It can save more than 10 million taels of silver a year! Daoguang's heart was a little hot when he thought of this, he put down his fold and got up and paced slowly in the warm pavilion, which can not only fundamentally reverse the financial deficit, but also have a large amount of surplus, abundant financial resources, a new army like Yuanqi's regimental training, it is not easy for the imperial court to raise a hundred and eighty thousand, and it also has the ability to build a huge fleet like Yingyi. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Not only him, but also many ministers have clearly realized that the existing coastal defense system is too backward, and in order to ensure the tranquility of the maritime frontier, it is necessary to retrain and even create a new type of naval division and build large warships that can compete with the Yingyi warships.

Although he can realize this, but the construction and daily maintenance of a huge fleet is too expensive, he directly chose to ignore it before, the imperial court is unable to make ends meet every year, where is the money to build a huge fleet? The price of a warship is often hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver, where is what he dares to ask easily.

But if you build a railway from Hangzhou to Beijing, you can save tens of millions of taels of silver a year, so why not repair it? After experiencing this war and his flood, he was indeed tempted.

"Someone." Daoguang stopped and ordered: "Find Yi Zhi's "Eighteen Articles for Railway Rejuvenation". ”

The imperial court did not have the silver to build the railway, it was completely commercial, Daoguang secretly thought in his heart, as long as the imperial court can really save the silver of the river industry and the silver to maintain the transportation every year, even if the imperial court cannot control the railway, what does it matter? Now the top priority is to ensure the peace of the southeastern sea frontier and the southeastern provinces, and the imperial court really cannot withstand a big toss at the moment.

The eunuch here had just been ordered to go out, and another eunuch came in to report, "The king of Dingjun is outside asking to see him." ”

"Let him in." Daoguang casually instructed that the great water in Henan, the use of troops in the southeast, and the possibility that war might also break out in Tianjin, and that silver was urgently needed everywhere, and that the case of the deficit of the treasury of the household department must be accelerated, and a plan for recovering the deficit should be come up with as soon as possible, without delay.

Zaiquan is naturally aware of the current situation, and he intends to take this opportunity to suppress Mu Zhang'a's forces, so he is also very concerned about the progress of the case. ”

Building a railway? Zaiquan was stunned, and then reacted, the flood in Henan may have inspired Daoguang to build a railway, he was indeed strongly opposed to the construction of the railway, but after a conversation with Su Shun, he started to support the Yuanqi Westernization Movement to suppress Mu Zhang'a's thoughts, and now since Daoguang is interested, he is happy to sell a favor, and immediately bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, the reason why the slaves oppose the construction of the railway is really because the railway is expensive and the financial resources of the imperial court are overwhelming. ”

This answer made Daoguang a little surprised, it seems that the opposition is not strong, Zaiquan is the leader of the royal family, the construction of the railway has a mixed reputation, the controversy is quite fierce, Daoguang wants to build a railway, at least first to win the support of the royal family, slightly groaned, he said slowly: "The Foguang Railway built by Yuanqi has been open to traffic for more than half a year, for the operation of the train, it is a report in January, you take the time to check it." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The Yingyi fleet is raging along the coast, and many senior officials and local officials in the DPRK and China have called for the construction of large warships that can compete with the Yingyi warships. ”

Build a battleship? Now that the silver coffers are almost at the bottom, where is the silver to build warships? Zaiquan reacted as soon as he thought about it, which was also one of the reasons why Daoguang wanted to build the railway, and he hurriedly bowed down and said, "The slave obeys the order." ”

After a slight sigh, Dao Guangcai said: "Is there any new progress in the case of the bank treasury deficit?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Zaiquan said slowly: "In the humble opinion of the slaves, the case of the deficit of the treasury can not be thoroughly investigated in the short term, after the inspection of the slaves these days, there is a huge deficit in the treasury, in addition to the long-term dereliction of duty of the officials in charge of the treasury, the long-term erosion of the officials, and the long-term theft of the treasury soldiers, there are also perennial arrears - this includes the arrears of the prefectures and counties to the provincial treasury, and the arrears of the provincial treasury to the treasury of the household department.

All in all, the primary responsibility for the deficit of the treasury lies with the ministers in charge of the treasury, the ministers of the king of the treasury, the imperial history of the treasury, and the treasurers of the treasury who accepted bribes and seriously derelicted their duties for a long time, so that such a huge deficit occurred.

