Most of the people present were in the early Qing Dynasty, except for the emperor, and even Zuo Chen's tone was uncertain. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

The emperor frowned slightly, and looked at the king of Yanping in confusion, and the king of Yanping sighed and said the taxes of the merchants.

"Your Majesty, the tax of the merchants is already very high, even if it is the imperial capital, the tax is also on the seven taxes, in addition to the entry tax, the actual tax is even higher, if the tax is added to the merchants, the ministers are afraid that the merchants will be overwhelmed and abandon the property, the market is depressed, and the tax is less. ”

After hearing this, the emperor's temples jumped, the fire in his heart burst out, and he asked a little anxiously: "This is not good, that is not good, King Qin is still waiting for silver, Chang'an arsenal is still empty, how to fill it!"

The four of them were silent, the emperor sat down depressedly, looking at the music in front of him, he suddenly felt so tired and tired, since he ascended the throne, he had not slept much, the government was extremely difficult, and everything he wanted to do, all kinds of forces came to stop him, and none of them went well.

"Your Majesty," the king of Yanping County stepped forward and admonished: "Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious; what Master Pan said is reasonable, the emperor only needs to refute this performance, tell them that this matter cannot be retreated, let them hurry." ”

The emperor remained silent, and the king of Yanping further said: "As for Yongzhou, the imperial court can't ignore it, the imperial treasury is empty, but there are still some debts, the minister thinks that he can continue to call back, and the minister estimates that he can recall tens of thousands of taels of silver, which may not be enough, but the minister thinks that some materials can be transferred from the imperial capital arsenal and Jingzhou arsenal to the Chang'an arsenal to supplement the Chang'an arsenal." ”

That's a good statement. Zuo Chen first agreed, Pan Lian Gantang also nodded in agreement, the emperor thought for a moment and asked: "Old Eleven, how much silver has not been recovered now?"

The king of Yanping County thought for a moment and said, "About one hundred and twenty thousand taels." ”

"There are so many?!" The emperor was very surprised, the king of Yanping nodded with a wry smile, the emperor was angry, and took the case: "Chase! chase immediately! The imperial treasury is empty, and it turns out that the money has been stolen by these moths!"

The king of Yanping couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, more than one million taels of silver, the ministers involved in the court and the central government include the auxiliary minister of Shangshutai, there are six Cao Shangshu, various Cao officials, the generals of the Bishan battalion, and the prince of the royal family, if they all want to be recovered, it is so easy.

"Pan Aiqing, you come to draft an edict, and ask for one, within three months, all the money borrowed from the treasury will be returned, otherwise, the house will be raided!" said the emperor through gritted teeth.

Pan Lian hesitated and was about to speak, but Gan Tang had already stepped forward: "The emperor can't!"

The emperor was very surprised, and asked casually: "What? Gan Aiqing, you also borrowed money from the treasury?!"

Gan Tang solemnly clenched his fists: "Your Majesty, the minister did not borrow half a tael of silver from the treasury, but it was too hurried to recover the silver owed by the treasury in March, so it is better to take it for two years." ”

"Two years?!" the emperor was so angry that he couldn't help but smile: "It's a matter of course to repay debts, two years? I have already given them a year, and I want two more years, and the money from the treasury is 1.2 million taels! I can't even take out 100,000 taels now!

In the face of the emperor's roar, the four of them didn't dare to answer, the emperor was angry, seemed to remember, looked at the silent four, and seemed to understand.

"Tell me, do you owe any money? Master Pan, do you owe?"

Pan Lian's face was slightly red, and he replied in a low voice: "The minister used to borrow money from the treasury, and it was not much, but it was 20,000 taels. ”

The emperor nodded slightly, and then looked at the king of Yanping County: "Old Eleven, what about you?"

