There are countless candles burning in Chongzheng Hall.
After the officials recovered slightly from their illness, this was the first time that more than four officials were summoned to discuss war and defense strategies.
All the ministers are sitting on the throne.
"Your Majesty, the world's wealth has reached its extreme, the people's strength has been exhausted, and we can no longer launch a large-scale military campaign." Sun Gu, the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, spoke again.
After the official issued the imperial edict to punish oneself, opposition to the invasion of Xia increased sharply.
The officials frowned after hearing this. Since Zhang Yue changed the exemption law, his income has indeed dropped significantly. He has lost six million yuan in income every year. At first, Zhang Yue said that he would make up for this money from elsewhere. After Zhang Yue went to the countryside, nothing happened.
After speaking, the official looked at Zhang Yue, who calmly took a sip of tea.
The current situation of Zhongshu Sanzaizhi is like this. Zhang Yue is in charge of wealth and the affairs of conquering Xia. One is responsible for finding money, and the other is responsible for spending money.
Yuan Jiang presides over etiquette and tribute matters, which is considered the least important.
Wang Gui presided over other aspects.
When the officials looked at Zhang Yue, their motive was obviously money?
Zhang Yue didn't say anything, but he saw Huang Lu, the envoy of the Third Division, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, in the past two years, the Third Division has promoted the maritime trade between Goryeo and the Song Dynasty."
"Because the currency was promoted in Goryeo and Dali, the annual sea trade market could generate a surplus of nearly 800,000 guan."
"As for the tax reduction implemented by the three departments, it has already saved 500,000 yuan every year from all aspects."
The officials frowned and said last year that the company was going from Bianjing to Luoyang, and then to Shaanxi Road Yichuan, from a government-run operation to a government-run private operation, which would save the court millions of dollars every year.
But there are only more than two million guan here, which is far from the six million Zhang Yue said.
Yuan Jiang said: "There has always been a steady flow of salt money and money, but since the Expedition of Xia, money money has been greatly depreciated."
Huang Lu said: "Your Majesty, this is because there are rumors in the government and the public that the court is going to issue more salt banknotes and jiaozi. I thought that the prices of salt banknotes and jiaozi were stable before, and it is reasonable for them to fall a little now. If they continue to fall, both the Sansi and Jiaoyin Exchanges will
If there is excess money, buy back excess private money."
Huang Lu's input resolved Zhang Yue's request for the emperor to explain why he had not obtained six million yuan.
In fact, if you look carefully, Zhang Yue has been out of power for nearly a year, so he cannot be blamed for these things. However, Zhang Yue has come back to serve as prime minister, and he has to take responsibility for these things again.
The official nodded and Huang Lu said: "Your Majesty, some people say that the salt and banknotes are still reliable, but the Jiaozi's goods are water without a source. I don't think so. As long as the court maintains the credibility of the two items of money and banknotes, the court will rely on the money.
The financial resources obtained from these two things will be endless."
Zhang Yue listened to what Huang Lu said, and Jiaozi was getting closer and closer to credit currency.
To prevent counterfeiting, banknotes are all made from paper produced in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, and they are discarded every three years. The imperial court reissues new coins.
After Huang Lu finished speaking, he sat down and the official said: "Huang Qing's real contribution to managing the national treasury these years is Sheji."
"I think the best of the two things, money and banknotes, is to get the tax from minting, and at the same time alleviate the money shortage among the people. Although it is not a lot every year, there is an endless supply. The indiscriminate issuance of money is killing the goose and taking the egg. I will not do it!
"
The ministers all said yes.
The officials below want to say something.
But I saw Mr. Lu come out and say: "Since the law of exemption from service was changed to the law of recruitment, there have been a lot less rebellions and troubles among the common people in various parts of the imperial court, and the incidents of gathering people to resist taxes have also stopped. It can be seen that this is a good thing for revising the law, as long as the people are not exploited. , if you disturb the poor people, you can become well-off."
The official smiled and said: "I heard about the method of recruiting soldiers. Although the money is not as good as before, the people are lenient and everyone is happy."
