The Red Mansions

Chapter 670 Saving expenses and eliminating postmen?

Chapter 670 Saving expenses, eliminating postmen?

Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall

The candidate for Nanhe Hedu was suppressed, and all the ministers looked at each other in blank dismay, with different thoughts.

But it's normal, because the river affairs officer has a lot to do with it, it can't be decided in a court discussion, and it still needs to be elected by the officials.

After all matters were discussed, Emperor Chongping mentioned the military affairs again, saying: "The Beijing camp put an end to the chaos in the Central Plains with thunderous momentum, which shows that the whole army has achieved remarkable results. Guyuan, Yulin and other border towns have been replenished to [-]% compared to before, and Xuanfu and Jizhen are also on the list of rectifications. Only Taiyuan and Datong towns, according to Wang Chengyin and Jiang Zining, have been in military towns since they led the army. The soldiers of the military academy are all actual soldiers, and Beijing County is investigating."

Emperor Chongping did not talk about the lack of progress of King Beijing, but focused on the three towns of Beiping, narrating: "The Department of Economic Strategy and Appeasement has been eliminated and recruited, and the economic system has been negotiated. Jizhen has [-] troops, Xuanfu [-] and [-] in Beiping, the border towns above have a large number of generals and schools, and the salary of the soldiers and the extravagant expenses of military equipment and armor must be distributed in time by the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War, so as not to delay the military plan.”

Yang Guochang, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Shi Jiejie, the minister of the Ministry of war, said yes.

Emperor Chongping said slowly: "The way to strengthen the army is firstly training, and secondly, money and food. The training depends on the strategy of the generals, and the money and food. Since this year, the north has experienced drought first and then water. , The national treasury is in a huge deficit, Mr. Yang Ge, you are in charge of the household department, do you have a word to tell the ministers?"

When Yang Guochang heard the words, he said in a cang voice: "My lord, the household department has paid more than seventy-eight million yuan in arrears to the soldiers and officials on the nine borders, and even purchased grain and rice to feed to the Beiping Economic and Strategic Appeasement Department. 800 million, the national treasury is not enough to make ends meet, the veterans think that the top priority is to increase income and reduce expenditure, and reduce redundant staff, the household department is initially established, and the local postmen are overstaffed, so the postmen should be eliminated to save expenses."

Jia Heng listened below, his complexion changed slightly, and his eyes were fixed.

Save money, cut down postmen?

Emperor Chongping looked calm, and asked, "Apart from reducing expenditure by cutting redundant staff, is there a way to increase revenue?"

Yang Guochang gathered his thoughts and said like a few treasures: "My lord, in addition to the grain tax of the provinces, there are also commercial taxes such as tea and salt, chariots and horses, and city customs ships. Nowadays, the people suffer from excessive and miscellaneous taxes, and there are many civil uprisings. It is not appropriate to apportion. For the grain tax, the minister thought that we should add lijin to the commercial tax to broaden the tax sources."

Because of Jia Heng's previous refutation, at this moment the chief minister of the cabinet swallowed back the words that "the benefits of the mountains, rivers and swamps belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Households has very little financial resources".

And Yang Guochang's words of tax increase undoubtedly caused an uproar in the palace.

Han Huang's face was gloomy, and his eyes were dark and uncertain.

There are many merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Once the business tax is increased, the fathers and elders of Jiangsu and Zhejiang will suffer. Apart from exploiting the southern scholars, what means does the Qi Party have?Qian donkeys are poor!

Jia Heng listened to the performance of Emperor Chongping and Yang Guochang, his eyes flickered, thinking about the key points.

The so-called extravagance up and down will plunder the people, and if the civil uprising is imminent, it will plunder the merchants. on the businessman's head.

There is nothing surprising about this line of thinking. It is also the same line of thought when he tracked down the Yangzhou salt merchants.

In fact, the difficulty of solving this problem is not only to make a big cake, but also to scrape bones to treat poison, with the blade facing inward, to severely punish corruption, and to recover deficits. In this land of big men, these people can never cross the ocean.

Emperor Chongping looked indifferent, and amidst the concerns of some officials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he said: "The matter of commercial taxation needs to be carefully considered. The salt law has a lot of abuses. It is necessary to get rid of the abuses and expand the sources of income. Get the salt work in order."

With the current situation of the national treasury, it cannot support a big war at all.

When Yang Guochang heard the words, his face became serious, and he said yes.

When a discussion was decided, it was almost noon, the officials dispersed, and Emperor Chongping left Jia Heng alone to go to the study in the Daming Palace.

