Xu Ping went to the house and accompanied his father for a while, saw that the sky was not yet dark, and rode to the sugar shop near the state bridge.

Liu Xiaoyi was helping in the shop, and when he saw Xu Ping, he hurriedly came over to lead the horse.

Entering the shop, Zhang Tianrui saw Xu Ping, hurriedly greeted him and asked, "Why is the little official free today?" ”

Xu Ping said with a calm face: "My father has been lying in bed for a few days, how can I not come?" ”

Zhang Tianrui saw that Xu Ping's face was wrong, so he didn't dare to say more, so he called Zheng Tianlin, the supervisor on duty, to come to the back room from outside, and said to Xu Ping: "Presumably, the little official is here to ask about those Chen Cha, this is what Director Zheng did it single-handedly, what can I ask him." ”

Zheng Tianlin came up to see the salute, but Xu Ping didn't let him sit, only asked him to explain what had happened.

In fact, Zheng Tianlin was also impatient, but the matter fell on his head, and he had no choice, so he had to tell in detail about the process of collecting money in the past two days.

Because the sugar is used in the palace, in principle, it must be paid by the inner treasury. The inner treasury came from the sealed pile warehouse in the Taizu period, and began to focus on the annual financial surplus and the seizure of Sichuan and Shu in the south of the Yangtze River and Pingding, and the purpose was also to use it as military expenses in the event of a war without having to collect it from the people, and as a fund for the later recovery of Youyan.

However, as the emperor's private treasury, it slowly changed its taste, began to have some fixed collection subjects, and slowly broke away from the control of the three departments. It was not until a few years ago when Ding Wei was appointed as the third envoy that he felt that such a large amount of wealth was completely outside the central treasury and it was very inconvenient to manage, so he tried to find a way to regain the power of the inner treasury. Although Ding Wei was the first minister of power, his ability was unquestionable, forcing Emperor Zhenzong of the previous dynasty to agree that the three envoys and the deputy envoys of the three divisions had the right to know the storage of the inner treasury. You must know that the two dynasties of Taizu and Taizong advocated frugality, and a large amount of wealth was stored in the treasury, which was squandered by the great emperor Zhenzong, and had to be filled with a cut from the normal taxes of the imperial court.

At this time, in addition to some of the usual income of the past dynasties, such as the gold and silver mined, it was the income of the mountains, and the emperor's private collection was regarded as the emperor's private collection in all dynasties. For example, the tributes from all over the country also entered the emperor's private collection. For example, the income of the market, the emperor's private collection will take away the lion's share. Another big income is the share of the new coins every year, which can barely be counted as the income of the mountain, and a large part of the internal collection is also siphoned off. At this time, these regular incomes could no longer satisfy the emperor's appetite, and the taxes of some state armies and the silk income of most places with developed silk weaving industry would be included in the collection. Roughly calculated, the internal income at this time accounted for about one-sixth of the financial revenue of the three divisions. With such a large amount of wealth in the emperor's complete hands, he could form a condescending position and exercise strong checks and balances on the three divisions.

The expenses of the inner treasury are about the following: the consumption of the royal family, the rewards of the civil and military officials, a large part of the military expenses, disaster relief, and the daily expenses of the three divisions. Realistically speaking, the royal family's consumption does not account for the majority, and most of the expenditure is still on rewards, military expenses, and assistants.

The root cause of the sugar shop's loss this time is in the last item.

The withdrawal of such a huge amount of wealth from the Inner Treasury has caused the income and expenditure of the three divisions to be unbalanced all year round, and borrowing from the Inner Treasury has almost become an annual practice. This kind of loan is often borrowed but not repaid, and the emperor will have to forgive it after a few years. The emperor was also too annoyed, and in the third year of Emperor Zhenzong's Tianxi of the previous dynasty, he decided to allocate 600,000 yuan to the three divisions every year, and he was not allowed to borrow again. However, the reality of the situation is that the emperor is not capricious, and the annual money of 600,000 guan is allocated as usual, and the three divisions will still borrow from the inner treasury, and in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, this amount will be terrifyingly large.

