"Your Majesty, although North Korea is barren, it has reached a point where it cannot give up."
Zhao Shu cupped his hands, his loose official robe showed his majesty, his eyes were lively, and his words were even more powerful.
"Why is this?" Lu Daqi was not afraid of the reputation of the chief assistant and asked with his chest raised.
"Losing a North Korea is not even as good as a county in our own country. Why is it so difficult to let go?"
Such words were no different from questioning, and everyone was taken aback.
It seemed that Lu Daqi was really angry.
He was all spitting and said in a fierce manner: "To the northwest, Shanxi is eyeing the Hetao. Liu Tingjie has asked to send troops more than once; Gansu Province is also plagued by intruders, and Gao Yigong can only defend himself."
"Sun Kewang of Yunnan has been entrenched for several years, and the people are wailing. They have not heard from Wang Shi for a long time. Hundreds of officials from Yunnan have jointly signed a letter asking Wang Shi to move west, but they are all blocked."
"If they knew that the imperial court did not go to the northwest and Yunnan, but instead went to North Korea and sent the Beijing camp, wouldn't public opinion be boiling?"
These words are true, and they also reveal the difference in thinking between the middle and lower-level bureaucrats and the upper-class people.
For example, the gentry and officials in Yunnan wanted to return home as soon as possible, but the imperial court wanted to weaken the Qing Dynasty as much as possible, so the two naturally conflicted.
"Yunnan and Gansu are not in a hurry."
At this time, Zhang Shenyan, the second assistant, suddenly stood up, faced Lu Daqi and other ministers, and said seriously:
"Sun Kewang and the intruder are just biting bees. They look ferocious but are actually vulnerable. But Jiannu is not like that. He is a venomous snake. If you beat the snake, it will not die but it will be disturbed."
"The people are ignorant and the gentry are short-sighted. How can you, sitting in the center, be influenced by them?"
Yan Chongxin also stood up at this time and said sternly: "There is no distinction between severity and priority. No matter what, North Korea must rescue, and the Manchus must fight, no matter what the cost."
After repeated scolding, the six ministers refused to accept it, but stopped verbally.
The winter sunlight refracted through the window, and dozens of bright candles made the hall extremely bright. The atmosphere in Wenyuan Pavilion was particularly strange at this time.
The three cabinet members and six ministers seemed to be in opposition.
However, the emperor sat on the dragon throne and paid no attention to the two sides who were at war with each other.
With the stabilization of the country, the division of power among the three cabinet members has also been completed. The power of the cabinet has grown day by day, and the pressure on the six ministries has naturally increased.
Therefore, using this excuse, the six departments started to argue. It seemed that they were talking about the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but in fact they were really fighting for the right to speak.
However, for the emperor, a court must have only one center, and the strength of the cabinet is inevitable.
There were many disputes over decision-making power. From the Shangshu Province in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the Zhongshu Province and the Menxia Province in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the decision-making power had been transferred between Zhongshu and Menxia. Until the early Ming Dynasty, the decision-making and execution of the six ministries were combined into one, and the power was unprecedentedly powerful.
But now, with the cabinet taking charge of six ministries, the greater the power of the cabinet elders, the more shrinking the power of the minister, and no one is willing to accept it.
However, the six books of ministers could only have a sense of existence in the Ming Dynasty, and they were completely reduced to tool men in the Qing Dynasty.
"Okay." Seeing that the noise was almost over, the emperor stopped it:
"The affairs in North Korea must continue. Since Pyongyang has defended it, we will use refueling tactics and continue to increase troops. After all, I am not afraid of money and food."
Although the northern provinces are exempted from the tax exemption, food from the south is transported by sea, which really makes Tianjin Port a lot busy.
The key is that Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other places also began to use sea transportation, which saved a lot of losses and brought a large amount of grain storage to Taicang.
The autumn grain is nearly 8 million dan in the warehouse, and the commercial tax is about 6 million silver yuan. He can pat his chest and say that the treasury is full.
