In my previous life, whether it was a country or an individual, there were many debts. Not to mention that most people can only afford a house and a car with a loan. Someone who has to bear heavy mortgage and car loans to be able to afford a wife. Just a few of those countries have a lot of internal and external debts. There is even a country that relies on issuing national bonds to survive and is still ranked as the world's most powerful country.
Besides, how did the bigger countries in the West expand? It is not about issuing bonds to raise funds before the war starts. Make profits from the war and repay these war debts. Otherwise, most of those countries were not as big as the Qi Dynasty. Without the issuance of bonds, their economies would have been dragged down by frequent wars.
In order to raise money and food for this disaster relief, I, the emperor, stopped even the Shouling Mausoleum, which shows how short the imperial court's annual supplies are. At present, this gold should not be used as a stall for Wotou. Even if I pay for it for a few months, it will not completely solve the problem, but it can at least alleviate it, right?
Moreover, it would allow those clan members who would be dissatisfied with this massive hemorrhage to earn some interest. If they are playing tricks on each other, wouldn't the imperial court be stronger if it tightens its waist? In Huang Qiong's eyes, this was really a matter of killing two birds with one stone. At most, it would only bring shame to the court. But then again, it wouldn't be a shame if disaster relief was not provided in time and caused a big mess.
"What, you actually asked me to owe them money, how unbecoming is this? As the king of a country, I actually owe money to my relatives. If this spreads, where will the dignity of the court and the face of the Tian family be. Don't you think so? Do you want me to be King Nan of Zhou? How could you have such a ridiculous idea? Fortunately, you are also a person who has read history books."
It was absolutely impossible for the emperor to agree with Huang Qiong's idea. For him, the king of a country, wouldn't it make people laugh if word spread about the money he owed others? If outsiders know this, how should they view the court and themselves as the king of a country? The shameless King Nan of Zhou Dynasty in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty who was pursued by his countrymen for debts was a lesson learned for emperors of all dynasties.
Hearing the emperor's words, Huang Qiong couldn't help but sneer in his heart. All this time, I still can’t bear to lose my face. If you really have that toughness, why do you still find these hard-nosed roosters to fight against the autumn wind? If I hadn't been here today and followed your regular approach, how could I have pulled the hair out of these guys?
In an emergency, you don’t even understand the rationale for doing extraordinary things. Fortunately, you are still the king of a country. "No innovation, too conservative," this is Huang Qiong's inner comment to himself, the emperor. Who says the emperor can't owe debts? I don’t understand the principle of using a chicken to lay an egg. Among the wealthy people in my previous life, which one did not owe a bank loan?
While Huang Qiong secretly despised the emperor's short-sightedness, she sighed in her heart. If the grain is not purchased by the imperial court, it will be transferred to the disaster area to provide relief to the victims. For these guys who have always been thinking about the losses inside the dike and the repairs outside the dike, I am afraid that if hundreds of thousands of stones of food actually fall into the hands of the victims, it will be a good achievement.
In Chinese official circles, there has been a bad habit that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, that is, if there are policies from the top, there will inevitably be countermeasures from the bottom. If you say you won't sell it, it means you are disobeying the decree. At worst, you will be decapitated, and at worst, your home will be confiscated and imprisoned. But if you want to play some tricks and do some tricks, there are plenty of them.
Especially local officials colluded with those clans and worked together to fool them. To do it well, you have to make a big leak. These people even dare to steal and sell out all their official warehouses, so what else can they not dare to do? Disasters wait for no one, and the victims wait for no one. If we really wait until the problem is solved, it will be too late.
Seeing Huang Qiong's worried face, the emperor waved his hand and said: "Stop talking, I will never do what you say. But don't worry, I will send the censor and imperial envoy to supervise the whole process. If a few people are found If you fool me or fool the people of the world, I will definitely not forgive you lightly."
Having said this, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief: "With a few of them taking the lead, it will be easier for the remaining clans to talk. I will give it to several princes and princes of Shanxi, Hebei, and Lianghuai. A decree asked them to use part of their grain to sell it at the official price. In this way, they can basically survive this drought."
Seeing the emperor's resolute attitude, Huang Qiong could only helplessly shake his head. If these clans can bow their heads so easily, then there is really something wrong with them. Longyou and Shaanxi Roads have always had strong folk customs, especially Longyou Road, which has always been home to a mixture of Bo and Han people and is the main inhabited area of Dangxiang Qiang.
Now the two places are probably full of firewood. If those clans go too far this time, the emperor's plan may be ruined. Even if it's not possible, it would be nice if there were no wars everywhere. If it really caused a civil uprising, just one party, Xiang Qiang, would be enough for the court to drink.
Today, Huang Qiong has seen the faces of these clans, how can he really rest assured? According to folklore, the greed of the Daqi clan is the most greedy in all dynasties. Today, it turns out that it is well-deserved. Place your hopes on these people, plus those censors who can even sell impeachment articles. What kind of consequences it will have, I'm afraid we can only depend on God's blessing.