Zheng Tianlin went to the inner treasury with the palace attendants to collect the money that day, but they all said that there was no money for him, but they just approved the slips for him to fold into other things. In two days, he ran no less than ten yamen, and finally all of them were folded into tea, and he was asked to go to the treasury under the third division to get it, saying that it was to offset the loan of the third division.

How can the three divisions repay the money they borrowed? After running a few places, I came back with a bunch of old tea, and a few nests of rats in it, and entered the sugar shop together.

Xu Ping also had a general understanding of the system at this time, and the three divisions at this time were monsters, covering finance, auditing, and even the assessment of officials, which was much more powerful than the National Development and Reform Commission in his previous life. The three envoys are called the prime ministers, and the Chinese book and the Privy Council are called the three phases, which can be imagined as the prosperity of their power.

Such a behemoth, this kind of rotten thing happened, to be honest, you don't even know who to go to if you want to protest, and the normal channels don't work at all.

After listening to Zheng Tianlin's speech, Xu Ping asked Zhang Tianrui: "It's all in charge, what did Taiwei Li say?" ”

Zhang Tianrui didn't want to say much, but when he saw Xu Ping's face getting darker and darker, he reluctantly said: "I said that the little officials should not be angry, and the Taiwei also has a last resort." ”

Xu Ping said coldly: "Who doesn't have a hard time? Such a large amount of money is almost bankrupt for a family like us! My dad is so angry that he is sick in bed, who am I looking for if there is an accident?! ”

Zhang Tianrui sighed: "Taiwei's meaning, swallow this breath for the time being, keep the tea and the slip issued by the third division, and wait until the limelight is over to get the money back." ”

"What's the limelight?"

At this time, the government is stable, and I haven't heard anything big, is there any special news for the Li family?

Zhang Tianrui said: "The petty officials don't know that since the year before last, Li Zhong, the envoy of the third division, reformed the tea law and replaced the original three statements with stickers, many tea merchants have lost their profits, and they have scratched to abolish the sticker method. At this time, Master Sun Zonggu didn't know why, and the attack sticker method was particularly hard. He is the chief lecturer of the current emperor, and his status is not comparable to others, and the sticking method is already in jeopardy. When we make a fuss at this time, we don't know which faction will be used as an excuse. They are all high-ranking and powerful, so why should we be offended? ”

Li Zhongxun is Li Zhi, the word Zhongxun, and he was appointed as the third envoy at this time. Bachelor Sun is Sun Zheng, the word Zonggu, Ren Hanlin waiter lectured on bachelors, and sentenced to the national character supervisor. These people have names and powers, and none of them can be offended casually. Especially Sun Zheng, don't look at the official position, but he is highly respected, and his reputation is particularly scary. He was the first person and the first of the Nine Classics since the second year of Duangong, and was valued by the emperors of Taizong and Zhenzong, and the new emperor ascended the throne and was elected as the chief lecturer.

Although Xu Ping didn't care much about the government, he had heard of these big shots. Listening to Zhang Tianrui's serious speech, his face softened a little, and he said to him: "Just sit down and tell me these slowly." ”

The income from the monopoly of tea is a large amount of income for the imperial court, and it is also a daily material related to the people's livelihood, which involves all aspects and has changed repeatedly over the decades.

In the second year of Emperor Zhenzong's Jingde, presided over by Lin Te and Li Pu, the original method of intervening was improved. The specific content does not need to be elaborated, but the key one is that the imperial court issued tea quotations as a substitute coupon in exchange for the transportation of money and grain to the capital and along the border by large merchants. As a direct result, the income of Chaoqian in tea fell sharply, and the people also suffered, and all the profits during this period were divided by large merchants and intermediaries, which was unsustainable.

