Chapter 257 Take stock of profits and losses

The king of Goryeo had a smile on his face, and when he saw everyone, he gave a big salute, and if he was well-cultivated, he would return a full courtesy, and if he was not so well-cultivated, he would arch his hand, or even just snort contemptuously. No matter what attitude others have towards him, he can keep his face unchanged.

This is not a skill that was only practiced in the Great Song Dynasty, the Cui father and son have been in charge of Goryeo for decades, and he was able to stabilize the throne in the hands of these two powerful ministers, relying on this forbearance skill. And for him, Lin'an is at least one thing better than Goryeo, that is, no matter how disrespectful these Great Song officials are to him, they will not take his life, and he does not have to worry about suddenly breaking into a group of soldiers one night to force him to abdicate.

Moreover, in terms of material enjoyment, being an idle vassal king in Lin'an of the Great Song Dynasty is far better than shrinking to Jianghua Island and enduring hardship.

But he still has some deficiencies in his heart, and he hopes to return to Goryeo, but he is no longer the puppet king, but a veritable lord of Goryeo. After arriving in the Great Song Dynasty, he heard many times about how the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty got rid of the powerful minister Shi Miyuan, in his opinion, Zhao and Ju's strategy was not profound, and the most important thing was that Zhao and Ju had the support of Liuqiu. He fantasized that one day, he would be able to rely on external support to restore the power of the Goryeo royal family.

After the Great Song Tianzi toasted, he originally wanted to come out quickly to thank him, but Zhao Youju didn't give him this opportunity, and immediately withdrew and went to the side hall. The next was the feast, and several officials of the Ministry of Rites accompanied him, although the words were very courteous, but the king of Goryeo understood that this kind of courtesy was only a gift from a large country to a small country, and it was by no means a respect for his status as a king of Goryeo.

This made him a little restless in his heart, and it had been two months since he arrived in the Great Song Dynasty, and although he had made friends with a group of courtiers, it did not help him in his plan. In the current Great Song Dynasty, the authority of the Son of Heaven is unprecedented, and the courtiers are only the advisers and executors of the Son of Heaven's decisions, and the final decision on all matters, big and small, is firmly in the hands of the Emperor of the Song State, who is not more than a few years older than his daughter.

Thinking that this young British lord, who was not much older than his daughter, actually turned the tide, making the Great Song Dynasty change its decline and show a thriving situation, he was both envious and jealous.

"Daughter......

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and he shuddered all over, feeling that the eyes were full of cheerfulness.

The Song State now pays attention to utilitarianism, and the popular one is "wisdom", so that the Song State can help him to restore the throne without any benefit, which is of course impossible. He was "rescued" by the Song people, he had no long things, even if he had nothing to impress the rich Great Song Emperor, the only treasure worthy of dedication to the Great Song Emperor in exchange for the support of the Song State was his daughter.

There are only four people in the harem of the emperor of the Song Kingdom, and his daughter is dedicated, and the queen can't do it, but it shouldn't be a problem to get a concubine or something. He promised the son of heaven of the Song State that he was willing to use the land north of the Han River as his daughter's dowry, why not impress the emperor of the Song State?

This matter must be arranged well, and it must not be too eager, causing the Song Emperor to be disgusted.

At the thought of this, the king of Goryeo couldn't help but clench his fists, and his body trembled slightly with excitement.

In addition to him, there were also several envoys or representatives of the vassal kingdom who attended the banquet this time, and they all sat together, and everyone could speak Song dialect, and occasionally they would talk in a low voice. The king of Goryeo was trembling slightly, and he happened to be seen by the envoy of He Chun sent by Dali, and the envoy of Dali asked: "Is the king unwell?" ”

"Ah...... It's okay, it's okay, it's just that I've never seen this kind of vocal music in Goryeo, and I can't help but be excited and lose my honor when I feel the Chinese weather in the country. The king of Goryeo came to his senses and replied with a smile.

The envoy of Dali looked around, and saw that the officials of the Song State Rite Department had not paid attention to them, so he leaned over and whispered: "The Great Song Dynasty is really the weather of the Celestial Empire, how can your country be carefree?" ”

The king of Goryeo glared at him fiercely, only to feel that the envoy of the Dali Kingdom was both reckless and ignorant, too lazy to talk to him, shook his head, and turned his gaze to the vocal music, this time he really appreciated.

The reason why the envoy of Dali is like this is not because he is reckless, but because he really feels the pressure.

It is no secret that the new alliance between the Song Kingdom and Goryeo was made possible by various newspapers in Im'an, and that the content of the "restoration of Silla Baekje" was only an excuse for anyone who knew the history of Goryeo - Silla Baekje was south of the Han River, but the Great Song Dynasty wanted to restore Silla Baekje north of the Han River. This made the envoys of Dali who came to celebrate the New Year very worried, if the Song State was determined to restore the territory of the Celestial Empire, in addition to the Central Plains, their southwestern vassal state, strictly speaking, was also a subsidiary of the Great Song Dynasty, would it be annexed by the Great Song Dynasty?

