Zhao Yu and the three of them talked while eating, explaining the importance of monopolizing the incense medicine business to the country and the people, and repeatedly told them to strictly keep secrets and not leak them out. At the same time, he took out the latest nautical charts he drew and awarded them, and told them to set up bases in important places along the way as supply and rest points for the Great Song Dynasty maritime merchants. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to collecting political and economic information, meteorological and water conditions, surveying waterways, and drawing up navigation charts. In addition, he explained some precautions and principles for using troops, which made the three of them retire.

The reason why the three of them were repeatedly asked to keep secrets, in addition to involving commercial secrets, Zhao Yu was still worried about the courtiers' mistakes, and he knew that the means he used were somewhat unacceptable. However, it is also clear that in the process of opening up trade routes to foreign countries, it is difficult to do it without the participation of the state, and it is also the same in the early days of the unbridled expansion of the Western powers. Once other countries intervene in the dispute, then the country will come forward to settle it, and the means is a contest of force, to see who has the biggest fist.

However, Zhao Yu knew that under the social system in which Confucianism prevailed in the Song Dynasty, although the imperial court encouraged business, business was still regarded as the last business, and merchants were basically equated with cunning and treacherous people. In such a situation, it is almost impossible to expect the state to support the merchants and make the decisions, so he can only act in secret, and use the means that cannot be used to protect the interests of the merchants of the Great Song Dynasty, otherwise it will be another exhortation, and he will be labeled as competing with the people for profit, but he does not want to think about how to solve the financial difficulties he faces.

On the other hand, after the capture of Jiangnan, especially the establishment of the inland water army, the status of the water army will inevitably decline. At present, the Mengyuan Navy has lost its elite, and it will take time to recover, and nearly 100,000 sailors cannot be idle all day, chasing a few pirates. Therefore, Zhao Yu was not afraid that someone would make trouble for him on the trade routes, and once someone had something to do, he would have a reason to wave his troops into the sea to completely control the maritime trade routes, forcing them to open the ports of the Great Song Dynasty, so that the silk and porcelain produced by the Great Song Dynasty could be sold all over the world.

The development of trade will inevitably promote the development and prosperity of the handicraft industry, and the tax revenue will increase substantially. At the same time, it can absorb a large number of labor force to enter, so as to alleviate the tense situation of land in the south of the Yangtze River, so that everyone has something to do, who would think of rebelling, and this can make the country stable. Therefore, in the short term, opening up overseas trade routes can alleviate the country's financial difficulties; In the long run, it is conducive to increasing the income of the people, achieving a win-win situation of national prosperity and people's strength, and is conducive to national stability; Then there is the accumulation of funds for the Northern Expedition, so as not to drag down the economy of the Great Song Dynasty because of the protracted war.

The outlook is rosy, but the reality is brutal. Zhao Yu soon became worried, seeing that the wedding date was approaching, but where did the money come from? This time it is not a small amount of money, and the current autumn tax has also been put into the warehouse, so it is not impossible to dismantle it from the imperial court, but he clearly enlarged the amount of money and there are more places to use it. First of all, the money has to pay for the salaries of officials and military expenses, which already accounts for most of it. In addition, winter is coming, and it is no better than Qiongzhou, which can save the cost of winter clothes, so not only the army has to distribute winter clothes, but also the officials have to give brocade silk, silk cotton and charcoal money, which is also a large expense.

Then there is the dry period of the Yangtze River, which is also the time when war preparations are the most tense, although the two sides are negotiating, but who knows when it will be dry, so it must be prepared; In addition, there are also many things when the local area is big, and it is inevitable that there will be disasters in some places, and according to the financial system of the Song Dynasty, most of the money belongs to the central government, and the local financial resources are limited.

Therefore, there is not much money left in the imperial court, and Zhao Yu does not want to embezzle the state affairs because of his marriage, so he will not become the Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty, because the military funds of the navy to purchase warships were used to repair the Summer Palace, which led to the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese Naval War. But everyone knows that if you want to marry a daughter-in-law without spending money, it is a fool's dream at any time, so be ready to be a single dog for a lifetime!

It's the same when you change to the emperor, you can't escape the custom of 'buying and selling marriage'. Zhao Yu didn't know how much the marriage cost of the Great Song Emperor, but he knew that the marriage of Zhu Yijun of Mingshenzong cost more than 90,000 taels of silver for weaving alone; Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty spent more than 20 million taels of silver on his wedding, which was almost equivalent to more than 30% of the national fiscal revenue that year. He estimated that even if he saved money for his wedding, it would not be less than seven or eight million yuan, and it would be good if the imperial court could squeeze out two or three million yuan to fund it, so he would have to raise at least four million yuan by himself.