The slave secretly thought that since Heshen, all those who held the above positions should be recovered according to the length of office, and those who passed away should be compensated by their children and grandchildren, and those who could not pay the compensation were not registered, and the incumbent officials were all dismissed according to the crime of dereliction of duty, and the slave also served as the minister of the treasury, and it was difficult to escape the blame, and I implored the emperor to cut off the title of the county king, so as to set the record straight. ”

As he spoke, he took off the cool hat on his head with both hands and placed it on the ground, kowtowed heavily and said, "The slave prays for the emperor's permission." ”

Daoguang was slightly moved, and only after a long time did he sigh before he said: "After many years, the official is not a single term, and all the investigations are made, and I am afraid that people will be flustered, but now it is chaotic." ”

"Your Majesty, more than 8.8 million treasury silver, otherwise, it is really difficult to recover." Zaiquan said and kowtowed: "Now that the autumn is eventful, silver is needed everywhere, and the servants implore the emperor to think twice, if they are not punished so severely, the officials will definitely wait and see or take chances." ”

With 8.8 million taels of silver, how can Daoguang not recover it? When he groaned slightly, he said in a deep voice: "Since the fifth year of Jiaqing, the successive ministers of the treasury, the ministers of the king of Chaku, the imperial history of Chaku, and the treasurer of the treasury, the names of the various positions will be submitted to the bill, and the amount of monthly fines and compensation must also be checked and recorded as soon as possible." ”

"The minions obey." Zaiquan hurriedly bowed and said, raised his body, and he continued: "The slave thinks about it, even so, I am afraid that it is still difficult to recover the deficit treasury silver, and after careful consideration, I thought that in addition to recovering the fines and compensation from the above officials, it should also be recovered for the erosion of the treasury silver by the Kuding scribes, and those who actively return the compensation should be given a lenient punishment."

On the other hand, at present, the imperial court is in urgent need of silver, and the servants prayed that the treasury would be reduced and distributed to the country. All kings, beylors, bezis, dukes, Manchu and Han ministers, civil and military officials, and secular officials shall receive silver every quarter, and all the money received by the household treasury, as well as the salaries of the soldiers, shall be reduced and paid. ”

In addition, the provincial customs and customs 'treasury fees' and other bad regulations were confiscated to make up for the treasury losses. Inventory the arrears accumulated over the years, urge the local provinces to complete the arrears, and withdraw the ministry treasury. ”

Hearing him say that it was so comprehensive, Daoguang was quite satisfied, and it was obvious that Zaiquan had put a lot of thought into it, and after a little groaning, he said: "Carefully prepare the strips and show them up." ”

"The minions obey." Zaiquan was overjoyed in his heart, and hurriedly bowed down and said, he handled this case properly, and the title of the county king who was cut off could be rewarded back in a year or two, but it was difficult for other officials to say, even he, the county king who had only served as the minister of the treasury for one year, had his title reduced, and he had served as the minister of the treasury many times, and Mu Zhang'a, who was in charge of the treasury of the household department, could escape the fate of dismissal? If you don't believe it, you can't bring him down!

Jiangning, the Governor's Mansion of Liangjiang, Yi Zhishu temporarily lives in a single courtyard.

It is June, known as the "furnace" Jiangning is stuffy and hot like a big steamer, although it is already sunset, but it is still very hot, in the study, Yi Zhicontent is wearing a short gauze gown, is sitting upright to write an excerpt, this time Henan water, is a good opportunity to build momentum for the construction of the railway, he will naturally not miss.

In fact, when the Foshan Guangzhou Railway was opened, he elaborated on the "Eighteen Articles of Railway Rejuvenation", but at that time he felt that it was not perfect, and then he felt that the opportunity was not good, because he did not have a fold, this opportunity was rare, and he wanted to create a momentum in one fell swoop and impress Daoguang.

"Young Master." Li Wang reported at the door: "Lord Ministries and Mr. Wei are here. ”

Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, who were listening, came together, and Yi Zhishu hurriedly put down his pen and said, "Quick, bring the long shirt." ”

When he put on a long robe and walked out of the study, Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan had already entered the courtyard, he hurriedly stepped forward, and said with a smile: "The ministry and Mr. Wei came at this hour, but they called a banquet and were rewarded?" ”

"We're here for a banquet." Wei Yuan said with a smile: "You are a big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, is it possible that you are embarrassed to let us pay for it?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled, "Mr. has been bothered a lot in the past two days, so he should set up a banquet to thank you." As he spoke, he instructed Li Wang, "Go and order a good table on the table, lighter." ”

"Yes, young master." Li Wang instructed the people to move the tables and chairs to the courtyard, and after serving tea, he called all the people in the courtyard out.

Lin Zexu heard Wei Yuan mention that Yi Zhizhi was preparing to write a letter to build a railway, so he came over on purpose, and after sitting down, he said with a smile: "Yingyi's invasion of the southeast, the big case of the deficit of the Hubu bank, the bursting of the Yellow River, the closure of the canal, everything has come together, and it is indeed a rare opportunity to ask for the construction of the railway." ”

"It's still a matter of worrying about the minister."

