This was the first time Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty went to court after taking poisonous pills for a month.
A lot of things happened in this month. Prime Minister Cai Jing, Privy Councilor Tong Guan, Taiwei Gao Qiu were reprimanded, Young Prime Minister Wang Fu was arrested, Cai You was demoted, Liang Shicheng, Yang Jian and other eunuchs were killed, and many officials were implicated.
Up to forty or fifty people.
Now in the court,
It feels much looser and empty than before.
This was the biggest purge since Song Huizong ascended the throne.
certainly,
Many officials intentionally or unintentionally glanced at the young man standing among the purple-robed ministers. He was from Zhongshushe, a direct bachelor of Longtuge, and the deputy commander of the front department, Lin Yilin Dongyang. This Jinke
The number one scholar became a purple-robed official in just four or five months. It can be said that he was unparalleled in the favor of the dynasty.
At the court meeting,
Cai Jing went out to report on the major events that occurred in these days, such as floods in a certain place, locust plagues in a certain place, official evaluations for half a year, etc.
Song Huizong just explained a few words briefly. In fact, the court has laws on many things. If there are no major problems, just follow the previous laws.
Zhongcheng, the censor of the Yushitai, came out and detailed the crimes of those officials, from Shaozai Wang Fu to Zhu Meng and a large number of officials.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty only said, "Punish according to the law."
The three secretaries came out to report on the salt and iron revenue, fiscal revenue and government expenditure in the first half of the year.
Speaking of which,
The fiscal revenue of the Song Dynasty was still very high compared with other dynasties. For example, the Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue was only 20 million taels of silver. The Qing Dynasty could reach 80 million taels. At its peak, the Song Dynasty could reach 160 million taels, which was the Qing Dynasty's highest.
Twice that of the Ming Dynasty and 8 times that of the Ming Dynasty.
Even now during the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court's annual fiscal revenue can reach about 110 million yuan.
But even so, it's still not enough money.
The annual deficit reaches about 15 million to 20 million yuan.
How come the money is gone? Lin Yi read a lot of relevant information in the library, and coupled with the history books he read, he can naturally analyze the reason why the money is not enough.
The officials of the Song Dynasty themselves summarized the financial problems as three redundancies and three expenses: redundant soldiers, redundant officials, and redundant monks. The three expenses were for worshiping in Taoist temples, building more temples and temples, and spending extravagantly on public services.
The finances of the Song Dynasty were mainly divided into three parts, palace finance, central finance and local finance. The palace finance was the emperor's internal funds. The state allocated a part of the fiscal revenue to the emperor, and the emperor alone had the final say on how to spend it.
During the Song Dynasty, the proportion of internal money was about 15%-20%, which means that of 100 million fiscal revenue, Song Huizong took away 15 to 20 million. Of course, with this money, he needed to support the harem, the prince, and other expenses of the royal family.
.
The central finance is the national finance, which involves all aspects of the country, including official expenses, raising troops, fighting wars, paying annual coins, etc.
Local finance means that local governments withhold part of their taxes and use them as local construction expenditures.
Speaking of which,
In fact, Song Huizong was not short of money. His life was more prosperous than that of previous emperors. The local government was not short of money either. What was most short of money was actually the national finance.
After listening to the report, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty nodded and said: "After the court meeting, Cai Jing, the three ministers, and the Minister of Household Affairs stayed to discuss the issue of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."
Cai Jing, the three envoys, and the Minister of Household Affairs should all go out together.
Song Huizong said again:
"The issue of increasing revenue needs to be discussed, but the matter of reducing expenditure can start from now. First, I have decided to stop the expansion of the royal garden and finish it now, so that 3 million yuan can be left."
The ministers present were shocked.
His Majesty has changed his temper and even stopped work on the royal gardens.
"Second, the original plan to build gymnasiums in various states has been cancelled, so that 6 million yuan can be saved from the fiscal budget."
This article once again shocked the ministers.
"Third, all localities should cancel the bureau and stop collecting rare flowers and rare stones from now on. This way, 10 million yuan can be saved every year."
The three envoys were overjoyed.
If Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty used 20 million guan less, it would be equivalent to spending 20 million guan less. Now the financial gap would be gone and he would be able to relax a lot.
Huizong of the Song Dynasty looked at Yushi Zhongcheng again and said: "In order to prevent people below from being overt and covert, Yushitai sent people to conduct strict investigations in various places. At the same time, they strictly investigated corruption and bribery in various places, especially the behavior of seizing people's land and property. If the Yushi Yanguan found out,
Report to the police for accountability.”
"I obey your decree~!"
Censor Zhongcheng came out and responded loudly.
Excited,
Many upright ministers were extremely excited.
They finally waited for this day.
Many officials took the initiative to come out of the queue and bow to salute.
