In April of the 31st year of Qin Shi Huang, Zhang Cang, who was in Xianyang, ushered in two major events in his life!

One of them is that the first half of the "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", which took several years, was finally compiled!

The first half of the nine chapters of arithmetic has a total of six volumes, all of which are the application of mathematical knowledge in practice, including the "Fang Tian" chapter on the accurate measurement of acres of fields, the "Corn" chapter on the proportion conversion of grains and grains, the "Decay" section on the distribution of Yulu, the "Shaoguang" and "Shang Gong" on the calculation of civil engineering quantities, and the "Equal Loss" on the reasonable apportionment of taxes. Each volume contains not only formulas and algorithms, but also practical examples, sprinkled with tens of thousands of words.

In addition, Zhang Cang also wrote a booklet called "Abacus" in his spare time, which specifically talked about the usage and skill formulas of abacus.

These two books were dedicated to Qin Shi Huang by the imperial historian, the emperor was full of praise for it, and even let Zhang Cang enter the palace, and the teachers planned to plate - Qin Shi Huang had to read a large number of notes every day, almost every article involved the amount of money and grain, he habitually asked the confessor to recalculate, but the calculation speed was slow, the emperor was anxious and couldn't wait, and the abacus that has become popular in recent years is a quick calculation weapon.

It was also because of this opportunity that Qin Shi Huang was able to understand this big fat man named "Zhang Cang", thinking that he was too Qu Cai to be a pillar under the pillar of the book, and with a wave of his hand, he transferred Zhang Cang to the internal history of Zhisu and served as the internal history of Lingcheng, with a rank of 600 stones......

Zhisu internal history, is the Qin Dynasty's national treasury, in charge of the state rent and all kinds of money and goods revenue and expenditure, also known as the "counting", under which there are Taicang, Jitian and other five orders, Zhang Cang is in charge of the degree of support, responsible for the national county and county planning and "living within the means" matters, equivalent to the later development and Reform Commission.

After taking office in early April, Zhang Cang found out that this was really a chore, why not? Because like the situation faced by Heifu in Jiaodong, the entire Qin Dynasty also came to the brink of financial crisis......

The emperor sent him to govern Su's internal history, and he also hoped that Zhang Cang would be able to use his expertise to solve the financial loopholes that had plagued the imperial court for several years.

Zhang Cang checked the account book in the capital, and suddenly felt a toothache, and after being anxious, he couldn't help complaining in a letter to his friends Heifu and Zhang Han:

"Your Majesty destroyed the Six Kingdoms, collected a large number of goods of the Six Kings, and had a good time, but for more than five years, almost every year has happened, even if it is Jinshan Zhuhai, it has been squandered!"

He began to list the financial expenditures of the Qin Dynasty to Zhang and Hei over the years: "In the twenty-sixth year, twelve gold people were cast, and a large number of buildings were built in Xianyang Beihan to imitate the palace of the Six Kingdoms, and 120,000 households in Guanzhong were rich all over the world!" ”

Although these people also brought a lot of wealth, the relocation and food rations of hundreds of thousands of people put a heavy burden on the finances of the year, and finally ended in a deficit.

Twenty-seven years, the emperor listened to the words of the scholars, had the intention to seek immortals, built the "Extreme Temple" and the front hall of Ganquan Palace in Weinan, and from Xianyang to Lishan, built Yongdao, which was equivalent to the emperor's exclusive closed highway. At the same time, it also built Chi Road throughout the country, and inspected Longxi and Beidi in the spring. Fortunately, Heifu diverted the emperor's attention to the search for the Western Queen Mother State and suspended the palace complex in Weinan, which made the financial deficit of the Shaofu not so large.

In the twenty-eighth year, the emperor had the intention to open up the northwest, ordered Zhang Han to repair the straight road, and inspected the north and Shangjun, although Heifu used troops to spend horses, but it was only a small battle, the money and grain were not consumed, and the income and expenditure of this year were miraculously flat.

Twenty-nine years was different, the emperor sent 300,000 people to conquest the Xiongnu, thousands of miles of food, internal and external expenses, chariot armor, daily expenses, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep captured by the generals, which were not worth the huge expenses at all. In this year, Zhisu Neishi did his best to meet the supply of military rations, and when he rewarded the soldiers, he could no longer come up with any money, so he could only be funded by the Shaofu.

