"The treasury has no money, that's your household business, what's the matter with my military department? According to what you say, if there is any trouble in our military department, I can also throw it directly to your household department. "Shumulu. Schuhd said.

"Schuhed, aren't you saying this by force? The reason why my household department has no money is not because your military department is incompetent. If your military department has the ability to collect the tax land in Jiangnan, will my household department have no money? "Niu Hulu. Arigon retorted.

"That is, it is reasonable for the military department to speak like this?" At this time, the Tobe squire and others also echoed Niu Hulu. Arigon's words came.

………

Soon, there was a commotion in the court.

"Alright, shut up." Looking at the commotion in the court, Qianlong scolded angrily.

"Servants (ministers) and others are guilty..."Hearing this, a group of officials in the court knelt down one after another to confess.

"Okay, all right, what I want is not that you are guilty, but how to solve the problem." Qianlong said angrily.

"Slaves (ministers) and others thank the emperor for his grace."

………

"Aligon, how was the financial liquidation of the household department last year?" Qianlong asked indifferently.

"Back to the emperor, it's been calculated. Because the southern provinces failed to collect taxes in time, they collected 30 million taels of silver last year, and the goods were not counted. "Niu Hulu. Aligon replied after saluting Qianlong.

"However, last year, there was a continuous war, and the military expenditure was huge, plus the military expenses of the defenders in various places, the expenses of the imperial court, the expenses of the royal family, and the silver of the children of the Eight Banners, etc., the imperial court not only had a surplus last year, but also took 9,645,330 taels of silver from the treasury as a subsidy."

"Although the imperial court does not need to send troops to pacify the short-haired thieves in the south for the time being, the great trouble in the south cannot be prevented. The war between the Western Regions and Burma is not yet known when it will be settled, and the recent Sichuan is not peaceful, so it is estimated that it will have to be quelled by troops. If we add the dispatch of troops to Tsarist Russia now, how can the treasury support so many fronts at the same time, and then it will soon bottom out. ”

"At that time, where else can the imperial court go to take out so much silver as military salary. Without military salaries, can the army on the front line still have combat effectiveness? The remote areas also said that they could slow down, but the short-haired thieves in the south were a big problem, and if there was no money and food support from the treasury, then they would kill the capital. ”

Although Niu Hulu. Aligon's words were a little unpleasant, but Qianlong also listened to them, only to see him ask after looking around at the ministers in the court: "The words of the Hubu Shangshu, your lords have also heard it, what can you do about the current difficulties of the imperial court?" ”

There was silence again in the courtroom.

"Your Majesty, the slave thinks that opening up sources and reducing expenditure is the key now." At this time, only one voice was heard from the group of ministers. Qianlong looked at it, and the one who came out of the column was just echoed Niu Hulu. Shi Jia, the head of the household of Aligon. Henew.

"Flat, tell me what you think." Qianlong said.

"Yes, the slave thanked the emperor for his grace." While talking, Shi Jia. Henew slowly straightened up.

"Your Majesty, the open-source is nothing more than trying to find a way to increase the tax of the imperial court. In the Qing Dynasty, there are tens of thousands of people, and if each person can levy one penny of silver, the imperial court can quickly obtain a tax of 10 million taels, which can greatly alleviate the problem of the shortage of money in the imperial court. ”

"Although the price of silver has risen now, one tael of silver can be exchanged for 1,400 copper plates, so that a penny of silver is only one hundred and forty wen. The wages of a peasant who goes to the city to work can reach (1) 200 or even 300 wen a day, and 140 wen is only half a day's salary for a person. Therefore, the silver levied by one person will not have much impact on the people, but it can greatly improve the production efficiency of the people, so that those who only think about laziness will quickly find a job to do it. ”

"Well, that's good. There are others that don't. Qianlong nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask.

"The minions have heard that the short-haired thieves in the south have opened up their maritime trade and have gained a lot. Can the DPRK also open the sea ban? And then add taxes on maritime trade to replenish the treasury revenues? "Shi Jia. Heniu asked like Qianlong with a tight look.

"Qi Qi Sheng, Wu Daoqing felt that Lord Henew's words were inappropriate." I saw that Qianlong was still thinking about it, but he heard a courtier stand up against Shi Jia. Henew's words.

Qianlong turned his head and glanced at Wu Daoqing, who stood up, and motioned for him to continue.

"This dynasty has been forbidden to the sea since the founding of the dynasty, and even the former Ming Dynasty was the same. Why? When we trade at sea, our people will buy something, and most of the things that drift from the sea are expensive. For example, a foreign clock costs more than 100 taels of silver, which is enough for six relatively wealthy families to spend a year. A set of glazed cups can be sold for hundreds of taels, and the price is so expensive that you can imagine, and the wealth lost in our country is self-evident. ”

"I am a kingdom in the heavens, the land is vast and the resources are abundant, what do you want, why do you need to lose such wealth to overseas barbarians? Although the opening up of maritime trade can collect some taxes, it will inevitably lead to the loss of private wealth. At that time, the imperial court will have less tax revenue in other places. In this way, the tax is only left hand to right hand. ”

"Moreover, if we have to lose our country's wealth to other countries because the imperial court wants to collect a little maritime trade tax, it is better to collect it directly from the imperial court, and it also avoids the loss of national wealth."

"Well, what Lord Wu said is reasonable, and it is indeed impossible to open up. Since the founding of this dynasty and even the former Ming Dynasty, the sea has been forbidden, and there must be a reason for it. I saw that when Wu Daoqing paused, some ministers couldn't help but agree with Wu Daoqing's words.

"That is, the former Ming Dynasty has forbidden the sea for more than 200 years, can it be that the people of the former Ming Dynasty will be stupid people? They certainly understand that, too. Our dynasty has banned the sea since Emperor Sejong, and in addition to the war, I guess I can see this. ”

“……”

At this time, Wu Daoqing glanced at Qianlong, only to see that he still didn't make a sound, as if signaling him to continue.

However, I heard Shi Jia. Henew shot back at Wu Daoqing and said: "What Lord Wu said may be reasonable, but you must know that maritime trade is naturally bought and sold. We can also sell things to them for a good profit. How else do you explain that the Shorthair Thieves are so respectful of maritime trade and get good taxes? ”

Note (1): The relevant information can be seen back to the previous chapters, of course, you can also search for Baidu independently. Of course, Heniu has the element of fooling Qianlong. Generally, only skilled workers such as carpentry only have more than 200 yuan a day, and ordinary workers are mostly about 70 to 120 yuan, and of course there are fewer cases. And these times are still relatively peaceful, and when there is war, these workers will be paid even less.