The storm is rising in the Western Region, and the yellow sand is rolling in the flag.
The waves are rising in the East China Sea, and the war drums are beating.
Shenzhou has been coveted and coveted by the four barbarians since ancient times. If Shenzhou is strong, it will subjugate the four barbarians. If Shenzhou is weak, all the barbarians will chaos.
News of King Zhao's rebellion has spread throughout the world through various channels.
For the ambitious people from all over the world, this is the best opportunity to take control of China and carve up the Central Plains.
…
Similarly, the news of weapons being launched from all sides also reached the central court and Prince Zhao's palace.
In the Wuying Hall, Emperor Linde, who rarely participates in political affairs, is sitting on the throne. "If you are not of my race, your heart must be different. This makes sense!"
Emperor Linde here refers to races that are not my race, not just Zhou people.
The land of China has experienced thousands of years of vicissitudes, and various ethnic groups have merged with each other. Jiuli, Yanhuang, Baiyue, Hakka, and Miao are all part of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Emperor Linde refers to the so-called friendly countries other than the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
For example, in Japan, although their rogues burned and killed their envoys along the coast, Emperor Taizong did not punish their envoys, but allowed them to pay tribute.
Let’s talk about the Parthian Empire. Although there was a war with the Great Zhou Dynasty, in the 12th year of Yong’an, during the war between the Parthian Empire and the Mauryan Dynasty, the Great Zhou Dynasty did not send troops, but supported the Parthian Empire with weapons and grain.
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had the idea of using the Parthian Empire to consume the Mauryan Dynasty, the weapons and food and grass to support it were real.
But today, when there was internal turmoil in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Parthian Empire jumped out impatiently.
"My mentor once said, "Be kind to people and be righteous, and govern the country with great interests. This statement is true!"
Wang Hua was stunned when he heard this, and chewed on this sentence over and over again, feeling that it meant a lot.
"Governing the country focuses on profit!" This is indeed what Yang Qingyuan can say.
These words, in future generations, would be at the level of a forum, and you would be able to become a village chief even if you are not even qualified to be on a certain forum.
But placed in the current Wuying Palace, it is quite explosive.
"Wang Qing, there is a war in the four realms now. Let's discuss it at Wuying Hall today!"
Emperor Linde rarely paid attention to specific government affairs and always set general directions with the academicians. However, Emperor Linde never ignored military affairs.
Everyone looked at Li Chengguang, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Wu Keming, the Grand Governor of the Royal Forest Army and the current person in charge of the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion.
Things like fighting still have to be controlled by these two bosses.
Li Chengguang glanced at Wu Keming, stood up first and said, "Everyone, war requires money!"
Everywhere in a war, from mobilization to final command, money and food are consumed.
What Blue Star Protector General Cai Songpo lacked most at that time was money and food, which forced him to fight fiercely with the Beiyang Army in southern Sichuan, otherwise he might not have succeeded in the Northern Expedition.
Before the war begins, the soldiers and horses must first consider whether there is enough money and food in the treasury to fight the war.
After hearing this, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue stood up and said, "When I heard about this yesterday, I had already asked the Preparatory Department of the Ministry of Revenue to do a simple calculation. Although the treasury has received a lot of money and grain in recent years, a lot of it has been spent. Today's Gyeonggi Province
The five warehouses are barely enough for the Yulin Army and the Longwu Army, so it would be difficult to support the Tiance Army in the north."
The Minister of Hube held a thin booklet in his hand and said while flipping through it.
"This year, there will be a bumper rice harvest in Yangzhou, and all the warehouses will be rich."
"Southern Xinjiang is mountainous, with little cultivated land, and it is difficult to transport grain and grass. However, in midsummer, Jiaozhou delivered a large amount of grain and grass to the Shenwu Army, totaling 2.3 million shi. The Shenwu Army should also have sufficient food and grass at this time."
"The Protectorate of the Western Regions, because the countries in the Western Regions have had a bumper harvest this year and food prices have plummeted, the Protectorate of the Western Regions, King Chengsi, purchased a large amount of low-priced grain and grass as a reserve for the army. There is sufficient grain and grass."
The former Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhao Pengcheng, has retired and returned to his hometown. The new Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Qi Yuan, is a master of calculations. He has served as a foreign minister of the Ministry of household affairs, a doctor in the Ministry of household affairs, a wine minister in the Imperial Academy, and a minister of the Ministry of household affairs.
He has extremely solid business skills and is especially good at calculating money. He can break a penny into two cents in his hands.
This kind of unusual stinginess can be regarded as a characteristic of the ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the past. As long as you are in this position, it is impossible to be generous.
After talking about food and grass, Qi Yuan then talked about the money in the treasury.
"There is still 5,137,955 taels of silver in the treasury."