Thirty years seemed to be fine, but the establishment of a new county, the placement of Tuntian soldiers, the construction of the Great Wall in Shuofang, the emperor's inspection of Bashu, the opening of a five-foot road to the southwest Yi, and the dispatch of envoys to the Western Regions to Shangjia all cost a lot, and the fiscal deficit did not improve in the slightest......

The eventful border land and frequent projects mean that a large number of soldiers are needed, and the frequent service of young and middle-aged people will inevitably affect the field operation. Although the Qin Dynasty collected land rent was a one-size-fits-all approach, no matter how much you collected or how little you received, one and a half stones per mu!

However, the people can only fill their stomachs with all the food, and the desire to buy will naturally be greatly reduced. The private market was sluggish, and correspondingly, the municipal tax, which accounted for the majority of the Shaofu revenue, began to shrink, and the income of the government-run workshops also fell sharply.

Not to mention, in order to solve the fiscal deficit, there is only one method adopted from the internal history of Su Nei, Shaofu to local counties and counties: increase the collection of oral taxes!

In the most serious 29 years, some places even imposed three levies, forcing the poor people to strangle their newborn babies......

This is a dead circle, in his position to seek his own government, Zhang Cang is extremely horrified to see that the empire seems to be brilliant and powerful, but within it, a huge crisis has been quietly sprouting!

After counting five years, Zhang Cang couldn't help but get angry at Heifu in the letter:

"There are many events in the world, and the king's contribution is half done!"

Of course, this is angry talk, as long as you know a little about Qin Shi Huang, you know that His Majesty is anxious and does not want to make the world idle for a year. Even if there is no westward expansion proposed by Heifu, there will be a southern expedition, even if he does not send people to the Western Regions to find the Western Queen Mother State, he will go to the East China Sea to seek immortals.

The road to Lingnan is far away, and the miasma is everywhere, and the money and food consumed, and the number of dead and injured may be more. Wu Shi went through the Western Regions, and finally brought back some silk sugar trade between the Central Plains and the states of the Western Regions, and the possibility of earning foreign exchange, but the East China Sea was turbulent, but nothing could be found......

And the southerners and the northerners were to conquer the north, which also saved a lot of conscription costs.

Besides, if it weren't for the compost and manure method initiated by Nanjun, which allowed half a stone of harvest per acre of land, the people might have been forced to live by the heavy land rent, and even robbers were born in Guanzhong!

After getting angry in the letter, Zhang Cang also calmed down, the past has passed, he must now concentrate on doing a good job of living within his means this year, and can no longer let the finances continue to be in deficit, nor can he pass on the losses to the people!

But looking at the many things that His Majesty the Emperor is preparing to do this year, Zhang Cang's temples began to hurt again.

Originally, he hoped that in thirty-one years, the imperial court could stop and stop, but the tree wanted to be peaceful and the wind did not stop, in the early spring, because the prince of the Yue family was sentenced to death for murder, the relationship between Qin and the Yue family broke down, and the king of the Yue family frequently contacted the Xiongnu Mao Dun Shan Yu, it seems that he wanted to pick up the plan proposed by Mao Dun to "form an alliance with the three Hu to resist the strong Qin".

At Li Xin's suggestion, Qin Shi Huang decided to preemptively issue a document at the end of February, condemning the Yue Clan's king for teaching his son improperly, and betraying the alliance of his vassals, with Li Xin as his general, and sending a total of 100,000 soldiers and people to kill the Yue clan!

Now that two months have passed, good news from the west is frequent, Li Xin defeated the king of the Yue clan on the bank of the black water, beheading thousands of people. Qin Shi Huang was overjoyed and named the location of the battlefield "Wuwei", where Li Xin led his troops to rest and prepare for a further attack on Zhaowu City, the capital of the Yue Clan.

Although the Xiongnu Maodun Shan Yu sent people to attack the small city of the Qin army in Juyanze, slaughtering all the soldiers and burning the city, Zhang Han, the governor of Beidi County, was also maneuvering with him to prevent the Xiongnu from supporting Yueshi......

