The storm is rising in the Western Region, and the yellow sand is swirling around the flag.
The waves are rising in the East China Sea, and the war drums are beating.
China has been coveted and coveted by the four barbarians since ancient times. If China is strong, it will subjugate the four barbarians. If China is weak, all the barbarians will be in chaos.
News of King Zhao's rebellion has spread throughout the world through various channels.
For the ambitious people from all over the world, this is the best opportunity to take control of China and carve up the Central Plains.
…
Similarly, the news of weapons rising from all sides also reached the center of the imperial court and the palace of Prince Zhao.
In the Wuying Hall, Emperor Linde, who rarely participates in political affairs, is sitting on the main seat. "If you are not of my race, your heart must be different. This makes sense!"
Emperor Linde here refers to races that are not my race, not just Zhou people.
The land of China has experienced thousands of years of vicissitudes, and various ethnic groups have merged with each other. Jiuli, Yanhuang, Baiyue, Hakka, and Miao are all part of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Emperor Linde refers to the so-called friendly countries other than the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
For example, in Japan, although their rogues burned and killed their envoys along the coast, Emperor Taizong did not punish their envoys, but allowed them to pay tribute.
Let’s talk about the Parthian Empire. Although there was a war with the Great Zhou, in the 12th year of Yong’an, during the war between the Parthian Empire and the Maurya Dynasty, the Great Zhou did not send troops, but supported the Parthian Empire with weapons and food.
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had the idea of using the Parthian Empire to consume the Maurya Dynasty, the weapons and food and grass to support it were real.
But today, when there was internal turmoil in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Parthian Empire jumped out impatiently.
"My mentor once said that people should be kind to justice and govern a country with great interests. This statement is true!"
Wang Hua was stunned when he heard this, and chewed on this sentence over and over again, feeling that it meant a lot.
"Governing the country focuses on profit!" This is indeed what Yang Qingyuan can say.
These words, in future generations, would be at the level of a forum, and you would be able to become a village chief even if you are not even qualified to be on a certain forum.
But placed in the current Wuying Palace, it is quite explosive.
"Wang Qing, there is a war in the four realms now. Let's discuss it at Wuying Hall today!"
Emperor Linde rarely paid attention to specific government affairs, and always set general directions with the bachelors. However, Emperor Linde never ignored military affairs.
Everyone looked at Li Chengguang, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Wu Keming, the Grand Governor of the Royal Forest Army and the current person in charge of the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion.
Things like fighting still have to be controlled by these two big guys.
Li Chengguang glanced at Wu Keming, stood up first and said, "Everyone, war requires money!"
Everywhere in a war, from mobilization to final command, money and food are consumed.
What Blue Star Protector General Cai Songpo lacked most at that time was money and food, which forced him to fight fiercely with the Beiyang Army in southern Sichuan, otherwise he might not have succeeded in the Northern Expedition.
Before the war begins, the soldiers and horses must first consider whether there is enough money and food in the treasury to fight the war.
The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue stood up after hearing this and said, "When I heard about this yesterday, I had already asked the Preparatory Department of the Ministry of Revenue to do a simple calculation. Although the state treasury has received a lot of money and food in recent years, a lot of it has been spent. Today's Gyeonggi Province The five warehouses are barely enough for the Yulin Army and the Longwu Army, so it is difficult to support the Tiance Army in the north."
Shangshu Hube held a thin booklet in his hand and said while flipping through it.
"This year, Yangzhou has a bumper rice harvest, and all the warehouses are rich."
"Southern Xinjiang is mountainous, with little cultivated land, and it is difficult to transport grain and grass. However, in midsummer, Jiaozhou delivered a large amount of grain and grass to the Shenwu Army, totaling 2.3 million shi. The Shenwu Army should also have sufficient food and grass at this time."
"The Protectorate of the Western Regions, because the countries in the Western Regions have had a bumper harvest this year and food prices have plummeted, the Protectorate of the Western Regions, King Chengsi, purchased a large amount of low-priced grain and grass as a reserve for the army. There is sufficient grain and grass."
The former Hubu Shangshu Zhao Pengcheng has retired and returned to his hometown. The new Hubu Shangshu Qi Yuan is a master of calculations. He has served as a foreign minister of the Hubu, a doctor in the Hubu, a wine minister in the Imperial Academy, and a minister of the Hubu.
He has extremely solid business skills and is especially good at calculating money. He can break a penny into two cents in his hands.
This kind of unusual stinginess can be regarded as the characteristic of the ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the past dynasties. It is impossible to be generous as long as you are in this position.
After talking about food and grass, Qi Yuan then talked about the money in the treasury.
"There is still 5,137,955 taels of silver in the treasury."
It can only be said that he is worthy of being the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. This accurate data puts a smile on the faces of many people, especially military commanders. Being rich means being able to fight.
