On the afternoon of the third day, in the Chongzheng Palace, Du Zhongxiao saluted like a ceremony and sat down at the bottom of the head.

After giving the tea soup, Emperor Zhao Zhen said: "After you came back from Ye County, you have already read the music on it, and you have stayed in it for the time being, and you have not sent it out." There are too many things mentioned in it, and I always feel that I have to ask them in person so that the courtiers can talk about it. ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat: "Weichen went to Ye County this time, and I deeply felt that because of the lax governance, there is nothing to do in many places without investigation, and once a minister goes to investigate, there will be many troubles." It's not that the officials hide it, it's that there are so many people in the local government and can only do so many things. It's not easy to make a place stable, and a lot of things just have to be done that way. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "What's so special about Ye County? Why do you have to change so much when you come back from there? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Back to Your Majesty, there are many factories in Yexian County, and people are gathered, which is different from other places. In ordinary counties, there are few households in the world, but there are tens of thousands of households in Ye County. If you talk about money and grain, it is not easy for a county to collect thousands of guan, but Ye County has hundreds of thousands. It can be said that the current Ye County is richer than most states in the world, and the situation is of course different. For the state, it is too rich, and the counties under its jurisdiction can be divided, but Ye County cannot be divided. If you don't make big changes there, I'm afraid that the government won't even be able to manage the county seat in the future, let alone the countryside. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and was silent for a while. Over the years, there have been many chapters about Ye County, and as the emperor, I feel that there are too many things there. But I don't know what the situation is there, so I sent Du Zhongxiao over a few days ago. Unexpectedly, when he came back more than ten days later, Du Zhongxiao's recital said so many things, which was beyond Zhao Zhen's expectations.

The reform of the Baiting Prison mentioned by Du Zhongxiao involves all aspects of finance, finance, politics, and economy, and has a wide range of implications. Once it is really rolled out, even if it is only in Ye County, it will cause a lot of turmoil.

After pondering for a long time, Zhao Zhen said: "If you really want to change greatly, not only the Baiting Eunuch, but even the court will also change, it is not a trivial matter. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty, how much wealth has the Baiting Prison created since he opened the Iron Prison?" Because the physical goods have been transferred from there to other places, the imperial court does not have exact data. In the past seven or eight years, because of the iron prison, the shopping mall, and the promotion of Changping in various places, the money and grain collected by the imperial court were several times as much as the original. With this foundation, you can also change-"

Zhao Zhen said: "It is precisely because of the extensive collection of money and grain that the courtiers mean not to change as much as possible. For fear that there will be an accident, the money and food will be gone, and if you go back to the old days, it will be difficult for the court to do it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty, people have no immediate worries, they must have long-term concerns." With so much extra money and food, things in the world are very different from before. If you don't change it at this time, when you have to change it later, I'm afraid it will be difficult. ”

Zhao Zhen hesitated, and decided for a while. As emperors, they all hope that the world will be peaceful in their own hands, that they will always win externally, and that they will be happy both internally and externally, and that nothing beyond their expectations will happen. After Du Zhongxiao arrived at Hequ Road, it was the most glorious period of the Song Dynasty, with successive victories in external wars and rapid internal development, and now it is still enjoying dividends. If someone else proposes reform, then it's just that, Du Zhongxiao proposed it, and he can't take it lightly.

After thinking about it again and again, Zhao Zhen said: "The world will issue money in a unified manner, and it will no longer be issued by each party alone, which is the proper meaning." At that time, it was decided that all roads should be based on copper coins, and when the money was issued, it was decided. However, after the issuance of the money, when the imperial court transferred the goods from the Baiting Supervisor, it was not easy to allocate money according to the current price. It was originally the money supervisor of the imperial court, why did it cost money? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you don't give money, you don't know how well you can do business there." How many rails and how many trains were set aside, although there was also a number, the courtiers would not pay attention to it. Moreover, there are too many places in the world that want these things, and where to allocate them, except for specific places, there are actually no certain rules, but it is just the meaning of the courtiers. All money is the criterion, and you can see it clearly. And the money was originally issued by the imperial court, so how could you worry about the lack of money? With all the money in the world, as long as you spend it properly, you shouldn't be short of money. ”

Zhao Zhen shook his head slightly and did not speak. For a moment, he couldn't understand why the imperial court, as the iron supervisor of the official camp, had to spend money to allocate materials from there. The benefits of monetizing the economy as a whole cannot be explained for a moment without a detailed debate.

Du Zhongxiao said: "The most important yamen of the imperial court is no more than the three divisions, and its account books are huge, often tens of thousands. Why does it have to be? All parts of the world, the geography is different, the weather is different, and the things produced are also different. Out of this place, you can't buy this kind of thing, so some taxes can only be collected in kind. With the convenient transportation and the nationwide connection of the buying and selling market, there will be no such drawback, as long as you use money. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "Okay, this matter is important and needs to be discussed by the ministers." In a few days, the ministers of the DPRK and China will be elected, and we will discuss them carefully. ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat: "The saint is wise." ”

In Du Zhongxiao's recital, the first article proposed is that the money that is now issued separately will be collected by the imperial court, and a special agency will be set up by the imperial court to issue it in a unified manner. Money is used as a unified national currency. Now is a window of time for the issuance of currency, and due to the development of the economy, the old central court has not changed the way it spends its money, and the treasury is abundant, and there is no hidden danger of false issuance. With the development of industry and the rise of the economy, the currency issuance system can be slowly improved. After the unification of the currency, the local government-run field affairs, including the iron supervisors, used the currency to measure the quality of their operations.