The king of Yanping County smiled lightly: "The ministers have a fortune and a manor, there is no shortage of money, and there is no need to borrow from the treasury." ”

"That's good. The emperor pondered slightly: "You will take the lead in urging the arrears of the treasury, and one person from Duzhi Cao, Shangshutai, and the Prime Minister's Mansion will each be sent to assist, and the arrears will be paid within three months, otherwise, don't blame me for being polite, come here." ”

Gonggong Huang stood up from the side: "Your Majesty." ”

"Is Xue Mi here?" the emperor asked, and Gonggong Huang replied: "Your Majesty, Lord Xue was on duty last night, and according to the regulations, he should not be on duty today, and Ma Songshucheng is now on duty as the middle secretary." ”

"Call Masson here. ”

Soon Ma Song arrived in the palace, and the emperor instructed: "Draft an edict, and all those who owe money to the treasury shall pay it within three months, and those who fail to pay it back within the time limit will be confiscated!"

Ma Song drafted the edict on the spot, drafted it after a while, and brought it over to the emperor to seal it, and the emperor asked Huang Gonggong to take the jade seal to cover it, but at this point, this will is not a holy decree, and it must be stamped with the seal of Shangshu Ling in order to become a holy decree.

After the emperor covered it, he handed it to Pan Lian and asked him to send it down as soon as possible.

Pan Lian hesitated and did not accept the order, but bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the first emperor appointed ministers and auxiliary ministers, the emperor believes in the ministers, and the ministers should do their best for the emperor, the emperor, this matter can't be too urgent, 1.2 million silver, how many officials are involved, each Cao and each battalion, Taixue, kings, there may be people involved, emperor, think twice!"

"Think twice!" The emperor shouted almost angrily: "I think twice! But the people of Saiwaihu don't give me time to think twice! Millions of displaced people don't give me time to think twice! Floods and droughts in various places don't give me time to think twice! You have to come up with ideas to supplement the military salaries of the border army and replenish the military resources of the Chang'an arsenal! I will think twice!"

Pan Lian was bitter in his heart, speechless, Gan Tang sighed softly, wanting to argue for Pan Lian, but he didn't know how to speak, Zuo Chen nodded: "The emperor is right, it is natural to repay debts, whoever does not repay the money will be dismissed first." ”

The king of Yanping County couldn't help but shake his head secretly, this Zuo Chen is really a nerd, first dismiss the official, first of all, he has to dismiss the Taishi Shangshu Ling Pan Lian, just this guy still owes 110,000 taels of silver to the treasury.

Duzhi Cao has a list of officials who owe debts, this list is different from the list reported to the emperor, and some people's names are not on it, such as Pan Lian, Xiao Zhao Wangye, Xue Mi, etc., whether they are in or not, mainly depends on their status in the imperial court.

Zuo Chen's attitude was intense, Gan Tang looked at the king of Yanping County and then at Pan Lian, he didn't know how to resolve it, at this moment he thought of Qiuyun, but unfortunately Qiuyun was not here today, the situation outside the Saiwai changed, Qiuyun went to Taiwei's Mansion to discuss Yongliang and the defense deployment of the three states with Pan Ji.

"Your Majesty, the minister's heart is towards the emperor, alas," Pan Lian sighed, seeing the emperor's anger, he still gave in, bowed his head and replied: "The minister's decree will be done immediately." ”

The emperor was a little satisfied, and turned his head and said to the king of Yanping County: "After the money comes back, first of all, to meet the needs of Yongzhou, the king of Qin Shangshu said, the border army soldiers have not been paid for a year and a half, how can this work, there is no military salary, how to let the soldiers use their lives, the military salary is short of 300,000 taels of silver, in any case, this year to make up." ”

"Commandment. The king of Yanping did not argue, and bowed his head to receive the order.

Pan Lian and the others went out, and Huang Gonggong was left in the Taiqing Palace, and the emperor sat behind the bookcase, and began to review the recital, and after a while, he put down the red pen, looked up at the window, and frowned.

