If this spreads out, how will all the people in the world think of you, the emperor, and what will be written in the history books? Doesn’t this mean that you are looking for money? Taking the corpse of the rebel leader was not used to warn the world, but instead used to do business with his son in exchange for money. Although the original intention was also to fill the empty national treasury, this style of behavior changed the dynasty, and this was the behavior of a faint king.
It really damages your reputation as an emperor. Even if you, the emperor, have a bad reputation because of certain preferences. But that preference is your private life after all, and others can only discuss it, so it’s hard to say too much about it. Everyone has their own preferences, and the emperor is no exception. As long as those so-called clear streams are ignored, they themselves will cease to exist.
What's more, with the way you behave after becoming the king, those Qingliu may not dare to spray even if they spray. As long as your achievements in other aspects of governance are good, your preferences will only be recorded in the history books. The emperor is also a human being, and he also has his own preferences. No one is perfect. But this matter is different. Once word spreads, it will be a big deal. What has become of this?
You don't care about pursuing the pseudo-emperor's descendants to the end, but you actually plan to sell the pseudo-emperor's body to his direct descendants. If the descendants of the former Tang Dynasty were hunted and killed for hundreds of years, and the ancestors of the Qi Dynasty knew about it, would this coffin board still be able to hold it? Even if the pseudo-emperor is incomparable to the former Tang Dynasty, which had controlled the world for hundreds of years, his reputation is much better than that of the Tian family.
In Lu Mengzheng's view, even if the court is short of money now, it can think of other ways, but this transaction must not be done. This is treating national affairs as business, which has a really bad reputation. And this wind must not rise. If this trend becomes the norm from now on, what will become of this court in the future? In the future, any matter related to the national economy and people's livelihood can be discussed as business.
Immediately, Lu Mengzheng thought that this master traveled south from Jingzhao Mansion at night after receiving the news of the death of the false emperor. Is it possible that this Lord had already made up his mind after receiving the news of the false emperor's death? Is this the reason for going south this time? Thinking of this, Lu Mengzheng felt a little headache. It's just this kind of thing, no matter how well-informed he is, he has never encountered it before.
Knowing Huang Qiong's temperament, he didn't know how to deal with it for a while. But what Huang Qiong said next made him stunned: "How can I not know about Aiqing's worries? But you are the deputy prime minister, and you also know that the imperial treasury is almost empty now. It's not just about the aftermath. We need a lot of money and food, it’s already spring, and we have to prepare a lot of money and food for the river work, why can’t we save more this year.”
"God, there have been no major droughts or floods in the past three years. The imperial court can temporarily divert most of the original river work money into military expenditures. But now that the general trend of the world has been determined, the debts for the river work must be paid back as soon as possible. Otherwise, , once the Huanghuai River floods this year, the consequences will be serious. The Peach Blossom Flood is coming soon, and the Ningxia government reports that the ice in the Hetao this year is much thicker than in previous years."
"In other words, this year's peach blossom flood is likely to be much greater than in previous years. Before I left Beijing, I had strictly ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry to allocate money and food as soon as possible. Before the peach blossom flood comes down, we must do it as soon as possible. At least part of the river embankment must be strengthened first. With the little money we have now, it is estimated that after this allocation, the money that the national treasury painstakingly accumulated in the second half of last year will bottom out again."
"It's not that you don't know that the imperial court has been relying on the gold and silver that Ouyang intercepted from the rebels last year for the past six months. After all the input from the autumn tax and allocating military supplies and officials' salaries, there is not much left. Now this money will almost be used up soon. Where to raise the money next is still a headache. The court cannot even have emergency funds. "
"To crush the false emperor to ashes is just a warning to the world. But since ancient times, there have been many rebels who have been crushed to ashes. But which dynasties and generations have fewer rebels? Instead of fighting with a dead man, it is better to fight with a dead man. He used it to solve the urgent needs of the court. The Guilin County Prince's Palace, not only has it been living alone for so many years, but it has also fooled the court in paying taxes for how many years? It's time to spit out some of it."
"Even if it is to compensate the court, he has already paid for it. How much wealth has their family accumulated over the past hundred years? This can be seen from the luxury of their county prince's palace and the royal tomb. From the outside, this house looks It is low-key, but in fact it is an extremely luxurious county palace. It cannot be built without millions of dollars. Every brick, every brick, every plant and every tree here is priceless."
"Okay, even if those things were earned by themselves, how much food did the court spend to put down this rebellion? How many loyal and brave soldiers died on the battlefield, and how many people died in vain in the rebellion? What's even more abominable, they colluded with foreigners to cause the North and South The war continued. The money and food that could have been used for disaster relief and river work were all converted into military expenses, which had a huge impact on the court and the people."
"How can we not settle this account carefully? They think that the rebellion has failed, and if they hide on the island, the court will have no place to pursue it? They think that after the false emperor is dead, I can't do anything to them? In my case, But there is no reason to let anyone die. If it brings such a huge loss to the general trend of the world, can a false emperor just die and be blamed? They think of me too simply. "
"Even if I crush the false emperor to ashes, what real benefit will it have to the court? What benefit will it have to solving the current predicament of the court? Instead of doing this, it is better to return it to the filial son and exchange it for the court. Real money and silver to solve the current predicament of the court? The wealth of their Guilin County Prince's Palace is piled up like a mountain, are they allowed to hide on the island and enjoy the wealth? "
"The wealth they accumulated was obtained by taking advantage of the privileges granted by Emperor Taizu. Although it is not considered a blessing from the people, it is taken from the people, so it must be used for the people. They must come up with this money to use it. To compensate them for the rebellion they started and the harm they caused to the people of the world. I have reduced the food and expenses of Jiangnan West Road and Huguang South Road for three years, and this money can just fill the gap."
