Pan Liao also knew that Guo Song was facing the dilemma of insufficient military expenditure. He thought for a while and said: "In fact, there are other incomes. If we implement farming and provide military rations ourselves, as well as the cattle and sheep of our Animal Husbandry Department, the excess grain and cattle and sheep can be sold
When you go to the Central Plains, you can also sell sheep skins. I estimate that you can earn at least 80,000 to 90,000 yuan a year.
We can also divert half of the taxes in Hexi. The household tax and land tax are not much, mainly business taxes, which amount to 30,000 guan in a year, so after calculation, there is still a difference of 50,000 guan at most."
Guo Song cheered up and said with a smile: "I can ask the emperor to solve the problem for tens of thousands of guan. Since he hinted that he would let me regain the Hexi Corridor, he must give me some benefits. We don't want more. He has to pay tens of thousands of guan for the military salary."
Help me solve it!"
Pan Liao also smiled and said: "This is a good idea. No matter how strong the political hall is, it still has to give the emperor some face."
Thinking that the military salary dilemma could be solved, Guo Song gradually became cheerful.
.........
In Chang'an, Emperor Li Shi was quite troubled. What worried him was not state affairs, but family affairs. In the past few days, Zongzheng Temple submitted a list to him. There were ninety-one unmarried county heads. The county heads were the daughters of various princes.
After reaching the marriageable age, they lived in the palace and waited for marriage. However, many county heads had been waiting for marriage for more than ten or even twenty years, and old girls in their thirties and forties had not yet married.
Although the emperor's daughter does not have to worry about getting married, the daughter of the clan still has to worry about getting married. According to the royal rules, when a girl from the clan gets married, the dowry must be paid by the emperor.
There is no suitable family, nor enough money to buy a dowry, and most of their fathers and brothers have no real power, so other noble families are not interested in marrying them, which makes these county heads who cannot marry suffer.
Li Shi thought for a while and said to Cheng Yuanzhen, the general manager of the palace: "List the guards who have not yet married, as well as their family backgrounds. I will screen them and match them with the county heads. Each person's dowry will be five thousand taels of silver."
Forget it, marry them off as soon as possible and stay in the palace all day, and the palace will be filled with resentment."
Marrying a bodyguard is a good idea. Most of the bodyguards are children of high-ranking families or nobles of Guanlong. Pick some outstanding ones and marry them regardless of whether they are willing or not.
Cheng Yuanzhen said cautiously: "There are fifteen county heads over thirty years old. I'm afraid they can only continue their marriage, otherwise they will not be able to get married."
"Also, you can choose some with better conditions and let them marry as a second wife. All the silver required for the dowry will be withdrawn from the imperial merchant's treasury."
"I understand, I will reply to Your Majesty within two days."
Cheng Yuanzhen left in a hurry, and Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief, finally solving this difficult matter.
He picked up another memorial, which was the official battle report sent yesterday. The Hexi Army had a great victory in Dadou Valley, annihilating nearly 7,000 Tibetan troops and occupying the entire territory of Dadou Valley. This was the 30th anniversary of the Tang Dynasty.
For the first time in more than a year, they occupied the entire territory of Dadou Bago, which meant that it was difficult for the Tibetan army to get involved in Ganzhou and Liangzhou again.
This report greatly pleased Li Shi. He read it many times and finally gradually understood the message that Guo Song had asked Lieutenant General Pang Xiu to convey, hoping that he could solve the problem of insufficient military salaries of the Hexi Army as appropriate.
Of course Li Gong also wanted to solve the problem, but every place asked him to allocate money to solve the problem of military expenses. How could the imperial court have the financial resources?
According to the latest statistics, there are 770,000 soldiers enrolled in the Ministry of War of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, at least half of these soldiers are soldiers in the vassal towns. The court can ignore them, but even so, there are still 400,000 soldiers who need to be settled by the court for military salaries.
The soldiers of the frontier army of the Tang Dynasty usually received a monthly salary of three guan, while the soldiers of the Central Plains received a monthly salary of two guan. If there was a war, the military salary would be doubled.
A month's military salary is one million guan, a year's military salary expenditure is 12 million guan, and the Tang Dynasty's annual tax is only 11 million guan, which is not enough to pay for the military salary.
.
In addition, there are hundreds of items such as official salaries, daily expenses of government agencies, expenses of soldiers and equipment, expenses of craftsmen, water conservancy repairs, royal palace expenses, royal family support, etc., which cost at least several million yuan. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice!
Li Shi's ambition to revive the Tang Dynasty was gradually being wasted by the shortage of firewood, rice, oil and salt.
At this time, the young eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Li Xiangguo is here!"
Li Shi sighed, put down the memorial and said, "Announce him to come in!"
