On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the Great Pilgrimage Meeting.

Sitting on the dragon chair in Fengtian Palace, listening to Shuangxi read out the New Year's edict, this made the smile on Zhu Yunwen's face add three points of joy.

After the double happiness was read out and the civil and military ministers congratulated, Zhu Yunwen spoke.

"Let's all be flat, at the beginning of the new year, the whole world will celebrate together, and you don't need to be polite."

When the crowd got up, according to the usual practice, Zhu Yunwen generously announced this year's New Year's increase, expanding only the number of Beijing officials to all officials above the fifth grade in the world.

It will be added for one month.

Don't ask why, it's willful to ask.

The hall was full of joy, and everyone bowed down again to thank them.

In fact, if you think about it, the emperor is still very good, not only open-minded but also very generous, except for the fact that there are a lot of moths in Pingsuli, and he has a dog face, and he has no other shortcomings.

If you insist on talking about shortcomings, it may be too assertive and difficult to deceive.

"Today's court meeting only said two things, one is to inform the imperial court of this year's planned financial expenditure, and the other is to discuss this year's imperial examination."

Under the leadership of Zhu Yunwen, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it has become more and more efficient and disciplined, and many things are straight to the topic and focus on the key points.

In the fifth year of Jianwen, the imperial court's planned financial expenditure was done as early as before the end of the year, and as in previous years, the cabinet and the Fifth Military Office went to the palace to discuss with Zhu Yunwen, the emperor, and after they had no opinions, Zhu Yunwen and the cabinet printed and promulgated.

This year, of course, the same is true, such a major event as planning financial expenditures will be taken out for a New Year's court.

This is to let the big guys know how much money the country can make this year, how much it will spend, and how much it has a deficit or surplus.

After the first meeting of the new year, the planned financial expenditure report of the imperial court will also be published in the Qiushi newspaper and spread all over the world.

This can be regarded as the earliest openness of government affairs.

"Finance, Xia Yuanji, you can report it."

The emperor called the name, and Xia Yuanji, the head of the household, stood up, held the notebook and began to report.

"In the fourth year of Jianwen, my total income in the Ming Dynasty is 59.1 million taels, the total expenses are 84.2 million taels, and the deficit is 25.1 million taels, if you add the 20 million taels that Your Majesty took out of his own pocket from the internal funds, Jianwen has been in three years, and my total expenses in the Ming Dynasty will break 10,000 taels!"

Ten thousand!

In the main hall, there was an uproar.

In the past, the annual income of the Hongwu Dynasty was only twenty or thirty million taels, and the imperial court could survive at that time, and there would be a surplus at the end of the year.

With a deficit of more than 20 million taels, does the imperial court still have a family foundation?

"The treasury is empty."

This kind of question is not equal to the question raised by his colleagues, and Xia Yuanji has already taken the initiative to speak.

"There was a major flood in Jiangxi, and the only thing left of the treasury was a few granaries."

A flood in Jiangxi, for this flood, in addition to allocating grain, the imperial court is spending money to buy grain from the large households in Jiangxi land for disaster relief, because the traffic situation in Jiangxi is now very bad, the court transports grain, the more it is sent, the greater the consumption, it is better to escort the silver to Jiangxi to buy grain to save.

And for the flood fighters to add silver, if it weren't for Zhu Yunwen, the emperor, who paid out of his own pocket, the treasury would not have been able to get any money.

"The money to buy grain in Jiangxi today is still borrowed from the imperial businessman."

Xia Yuanji's face was indifferent, and he said very calmly: "The provincial treasury does not give out a penny, and the money that should be spent, no matter how difficult it is for the household department, will hold on." ”

For the sake of this huge flood in Jiangxi, the household department borrowed 10 million taels from the imperial merchants!

This is the first time in the history of the Chinese nation that the imperial court borrowed money from merchants!

Forcing donations or directly raiding homes is not uncommon in the history of our country, but reaching out to borrow money, God knows how embarrassed Xia Yuanji was when he found Zhu Zhi.

"Okay, don't spit out bitterness in the Qing family, the money that should have been spent last year has finally been spent, and the court has survived, let's talk about next year."

At this time, Zhu Yunwen opened his mouth to interrupt the discussion in the hall.

The treasury is dry, and he, the emperor, doesn't know where he is, so he just talks about a reward for encouraging the athletes to fight the flood, and he, the emperor, doesn't he also take out all the internal money.

Now not only does the country have no money, but he, the emperor, is also a poor bastard.

Seeing that Zhu Yunwen took the initiative to divert the topic, Xia Yuanji no longer pestered Jianwen for four years, but continued to speak.

"This year's expenditure household department, the cabinet, the general staff, and the five military offices have also drawn up a charter.

This year, the imperial court has laid off a group of older veterans, about 100,000 people, and the remaining 900,000 troops are 18 million taels, plus some miscellaneous armaments, adding up to more than 20 million taels.

The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Officials are still the majority, and Jiangxi has not been able to resume production in the whole province this year, plus Jiangxi has been exempted from taxes for three years.

According to the current vote of the cabinet, the estimated expenditure of the state treasury this year will still not be less than 50 million taels! ”

Speaking of this, Xia Yuanji sighed and made a suggestion to Zhu Yunwen.

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty at the moment, the treasury is still in debt, the imperial merchant is still in arrears of 10 million taels, and in the first half of the year, the general staff, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Officials will pay the money, and the minister suggests that the tax should be raised in advance in the first half of the year."

This suggestion caused a temporary silence in the Fengtian Temple.

The tax increase is not a tax, he Xia Yuanji means that the grain tax for six years of Jianwen will be collected in advance!

The only thing that can be collected is the grain tax, because the commercial tax is levied according to the revenue, and there is no accuracy of collecting it in advance.

However, taxing in advance is something that can only be done when the country is too poor to open the pot.

Zhu Yunwen categorically refused without even the slightest hesitation.

"No, the military expenses for the first half of the year, the Industrial Bank of the Ministry of Industry, and the salary of the Ministry of Officials, I will come out."

Although there is no money in the treasury, the imperial merchant has it!

It's a big deal, Zhu Yunwen, the emperor, went to the emperor to borrow it, and deducted it from his share of profits every year.

"I can hold on to money, and the court can also hold on, and the court can't hold on to me!"

Looking at Xia Yuanji, Zhu Yunwen looked indifferent, as if he didn't have the slightest concern. 、

"Go on, and report all the planned expenses of the household department this year."

Xia Yuanji sighed, held the question book in his hand, and simply reported them one by one, so that all the ministers in the Fengtian Hall listened to it.

If you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, it turns out that there are so many places to spend money now!

The province has a provincial law, and the generous has a generous law.

Zhu Yunwen's personality is completely different from Taizu, Taizu is because of his experience when he was a child, he can save money, but Zhu Yunwen is diametrically opposed, he first thinks about how to make money, and if he can't earn it, he will think about saving money.

At present, in the southwest, the mercenary groups of the six countries have almost been trained, and the armaments that should be replenished, the General Staff Department has also replenished 100,000 people, and they can go to Nantianzhu at any time, and the war of the Fujian and Zhejiang naval divisions going to the sea is also imminent, and the investment is naturally expensive.

But Zhu Yunwen believes that the return will definitely be seen!