"If a sentence is not finished and there is a pause in the middle, what symbol should be used to express it; if it is finished, what symbol should be used; what symbol should be used to express questions; what should be done to express strong feelings?" Jiang Zhe asked a series of questions.
To Li Gang, these questions are actually at the level of primary school students, but they are still difficult for people who have never been exposed to punctuation marks. Jiang Zhe believes that these are enough for Li Gang to spend a lot of time.
Li Gang was indeed a little confused by this series of questions, but he was also a learned person, and he immediately knew that if he could realize these things of the emperor, it would definitely be a sensational feat in the literary world, and maybe he would be remembered in history.
It was possible. So I happily accepted the task and planned to go back to invent and create.
After Li Gang left, Jiang Zhe realized that it was noon and he was a little hungry, so he ordered Zhao Neng to pass on the meal.
Li Min, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, is really very efficient at work. Before Jiang Zhe's lunch was finished, Baili Hongyu came over to report that Li Min wanted to see him.
Jiang Zhe still plans to try his best to win over the current Minister of Finance of the Tang Dynasty. Judging from the information he has received so far, Li Min's work ability is still very outstanding, and the key thing is that he has no factions and thinks in his mind.
It was all the imperial court, which was why Li Gang wanted to attack him. So when Jiang Zhe heard that Li Min asked for an audience, he quickly asked someone to put the food in a food box and took it to Hongdexuan. He wanted to eat with Li Min.
.
Li Min was standing outside the hanging flower door, staring at the ground. He was actually worried about the death of the late emperor, Li Gang's dictatorship, constant wars, and frequent natural disasters. The court was spending more and more money. He had to endure it.
Mentally exhausted and still stretched thin.
The emperor was so young that he didn't know whether he was the master of the Ming Dynasty. This private interview was just a good time to test things out. Suddenly he thought that he should take the opportunity to recommend Lu Yunhai, and his mind was running around in a wild world. When he heard the call, he hurriedly entered the hospital.
, bowed and walked into Hongdexuan, took a step forward and kowtowed: "My lord, Li Min has been ordered to see you! I respectfully wish you holy peace."
"Get up." Jiang Zhe said with a relaxed smile, "Hongyu, bring a stool to Gong Mian (Li Min's nickname)."
After Li Min sat down, Jiang Zhe said again: "Don't rush back to your errands. I guess you haven't had lunch at this time. It just so happens that I haven't eaten either. I just asked someone to make a few simple dishes, and I just happened to accompany you."
Let me eat together."
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." Li Min felt a surge of heat in his heart. The Emperor always addressed his ministers by their first names, and rarely addressed them by name. Moreover, this was the first time that he had been an official in the court for more than 20 years.
I had the honor to dine alone with the emperor.
Based on these two points, Li Min felt that the master in front of him was worthy of others working for him. He never thought that he would meet such a courteous and virtuous master in his lifetime. He held back his tears and silently accompanied Jiang Zhe to eat this meaningful meal.
Extraordinary lunch.
In order to make Li Min full, Jiang Zhe deliberately ate very slowly. It wasn't until Li Min took the initiative to stand up and thank him that he put down his chopsticks, ordered people to remove the food, and then said with a smile: "Gongmian already knows about the drought in Lingnan?"
Li Min nodded and said: "I know that before I came here, the Minister of Secretariat had already turned over the book."
"According to the public advice, how should the disaster relief be carried out? I don't think your household department can come up with the money." Seeing Li Min's calm expression, Jiang Zhe couldn't help but feel a little confused.
Li Min bowed and smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the sacred candle is shining brightly, and all my little thoughts are clearly seen by the Emperor. Let's not say that the Ministry of Revenue is really short of money now. Even if it is rich, I don't plan to pay.
For this money.”
"Oh? I would like to hear why Li Gongmian doesn't plan to pay for it." Jiang Zhe also became interested.