Emperor Chongping looked dignified, and said: "Ziyu, just now the courtiers were discussing matters, and you heard that the household department is in a serious deficit. If it weren't for the help of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the money and rations were not given, and even the military salaries of the frontier troops could not be paid. For the long term."

Jia Heng nodded, and said: "Your Majesty, whether the Ministry of Internal Affairs operates mines or steals the wealth of officials, it can only relieve temporary difficulties, or find another source of income."

Either squeeze internally, or colonize or trade externally, there is no other way.

"I think so too." Emperor Chongping pondered for a moment, then asked with his eyes: "I remember, Ziyu, when you first came to the palace, you were here at the beginning, and you once explained to me the essentials of reform and innovation. The picture is strong."

Jia Heng said: "My lord, the reform is the foundation of eternal peace. Don't be too hasty. What's more, just do it without talking about it, do more without talking about it, and spread it out one by one. If you can succeed in rectifying the salt affairs, why not do it in the future?" Reform? As for clearing Zhang’s fields, we can focus on one province and one area.”

Reform requires a peaceful external environment. As for reforms, it is better to call them financial and tax reforms than reforms, and he doesn't like the word reforms very much.

There are new problems in the world every day. If there is a problem, solve the problem and watch the results. If you insist on bundling a package plan, you will end up making a lot of noise. There are not many implementations, not to mention other things, and there is no talent pool. How can you ensure that the policy will not be out of shape? ?

Don't be too big, don't talk about it in general, don't strike out across the board, don't seek perfection, but prioritize and focus on cutting sausages one by one.

Now that the army has been successfully reorganized, the establishment of the military aircraft department, and the rectification of river affairs, which one is not changing?Which one is not moving the cheese of vested interests?But because every time the monarch and his ministers were single-minded and focused on fighting, looking back, the situation changed drastically.

In fact, those politicians who have achieved great achievements in history have operated in this way. For example, Cao Cao promoted only talents and reused poor people, Zhang Juzheng used a whip method, and Yongzheng divided his family into his mu. Isn’t it a change?No word is changing, but everything is changing.

On the contrary, those who are invincible in their talk, who clearly do one point, but want to shout three points, most of them will end up with the Anshi Reform, the ending of the New Deal of [-], promulgating hundreds of laws and regulations at once, like a child's play, really think that words follow the law and overthrow it. Start again, customized by the founding of the country?

Emperor Chongping nodded, and said: "As Ziyu said, to make a difference in foreign wars, you must fight steadily and steadily. Ziyu should also have seen Li Ge's memorabilia. As far as you are concerned, Jizhen, Xuanfu, etc. , Is the number of controlled troops in Beiping still enough?"

Jia Heng said: "I think this force is enough to defend the city. As far as I know, there are only more than [-] soldiers who have conquered the country. There are a lot of people, but they dare not go out to fight in the field, the reason is that the soldiers' fighting power is low."

"According to the memorial, these are soldiers and horses newly recruited from Hebei and Shandong. The frontier troops have been out of battle for a long time, and they will have no fighting spirit. They don't know how to improve their combat power." Emperor Chongping said in a low voice with worry in his eyes.

Jia Heng said: "At present, the defense is the first thing to do, and when the time is right, we can adjust the strength of the border towns. Otherwise, in the long run, the military expenditure will be huge and the income will not be able to make ends meet."

"What Ziyu said is very true. If we can calm down the Eastern Captives, we don't have to maintain such a large military equipment and waste money and food." Emperor Chongping said with deep empathy, looking expectantly at the boy opposite, and said: " Ziyu, I still want to see you."

It is a huge financial burden for Chen Han. Without this financial burden, Chen Han can go into battle with ease.

Jia Heng said: "Your Majesty, I have been actively preparing for the war recently, striving to bring down the eastern captives as soon as possible."

Xu Shi felt a little bit of "time does not wait" after Jia Heng's words. Emperor Chongping thought for a while, and said: "You are going to prepare recently, go south to Yangzhou, rectify the salt affairs, and recover the deficit. This time, you will use troops. I have prepared enough money, and this matter has not been discussed by the court, so as not to cause another disturbance in the city."

Jia Heng pondered for a moment, and said: "I will go south to Huaiyang after I clean up some of the hands in Beijing."

Just as the monarch and his ministers were discussing to go on the right path, the voice of the inner eunuch came from outside the hall, "The empress is here."

Not long after, I saw Empress Song enter the palace accompanied by a group of female officials. The beauty is plump and graceful, and the beautiful and well-maintained jade face can't see the traces of time at all. Underneath is a low-cut light yellow palace dress, a large piece of snow-white skin, because it is summer, there is a layer of fine sweat, creamy powder, glittering and translucent, and a crystal of sweat falls into the deep valleys, soaking the small clothes.

