Yan Zhengsu frowned slightly and said, "Holy Shang, I haven't really gone to talk to him in detail yet. ”

"Why don't you talk about it? It's been more than four months, and it's time to talk about it. How long are you going to delay? Fang Dunru smacked his lips.

Yan Zhengsu groaned: "Brother Dunru, you won't be unaware of my concerns. In fact, I wanted to go to the palace several times to talk to the saint in detail, but halfway through, I turned back. I don't think we can rush it, otherwise it will backfire. This time it's about doing something, not just doing it, but doing it. There must be a beginning and an end, and you can't give up halfway. ”

Fang Dunru frowned, thought for a moment, and nodded slowly: "I understand, you are worried, the Holy Lord is not strong-minded. Once you encounter resistance, you will lose all your efforts, right? ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and said, "Yes, I'm worried about this." Although the Holy Majesty summoned me to Beijing, he expressed his absolute support for me and agreed with my analysis of the situation. However, I know that once this is done, the impact will be very far-reaching. It can even hurt the interests of some people. If there are many people who oppose it, will the Holy One still be able to stick to his original intention? So I wanted to take another look and wait for the right moment. ”

Fang Dunru nodded slightly and said, "Your idea is right, if you can't be consistent, it's better not to move." Movement must be consistent to the end, and must not be abolished. The key here is the attitude of the Holy. But what kind of timing is the right time you say? ”

Yan Zhengsu smiled and said, "Brother Dunru, don't you think that I have been idle for the past few months? Brother Dunru did a few major things, impeached a group of dereliction of duty officials, and made all the officials in the court look sideways. I, the governor of political affairs, am not as eye-catching as you, the middle prince of the imperial history. ”

Fang Dunru smiled and said, "Brother Zhengsu, I'm not here to attract attention. ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and sighed: "I understand, Brother Dunru, I toast you, I know that you are moving so much, in fact, it is for me." ”

Fang Dunru smiled but did not answer, and only drank the wine in the cup. Lin Jue was on the side and filled the two of them again.

"You deliberately made such a big fuss, in fact, you want to attract the attention of those people, make them dissatisfied with you, so that I can be less noticed by others. You're here to protect me. I know it all in my heart. Yan Zhengsu sighed lightly.

Fang Dunru smiled and said: "Don't think so, I don't have it, I'm just doing my duty, and some officials have to let them know that it's closed." Since I am the Emperor of the Imperial History, I have the duty to impeach them. ”

solemnly said: "Brother Dunru, you don't need to explain, I won't thank you." What you and I are going to do is a major matter that has a bearing on the survival of the Great Zhou, and you and I must both have the consciousness of sacrificing ourselves to go to hell. Therefore, if you and I have the same goal, we can only cooperate with each other. We have to work closely together to get things done. It's your destiny for me, so I won't thank you. In the future, if I have done something for you to protect you, you will not have to thank me. As long as it is beneficial to the big things, you and I have nothing to say. ”

Fang Dunru smiled, raised his glass and said, "That's exactly what I said." Drink another drink. ”

The two of them took a sip and drank a glass of wine dry. Lin Jue on the side slowly poured wine for them, but there were huge waves in his heart. Although he didn't understand what they were going to do now, what moved Lin Jue at this moment was the close friendship between the two elders in front of him. The reason why Fang Dunru acted violently after he became the middle of the imperial history was actually just to attract firepower for Yan Zhengsu. Yan Zhengsu's words are even more moving, his words seem ruthless, but they make people deeply feel his determination to do what he wants to do. As long as it is good for things, he will not be swayed by any emotional factors. No wonder some people say that they are strict and stubborn. But in Lin Jue's view, this is his attitude and belief in doing things, and the kind of momentum that is indomitable. There are some extremely difficult things, and I am afraid that only this attitude and belief can ultimately succeed.

Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengsu were already drunk because they drank too quickly, but at this moment, the two were talking and drinking. Lin Jue was afraid that the two of them drank too much, so they only poured half a glass of wine each, but they were soon discovered by Fang Dunru and reprimanded a few words. Lin Jue had to fill the wine again.

"What I have been doing in the past few months is to check the various financial and tax accounts, check the income and expenditure of the imperial court, and the details of expenditures under various names. That's all I've been doing for the past few months. Yan Zhengsu was about to get drunk because of alcohol, his face was a little red and pale, his eyes were a little blurry, and his speech was a little vague.

Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengsu were in a drunken state on the contrary, his face was as red as a Guan Gong, his mouth was full of wine, and he said in a deep voice: "So, what is the result?" ”

"It's shocking, it's really shocking." Yan Zhengsu shook his head and said with a painful expression: "Brother Dun Ru, do you know what my annual income in Da Zhou is equivalent to silver taels?" ”

Fang Dunru thought for a while and said, "Twenty years ago, I was an official in the court, and the number was about 80 million taels. Now, I'm afraid it's a big disadvantage. ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and said: "Brother Dunru's estimate is very right, I checked the accounts, and the annual fiscal and tax revenue in the past ten years has been decreasing year by year, and the two taxes paid in the whole year last year were only 63 million taels of silver. It's so pitiful. ”

Fang Dunru was stunned and said, "Why did it fall so fast?" It was all swallowed by the moths. Those privileged people who don't have to pay taxes have to swallow tens of millions of taels of silver every year. ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and said, "This is where the policy drawbacks you and I often talk about. Needless to say, that's not to say. Let's just say that last year's 63 million taels of fiscal taxes, it stands to reason that this figure is actually quite a lot, and it should not be a problem to support the annual expenses of Da Zhou. However, guess what? The annual expenditure deficit is as high as 20 million taels, and Yin eats a lot of grain, and last year spent all this year's silver. And this year's summer tax has not yet been levied. As the so-called accumulation of a hundred years, only the space is thin. Tell me, isn't that shocking? ”

Fang Dunru stretched out his hand and slapped the table, and the wine and dishes on the table were clattering, and he shouted in a deep voice: "How can this be? If this continues, can it be maintained? ”

In the courtyard, Mrs. Fang and the others heard the movement and hurriedly came back to check, Lin Jue hurriedly explained that Mr. slapped the table, and Mrs. Fang said angrily: "You person, why are you still drunk?" ”

"Go, go, women's people don't come to interject." Fang Dunru waved his hand and shouted.

Mrs. Fang wanted to argue, but Lin Jue hurriedly stepped forward to pull her away, and explained in a low voice: "When it comes to unhappy things, Mrs. Fang takes care of it, and she has drunk a lot of wine." ”

Mrs. Fang sighed: "Your teacher has a very bad temper now, I would not have come to the capital to be an official if I had known it, how good is it in the academy?" An An's divided. Now he comes back all day with a black face, as if someone owes him money. ”

Lin Jue comforted him continuously, and asked Lu Wu to accompany his wife to talk and distract himself, and when he turned around, he heard Fang Dunru say angrily: "How does the third division manage financial and tax expenditures?" Not to mention that there is a balance, at least to ensure that the income and expenditure are even. Isn't the treasury empty? ”

Yan Zheng said in a solemn voice: "Brother Dunru, don't be angry, this is not something that can be solved by being angry." However, what Brother Dunru said was right, I asked the third division, and the third division envoy Yamen Zhang Jun Lin Bonian They all said that this was something that could not be helped, and they could not control the situation. ”

Lin Jue was slightly stunned when he heard the name of the second uncle, Lin Bonian. Lin Bonian is the deputy envoy of the third department, and I am afraid that he is indeed to blame for this matter.

"Zhang Jun calculated an account for me, and this account shocked me. Do you know how much we spend on military spending every year? You can't believe it, that accounts for 70% of all annual fiscal and tax revenues. Based on the annual income of 65 million taels of silver, the annual expenditure on military expenditure is as high as more than 40 million taels, which is a large piece of it. Yan Zhengsu shook his head and said.

"So much? How much money does our military spend on it? How many soldiers and horses do we have, and why do we spend so much? Fang Dunru was shocked and sobered up a little.

"In fact, there are only more than 200,000 soldiers and horses in the Sanya Forbidden Army in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, plus some other soldiers and horses, there are a total of about 250,000 soldiers and horses in Gyeonggi. In the northwest, there were 200,000 soldiers in the northwest to control the tribes of Western Xia. The direction from the border of the Liao State in the northeast to the capital is the focus of defense. There were 180,000 border troops stationed in the most marginal area where the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun were located, and there were about 200,000 soldiers and horses in important cities such as Luoyang City, the capital of Taiyuan Prefecture. Plus the garrisons of state capitals everywhere. My Da Zhou now has 1.3 million regular soldiers and horses, as well as some regiments to train the villagers. ”..

"So much?" Fang Dunru was stunned and said, "If it is such a huge amount, it will cost tens of millions of taels a year, I am afraid it will also be required." But the question is, is it too much for us to raise so many soldiers and horses, with the current situation in my Great Zhou, the number of forbidden troops guarding the capital remains unchanged, the northeast and northwest are stable, and the number of soldiers and horses in the local area to maintain law and order and prevent local bandits and bandits is enough. To sum it up, the reduction of four or five hundred thousand soldiers and horses is also sufficient. One million soldiers and horses are enough to ensure the stability of our great surroundings and the stability of the whole territory. That's a lot of redundancy. If you can disarm 500,000, no, even if it is 300,000, not only will it add 300,000 labor, but it will also save at least tens of millions of dollars. ”

Yan Zhengsu nodded and said, "Why not, that's why we have to change this situation, and we can't continue." In the past, in order to maintain stability, the imperial court was afraid that the homeless people would cause chaos, and every time there was a year of famine, when the homeless people swarmed, they would adopt the method of absorbing them into the army and raising them. Although this expedient measure could prevent the displaced people from becoming homeless and eventually rebelling due to famine and natural disasters, it also greatly increased the burden on the imperial court. These people were raised entirely by the imperial court. What's more, these people are not qualified soldiers and horses at all, and they have no combat effectiveness at all when they start a war, so it will not work if we do not change this practice from the root. ”