Li Di jumped angrily, "The civil strife in the imperial court has just subsided, and various places need financial and food assistance. The surplus that has just been accumulated in the treasury has been almost used up, and some money has been borrowed from Yizijiaozipu. Now every penny of the imperial court
, that is the people’s life-saving money. At this time, your grandfather is opening his mouth to the imperial lion, which is robbing the people’s life-saving money. As the prime minister, how can I not stop it?”
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "Are you always cheating? The treasury has accumulated surpluses for several years. How can there be a lot of money? I led people to confiscate the property of those prisoners, confiscated the property of the Prince of Chu's Mansion, stuffed
to the treasury.
In addition to filling the shortfall of the Jiaozi Shop opened by Ba Wang, there is still a lot left.
It was enough for the court to appease the people.
It's obviously you who feels uncomfortable seeing Yizijiaozipu making money but not under the control of the imperial court.
So a part of the money from the national treasury was put into the government's internal treasury to support the government's expenses for three years.
Then he went to Yizijiaozipu to cry about his poverty, and on the pretext of tax reduction and exemption, he stole a large amount of money from Yizijiaozipu."
Li Di glared and scolded: "Yi Zi Jiao Zi Shop under your jurisdiction makes a lot of profits every year, but only pays a little tax. If things go on like this, you will wipe out all the money of the imperial court."
.
I do this for the sake of the people and the court.
Besides, the King of Chu burned down many palaces in the palace, and now the palace is in scorched earth. Is there anything wrong with me allocating some money to the officials to rebuild the palaces?
We, the Song Dynasty, are a sovereign state in the Celestial Empire. If the envoys from foreign countries see the scorched earth in our Song Dynasty palace, they will laugh at me, the Song Dynasty."
Just as Kou Ji was about to retaliate, he heard Xiang Yan say in a dumbfounded voice: "Ms. sir, I'd better go back to the house and rest by myself. You can take Mr. Li and sit in the main hall."
Kou Ji said righteously: "That won't work. You are pregnant and someone must take care of you."
Xiang Yan looked at her flat belly and said in confusion: "I'm not that delicate. Besides, I'm not pregnant yet, so I don't need to take care of her. It's enough to have two girls sent by my grandfather to take care of me."
My husband, you are now an important minister in the court, and you are dealing with all the important affairs of the court, so don’t waste your time on me."
Kou Ji pursed his lips and reluctantly handed Xiang Yan to the maid who was waiting behind him.
Xiang Yan felt relieved and hurriedly left the courtyard accompanied by the maid.
Whether it was her husband-in-law or her two grandfathers, after learning that she was pregnant, their behavior was too exaggerated and too enthusiastic, which made her a little unbearable.
How could she know?
What does the little life in her belly mean to Kou Zhun, Xiang Minzhong, and Kou Ji.
For Kou Zhun, that is the inheritance of incense.
For Xiang Minzhong, it is the guarantee that the Xiang family will continue to be wealthy in the future.
For Kou Ji, that was his soul that truly took root.
To a certain extent, the little guy in Xiang Yan's belly represents the lives of Kou Zhun and the others.
How could Kou Zhun and the other two not pay attention to it?
After Xiang Yan left, Kou Ji took Li Di to the main hall of Kou Mansion in dissatisfaction.
After sitting down.
Li Di said angrily: "Now that the Kou officials have been promoted, their tempers have also increased a lot. In front of me, they have begun to lose their dignity."
Kou Ji pretended not to hear Li Di's words and curled his lips and said: "Yizijiaozipu has been handed over to Cao Ji. Cao Ji is the uncle of the state, a relative of the official family, and a close confidant of the official family.
The largest owner of Yizijiaozipu is also an official family.
If Yizijiaozipu pays taxes, how much taxes should it pay? Go to the government officials and tell me what they want to say.
If the palace rooms were destroyed and it was necessary to rebuild them, that was a matter for the imperial court.
The officials and the empress gave my grandfather money, allowing him to have enough money to treat those poor people favorably. That was a grace, but you insisted on stopping it.
My grandfather was so angry that he didn't eat for three days.
I threatened to cut off my robe and sever ties with you."