"Zitong, are you here?" Emperor Chongping looked at Queen Song and called softly.

Jia Heng quickly suppressed his eyes that had no place to rest, bowed to the graceful and gorgeous Empress Song, cupped his hands and said: "I have seen the empress, and the empress is a thousand years old."

Empress Song looked at Jia Heng, under Chunshan's black eyebrows, her beautiful eyes were charming and rippling, she smiled lightly, dimples appeared on her snow-skinned and beautiful face, and said: "Zi Yu is not polite, what did Zi Yu say to His Majesty?"

Jia Heng said: "Just now the Holy Majesty mentioned something about the humble court."

Emperor Chongping looked at Empress Song, and said, "Zitong, call Xianning, Concubine Rong, and have lunch together later. After Ziyu returns to Beijing, it's not easy to stay here."

Since he is his own son-in-law, he should have a family banquet.

Empress Song smiled lightly and said, "The concubine also meant the same thing."

As he spoke, he ordered Xia Shouzhong, who was at the side, to go and call Princess Xianning and Concubine Rong.

Empress Song sat down, her beautiful eyes showed a trace of thought under her beautiful eyebrows, and said softly: "What are you busy with when Ziyu returns to Beijing these few days?"

Jia Heng looked at the beautiful woman with a face as delicate as a peach, and replied honestly: "Going back to my mother, I have nothing to do. These days, I sacrificed to my ancestors because of Jinjue, reunited with my family, and then went to the Yamen. ask questions."

In desperation back then, when supporting Emperor Chongping, he accidentally touched the sensitive part of this beautiful woman in front of him. With the respect of the queen mother, the back of her hand, let alone the place, has never been touched by anyone other than the emperor. ?

But it is impossible for him to never forget this matter.

Empress Song nodded her head, said with a light smile, "Zi Yu left for several months, and when he comes back, he should reunite with his family."

As she said that, Empress Song looked at the young man opposite with bright eyes softly flowing under her eyebrows, and asked with a smile: "I heard from the palace lady yesterday that you went to see Xianning?"

Hearing the mention of Princess Xianning, Jia Heng looked a little unnatural, and explained: "Well, I talked to His Highness Xianning for a while, and I haven't seen her for a while since Kaifeng, and His Highness is even more beautiful than before."

Empress Song smiled and said, "Xianning is in Henan this time, so you have to worry a lot."

Jia Heng said: "Don't dare to be an empress, Your Highness has helped me a lot."

While several people were talking, suddenly the voice of the inner eunuch came from outside the hall, Princess Xianning and Concubine Duanrong came in, and there was another person, Li Chanyue, the owner of Qinghe County with soft eyebrows.

Princess Xianning was wearing a wide-sleeved green dress, tall and tall, with a beautiful face. She stepped into the palace, saluted Emperor Chongping and Empress Song, and said in a clear and pleasant voice, "I have seen my father, I have seen you." After passing the mother."

The imperial concubine Duanrong and the little princess approached and also saluted Emperor Chongping and Empress Song.

Empress Song smiled, stretched out her hand and said, "Xianning, come and sit here."

Princess Xianning nodded, called out, and then sat down on the embroidered pier next to Empress Song, her clear eyes fell on the face of the boy in python.

Concubine Duan Rong glanced at Jia Heng, her beautiful eyes flickered under her curved eyebrows, her thoughts were inexplicable.

Yesterday I heard from the maid that Jia Ziyu had gone to the Xianning bedroom, but after asking, it was His Majesty who asked Jia Ziyu to go.

Your Majesty is also true, the two are not afraid of doing something inappropriate if they are in such an intimate relationship before they are married?

Empress Song asked with a smile, "Sister, why haven't you seen Ze'er?"

Concubine Duanrong's eyes were as clear as water, and she said softly: "Wei'er and Ze'er are listening to the lectures given by the bachelors of the Hongwen Museum and the Imperial Academy, Your Majesty, I think Ze'er is not young anymore, should I hire him a separate teacher? "

Chen Han has always attached great importance to the education of the prince. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the Hongwen Museum was set up as a professor school for the relatives of the emperor and the children of meritorious officials. The former Princess Xianning and the little princess studied in it.

And the prince is a little older, for example, when he is eight years old, he will specially invite Hanlin to teach him.

Emperor Chongping nodded, and said: "Since Concubine Rong has such a heart, let the Imperial Academy and the Imperial College send the list, and you can have a look at it with my merchants, and choose virtuous and upright people to teach Zeer's knowledge."