Since the Song Dynasty was self-reliant, it was faced with the problem of needing a large amount of money and materials to support its soldiers, and its finances were tight, and the entire bureaucratic system was particularly sensitive to money and food. All non-governmental industries and businesses, as long as they make money, will be taken under the government. If the profit is not high, it will be released to the people. The management of the field affairs of the official camp is particularly strict, and no deficit is allowed. The person in charge of the government-run field affairs in various localities is often a large local household, and the purpose is that if the field affairs lose money, the large household can make up for it with their own money. For official field services, the official must receive money.

The new type of government-run farm service represented by the railway supervisor is very different from the previous business model, and this set of management system must be greatly changed. Which big family in the world can afford to lose the profits of the iron supervisor? At present, the transfer of goods in kind is actually delegating power to the field manager, and the local power is very large. Compared with the size of the iron superintendent, the status of the management of the superintendent is too low.

It is a relatively big change to change the railway supervisor from transporting materials to purchasing them with applicable money and assessing their profits. After the change, the iron prison should be managed by the imperial court, which is equivalent to an extra yamen. Due to the huge scale of various large-scale businesses, such as iron supervisors, shopping malls, and very shops, the new management yamen must play an important role, which led to the reform of the Zhongshu system.

With such a change, Du Zhongxiao can't list all the things involved, let alone Zhao Zhen. This matter must be discussed by the imperial court and discussed maturely before it can be truly implemented.

Listening to Du Zhongxiao talk about the reforms to be carried out in the future, Zhao Zhen didn't understand most of them, but nodded frequently. Du Zhongxiao gave up his military power and came back to serve as Yushi Zhongcheng, which was enough for Zhao Zhen. After a series of big victories, it is enough to reassure people if they do not seize the military power. At this time, the government really needs to change, and it is best for Du Zhongxiao to put it forward. As for how to change it in the end, it is up to the minister to decide.

After all that was said, a long time had passed. Zhao Zhen ordered the tea soup, the two drank it, and then said the following things.

Zhao Zhen said: "In the chapter, it is said that the current Ye County has many households, and there are too many factories under its rule, and the county government can't manage it at all, so the court must find another way." According to your intentions, the iron prison is directly managed by the imperial court, and outside the iron prison, Yexian has been promoted to Yezhou, yes or no? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister does have this intention. The current iron superintendent, if all the goods allocated by it are really counted as money, the number will be very large. Such an important place makes it inconvenient for local jurisdiction. It is better to separate the iron prison and directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. After the separation of the three divisions, the Salt and Iron Division said that it was in charge of the official affairs of the world, but in fact, it was just a report from below, and they just summarized it. In the future, the Salt and Iron Division can increase some manpower and directly manage the affairs of the official camp. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "In this way, it is equivalent to the imperial court taking over the power of the place." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What the imperial court collects is actually the power of the Changping Division in various places. What really needs to be managed in a unified manner across the country is nothing more than the railway superintendent, shopping malls, savings houses, railways, and water transportation, most of which belong to the Changping Division. As for the states and counties, they couldn't control that. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "This matter is important, the same as the previous matter, wait for the yamen to gather." And we have to listen to what the local government thinks, and don't let the court accept it, and the place will be inconvenient. These are collected by the Salt and Iron Division, how much grain do you estimate will have in a year? ”

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Rough estimates, there should be more than 100 million in a year." Of course, in addition to making money, these also cost money, and there should not be so many of them in the hands of the imperial court. However, since it is a field business, there are profits and losses, and how to compare it must be set by the imperial court. ”

Hearing the numbers, Zhao Zhen sighed secretly. 100 million guan, which is more than the annual fiscal revenue of the Song Dynasty in previous years, and it includes all the income included in the money and grain taxes. In just a few years, this number seems unsurprising. Ten years back, if the imperial court could collect an extra 100 million yuan a year, it would not agree to negotiate peace with the party at all. Until now, it is only the government-run field work of a few industries that can earn so much money.

When Du Zhongxiao opened up the river meandering road, he didn't spend too much money, and the iron supervisor could support it. When it came time to open up the Western Regions, there were not many battles, but a lot of money was spent. How much is the railway from Shengzhou to Yizhou worth? Fortunately, the imperial court has abundant finances, and everything is free from wind and waves.

Zhao Zhen didn't realize that with the expansion of the production scale of the railway supervision and the formation of a unified market for the railway, a new page in history has been opened. But these figures, as the emperor, Zhao Zhen clearly realized what they meant. Without this money, Du Zhongxiao occupied the Hequ Road, and there was no spare energy to open up the Western Regions three years later. The Song army also did not have enough money and food, so they trained all the forbidden troops.

The role of money is more important to the imperial court than imagined. It is precisely because the court now has money, and even for a while, the courtiers don't know how to spend the money, so they want to attack the party, and Zhao Zhen wants to change.