"Here!! - Drop off the sedan car! Chang Sui let out a shout full of Shanxi charm, hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the front and lifted the curtain of the 'door', and said with concern, "Master, be careful!" ”

"Hmm!"

Xu Danyang, the merchant 'waiter', coughed, bent down and got out of the sedan chair, raised his head, and squinted at the palace not far away. It is early summer at the moment, but the city of Beijing is already hot 'waves' and 'forced' people, the scorching sun is in the sky, the entire palace buildings look bright and shining, and the glazed tiles on the roof are shining brightly and majestic.

It's almost May, but the allocation of money and food in the second half of the year has not yet set a charter, which makes Xu Danyang very worried in his heart, and with it, his face that was smiling all the year round is also unconsciously 'gloomy' a lot, and the businessman spirit of the philistine on his body has been wiped out a lot, and a bit of official authority has been born.

is very different from most officials in the Han Dynasty, Xu Danyang is a businessman, and he only learns when it comes to articles, and he is too far away from those Hanlin Xiucai. And now, he has become one of the few "famous ministers" of the Han Empire, made great contributions in the war of unification, and won the trust of the emperor and the first auxiliary scholar Li Guangdi, in recent years, many economic policies promulgated by the empire, his shadow can be vaguely seen behind it, and his views and opinions directly affect the economic trend of China, East Asia and even the whole earth.

The composition of the financial institutions of the Lin and Han empires is quite special, according to the criticism of the old and young in the capital, it can be said that it is "unprecedented", according to the emperor's will to set up this Han royal money house was endowed with great monetary power, the world money bank, ticket number, pawnshop, charge number, salt merchants, grain merchants, dart bureaus and other merchants with the nature of financial institutions to exercise the right of "supervision and control", check the account books on schedule, verify the exchange, and collect deposits, along the coastline of China all the way down, from the Yalu River to Hainan Island, including the Ryukyus, In Penghu and other colonies, there were dispatched agencies in various ports, which supervised each other with the customs, strictly checked the import and export of silver, brass and other precious metals, and controlled the circulation of currency.

To this day, the money system under the leadership of Xu Danyang has been extremely successful, and the "Han Silver Dollar" series of currencies minted and issued by the Lin and Han Empires have completely eliminated the inflow of Spanish silver coins, Mexican eagle oceans, Dutch East India Company small oceans, and other Western colonial institutions in East Asia. In East Asia and even parts of Southeast Asia, the exchange of Han silver dollars has become an international means of payment, in this regard, the Han Empire formulated a set of compulsory policies, but any commercial activities within the sphere of influence of the Lin Han Empire, shall not use foreign currency, violators shall be punished for tax evasion, and foreign capital to enter China, must be in Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Dengzhou, Qinhuangdao seven places for foreign exchange exchange, foreign currency or primary precious metals into Han Empire silver dollars, in order to obtain market access qualifications, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the market.

Because of the state monopoly, a large amount of silver flowing in from Europe and America was under the supervision of the imperial court, and the government was extremely profitable; last year alone, the royal money bank handed over more than 36 million taels of silver, which was 1.5 times the annual revenue of 21 million taels of the customs, and the annual income of Hetian Fu was the same.

Judging from the numerical value alone, there is no doubt that the royal money bank has become the pillar of the imperial court, and under the deliberate or unintentional run of the money bank institutions, the traditional household department that can only exercise financial management in China has gradually sunset, and there is no longer the prestige of the previous dynasties to "'operate' the lifeblood of the temple", and gradually degenerated into a housekeeper-type ya' door specializing in auditing, allocation, and supervision and management of the 'spending' of funds.

Xu Danyang has a very high status in the empire, not because of his prestige, nor because of the deep longing of the saint, nothing else, just two words: "Rich!" ”

It takes 'spending' money to fight a war, 'spending' money to relieve disasters, 'spending' money to care for the people, the salaries of officials, the army's salaries and rewards, the imperial court stands for a day, and the silver and pennies will be 'spent' out.

Under such circumstances, the Han Dynasty Royal Qian Zhuang has naturally become a hot fragrant bun inside and outside the government and the opposition, and Xu Danyang's 'servant' Lang has become more and more majestic, and he is in awe of the government and the opposition.

The only thing that makes people feel unpleasant is that because of the compulsory monopoly policy of the imperial court, pirates along the coast of the Han Dynasty have gradually grown, and the momentum is not small, and a large number of 'smuggling' merchants have been "lured" and "confused" by profits, and have joined this industry with no profits. In many sea areas, these gang of guys who want money and don't want their lives are fighting with open fire, and many of them are equipped with the standard equipment of the Imperial Navy, and they swagger around 'smuggling', and if they encounter a naval brigade, they will scatter in a hurry; if they encounter a small inspection officer and soldier, they actually resist arrest and fight with the Imperial Navy, and most of the time they actually have mixed victories.

In fact, the whole court understood that among these many large and small pirates, the most powerful and powerful pirates inside were probably the officers and soldiers of Taiwan's Zheng Jing.