"However, 4.57 million taels of it have been budgeted for next year and cannot be easily misappropriated."
This sentence immediately caused the smile on the face of the person who just had a smile to falter, and the person who was not good at arithmetic had already started to think of ways to dial the abacus.
I originally thought that with so much money in the treasury, I could do whatever I wanted, but then you turned around and told me that the available money in the treasury was less than 500,000 taels? !
This situation is the most uncomfortable. If there is no money in the treasury, they will give up. But now that there is money in the treasury, they have to use it elsewhere...
"Master Qi, can you use this money temporarily?" Wu Keming changed his former image of being upright, with a flattering tone visible to the naked eye in his smile.
This contrast caught all the senior officials and generals present off guard.
I didn't expect that the Chief of General Staff of Dazhou General Staff Headquarters would have such a side.
Faced with Wu Keming's sudden flattery, Qi Yuan flatly refused, "Director Wu, it's not that I, Qi, am ignorant, but I can't touch this money!"
"This sum of five hundred thousand taels was allocated by the imperial court to Yizhou and Chuzhou to repair the river dams."
"This sum of 700,000 taels was allocated by the imperial court to Yangzhou to clean up canals, dredge water transportation, and dig new shipping channels."
"This sum is to rebuild Minzhou after the storm."
…
This sum of money is all settled on the ground, and no one should be tampered with tampering with it.
"Well, Mr. Qi, I remember that the Yangzhou section of the canal has only been repaired a few years ago! Otherwise, this money should be slowed down and temporarily used as military expenses."
Qi Yuan became anxious on the spot after hearing this, "This is absolutely not possible. The canal in the Hangou section of Yangzhou is full of reefs and silt is easy to accumulate. The reefs must be broken frequently and the silt removed to ensure the smooth flow of shipping. Otherwise, the salt industry in Huainan and Huaibei will be destroyed." Business, freight will be hugely affected."
The two big guys argued for a long time over the money, but Wu Keming, who was invincible on the battlefield, could not get an extra penny from Qi Yuan.
Qi Yuan is a principled person. It's not that he doesn't care about the overall situation and doesn't support the court's war, it's just that he doesn't think it's necessary to take the initiative.
The army's active attack and passive defense are two completely different concepts in terms of money and food consumed.
In Qi Yuan's view, the soldiers and horses in the four borders only need to defend to ensure that the defense line is not lost. The military generals headed by Wu Keming are still too eager for military glory.
It's not that Qi Yuan doesn't support the war, it's that he doesn't support a war that he thinks is unnecessary. Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to spend the money on the court's people's livelihood projects? !
Wu Keming was worthy of being a general. After figuring out Qi Yuan's thoughts, he immediately came up with a new strategy.
"Qi Shangshu, we are not fighting for the sake of war, but for the development of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"
Although Qi Yuan didn't say it on his face, he was full of disdain in his heart, and continued to lie, if I give you an extra penny today, my surname will not be Qi.
"Master Qi, do you know what is the most important trade route for our great Zhou Dynasty's foreign trade?!"
You said this, then Qi Yuan naturally came at his fingertips, "Of course it is the shipping from Licheng Port and Siming Port."
Since the imperial court encouraged sea trade, coastal commerce has developed rapidly. The annual tax collected from the coast and customs even exceeds the national one-year grain tax in the early Yong'an period.
"What Mr. Qi said is true! But now that the Japanese have invaded our East China Sea, the trade along the East China Sea has been sluggish and the shipping has been blocked. This is a huge damage to the development of our Great Zhou Dynasty. If the Japanese pirates can be cleared out, wouldn't the sea trade in the East China Sea be Can you take it to the next level?!”
Although he felt that Wu Keming was deceiving him, Qi Yuan felt that what he said was quite reasonable.
After tasting the benefits of commercial tax, the Ministry of Revenue no longer looked down upon the agricultural tax. If it could speed up the development of coastal commerce and remove obstacles to maritime trade, then this battle would not be impossible!
Just when Qi Yuan was wavering, Wu Keming continued to speak.
His verbal offensive is just like transporting troops, and the troops are like waves, stacked one after another.
"Let me ask Master Qi again, which of our trade routes on land in the Great Zhou Dynasty is the best?!"
"Of course this is the Silk Road." Qi Yuan suddenly had a bad feeling that he might not be able to keep his surname today!
"Yes, the Parthian Empire is tyrannical on the Silk Road, interfering with caravans, buying and selling by force. A battle with the Parthian Empire will not only expand our Great Zhou's control over the Western Regions, but also take the opportunity to eliminate the unrest on the Silk Road. Stability factor. Wouldn’t it kill two birds with one stone!?”
"..." Qi Yuan felt so excited!
