When Shi Hao said this, Zhao Hao understood what Shi Hao meant.
"You mean Wu Gong and Qi Fang are just assistants, and the real main force is Yao Zhong?"
Shi Hao nodded.
"Yes, the old minister thinks that Wu Gong lacks experience and Qi Fang is mediocre and cannot really win. Besides Li Xianzhong and Wang Fang, the famous generals of the Song Dynasty are the three generals of Sichuan and Shu. Li Xianzhong and Wang Fang need to defend the capital. If he cannot go to war, then the only two generals who can go to war are the two generals under Wu Lin, among whom Yao Zhong is the most suitable.
Your Majesty, Jiangnan West Road is the heart of the Song Dynasty. Once it is owned by bandits, it will be the heart of the Song Dynasty. It must be eliminated. The previous defeats have shaken the military strength of the Song Dynasty. The next battle must be won. It must not be defeated. Failure, otherwise the Song Dynasty will be in danger of overthrow. "
Shi Hao spoke very seriously, and Zhao Min also listened.
"Then do this. The Privy Council immediately sent a letter to recruit Yao Zhong to participate in this battle, asking him to immediately lead the army eastward. In addition, Wu Lin was also asked to defend northern Sichuan no matter what, and the Ming army must not take advantage of it. "
"Old minister, I obey."
Shi Hao nodded, then he hesitated for a while, and then said: "Your Majesty, after the departure of the Forbidden Army, the Song Dynasty's military strength was lacking, and the Lin'an army was seriously insufficient, so a new recruitment plan must also be implemented."
Zhao Min was stunned for a moment, then looked at Shi Hao who looked embarrassed and asked: "How many staff are needed? How big is the financial gap?"
"Based on the minimum calculation, we need to recruit another 50,000 people to complete the Jianghuai defense line again. If the Forbidden Army dispatched this time has relatively large losses, more personnel will need to be added, and more money will be needed. At present, it costs about 100,000 yuan per month.”
Zhao Hao was silent for a while, and then called Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi, asking them to discuss with Shi Hao on the spot and cooperate with each other to see where they could spend money, where they could save a little, and where they could dig a little.
The three of them argued with each other for a long time, and found that nothing could be saved, everything was important, and all money had to be spent, and it would be impossible not to spend it.
And the only thing that can be saved is actually about Zhao Gou.
Regarding Zhao Gou's plan to build more palaces and entertainment facilities for himself, it will cost a lot of money. This is the only large expenditure that has nothing to do with state affairs.
So in theory, if you want to save money, you can only save some money in this area.
Zhao Yan's face suddenly turned bitter.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor needs to build a brand new palace in the near future, renovate three slightly damaged palaces, build two large stages, purchase some utensils, paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, etc. It will cost about five hundred thousand guan. ,and……"
Ye Yiwen looked at Zhao Xun's expression getting worse and worse, and his voice became lower and lower.
"And what?"
Zhao Min's voice was slightly hoarse.
"And this is just a preliminary budget. If the process is not smooth enough, it may be increased at any time. The estimated increase may be between 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, and... this is only for this year, and there may not be any other expenditures next year. …”
Ye Yiwen's voice became even softer.
Zhao Yan sat on the chair, holding his head in his hands, and fell into deep distress.
The imperial court's finances were so difficult. It had to develop, recruit troops, and repair roads and cities. Now it was necessary to build a luxurious palace for Zhao Gou and add luxurious appliances to satisfy his personal enjoyment.
Five hundred thousand dollars is still a preliminary budget, and this amount alone will be enough for Zhao Zhen to build and maintain an army for more than half a year, enough for him to survive these difficult times.
Did Zhao Gou take this country seriously?
Does he really think that as long as he abdicates, everything in this country has nothing to do with him, and he only needs to enjoy it and does not need to take responsibility?
Is that really how he thinks about things?
The three prime ministers and ministers focused their attention on Zhao Hao. Zhao Hao raised his head in distress and looked at them.
"Why don't you go discuss it with the Supreme Emperor?"
Zhao Xun was so embarrassed that he even asked his ministers for help.
