Chapter 85 Next, you plan to owe a debt, monthly pass]
Wang Lin took another big sip of [The Humble Room], but he didn't directly say how helpful the wine could be. Instead, he asked Ning Chen a question first.
Ning Chen discovered that these big shots were all very good at being teachers.
If you have anything to say, don’t say it directly. You have to guide yourself and hope you can find the answer yourself.
But Ning Chen really didn't know the question Wang Lin asked.
Wang Lin’s question is: Mr. Ning, do you know why the Wu Dynasty’s annual tax revenue is only four million taels?
Ning Chen didn't know where to go to solve this problem, and he didn't care about the household department.
"Is it because your Excellency is corrupt?"
As soon as Ning Chen said these words, Wang Lin was choked and coughed.
"Master Ning, the low taxes have nothing to do with the truth." Wang Lin quickly explained.
Ning Chen thought to himself: What does the low tax revenue have to do with the Ministry of War?
If you ask a question in a serious manner, you are not allowed to answer the question in a serious manner.
"My lord, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about corrupt officials like Lin Youwei." Ning Chen felt relieved and explained casually.
Wang Lin shook his head and said: "Even a corrupt official like Lin Youwei, how much can he be? Lin Youwei's house was ransacked, and Wu Xian's property was confiscated.
The total amount of silver seized was only five million taels.
Our Dawu Dynasty has a vast territory, with a total of thirteen states, 360 prefectures, and 7,200 cities.
Even if each city pays a tax of 5,000 taels, it is not worth 4 million taels."
Ning Chen continued: "It's thirty-six million taels."
Wang Lin was stunned, wondering why Ning Chen was giving such precise figures at this time.
But Wang Lin still nodded: "That's right. Even if it's five thousand taels, the annual taxes are tens of millions of taels. But why are there only a few million taels in the end?"
This time Wang Lin learned his lesson and didn't let Ning Chen answer.
Instead, he gave the answer directly: "Among the thirteen states of the Wu Dynasty, in Jingzhou where Prince Jing was located, taxes did not need to be paid to the national treasury.
In the four states in the north close to the demon clan, only half of the taxes need to be paid.
Only eight states have actually paid in full."
After Wang Lin said so much, Ning Chen became a little interested in this tax.
"Sir, even if there are only eight states, it shouldn't be so few, right?"
"Because most of the taxes paid go to the border guards.
Marquis Dingguo's 300,000 Dingguo army consumes 8 million taels of silver every year.
Although Prince Jing does not have to pay Jingzhou taxes, he still needs to replenish 8 million taels of silver every year.
The North handed over half, but the final result was that not only that half needed to be replenished.
We need to add another five million taels of silver.
The sum of these three parties is twenty-one million taels of silver."
Ning Chen nodded, indicating that he already knew where the money had gone.
But Ning Chen still didn't know what Wang Lin's talk had to do with his wine.
Seeing that Ning Chen still didn't understand, Wang Lin could only continue: "It's precisely because the border guards have consumed too much.
Therefore, the salary of the guards who are under the management of the Ministry of War will naturally be greatly reduced.
Not to mention the silver reward, even military pay must be halved.
Sometimes the payment is even in arrears for a month and a half.
Even the drinks provided by the army are far inferior to those provided by the border guards.
Since I am now the Minister of War, I must reorganize the imperial guards so that I can live up to my reputation as Minister of War.
I didn't know where to start before, but after hearing what you said about the price of drinks, Mr. Ning.
I know how to get started, starting with this drink.
If I tell the Fuwei Army, their current drinks are the same as those of the Dingguo Army.
I don’t think I need to say anything about the next thing, Lord Ning already knows it.”
Ning Chen said with a bad expression: "Are you going to pay the debt next?"
Wang Lin:(｀?д?′)
Why did it suddenly jump to debt?
Isn’t it the stage of owing debt yet?
"Master Ning, let's not talk about the debt first. Let's talk about the palace guards first."
"Wang Xiang, I think it's better for us to talk about the debt first." Ning Chen didn't give Wang Lin a chance to avoid the topic at all.
"Master Ning, I don't want to owe a debt." Wang Lin said.
"Then you can give me the money first, and then we can discuss the rest in detail."
Wang Lin coughed twice in embarrassment, and then said to Ning Chen: "Master Ning, the Ministry of War really has no money now. But don't worry, Master Ning, as long as the government guards have a little improvement, it will be easy to ask the court for money."
After hearing Wang Lin's words, Ning Chen stood up and said, "Master Wang, I just remembered that there is porridge cooking on the stove at home.
If this dries up, the pot will be ruined.
That is my favorite pot. Mr. Wang makes atonement. I have to go back and take a look at my pot first."
