Fu Bi asked, "The summer tax has been collected." ”

"Summer tax, how much can summer tax be, how much can the officials' salaries, the soldiers' salaries, and the country's expenditures be less? It is really as serious as Xingzhi said, and the military salary must not be less. Most of the soldiers are northerners, not only themselves, but their families need this military salary even more, do I dare to reduce it? ”

Wang Yaochen's words made Fu Bi silent.

Wang Juzheng said hesitantly: "Either it will be deducted from the safety prison." ”

"It's too late!" Zheng Lang immediately retorted. The safety supervision committee brought some income, but it was not until the end of June or even July that the accounts could be separated, and even if it was withdrawn in advance, it was necessary to use the money to buy grain and hire people and ships in Huainan, Jiangnan, but it was also in July, and it was too late.

Several people all stared at Yan Shu with their eyes, Yan Shu is also the prime minister of the east and west, and he is also a veritable real prime minister. Yan Shu was there, staring at these twists and turns, as if he was wandering out of the world.

Zhang Dexiang was helpless, and asked Zheng Lang rhetorically: "Xingzhi, what is your good plan?" ”

"Borrow."

"Not good," said Fu Bi, who had already "borrowed" a lot of money from the rich. It's still okay to borrow another hundreds of thousands, but if you borrow four or five million, you won't have to get a big leak.

"It's borrowing, not blackmail." Zheng Lang smiled. Although the Song Dynasty was a feudal state, it had been trying to fight against the gap between the rich and the poor, although it had not been successful because of the system itself, including this time "borrowing money" from the rich and powerful.

"What's the difference?" Fu Bi asked rhetorically.

"Is Hikoku against it? Don't you think that the rich and powerful have benefited too much because of the founding of our dynasty, even if they pay a little more, they should be? When the country is in trouble, everyone has the responsibility, and only when there is money and strength can we tide over the crisis. But Zheng Lang laughed again and said, "But it's not good for the court to do this." Yan Xianggong, these money were borrowed by Yan Xianggong and Lu Xianggong when they presided over the government, do you plan to pay it back? ”

Several prime ministers were all amused.

Yan Shu was also happy, and after laughing, Zhengse said: "Xingzhi, you can't borrow it anymore, and besides, you can't borrow it if it's a large amount." ”

"You have to borrow, but this time it's a real loan, not only do you have to borrow and you have to pay back, but you also have to pay some appropriate interest. If the drought worsens this year, the country is still seriously insufficient, and if we do not plan to take precautions, once a large-scale grain shortage appears, the merchants will hoard again, the price of grain will remain high, the people's lives will be more difficult, and the imperial court will need to pay several times the cost to resolve this crisis. The teacher of the past has only been a few years, so he has to borrow it. As for the ...... This year, it will make peace with the Western Xia, coupled with the Khitan force, Yuan Hao is a fake peace, but in the past few years, the northwest will win a short period of peace, and next year's national finances will gradually become healthy, that is, this debt can be easily repaid next year. The imperial court can print a batch of treasury bonds, indicate the interest, and next year these treasury bonds can go to the Ping'an Prison to receive dividends, or as a tax credit, and return them to the hands of the rich. ”

"Really borrowed? The country will lose face......" Du Yan said worriedly.

"Du Xianggong, Taizu swept the Eight Wildernesses, and the power [***], Taizong still had the courage to attack the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun in the north, and the first emperor was in the alliance under the city. In the middle of His Majesty's court, he increased the annual currency and changed the tribute to payment, and a small Xixia wasted nearly 100 million yuan and could not be swept away, and the idea of negotiating peace was raised. One generation is not as good as the next, the monarchs and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, what face is there to speak of? Shame on the dead! Even if the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Liu Song still came to a Northern Expedition from time to time to boost their morale. There is one who is as weak as I am. Du Xianggong, don't you think that since the Yellow Emperor founded Yanhuang Huaxia, the face of the Han people has been lost by our dynasty? ”

"I can't say that, I am the first to govern the country, and I have not seen wealth since ancient times," said Ren Zhongshi.

"Wealth has not been seen since time immemorial, but what about money?"

"Hide the wealth from the people."