In addition, according to the words of the governor of Guangdong, after the opening of the shipping department, a large amount of grain from Annan was also imported. Although it was a bit unpalatable, it was still sufficient.
If you use the money stored in the Shipping Department to buy grain, adding hundreds of thousands more dan will be a trivial matter.
"The Ming Dynasty's communique must also make it clear that the hatred between the country and the family must not be forgotten, and the Manchus must be eradicated. Let the people of Yunnan suffer for a while, and then all the hardships will be rewarded!"
After saying this, the six departments gave up.
Then came Shaowu's three-year budget.
Due to the benevolent policy of tax exemption for one year and half tax for three years in the north, most of the money and food for the imperial court still came from the south, and the north's contribution was minimal.
According to the estimates of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the summer grain, autumn grain, plus commercial tax, the local and central government will receive a total of about 20 million dan and 21 million silver yuan.
At the disposal of the imperial court were 14 million shi of grain and 16 million pieces of silver.
"The salt industry occupies the largest part. The salt stamping method has spread to the north and south. It is expected that six million silver dollars will be obtained next year. Tea, iron, wine, etc. are included in the commercial tax, which is indistinguishable from salt."
"Most of the rest is half-share of taxes and banknotes from the local government."
Zhu Mouxi introduced with a smile.
"The northern provinces were newly returned, and Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Gansu and other provinces were newly divided. A large number of officials were added. Coupled with the annual salary restructuring, the civil service department required six million yuan of silver."
Wang Yingxiong, the Minister of Personnel, opened his mouth and said, which made Zhu Mou speechless: "You are really like a lion."
Zhu Mou elaborated and said: "Nowadays, the six offices of the county government and other officials are all paid for by the local households. The official department only has to support the officials who sit in the hall, and a county only has a few people to make judgments, teach, and patrol..."
"The official department only needs one million yuan."
"Nonsense -" Wang Yingxiong said angrily: "There are 1,600 counties and more than 300 prefectures in the world, how can one million yuan be enough?"
"You really want a lot." Lu Daqi said bluntly.
"Since Chongzhen, how much salary has the imperial court owed to local officials? In order to show your majesty's benevolence, it must be made up, right?"
"Let's make up for three years at once!"
Zhu Yixi thought about Yin's habit of eating grain in the Ming Dynasty, so he could only wave his hands and said: "Repay one year every year and pay off in three years."
"In this case, up to two million yuan."
"The Ministry of War is in charge of soldiers and horses from all over the world. There are 60,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp, wages, firearms and gunpowder, clothing, etc., and it needs to spend 3 million yuan every year. The local garrison of troops and horses also costs 2 million yuan. Now there are more Korean troops.
, and another million.”
"A total of six million yuan."
Lu Daqi was honest and explained everything in detail.
Zhu Mou agreed.
"Today, repairing official roads, dredging canals, repairing border towns, and protecting the Yellow River require three million yuan..."
"No, although there is nothing wrong with the Yellow River, we must be cautious. We can allocate 500,000 yuan to build the official road in Beizhili first, 500,000 yuan, and 300,000 yuan for the canal..."
"Only 1.3 million."
Jiang Yueguang was so angry that he stamped his feet. He looked at the three cabinet members and saw that they remained calm, so he had no choice but to give up.
The Ministry of Rites rarely spoke: "The provincial Gongyuan, government schools, county schools, Imperial College, etc. all need to be renovated. The late emperor's mausoleum also needs to be maintained. Sizong (Chongzhen) and Daizong need to be rebuilt..."
"At least five million yuan."
"No -" Zhu Mou refused directly: "The late emperor's mausoleum must be repaired carefully and slowly. It can be divided into years. This year, each can be worth 500,000 yuan."
"As for the Gongyuan, county schools, etc., how can they all be handed over to the imperial court? Let them raise donations from the gentry, and the imperial court will only provide half..."