Inadvertently, Lin Tailai caught a glimpse of two acquaintances at the door of the household department. He waved casually and said, "Brothers, please come and be safe!"
Wang Situ and Shen Yongmao's eyes fell on Zhao Zhigao together. They thought in unison, how virtuous and capable this old man was, and he actually enjoyed Lin Tailai's first visit after coming to Beijing.
For some reason, Zhao Zhigao felt that the eyes of the eldest Situ and the first assistant were a bit unkind, so he quickly said hello and left.
Shen Yongmao greeted Lin Tailai and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Lin Tailai looked at Shen Yongmao as if he were a fool, "I'm going to Beijing to take the exam. Of course I have to come to the etiquette department to register."
To the north of the Department of Husbandry is the Department of Personnel, and to the south is the Department of Rites, all next to each other.
When Shen Yongmao saw Lin Tailai leisurely and leisurely, he still couldn't hold himself back and asked directly: "Didn't you discover the crisis from those things you encountered when you entered the city?"
Lin Tailai said calmly: "What crisis? Why didn't I see it?"
Shen Yongmao stared at Lin Tai for a while, unable to tell whether he was really stupid or pretending to be stupid.
After that, Shen Yongmao also left the gate of the Ministry of Household Affairs and went to the Ministry of War to sign in.
Wang Situ then said to Lin Tai: "It doesn't take more than an hour and a half to go to the Ministry of Etiquette to register. Let's talk first."
So Lin Tailai followed Wang Situ into the household department and sat down in the main hall in the backyard.
In front of Wang Situ, Lin Tailai was neither a junior nor a subordinate, so he was naturally qualified to sit down as a guest.
Lin Tailai thought of something and asked with a smile: "How does it feel to be in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue? Is it still comfortable?"
Speaking of this, Wang Situ was filled with bitterness. It was already mid-November, and this year's accounts could almost be sorted out, but it was hard to explain in a single word.
After letting out a long sigh, Wang Situ said: "This year may be the first time in the past ten years that the treasury cannot make ends meet."
"Is this true?" Lin Daguan asked rhetorically.
Seeing that Lin Tailai was very interested in this issue, Wang Situ said a few words in detail:
"This year the famine has been severe, several lines have been reduced or exempted, the annual income is only 3.39 million taels, and the expenditure is one million taels more than the income.
It was all thanks to the accumulation of 1.8 million taels of silver from the old treasury that we could barely survive."
Lin Tailai is also one of his own, there is nothing he can't say, although he doesn't understand why Lin Tailai wants to ask about this.
After hearing about the financial situation of the Ministry of Revenue, Lin Daguan commented casually: "As expected, sooner or later you will be unable to make ends meet! Wherever you are now, you will find that the more you lose, the more you will lose."
Wang Situ said a little unhappy: "During my tenure as minister, Taicang Yin began to make ends meet, which made me very shameless.
If I had known this, why did I fight for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the first place?"
Lin Tailai cajoled: "What's the use of worrying about yourself? Those millions of taels of expenditure are not expenditures of your household department.
Therefore, the loss is not only a matter of the Ministry of Revenue, but also a matter of the entire imperial court. We must transfer the anxiety to the imperial court and let the entire imperial court brainstorm solutions together!"
Wang Situ casually pulled out a memorandum from the public case and said, "Do I still need you to teach me?
I have complained to the imperial court for a long time. See for yourself, other people’s suggestions are like this. The imperial court sent it to the Ministry of Revenue and asked the Ministry of Revenue to repeat it."
Lin Tailai opened the memorial and took a few glances, only to see that it read: "We should strictly implement the layoffs of redundant personnel to save expenses. Either there were none in the past but now there are more, or there are more in the past. We should consider the priority and gradually lay off redundant personnel in order to save money." It is a way to make money. In addition, the workmen who are building additional walls in the capital should also be stopped."
"Phew!" Lin Tailai couldn't help but laugh a few times. Sure enough, he said the same thing as he didn't.
No one said how to increase revenue, but they all tried to persuade the emperor to cut down on expenditure.
Then Lin Tailai stood up and said goodbye: "I won't disturb your work anymore. I'll go to the Etiquette Department to sign up first."
Wang Situ asked again: "You have inquired about the income and expenditure of so many households and treasuries, don't you leave some suggestions?"
Lin Tailai smiled and said: "It doesn't matter whether we increase revenue or reduce expenditure, so what suggestions can I make?
I just want to see the progress of the Treasury's silver deficit and guess when the emperor will be impatient enough to prepare for massive mining and taxation.
In addition, judging from this situation, the imperial court will not allocate funds for the project of dredging the old Wusong River, so I need to raise additional funds."
Chapter completed!