Wang Lin had heard many excuses, but the worst one was undoubtedly Ning Chen.
After all, Ning Chen is the number one winner of three consecutive prizes. Why don't you want to make up a little reason?
This means Wang Lin doesn't understand Ning Chen anymore.
If he had money, Ning Chen would be able to be more fancy and comfortable than anyone else.
If you don't have money, what are you wasting your brain cells on?
"Master Ning, don't forget that you are also the right minister of the Ministry of War. The rise and fall of the Ministry of War is equally important to Master Ning!" Wang Lin said to Ning Chen from behind, his tone a little more serious.
Ning Chen listened to Wang Lin's words and said: "Prime Minister, the Ministry of War has declined.
The worst that can happen is that I just resign from my position as right-hand minister.
It’s not like I have to be the right servant.
Sir, do you believe it or not, if I am willing to give the wine to the national army for free.
Even the Marquis of Dingguo can give me the title of general."
Ning Chen's words made Wang Lin speechless for a moment.
The key is that Wang Lin believes that Marquis Dingguo can really do this.
Moreover, all the power of granting rewards to the Dingguo army was in the hands of the Marquis of Dingguo.
Conferring Ningchen a general is a matter of just one sentence.
If you put it this way, I really have nothing to do with Ning Chen.
Wang Lin took two quick steps and walked up to Ning Chen. He called Ning Chen by name in a soft and friendly tone:
"Ning Chen, let's discuss the affairs of the Ministry of War.
With the Ministry of War getting better, I am definitely not the only one to benefit.
And I will never owe you the money for the drinks.
As long as the government guards can make some achievements.
The court will naturally approve the money.
The first thing to do when the time comes is to pay back your drink money."
After hearing Wang Lin's words, Ning Chen sneered and said, "Let's not talk about whether the guards are good or not.
Let's talk about the court's money. Now the court only collects four million taels of tax revenue every year.
How much money do you think you can give to the Imperial Guards even if they are good?
And how much of this money can be used to buy wine?"
These words left Wang Lin speechless again.
Because what Ning Chen said is the truth.
Even if the Fu Guards were really reorganized, the imperial court would not have so much money to allocate to the Fu Guards.
What's more, no matter how good the Fuwei army is, can it still be stronger than the Dingguo army?
"Ning Chen, you are a businessman, you should think of a way.
See how you can give the wine to the guards and not suffer a loss yourself?"
Wang Lin was smart and kicked the ball back to Ning Chen.
After Ning Chen heard Wang Lin's words, he really thought about it seriously.
There are still three thousand nails in the broken ship, let alone such a huge military department?
How is it possible that you can't squeeze out even a little bit of money?
Just where to start?
"Forget it, let Fatty Wan worry about this matter. He must be more familiar with this matter than me."
After thinking for a while, he couldn't think of a son, Chou Yin Mao, so Ning Chen simply gave up thinking about this matter.
"Prince Wang, after all, we are officials in the same dynasty, and we are both from the Ministry of War. Let me go back and think about this matter.
If I can think of a way to get the best of both worlds, I'll look for you then.
If I really can't think of a way to get the best of both worlds, I can only apologize."
Wang Lin was very happy when he heard that Ning Chen was willing to think about this matter.
"Okay, okay. Ning Chen, go back and think about it slowly. There's no need to rush this matter. Just think of a solution in a month or two.
Anyway, the Ministry of War's serious illness is not something that will happen in a day or two, so there is really no rush for it."
"Okay, then Prime Minister Wang will wait for me for a while. As soon as I come up with a good idea, I will come to Prime Minister Wang immediately!" Ning Chen also agreed to Wang Lin's request.
"Ning Chen, let me toast you." Wang Lin picked up the wine bowl and said to Ning Chen.
Ning Chen glanced at Wang Lin and said, "Mr. Wang, if you want to drink, just say so.
There is no need to make such excuses, I took out this jar of wine just to give it to the Prime Minister."
Wang Lin heard that Ning Chen wanted to give this jar of wine to him.
Suddenly he couldn't help but feel happy, and then Wang Lin directly put down the wine bowl and stopped mentioning the toast.
If you toast, you should share it. If you don’t toast, you can go home and enjoy it all to yourself.
Ning Chen didn't care about a bowl of wine, but Ning Chen was curious about what Wang Lin wanted to do with him.
Wang Lin definitely didn't know that he was drinking.
This was purely accidental, so Wang Lin must have something else to do with him.
"Prime Minister Wang, I would like to ask, if there is no such thing as wine, what does Prime Minister Wang have to do with me?" Ning Chen asked Prime Minister Wang.
Wang Xiangru said to Ning Chen truthfully: "I want to use Ning Chen to use you to deal with the fifth prince's affairs, the good impression you have accumulated in the army, and your relationship with the Dingguo army.