"Really? Why do I hear that many people don't even dare to raise more children, as long as they have a third child, they will strangle their own children in swaddling clothes. Ren Xianggong, is this wealth hidden in the hands of a very small number of large families, or is it really hidden in the hands of all the people? ”

"Who can average wealth? I'm already working ......," Zhang said gently.

"Don't argue about this, I don't like to quarrel, there is this time, the country is eventful, it is better to do a little more practical things, you agree to borrow or not. If you don't borrow, don't attack the exemption law when there is a shortage of food. ”

Several prime ministers did not dare to call the shots.

There have been cases of borrowing money, but it was not borrowing, but the blackmail that Zheng Lang said. There have been cases in history when money is really borrowed, borrowed and repaid, but there has never been a similar case in the Song Dynasty.

Yan Shu hesitated for a while, he was also afraid, this kid is very evil, last year he said that the northwest was cold, and sure enough, the northwest was very cold, and a few years ago he said that there was a big drought, and it was really a big drought. It seems that the Master did not speak of such knowledge, and does not know where he learned it. Could it be that the conclusions drawn by observing the celestial phenomena can be deceived by the common people, but it is not possible to deceive themselves, and observing astronomy can know the weather forecast, which is also not very accurate. It seems that this kid has never said it, let alone admitted to having similar knowledge.

However, he had to prevent it, if the drought spread, he said it, and he didn't do it, and immediately these gentlemen were disgusted to death. Thinking of this, he said, "Either report to His Majesty for a decision." ”

"Okay."

informed Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen is also very cautious, a few days ago, Zhao Zhen sent an envoy to pray for rain in spring and summer. But unlike the great drought a few years ago, it was a real drought, with not a drop of rain, plus locusts, thousands of miles of scorched earth in the north, and thousands of miles of barrenness. Although there was a drought this year, there were also one or two pitiful light rains, and the locusts were indispensable, but they did not form a disaster. But it's hard to say, what if the drought gets worse? At this time, Zhao Zhen felt that his mouth was very bitter.

He is not like Zheng Lang, who is suspicious of ghosts and gods, even if there are immortals, he may not be able to manage the affairs of the world. Besides, there are so many immortals, Song Dynasty, Khitan, Tibetan, Tangut, Uighur, Dashi, European, Indian, Tianzhu......

Zhao Zhen believes in the existence of immortals, but what did he do wrong, why did God repay him so much. After several years of fighting, the dawn of peace finally ushered in, and disaster struck again. Summoned Zheng Lang into the inner palace for questioning. Zheng Lang is not very easy to answer, the drought is not as good as the drought in previous years, but the current drought will be worse, but what can he use to answer?

Zheng Lang could only say: "Your Majesty, don't be afraid of 10,000, just in case." Even if the drought is eased, the storage in the north is empty, it is necessary to mobilize the grain to fill the blockage, the Sanbai Canal in Shaanxi is about to be completed, and the autumn will be cultivated, and the seeds will be sown in the next spring and harvested in the next autumn. For more than a year, Shaanxi still lacked grain. What was wasted was only the money for the construction of some warehouses in Sanmenxia. ”

In the past, the most headache was Sanmenxia.

In the middle of the Yellow River, Shenmen Island and Guimen Island suddenly appeared, plus the two peninsulas in the north and south, the water surface of the Yellow River was reduced by half, and the water flow was turbulent. Because the Guimen Peninsula is far from the Yellow River, if you sail from the Shenmen River and the Guimen River, the boatman will not have time to turn the rudder, and the boat will crash into the reef of the peninsula, and the boat will capsize and die. The only navigable thing is the Renmen River, but there is a reef just a hundred meters downstream of the Renmen River. The reef is not big, but it has been so sad for thousands of years that kings have tried their best to remove it. Therefore, there is a very nice idiom, called the pillar of the stream, but this stone is definitely not fun, ancient and modern because it capsized at least more than 10,000 ships, dead boatmen, tourists, family members and soldiers, people do not know how many.