Xu Danyang has always tried his best to express a meaning in the imperial court: if the Han Empire wants to maintain its current financial revenue, it must recover Taiwan as soon as possible and wipe out all the pirates along the coast.

This line of thinking is diametrically opposed to the current policy of "pacifying Geerdan and encompassing the desert steppe" that the imperial court currently adheres to.

Time passed slowly, just a moment away from the discussion, a low shout sounded at the other end of the avenue, a team of sedan chair drivers stopped together, "bang" fell off the sedan chair, Xu Danyang turned his head to look, immediately piled up a smile, bowed his hand, "I don't want to be Li Xiang - Xia Guan Tongshang 'waiter' Lang Xu Danyang, I have seen Li Xiang!" ”

Compared with previous years, Li Guangdi looks older, his forehead is full of wrinkles, and at the age of less than 50, even his sideburns are 'gray'. Facing Xu Danyang, he arched his hand slightly, and reluctantly smiled, "Yanzhi doesn't need to be polite!" ”

Xu Danyang raised his head and carefully looked at the prime minister who was famous at home and abroad, in the early summer sun, I saw that this middle-aged man who was not old and decrepit was 'spirited' and withered, his steps were staggering, his eyes were dim, as if he had not slept well for a few days and nights, and he couldn't help but say with concern, "Although the state affairs are heavy, you must also take care of your body, Li Xiang, you are the head of the hundred officials, the holy humerus, but be careful!" ”

"Might as well!" Li Guangdi smiled, waved his hand, and changed the topic, "Today, the Holy Lord ordered me to wait for a small discussion, it is precisely for the sake of 'Mongolia' the ancient military affairs, the border passes under the sun are frequently urgent, and the war is about to break out, Zhao Guangyuan and Zhao Liangdong have three letters of 800 li every day to rush to Pei Gong, I estimate that 'touching', this matter is really unbearable-" He stared at Xu Danyang, "This matter, you have a certain number in your heart?!" ”

"Back to Li Xiang's words," facing Li Guangdi's compelling gaze, Xu Danyang was very determined, "The lower official is still the same as the previous time, the matter of beating the 'Meng' Gu is in no hurry, in fact, the saint and all the adults know that, that' Mongolia's ancient desert is desperate for thousands of miles, the Tartar wolf rushes to the west, and the whereabouts are uncertain, even if it is sent to fight a million soldiers, I am afraid it may not be able to go down for a while, what a hero Zhu Di, the emperor of the former Ming Dynasty, went out of the fortress five times before and after, drove thousands of miles, and beat the court poor in vain, but the Tartar is still at ease on the grassland, so the lower officials think it is ......"

"Why?! ......" Li Guangdi suddenly cut off his words, sneered, raised a finger, and pointed to the sky, "Do you think that the Holy Lord will not understand this truth?!" ”

"If you want to level the 'Mongolian' Gu, you have to take Taiwan first!" Xu Danyang said lightly, at this moment, although his spirit was still very respectful, his tone was extremely firm, "Xia Guan has already sent people to calculate, the western expedition to 'Mongolia' Gu, to use a three-way army, a total of no less than 600,000 people, during which it is necessary to build cities, repair post stations, set up official roads, and appease the rebel tribes, from Nuergan to Broken Leaf City, from Suiyuan to Ulan Butong, from Lanzhou to Balkhash Lake, each road is thousands of miles of land, military expenses, baggage, grain and grass, labor, a year must be 40 million taels of silver!" ”

He raised four fingers, looked at Li Guangdi with wide eyes, and repeated emphatically, "Xiangye, this is 40 million taels of silver, not including the soldiers' salaries and rewards." Such a big stroke, since Pangu opened the world, no one has ever fought like this, even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not dare to be so extravagant, the saint's move, should be compared with Emperor Yang of Sui's three expeditions to Goryeo, Nankai Canal, sincere death of the country and the destruction of the family!! ”

Li Guangdi didn't move, his eyelids drooped, and he looked blankly behind Xu Danyang, as if he was taking a nap, and as if he was thinking deeply, and only after a while did he nod slightly, | Hikoyuki, you have a point! ……”

Xu Danyang happily bowed his hand and was about to speak, but unexpectedly Li Guangdi shook his head, and then said, "However, the Holy Lord has made up his mind!" ”

Li Guangdi was stunned when he landed, and hurriedly said, "Xiangye, you must present this matter in front of the saint, right now, although my Han has a rich income, but it is not a worry-free situation, the next official has repeatedly been on the capital the day before yesterday, and he has been in danger of being cut off by people at all times!" ”

He frowned deeply, and said worriedly, "What Xia Guan is most afraid of now is that Taiwan's Zheng Jing and the red 'Mao' devils collude, if this is the case, then the ports in the north and south of my country are all made, it is not easy to ship, and the goods are not flowing, so the imperial court's income will be reduced by more than half in an instant!" ……”

Xu Danyang's face was anxious, and he looked panicked, but Li Guangdi was unmoved, and said coldly, "I'm afraid that the income of those eunuchs, Jin merchants, and Hui merchants in the imperial court will be reduced by more than half in an instant?!" ”

Xu Danyang opened his mouth and was speechless.