At the same time, the Wusun Division, which had a grudge against the Yue clan for generations, was persuaded by the merchants of the Qin Dynasty to surrender to Qin and began to attack the northwest of the Yue clan, which did not have the broad depth of the Xiongnu, and was in a dilemma for a while.

In this way, the war will be won, by the end of summer at the latest.

The various government offices in Xianyang were full of joy, but the officials who ruled the history of Su Nei were all bitter, even if everything went well, they went all the way to Hexi, and the money and grain that they finally collected last year were now flying out like flowing water.

What's even more terrifying is that after Qin Shi Huang heard the good news from the West, he decided to start his own plan to tour the east that he had repeatedly postponed when the weather was cold at the beginning of autumn after Li Xin destroyed the Yue clan!

In one day, sweeping Liuhe, breaking the Huns, and destroying the Yue clan, these things are really unparalleled, he is more qualified than the three emperors and five emperors!

After learning the news, Zhang Cang's heart was about to go into arrest, he trembled his hands, and calculated the account: Zhengyue's clan consumed one-third of the financial revenue of the Zhisu Neishi, and the rest was beyond his means.

He reported to the history of Su Nei: "If you don't want the Xianyang officials to be unable to send out the money, the eastern tour will be sealed, and the Shaofu can only pay for it!" ”

But Shaofu's side also complained bitterly, saying that the requisition and roads in various places would be at least a year, but the Lishan Mausoleum project undertaken by Shaofu has lasted for more than ten years.

Although Qin Shi Huang had the intention of immortal immortality, he also made preparations with both hands to create his own afterlife.

With His Majesty proclaiming himself emperor, the specifications of the Lishan Mausoleum have been repeatedly expanded, and more and more patterns have been added: for example, it is necessary to fire terracotta warriors and horses with a first-class ratio and vivid faces and shapes to guard the imperial tomb; For example, to make the dungeon as huge and gorgeous as the Xianyang Palace; For example, to refine mercury, it is likened to a hundred rivers and seas, so that the mausoleum has astronomy and geography.

The huge grave pit has turned into a hideous monster full of fangs and can't eat enough money!

As soon as the leaders of the two units of Zhisu Neishi and Shaofu combined, they found that each other was already skilled, and even if the county was asked to levy more money, it would not be able to make up for this year's big hole, so they could only think of new tricks.

The young superintendent thought of a clever trick: "Now there are many cane and sugar boilers in the south, Bajun Bashi is rich in this way, Nanjun Sugar is also rich in money, and the nobility of the land of Southern Chu is often used to make profits, brown sugar is quite popular in all counties, and can even be exported to the Western Regions, sold to Zhuhu Jun at a high price, we might as well ask Your Majesty, please follow the example of wine and salt, and nationalize the brown sugar workshops in each county, and the government will monopolize it!" ”

They are also in a hurry, and they want to start beating the rising sugar owners. In recent years, the north coped with heavy conscription, and the economy withered somewhat, but the south became prosperous because of the sugar industry, but because of the lack of population, the plantation owners in the south began to clamor for war against the southwest Yi and Baiyue, plundering slaves.

Zhang Cang listened beside him and mourned for Heifu for a while. Everyone knows that the so-called Nanjun Sugar Clan is the Heifu family, which almost controls the sugar industry in Yuzhang and Nanjun. But Heifu strictly ordered his family not to leave these two places, and at most opened a few loss-making branches in other places, without crazy expansion.

It was precisely because of Heifu's low-key and restraint that the imperial court tolerated this, and it was not until now, after Shaofu was forced to be helpless, that he decided to slaughter this sheep that had not yet been fattened.

Just when Zhisu Neishi and Shaofu decided to implement this matter even if they offended Heifu fiercely, at the end of April, a news from Jiaodong made it difficult for both families to do it......

"Jiaodong County Shouyan, in Qucheng Township, Huang County, a big gold mine was discovered! Please ask the Shaofu for approval, set up an official to collect it, and immediately transfer 2,000 soldiers from Linzi to settle in Qucheng, beware of Hao Chang and Qiantou stealing mining! ”