One piece and one piece of relaxation is called the way.
Although the principle is simple, it is very practical, and Cao Bin does not want to push Queen Mother Pan too hard.
So after dealing with Queen Mother Pan, Cao Bin prepared some sweet treats for her.
Judging from his experience, compared to giving in in official matters, indulgence in life is more likely to win the favor of women. He cannot say that for all, it is difficult for most women to escape this rule anyway.
Besides, his sister-in-law was still in the palace and occupied a sensitive position. Even if Cao Bin didn't think about Queen Mother Pan, he still had to think carefully about Concubine Pang.
Although Cao Bin is now extremely powerful, there are still many people staring at him. In addition, most of the people in the palace are not normal, so it is inevitable that there are things that cannot be taken care of.
Only when the palace's finances are generally abundant, Cao Bin's gifts to Concubine Pang will not be so conspicuous, at least they will not arouse too much jealousy and fear.
Just as Cao Bin expected, when Queen Mother Pan heard that Jiangnan had just sent one million in sea trade tax, and Cao Bin immediately allocated most of it to the palace, the resentment in her heart immediately dissipated.
Barely suppressing the joy in her heart, Queen Mother Pan said slightly reproachfully:
"When the imperial court is short of money, how can Marquis Zhongjing allocate most of the expenditure to the royal family for private use?"
"Return the money...just leave the ice, silk and other items."
Although she likes a luxurious life, she does not want to damage the court's finances, cause criticism from ministers, and shake her reputation because of her expenses.
Except that the weather was too hot to live without ice, other things were within her tolerance.
Therefore, although she was reluctant to give up, she still made the decision to return the money.
The eunuch in charge heard this and said hurriedly:
"Your Majesty, don't worry. The people from the Third Division said that there is still one million yuan in sea trade taxes that are being escorted to Beijing. The imperial court will soon have money."
As he spoke, he wiped the red circles under his eyes and said:
"Empress, just keep this money!"
"You have lived too hard for the sake of the Song Dynasty. This is because Lord Cao and other ministers feel sorry for you..."
Although I don't know whether this flattery was true or not, it made Queen Mother Pan feel warm and happy. Just when she was about to express her feelings, He Jiazhang said in surprise:
"Two million strings, how is this possible?"
"As far as Wei Chen knows, the customs duties earned from sea trade in previous years did not exceed one million dollars during the wealthy years. This is the income for the entire year."
"Now the revenue in the past six months has more than quadrupled."
As he spoke, he reminded sadly:
"Could it be that some local officials are trying their best to exploit the people for the sake of political performance?"
"Please be cautious, the Queen Mother. Now that the world is unstable, if another civil uprising in Jiangnan is triggered, the imperial court will be in danger..."
The customs of the Song Dynasty generally have three ways to make money, including expropriation, banquet, and gambling. Among them, expropriation is the main source of income.
The so-called extraction is to extract one out of ten goods as tax.
What is the concept of two million in taxes for half a year?
This means that the total import volume of the Song Dynasty's sea trade in the past six months has reached nearly 20 million copper coins, which is the same as the national tax revenue of copper coins in the prosperous years of the Song Dynasty. This is very amazing.
Pan Renmei glanced at He Jianzhang, how could she not understand that he was alluding to Cao Bin? So he stroked his beard, shook his head and said with a smile:
"Gongda, I'm afraid you don't know how good that boy Cao Bin is at making money."
"Although the shipping company's earnings this year are beyond my expectation, I am not too surprised."
As he spoke, he said with some envy and jealousy:
"Although this kid sometimes messes up and is really annoying, I have to admire his methods."
"Not to mention that his own family is making a lot of money. Everywhere this kid goes to work, he always finds opportunities to make a fortune... I don't know where he comes from so many wonderful ideas?"
After saying that, he smacked his lips without saying anything, feeling quite aggrieved.
I have been an official for most of my life, and I have never missed an opportunity to make money, but in the end, it is far less than the Cao family's income from just a few years of business, which is so jealous.
After hearing this, Queen Mother Pan also put down the internal treasury account book, nodded in agreement, pondered for a moment, opened her red lips lightly and said:
"The Grand Master is right. I have never doubted the talents of Marquis Zhongjing."
"But since Prime Minister He has raised objections, let's invite him to the palace... Last year, he presented the late emperor's memorial on the reform of sea trade. I still have some things that I don't understand, so I just want to ask him to explain it."
Seeing that Pan's father and daughter recognized Cao Bin's talent so much, He Jianzhang became a little unconfident in his own speculation. Could it be that Cao Bin really has an astonishing talent?
But if the sea trade tax revenue only increased by 30 to 40%, he would have believed it. But now it has quadrupled. Even if he were beaten to death, he would not believe it.
After all, the purchasing power of the people of the Song Dynasty was there. How could sea trade increase so much all at once?
Even if Guan Zhong and Fan Li were alive, it would not be possible, right?
Wouldn't it be a pity if we missed this opportunity to attack Cao Bin?
However, after his son He Zhaoxiong's case, he already understood Queen Mother Pan's attitude and knew that Cao Bin was not easy to mess with.
Therefore, he did not dare to directly target Cao Bin and quickly denied it:
"The empress and the grand master have misunderstood, and I have no intention of questioning Marquis Zhongjing."
"It's just a rare opportunity. Your Majesty might as well summon Prime Minister Wang and other princes to the palace, so that we can consult Marquis Zhongjing for advice on good governance."
If there is no reason for what Cao Bin did, that would be fine. If there is a ghost in it, although he cannot be brought down, he can still damage his reputation in front of the ministers.
Anyway, he is secretly adding fuel to the flames and does it smoothly without any loss.
When Queen Mother Pan heard this, she didn't care, nodded and said:
"That's fine. Let's announce that several important ministers will come to the palace to discuss matters."
Then, she seemed to remember something, and turned around and ordered:
"Go and invite Mrs. Pang to come over, and let her hear what Marquis Zhongjing thinks."
When He Jianzhang saw this, he quickly raised his hands and patted the horse:
"For such a trivial matter, the empress did not forget the legacy of the late emperor. She is so affectionate and righteous, which really makes her ministers admire her!"
Queen Mother Pan was speechless when she heard this. She called Concubine Pang to come here, just to express her attitude towards Concubine Pang in front of Cao Bin, so that he could understand the distance between her and not get too close to Queen Mother Liu.
Therefore, she did not get the pleasure of flattering He Jianzhang, which made his flattery quite embarrassing...
Half an hour later, when the chiefs of the two mansions and three divisions, Zhijianyuan, and even Bao Zheng rushed to the palace, Cao Bin arrived belatedly with Li Qingzhao.
Seeing this, Kou Zhun of the Zhijian Yuan couldn't help but frowned. The ministers were discussing important matters. What's going on with you bringing a female assistant? Do you want to show that you are comfortable at work?
If he didn't feel that he couldn't win against Cao Bin, he would have said a few words.
Queen Mother Pan didn't pay attention. Seeing Cao Bin salute, she waved her hands and asked expectantly:
"Cao Qing, according to the report from the Third Division, the Shibo Division's summer tax revenue this year will be 2 million yuan. Is this true?"
Before Cao Bin could respond, several ministers could not help but exclaimed in disbelief:
"so much?"
He Jianzhang pricked up his ears and thought to himself, that's four times the tax revenue. I want to see how you explain it?