"Your Majesty is Holy Ming."
"Your Majesty is Holy Ming."
When the internal affairs came to an end, someone came forward and bowed to report, "Zhongshi Dao, Zhang Shuye, and Zongze are waiting outside the hall to see you."
"Xuan."
Zhong Shidao, Zhang Shuye, and Zongze entered the palace together and bowed to Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. Lin Yi looked at the three of them. Zhong Shidao had a tall figure and a majestic face. Although he was already in his sixties, his hair and temples were full of silver.
Silk, but the body is tall and straight, without any signs of aging.
Zhang Shuye and Zongze are both about forty or fifty years old, and they both look upright.
Lin Yixin said,
If we train these people well in the future, they can help us in the future.
Song Huizong gave a few words of encouragement, asking them to work hard in the future and not to betray their trust.
The meeting is over.
Song Huizong called Cai Jing, the three envoys, and the Minister of Household Affairs to discuss financial matters. Naturally, they also called Lin Yi. From this point, the three of them once again felt how favored Lin Yi was.
And to be honest,
Now Lin Yi's actual authority is no less than theirs.
In the past, Liang Shicheng was called the "Hidden Prime Minister". In fact, Liang Shicheng's biggest reliance was to write imperial edicts for the emperor. Now that Liang Shicheng was killed, the job of writing imperial edicts naturally fell to Lin Yi. Now Lin Yi is writing imperial edicts for Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.
the first person.
Officially speaking, Zhongshu Sheren is the official author of the edict. It was Song Huizong's convenience to use Liang Shicheng to draft the edict. In fact, it has messed up the court rules. Now this right is in the hands of Lin Yi, and many ministers agree with it, because
This is more orderly.
As for whether Lin Yi will become another powerful minister, in fact, that is a matter later. At least many upright officials are very willing to see this result. Besides, Lin Yi is the number one scholar and a literati leader. He is better than a eunuch.
Their heads are more acceptable.
royal garden,
Pavilion.
The breeze blows softly and the lotus leaves bloom.
Song Huizong, or Lin Yi called Cai Jing, the three envoys, and the Minister of Household Affairs came not to discuss anything, but to announce some decisions to them.
Song Huizong sat cross-legged, with others standing nearby. Song Huizong said to the three envoys and the Minister of Household Affairs: "I have reduced my internal funds, but there are always places where money is needed. I have decided to open some royal trading businesses, and those businesses
I am going to let Lin Qing take responsibility. If Lin Qing finds you in the future, you must cooperate well."
The emperor made his own money to support himself.
How dare the two of them disagree.
After giving some more details, he asked the two of them to leave, and then looked at Cai Jing, "Prime Minister Cai, do you have any objections to my setting up the Imperial Merchant?"
"I have no objection."
"But I have a problem with you."
Cai Jing was shocked.
I guess I'm going to get scolded again.
"You are openly implementing Wang Anshi's New Deal, but you are inconsistent with it internally and externally. Do you think I can't see it? This matter has always been your responsibility. From now on, I want you to implement the New Deal policies exactly as they are. You must not compromise on them. If you can't do it well,
, you Cai Jing, just prepare to retire and return home, including you Cai and all the people you promoted, get out together."
Wang Anshi’s New Deal,
Including the method of enriching the country, the method of strengthening the army, and the method of recruiting soldiers.
The laws of a prosperous country include the Young Crops Law, the Recruitment Law, the Farmland Equalization Tax Law, the Farmland Water Conservancy Law, the Market Change Law, the Equalization of Transmission Law, etc.
The methods of strengthening the army include the method of protecting armor, the method of protecting horses, the method of generals, and the establishment of weapons supervisors.
The main methods for selecting scholars include reforming the imperial examination system, rectifying Imperial College, and paying attention to the promotion and appointment of middle- and lower-level officials and other specific measures.
Lin Yi has carefully studied Wang Anshi's reform, and it is considered a good policy that is more in line with the world's conditions of this era. Cai Jing is also a supporter of the reform. After he came to power, he used the slogan of implementing the new law, but secretly except for using this slogan to exclude dissidents, he basically did nothing.
Dry.
The sutra is a good sutra, but Cai Jing's recitation was completely distorted.
Since it was Cai Jing who caused the mess, Lin Yi naturally asked him to clean it up. With this worship skill, you have to listen even if you don't want to. If you don't listen, it will be a violation of the oath, which can cause heartache at the least and thunderous consequences at the worst.
"Old minister takes orders and will live up to His Majesty's orders!"
Cai Jing bowed with difficulty and responded.
afternoon,
Lin Yi came to the Privy Council.
Tong Guan and Zhong Shidao greeted him. Zhong Shidao knew that he was able to be transferred from the border army to the capital as deputy envoy of the Privy Council all because he had Bachelor Lin in front of him, so although he was old, he had a respectful attitude.