"Official, it's time to eat!" Seeing that the little emperor sat sadly for a long time, Wang De didn't dare to disturb, and sent everyone away to wait, so as not to be upset.

"It's time to eat again, but I don't have any appetite at all, so let's skip it!" Zhao Yu looked up at Wang De and waved his hand with a wry smile.

"Why are the officials bothered? Is it still for the wedding! "Wang De has been with the little emperor for more than ten years, and he knows that he is like a starving ghost, unless he is seriously ill or the war is urgent, even if he is coarse and light, he will never eat less than a meal. And if he didn't eat today, it must have been a bad thing, he thought about it and asked.

"Alas, exactly!" Zhao Hao sighed.

"Didn't Governor Ying already send a message before, the Queen Mother has already agreed to His Majesty's arrangement, what else is there to worry about." Wang De said with a smile.

"It's hard for a rich man, but it's hard for a rich man!" Zhao Yu said with a wry smile when he heard this, "Not to mention the cost of this big wedding, only the Queen Mother has 10,000 yuan per month, 20,000 yuan each for winter, cold food, and birthday." 10,000 horses of silk on birthdays, 3,000 horses of silk in spring, winter and Dragon Boat Festival; 5,000 taels of winter cotton, 1,000 horses each; Don't count the others, only 180,000 yuan a year. After the wedding, only one queen and five concubines will have about 300,000 yuan a year, and if you add the money and consumption of the female officials and chamberlains in the palace, it will be more than one million, and the cost will increase several times. ”

"What the official family said is that this time the reconstruction of the introspection, the restoration of the six Shang, the twenty-four divisions, the twenty-four canons, the twenty-four palms, etc., has increased by hundreds of people in the Ouchi, which is of course a lot more than the previous expenses." Wang De nodded. When moving to Qiongzhou, there were only 20 chamberlains and more than a dozen palace maids in the palace. After the Xingchao moved in, there were more than 100 people in Ouchi, all of whom held multiple positions, and the cost was naturally much less.

But now it is different, only the newly elected show girls have more than 400 people, in order to serve as a royal attendant or select concubines, all known as palace people, although they are tasteless palace maids, and do not need monthly salaries, but eating, drinking and Lazar are also expenses. And those female officials and chamberlains are all rich, even if it is much lower, it is not enough to have 10,000 yuan per month, no wonder the little emperor is worried.

"Alas, the Queen Mother is urging the wedding, and I can't shirk it. But at the moment, I am not an immortal, I don't know how to turn stones into gold, where to find so much money for a while, do I have to increase taxes to force the people to rebel? Zhao Yu said helplessly and resentfully.

"The government used to be frugal, and they were careful in everything and reduced their expenses for the country. But at this time, it is not as good as in the past, and there are still some pomp and circumstance, so as to show the royal majesty and shock the world. Wang De persuaded.

"Although there is a need, but the Central Plains has not recovered, so the capital is still in the hands of the enemy, how can you be greedy for enjoyment. And as soon as the royal wind opens, the upward and downward effects will surely make the government and the opposition sink into luxury, so that the army has no fighting spirit and the people have no enterprising intentions! Zhao Yu waved his hand and said.

"Don't worry about the official family, the concubines selected in the palace are all virtuous and virtuous concubines, and they will be able to experience the hard work of the official family." Wang De could only be relieved when he heard it.

"I hope so! But the big wedding is imminent, and I really can't cope with just a few taels of silver in my pocket! Zhao Yu sighed and said.

"Won't it?" Wang De listened to it, but he was a little puzzled.

"How could it not, all the silver money in the treasury has been sprinkled, if everything goes well, next year's financial situation can be alleviated, but far water can't quench the thirst of the near future!" Zhao Hao asked rhetorically.

"Did the official family forget a sum of money?" Wang De didn't nod or shake his head, and frowned after a little thought.

"And a sum of money? I can't remember! Zhao Hao thought hard for a few days, turned over the money in his hand and transferred it all over the time, and felt that there was no other money to use except for selling those treasures and antiques in the library!

"It seems that the official family has really forgotten, doesn't there still be a sum of money in the bureau!" Seeing that the little emperor had thought hard and couldn't come up with it, Wang De reminded softly.

