The second prince fell to his knees as soon as he entered the imperial study. De'an quickly stopped what he was doing and took a few steps to the side.
"My son, please see your father!"
The emperor glanced at the second prince, and a hint of warmth flashed in his eyes, "Well! Why are you here today? Is it for the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
The emperor reviewed the recent affairs. Could it be that the second son recently took over the duties of the Ministry of Revenue and is still not qualified? The second son has a good nature and may not be able to suppress those veteran ministers.
"Father, I have just taken over the Ministry of Household Affairs and found that our treasury is very empty. Although we have collected more taxes on land in recent years than in previous years, it is still a drop in the bucket! In recent years, Xingguo has repeatedly violated borders and withheld borders from time to time. , the soldiers guarding the border are short of food and grass, their pay and money are often delayed, and their lives are even more difficult!"
As soon as the second prince arrived at the household department, he wanted to show off in front of his father. However, although he had selfish motives, he was still very worried about the emptiness of the treasury. Without money, it would easily lead to unrest. Otherwise, Dayan would not tolerate Daxing from time to time. The land is invading because there is not enough food and grass?
In fact, he still had a lot to say. He heard that the soldiers guarding the border were not paid for several months, and even wore thin jackets in the cold winter, and even had to pay for their meals. Eat with restraint.
It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a short time to deploy it. Although there has been no war recently, the soldiers do not have enough food and clothing, and their foundation is poor. If they go to the battlefield, the possibility of survival is also greatly reduced. Moreover, those Tatars are fat and strong, so they Even the horses are strong BMWs. In a fight, Dayan Dynasty will still suffer the loss!
A vein twitched on the emperor's forehead. He knew that the second son wanted to make some political achievements to show him, but didn't he know this clearly?
Even every official in the Ministry of Revenue knows very well that if you want to fill the national treasury, you must increase revenue and reduce expenditure. But now that the Ministry of Revenue can't come up with any good ideas, how can his wallet be full?
Everyone knows that the national treasury is empty, but the second prince told this matter and spread his naked body in the sun. How can he, the emperor, lose his face?
The emperor sighed inwardly, the second child was still too honest! The third child had taken over the position of the Ministry of Revenue for more than a year, and of course he knew the situation of the Ministry of Revenue. No matter what the ministers in the court said or hinted, the third child never mentioned a word. , this is the difference between honesty and tact.
If he were the boss, he wouldn't even talk about it. At least they wouldn't bring it up so directly, and they would definitely save some face for him.
This temperament is too straightforward. I am afraid that the boss and the third child are not willing to plot against him. How can such a temperament defeat those old and cunning people?
The emperor's face turned cold, "I already know that the treasury is empty, do you have any good ideas?"
The second prince's face suddenly tightened. In fact, how could he have any good ideas? This was a problem that dozens of officials could not solve. He alone and the staff in the palace could not think of a good solution!
Glancing at the emperor, whose face was getting more and more ugly, the second prince suddenly felt anxious. Then, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind, and he recalled a sentence once said by an aide in the palace.
"I would like to report to my father, although I don't have a good solution, I think there is one person who may have a solution."
De'an glanced at the second prince and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The emperor has been in a bad mood these past few days, and his body is also not in good health. If the second prince comes to mention this now, isn't it to bring bad luck?
The emperor looked even more ugly. He thought that the second prince wanted to deal with him and put the matter on others.
"Oh? Who is that person you are talking about?"
"That person's name is Gu Chengyu, and he is the candidate taking the examination this time."
The second prince was uneasy, fearing that his father would blame him. He was still too eager for quick success, and he should not be left to clean up the mess left by the third child. Although he would still have to be warned by his father at the end of the year, after all, it had been delayed for a long time.
Every day is one day!
"Gu Chengyu?" The emperor was very surprised. What does this matter have to do with Gu Chengyu? Could it be that Gu Chengyu alone could fill the national treasury? It is simply nonsense.
The emperor suppressed his throbbing forehead and suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "Why do you think he has a way to talk about it?"
"Father, I heard that Gu Chengyu was originally just a farmer's son, and his family was very poor, but now the Gu family can be regarded as one of the richest. Gu Chengyu is very good at making money, and the family's fortune depends on him. I heard that in
The restaurants opened in the capital are making a fortune every day!"
The second prince looked at the emperor's increasingly soothing expression and breathed a sigh of relief.
The emperor was already somewhat interested in Gu Chengyu, but now after listening to the words of the second prince, he felt that it was not easy for such a poor student to reach this point on his own. I heard that he also had the ability to make money, and he felt that Gu Chengyu was a talent.
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It's just that no matter how good the restaurant's business is, how much money can it make in a year? The amount of money the court needs is huge. Gu Chengyu earned money and threw it into the treasury without even making a sound.
"Second brother, do you know how much money the current taxes are per year and how much money the court spends per year?"
The second prince has certainly done his homework on these things, "Originally, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was converted into silver, which was thirteen million taels a year. Now because of the increase in grain taxes, last year it was fifteen million taels."
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The Dayan Dynasty only experienced two generations of emperors after the founding of the country. The original wars caused the people to live in dire straits. In fact, this is not to be blamed on Emperor Huiming. After all, when his late emperor left the country to him, the treasury was not full.
Previously, all the money in the treasury was used to fight wars. Later, after recuperation, taxes were slowly raised.
The emperor nodded and motioned for the second prince to continue.
"As for the expenditure of the imperial court, it is about fourteen million taels of silver per year." Regarding this figure, the second prince was also surprised when he first saw it. It turned out that the imperial court supported so many people.
There are only about one million taels of silver left in a year, but don’t think that one million taels is a lot. If there is any emergency, it is simply not enough. For example, if there is a disaster when repairing river embankments every four or five years, the court will
We need to allocate money to provide disaster relief.
In addition, the palaces in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace need to be repaired from time to time, the birthdays of the emperor and queen, the idle clans, the salaries of court officials, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., I will not go into details.
If there is a shortage in any year, the father will allocate silver from his private treasury to make up for it.
Therefore, the empty treasury was already a very serious problem, and the second prince also knew that his father was often worried about this matter and could not sleep at night.
"It is absolutely impossible to fill the emptiness of the treasury by oneself. Maybe he has some good ideas, but it is far from the money the court spends every year."
The emperor sighed when he thought of these. In recent days, he has even made less elixirs. But the elixir must be practiced. The Taoist priest said that one day he will refine the elixir. He is now old,
None of the princes could stand it.
He really wanted to borrow another five hundred years from heaven to protect his Zhao family, so that the Dayan Dynasty could prosper and reach an unprecedented peak of prosperity.