Li Min said calmly: "Back to the emperor, the price of Lingnan Road is two million dan of grain. However, as far as I know, the entire population of Lingnan Road is only three million. Even if two-thirds of it is affected by the disaster, it will cost two million dan."
Calculating one million people, the disaster relief ration is eight taels per person per day. The consumption per day is 10,000 dan, one month is 300,000 dan, and three months is only 900,000 dan. Therefore, I think there are one million dan.
There is enough food for Lingnan to survive the disaster period."
Jiang Zhe waved his hand and said: "Even if Lingnan Road falsely reports, these million shi of grain are still needed. If you don't plan to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to provide money, where will this grain come from?"
Seeing Jiang Zhe's anxiety, Li Min hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, although Lingnan has suffered a disaster, Jiangnan and Southeast Road are both ripe this year. The warehouses in Jiangnan Road are no longer enough, and the fine rice in Southeast Road is not enough."
The price has dropped to eight cents per stone, and low-quality brown rice is as low as six cents and five cents. Therefore, I plan to have the Southeast Road send 800,000 dan and the Jiangnan Road 200,000 dan to relieve the drought in Lingnan."
Jiang Zhe added: "The low price of grain will hurt farmers, so it would be best if we could do this, but the vassals of Southeast and Jiangnan Road are definitely not willing to give away this grain for free.
Li Min smiled softly and said: "Of course they are not happy to give it away for free, but if I buy it from them for one tael of silver and one stone, how can they refuse?"
"Buy? Didn't you just say that you don't plan to pay from the Ministry of Household Affairs?" Jiang Zhe was a little confused.
Li Min replied: "I bought them, but I didn't give them any money at the same time."
"Stop being pretentious and explain it to me quickly." Jiang Zhe pretended to be angry. Li Min looked dull and honest, but when it came to talking about money, food and finance, he became as smart as a ghost.
Li Min hurriedly restrained himself and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Let me explain slowly. I have agreed to Jiangnan Road and Southeast Road. The money spent by the Ministry of Revenue to buy grain this time will be deducted from their autumn taxes this year."
"Oh, so that's what happened." Jiang Zhe couldn't help but smile after hearing this idea, paused for a moment, and then said, "But it's already October, haven't the autumn taxes been paid yet?"
Li Min said: "Our Tang Dynasty adheres to a two-tax system. The summer tax does not exceed August, and the autumn tax does not exceed February of the next year."
"What about the tax rate?" Jiang Zhe was still very concerned about this point. Exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been one of the most direct causes of public dissatisfaction throughout the ages.
"Tax one for fifteen." Li Min replied fluently.
"That's seven percent, which is not too high." Jiang Zhe calculated in his mind and said to himself.
Li Min was stunned for a moment and said: "Please make it clear, Your Majesty."
Only then did Jiang Zhe realize that he had accidentally said something wrong. He hurriedly smiled and said, "I said the tax rate is not high. No wonder the Ministry of Household Affairs has no money."
When Li Min heard that the emperor's words were not right, he hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, our summer tax in the Tang Dynasty is 25 million taels, and the autumn tax is 15 million taels. The annual tax totals 40 million taels."
, it’s really not that small.”
Jiang Zhe was just saying it casually to cover up his slip of the tongue. Now he heard that the annual fiscal revenue can be as much as 40 million taels, but the treasury is actually empty. His face changed color and he said: "Since the summer tax is levied in August, there are
There are 25 million taels, so why are there less than 2 million taels left just two months ago?"
Seeing this, Li Min hurriedly took out an account book from his arms and held it up with both hands, saying: "The emperor's inquiries have been compiled into a book. Please take a look at it."
Jiang Zhe took the account book and after reading it for a while, he realized how tiring it was for Li Min, the Minister of Household Affairs. He read with a hint of bitterness: "For the great funeral of the late Emperor, 5.55 million taels of silver were spent;
The regular military pay for the garrison is 9,230,000 taels; the river work in various places uses 4,000,000 taels of silver; the Eastern Turkic annual currency is 1,250,000 taels..."
