Chapter 1,428
The next day.
An Zhe led a team of people and set off for Zhengzhou.
Xiao Lintian led his ministers to Shilipo.
The heavy snow was still falling, and Xiao Lintian felt a strong sense of uneasiness as he watched An Zhe and the soldiers marching through the snow.
Returning to the palace, Xiao Lintian convened another meeting of cabinet officials to discuss the disasters caused by the heavy snow, as well as disaster prevention and relief measures in various places.
Mr. Jiang, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, complained repeatedly, saying that the national treasury was empty and could not come up with more money to relieve the disaster.
Xiao Lintian watched Master Jiang complaining calmly.
Xiao Lintian knew that the treasury was empty, but what he wanted was not for these ministers to complain in front of him and wait for money to fall from the sky.
Instead, let them brainstorm ways to solve their own problems.
Seeing that Mr. Jiang was just complaining, other ministers were only obedient and could not make any good suggestions.
Zhao Hui stayed on the sidelines and watched. The few words he occasionally said were casual and indifferent, but he couldn't make any points.
Lu Xiangyi was enthusiastic, but due to his conservative thinking, the suggestions he gave were nothing more than to cut down on expenditures and reduce unnecessary expenses.
But what is unnecessary expenditure?
The salary of the court officials must be paid every month, and the expenses of the palace must not be less.
All these require a lot of money in a month, so how can we save money!
Xiao Lintian was upset after hearing this, so he simply asked everyone to go back and each write a constructive memorial and hand it in.
He returned to the harem, still upset about it.
Halfway through, Xiao Lintian stopped Ling Yu when he met Ling Yu who was coming back to greet the Queen Mother.
"Ayu, come with me for a walk!"
Seeing that Xiao Lintian looked bad, Ling Yu sent Lingxuan and the others away and followed Xiao Lintian on the cleared road.
"What's wrong? What happened again?" Ling Yu asked with concern.
Xiao Lintian told Ling Yu about the empty treasury.
Ling Yu wanted to ask about this yesterday, but was interrupted by the riots. After hearing this, she asked casually: "How much money is left in the treasury now?"
Xiao Lintian thought about the balance reported by the Ministry of Household Affairs before, and frowned: "Not much, less than two million!"
two millions?
This is an unimaginable amount of money for ordinary people's families, but for a country, this amount of money is really at its bottom.
"Then have you thought about how to increase the revenue of the treasury?"
Ling Yu knew that as a woman, being too strong would offend people.
Xiao Lintian is very smart. He can do a lot of things without having to intervene on his own. She can just give some tips.
When Xiao Lintian heard Ling Yu ask this question, it was not because the emperor was dissatisfied with women's involvement in politics. When he was King Yi, he was used to discussing the construction of a merchant house with Ling Yu.
He knew that many of Ling Yu's ideas were practical, so he did not hide anything and said: "I have checked the sources of funds from the treasury during this period. The main sources are taxes, shipping, and minerals!"
"There are still many omissions in these places. If you check carefully, you can still find some moths, and you can probably confiscate millions!"
Ling Yu smiled lightly: "Are you ready to take action against corrupt officials?"
Seeing that Ling Yu guessed his thoughts so quickly, Xiao Lintian nodded in appreciation.
"Take Mr. Jiang, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, for example. He has been in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs for several years, but his family has owned tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. His hometown has also been renovated. It is said that their ancestral hall is made of bluestone on the surface and gold underneath!"
Xiao Lintian said with a livid face: "A second-grade official has an annual salary of tens of thousands of taels. How can he purchase so much property with just his salary!"