Shi Hao reluctantly said that he had been blacklisted by Zhao Hao. He had offended Zhao Gou before, and now he probably wouldn't be able to enter the Wanshou Palace, couldn't see Zhao Gou's face, and was helpless.
Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi looked at each other and felt each other's helplessness.
Shi Hao was once admired by Zhao Gou, but now even he can't convince Zhao Gou, let alone the two of them.
But they said they were willing to give it a try.
The result is of course very clear, there is no need to talk about it, don’t even think about it.
Zhao Gou said that he was no longer the emperor, and he would go to the emperor if he had something to do. He was just an old man who no longer was the emperor, and there was no need to spend money on important matters for the family and the country.
He also asked Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen to bring a message to Zhao Han, probably saying that he chose you to be emperor because he wanted you to be able to handle state affairs, so that I would have less trouble and more happiness.
I have been the emperor for decades and saved the Song Dynasty from the brink of destruction. I have dedicated my life to the country and the country, and I have nothing more to give to the country.
Now I am old and frail, and I don’t know how many years I have left to live. I just want to enjoy the world before I die and enjoy the things that I have not been able to enjoy before. Can’t you satisfy me even with this request?
Now you are not only unable to handle state affairs, but you actually disturb my life, deny me happiness, and make me continue to suffer. Then why should I abdicate? If you can't solve this problem, do you still have the nerve to continue sitting on the throne?
Don't tell me anything else. Solve it yourself. If you can't solve it, just choose another virtuous person to be the emperor and abdicate the throne yourself. In that case, you don't have to worry!
This was a very unpleasant thing to say, and it made Zhao Xing very embarrassed.
There is no way, the word "filial piety" is so great, he has no way at all. His throne was given to him by Zhao Gou on his own initiative, not by himself. He can't do anything to harm Zhao Gou's interests. thing, even if he is really disgusting.
In extreme helplessness, driven by various reasons, Zhao Hao even came up with the idea of selling his official position.
He knew that the court had no money, but the local landlords and wealthy businessmen were richer than the other, and the country's money was in their hands. If he wanted to solve the financial crisis, it was best to ask them for money.
But you can't rob it openly, otherwise it will cause rebellion, so you can only exchange it for the most valuable thing from the court.
The most valuable things in the hands of the imperial court are nothing more than power and official positions.
Shi Hao, Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen were all quite opposed to Zhao's idea. They were unwilling to accept Zhao's opinion in any case. They felt that Zhao was messing around and ruining the name of the Song Dynasty royal family.
"Selling officials to win titles has been around since ancient times. This is a good idea when the court is in crisis. Why are you so opposed to it?"
Zhao Yan was very angry and said angrily: "If you object, get me the money. If you can't get the money, don't blame me for selling my official position! Make your own choice!"
Shi Hao and others had no choice but to discuss it in private and felt that solving the national finances was nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. At present, it is impossible to reduce expenditure. There are too many things to be done, and almost everything that can be saved has been saved.
Then it can only be open source.
How to open source it?
Asking the landlords and gentry to collect taxes is the fastest and most profitable way, but it is tantamount to destroying their own lives and going against the world's officials and landlords and gentry. That is a very unrealistic idea. The last person to do this was Wang Anshi. His reputation is ruined, and the grass on his grave is very tall.
The three of them have the desire to save the country, but they have no intention of revolutionizing their own lives, so they cannot start from this aspect.
Then we can only start from less core places.
"Scientists, farmers, industry and merchants, merchants are last, and merchants are also the richest. If you need money urgently, the only option is to turn to merchants."
Zhou Linzhi said with emotion: "The benefits of business are like magic. However, the cost of transporting goods doubles in an instant. The merchants make a lot of money, but the taxes they pay are not that much, especially those maritime merchants and foreign merchants." , the income is even more astonishing, and now we may be able to raise business taxes to get money."
"I think this method is better than imposing agricultural taxes on the gentry."
Ye Yiwen said helplessly: "The opposition will not be that strong, it will be passed as soon as possible, and the money will come in quickly. It is more suitable no matter how you look at it, right?"