Gao Qiu and Zong Ze were also there. It was Lin Yi who asked someone to notify them in advance and come over to have a meeting together.
The topic of this chat is to report the situation of the army, and then find ways to carry out reforms to eliminate rubbish and retain elite soldiers.
Lin Yi has read history,
When the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army had about 300,000 regular cavalry, 100,000 regular infantry, and 500,000 reserve troops.
The Northern Song Dynasty had a regular forbidden army of one million and a reserve army of 1.5 million. However, these soldiers were defeated in one attack. In the final analysis, they had a lack of fighting will.
Elite soldiers,
What the Song Dynasty needed was not more people, but elite soldiers. Eliminating redundant soldiers not only reduced expenses, but also improved combat effectiveness.
Having said this, Master Zhong said: "To be honest with you, there is another reason for the defeat of the war, which is that the military pay arrears are too serious."
"A frontier army of half a million dares to fight Xixia, Liao and Jin, but it is considered good if they can receive half a year's salary and half of the supplies. Because the salary and supplies are insufficient, the morale of the army will inevitably be weakened and the food will not be enough."
If you are not fully clothed and warm, and if you encounter corruption and embezzlement by your generals, your combat effectiveness will be even less likely to be high."
The war is fought for money.
This principle has never changed throughout the ages.
Even in modern society, if you don't have money, you can't even think about raising an army or going to war.
At this time, Lin Yi said: "Your Majesty has ordered me to open an 'Imperial Merchant'. I am confident that I can earn a large amount of money, even more than salt, iron and tea. In two years at most, I can guarantee that the imperial court will provide sufficient military expenses. Of course, there will also be a need for it."
The army will cooperate, and I will need your help when the time comes."
Royal merchant.
The Emperor's Business.
Naturally, a few people didn't dare to say no.
"Your Majesty said that your next task is to integrate the army and build the Forbidden Army, the Border Army, and the Xiang Army into a more combat-effective army."
Several people stood up together.
"In compliance with His Majesty's decree."
When many things come together in the end, you will find that they all require the same thing to solve.
Money~!
Lin Yi had to sigh again.
Money is really a good thing. Without it, the country will be weak, the people will be poor, life will be miserable, and everything will be impossible.
So next.
Lin Yi is ready to start making money.
Now that he is the emperor, the prime minister, the Ministry of Revenue, the three divisions and government offices have been connected, and several big bosses in the military have also been connected. No one can stop him from making money anymore.
evening,
After the meeting, Lin Yi returned to the palace to resume his duties.
night,
With nothing to do, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty stayed in the harem for the night. The two beauties from yesterday were still in charge of serving him tonight. Yesterday he was beaten for the first time, but today he has almost recovered. If Lin Yi did not spare any effort, the torrential rain poured down and the river flooded.
The next day,
In the imperial village on the outskirts of the city.
Lin Yi called more than 200 craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry. These masters were headed by an official. Lin Yi made these people swear an oath together, firstly, to be loyal to His Majesty, and secondly, not to leak the technology to others.
Lin Yi's 'this bow' takes effect.
Dozens of craftsmen were divided, and Lin Yi taught the 'white sugar making method'. The white sugar making process was simple to these people. Watching the brown sugar water turn white and making snow-white white sugar, these craftsmen were delighted.
One craftsman said: "Brown sugar is cheaper than white sugar. With this method, you can get at least three times more profit."
Then Lin Yi taught them how to make rock candy.
In fact, it is very simple. Just put cotton thread in the sugar water, and keep the temperature of the sugar water in the pot at about 40 degrees. It takes about a week to condense strings of rock sugar. This method was still used until the 1980s.
Rock sugar is also widely used and has a pure taste. It is one of the best sugars in the world and is more convenient to transport.
The next step is to teach you how to make snowflake salt.
This is simpler,
Dozens of craftsmen were also divided and taught the purification method. These people produced several loads of snowflake salt in just one day.
Someone twisted a little salt and put it in his mouth, and immediately said with joy: "This is the purest salt I have ever tasted. It is much better than green salt. I didn't expect that using the method taught by adults, coarse salt can be made instantly."
Turn into snowflake salt.”
"The price of this snowflake salt is several times that of coarse salt."
Lin Yi smiled and said, "The price of these snowflake salts will naturally increase, but I think the price of coarse salt can be lowered appropriately, so that the common people can afford salt, otherwise they will have no strength without salt."
"My lord is kind and virtuous."
The third thing to be taken out is soap and soap making technology, but before making soap, Lin Yi first asked these craftsmen to make fragrance.
