Wenyuan Pavilion.

Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe put down the letter in their hands almost at the same time, while Qi Yongtai and Li Tingji were still frowning and didn't say a word.

Zheng Jizhi looked at these people with blank eyes.

"Brother Boxiao, this is just a rough idea, right? You're just so breathless? Fang Congzhe couldn't help but joke about Zheng Jizhi, although Zheng Jizhi was the oldest of the five, even one or twenty years older than them, but now Zheng Jizhi still had to report to the cabinet in accordance with the rules.

"Jinqing, what kind of person is self-improvement, do you still understand, if you are not sure enough, how can he be in such a hurry to read? Or is it an urgent report to pass back? ”

Zheng Jizhi actually didn't want to work in the position of Hubu Shangshu for a long time.

He is in his early seventies, although his physical condition is okay, but after all, the age is there, and he asked Zhishi sincerely some time ago, but now he doesn't want Zhishi to have the same ideas.

He was not convinced.

The government and the opposition all said that the Great Zhou treasury was tossed empty by him Zheng Jizhi, and he couldn't swallow this breath, and he didn't want to be infamy.

The financial situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty is like this, in order to run the entire imperial court, especially the salaries of the military and officials in the nine borders, it can be said that he has exhausted his efforts, and his hair has fallen out a lot, and he originally thought that he could only carry this notoriety on his back, but now that he finally sees a ray of light, he Zheng Boxiao is naturally unwilling to retreat easily.

Zheng Jizhi understood that he should be regarded as a conservative material, and he couldn't do it if he wanted to break through the trap to find a way to increase the wealth of the imperial court, and he despised evil methods such as adding tax supervisors and mine supervisors and wanton donations.

However, this time, he borrowed money as collateral with sea tax and used the new commercial tax on foreign trade as collateral to borrow debt, which was refreshing to him.

This kind of taxation does not need to be collected on ordinary people, whether it is the tax on the goods sold or the tax on the imported goods, it has little impact.

Sold out, the tax silver fell on those merchants and people outside the territory, and they were not the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so they were naturally safe, and the imported goods were levied, most of these goods were such as silver, copper, treasures and other things, either needed by the court itself, or what the rich and noble people wanted, and had nothing to do with ordinary people, so Zheng Jizhi was also relieved and supported by all his might.

Now he feels that he can still exert his residual heat to wash away the infamy he had borne in the past few years, and he Zheng Jizhi can also do things.

"This is not an urgent matter, self-improvement is too impatient, Chengfeng, he also said in the letter that this is your proud disciple's advice, he carefully considered, quite feasible, and also thought about whether Suzhou Gold Bricks can also follow this method,...... Fang Congzhe shook his head again and again.

Suzhou gold bricks from the previous Yongle years, only for the palace to burn the royal gold bricks, than the Linqing tribute bricks are more demanding, these gold bricks are available in addition to the imperial city, only the prince's mansion is available, even the ordinary prince's mansion is not allowed to use, the restriction of a few strict, if it is usurped, it is the disaster of exile.

Qi Yongtai's face was solemn, and he slowly put down the official document he had transcribed, and then he said: "Ziqiang said in the letter is also for state affairs, and the political envoy of Shandong has been writing from the beginning of the year that there has been a lack ,......of rain in Lunan and southwest Lu and even the Daming Mansion in Henan, and the harvest is very bad this summer, and the grain stored in the people's homes can only last until this winter, and most of them will be exhausted.

"Shandong has always been a place where the White Lotus Sect, the Wenxiang Sect, and the Wuwei Sect are rampant, and this kind of sect and bandit has a very strong ability to confuse the people, especially in these years of famine, even more ,......so," Qi Yongtai continued: "And from the situation reflected from various places, the situation in Shaanxi and Henan is far better than that in Shandong, and the focus of the imperial court's relief and prevention this winter and next spring must be placed in Shaanxi, Henan, especially Shaanxi, if there is this method to relieve the pressure on Shandong, even if it is a temporary use, it is good,......

Qi Yongtai didn't mention Feng Ziying in half a sentence, only grabbed Cui Jingrong's letter to talk about things, and combined with the actual situation transmitted back by the political envoys from various places, it was also pertinent.

Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe were both noncommittal, but Li Tingji interjected: "Has the household department been prepared to deal with the relief this winter and next spring?" ”

Zheng Jizhi shook his head: "All the princes are aware of the current situation of the household, and the opening of the sea to raise debts is in an uproar, and everyone thinks that the imperial court will be rich soon, but is it possible?" It's good to see the silver in the second half of next year, but how many steps and problems need to be solved? Those merchants are all characters who don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles, if the court didn't come up with a reliable plan for them, how could they easily come up with money? Now all provinces have stretched their necks, and whenever there is a flood or drought, it is an exaggeration, intending to ask the imperial court to allocate two warehouses of silver and grain, which is really hateful! ”

This is also a common practice, first shouting bitterness and calling for poverty, grabbing a handful if you can, and then trying your best to cover up if something really happens, and suppressing it if you can, and this is the case with local officials at all levels.

Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe's faces were a little unsightly.

Although it seems that the matter of opening the sea to borrow money has opened a seemingly beautiful channel, but this is not something that can be done in a short period of time, as Zheng Jizhi said, he has never been in contact before, and the businessmen are not stupid, they have to wait and see before they find out, and finally evaluate whether it is cost-effective before making a decision.

However, this winter and next spring will face the enormous pressure that may be brought about by the severe drought and poor harvest in Shaanxi and Henan, and Shaanxi itself has suffered a military disaster caused by a rebellion this year, and now it is suffering from a drought and a poor harvest.

"Brother Jinqing, Brother Zhonghan, this suggestion of self-improvement can at least relieve the pressure on Shandong's side, Brother Chengfeng said it makes sense before, Shandong has always been not quiet, Lunan and Southwest Lu understand Nanzhili, hold the canal, if there is chaos, it may not be as easy to solve as the Linqing civil turmoil the year before last, if you can follow Ziqiang's words, let go of the tribute bricks as soon as possible, from now on you can let Dongchang Mansion and Linqingzhou Canal start to prepare, even if it is in the spring of next year, it can solve the food of 350,000 people, it can also relieve the pressure on the imperial court,... …”

Fang Congzhe glanced at Li Tingji, a pavilion elder with a weak sense of existence, suspiciously.

I don't know that this person usually behaves almost like a puppet, but today he suddenly became so active?

Is it to show favor to Qi Yongtai, or do you really feel that the lack of money in the household may be difficult to support Mingchun to reach around?

"I'm afraid this matter is not just as simple as an emergency, Ziqiang also mentioned that this tribute brick is lifted, so it can be regarded as a kind of concession from the imperial court, and a new business tax should be levied, is this appropriate?" Fang Congzhe groaned: "Will it attract criticism from Shilin?" This new sea tax, after all, is aimed at foreign businessmen, and most of the things imported into the Great Zhou are urgently needed by the imperial court, so it is reasonable, but this tribute brick is needed by the people of the Great Zhou, will this be suspected of competing with the people? ”

Ye Xianggao didn't squeak, Li Tingji also changed color slightly, but he didn't say more, and Zheng Jizhi wanted to say and stopped, but in the end he kept his mouth shut.

Qi Yongtai glanced at everyone coldly, and then said coldly: "It's not enough to compete with the people, right?" Who uses the tribute bricks, Ziqiang also made it very clear in the letter, how can such tribute bricks be used if they are not wealthy families? How much does a tribute brick cost? How could ordinary people exchange ten days and a half months of food and clothing for a horse that could neither eat nor wear cold tribute bricks? But for a wealthy family, spending thousands of taels of silver to make their home shine may be a trivial matter, even so, how can they care about the extra dozens of taels of silver in taxes? ”

"Riding the wind, in your opinion, this high-ranking gentry is not a people?" Fang Congzhe asked coldly.

The atmosphere in the entire hall suddenly cooled down.

"Count, of course, but this part of the people is probably a little different from the small people, poor people, hungry people, and grass people that our court is worried about taking risks and being used by bandits, these people may not rebel for dozens of taels of silver, and the number is even smaller, and the small people, poor people, hungry people, and grass people may be able to become a mob for a steamed cake and a bowl of gruel, their number is ten times and a hundred times that of the people you said, Brother Zhonghan, once they take risks, then it will endanger the entire Great Zhou court!"

Qi Yongtai's strong and impactful words made the entire Wenyuan Pavilion hall silent,

Fang Congzhe's face was ugly, he didn't expect Qi Yongtai to have such a fierce attitude because of this matter, but after thinking about it, Qi Yongtai himself was born in a poor family in Baoding, and it is said that his father died in the civil unrest after a great drought, and he relied on his widowed mother to beg along the road to support him, and finally studied hard to become a talent, so he is particularly sensitive to such things.

Seeing that Fang Congzhe was silent, Ye Xianggao interjected in a timely manner: "Brother Boxiao, you first propose an opinion on this matter, Chengfeng, you talk to Daofu, and ask them to think about it, and see if it is a suitable strategy, not necessarily for the tens of thousands of displaced people, but for more small people, I remember that Chengfeng, your disciple, once mentioned to me, there is constant industry and perseverance, and those who do not have permanent production have no perseverance, he has a different understanding of the word 'production', and thinks' The word "property" cannot be understood simply as property, but should be more broad, which can be understood as including but not limited to property, livelihood, craftsmanship, and more importantly, hope ,......"

Several people in the middle hall were silently chewing on Ye Xianggao's words, or Feng Ziying's interpretation of Yasheng's words.

"I think so. If a person in a group of people has no property, if he has a craft to survive, then he may not take risks, if they have nothing, but if the court can give them a hope, tell them that they can live like this, then they will not take risks,......"