"There's still a sum of money in the bureau? I don't know. Zhao Yu thought for a while. He remembered that he had an agreement with Zheng Huchen that year, and the smuggling of sea salt was divided into two parts, part of which went into the inner treasury, and part of it was used as the operating expenses of the secretariat, and the storage had already been transferred in full, so how could there be any surplus money.

"In the past ten years, the official family, Director Zheng, has operated several businesses operated by the Bureau, whether it is the counterfeit banknotes printed, or the income from the sale of illegal salt and reselling yuan banknotes, all of which have detailed accounts, and they are reported to the Imperial City Department every year for the official family to check. And the balance over the years was exchanged for gold and silver and stored properly, in case the official family needed from time to time, and now more than 300,000 taels of gold and more than 430,000 taels of silver have been accumulated, and if they are converted into copper coins, they should be worth tens of millions. Wang De said.

"Oh, there are so many!" Zhao Yu said in surprise. Over the years, he has handed over several oily and watery businesses to the bureau to do, one is as their funds; The second is also to treat yourself as a secret force. Therefore, in addition to the share that should be handed over to himself, he never asked about the rest of the money, and let Zheng Huchen dispose of it, but he did not expect that all of it was accumulated and not swallowed up for himself.

"If the official family doesn't believe it, the small one will take the account book and ask the official family to personally check it." Wang De looked at the little emperor with a shocked look on his face, and he didn't believe it, and hurriedly spoke.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Zhao Yu waved his hand so that he didn't have to, and asked instead.

"At the end of each year, Director Zheng personally handed over the account books to the small ones, and instructed them to keep them properly, and never looked at others." Wang De replied.

"Okay, don't tell anyone about this, or it will bring disaster!" Zhao Yu nodded, and told Wang Dedao again.

"Official, why is this?" This time, it was Wang De's turn to be puzzled and asked carefully.

"Such a large sum of money has been worth the grain tax of the imperial court for a year, and now it suddenly appeared, even if those people in the court dare not ask me, they will secretly investigate, and once they find out the clues, they will harm Zheng Huchen." Zhao Yu thought about it, but still explained to him.

"No wonder Director Zheng repeatedly instructed that the official family should not ask, just keep the account books properly, and don't mention it to others, it turns out that he is also worried that someone will investigate this matter!" Wang De suddenly said.

"He's a man with a heart!" Zhao Yu pouted and said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, who would have thought that this money would solve the urgent needs of the official family!" Wang De also echoed with a smile.

"I'm hungry, let's pass the meal!" Zhao Yu did not continue to talk to him, but ordered him to eat. He knew that what he said was not the same thing as what Wang De said, but this kind of thing could not be explained to anyone, and he could only press it down.

As the saying goes, 'accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger', especially the founding monarchs and ministers can often share hardships, but it is difficult to share wealth and nobility, Zhao Yu thinks that Zheng Huchen's understanding of this can be described as a three-point tree. He knew that he was trusted by him, and he was given many privileges, including the opportunity to make a fortune. But he also understood that although what he did was done by order, the means were difficult to get on the surface, and there were things involving the emperor's privacy. If something causes the emperor's displeasure, it will attract suspicion, and the former favor will become his own death hole, so he will leave a hand so that he can prove his innocence at that time.

On the other hand, Zheng Huchen knows that his identity is not visible, although it has been kept secret, but for so many years, it is not unknown to outsiders. The courtiers were afraid and hated him, but with the little emperor in front of him, they couldn't help themselves. However, if he dies in front of him one day, then Zheng Huchen will lose his protection, and those people will be quick at the beginning.

No matter how many people walk by the river without getting their shoes wet, Zheng Huchen does not dare to guarantee that he has no mistakes, once he makes a mistake, people will seize the handle, and it will definitely lead the ministers to attack him, so the emperor has to be forced to investigate it under the pressure of everyone. And money has always been the most prone to accidents, and the money in his hands is huge, leaving this account book in advance can prove his innocence, and the accumulated heavy money can also make him get away with it!

So Zhao Hao got this windfall, but he was not happy in his heart, but had mixed tastes. A person who is always on the edge of danger, doing things that are difficult to understand, and worrying about the conspiracy behind it, this kind of life is not easy. And he thought about himself, he didn't know whether to be happy or sad when he died, and the purpose of making his subordinates frightened and frightened can be said to have been successfully achieved, but ......