Looking at Li Min's gray hair and beard and slightly hunched back, Jiang Zhe couldn't help but feel a little moved. A funeral for the old emperor cost more than half a year's military salary of the entire army. How could he blame the Minister of Household Affairs? But that's not right.
, this military expenditure was a bit too high. So he asked: "The annual military expenditure is as much as nine million taels?"
"Back to the emperor, this is not a year's military expenditure, this is half a year's military expenditure." Li Min seemed to be saying something that was not surprising and would not stop until death.
This is only half a year? Then the whole year is only 18 million taels? Jiang Zhe almost scolded the country. The fiscal revenue for a year is only 40 million taels, and military expenses alone account for half of it.
Where can the imperial court save money? Jiang Zhe had to ask this question clearly, "How many soldiers do we have in the imperial court? How much does a soldier cost per year?"
"Back to the emperor, our court has 1.6 million forbidden troops and 2.5 million Xiang troops, a total of four million people." Li Min also knew this very well.
"Four million?" Jiang Zhe's eyes widened like bull's eyes, "What's the population of the whole country? I heard you just said that the entire Lingnan Province only has a population of three million."
"There are a total of twelve provinces in our dynasty, with a registered population of 34.12 million households." Li Min replied.
Jiang Zhe felt a bit dumbfounded: "On average, there is one soldier in eight households. How many laborers can there be in eight households? Why does the imperial court maintain so many soldiers?"
Faced with Jiang Zhe's question, Li Min chose to remain silent this time. Jiang Zhe also immediately realized that this question was not something that a minister could answer, because if one really wanted to be held accountable, the responsibility would definitely lie with the previous emperors.
Jiang Zhe, who has come from modern society, understands very well that a country based on agriculture that emphasizes agriculture and neglects commerce, from the monarch to the ministers, all have this shortcoming. They look down on businessmen, and the result of looking down on businessmen is that they have no money.
The concept is that when you have money, you only know how to spend it, but don't know how to control it. Therefore, there are more and more officials at all levels, and the army is getting bigger and bigger.
Jiang Zhe couldn't help but feel a headache when he thought that there were four to five million mouths waiting for others to feed him every year. Money... everything was caused by money. Fortunately, Li Min in front of him still had two skills in finance. Now,
But we must catch him, but looking at Li Min's body, I don't know how long he can work.
After a pause, Jiang Zhe asked with concern: "How old is Gongmian this year?"
Li Min didn't expect that Jiang Zhe would suddenly change the topic to this, and said with a smile: "I will be forty and seven years old this year."
"Oh, please pay more attention to your health and prepare to give me another twenty years of strength." Jiang Zhe consoled.
This was a very clear statement. Of course, Li Min could hear the hidden meaning in the emperor's words. He knelt down on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty has the intention of reviving the Tang Dynasty. Although I am dull, I am still willing to serve the Emperor."
It’s hard work.”
With such a minister swearing allegiance, Jiang Zhe couldn't help but feel very good and said: "Get up. So, your son, by the way, will Gong Mian have an heir?"
Li Min thought that Jiang Zhe wanted to take the opportunity to reward his son, so he said humbly: "I have two sons, but they are both naughty and stupid, and they are not worthy of the emperor's concern."
Jiang Zhe knew that Li Min had misunderstood what he meant, so he smiled and said, "Still filial?"
"Filial piety." Li Min had to answer this question honestly.
Jiang Zhe said with a smile: "Just be filial. Your son should not go out to be an official. He should serve you at home. Remember, this is the emperor's mission. Serving you well is the greatest credit. Well, I will give them the sixth rank.
The salary comes from the inner treasury."
"How can I make the emperor care about me so much? I will serve the Tang Dynasty and serve the emperor wholeheartedly until my death." Li Min couldn't hold it back any longer, tears streaming down his face.
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