Thinking of this, Huang Qiong could only take the last resort. He cupped his hands and said: "Father, I have another plan. Haven't you already raised 400,000 guan? In addition to the donations from several clan members just now, you should have 500,000 guan in hand. I think it would be better to let them go directly to the nearest place and transfer some of the grain to the second route official warehouse first."
"Then, the imperial court sent highly respected ministers to come forward to arrange food and grass for disaster relief. As for the food money, I thought it could be paid with the 500,000 yuan first. I thought that although the money was a little small, it could still support it for a period of time. Time. After the autumn tax comes to Beijing, I will buy them all at once."
"My son thinks that it is not necessary to purchase all the grain sold at the official price of the clan at once. It is still summer, and the disaster has not reached its worst yet. First, we will purchase part of the grain based on the 500,000 yuan. Disaster relief. The rest will not be moved for the time being, and will be purchased together after all the autumn taxes arrive in Beijing."
"The grain purchased after autumn is just suitable for the most severe disasters in autumn and winter, as well as the spring famine in the coming year. Moreover, Erchen believes that although the drought is common in Erlu, it is impossible for all prefectures and counties to be affected by the same degree. The severity of each place is still the same. There are differences. Although the second road did not have a great harvest last year, most areas were still in good weather."
"I don't believe that the people on the second route don't have any grain in their hands. Therefore, I believe that it is indeed necessary to raise some grain at the moment, but the absolute amount is not that big. Therefore, for the time being, it is entirely possible to purchase part of it first. As for The rest will be purchased together after the autumn taxes are put into the warehouse."
"As for the capital, I believe that the number of refugees gathered in the capital is already enough. If there are more victims, not only will the capital be overwhelmed, but it will also easily lead to civil unrest. There are several large granaries around the capital. We have to bear the responsibility of supplying the four major camps and the court’s civil and military officials, but it’s not true that we can’t squeeze out any food.”
"Now there are less than two months left before the autumn tax comes to Beijing. I thought that the grain storage base in the warehouses was guaranteed for two months. We can squeeze out some of the grain first and use it to relieve the victims. The remaining gap, You can wait until the autumn grain arrives in Beijing, and then replenish it into the official warehouse where grain is transferred."
"The most difficult thing for the court now is the two months of autumn harvest. As long as we can survive these two months, this year's autumn tax in Jiangnan and the salt tax in Lianghuai will come down. Even if the entire Longyou and Shaanxi roads are closed , the imperial court has no worries. Moreover, in this way, it can not only provide relief to the victims in Beijing, but also replace the old grain in the granary with this year's new grain."
"Father, Fei Erchen does not trust these clans. You have also seen what has happened in the past few days. How can these people make people feel at ease? Don't talk about them, it is other people who put profit first. How many people can truly let go? Not many of our clans in Daqi can be trusted when it comes to money and food."
"You? Ah Jiu, is the clan so unbearable in your mind? It is true that some clans behave wantonly, but the conduct of most clans is still good. Don't let a leaf blind you. Okay, don't dwell on this matter too much. Let’s talk about it. They do love money a little bit, but they still have basic ethics. Otherwise, they wouldn’t donate such money and food.”
"As for the rest, I will also send someone to supervise this matter, so don't worry too much. As for your charter, I have been thinking about it carefully in the past few days, and I feel that the opening of the port for trade can still be a big deal. . In the future, you still have to give some priority to this aspect."
The emperor obviously still had confidence in the so-called ethics of these clans. It's just that his confidence is due to the fact that these clans do not dare to resist orders and disrespect their ethics, or because he has confidence in the ethics of money and food. However, in Huang Qiong's opinion, the former may be more attractive. But whether those people can give the emperor this face, at least now, I am afraid only they know.
In fact, the emperor was too confident in his own skills and the courage of those clans. Being given so much money and food all at once, these clans were never really willing to accept it. After leaving the Wende Hall, several clan members rushed directly to the East Palace without saying a word.
These clans are not very clean. In order to get the protection of the prince, they secretly give the prince a large amount of money every year. At least, five thousand guan should be offered in a year. There are many, like the Yuancheng County Prince, who gets 10,000 guan every year. As for other things, that has to be calculated separately.
These clan members who were really unwilling to bleed a lot of money now put their hope that the emperor could save his life in the prince who collected a large amount of money and gifts from them every year. Several of them have to provide the prince with a large amount of money every year. At this time, the prince cannot just take money and do nothing.
In fact, the prince burst into tears after listening to the descriptions of these clan members about what happened in the Wende Hall, especially after all the evil deeds of the British king. The first thing that came to my mind was not to vent my anger on them, but to be very sour. These clan members had just arrived in Beijing, and even until yesterday, I had been accompanying the emperor to receive them.
But today, it was inexplicably replaced by that bitch. It's not like he doesn't know how difficult it is to grind teeth with these clans these days, as he has also participated in it for two days. But he didn't expect that this hard bone would be chewed off by that bitch. Not only that, but he would also pluck out so many hairs from these guys who never plucked a hair.