The corner of Li Di's mouth twitched and he said fiercely: "Is your government short of money?"
Kou Ji looked strange and said: "Who would think that he has too much money? The money of our Kou family is not brought by the strong wind. Every money we have is earned by ourselves. You can spend it wherever you want.
own thoughts.
My grandfather founded the academy for the imperial court.
Shouldn’t the imperial court pay for it?”
Li Di gritted his teeth and said: "The court has no money!"
Kou Ji curled his lips and said, "I never noticed before that you are always so picky."
Li Di glared and gritted his teeth and said, "Are you done yet? Your grandfather complained that I withheld the money given to him by the officials and the queen. That was his complaint.
He is qualified, but you are not.
Do you really think I don’t dare to treat you?”
Kou Ji suddenly grinned and said, "Young man is just having fun, please don't be angry."
Li Di snorted coldly: "I saw that you were just having fun, so I didn't argue with you. Otherwise, I would have hung you up and beaten you long ago. Don't think that now that you have been promoted to the position of Cao Shangshu, a powerful official, I will not care about you."
I dare to hit you."
Kou Ji smiled dryly, "You are now the number one person in the Song Dynasty, so naturally you can beat whoever you want."
Li Di glared and shouted: "That's nonsense. Officials are the number one people in the Song Dynasty!"
Kou Ji hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, the official family is the first person in the Song Dynasty, and you are the second person in the Song Dynasty."
Li Di opened his mouth, but was too lazy to argue with Kou Ji.
Seeing this, Kou Ji smiled and said, "If you keep looking for my grandfather, I'm afraid you have to wait until night. My grandfather won't come back until night."
Li Di glanced at Kou Ji and snorted: "I'm not looking for your grandfather, I'm looking for you."
Kou Ji was slightly stunned, "Looking for me?"
Li Di nodded.
Kou Ji said suspiciously: "I have given Fan Zhongyan the responsibility of the official department. Could it be that something went wrong with Fan Zhongyan?"
Li Di shook his head and said in a deep voice: "I'm looking for you because I have two things to tell you. These two things have nothing to do with the official department."
Kou Ji remained silent, staring at Li Di, waiting for the next sentence.
Li Di said in a deep voice: "You know that Marquis Li Deming disobeyed orders and sent his son Li Yuanhao to raid the Ganzhou Uighurs and occupy Ganzhou. The latest news the court received is that Li Yuanhao did not lead his army back after occupying Ganzhou.
.
Instead, he led his army to attack the Shazhou Uighurs.
The Guiyi Army was defeated by the Guiyi Army, so Cao Xianshun, the Jiedu envoy of the Guiyi Army, asked for help from the Gaochang Uighurs.
The request for help failed, so Cao Xianshun, the governor of the Guiyi Army, asked for help from the Song Dynasty.
After discussion in the inner court, it was decided to send troops and horses to assist the Shazhou Uighurs."
After listening to Li Di's words, Kou Ji was thoughtful.
The Shazhou Uighurs are adjacent to the Ganzhou Uighurs. After Li Yuanhao led his troops to capture the Ganzhou Uighurs, it was not surprising that he then turned to attack the Shazhou Uighurs.
Nowadays, most of the territory south of Xixia has been invaded by the Song Dynasty.
Zhi Shiheng and Zhe Weizhong guarded the border between Xixia and Song Dynasty. Xixia invaded from the south and it was extremely difficult.
The Liao Kingdom in the east now dominates the world, and Xixia cannot afford to offend it.
If Xixia wants to rise again, it can only go west and north.
What surprised Kou Ji was that after the Shazhou Uighurs were attacked, Cao Xianshun, the governor of the Guiyi Army, did not ask for help from the Song Dynasty first, but instead asked for help from the Gaochang Uighurs.
Gaochang Uighur, also known as Xizhou Uighur.
Luntai, Xizhou and other famous cities that were ruled by the Han Dynasty during the Han Dynasty are now occupied by the Gaochang Uighurs.
Some small Uighurs, such as the Kucha Uighur, are all Gaochang Uighurs.
In the Western Regions, the Gaochang Uighurs can be considered the most powerful of the many Uighurs.