Ze'er is talented and intelligent, kind-hearted and early-wisdom, so he needs to pay attention to education.

Duanrong noble concubine smiled lightly and said, "The concubine thanked the sage."

Seeing this scene, Empress Song smiled slightly, glanced at Emperor Chongping, and said, "Sister, the weather is warm these days, Ze'er will be born in a few days, how does my sister want to celebrate Ze'er's birthday?"

Concubine Duanrong said softly: "He is a child, if he is too grand, it will ruin his luck. He can just celebrate in the palace."

Emperor Chongping said: "Concubine Rong is right, don't make a big fuss, the most important thing is to be frugal."

After a while, the palace people presented all kinds of dishes, fruits and vegetables, cups, bowls, chopsticks and plates, and arranged a mahogany table in a dazzling array. Empress Song and Concubine Duan Rong accompanied Emperor Chongping to sit down.

Jia Heng, Princess Xianning, and Princess Qinghe took their seats one after another, um, not one left and one right.

Emperor Chongping put down his chopsticks, looked at the young man with a clear face and sitting upright, with gentle eyes, and said, "Ziyu, I look much thinner than before I left Beijing, eat more later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern." Jia Heng quickly put down his chopsticks, looked at Emperor Chongping and said, "The same is true for Your Majesty, please take care of the dragon's body, and don't work too hard."

Princess Xianning said in a clear voice: "Father, when you were in Kaifeng, you lived and ate on the embankment in order to rush to repair the embankment. In order to catch up with the construction period, you even carried earth and rocks on the embankment yourself. When it was time to fight the flood, you also forgot to eat and sleep. "

Emperor Chongping said with emotion: "I also know about this matter. The dikes and dikes along the section of the Yellow River in Henan are not below the South River. Thanks to Ziyu's early repairs, there will be no major disturbances."

That's why those civil servants didn't know his intention of rewarding the first-class uncle.

Listening to the discussion between Emperor Chongping and his own daughter, Concubine Duan Rong couldn't help raising her crystal-clear eyes to look at the boy in python suit, the coldness in her eyes also dissipated a lot.

From the point of view of his heart, apart from having a family, this son-in-law is indeed enough to match Xianning in terms of talent and character.

Empress Song smiled and said: "Ziyu is still young, this time I come back and wait for a good rest."

After having a meal with Emperor Chongping and Concubine Duan Rong, Jia Heng didn't stay in the palace too long and left the palace.

"Mr. Jia."

Walking quickly on the palace road with high vermilion walls, Jia Heng heard a call from behind, looked back, and found that it was Li Chanyue, the owner of Qinghe County, with four female officials behind him.

Li Chanyue's brows and eyes were a little timid, and a blush appeared on her clear and snowy cheeks at some point, and she said in a weak voice: "Mr. Jia, I... I am also leaving the palace."

This man was so contemptuous of her yesterday, so she didn't sleep well last night, and he didn't even look at her when he was eating.

Jia Heng smiled and said: "That happens to be on the way, let's go together."

The little princess is quite interesting. She was taken advantage of yesterday, and then she took the initiative to deliver it to her door. The feelings of a girl are always poetry, which is probably the case.

Li Chanyue had a beautiful face, her white teeth pursed her lips, and she gave a soft "um", following Jia Heng walking on the palace road with high red walls, it was the midsummer day, and the heat was scorching, the two walked quickly, walking Near the palace gate, I finally saw a tree shade.

Jia Heng stood still, looked at the little princess whose cheeks were flushed, and beads of sweat were forming on her temples and forehead, and said softly, "Chanyue, why don't you hold an umbrella to protect yourself from the sun in such a hot day?"

As he spoke, he picked up a handkerchief, handed it over, and said in a warm voice, "Wipe the sweat off your face, don't suffer from heat stroke."

The little princess thanked her, took the handkerchief, gently wiped the sweat from her cheeks, and met the young man's gentle eyes, with a hint of sweetness in her heart, squeezed the handkerchief, and said softly: "Mr. Jia, the handkerchief is dirty, I'll wash it later and give it to you."

Jia Heng said softly, "Just keep it."

Generally speaking, the handkerchiefs he sent out were rarely returned.

"Chanyue, is your mother still at home?" Jia Heng raised his eyes, looked at the carriage coming from the stables at the palace gate, and asked.

"Ah?" The little princess was stunned for a moment. For some reason, she felt a little depressed in her heart, and said softly, "The weather is hot these days, so I stayed at home to read a book to enjoy the coolness, and yesterday I said that I would go to Xishan to escape the summer heat."

Jia Heng said softly: "Well, let's go and have a look later."

