"Bang!" A tea cup hit the wall hard, and Li Heng said fiercely to Pei Mian and Wu Qi with a livid face: "Didn't you say that issuing large sums of money is at most due to a little resentment among the people, and it will return to normal soon?
It's great now. Not only have the people become refugees, but now the soldiers have begun to rebel, and your big money has begun to harm the country and the people. Do you know that my country is about to be destroyed? How can you explain to me?"
Pei Mian and Wu Qi lowered their heads, not daring to take a breath. The court had just received news that a mutiny had occurred in eight battalions of the Jingyuan Army. Tens of thousands of soldiers were dissatisfied with the large sums of money used by the court to pay military salaries and began to cause trouble and rebellion. In Jingyuan,
The county looted on a large scale.
This news couldn't be concealed anymore, so he had to report it to the emperor. When he heard that there was a mutiny, Li Heng almost fainted. How come there was nothing happening at ordinary times, but when something happened it was a big deal?
He didn't know that in fact, accidents often happened, but they were just hidden from him.
Next to him, Pei Zunqing said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the top priority now is to counter the rebellion, not to hold Daqian accountable. Daqian can wait and discuss it later, but countering the rebellion is imminent!"
Li Heng held back his anger and asked, "Does Xiangguo Pei have any good suggestions?"
Pei Zunqing bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I recommend Guo Ziyi to lead the army to quell the chaos."
Li Heng also thought that Guo Ziyi could be of great use at a critical moment. He immediately issued an order: "Pass on my decree and quickly order Guo Ziyi to lead 30,000 troops to Jingyuan County to quell the chaos!"
Li Heng ordered Pei Mian and Wu Qi to leave again. Pei Zunqing was the only one left in the imperial study. The two eunuchs took this opportunity to quietly sweep away the broken cups.
Li Heng sighed and said: "I want to know how serious the issue of big money is. Why is there no news about it here?"
Pei Zunqing has always been firmly opposed to issuing large amounts of money, but to no avail. Now that the emperor wants to ask him today, he no longer worries.
"Your Majesty, because everyone is hiding from Your Majesty, there is no news about Your Majesty. In fact, issuing large sums of money is extremely harmful. This despicable position can be summed up in eight words: the people's resentment is boiling and the country's foundation is shaken!"
Li Heng was surprised, "Is it so serious? It has actually reached the point of shaking the foundation of the country."
"Your Majesty, the mutiny is just a warning. If Your Majesty continues to persist in his stubbornness, there will be a large-scale rebellion. As the minister said when he objected, the Anshi Rebellion has made the people of the Tang Dynasty extremely weak. At this time, they should rest and recuperate.
A small amount of endowment can restore people's livelihood to health.
But now, not only the taxes are heavy, but also huge amounts of money are being used to plunder people's wealth, how many people can hold on? The first thing that can't hold on is the soldiers, so a mutiny occurs. Once the people can't hold on, a large-scale rebellion will break out.
Doesn’t this undermine the country’s foundation?”
Li Heng was silent for a moment. He didn't know that issuing large amounts of money was plundering people's wealth. He just hoped to stop issuing large amounts of money before the people could no longer hold on. He never cared about the lives of the people, but he was afraid of a military defeat.
When Pei Zunqing saw that the emperor was still hesitating, he simply came up with a piece of news that could be called a trump card.
Pei Zunqing said slowly: "Your Majesty, the amount of big money on the market has suddenly increased recently. It is several times the amount of big money we issue. I suspect that various Jiedugu governments have taken the opportunity to mint big money and fish in troubled waters."
Li Heng was shocked and asked urgently: "You mean Li Ye also followed suit to mint large amounts of money and plunder the people's wealth in Guanzhong?"
Pei Zunqing shook his head, "His Royal Highness the King of Qi will not do such a thing, and Li Mi and Liu Yan will not agree to such despicable things. The minister is talking about Hebei Sanzhen, Liang Chongyi and others."
Li Heng suddenly became anxious. He issued large amounts of money to solve the financial crisis, but if others followed suit and plundered people's wealth, what was the point of issuing large amounts of money? The benefits were a wedding dress for others, but he had to bear the consequences.
, how could he do it?
He immediately ordered: "Immediately summon Prime Minister Pei and the Fifth Prime Minister to come back!"
Pei Mian and Wu Qi didn't go far and hurried back. Li Heng asked: "Do we issue all the big money in the market?"
Pei Mian and Wu Qi looked at each other. Wu Qi had no choice but to lower his head and said: "There is some big money with unknown origins, and the ministers are checking it out!"
"The origin is unknown. How many are there? I want to hear the truth."
Wuqi gritted his teeth and said: "It's about three times the amount we issued for big money!"
"What!"
Li Heng sat down slumped, and there were actually three times more people than them. Is it any wonder that there was going to be a mutiny?
Li Heng glared at Pei Mian and asked, "In that case, why don't we take measures to plug the loopholes? Can't we find out who is maliciously plundering people's wealth?"
Pei Mian's face was full of embarrassment, "The other party is very secretive, and the money they make is exactly the same as ours. More importantly, these big money are circulating outside Chang'an, and we can't find it at all."
"What should we do? Tell us!"
Pei Zunqing seized the opportunity and said: "Your Majesty, we have only two choices now, either find the source and block the large money from unknown sources, or announce a cessation of the circulation of large money. There is no third way."
Pei Mian unexpectedly remained silent, which meant that he recognized Pei Zunqing's suggestion.
Li Heng looked at Wu Qi again, and Wu Qi sighed: "There are really only two ways!"
Li Heng was a little desperate. He asked in a hoarse voice: "If the circulation of big money is stopped, how much money will we have to spend to replace the money in the hands of the army?"
He can deny the big money in the hands of ordinary people, but he dare not deny the big money in the hands of the army.
"Reporting to your Majesty, there are about 500,000 guan, and there are 200,000 guan to replace officials' salaries, and 500,000 guan for next month's military salary. We must come up with 1.2 million guan within ten days."
"So how much money do we have now?"
"About three hundred thousand guan."
Li Heng suddenly became angry, "Why is it only 300,000 guan? Wasn't there a million guan in the report?"
"Your Majesty, the 700,000 guan tax money from Jiangnan was confiscated by Li Xilie when it passed through Huaixi. Currently, there are only 300,000 guan in the Zuozang treasury."
Li Heng waved his hands feebly, "You all step back, I want to be quiet for a while."
The three of them all retreated, and Li Heng walked to the window with his hands behind his back. From the moment he ascended the throne to the present, he has been under tremendous financial pressure, which led him to resort to two despicable means of selling his official position and giving ultimatums to monks to make money.
.
But it was still a drop in the bucket, and the huge monthly military salary of 600,000 yuan squeezed him like a mountain. He was about to be completely crushed by money.
Li Heng also knew that the only way now was to close his eyes and continue to issue large amounts of money, but he did not dare to do so. If mutinies broke out everywhere, his country would be gone.
At this time, Li Fuguo appeared next to Li Heng and whispered: "Your Majesty, Li Guangbi just sent news that a mutiny broke out in Luoyang, causing more than 20,000 soldiers to flee, and the soldiers were unwilling to fight."
"Why?" Li Heng turned around and asked.
"It seems that merchants in Luoyang and all over the Central Plains are unwilling to accept big money. The big money in the hands of soldiers has turned into waste money. Tens of thousands of soldiers are making trouble, demanding to be exchanged for normal copper coins."
Li Heng sighed, "Weng Li, I really can't afford the money now! What should I do?"
Li Fuguo said slowly: "There is a way for humble people to get millions of dollars easily, and there are almost no serious problems."