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Anedoli's letter was sent to Liu Ce in Chang'an on this day, the fourth year of Xuanwu.
"Asshole!"
In Weiyang Palace, after reading the oasis tragedy described in Anedoli's letter, Liu Ce was completely angry.
"I think that with the current national strength of this dynasty, this kind of thing should not happen! It seems that I took things too naturally!"
After hearing this, all the officials in the palace communicated with each other with their eyes, and many of them showed a look of confusion.
The person who died was a Yuezhi person, not a subject of the Han Dynasty. Why is Your Majesty so excited?
Even if the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Han Dynasty is currently harmonious, and the country is humiliated, they can just order the Western Region Protectorate to seek justice. Why should the news be sent to Chang'an?
Since the Han army defeated Meng Luo at Xuanwu Pass and won a great victory, the fear of the Hu people in the government and the public has finally been completely eradicated.
For a time, no matter how confident the officials and the people were, the culture of fearing the Hu as much as a tiger suddenly turned into contempt for the Hu people.
This is an excellent phenomenon that can strengthen the people's cohesion towards this dynasty, but at the same time, there is also a feeling of arrogance and restlessness quietly growing between the government and the opposition.
That is the Han-centered thinking. Everything should put the interests of the Han subjects first, and the rest can be discussed as appropriate...
It is precisely because of this kind of thinking that the officials present here have an indifferent expression about the current humiliation at the border of the Yuezhi Kingdom, and even think that this is not a thing at all.
Seeing that most of the civil and military officials in the dynasty had a nonchalant attitude, Liu Ce sighed helplessly, threw Anedoli's autographed letter to him on the case, and said: "I'm sorry about this matter." , tell me what you think?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the admonishing minister Yao Zhong stood up and came out of the queue, raised his hands and said to Liu Ce: "Your Majesty, the battle of Xuanwu Pass has just ended. Although it has achieved brilliant results, our Han soldiers also suffered a lot of losses in this battle.
In addition, the northern states spent a lot of money and food for this battle. I think it is time to recuperate and recuperate. I also express my deep sympathy for the Yuezhi Kingdom's experience.
However, strictly speaking, this is also the Yuezhi Kingdom's own affairs. As long as Guishang has not breached the bottom line of the dynasty, it is better not to engage in war rashly for the time being. Even if it is really necessary to send troops, we kindly ask that it is not too late to wait until the soldiers and civilians in the north recover their strength before discussing. "
Yao Zhong was a veteran of the previous dynasty. In that era of rampant corruption, he was one of the few politicians who kept a clear head. Because he had the courage to speak out and accept advice, he offended many people, but he eventually survived and became a great admonisher.
Yao Zhong's words were recognized by all the officials present. He had just ended a war that was related to the fate of the country, and now starting a war with Guishang would give people the impression of being militaristic.
What's more, the officials here basically don't know where Guishuang is, the local customs and culture, and the population. Even Liu Ce himself has only a partial understanding.
Therefore, Yao Zhong's current proposal is very safe. Even if he wants to fight, he has to wait until he has calmed down before fighting. What's more, there is still a Chu State in the south that is clamping down, and he doesn't have much energy to focus on the border of the Western Regions thousands of miles away.
Liu Ce fell into deep thought, and there was nothing wrong with what Yao Zhong said. Indeed, the war has stopped now, and starting another war will indeed increase the burden on the court.
But if we don't fight, how will the countries in the Western Regions return to their original intention, and the original intention of establishing the Western Regions Protectorate will not be realized.
After all, Liu Ce was determined to incorporate the Western Region into the territory of the Han Dynasty, not as a colony, but as a land!
Thinking of this, Liu Ce asked Qin Mo: "Qin Shangshu, how much food does the treasury have now?"
Qin Mo stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, in addition to the various expenses of local government agencies, the national treasury currently has 47 million silver dollars, 53 million shi of grain reserves, and 14.8 million taels of gold. ,
But His Majesty once said that gold must be mainly reserved, so it can be sealed for emergencies..."
All the officials were startled when they heard this.
Still have so much money and food? No way? Since China has experienced such a large-scale offensive and defensive war, shouldn't the national treasury be empty? How can there be such a large balance?
Soon, some officials who were proficient in arithmetic immediately began to silently calculate the court's taxes.
However, after this calculation, everyone frowned.
Because everyone found that no matter how you calculate it, the treasury should not have such a large balance.
Today, the total population of the northern Han Dynasty and the south of the Yangtze River is 310 million, and the taxable land is 2.9846 million acres.
The two-season harvest of one mu of land is calculated as 700 kilograms, and the agricultural tax is 10 percent per mu, which is seventy kilograms. According to one hundred and fifty kilograms per stone, the annual income is nearly 1.4 billion kilograms.
Well, this is not only about growing food, but also taking into account natural disasters and other factors. At a discount, it is only 700-800 million dan. In addition to the retention by local government offices, the amount returned to the national treasury is about 300 million dan.
However, the 300 million stone grain seems to be a lot, but the expenditure required for vigorous development in various parts of Gyeonggi is also a lot. In addition to the war between the north and the south, even if there is a surplus, it shouldn't be as much as 40 million stone?
There is also tax money, which is even simpler. Due to the cancellation of a lot of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the commercial tax revenue of the Han Dynasty this year is only a mere 73 million silver dollars.
Compared with the 300-400 million spent by the previous government, it is simply not enough. Most of these tax dollars have been used on various infrastructure construction and measures to improve people's livelihood. It is absolutely impossible to have a balance of 47 million.
Even more unbelievable is where did so much gold come from?
This series of questions was really incomprehensible to all the officials. If it weren't for everyone knowing that Qin Mo would never talk nonsense, they would definitely think that his words were deceiving the emperor.
Baiguan's question was correct, and there was nothing wrong with the algorithm, but they ignored one thing, which was the huge benefits brought by industrial output and war!
Let’s not talk much about the benefits of industrial output. As for the benefits brought by the war, if there is really a loss, will there be a Crusade? And the rise of the Mongol Empire? The Tang Dynasty also became richer and richer during the war. Not to mention Uncle Sam, he became the overlord of the world.
Only countries with weak strength will lose money due to war, such as the Mite Dragon Dynasty. This guy is really hard to describe. In the middle and late stages, he started to be bombarded all the way, and the five thousand years of China's face and lizi were completely defeated. , by now there should be a group of sand sculptures washing there non-stop.
In other words, Liu Ce's wealth was plundered from wars. His early strategy of using war to support war not only created an iron-blooded army, but also gained a huge fortune, so he had the confidence to build the current Han Dynasty. Chao, dare to confront the Munro people directly.
"If a sum of money and food is allocated from the national treasury to the Western Region Protectorate to support Bai Qi in using troops against Guishang, is there any problem?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, there is no problem. I can negotiate with Xu Shangshu now and hand over half of the money and grain to him."
Listening to Qin Mo's calm tone, Baiguan became a little uneasy. Half the money and food? That’s an astronomical sum of money! Isn’t it good to use it to build infrastructure and improve people’s livelihood? Why should it be used as military expenses?