Its strength is comparable to the current Xixia.
But even so, the strength of the Gaochang Uighurs was far inferior to that of the Song Dynasty.
Cao Xianshun was a Han Chinese. After the Shazhou Uighurs he governed were attacked, he did not ask for help from the Song Dynasty first, but first asked for help from the Gaochang Uighurs.
Did Cao Xianshun believe in the Gaochang Uighurs more than the Song Dynasty?
After asking for help from the Gaochang Uighurs and failing, did they choose the Song Dynasty?
Seeing that Kou Ji was deep in thought, Li Di said in a deep voice: "You also see the problem?"
Kou Ji frowned and said, "Cao Xianshun doesn't trust the Song Dynasty. To be precise, he trusts the Gaochang Uighurs more than he trusts the Song Dynasty."
Li Di nodded and said: "It is precisely because of this that the imperial court decided to agree to Cao Xianshun's request and send troops to help. Firstly, it is to combat the rise of Xixia, and secondly, it is to provide relief to those who are attached to me, the Song Dynasty.
Fanbang sets an example."
Kou Ji suddenly realized, "No wonder you suddenly became so stingy. It turns out you were preparing for the expedition."
Li Di glared at Kou Ji.
Kou Ji said with some embarrassment: "Yan'er is pregnant, so it is inconvenient for me to leave the capital. Mr. Xiang is not in good health. As my grandson-in-law, I have to stay in Bianjing to take care of him."
When Li Di heard this, he said angrily and funny: "The inner court has no intention of sending an army to go on an expedition."
Kou Ji let out a long breath and smiled: "That's good..."
Hearing that Li Di said that the imperial court was going to send troops to aid the Shazhou Uighurs, Kou Ji's first reaction was that Li Di was going to let him join the army and go to the Western Regions.
So I immediately started to refuse by making innuendo.
Li Di stared at Kou Ji and said: "The inner court originally planned to let Zhong Shiheng lead the army to rescue the Shazhou Uighurs. However, Zhong Shiheng wrote a letter stating that this matter may not be Xixia's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
After all, the Song Dynasty south of the Great Wall was richer than other places in the Western Regions.
The old man and Lu Yijian discussed it and felt that what Zhong Shiheng said was reasonable, so they gave up the idea.
now.
Zhu Neng took the initiative to ask for a battle on the grounds that the Dragon God and the Second Guards had not been in battle for a long time and the combat effectiveness of their soldiers was low.
The old man, Lu Yijian, and the officials discussed it and agreed to Zhu Neng's request.
Zhu Neng was allowed to lead the Dragon Guard to the Western Regions to aid the Shazhou Uighurs.
Xue Tian also volunteered to serve as supervisor of the army."
Kou Ji was a little dazed, and said to himself: "Then what do you want from me? You have a commander-in-chief to lead the army, and there are important ministers to supervise the army. I am still a counselor in political affairs, so there is no need for me."
"No!"
Li Di shook his head and said: "Zhu Neng wrote to the court, saying that you have some extremely lethal weapons in your hands, which are very suitable for dealing with Xixia's cavalry."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows, "Firebolt and Meteor Arrow? Didn't I equip Zhu Neng with 10,000 of them?"
Li Di glared and said, "That box where a hundred arrows flew together."
Kou Ji said in astonishment: "Zhu Neng is thinking about Hundred Tigers Running Together?"
Li Di said thoughtfully: "So that thing is called Hundred Tigers Running Together... It's a good name..."
Kou Ji clicked his lips and said: "A hundred tigers gallop together. It was built for the imperial court. It's not that it can't be given to Zhu Neng. It's just that the cost of that thing is not low..."
Li Di raised his eyebrows and asked: "Compared to Bu Renjia?"
Kou Ji shook his head and said, "That's not true..."
Li Di said grandly: "Then let's get one hundred thousand first!"
Kou Ji stared, "Are you crazy?"
Li Di rolled his eyes and said: "It's not that I'm crazy, it's that all the Forbidden Army are crazy. Since seeing the power of the hundred tigers running together, the generals of the Forbidden Army stationed inside and outside Bianjing City have all applied to the imperial court to be equipped with this weapon.
things.