Lin Zexu stroked his beard and said with a smile: "For the benefit of the country and the people, the headquarters is duty-bound. ”

Seeing that he was so happy, Yi Zhishu hurriedly got up and went to the study to take the draft, and said, "Please be right." ”

After a careful look, Lin Zexu handed it to Wei Yuan, and then said: "For the way to prepare for the construction of the railway, contentment should also draft a statement, now that the treasury is empty, if there is no proper and feasible method, I am afraid it will be difficult to grow the momentum." ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled: "Xie Butang ordered." ”

"You're welcome." Lin Zexu waved his hand, and then said: "Henan disaster, I heard that Yuan Qi has sent someone to help?" Is there anything you need to do from the department? ”

The catastrophic flood in Henan is an extremely rare opportunity for Yuanqi, one is to take the opportunity of disaster relief to start Yuanqi's reputation in Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, laying a good foundation for Yuanqi to enter in the future, and secondly, Yuanqi can take the opportunity to shelter a large number of children and teenagers, and furthermore, it can also recruit a large number of displaced people to Shanghai, and this move can also reduce a lot of pressure on the imperial court. It can be said that it can be counted in one fell swoop, and such an opportunity, Yi Zhishu will naturally not let it go.

Hearing this, Yi Zhishu said unceremoniously: "Since the ministry has a heart, you are not welcome to be in the next place, after the catastrophe is often a big epidemic, in addition to transporting food, the most important thing is the medicinal materials for epidemic prevention diseases, but recently the medicinal materials from all over the country have sat on the ground and raised the price, and this silver is really a little heart-wrenching." ”

"Be content and rest assured." Lin Zexu said solemnly: "The headquarters will send an order to all prefectures and counties in Liangjiang tomorrow to severely punish profiteers who hoard and gather strange places and raise prices. ”

Wei Yuan said: "It's just that the price of medicinal materials has risen? Is it contentment not to buy grain? ”

"The purchase of grain is purchased from the two lakes through the Cao Gang." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The Jiangning war is imminent, and the grain should not be transferred abroad, and the amount of grain that Yuan Qi bought in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is not large. ”

Lin Zexu glanced at him and said, "Yuan Qi's hand of relief seems to be not small? ”

Yi Zhishu knew what he was worried about, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Ministry, the priorities will be clear." ”

"Okay." Lin Zexu said: "Hurry up, three days later, we have to leave for Hangzhou." ”

Early the next morning, just after the dawn, Yi Zhizhi got up early and went to Shuixi Gate, saying that he was drinking morning tea, but in fact he met with the shopkeeper of Yuanqi Jiangning Branch, Cao Gang Wu Feiyang and several other people.

Shuixi Gate was as busy as ever, Yi Zhizu took a boat to the shore at Shuixi Gate, and went straight to the 'Sun Chu Restaurant', only to reach the gate, the shopkeeper of the Jiangning branch, Jiang Yuheng, who was in his early forties, greeted him, and bowed his hand and said: "The big shopkeeper is here." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "Is Feiyang here?" ”

"Wu Gongzi and Mr. Du are already waiting in the private room on the second floor." Jiang Yuheng stretched out his hand and said politely: "Big shopkeeper, please——。 ”

In order to facilitate talking and talking, Wu Feiyang deliberately asked for a corner private room, which can not only enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Qinhuai River but also be clean, and he and Du Changde hurriedly got up to greet each other, and said respectfully: "I've seen the shopkeeper of Yida." ”

After returning the salute, Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "Sit, sit, there is no need to be formal." As he spoke, he sat down on the main seat, Wu Feiyang poured a cup of tea for him diligently, and then sat down and said with a smile: "The ships required by the shopkeeper of Yida have been prepared yesterday, and when they will be shipped, just give the order." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "It's hard work." ”

"The words of the shopkeeper of Yi Da are outside." Wu Feiyang said with a smile: "Yuanqi this time to help the victims of the disaster in Anhui, Henan, our Cao Gang is admired, my father has sent letters to the various wharves of the Cao Gang, but all the disaster relief ships with the Yuanqi flag will be escorted along the way, properly cared for, but there is a need, try to meet it." ”

"With the strong assistance of the Cao Gang, this disaster relief will definitely go a lot smoother." Yi Zhizhi said and arched his hand: "Thank you Lingzun on my behalf." ”

"The shopkeeper of Yida does not need to be polite." Du Changde said slowly: "There are many people in the Cao Gang who are from Anhui and Henan provinces, and the Cao Gang is not only helping Yuanqi this time, but also helping themselves. ”

"Wu Da is in charge of high righteousness." Yi Zhizhi said: "As far as I know, 23 prefectures and counties in Henan and Anhui provinces have been affected, such a large area, Yuanqi is seriously understaffed, can the Cao Gang send some people to assist?" ”

Du Changde said with some surprise: "Yuan Qi doesn't plan to provide disaster relief through the local government? (To be continued.) )