Among the many new policies, the Recruitment Law has always been the most highly rated. After Zhang Yue's reform, there were almost no negative reviews, and it continued to increase the income of the court.
Sun Gu said again: "However, the lack of financial resources in the imperial court is an indisputable fact. Since the Liao Kingdom came to mediate, Xixia also took the initiative to propose a peace. I think this should be used to negotiate a peace."
"This can also avoid offending the two countries and being attacked on both sides. If the war continues and the use of troops against Xixia continues, the court will need to continuously increase its wealth, and the people's peace and happiness will be impossible to talk about."
Zhang Yue calmly took another sip of tea. Recently, he and Wang Gui had gotten closer.
Wang Gui pretended to be low on energy and remained silent, while Zhang Yue drank tea frequently, thinking that nothing happened since he was still young and had good kidneys.
Zhang Yue tried his best not to express his position in the court, but let the officials below express their position, and then tried his best to control the issue within the process he wanted.
Try to achieve "fake dishes" in meetings.
Everyone outside the court thinks that conquering Xia can be done with a slap on the head, but everyone in the court will ask you, 'Where is the money?'
If you have the ability to get money, let alone destroy Xia, the Liao Kingdom will also be leveled for you.
Zhang Yue is far away from the emperor's goal of six million guans, but has only achieved one-third so far.
Privy Councilor Feng Jing said: "Your Majesty, the Conquest of Xia involves people's strength, material resources, and financial resources. Although the imperial court has expanded its financial resources, it can only barely maintain it. Once the Conquest of Xia fails again, it will cost no one knows how much money it will cost."
"In order to obtain wealth, the imperial court will inevitably impose exorbitant taxes."
After Feng Jing finished speaking, Cai Que stood up and objected: "With Xining's reform, how can the officials and the people take advantage of it?"
"I think that the way of Shen Shang is not advisable, but the method of Shu Guogong continues to benefit the country and is sufficient."
The official asked: "How to do it?"
Cai Que immediately said a few ways. Zhang Yue and Huang Lu frowned, but the officials nodded frequently.
The biggest issue in the Imperial Council actually revolves around the word 'money'.
But the word "money" goes back and forth around whether to continue to "suffer the common people" or whether to continue the official ambition of "restoring the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties".
In the end, it usually comes down to the content of the suffering of the common people.
And "suffering the common people" can be subdivided into "suffering only the officials and gentry" and "unreasonable expropriation and expropriation".
In Zhang Yue's view, wealth can be increased gradually, but the method of explosively increasing income is likely to leave serious consequences.
Now the reform has entered the era of Queen Anshi.
In the late years of Zhiping, the financial revenue dilemma had been alleviated.
However, although its reforms dealt a blow to annexers and increased fiscal revenue, they also had the negative side of destroying business circulation and hitting middle-class families.
Zhang Yue issued salt banknotes, repurchased Jiaozi, re-stabilized the currency value of Jiaozi, supported emerging industries such as the state-run and private cotton textile industry, postal service, and exchanges, and strengthened trade with foreign markets, all of which required commercial efforts.
Stability, prosperity and circulation.
So adjustments must be made.
In terms of finance, we insist on "sustainable development" and do not engage in one-off transactions. We would rather slow down the progress of exterminating Xia and slow down the fiscal growth rate, rather than implement large-scale taxation policies to destroy the current business circulation.
This is by no means a compromise between both needs and wants, but new growth points must be matched with corresponding national policies.
Therefore, it is not only an adjustment in national policy, but also requires an ideological re-transformation of the entire country.
This is to serve the new reform from three aspects: culture, military, and politics. This is also Wang Anshi's strategy to regulate the world.
At this time, Hanlin scholar Zhang Dun said: "What Prime Minister Feng said is wrong. The imperial court still has a surplus of revenue. It has a surplus of two to three million yuan every year since the reform. How can we not fear the use of troops against Xia because of Liao's mediation?"