"Oh." Li Chanyue frowned when she heard the words, clutching the handkerchief Jia Heng gave her, her thoughts were complicated, why did this little Mr. Jia speak like an elder?

After a while, the female officer had already driven the carriage from the Princess's Mansion, Li Chanyue lifted the curtain and got into the carriage, but she was stunned when she just entered the carriage, but saw the young man following behind, also entering the carriage with the curtain.

"What about Mr. Jia?" Li Chanyue stared at the young man and said in surprise.

Jia Heng said as a matter of course: "The sun is shining outside, it's a bit hot, Chanyue, you don't mind if I come in?"

Li Chanyue: "..."

You have come in, now ask her if she minds?

As the carriage turned around, the breeze from both sides blew in along the bamboo curtains and hit the face, which was quite cool.

Li Chanyue was drooping her eyelids and stirring her handkerchief with both hands. Suddenly, her heart couldn't help jumping. It was clear that the boy in the python suit was coming over. Then he said, "Cousin said, Mr. Jia is still going to Yangzhou?"

Jia Heng turned his head to look at the girl with a beautiful face, and said, "I'm going there, and I'll bring some local Yangzhou specialties to Chanyue when I come back. What do you want, Chanyue?"

As he said that, Zhuangji naturally pulled Li Chanyue's slender hand. For him, the strategy is a save game, and he can continue to operate according to the progress bar of the last time.

Li Chanyue's delicate body trembled slightly, as if she had been electrocuted, she wanted to withdraw her hand, but saw that the young man's grip was a little tight, so she had to put it down for now, her cheeks were blushing, and her voice was trembling a little, she said: "Mr. Jia, don't bother, I don't want anything."

"When we get to Yangzhou, I'll buy you two." Jia Heng said softly.

Seeing this, Li Chanyue couldn't refuse this kindness anymore.

Jia Heng leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered, "Did Chanyue miss me after she went back yesterday?"

Li Chanyue felt the numbness coming from her ears, her jade cheeks blushed, her delicate body trembled slightly, she quickly turned her pretty face aside, it seemed that even her earlobes were blushing, and said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Jia, Don't... don't mess around."

She didn't want to bully her whenever she had the chance.

However, at this moment, seeing the shadow approaching, he felt his lips soften.

Not long after, Li Chanyue held Jia Heng down, and said with shame and anger: "Mr. Jia..."

Jia Heng withdrew his hand lightly, looked at the girl with embarrassed eyebrows, and said softly: "I just saw that you are sweating from the heat, so please wipe it off for you."

Li Chanyue: "???"

Looking at the girl with an inexplicably astonished face, Jia Heng stretched out his hand to gently wrap her arms around the girl's shoulders, and said softly: "Chanyue, I've been a little busy these days, let's go outside the city to play, I remember you like hunting , seems to be able to draw five or six bows."

"Mr. Jia, how do you know?" Li Chanyue paused slightly when she heard this, her eyes slightly surprised.

Jia Heng said softly: "Did you forget? Outside the city, we didn't know each other at that time, and you said that opening two crossbows is nothing."

Li Chanyue was brought back into memory by Jia Heng's words. After a while, a complex feeling arose deep in her heart, and said quietly: "It's been so long... Mr. Jia still remembers."

Mr. Jia still remembers what she said when he first met her.

Jia Heng said: "Actually, I remember a lot of what Chanyue said."

Hearing this, Li Chanyue raised her eyes to look at the young man, her brows were already in a state of ecstasy.

"I didn't talk to Chanyue before, only a few words, but I don't know why, but when I think about it, it really seems like yesterday." Jia Heng fell silent and said softly.

Li Chanyue's heart was shocked, listening to the boy's calm tone, in fact, she was too.

Last night I tossed and turned without sleep, my mind was full of the scenes of talking with Mr. Jia in the past, and for some reason, my memory was very clear.

It turns out that Mr. Jia is also like this?

Jia Heng gently held Li Chanyue's plain hand, and said softly: "Chanyue, when we have free time, let's go hunting together."

Li Chanyue gave a soft "hmm", pursed her lips, and said softly: "Let's wait for the weather to be cooler, these few days...it's really hot."

Jia Heng took the girl's hand and said in a warm voice, "Then I'll wipe off Chanyue's sweat."

"Huh? Uh~" Li Chanyue stared blankly, she had to close her eyes and let the young man do what she wanted.

Jia Heng was intimate, and before he knew it, the carriage finally stopped in front of Princess Jinyang's mansion, and Jia Heng and the shy Li Chanyue got out of the carriage.

(End of this chapter)