It can only be said that he is worthy of being the Minister of Household Affairs. This accurate data put a smile on the faces of many people, especially military commanders. Being rich means being able to fight.
"However, 4.57 million taels of it have been budgeted for next year and cannot be easily misappropriated."
This sentence immediately caused the smile on the face of the person who just had a smile to freeze, and the person who was not good at calculations began to think of ways to adjust the abacus.
I originally thought that there was so much money in the treasury that I could do whatever I wanted, but then you turned around and told me that the available money in the treasury was less than 500,000 taels?!
This situation is the most uncomfortable. If there was no money in the treasury, they would give up. But now that there is money in the treasury, they have to use it elsewhere...
"Sir Qi, can you use this money temporarily?" Wu Keming changed his former image of being upright, with a flattering tone visible to the naked eye in his smile.
This contrast caught all the senior officials and generals present off guard.
I didn't expect that the Chief of General Staff of Dazhou General Staff Headquarters would have such a side.
Faced with Wu Keming's sudden flattery, Qi Yuan flatly refused, "Director Wu, it's not me, Qi, who doesn't know what is good or bad, but I can't touch this money!"
"This sum of five hundred thousand taels was allocated by the imperial court to Yizhou and Chuzhou to repair the dams on the rivers."
"This sum of 700,000 taels was allocated by the imperial court to Yangzhou to clean up the canal, dredge water transportation, and dig new shipping channels."
"This sum is to rebuild Minzhou after the storm."
…
This sum of money has been allocated to real sources, and none of it should be tampered with arbitrarily.
"Well, Mr. Qi, I remember that the Yangzhou section of the canal has only been repaired a few years ago! Otherwise, this money should be slowed down and temporarily used as military expenses."
Qi Yuan became anxious on the spot after hearing this, "This is absolutely not possible. The canals in the Hangou section of Yangzhou are covered with reefs and silt is easy to accumulate. The rocks must be broken frequently and the silt removed to ensure the smooth flow of shipping. Otherwise, the salt industry in Huainan and Huaibei will be destroyed."
Business and freight will be hugely affected."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The two big guys fought for a long time over the money, but Wu Keming, who was invincible on the battlefield, could not get an extra penny from Qi Yuan.
Qi Yuan is a principled person. It's not that he doesn't care about the overall situation and doesn't support the court's war, it's just that he doesn't think it's necessary to take the initiative.
The army's active attack and passive defense are two completely different concepts in terms of money and food consumed.
In Qi Yuan's view, the soldiers and horses in the four borders only need to defend to ensure that the defense line is not lost. The military generals headed by Wu Keming are still too eager for military glory.
It's not that Qi Yuan doesn't support the war, it's that he doesn't support a war that he thinks is unnecessary. Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to spend the money on the court's people's livelihood projects?!
Wu Keming was worthy of his background as a general. After figuring out Qi Yuan's thoughts, he immediately came up with a new strategy.
"Qi Shangshu, we are not fighting for the sake of war, but for the development of the Zhou Dynasty!"
Although Qi Yuan didn't say it on the face, he was full of disdain in his heart, and continued to lie, if I give you an extra penny today, my surname will not be Qi.
"Lord Qi, do you know what is the most important business channel for our Great Zhou's foreign trade?!"
You said this, then Qi Yuan naturally came at his fingertips, "Of course it is the shipping of Licheng Port and Siming Port."
Since the imperial court encouraged sea trade, coastal commerce has developed rapidly. The annual tax collected from the coast and customs even exceeds the national grain tax in the early Yong'an period.
"What Mr. Qi said is true! But now that the Japanese have invaded our East China Sea, trade along the East China Sea has been sluggish, and our shipping has been blocked. This is a huge damage to our development in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If the Japanese pirates can be cleared out, wouldn't the sea trade in the East China Sea be
Can it be improved to the next level?!"
Although he felt that Wu Keming was deceiving him, Qi Yuan felt that what he said was quite reasonable.
After having tasted the benefits of commercial tax, the Ministry of Revenue no longer looked down upon the agricultural tax. If it could speed up the development of coastal commerce and remove obstacles to maritime trade, then this battle would not be impossible!
Just when Qi Yuan was wavering, Wu Keming continued to speak.
His verbal offensive is like transporting troops, and his military campaigns are like waves, stacked one after another.
"I would like to ask Master Qi again, which of our trade routes on land in the Great Zhou Dynasty is the best?!"
"Of course this is the Silk Road." Qi Yuan suddenly had a bad feeling that he might not be able to keep his surname today!
"Yes, the Parthian Empire is tyrannical on the Silk Road, interfering with caravans, buying and selling by force. A battle with the Parthian Empire will not only expand our Great Zhou's control over the Western Regions, but also take the opportunity to clear out the unrest on the Silk Road.
Stability factor. Wouldn’t it kill two birds with one stone!?”
"..." Qi Yuan felt so excited!
