Zhao Yong stared at his big copper bell-like eyes and shouted: "A hundred thousand troops are waiting in full formation, and countless people eat and chew horses every day. Do you think that if there is no war, the soldiers will not eat?"
"It shouldn't have taken so long. It's only been a few months of work. If we keep asking for it, then the court won't have to do anything. Humph, it turns out that even vulgar warriors only know how to use force!"
Dongping Hou Han Zheng couldn't help but reply to Chen Liang: "If we and other vulgar warriors hadn't fought bloody battles, how would you, a stinky scholar, have the qualifications to live in a temple!"
Chen Liang, the right minister of Zhongshu, did not give in at all: "When I was following the Holy One to make plans, you, the Marquis of Dongping, were still gathering troops in the countryside. What's more, although I am a civilian, without me and the people, we can collect food and provide logistics." , how can you embryo-killers have the resources to conquer this country?"
Zhao Yong and Han Zheng were speechless as soon as this statement was made. It was because Chen Liang was too senior. Before Li Shanchang and others arrived, he assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in making plans. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he served as the first Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty and knew them well.
If it were other civil servants, they would not be used to it. They would go up and scold them long ago. They always want to take advantage of others when they are unreasonable, and they never forgive others when they are reasonable.
Seeing that the two of them had calmed down, Chen Liang's expression also softened: "There will be no shortage of food and grass in the north. Your Majesty and His Highness are watching. You should stop causing trouble at this time. All the ministries and yamen have reduced their expenditures this year just to squeeze out funds." We provide supplies to the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi and Gansu and the northern army. Now that you are all well fed and clothed, it is unreasonable for you to come and rob us!"
The Duke of Ying, Fu Youde, who had been silent all the time, raised his hand to Chen Liang and immediately stepped forward to talk. Fu Youde has a calm nature and his meritorious status far exceeds that of Zhao Yong and Han Zheng.
Although his qualifications are also not as good as those of Chen Liang, when it comes to the status of the court and the degree of Jian's heart in the emperor's heart, Fu Youde, who is now in the limelight, is hard to beat.
Seeing that the difficult Chen Liang was taken over by Ying Guogong, Zhao Yong and others immediately pointed the finger at the Minister of Hubu who was watching the show. He opened his mouth and asked his mother, which made the Minister's blood boil and his face turned pale.
In fact, as Chen Liang said, there is actually no shortage of food in the north. Whether it is the military food and military pay allocated by the imperial court earlier or the food transported from the Jiangnan nobles, there is a surplus. After all, the loss in fighting is very different from the loss in closing the border. .
But no matter how plentiful the food is, we have to fight for it. It’s not that we have to fight for how much, but that our attitude must be clearly expressed. Otherwise, when food is really scarce, it will be difficult to get it.
This is also a tacit understanding between military generals. No matter who stays in Beijing, they must fight for the collective interests of the military, so Fu Youde, who has always been calm and silent, takes the initiative.
It would be the same if Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong were staying in Beijing now. In any case, it would be impossible to say that there was sufficient food and grass in the border areas. These should be given to other ministries and yamen first.
Now the officials in the court knew all about it, knowing that the military just wanted a face this time, and did not really want to eat a large chunk of the grain and grass taxes from the autumn harvest, so the competition among the civil servants became more intense.
Hu Weiyong, the prime minister of the dynasty, naturally could not take the lead in the fight. In theory, all the civil servants in various ministries were his subordinates, so he had been mediating in the middle. However, secretly, he naturally wanted to give priority to his close relatives.
At this time, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance shouted at the eloquent Minister of the Ministry of Industry: "You are so greedy! I just allocated 50,000 taels of silver to you a few days ago, not to mention that His Highness the Prince also allocated 20,000 taels from his own body in the East Palace. A full seventy thousand taels of silver is not enough. Is it possible that what your Ministry of Industry studies every day is how to use the money for food?"
Not to be outdone, the Minister of Industry said: "The money will be used to build factories and make coal. We must finish the coal supply to the people in the north and the frontier army before the severe winter. We must not burn the money, not to mention that the inner palaces of the palace need to be repaired." , What’s wrong with our Ministry of Industry asking for another fifty thousand taels!”
The Minister of Rites on the side also squeezed in and said: "Next month, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will accept his concubine, and the New Year is approaching. There will be grand ceremonies in the ancestral temples and imperial tombs, and envoys from various countries will also attend. By the way, next year, the wedding of King Jin and King Chu will be held." We also need to start preparing..."
The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel said in a deep voice: "It's time for the salary to be paid to the upper and lower levels of the imperial court. Some officials in remote places have been delayed for a month or two. Since the Ministry of Household Affairs has income, it should be paid as soon as possible."
The Minister of War pulled the sleeve of the Minister of Hubu and shouted: "The soldiers along the coast will also have to pay their military pay and the pensions of the fallen soldiers. Last month, the Japanese pirates invaded in large numbers. Although the Ming Dynasty defeated mine, the casualties were not small."
Later, the General Secretary Chen Youzong and the Qing of Dali Temple Yan Donglai and the censors at the Censorship Station were also eager to get involved, for fear that they would not even drink the soup.
These are the important government offices of the imperial court. The other chief officials of the government offices such as Hanlin Academy, Imperial Academy, Zhan Shifu, etc. know that they are small and cannot grab the big brothers above their heads, so they all cry towards the emperor and prince, for fear that they will not even touch the bottom of the bowl. No need to lick.
From this we can see how short of money the imperial court was, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Whoever asked Ming Dynasty to take over was a mess full of devastation and mourning, and we could not force the people to pay taxes in this situation.
Therefore, in recent years, Zhu Yuanzhang has been reducing local taxes on a large scale to allow the people to recuperate and cultivate with peace of mind as much as possible. As a result, the food resources needed for the operation of the imperial court were somewhat tight.
This is also a helpless matter. Whoever takes charge of this family has to go through this. You can't make crops grow in the ground out of thin air, make women pregnant and multiply the population out of thin air, let alone let children grow up instantly to open up wasteland and provide food for the Ming Dynasty.
We have to follow objective laws, but fortunately everything is difficult at the beginning. As long as we get through this difficult time, life will definitely be prosperous. The Ming Dynasty will be prosperous and the people will be strong, and the future will be promising.
It had been noisy for nearly two hours, and although the civil servants and generals were still arguing and disapproving of each other, everyone knew what was going on, understood each other's bottom lines, and knew how to distribute the money most appropriately.
The most tiring person here was the Minister of Household Affairs. Even Zhu Yuanzhang compassionately gave him a stool to sit down and drink a cup of tea, otherwise the little old man would have fainted from exhaustion.
Everyone can take turns to fight, but he is the only one to challenge the eighteen princes. From being full of energy at the beginning to turning pale and shaky later, you can see how exhausted he is.
Seeing that it was almost done, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him, and then ordered Hu Weiyong to make the decision and coordinate with the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Finance to allocate expenses. This was also unprecedented. Except when Li Shanchang was in power, neither Yang Xian nor Wang Guangyang got this Honor.
Everyone looked at Hu Weiyong's back with serious expressions. It seemed that Prime Minister Hu was indeed in the emperor's heart. After Hu Weiyong raised his head to look at the majestic emperor, he bowed his head respectfully and agreed.
Zhu Biao, who was standing in the upper position, looked at Hu Weiyong with a complicated expression, and then looked at the many officials behind him. From today on, Hu Weiyong will take power...
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