After a moment, Prime Minister Li Mi hurriedly walked in, bowed and saluted: "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"
"Li Xiangguo, I'm too poor. I'm asking for money everywhere. What should I do if I can't get it?"
"Your Majesty, Jianghuai's salt tax of seven million yuan will arrive soon. Please hold on!"
Li Shi let out a long sigh, "There are so many places where money is needed, how can seven million dollars be enough?"
"Your Majesty, financial insufficiency has been an old problem for decades. It is mainly related to the sharp increase in military expenditures. The consequences of the change from the government military system to the recruitment system will not be solved for a while. After the vassals and towns have been flattened, we can then annex the land.
After ten more years of rest and recuperation, the population will increase, taxes will increase, and military expenditures will decrease, and life will be easier. Now we can only tighten our belts and live a life. The late emperor advocated frugality, and this is what he meant."
Li Shi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "In fact, the Tang Dynasty was not short of money. There were rich people everywhere, especially big businessmen. Their family wealth often amounted to tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Can they share some of it for the court?
Financial pressure?”
Li Mi knew that the emperor wanted to increase business taxes. This was a plan proposed by Yang Yan. He quickly said: "Your Majesty, if you increase business taxes, it will be a devastating blow to small businessmen, and it will have little impact on big businessmen.
On the contrary, forcing small businessmen to move to Hebei Central Plains and other places is not easy to implement. In fact, Weichen has a way to make big businessmen willing to pay."
"What can I do?" Li Shi suddenly became interested.
"Weichen went to Jinshen Pavilion yesterday and found that Qingxu Palace has a knack for amassing money. They promote monks and send blessing cards, so that big families are willing to pay money every year. In fact, businessmen are very eager to improve their status. I think businessmen only need to pay a sum every year
With money, various restrictions on businessmen can be exempted.”
"How much money does Li Xiangguo think he can receive?"
"I definitely have tens of thousands of dollars a year."
Li Shi was immediately discouraged and said, "Xiangguo, it's better not to talk about this method."
Li Bi smiled slightly and said: "Actually, your Majesty did not understand what Wei Chen meant. Wei Chen meant to encourage business and relax restrictions on merchants. Like Li Zhengji, he could actually raise an army of 110,000 people. How did he do it?
In fact, it is to make a fuss about business, encourage business, and improve the status of merchants. Weichen heard that the boats there are busy, the caravans are constantly coming, and there are large ships going to Silla and Japan. The business is prosperous, the handicraft industry is developed, and there are many people.
Textile workshops with hundreds of looms are everywhere, and even Chang'an has begun selling Qingzhou cloth.
Your Majesty, our finances are tight and we should do everything we can to increase revenue. Opening revenue is not deprivation, but releasing water to raise fish. As long as commerce flourishes, merchants will transport all kinds of materials from the south of the Yangtze River. There is no need for the government to organize water transportation. There will be an abundance of goods in the market. The imperial court
As long as we increase our efforts to mine and generate money, I believe the financial situation will be improved."
Li Shi nodded repeatedly. Li Mi's proposal made sense, but it would take several years to be implemented, and it involved a lot of things and required overall planning by the court.
"This matter requires the Zhizhengtang to make a complete plan. I can approve the implementation after taking a look at it."
"I obey the order!"
At this time, Li Shi picked up Guo Song's military report: "Guo Song defeated the Tibetan army in Dadou Bago and occupied Dadou Bago. The political hall must know about this!"
Li Bi bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the Zhengshitang has been informed, but we think this is the same provocation as the Longyou Army's defeat of the Tuyuhun Army. It can only be regarded as a normal defense and cannot be compared with the previous defeat of the Shatuo Army."
.”
"You can kill seven or eight thousand enemies, and you can also regain the lost ground in Da Dou. If the imperial court doesn't show any sign, is it unjustifiable?"
"What does your Majesty mean?"
Li Shi said slowly: "There is no need for commendations and rewards, but why not help them properly solve the problem of insufficient military expenditure? As the ancients said, the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers, but I am not very qualified as an emperor!"
Li Mi sighed and said: "The Ganzhou Army has already paid their military salary in full. In recognition of their merits, they were rewarded with 500,000 yuan and 300,000 bolts of silk. They have already been given a lot. If we give them more,
, I’m afraid the other armies will have very different opinions. Your Majesty, you don’t worry about being few, but you worry about inequality!”
Li Shi knew that what Li Mi said was reasonable. Military expenditures in various places were insufficient. If any more funds were allocated to the Hexi Army, it would inevitably arouse strong indignation from other armies, so he must consider it carefully.
Li Shi walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "Let's do this! Allow Hexi Jiedu Mansion to mine and do business. Hexi is rich in resources, and create conditions for them to find ways to raise military expenses."
Li Mi smiled bitterly in his heart, why does this need the approval of the imperial court? Isn't this what every Jiedu government does now?