The Western Regions were the key to the foreign trade on land in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If the Western Regions could be completely controlled, the benefits would be immeasurable to the merchants of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Damn it, Wu Keming actually offered such a despicable and tempting offer, which is hard to refuse!
Just being excited is one thing, but giving money is another!
Qi Yuan still flatly rejected Wu Keming, but he pointed out a clear path for Wu Keming.
"Grand Governor, even if you say hell today, there will still be no money in the treasury. You can only think of another way!"
Qi Yuan also specially added accents to the other two characters.
The treasury is indeed out of money, but among the people present, there is someone who has more money than the treasury.
Wu Keming reacted so smartly and looked at Emperor Linde.
I dare not say anything else, but Emperor Linde feels that he is the richest emperor since the emergence of the emperor profession.
The richest place in Dazhou today is not the treasury, but the Tiandi Bank.
As for Emperor Linde, he owns 15% of the equity in Tiandi Bank, and as the emperor, he has 30% of the equity...
Furthermore, Emperor Linde was not a very extravagant person, and was even more frugal than a normal king. According to rumors, Emperor Linde had five million taels of silver among his internal funds.
That’s five million taels!
As for the source of this gossip, it was naturally the mother of Emperor Linde, the sister of Wu Keming, and the queen mother of the current dynasty who told him.
The internal financial power was controlled by Zhu Qionghua, the eldest princess of Jinling. Wu Keming immediately felt that this was a good place to borrow money.
Thirteen, who was seriously thinking about the situation of the war, did not realize that the idea was already on the head of the young emperor.
"Ahem, cough, cough!" Wu Keming coughed twice and said to Emperor Linde, "Your Majesty, I heard that your Majesty still has some surplus in his internal funds. I wonder if I can temporarily borrow it from the court."
Emperor Linde raised his head, a little confused.
"My internal funds...I don't know about this either. This has always been taken care of by the imperial sister, but I don't waste money on weekdays, so I should still have a little surplus."
"Come here, please invite the eldest princess of Jinling to come to discuss matters!"
Jinling was the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty, and Zhu Qionghua took Jinling as his title, which explains the problem.
Moreover, Her Royal Highness the Princess is the controller of the royal family's financial power, so no one considered whether it complied with etiquette.
Those who can be reused in this dynasty are basically the reformists, and they don't take these old rules so seriously.
As for Dongge University Scholar Kong Qinli, who had the final say, he had been sent home by Emperor Linde.
It’s okay not to want this kind of person.
Not long after, a woman dressed in gorgeous palace clothes and a phoenix crown came to the Wuying Hall. Xiaojiu Zhu Qionghua was also the first woman to officially enter the Wuying Hall to discuss matters since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"I've met the eldest princess!"
The eldest princess is different from the ordinary daughter of the emperor. She is generally the eldest daughter of the emperor or a meritorious princess, sister or aunt of the emperor, and her status is equal to that of the princes and kings.
In other words, the status of the eldest princess of Jinling is equivalent to that of King Zhao.
"You are all the pillars of the imperial court, and what you are discussing are national affairs. Why are you suddenly looking for me?"
Nowadays, Xiao Jiu no longer has the extravagance of the past, and has the air of a noble person.
"Sister Huang, that's the reason. Now the national treasury is tight and we can't spend much money to support the war on the border. So Governor Wu just thought about my internal funds. I don't know how much silver I still have in my internal funds.
Withdraw."
In the discussion just now, the tone was basically set.
The Tiance Army in the north and the Shenwu Army in the south can just take a basic defensive stance, which doesn't cost much money.
However, the Western Region Divine Strategy Army needs to spend a lot of money to fight, and the East China Sea Navy and the Suppression Navy also waste a lot of money.
The main reason is that fighting on these two fronts requires money.
This is the optimal solution after discussion among ministers.
Opening up the eastern and western fronts will not only stabilize the situation of the court, but also have a positive impact on the commerce of the Zhou Dynasty. It is a war that costs money without losing money.
After Zhu Qionghua heard this, he naturally would not object. These two battles must be fought.
"Your Majesty, the request of the ministers is indeed reasonable. Your Majesty does have some surplus in his internal funds. It would be okay if he borrowed some."
When everyone heard this, they immediately became happy. As long as the money problem can be solved, it will be easy to solve.
"After all, this money is His Majesty's private treasury. If it is lent to the court, does it need to be mortgaged?" Zhu Qionghua's words stunned all the ministers present.
Seeing this, Xiao Jiu had already achieved three points of her goal.
Although Master consciously weakened the authority of the Emperor, it does not mean that these people can despise the majesty of the Emperor.
Because of the relationship between Yang Qingyuan and Shisan, although Emperor Linde was famous, he lacked prestige.
Thirteen is still young and ignorant, so as an elder sister, can’t she help out?!
