The difficulty of raising an army not only troubled Zhao Jun of Yunzhou County, but was also an unavoidable problem for the Song Dynasty court.
The Song Dynasty had thousands of miles of land and extremely long borders. Although this meant that the country was vast, it also meant that there were many foreign enemies, and each border faced great defensive pressure.
This forced the imperial court to invest heavily in raising border troops on all four sides of the border every year.
Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the high military expenditure of border armies has always been a long-standing problem for the Song Dynasty.
In order to feed these one million troops, annual military expenditures remain at around 30 million taels.
If there is a change of clothes, a war, etc., it is not impossible that the military expenditure for that year will reach nearly 50 million taels!
A quarter of the national treasury revenue when the fiscal system is healthy, what an astonishing amount at this time?
A quarter of the country's tax revenue is used to support the army, but you still have to pay this money, otherwise you can't do it!
A country cannot spend money only on the military. Official salaries, operating funds of administrative agencies, annual disaster relief, river embankment repairs, and engineering construction all over the country. Which ones do not cost money, and which ones do not require money from the court?
On good days, the court would have a surplus of several million taels of silver every year, which was a lot for an individual, but for a court it was just a small amount of money.
But for the Song Dynasty, most of the time, the grain was eaten in Yin. This year, the next year, and the next year, the year after. The disasters increased day by day, and the financial pressure also intensified day by day. Coupled with corruption, land annexation and other various issues in various places. For this reason, the Song Dynasty's national power has been deteriorating in recent years, with the situation worsening year by year.
This year it’s even worse.
Bianliang, also known as Bianjing, was the capital of the Song Dynasty.
Inside the palace, Song Emperor Zhao Duan was furious in Funing Palace!
"You want money, you want money, you want money! People everywhere are asking me for money, and they know they want money every day!
When dealing with political affairs, everyone is pushy, but when it comes to asking for money, they are more active!
Why, do you think of me as a money bag? Will I give it to them if they come to ask for it? !
There was a severe drought in Liaobei County, and half of the counties in the county were hit by the disaster. They hid it again and again, and only reported it when they could no longer hide it. In the end, when they asked me to wipe their butts, they said they had no money and asked me to give them money. Just waiting there!
Nothing can be solved, so what else do I want these local officials to do?
Everything must be handled by me, so why not just drive them all home to farm and raise their children?
waste! waste! It's all rubbish! "
Wow!
A pile of memorials were pushed to the ground by the furious Zhao Duan.
The eunuchs waiting on the side were all trembling, and they did not dare to feel uncomfortable coming forward at this time.
After venting for a while, his reason gradually returned, Zhao Duan panted and sat back on the chair to rest, calming his rioting heart.
When the great eunuch Cao Shuang saw that the official had finally vented his anger, he hurriedly brought a cup of warm tea at the right temperature to the official to moisten his throat. Then he whispered comfort to the side: "Your Majesty, don't be angry. You are so angry for these stupid officials that you will hurt the dragon." The body is not worth it!”
Zhao Duan no longer complied with any etiquette, drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, and coldly snorted: "Humph! These idiots don't know how they passed the scientific examination back then. Now they are just people who are lying in the dark. The local crisis situation is well known, but they are left to solve everything but they are unable to do anything!"
After saying that, he seemed to think of something and asked: "What are the fourth, fifth, and prince doing recently?"
Cao Shuang thought for a while and replied:
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is studying with the Grand Tutor and Grand Master every day as usual, and even when he wakes up in the morning, he goes to Kunning Palace to pay his respects.
The Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince have become quiet these days, and they are no longer attacking each other like they were in the past. "
After hearing this, Zhao Duan immediately sneered and said: "Of course the two of them have been honest during this period. They have deployed a lot of people in Liaobei County. Now if something happens, they can't escape their involvement. If they are not honest and jump up and down at this time, I'm afraid they will not Does it bother me?
As for the prince, as a prince, how can he just immerse himself in learning every day and not pay attention to the political affairs of the court? That's scholarly behavior, and it's not good.
