As the Daxu Dynasty became more and more peaceful, Guo Shao changed the rules, and only once every three days would he meet with the Chinese and military ministers of the DPRK in the East Hall every 15 days and three days, and the place where he met with the ministers was named the Parliamentary Hall.

In summer, the sky dawns early, and when people come to Jinxiang Hall early in the morning, the sky is already bright.

Guo Shao came in a little differently today, he also brought two four-year-old children. The last time Marigold talked about the establishment of the crown prince, Guo Shao paid attention to a problem, if the heir in the future doesn't understand anything, then won't his country be wasted in decades?

Guo Shao was ready to teach by himself, but he found that he didn't know how to teach children, so he pondered about finding a teacher for them first.

When more than 20 ministers saw the two children, they all watched curiously.

Guo Shao took a child in one hand, walked up to the upper position, sat down on a chair, and let the two children sit next to him. The chair was a bit high, but the second sister's son Guo Hong was clever and active, and he jumped up, sitting there and moving from side to side. Guo Zhang, however, was much more restrained, slowly climbed into the chair and sat there with his two small hands on his knees.

"The ministers meet Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness." The crowd bowed.

"Flat." Guo Shaodao.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Guo Hong said in a decent manner: "You are all elders, sit down." ”

Suddenly, the people below laughed: "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness the Second Prince." Guo Shao turned his head and said, "Hong'er, sit down and don't say anything, just watch and listen." ”

Guo Hong said with an innocent face: "My aunt taught me." After that, he squeezed his eyebrows at Guo Zhang next to Guo Shao, the two brothers are of the same age, and they usually play together.

At this time, Lu Duoxun, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, said: "Yesterday, the Khitan envoy entered Beijing, and the minister met first. The Khitans came for Xiao Xuan, the daughter of Xiao Siwen, the prime minister of Liao, and wanted to redeem Xiao Xuan. ”

Wang Pu immediately said: "This matter is promising. According to the news reported by the Shangjing Branch of the Bing Cao Division, Ye Luxian, the lord of Liao, and Xiao Xuan, childhood sweethearts, have a great relationship; Now that Liao and Daxu are enemies of each other, Xiao Siwen can send an envoy to discuss, and there must be Yeluxian's instructions to avoid being attacked. ”

Wei Renpu said: "This summer, the state party did not listen to the orders of the imperial court and threatened to defect to the Liao State. Since the lord of Liao intends to exchange, it is better to refuse to aid Xiazhou as a condition. ”

Guo Shao was noncommittal and said: "You can discuss with the Khitans and allow them to set up a Liao State Post House in Tokyo, so that this matter can be discussed in the future." ”

Lu Duosun bowed and said, "The minister obeys the order." ”

At this time, Guo Shao looked sideways at the eunuch Cao Tai. Cao Tai then sent the two recitals down to the ministers, and the officials of the political hall had seen the recitals, but the generals generally could not see the recitals, and they could only see them now.

Guo Shaodao: "These two chapters, one is the 'Theory of Money Shortage' played by Li Gu, the secretary of the household department, and the other is the 'Theory of Quit Luxury' played by the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Today, all of you can comment on one or two. ”

Some of the ministers below had already seen it, but no one was in a hurry to speak. It is said that it is a comment, but the remarks on the Jin Xiang Hall will be regarded as an advocacy, and people are more cautious.

The remarks of the bachelors of the Hanlin Academy are: first, to persuade agriculture to ignore business, to pay light on meager endowments, and to advocate a frugal style; Second, it is necessary to streamline the administration of the army, especially to reduce the number of the army, and to reduce the salaries and rewards of the forbidden army, because the current army consumes a lot of finance. The purpose of these propositions is to recuperate with the people.

He believes that money and treasures cannot be full when the people are hungry and cannot keep warm when they are cold, which will only bring about extravagance and aggravate arrogance. And only by cultivating and weaving and enriching the warehouses is the royal road for the country to be strong and the people to be rich.

At first glance, this statement makes sense, and it is quite in line with traditional ideas. Guo Shao also felt that gold, silver and copper coins really couldn't be eaten.

…… However, Li Gu, who was actually in charge of the household department and the transportation of military quarters, advocated the exact opposite. Li Gu tried his best to write to increase the minting of copper coins (not for the sake of treasury revenue, because minting money is a loss-making transaction), and his reason was that there was a shortage of money everywhere from the imperial court to the localities, which had greatly affected the normal income and expenditure and transactions.

Money shortage has not been uncommon since the end of the Tang Dynasty, and it is a problem faced by all countries. Back then, Shu really didn't have the money to reward the forbidden army, so it had already used iron to cast iron money.

Li Gu's remarks are based on his experience in organizing the transportation of military supplies in several major wars, except for military rations, all other military supplies need to be spent in cash, otherwise it will be very difficult to requisition and transfer them on the spot or let merchants transport them (in the Tang Dynasty, there was a method of using salt merchants to transport military rations, which was already corrupted at this time); Unless the means of forcible expropriation (robbery and robbery) are used, but this method is also inconvenient, one is easy to cause resistance, the other is to waste most of the property, and the people will hide the materials urgently needed by the officials and soldiers.

The two taxes (summer and autumn field tax) and commercial tax of the imperial court were mainly in kind, because farmers and merchants lacked cash; Because these physical objects are relatively bulky, they are generally stored in the local treasury. In addition to meeting the needs of the government, the expenditure is to transfer and transfer through the nearest household department.

The imperial court collected a lot of taxes, but it could not be mobilized from all over the country and sent to the front for expenses, and there were too many things and too much. If you have cash, it is different, you can buy materials from the nearest people.