Spices have been around since ancient times and were widely used in the Song Dynasty. However, essential oils have not yet been developed. Now is the flowering season. Lin Yi asked people to get a large number of spices and flowers and use distillation to steam out essences, such as sandalwood and benzoin.
, rose, jasmine, sophora japonica, camellia, orange peel, lemon, etc.
Get the flavor,
Lin Yi also asked people to make distilled alcohol, and simply mixed it to create perfume.
As for making soap,
Using lard, lime water, and lye, you can make soapy water through several chemical reactions. Then add different flavors, pour it into a grinding tool and cool it to make beautiful soap. Lin Yi also specially added some colors.
It's easy to distinguish each scent.
When the craftsmen saw the beautiful and good-smelling soaps, they all liked them very much. After testing, they found that these soaps were much better than those on the market, and they were much cheaper to fake. The cost was only one-fifth of the current soaps.
one.
Everyone knows that this will definitely make money.
Four products have now been identified.
sugar,
snowflake salt,
Soap.
perfume.
This is not the end yet,
Lin Yi came up with something even more powerful.
Glass.
Is there glass in the Song Dynasty now?
have,
Lin Yi saw many glass products including plates, bowls, cups, bottles, etc. when he was in the palace and robbed Cai Jing and Wang Fu's belongings.
But it is not called glass, but called colored glaze. It is impure in color and contains many impurities. It is mostly imported from the Western Regions and is very expensive. Glazed is included in the Seven Treasures of Buddhism. In later cultural relics unearthed in the Song Dynasty, colored glaze bottles are often used to contain relics.
Even Song Huizong, Cai Jing, Wang Fu and others did not treat the glass products as daily necessities, but as treasures. From this, we can see the preciousness of glass.
The glass Lin Yi plans to produce is not only pure, transparent and beautiful, it can be made into glass cups and glass bottles. He also plans to produce glass mirrors.
He believes,
As soon as the mirror appears, it is definitely a big killer, and those rich people will rush to spend money to buy it.
After three days of arduous research and development, Lin Yi finally made glass. Then he taught the palace servants how to make various utensils and how to make mirrors. He coated the back of the flat glass with a layer of silver foil and obtained a mirror.
When the craftsmen saw the completely intact silver mirror, many people were shocked and said, "Oh my god, it's so clear. This is a treasure."
I haven't been home for more than half a month.
Lin Yi asked people to load the car,
Bring a cart of samples back to Bianjing City.
Lin Yi went home directly. Cui Niannu, Pan Jinlian and the other girls had not seen Lin Yi for half a month, so they all ran out to greet him. Lin Yi smiled and took out gifts.
"This is snowflake salt. From now on, our family will eat this kind of salt. This is rock sugar. Try it."
Several women pinched the rock candy and put it into their mouths, "Wow, this sweetness is so pure and delicious."
"This is nothing, look at what this is."
Lin Yi took out a small box.
When you open it, you will find small boxes one after another. Each box contains a piece of soap with a different scent, one for each woman.
"The scent smells great. Is this incense?"
"No, this is soap for bathing. Rich foam makes bathing cleaner and is good for the skin. It smells fragrant and white after washing. Niannu, Linglong, Golden Lotus, and Anemone, you all use soap to take a bath tonight." Lin Yixiao.
Follow the path.
The girls all blushed when they heard what the master meant.
Lin Yi took out another box, which contained small porcelain bottles sealed with cork. "This is perfume. There are a total of twelve scents. Choose whatever you like."
Finally, Lin Yi took out two sets of glassware.
The women marveled.
"What beautiful glassware, I'm afraid this set costs less than a hundred or two hundred pieces, right?" Cui Niannu has seen good things, and he can tell the extraordinary quality of glassware at a glance.
Lin Yi smiled and said nothing. He would not tell the women that the cost of this set was only a hundred cents.
at last,
Lin Yi took out a big killer weapon.
Glass mirror.
When the women saw how clearly they looked in the mirror, they all became excited, "This mirror shows such a clear picture. It's really a treasure. It must be priceless."
Lin Yi took out six mirrors. Each mirror was about the size of a football. It was surrounded by tin carvings and had brackets on the back. It looked very high-end.
That night,
Several women waited on Lin Yi to take a bath.
It's naturally very charming.
the next day,
Lin Yi brought the remaining samples to the palace, nominally as a tribute to His Majesty the Emperor. That night, Lin Yi exchanged with the dolls and brought gifts to the harem to distribute to the queen and concubines.
this night,
Lin Yi stayed overnight in the palace.
I have been favored by two new beauties, and I have endless wonderful charm.
The news that Academician Lin made many strange objects quickly spread to the market. Royal items are the best publicity. Many officials and their families are very curious about the rumored items. However, Lin Yi is not in a hurry. I guess
We will be able to go into production in one month, and then it will be time to make crazy money with big sales.