The Western Regions were the key to foreign trade on land in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If the Western Regions could be completely controlled, the benefits would be immeasurable to the merchants of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Damn it, Wu Keming actually offered such a despicable and tempting offer, which is hard to refuse!
Just being excited is one thing, but giving money is another!
Qi Yuan still flatly rejected Wu Keming, but he pointed out a clear path for Wu Keming.
"Grand Governor, even if you say something bad today, there will still be no money in the treasury. You can only think of another way!"
Qi Yuan also specially added accents to the other two words.
The treasury is indeed out of money, but among the people present, there is someone who has more money than the treasury.
Wu Keming reacted so smartly and looked at Emperor Linde.
I dare not say anything else, but Emperor Linde feels that he is the richest emperor since the emergence of the emperor profession.
The richest place in Dazhou today is not the treasury, but the Tiandi Bank.
Emperor Linde owns 15% of the equity in Tiandi Bank, and as the emperor, he has 30% of the equity...
Moreover, Emperor Linde was not a very extravagant person, and was even more frugal than a normal king. According to rumors, Emperor Linde had five million taels of silver among his internal funds.
That’s five million taels!
As for the source of this gossip, it was naturally told to him by Emperor Linde's mother, Wu Keming's sister, and the current Queen Mother.
The internal financial power was controlled by Zhu Qionghua, the eldest princess of Jinling. Wu Keming immediately felt that this was a good place to borrow money.
Thirteen, who was seriously thinking about the situation of the war, didn't realize that the idea was already on the head of the young emperor.
"Ahem!" Wu Keming coughed twice and said to Emperor Linde, "Your Majesty, I heard that your Majesty still has some surplus in his internal funds. I wonder if I can temporarily borrow it from the court."
Emperor Linde raised his head, a little confused.
"My internal funds...I don't know this either. This has always been taken care of by the imperial sister. However, I don't waste money on weekdays, so I should still have a little surplus."
"Come here, please invite Princess Jinling to come to discuss matters!"
Jinling is the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty, and Zhu Qionghua took Jinling as his title, which explains the problem.
Moreover, Her Royal Highness the Princess is the controller of the royal family's financial power, so no one considered whether it was in compliance with etiquette.
Those who can be reused in this dynasty are basically reformists, and they don't take these old rules so seriously.
As for Dongge University Scholar Kong Qinli, who had the final say, he had been sent home by Emperor Linde.
It’s okay not to want this kind of person.
Not long after, a woman dressed in gorgeous palace attire and a phoenix crown came to the Wuying Hall. Xiaojiu Zhu Qionghua was also the first woman to officially enter the Wuying Hall to discuss matters since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"I've met the eldest princess!"
The eldest princess is different from the ordinary daughter of the emperor. She is usually the eldest daughter of the emperor or a meritorious princess, sister or aunt of the emperor. Her status is equivalent to that of the princes and kings.
In other words, the status of the eldest princess of Jinling is equivalent to that of King Zhao.
"You are all the pillars of the imperial court, and you are discussing important national affairs. Why are you suddenly looking for me?!"
Today, Xiao Jiu no longer has the extravagance of the past, and has the air of a noble person.
"Sister Huang, that's the reason. Nowadays, the national treasury is tight and we can't spend much money to support the war on the border. So just now, Governor Wu thought of my internal funds. I don't know how much silver I still have in my internal funds. Withdrawal.”
In the discussion just now, the tone was basically set.
The Tiance Army in the north and the Shenwu Army in the south can just take a basic defensive stance, which doesn't cost much money.
However, the Western Region Divine Strategy Army needs to spend a lot of money to fight, and the East China Sea Navy and Zhenhai Navy also waste a lot of money.
The main reason is that fighting on these two fronts requires money.
This is the best solution after discussion among the ministers.
Opening up the eastern and western fronts would not only stabilize the court situation, but also have a positive impact on the commerce of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was a war that cost money without losing money.
After Zhu Qionghua heard this, he naturally would not object. These two battles must be fought.
"Your Majesty, the request of the ministers is indeed reasonable. Your Majesty does have some surplus in his internal funds. It would be okay if he borrowed some."
When everyone heard this, they immediately became happy. As long as the money problem can be solved, it will be easy.
"After all, this money is His Majesty's private treasury. If it is lent to the court, does it need to be mortgaged?!" Zhu Qionghua's words stunned all the ministers present.
Seeing this, Xiao Jiu's goal has been achieved.
Although the Master consciously weakened the Emperor's authority, it did not mean that these people could despise the Emperor's majesty.
Because of the relationship between Yang Qingyuan and Shisan, although Emperor Linde was famous, he lacked prestige.
Thirteen is still young and ignorant, so as an elder sister, can't she help? !
(End of chapter)
