Ning Xibo said: "Your Majesty, the border troops have asked the imperial court to allocate silver for this matter many times, but the imperial court has not responded! That's why those old brothers wrote to ask the ministers to report it!"
Emperor Wanli glanced at Zhang Juzheng again and said, "Mr. Zhang, how do you think this matter should be handled?"
Zhang Juzheng then opened his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, you can ask the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to answer."
Then Zhang Juzheng lowered his eyes again, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. Emperor Wanli took a deep look at Zhang Juzheng and said: "Please answer the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."
At this time, a man walked out from among the civil servants. He was about fifty years old, with a Chinese character face and five short beards. He was quite handsome. This person is Zhao Yulin, the Minister of Household Affairs!
After saluting, Zhao Yulin said: "Your Majesty, what Ning Xibo said is right. The Ministry of Revenue has indeed received multiple memorials from the border troops asking for the allocation of silver to buy horses. However, the imperial court has accumulated serious debts over the years and cannot make ends meet. It is really unable to allocate them!"
Emperor Wanli said: "The shortage of horses in the frontier army is an extremely important matter. Can't we squeeze out a sum of money?"
Zhao Yulin said: "Your Majesty, it's not that the ministers don't allocate money, but that the treasury is really empty! Even the only silver has already gone somewhere! Moreover, war horses in the country are becoming more expensive, and the amount of money they have to buy war horses is also high. It’s so big that we can’t raise all the money at the moment, so we can only postpone it for now! Wei Chen has already taken note of this matter, and when there is money in the treasury in the future, he will naturally allocate it in full!”
When Emperor Wanli heard this, he knew that although there were many conflicts between the civil and military parties, they had reached an agreement on swallowing the Jubaozhai! Otherwise, Zhao Yulin would not have helped Ning Xibo lie like this! Emperor Wanli dared to bet his dragon robe that there was absolutely no memorial written by the frontier army asking for money to buy war horses. This was just an excuse they came up with!
Thinking of this, Emperor Wanli said to Ning Xibo: "Ning Xibo, you have heard what Mr. Zhao said! It seems that this matter can only be put aside for the time being!"
Zhou Zhiwu hurriedly said after hearing this: "Your Majesty, this matter must not be delayed! It should be noted that the Tatars outside the border wall are still eyeing the Central Plains and have never stopped thinking about invading the Central Plains again! Therefore, we must ensure that the border army has enough cavalry. Shock them! Moreover, these Tatars often cross the border wall to hunt grass and valleys. If there are not enough cavalry, there will be wars all over the border! If the Tatars see the truth, they will probably go south in large numbers! Then we will spend more money The money that went out was more than the five hundred thousand taels!
Emperor Wanli turned to Zhao Yulin again and said: "Zhao Qing's family, border affairs are indeed a top priority. Can you think of a way to solve it?"
Zhao Yulin bowed and said: "Under the wall, please forgive me for my incompetence! It is indeed impossible to imagine!"
Emperor Wanli looked at Zhou Zhiwu again and said, "Ning Xibo, have you also heard what Zhao Shangshu said? The court really has no choice now!"
Zhou Zhiwu fell to his knees with a plop and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the men of the frontier army are going to fight with the Tatars. If there are no horses, how can the infantry alone withstand the Tatars coming and going like the wind! Then we must Use your life to fill it! I hope His Majesty will have mercy on you!"
This time Zhao Yulin learned the lesson and said directly without waiting for Emperor Wanli to speak: "Your Majesty, the humble minister is indeed powerless! Now the state has more than 220,000 taels of silver, but the imperial court has to spend more than 300,000 taels of silver. two!"
Then Zhao Yulin began to count the amounts that were about to be paid, one by one, one by one. Sure enough, he spent all the money in the national treasury and still owed a sum!
Finally, Zhao Yulin said sadly: "Your Majesty, this is just the situation this year. In fact, last year, the national treasury still had a deficit of more than 600,000 taels of silver that could not be filled! As for the previous arrears, it was even more! And now many officials have not received their salaries for a long time. Okay, if this continues, I’m afraid there will be no one in the court to take charge!”
Emperor Wanli felt irritable when he saw one of them crying about poverty and the other asking for money! Finally, he flicked his sleeves and said: "It is indeed a big deal for the frontier army to need war horses, but the imperial court does not have money! How about this, allocate 50,000 taels of silver from my internal funds to buy a batch of war horses and send them to the northwest! Wait! In the future, when the imperial court's money is loose, we will make up for the shortfall!"
Emperor Wanli's words were completely sacrificing his troops to save his chariot! He wanted to use the 50,000 taels of silver to keep Jubaozhai. After all, not to mention the future, Jubaozhai was worth 600,000 taels of silver just now!
But just when Emperor Wanli was a little delighted and happy for his idea, Feng Bao, who appeared in the hall at some time, suddenly stepped forward and said: "Long live Lord, this must not be done!"
Emperor Wanli felt angry when he saw Feng Bao suddenly appearing! He originally wanted to throw out 50,000 taels of silver to silence these people, but Feng Bao's sudden appearance ruined his plan! But he still said calmly: "Feng Daban, why do you say this is not possible? After all, the country has something to do, so I should pay some money!"
Feng Bao bowed and said: "I think this matter is indeed inappropriate! There are rules in everything. The national treasury and the inner treasury are separate. The purchase of war horses requires money from the national treasury. It is not appropriate for the inner treasury to spend this money." Rules! First and foremost, there is actually no money left in the inner treasury!"
Emperor Wanli was shocked when he heard this! To be honest, he really didn't know if there was any money in the inner treasury? Because the inner treasury was always in the hands of Feng Bao and Queen Mother Li, he was completely blind! So he said eagerly: "How come there is no money in the inner treasury?"
Feng Bao sighed and said: "Long live my lord, the situation of the inner treasury is similar to that of the national treasury. It cannot make ends meet! Although there is some money in the inner treasury now, it still has a place to go!"
Then Feng Bao rambled on about the whereabouts of the money in the inner treasury. It seemed that he was a bit poorer than the national treasury!
After Feng Bao finished speaking, Ning Xibo began to describe the hardships of the soldiers on the frontier with great emotion, as well as the dangers of lack of war horses! Zhao Yulin and Feng Bao, on the other hand, kept crying about poverty! What made Emperor Wanli even more angry was that five more people came out from the class of military officials to support Ning Xibo's statement. However, they spoke very measuredly, mainly speaking to Zhao Yulin. But Zhao Yulin showed no fear when he fought one against six. He said one thousand and said ten thousand, but he had no money!
Their commotion caused chaos in the hall, and Emperor Wanli was even more irritable! When they paused, Emperor Wanli said loudly: "My dear friends, I know everything you said! But now there is no money in the imperial treasury and my inner treasury. This is also a helpless matter! In this case, now Let’s put the matter aside for now!”