After the generals of the Forbidden Army in other places learned about this thing, they also wanted to equip the imperial court with this thing.
One hundred thousand is certainly a lot, but if it is distributed to various places, it won't be much.
It is already a miracle that a crossbow battalion can be equipped with one or two."
Kou Ji stared at Li Di in astonishment and asked: "When did the imperial court become so generous? Did you, Lu Yijian, and Xue Tian have their hearts changed? Was the imperial court's strategy of emphasizing culture and suppressing military force secretly given to you?
Changed?"
Li Di said calmly: "To suppress the military, we need to relax one by one, and we cannot blindly suppress it. The inner court took the initiative and streamlined all the Xiang army affiliations in the Song Dynasty. Hundreds of thousands of Xiang soldiers, rural soldiers, and vassal soldiers were
It was reduced to hundreds of thousands.
I severely cut the body of the warriors, so I naturally need to make up for it."
When Kou Ji heard this, he curled his lips and said, "I thought your conscience found out."
Li Di stared instantly.
Kou Jigan smiled and said: "One hundred thousand aircraft and a hundred tigers running together cannot be built in a short time. Even if the forging steel workshop outside the city and the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry join forces, they can only produce a thousand aircraft a month."
.
If Zhu Neng wants to go out to fight, I can first sell to Zhu Neng the more than a thousand aircraft in the possession of the Tiger Army and the thousand aircraft stored in the forging steel workshop.
Others can only be sold while making.
The imperial court will give certain rewards to the craftsman who made the Hundred Tigers Running Together, and the craftsman who made the Firebolt and Meteor Arrow."
Li Di frowned and said, "As for rewarding craftsmen, you can directly discuss it with Wang Yunsheng, the Minister of Industry. As long as Wang Yunsheng submits the relevant reward documents, the three of me will sign them decisively."
Kou Ji nodded with a bright smile.
Li Di continued: "The next step is about the officials of the DPRK and China."
Kou Ji stared in shock, "Where's the money?"
Li Di pretended to be stupid and said: "What money?"
Kou Ji shouted: "The imperial court bought the money from Hundred Tigers Running Together."
Li Di frowned and said: "The inner court has decided to reduce the tax by 30% of the forging steel workshop to pay off the debt of hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands of tigers running together. What more money do you want?"
Kou Ji suddenly became unhappy.
"Are you always planning to do nothing?"
Li Di shouted: "Why don't you want to reduce the 30% tax on steel forging workshops?"
Kou Ji stood up by slamming the table and said angrily: "There are also members of the official family in the steel forging workshop. Why didn't you go tell the official family about this, but came to tell me? You must have gone to the official family first. The official family
I didn't promise you, so you came to fool me. Do you think I'm stupid?
Since the officials have not agreed, why should I agree?
If the officials investigate me, how can I explain to them?
Say it again.
Once the forging steel workshop took on the task of helping the imperial court to forge a hundred tigers running together.
All the craftsmen in the forging steel workshop will help the imperial court build a hundred tigers running together in the next few years.
They want to eat.
They want wages.
If the court doesn't give them money, do they want to watch their family starve to death?"
Li Di felt a little weak when he heard this.
The craftsmen in the forging steel workshop are basically ordinary people from the Song Dynasty, and they hold clean household registrations from the Song Dynasty.
It's not some kind of slave contract.
People not only need food, but also wages.
If the court wants to use people, it has to pay them, which makes no sense.
The imperial court can recruit them for service, but it only lasts for three or two months, and it cannot be used in vain for a long time.
The imperial court can also send people to take over the steel forging workshop.
But that is the property of Zhao Zhen, Kou Ji and others, and it is still private property at present.
Li Di and the others could bully Kou Ji and Mu Chong, but they could not bully Zhao Zhen, the boss of the steel forging workshop.
Li Di planned to fool Kou Ji just because he and Zhao Zhen failed to reach an agreement on salary, but Kou Ji exposed it on the spot.
Li Di said with an ugly face: "The court has no money now!"
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "There's no such thing as a hundred tigers running in that workshop."