Moreover, although the envoys of Dali came to the Great Song Dynasty in the name of celebrating the New Year, they actually shouldered another mission, which was to test the attitude of the Great Song Dynasty towards the Dali Kingdom. Before he came, he already knew that the Great Song Dynasty begged the Guards to build a city in Goro and named it Tongyang - the Great Song Dynasty's thoughts were undoubtedly revealed with the establishment of this city.

Even the distant Goryeo and Goro felt the aggressive power of the Great Song Dynasty, and the Dali on the side of the Great Song Dynasty couch felt even more fear. Although so far, the Song State has not shown its ambitions for Dali, but compared with the previous Song Emperors, Dali State, whether it is the monarch Duan or the Xiangguo Gao family, has felt alienated.

In particular, the king of Goryeo got to the Great Song Dynasty, so that the power of Dali to grasp the real power of the Prime Minister Gao Ayu was even more frightened, the Great Song Dynasty Emperor himself won in the battle with the ministers, he seems to instinctively dislike the ministers, judging from the newspapers they got from the Song Kingdom, for the power of the ministers to dominate the lord, Goryeo, the current Song Emperor is very unkind.

However, thinking that the envoy of the Li Dynasty of Annan was expelled from Lin'an, the envoy of Dali gloated a little, at least compared to the envoy of Annan who was upside down, he was still courteous.

Unconsciously, for the surrounding countries, the Great Song Dynasty has become a huge figure that they have to look up to. With the signing of new covenants between the Ministry of Rites and the neighboring countries, the markets of these countries were opened to the Great Song Dynasty, and the merchants of various countries who traveled for profit transported traditional and recent products from the Great Song Dynasty to these countries. Silk, porcelain, tea, tools, ironware and even copper coins, which were originally loved by all countries, have been declining in the border trade between the Great Song Dynasty and other countries with the surge in trade volume. New products such as cotton, confectionery, soap, matches, lamps, glassware, horse-drawn carriages, clocks, etc., became major items in the trade.

A month after the Spring Festival feast, Wei Liaoweng announced the annual financial revenue of the second year of the Great Song Dynasty Yanhuang at the court meeting, which was calculated by more than 100 officials from the household department in more than 20 days using a new calculation method.

"The total household income for the whole year is 152,720,948."

When Wei Liaoweng proudly announced this unprecedented data, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty gasped.

Of this huge income, about 22 million yuan was handed over by overseas roads, which was not much compared with the previous year, only 10 percent, and the real increase was in Xuzhou and Lin'an. In the past year, the industrial development of these two places has been very rapid, the large-scale factory investment that began in the first year of Yanhuang has begun to bear fruit in the second year of Yanhuang, Xuzhou is mainly cotton textile industry, iron smelting industry and mining, Lin'an is mainly silk, oil extraction, food industry, daily necessities industry and logistics and shipping industry, and the traditional silk and tea industry also occupies a considerable proportion.

Huating Mansion has just started, and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau has built more than 1,200 ships of all sizes in the past year, including many steam ships. Therefore, the amount of taxes paid by Huating Mansion is also very considerable, although it is insignificant compared with Xuzhou and Lin'an, but Wei Liaoweng is now very sensitive to numbers, and he can be sure that if this development continues, Huating Mansion will become another important source of finance and taxation in the Great Song Dynasty.

There is also Jiankang Mansion, which has already started construction, and the income brought to the household department in three to five years will not be inferior to that of Xuzhou.

Because of the adoption of the new cashier accounting method, and also because the second year of Yan and Huang was calmer than the first year of Yan and Huang, and there were neither large-scale wars nor major natural disasters, the fiscal expenditure last year was less than 3 million guan compared with the year before, and there was a theoretical financial surplus of as high as 40 million guan for the whole year.

All the ministers looked at Zhao Heju with a blank eye, with a financial surplus of 40 million yuan, according to today's generosity, this year's reward will only be more than last year's, not less than last year.

"Wei Qing has brought great news to me and Zhongqing, we finally have some surplus money last year." After Wei Liaoweng's report, Zhao Heju couldn't help but smile: "I have been in power for more than three years, and the original state is edict said that it would never be endowed, but now do you think it can be realized?" ”

All the ministers are smiling, when Zhao and Ju promulgated the edict of the Ming Dynasty, most of the officials were holding a wait-and-see attitude, feeling that the Son of Heaven "never endowed" is a bit of a child's play, and now it seems that although the proportion of Ding Fu in the financial revenue of the Great Song Dynasty is not insignificant, it is no longer as important as before.

"At the beginning of my encouragement of industry and commerce, some officials said that I was seeking profit, competing with the people for profit, and bringing disaster to the country and the people." Zhao and Ju began to settle old accounts, his eyes swept over the ministers of the Taiwan Cabinet, those ministers were embarrassed, originally the Great Song Dynasty ministers were to supervise the Son of Heaven, but later in order to prevent the prime minister from being too powerful, he became a superintendent of Zaifu, when Zhao and Ju were in power, these officials wanted to restore the ancient system, and they criticized Zhao and Ju's domestic and foreign policies.