I hope you can help mobilize some talented people from the Dingguo Army to help reorganize the Fuwei Army.
But for now, if we have this wine, we don't need Dingguojun's help for the time being.
If we can solve things by ourselves, it is better for us to solve them ourselves."
It is reasonable to look for yourself.
Next, Wang Lin chatted passionately with Ning Chen about many things, not only matters involving the imperial court.
Wang Lin also asked about some of Ning Chen's living conditions.
He looks like a kind brother.
Of course Ning Chen didn't fall for the trick.
It costs money to recognize such a brother.
After lunch, the two people left Wanhua Building.
Ning Chen first sent Wang Lin back to Wang Lin's home, and then Ning Chen drove to Wanhong.
How the Ministry of War earns this money depends on Fatty Wan.
Before the carriage arrived at Yanzuofang, Ning Chen unexpectedly discovered that the carriage was blocked.
Although Fengjing is prosperous, things like betting on horse-drawn carriages almost never happen.
Especially in a poor village like Yanzuofang, carriages are very rare, let alone blocking carriages.
But now, the carriage is blocked.
Looking at the endless queue of horse-drawn carriages in front of him, Ning Chen finally realized how popular his humble house was.
There was no way to get in from the front, so Ning Chen could only ask the coachman to send a new message to Fatty Wan, asking him to come and find him.
In about a quarter of an hour, Fatty Wan was already jogging to see Ning Chen.
With Fatty Wan's weight, it's really hard for him to run at a trot.
After Wan Hong got into the car, the car sank a little.
"Boss Wan, you seem to have gained weight again?" Ning Chen looked at Wan Hong and said jokingly.
Wan Hong chuckled and said, "If I'm in a good mood, I'll eat a little more."
After replying, Wan Hong said: "What do you want from me, sir?"
Ning Chen immediately told Wan Hong about the affairs of the Ministry of War.
After listening to Ning Chen's words, Wan Hong also thought seriously.
Just as Ning Chen thought, Wan Hong also felt that the Ministry of War was a broken ship that couldn't be knocked down.
After thinking for a while, Wan Hong said: "Sir, I don't know the specific situation of the Ministry of War.
But there is one thing that the villain knows.
That is the Ministry of War, which actually has military fields.
Moreover, there are still a lot of military fields owned by the Ministry of Defense.
If nothing else, just say that Gongwei Mansion, which is closest to Fengjing, has tens of thousands of acres of military land.
These military fields are all deserted now.
If you are not willing to use these military fields to offset your debt, I think this is feasible."
After listening to Wan Hong's words, Ning Chen also felt that this matter was feasible.
But Ning Chen couldn't understand how the military fields could be left vacant.
Even if you don’t grow it yourself, wouldn’t it be an income if you rent it out?
Isn't it too wasteful to just leave it like this?
Wan Hong explained to Ning Chen: "My lord, I don't know something. The imperial court wanted to prevent military land from being divided privately.
Therefore, there are regulations, and military fields can only be planted by the guards themselves.
If it is found that it is transferred to other people, it will be a serious crime of beheading.
But now the government guards have insufficient pay. They say they are full battalions, but in fact they are only half a battalion.
There may not even be half a camp.
Without people, naturally there wouldn’t be so many people farming, so the land would just be left uncultivated.”
After listening to Wan Hong's explanation, Ning Chen asked: "Then if it goes according to what you said, the Minister of War would be willing to mortgage these lands to us.
We can't do anything with it, and whether Wang Lin is willing to mortgage it to us is a matter of two opinions."
Wan Hong said: "Sir, this matter can actually be divided into two steps.
First of all, the first step is to try and see if Wang Xiang is willing to mortgage.
If you like, we can take the second step.
At first we can use other people’s wine for secondary distillation.
But if you want to reduce costs next, you still have to make your own wine.
Military fields are generally relatively fertile fields.
If it is used to grow food, the harvest can be slightly higher than that of ordinary land.
This way we produce and sell our own food, and get a little more food.
In fact, it is equivalent to smoothing out this part of the cost.
Moreover, there are government guards everywhere, so we need more military fields.
It is equivalent to spreading wine-making workshops to every place.
This also saves us the trouble of traveling and traveling to transport drinks.
And that’s military land, so it’s exempt from taxes.”
When Wan Hong said this, Ning Chen realized that if he did this, he would really make a profit.
First of all, the cost of brewing has been reduced, and secondly, the cost of spreading it across the country has been saved.
Military fields are available everywhere, and you can choose military fields in several prosperous places.
As for whether Wang Lin can agree, Ning Chen thinks it's absolutely fine.
As long as Wang Lin is not allowed to pay now, then everything will be easy to say.