Huang Gonggong brought a cup of new tea, put it on the bookcase, and was about to retreat, the emperor stopped him, Huang Gonggong turned to look at the emperor, the emperor hesitated for a moment and asked: "It stands to reason that it is not difficult to reform the salt administration, Xue Yu's recital is written very clearly, as long as it is written according to the recital, there will be no mistakes, how can it be so difficult?"

Gonggong Huang was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you can ask about Yu Blind, how do you know how to innovate Yanzheng." ”

The emperor's expression was still confused, and Huang Gonggong said tentatively: "Otherwise, the old slave asked Lord Xue to explain to His Majesty." ”

The emperor still didn't say anything, Huang Gonggong was puzzled, didn't bother again, but quietly retreated and put away the old tea.

"Do you say that Gu Wei and Gu Wei were under any pressure, or that they were slow to act after receiving other people's money?" the emperor suddenly spoke, as if he was talking to Huang Gonggong, and as if he was talking to himself.

Huang Gonggong was taken aback when he heard this, the emperor's suspicion actually reached such a level, he hesitated for a moment and then smiled: "The slave doesn't dare to say yes, the emperor, according to reason, this kind of thing, the internal guard will send someone to follow, and the internal guard in Yangzhou will also send someone to keep an eye on it, or, please ask the ancestor to ask?"

The emperor just wanted to agree, but then changed his mind, shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's take a look first." ”

Then he smiled self-deprecatingly: "Loyal ministers, good ministers, capable ministers, and godfathers, after a long time, you can always see it." ”

"What the emperor said is this," Huang Gonggong replied: "The old slave heard the first emperor say that this courtier has to rely on himself to find it, like the hussar general Qiuyun and the governor of Youzhou Duan Chang, they were all promoted by the first emperor, if it wasn't for the first emperor, they would be just a petty official." Emperor, let's not worry, it's a mule or a horse, it can always run out, this mule can't outrun the horse. ”

The emperor couldn't help but laugh: "Father always said that you are the best at talking, I haven't seen it for a while, but now I can see it." ”

Huang Gonggong didn't stop his hand, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the old slave has no other ability, so when the emperor is annoyed, he will be relieved for the emperor." ”

The emperor smiled slightly, lowered his head, and picked up the red pen again, and Huang Gonggong breathed a sigh of relief and continued to do his own thing.

Out of the palace, the king of Yanping County also breathed a sigh of relief, just now he was very worried that the emperor asked him for a list on the spot, some time ago, the imperial court debt collection slowed down, and there was no list, most of the people on the old list have been repaid, and the rest are some hard bones, these people, some of them really have no money, they can't pay it back, and some of them don't pay it back, this part of the people owe a lot, one million and two hundred thousand, accounting for ninety percent, but these people are all powerful people in the court.

"Lord Gan, how to recover this debt, please advise. ”

The king of Yanping County asked Gan Tang for advice, and did not shy away from Zuo Chen and Pan Lian.

Gan Tang sighed slightly: "Lord Wang, you shouldn't have mentioned this stubble just now, is this debt so easy to get? If it was really easy, Gu Wei would have come back a long time ago." ”

"Didn't I see that the emperor was in a hurry," the king of Yanping smiled bitterly: "But I didn't expect the emperor to ask for so much at once, I originally wanted to get back more than 100,000 yuan, just deal with the affairs of King Qin, but I didn't expect ,...."

Speaking of this, the king of Yanping County smiled bitterly again and again, this can be regarded as a cocoon.

"Let's get the hundreds of thousands back first," Gan Tang thought for a while and said, Zuo Chen interjected unhappily on the side: "Why did the prince say this! Share worries for the court, you should do your best, the prince is for the court clan, and even more for the emperor, don't be reluctant!"

The king of Yanping smiled bitterly in his heart, but he could only salute Zuo Chen: "What Master Zuo said is true." ”

Zuo Chen once served as a teacher of Taixue, and most of the children of the royal family had studied in Taixue, so they called him a master.

Zuo Chen glared at Gan Tang and staggered away, Gan Tang looked at his back and shook his head.