"For example, the general trend of today is very clear to all the secretaries, if you want to make the country strong and the people rich, you must do it with industry and commerce, agriculture is the foundation of the country, industry and commerce are the work of the country, you can't live alone without your foundation, and you can't finish it alone without doing it." Zhao Heju smiled and said, "Zhuqing should no longer have any objections to this, right?" ”

Three years, although it can't make the most stubborn people completely change their minds, is enough to make them start to think about whether their position is really so correct.

Looking around at the ministers, Zhao Heju said again: "Although the treasury is sufficient, I think that the imperial court still has to live a tight life, and I have decided not to build a large hall building in the forbidden palace within three years, and all purchases in the palace will be frugal." ”

Hearing what the Son of Heaven said, some of the ministers who were anxious couldn't help but murmur to themselves, the treasury is so rich, and the Son of Heaven is still like this, so he is inevitably too stingy.

"Naturally, I can save some myself, but I can't save the favor of Zhuqing, last year it was a reward of one million guan, and this year it will be two million." Zhao Youju glanced at Wei Liaoweng, and Wei Liaoweng immediately took a pen to record it, but his face obviously became gloomy, obviously not approving of Zhao Youju's way of spending money.

"Another 3 million yuan will be a reward for the military and people of the world." Zhao and Ju said again.

"In addition, at the beginning of my reign, I recruited teachers to study medicine for the poor children in the world, and now it has been three years, every time I ask about this matter, I feel that the biggest problem is the lack of money, so I intend to allocate fifteen million yuan for this purpose, what do you think?"

"Absolutely not, Your Majesty!"

The first person to oppose was the head of the household, Shangshu Wei Liaoweng.

After shouting, he looked a little anxious, bowed to the ground and said: "Your Majesty, although the treasury is abundant, the state has a lot of money, and your Majesty intends to build a railway, which will cost a lot of money. Your Majesty is a heavy doctor, although he is benevolent and loves the people, it is enough for the treasury to allocate 100,000 yuan, 15 million yuan, but the amount is too large, and the minister does not dare to give the edict! ”

Zhao Heju smiled and said: "I only said that I was stingy, but I didn't expect Wei Qing to be even more stingy than me." ”

Originally, because of Wei Liaoweng's departure to resist the decree, the atmosphere in the Daqing Hall was very tense, but Zhao Youju's joke made the ministers understand that he was not angry because of Wei Liaoweng's opposition, and the atmosphere in the hall was naturally relaxed.

With the rise of Zhao and Ju's prestige, the powerful Son of Heaven has replaced the powerful prime minister and become the center of court politics. Zhao and Ju looked around at the ministers, and saw that the ministers were all attentive and ready to listen, he smiled and said: "Wei chat, please, I just proposed, if it is not appropriate, I will discuss it with the secretary again." ”

"The minister has a word...... Ge Hong walked out slowly, looking old, he wanted to bow down, Zhao Heju was exempted first, he just stood up straight and said: "Fifteen million guan, if it is only used to study medicine for poor children, it is too luxurious, but if it is used for my poor children in the Song Dynasty, it is a beautiful thing that will benefit the present generation." ”

Zhao and Ju smiled between their eyebrows, nodded, and motioned for Ge Hong to continue.

"Ten years of trees, a hundred years of people, I am a great Song Dynasty for thousands of miles, hundreds of millions of people, among which there are more than one million talented people. In the past, Zhongyong, why was he lost to everyone, because he didn't learn. Therefore, the minister thinks that he should vigorously promote education with the power of the imperial court, so that all those who are sons of man can be taught, know etiquette, know benevolence and forgiveness, practice filial piety, and serve loyalty. Ge Hong said slowly, not slowly, although it was not considered scandium, but he was also stunned when he heard it.

Since ancient times, people who have read a few books of poetry and clouds have all taken the world as their own responsibility and always have the heart of education. Zhang Zai, a master of science, once proposed to "continue learning for the saints and open peace for all generations", to benefit the country for officials, and to serve Confucianism and Wenzong I. If it can really be paid by the imperial court to popularize education, then the world of "everyone Yao Shun" will not be far off.

Wei Liaoweng thought so in his heart, and just as he was about to speak, Chen Guiyi came out again and said: "Your Majesty, the minister is in the Ministry of Industry, and now whether it is repairing equipment, building roads, weirs and embankments, or dredging rivers, the ministers feel that the original manpower of the Ministry of Industry is not enough to use ......."

What he said at the beginning did not seem to be in line with the theme of today's discussion, but after he made a detour, he still went around and came back, only saying that because of the establishment of compulsory education, officials and craftsmen were enough to use, so if he could learn from Liuqiu and establish compulsory education, he would definitely be able to produce a large number of talents in the Great Song Dynasty ten years later.

Xue Ji stared at Ge Hong and Chen Guiyi with some inexplicability, especially Ge Hong, and he wondered in his heart how this old fox had changed his temperament and became so active in catering to the Son of Heaven.

Note 1: At this time, Dali's minister of state is Gao Ayu or Gao Yu Chenglong, because no accurate information has been found, the former was taken, if there is a mistake, please point out.