You will pass down my oral instructions and ask the prince to accompany me to the court from tomorrow to listen to the government. After the court meeting, he will review the memorials with me to increase his ability to handle political affairs! "
"My slave obeys the order!"
Cao Shuang responded, and then thought of something again, hesitating whether he should say it or not.
When Zhao Duan saw him like this, he immediately lost his temper and said: If you have anything to say, just tell me, what are you thinking about while hesitating?
"Your Majesty, forgive me, it was my slave's fault!"
Cao Shuang first confessed, and then said slowly: "Your Majesty, there is news from the Imperial City Division that the pass near Yunzhou County in Liaobei County was opened a few days ago."
While Cao Shuang said this, he carefully observed Zhao Duan's expression.
Zhao Duan, who had gradually regained his composure just now, frowned when he heard this!
There is a gap in the pass!
What does this mean? The border gate lets a large number of people in or out!
If this had happened fifty years ago, it would have been appropriate for the border guards to surrender to the steppe Tatars and let the Tatar army enter.
But now, there is another county outside Liaobei County, Yunzhou County.
This means that a large number of people entered Liaobei County from Yunzhou County, or went from Liaobei County to Yunzhou County.
Whatever it is, it's not a small thing.
Zhao Duan immediately asked in a deep voice: "Tell me clearly, who made the opening?!"
"Guan Nei."
Cao Shuang spit out two words.
Within the pass, that is to say, a large number of people were released from the pass.
Zhao Duan understood what Cao Shuang meant and asked, "Who?"
Zhao Duan only asked one word, but Cao Shuang understood who the emperor was asking and immediately replied: "The fourth prince!"
"Fourth child?"
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment at first, but then he showed a look of surprise.
No wonder! No wonder!
He sneered and said: "I told you that most of Liaobei County was affected by the disaster. Why didn't there be any news from Jinzhou Prefecture, which was located in a disaster-stricken area? I thought they were still suppressing it and did not report it. It won't be long before the disaster comes. There will be discounts coming.
Unexpectedly, I didn't expect that the fourth child would actually drive all the disaster victims to Yunzhou County. No wonder, only he could do this.
I remember that the guard of Liaoyun Pass was Ding An, right? "
Cao Shuang immediately agreed: "He is indeed the Marquis of Ningbei."
Ding An, the Marquis of Ningbei, was none other than the third uncle from the fourth prince's mother's family. Only with this relationship could Ding An risk violating the court's laws and help the fourth prince get Ban Ning out of the pass.
"Yunzhou County...Yunzhou County..."
Zhao Duan tapped his index finger lightly on the table and suddenly asked: "I remember that Yunzhou County is the vassal territory of Lao Liu, right?"
Cao Shuang nodded.
Zhao Duan suddenly felt a little emotional.
Five years have passed, five years have passed since Lao Liu became a feudal lord!
Although I haven't paid much attention to this child since he was a child, he is his own child after all. Five years ago, he was thrown into a place like Yunzhou County because of some of his own thoughts.
I feel somewhat guilty in my heart, just a little bit.
"Have you not complained about anything these years?"
"In the past few years, except for the regular discounts from Prince Yun to pay for the guards' salary for that year, the rest has been poor." Cao Shuang replied in a low voice.
Zhao Duan suddenly became interested and raised his eyebrows: "Crying for poverty? What's the best way to cry for poverty?" He said, "No matter how poor the prefectures and counties are, they won't be as poor as him, the vassal king. I remember that every year, the salary of the Zongren Mansion has been as high as If the payment is on time and there is no arrears, how can he cry about poverty?"
Cao Shuang immediately smiled and read out the excerpt that Zhao Jun sent to Beijing every year in a joking tone.
"Ask Holy Gong Jin'an:
Since my son Zhao Jun came to Yunzhou, he has not forgotten his father's teachings and his identity as a vassal king. He has been working hard for the prosperity of Yunzhou County all day long.
However, the roads in Yunzhou County are not smooth, the population is small, the products are not abundant, the craftsmanship is scarce, and the tax revenue cannot make up the expenses. The migrating families control Yunzhou, and the children and ministers are miserable..."
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