At this point, Huang Qiong changed the topic and said to Lu Mengzheng: "Do you know why I didn't kill that Liu Jinli? The reason is very simple. Our navy is so bad now? If the imperial navy was strong, I would have killed him long ago. They have been completely wiped out. But now, the court can only do nothing about them entrenched on the island. It is easy to kill this person, but how many remnants do they still have on the island? "
"I think this person still has certain abilities. With him here, he can still restrain those people. If I kill him and leave the rest of the people on the island without restraint, once he becomes a pirate, it will have a great impact on the court. Daqi has such a long coastline and cannot fortify it everywhere. They also have powerful navy and merchant fleet, and they can land anywhere along the coast. By then, there will never be peace along the coast."
"Leave him to restrain those desperadoes, and be more powerful to the court until the court's navy is strong enough. These people are all proficient in navigation, and there are countless islands in the outer sea. The court is attacking, and they are sailing away. . When the imperial court withdraws its troops, they will come back. On the vast sea, how many naval forces do we have and how much military expenditure do we need to continue to attack? "
"What's more, how bad is the imperial navy? The navy is not the land navy. It can train qualified soldiers in two or three years. How many years does it take to train a qualified navy soldier? If nothing else, one cannot How many years will it take to get seasick? I also want to wipe them out completely, but do we have a strong enough navy? Sometimes giving in is just to accumulate strength."
The reason why Huang Qiong was so sincere and sincere in talking to Lu Mengzheng was simple. As the current emperor, it was impossible for him to talk directly to Liu Jinli. Now among the officials of Guangnan West Road, there is no second candidate besides Lu Mengzheng as the most suitable candidate. Lu Mengzheng's vision is broad enough, and his mind and means are not bad. The most important thing is that as deputy prime minister, his status is sufficient.
In addition, Lu Meng was the first charterer of Jiangnan East Road, where business was at its peak, and he was no stranger to the ways of doing business. It is more appropriate to let Lu Mengzheng come forward. But Huang Qiong also knew that although Lu Mengzheng had enough vision and flexible skills, he was a second-ranked Jinshi after all. There are still some people who are scholars at heart and disdain the noble way of doing business, or simply call it trite.
Moreover, the literati of this era still despised business. For them, everything is inferior but reading is high. This kind of obviously innocent transaction is still quite difficult to accept for these officials who were born in the second rank of Jinshi. Although many of them are exchanging their rights for money, saying this and doing it are two different things. There are some things that cannot be said.
Especially since he, as the emperor, would do such a thing in their eyes, only businessmen would do such a thing, and they would not accept it. In the eyes of many officials, this kind of approach is definitely a cowardly act. Even those with more active minds find it difficult to accept. But in this negotiation, Huang Qiong is still counting on Lu Mengzheng to come forward to lead the negotiations. If you want to have a good conversation, you must first understand his thoughts.
Therefore, Huang Qiong could bear it and explain his thoughts to Lu Mengzheng one by one. When Huang Qiong finished speaking, Lu Mengzheng didn't speak for a long time. As the deputy prime minister and envoy of the East-West Road in Guangnan, how could he really not know about the current predicament of the imperial court? But the problem is that in Lu Mengzheng's view, counterinsurgency has now reached its final stage, and military expenditures can be gradually reduced.
Now that the imperial court has reopened sea routes, commercial taxes are gradually increasing steadily every year. Although it is not enough, it can compensate for the part that the Guilin County Prince's Palace should turn over. But the growth rate is not slow. Depending on how this situation continues to develop, it will take less than a few years to make up for the loss, and it may even exceed it. The current shortcomings are only because it has just begun, and because the court lacks people to manage finances.
In Lu Mengzheng's eyes, the imperial court now seems to be climbing a hill, but it has passed the most difficult stage. If you persist, the dawn will be right in front of you. The situation of the imperial court is gradually improving now, and it is no longer so difficult. There is no need to do something that damages your reputation just for some money. What's more, it is absolutely not advisable to treat state affairs as a trivial matter and government affairs as a business.
However, Lu Mengzheng still agreed with the reason why Huang Qiong did not kill Liu Jinli. Lu Meng knew that the Guilin County Prince's Mansion had strongholds overseas, a huge merchant fleet, and a navy that far exceeded the strength of the imperial navy. But Lu Mengzheng didn't know how many people there were there, and how powerful Guilin's overseas merchant fleet and navy were.
But there was one thing that Lu Mengzheng, who had served as a pacifier, knew. Just as Huang Qiong said, it is easy for the court to counteract those people. They were all merchants, and they relied heavily on the mainland for the porcelain, silk, medicinal materials, and tea they sold to the West. Now, all the Guilin County Prince's properties in those production areas have been confiscated by the court. They either buy from other merchants or switch careers.
