will definitely involve most of the Jin Kingdom. the power of.
It would be a pity not to take advantage of such a God-given opportunity!"
"In my opinion, there is no need to start a full-scale war with the Jin Kingdom. All we need is one or a few groups of soldiers and horses to tentatively march northward! One is to see the reality of the Jin Kingdom, and the other is, even if we cannot achieve full success, even if we get back a It doesn’t matter if it’s a city or a place! Of course, if nothing can be done, we can just retreat and defend, and there won’t be much loss!”
After Ye Yong spoke, Shi Hao thought for a long time and finally hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"
As soon as these words came out, the court couldn't help but become quiet. It was rare that the left and right phases did not express any opinions. Does that mean that this matter has been settled?
After a while, many people looked towards Liu Gong.
If you want to start a war, the Privy Council is the most direct department, and Liu Gong's opinion is also very important! The reason why Zhao Shen bypassed the entire Privy Council during the last Northern Expedition was because there was really no other way.
He had just ascended the throne at that time, and Zhang Jun did not have the entire Privy Council in his hands. If he wanted to go through normal channels, he might not be able to get through the Privy Council.
Therefore, Zhao Shen could only bypass most of the court and directly give orders to the military commanders.
I saw Liu Gong pondering for a moment, then looked at Diao Hongxin and others, then raised his hands and said to Zhao Shen, "No matter what your Majesty decides, our Privy Council will definitely comply with your will!"
Zhao Shen chuckled and nodded. After Liu Gong took control of the Privy Council, he not only cooperated with his various orders, but also mostly stood for him in the court.
Obviously, Liu Gong is different from the previous ministers. He has no support behind him, but he wants to rely on himself to secure his position as Privy Councilor.
Of course, Zhao Shen is happy to see this happen.
In fact, the emperor Zhao Shen was really different from other emperors. Although he grew up step by step in the palace and successfully succeeded to the throne after being named the crown prince, because of his relationship with Zhao Gou, it was difficult for him to succeed to the throne. Before, he had no real person of his own.
Just like the current crown prince Zhao Wei, some of the subordinate officials in the East Palace will gradually become his secret servants. But back then, Zhao Shen was very cautious in everything. Where did he get his confidants?
Including after he succeeded to the throne, basically all civil and military officials were still the old ministers from the Zhao Gou Dynasty.
Why Zhao Shen treats Shen Tang so differently? In addition to other reasons, it is also because Shen Tang's class was the first class that Zhao Shen'enke selected for scholars, and Shen Tang was his hand-picked number one scholar. There was a certain feeling in his heart. Very close.
After all, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the first talent that he has selected as his own.
After all the civil and military officials in the court fell silent, Zhao Shen thought deeply and said, "In this case, why not let the Privy Council decide first where it is appropriate to send troops and which troops to use.
The Ministry of Household Affairs urges various regions to collect taxes in summer as soon as possible and provide supplies in advance..."
"My lord, I have a plan to advise the doctor Yin He!"
An unexpected sound, like an explosion in the hall, directly pushed back Zhao Shen's voice.
Zhao Shen's face turned red, and he almost couldn't swallow the voice. However, when he saw Yin Ai coming out, he could only grit his teeth and calm down, and then said kindly, "I don't know what's wrong with Yin Aiqing." Want to play!"
Yin Yi first looked around with disdain at the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and then raised his hands and said, "Your Majesty, after the war last year, our Song Dynasty has signed a peace agreement with the Kingdom of Jin, and now the people's livelihood is difficult, especially for the people. The people in Lizhou and Xiangyang are even more displaced!"
"You need to know that although the country is big, if it is warlike, it will perish! Your Majesty actually wants to send troops again. Is it because he wants to imitate Jie Zhou and become a king who will subjugate the country?"