So from the hands of Tang Xuanzong to carry out large-scale governance, first from the Renmen Peninsula to dig a new river, then the boat will come out, will not hit the pillar. However, the stone was hard, and it cost a great deal of manpower and financial resources, and it was so shallow that the ships could not pass. Then, a passage was dug on the shore, and a warehouse was built downstream, transshipped by land, and reloaded and unloaded upstream onto the ship. Some of the shipcapsizing and deaths have been reduced, but the cost is increasing.

The kings of the Song Dynasty were all in Kaifeng, the status of Guanzhong declined, and Sanmenxia only did a small-scale renovation to strengthen the plank road of pulling fiber. There are still many boatmen who have time to turn the rudder around and hit the pillar headlong in the future, where the current is very fast, and there are many whirlpools, and as long as the boat capsizes, even the best water will be sucked down and drowned. However, because the volume of water transportation is not large, the degree of harm is decreasing. It wasn't until Shaanxi used troops that there were too many boats capsized and a lot of people died, that the land road was repaired again.

That's what Zheng Lang was referring to.

"I know, but it's not appropriate to borrow money from the people."

"Your Majesty, can you allow the minister to say a word?"

"Say it."

"If a person has no faith, he will not stand, and the country must abide by his credit, especially for his subjects, it does not matter if he is a foreign enemy, as long as he is strong, like the Qin Dynasty or the Khitan, no one can afford to violate the covenant many times. But to one's subjects must keep their promises, and the laws of the state have authority. Even if this credit is for some bad people. ”

Refers to the matter of borrowing money.

Seemingly alleviating the pressure on the poor and imposing a fee on the rich may not be very effective. At least the credit on the state lost.

"Zheng Qing, the treasury has been empty."

"Your Majesty, you can take your time, as long as everyone is aware of the existence of these drawbacks and adjusts slowly, the treasury will be full sooner or later."

Zhao Zhen was still a little hesitant.

Once you borrow money, not only this money has to be repaid, but also the previous money, which is not a few million, but more than 10 million. In fact, Zheng Lang is also compromising, Zhao Zhen exempts and exempts the national tax, which does not refer to the subject allocation and commercial tax, but refers to the two taxes, which reduces the tax of the peasants, and the subject allocation has not moved. It doesn't seem to have set off many waves, and the money borrowed before has been recognized, will these big families and rich and powerful appreciate it?

Suddenly, the eunuch came in with Princess Fukang.

The little girl lowered her head and looked at Zheng Lang and said, "I haven't been able to understand the post you wrote. ”

"Go, I and Zheng Qing are talking about business."

"Your Majesty, it's okay, I'll rewrite it to Her Royal Highness the Princess," Zheng Lang said. Zhao Zhen doesn't seem to know anything, but he is actually a very assertive emperor, and he has to think about this matter slowly, and he can't force it. Pick up the pen and rewrite.

The last time I copied it was Zhao Mengfu's "Words of Return".

And explained the method of moving the pen and the law of turning the pen to the side. This time, Zheng Lang wrote carefully in front of him, explaining while writing.

I didn't expect Princess Fukang to write it well, and occasionally say it, it will work, but it won't work much. Besides, if he speculates about Zhao Zhen's meaning in his heart, he may not want his daughter to learn this word well, and the voice outside the words is what Zhao Zhen values.

"You write this kind of style too?"

"Your Highness, the minister is not, the minister writes in another style."

"Let me take a look."

This is nonsense, but Zhao Zhen did not stop it, Zheng Lang is not a rigid minister, but this is also what Zhao Zhen values. As the emperor of the dynasty, the easiest thing is to learn to be flexible, what situation and what strain. If like Ishisuke, the country is terrible.

"Your Highness, it's okay for you to take a look, but you can't learn it," Zheng Lang kindly persuaded. His own calligraphy is accurate in rice style, but in the end, it is slightly more convergent. To put it simply, many calligraphic structures of this convergence need to be adjusted, but in fact, it is no longer in the category of rice characters.

But that kind of indulgence and interest is still there.

This little princess can't learn anyway.

Wrote a single line.

Princess Fukang said, "I'll write it." ”

"Okay." Zheng Lang handed her the brush.

Princess Fukang half-knelt on the chair and wrote down three words, Zhao Niannu, and said, "This is my name." ”

Zheng Lang's face changed drastically.