The atmosphere was extremely embarrassing for a while, and several Praetorian guards guarding the palace smelled the wrong smell, and they all looked out together, not daring to look back.

"Huh!! ......" Li Guangdi chuckled, slowly measured his steps, patted Xu Danyang on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Yanzhi, I know that you are a capable member, and I also know that you are not a good official, and it is difficult to move, but do you know that what I can know, the Holy Lord will not know?" You-these little abacus of yours, inside and outside this temple, up and down the government and the opposition, how many people don't know!? ”

A layer of fine beads of sweat oozed from Xu Danyang's forehead, but he didn't expect that Li Guangdi, an old bureaucrat, would be so disrespectful of the rules of the scene and speak so thoroughly today, so that he could not get off the stage.

"It doesn't have to be like this," Li Guangdi said with a smile, "who can be faultless if a person is not a sage?!" Soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the way of survival, at this time is in need of internal and external ministers to express their opinions, you have objections, it is really common! Presumably the saint knows about it, and he likes it very much! ”

Wiping a handful of cold sweat, Xu Danyang reluctantly smiled, "Xiangye has taught me a lesson, Danyang didn't think about it thoroughly, and he should ......" He shook his head and said with a wry smile, "My lord, if it is not the lower officials, if it is said that the lower officials have no 'selfish' intentions, Danyang will not dare to be honest, but if he does not think about the court, then he will never be able to say it!" ……”

Li Guangdi looked at him quietly, under this graceful and majestic gaze, Xu Danyang was suddenly discouraged, hesitated for a while, he finally mustered up the courage and continued, "...... Since entering the court, the lower officials have been doing this silver thing, these many years, the silver expenses of the imperial court, back and forth, in addition to the household secretary Chen Tingjing, is the lower official presiding, the lower official does not know how to fight, and does not know how to govern the country, but the lower official knows, whether it is a war or governing the country, there must be money to be paid, and the court cannot be without money for a day, but who knows who in the hall knows where this money comes from? ! Even if our Han Dynasty is extremely prosperous, powerful, and invincible, can we still rob it?! In the end, it is not necessary to collect taxes from below, people's tax, salt and iron wine, field endowment, mining endowment, industry and commerce, customs, animal husbandry and fishery, inland river gold, one by one to clean up, that only supported such a large imperial court, last year I dynasty annual income of nearly 90 million taels, customs, money and money accounted for more than half, in the final analysis, that is all dependent on industrial and commercial trade, especially at sea, and now Taiwan has not recovered, the tax source is often in danger of being maintained, and the princes do not think at all, but staring at a few Tartars jumping on the grassland, you said, Is there anything more ridiculous in this world?! ”

Li Guangdi opened his eyes suddenly, and in an instant, he 'shot' the light, which startled Xu Danyang, "Yan Zhi Shenyan, do you think that you are the only one in this court who is worried about the country and the people?!" ”

Seeing that he was pressing with official authority, Xu Danyang's 'chest' suddenly swelled with anger, regardless of the defense, "The lower officials don't dare, what the lower officials said is the truth, please see clearly!" He pointed with his backhand and pointed to the sedan chair of the civil officials waiting outside, "Xiaguan is just a businessman, he has not read any sage books, and he has no ambition to leave a name in history, unlike those adults outside, who all want to be famous ministers through the ages, and assist the emperor to do things that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has never done!" ”

"Bold!!" Li Guangdi finally got angry and shouted loudly, he pointed at Xu Danyang, and said angrily, "I taught you to be cautious earlier, but you didn't listen, and you dared to make such a ridiculous statement, it's really damning!" ”

There was a lot of movement here, and it had already alarmed the five scholars who were talking and laughing on the other end, and Yang Mingshi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was the closest to the two, and he couldn't help but come over when he heard the sound, and asked in surprise, "Xiangye, Lord Xu, I don't know the two...... Why are you so angry?! ”

Xu Danyang bowed his head and didn't dare to make a sound, but Li Guangdi turned around and smiled, stretched out his hand and patted Xu Danyang's shoulder, "Without him, the old man and Yanzhi are playing, which has alarmed all adults!" ”

Yang Mingshi didn't believe it in his heart, glanced at Chen Tingjing and the others next to him, arched his hand together, and said with a smile, "Xiangye is really calm, this good bearing, although the ancient famous ministers are not as good!" ”

Before Li Guangdi could speak, an officer of the Guards suddenly trotted out and shouted in a long voice, "Holy Lord, please see Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, General Zhou, and all the Lord Shangshu Qianyuan Palace!" ”

Following this reason, Xu Danyang hurriedly flashed, got out of the way, and bowed, "Li Xiangye, please first!" ”

"Hehe, Lord Xu is polite, please first!"

"Don't dare, don't dare, it's better to ask Xiangye first!!"

Li Guangdi smiled, and after a slight bow, he was no longer humble, and walked out of the crowd and took the lead in the direction of Qianyuan Palace.