The most expensive thing to spend is the army's salary and reward, and you can't take a pile of firewood from a timber merchant and reward a soldier with a room full of wood.

…… Finally, someone took the lead in making a claim!

The first to stand up were all the generals of the forbidden army, and they unanimously opposed the "stupid words" of the scholars of the Hanlin Academy. It's very simple, and you actually want to cut military spending?!

Even Shi Yanchao couldn't help but roar: "The brothers have just come down from the battle array, and the civil officials are calculating us behind!" ”

A civilian official said: "The purpose of raising soldiers is to protect the land and the people, and many soldiers do not cultivate the land, and most of the treasury is consumed in it, and they are overwhelmed, how can they live with the people's livelihood?" ”

Li Chuyun did not deviate from the position of the generals, stroked his beard and said: "The soldiers are not tenants, if they are long in ploughing the fields, how can they be long in the battle array?" Sergeant Daxu, you can't dress in tatters like a beggar and eat chaff vegetables......"

"The founding father's words are said in a clear conscience, a commander's salary and reward are more than a guard, if the soldiers are called to eat chaff and vegetables, won't we have to beg for it!"

Guo Shao didn't say anything, just sat there and let the ministers argue, and he had to wait until the end to see the situation before he made a statement, because his words were holy decrees. Guo Hong and Guo Zhang turned their heads from time to time and looked at their father with curious eyes. Guo Shao doesn't teach them, he thinks that these styles are taught by words and deeds, how to do it yourself, and children can learn it after a long time.

Zuo You stood up and bowed: "The minister supports Li Xianggong's proposition. Money is scarce, and it is not good for the country and the people. those who have bread, or lack clothing; Those who have bread and clothing, if they do not have what they want, may not exchange their clothes for those who have food, but they can sell the surplus for money.

There is a lack of money in the world, and everything cannot be disposed of, and those who have a solid warehouse do not cultivate, such as the meridians are blocked......"

At this moment, Guo Shao spoke: "Deflation. ”

Everyone was puzzled, but they could vaguely guess what the word meant, because it could be linked to the contextual speech.

Guo Shao doesn't know much about economics, but his insight is definitely different from that of the ancients, and he knows some common sense anyway. Deflation is certainly not good for economic development, no matter what the society.

A very simple idea, as Zuo You said, in a state of self-sufficiency, there is little demand, and after it is satisfied, it loses the motivation to continue production...... It is also a fact that most of the people have nothing to do except serve in the slack time, or do some trivial tasks with very low efficiency; Even the seven aunts and eight mothers-in-law will kill time if they have nothing to do. It's a waste of labor and productivity.

If the reward for work is money, and the world produces enough material temptations, it will increase the motivation to work, and in order to obtain money, and in order to be able to exchange money easily, people will also produce and obtain what the world needs...... For example, food in times of famine.

Ancient China, on the other hand, was in a state of deflation for a long time, and there was a shortage of currency in every dynasty. One is because of the scarcity of heavy metals, and the other is that the minting of copper coins is a loss-making business, which is completely a kind of good governance of the imperial court in order to govern the world, and the same work as building water conservancy.

Guo Shao immediately expressed his position and said: "I am allowed to play by Li Xianggong, and the household department can agree on the matter of minting money." ”

At this moment, Li Chuyun muttered: "If Your Majesty can obtain the silver mountain, open a mine to obtain silver and mint silver money, it will be a road to great profit." ”

Everyone fell silent, and everyone suddenly discovered that Li Chuyun's previous "famine theory" proposition was now connected again. He didn't seem to be talking nonsense at the time, but now for the sake of Yinshan, he brought up the topic of opening up the territory...... Sure enough, all the big people don't talk nonsense, and it's not as absurd as it sounded at first glance.

Guo Shao was noncommittal, because this matter involves a wider range of issues. He also doesn't comment on who is poorer between civil officials and military generals, there is no truth in this matter at all, and each family is just for the benefit of each family.

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said, "The two princes and princesses have reached the age of Mengxue, and I want to choose a teacher for them. ”

This topic has once again attracted everyone's attention. One of the two princes should be the crown prince, and being the prince's teacher is not so simple.

Guo Shao looked at Zuo You and said, "Zuo Shilang taught my three children to read and write. ”

Zuo Yu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty trusts me, and the minister is willing to do his best." ”

The palace was a little cold, because Zuo You was not a great Confucian, and if he didn't hold an official position, he would be a person with no status at all in Shilin...... Ye Luzi was born and had no fame, first as a petty official who couldn't get into the stream, and then as a staff member. What knowledge do these people have to come to the Pope?

However, Zuo You is Guo Shao's confidant, and everyone guesses that this is just a grace to Zuo You.

Guo Shao said again: "Dong Zunzhi, you teach the two princes to bow and ride horses, and let Zhou Tong assist him." ”

Dong Zunzhi stood up and bowed: "The minister obeys the order." ”

This Dong Zunzhi is from a family of military generals, and all kinds of martial arts and military etiquette are well-behaved and very upright, Guo Shao believes in him very much; Zhou Tong is also a very interesting martial artist, Guo Shao was taught archery by him back then.

As for Zuo You, Guo Shao felt that he had taught Mengxue enough, and the article was stronger than Guo Shao anyway. Moreover, Guo Shao felt that if he studied too deeply the sage thoughts, if he regarded them as beliefs, he would be harmful to the job of being an emperor; Zuo You's half-hung is just right, and the important thing is that Zuo You's proposition is not pedantic.