"
"Although the two expeditions to conquer Xia were defeated, they were still glorious. The capture of Lanzhou and Tiandu Mountain was an extraordinary achievement. In the past, when the imperial court sent troops, they were often trapped by the Westerners. When they left the border, they entered a desert land with neither water, grass, nor human habitation.
Before we saw the enemy, our division was already trapped."
"Although when the Westerners came, they had already crossed the sandy moraine, but within its territory, they gathered troops across the mountains every day to get food. Because they violated the fortress and entered our territory a little bit, they would definitely gain something. This is why the Westerners often benefited. Today, everyone
If we own all the mountains, we will use the desert as our boundary. There will be no place for them to gather troops and get food, and it will be difficult for them to invade the fortress."
"Xi'an was established as a state, including Tiandu, from Tiandu to Gangu City in Qinzhou, a distance of 500 miles from north to south, and an area of almost more than a thousand miles. Jingyuan entered Tiandu, and the Xihe River ran from Ruzhe built a walled city to Huizhou, so the two
The roadside faces are connected to each other, and Qinzhou is within its heart."
"This is a great opportunity, we should stand together and then take it. Anyone who thinks that he talks about peace should be killed!"
Zhang Dun's righteous and stern words immediately won the favor of the officials.
Nowadays, both Cai Que and Zhang Dun are vying to become Zhongshu. At the same time, they are also the figures that the officials look forward to. Cai Que and Zhang Dun repeatedly said things that echoed the officials' wishes in terms of expeditions to Xia and finances, which also increased their own influence.
The weight of Zhongshu.
Feng Jingze said: "This statement is wrong. What benefit will it bring to the country to acquire some desolate land?"
"Almost all the troops on the Yanyan Road were wiped out, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses on the Jingyuan Road, Huanqing Road, and Xihe Road could not break the siege of Mingsha City. If they were defeated like this, why should they cover up their mistakes?"
Although Feng Jing was quarreling with Zhang Dun, Zhang Yue seemed a little uneasy.
He was not responsible for the defeat at Yanyan Road, but he was responsible for the rescue of Mingsha City, and the result was that the city was destroyed and the army was overthrown.
Many people in the court had high expectations for Zhang Yue's comeback this time, including the officials who had high expectations for Zhang Yue by saying, "I was ordered by a defeated general, and I was ordered to be in danger."
As a result, after Zhang Yue returned to the throne, Xixia still captured Mingsha City in front of hundreds of thousands of Song troops, and the Song Dynasty was forced to negotiate peace with Xixia.
At this time, Zhang Yue stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Mingsha City was destroyed because of my incompetent handling. It is hard to escape the blame!"
When Zhang Yue spoke, the whole hall was silent.
In fact, when Mingsha City was destroyed before, Wang Gui and Zhang Yue all petitioned for punishment. Zhang Yue petitioned to be demoted to the third level, but was rejected by the emperor. Now Zhang Yue has made a new petition.
The official said: "Zhang Qing doesn't need to be like this. How could you predict victory or defeat in advance?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, when it comes to military expeditions, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined. Otherwise, how can we control the roads and order the soldiers to do their jobs! If you don't blame your ministers, you can't understand the three armies."
Cai Que came out again and said: "Since the Prime Minister has said this, and His Majesty has issued an edict to offend himself, we should comply with his request, otherwise the world will think that there is no way to do it, and I will think that I should comply with it."
Cai Que spoke up, and the officials also remembered the previous debate between Zhang Yue and Wang Anshi.
Of course the officials knew what the purpose of Zhang Yue and Wang Anshi's debate was?
But in the eyes of the officials, appointing Zhang Yue as prime minister meant two things. One was to make money, and the other was to spend the money (to destroy Xia).
Don't interfere in other things.
The official thought of this and said, "Well, then I will demote Zhang Qing to the rank of official and fine him fifty catties of copper."
Zhang Yue's original official was the Minister of Rites, and he was demoted to the Minister of Works. For Zhang Yue, his demotion was actually of little importance to him now.