In the first year of Tiansheng, the tea law was reformed again as a last resort, presided over by Li Shi, the envoy of the third division of the right and Liu Yun, the middle of the imperial history, and the deputy privy envoy Zhang Shixun, the governor Lu Yijian and Lu Zongdao participated. The core is that the tea merchants directly trade with the tea plantations, and the government collects net profits, which can be regarded as a benefit for both the court and the people. But in this way, the big merchants in the capital who originally reaped huge profits in the middle and the shops that specialized in selling tea were unprofitable, and most of these merchants had the support of wealthy nobles behind them. Since the second year of the Heavenly Sage, these people have united and constantly attacked the new law.

The two factions involved in this are either wealthy families or powerful ministers, Xu Ping muttered in his heart when he heard it. However, Sun Zheng, a master of scripture, mixed in with him, puzzled him, this person is dedicated to Confucianism and is extremely upright, and it is impossible for him to have any interests involved.

In fact, not everyone's position is determined by interests, and this kind of concentration is often not familiar with specific affairs, and it is easy to be deceived and instigated. They also boast of being high-minded, often looking down on those who are really immersed in things, and are prone to jokes when they are involved in specific affairs.

In the Song Dynasty, the internal reform and conservatism of the scholars were bloodied, until the vitality of the whole country was exhausted in the end, and the emperor crossed south. It would not make sense to explain their position in terms of interests, although later generations have always vulgarized the issue and said that each of the two factions represented the interests of others. In fact, scholars and emperors are both rulers, they represent the ruling class, and the core of their party struggle is actually the contradiction of scholars' identities. On the one hand, as a ruler, the interests of the country should be the main thing, and on the other hand, as a Confucian scholar, the ideals and ethics of Confucianism should be adhered to, and the two are sometimes sharply opposed. Externally, it is the dispute between the "distinction between righteousness and benefit" and the "gentleman and villain" that runs through the beginning of the dispute, and it will be fierce in the future, but it has just revealed its clues at this time. As a descendant, it is often impossible to understand what they are fighting for, but for people at this time, there are people who will fight for their lives.

Although Xu Ping could not understand the self-proclaimed gentlemen of conservatives at this time, he still had a roughly neutral view of the argument itself. In the previous life, the country had also experienced such a reform that was related to the overall situation, which was the most successful in all dynasties, but it was also a few social trends, how could it be harsh on the ancients at this time.

But those national events are too far away from Xu Ping at this time, the reality is that he was cheated of 10,000 or 20,000 yuan, enough for many people to live a lifetime of prosperity, and his father was so angry that he fell ill in bed, how could he understand that those big people just forget it? The big things are thought about by the big guys, and he just needs to get the money back now.

After being silent for a while, Xu Ping said to Zhang Tianrui: "Anyway, I don't care what you think, my family must get the money back, and the sooner the better." My dad is sick in bed, maybe something will happen, and I can't delay it for a day. In this way, if Taiwei Li doesn't want to find a way, I'll come by myself! ”

Zhang Tianrui was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do the little officials want to do?" Let me start by saying that the tea law involves many rulers in the court, and it is useless for you to report to the officials. ”

Xu Ping sneered: "Then don't report to the official!" From tomorrow, we will pull the tea we received to the door, write the sign according to the voucher given by the three divisions, and the price will be all according to the price given to us by the three divisions. They fold tea to us, so we can't stop us from exchanging tea for money! Right? ”

Zhang Tianrui nodded impatiently: "The little official is right, the imperial court allows us to sell the items by ourselves." However, the petty officials must also know that you can't sell a pound of tea like this, so why bother? ”

Xu Ping said coldly: "The toad is lying on the surface of his feet, I don't bite him, I am disgusting to death!" Zhouqiao is the most prosperous place in the world, how many people come and go every day? I want to see, do the princes in the court still want the face of the court? Da Song's face is not worth tens of thousands of dollars! ”

Zhang Tianrui sighed and didn't speak again.

In fact, there was a sentence that Xu Ping didn't say, Ma Jiliang, who promoted the treasurer, was not only the person who handled this matter, but also a big tea merchant at home, and he was the most involved, so he went out to see how he ended.