"He is responsible for judging the amount of rents and gifts in the world, the convenience of plentiful products, and the convenience of water and land transportation." The Second Official Chronicle of the Old Tang Dynasty
In the greenhouse hall, the emperor had ordered people to close the window. He slowly walked back from the window and said, "I heard that locusts like to lay their eggs in the soil. When the weather gets warmer, they will emerge from the soil and cause harm to the countryside.
.Now that the weather is cold in winter, the common people have nothing to do, and the locusts have not yet hatched, we can order all counties and counties to urge the people to dig for insect eggs in the fields to prepare for danger."
Aren't locusts transformed from fish and shrimp?
This thought comes to everyone's mind, just like rotten grass becomes a firefly. People in this era always make wild guesses about things they don't understand. But whoever makes the other party the emperor, it is said that it is locusts that lay eggs and produce insects, right?
There was no need for anyone to ask questions. They just thought in their hearts that the officials in various counties and counties had been busy for half a year under the supervision of the exams. They were planning to take a good winter rest, but now they had no time to spare.
Zhao Wen saw that the emperor's brows were still worried, thought for a while, and said with relief: "Your Majesty, natural disasters are beyond the control of human beings. Disasters will affect people's hearts for a lifetime. Your Majesty is an example for the world. Everyone is looking up to you, hoping that your Majesty will cheer up and work hard.
He also ruled the world among Li Shu."
The emperor nodded and said cautiously: "Da Sinong and Shaofu are both here?"
"I'm waiting here." Liu He and Zhang Chang said in unison.
The emperor pointed to several memorials on the case and said leisurely: "This year's tax revenue totals 4.13 million shi and 33.52 million yuan. Although it is not much, the current situation is like this.
I can only endure the hardship for the time being."
In its heyday, the imperial court had an annual income of more than 20 billion. Even during the Xiaohuan and Xiaoling periods, any war to conquer the Qiang cost hundreds of millions. But now, the strength of the Han Dynasty has declined to the extreme.
The wealth of Sili, Bingzhou, Yongliang and other barren places is still a fraction of what it was in the past.
The decrease in the imperial court's annual revenue was not only caused by the shrinking of the area actually ruled by the imperial court, but also by the fact that households suffered from wars and natural disasters, resulting in death, injury and displacement. The emperor knew in his heart that if the time had not come, farming and water conservancy could basically solve the food problem.
A tougher economic reform plan has long been implemented.
Seeing that the emperor's face was uncertain, Zhang Chang felt suddenly and hurriedly added: "When Emperor Xiaoling was the emperor, in order to ward off the Qiang rebellion, he hoarded a lot of money and soldiers in Sanfu. In addition, the wealth of the Dong thieves stolen from Xiwu
There are still surplus and the proceeds confiscated by the rebels in Hedong. Although the imperial court has used troops year after year, recruited people to farm, conscripted canals, renovated post roads and other major political affairs, it has cost more than hundreds of millions. Fortunately, the treasury is already rich, and it can be calculated
Last year, the imperial court still had more than 5 million shi of wheat and millet and more than 60 million yuan of money, and the treasury in various places also had a surplus as usual."
The emperor's face looked better now. He cleared his throat and said: "Last year, the imperial court experienced things such as the killing of Dong's thieves and the rebellion of Li Guo. I have been in charge for less than half a year, and all kinds of major political affairs have been launched soon.
As a result, I didn’t ask in detail about the whereabouts of the royal court’s annual revenue last year. At present, all the princes are here. One of you is the chief minister and the other is the young minister. They are both ministers in charge of the court’s finances. You should speak freely about this matter.
How should the annual income be spent?”
Hearing this, Zhang Chang was not in a hurry to reply. Instead, he first looked at Han Bin, the Minister of Du Branch, who was an N official, and felt mixed feelings in his heart.
At first, when the Shangshutai was restructured, the emperor not only changed the names of each Cao Shangshu, but also split up and re-merged the powers of each Cao Cao. For example, the current Ministry of Personnel is mainly composed of the three Gong Cao who are responsible for examining the political performance of various states and counties.
and the election functions of the officials and officials were merged, and another sacrificial function of the officials and officials was transferred to the newly established Ministry of Rites. In addition, the emperor also abolished the civil officials in charge of civil engineering and gardens, and divided some of their functions into
It was given to the Shaofu and other officials.
But no matter how the changes are made, the general functions and powers of the ministers remain unchanged. On the contrary, some departments have increased their power after the restructuring. For example, the Ministry of Personnel is so popular nowadays that even the ministers have to give some face to the ministers.
As for the Du branch, it was not split off from the original Liucao, or a department that was renamed. It was a newly created Shangshu by the emperor, and its responsibilities were the statistics, dispatch, and control of the wealth of the country, so it was called Du branch.
Its power seems to overlap with that of Da Si Nong and Shao Fu, but if you think about it carefully, it is not the case. Because since its establishment, it has never handled any property, but it wants to control all the property of the imperial court.
Regarding the source and destination of the goods, even if it were a young man who managed the emperor's private property and was responsible for daily living, every money spent must be reviewed and approved by the branch office.
If that were the case, it would only be a matter of being under some supervision when using Qiangu, and the process of transferring assets would be more troublesome, but now it seems that this is not the case.
Zhang Chang was still lost in thought, and Liu He, the chief agricultural officer on the side, first said: "Your Majesty, the people give money and use half of the official salary. Nowadays, there are many ministers and officials in the imperial court, but local expenditures are very small. And according to the system,
Everyone's salary is half money and half grain. Therefore, each official needs to receive a salary of more than 20 million yuan a year, and more than 200,000 shi of wheat and grain."
"What about other expenses?" the emperor asked.
These expenses had been calculated with Zhang Chang when they arrived, and they had communicated with him. Liu He kept it in mind and recited: "Each army needs more than two million shi of food a year, and the cost of raising troops is not only food and grass."
, but also military armor and robes, rewards and salaries, wound treatment and other expenses. After calculation, it also costs more than 15 million yuan. In addition, road improvement, river construction, city wall repairs, etc. in various places also cost more than 10 million yuan, but these are just a few
It still needs to be reported by various counties and counties for dispatch, so it is difficult to calculate at the moment."
After talking about the military and political finances that Da Si Nong was responsible for, Liu He turned to look at Zhang Chang. Zhang Chang reacted and said: "The palace expenses, camp repairs, rewards and other things cost tens of millions."
"Wouldn't this be just enough?" The emperor frowned.
Last year, relying on the business accumulation of the previous generation and Dong Zhuo, the family was relatively wealthy, which allowed the emperor to launch several military operations within half a year, and even had various money-making holes such as farming, river engineering, etc. After several squanders,
, the emperor temporarily ignored the fact that the court was still very poor. When he thought about the drought and military affairs that would occur next year, whether the remaining five million yuan could be used, it became a knot in the emperor's heart.
Zhang Chang was overjoyed. He had been using Liu He to manage finances for a short time and he was a little unfamiliar. When calculating the expenses for the coming year with him, he deliberately made false statements, just to let the emperor know that the country's supplies were insufficient, so that he could take advantage of the situation and make suggestions to cultivate and earn money next year.
What's more, now that drought locusts were the topic, he felt even more determined and opened his mouth to say: "Your Majesty"
"Your Majesty has always been frugal, and many of the palaces in Weiyang Palace are dilapidated. Your Majesty only gave permission to repair the front hall, Yeting, greenhouses and other places. And Yeting only has one and two nobles, and there are very few people in the palace. The yellow gate is repaired.
Where will it be spent?" Suddenly someone next to him abruptly interrupted Zhang Chao's words, with a cold voice and an aggressive momentum: "And this reward is not a rule, but an exception. How can it be included as necessary?
Among the expenses?”
Zhang Chang's expression changed slightly, and he looked closely. It turned out that the person speaking was Han Bin, the Secretary of the Du branch, whom he had been subconsciously wary of and fearful for no reason.
When the emperor saw the expressions on both sides, his heart suddenly brightened like a bright mirror. Regardless of Zhang Chang's hesitation, he asked directly: "Do you have any suggestions for the Du branch?" 11