At the previous court meeting, all ministries and departments complained about the poor and could not do anything without money, which seriously affected the reputation and credibility of the imperial court.

So Zhao Yan asked the ministers, now that the treasury is empty, and Jiangbei is exempt from taxes, how to enrich the treasury?

There are those who say that tax exemptions will be abolished, those who say that they will cut expenses again, and those who say that they will attack the wealthy and the rich, and there are more than a dozen suggestions, but they have all been rejected by others.

Yang Congyi, who was in the position of deputy privy envoy, was in charge of military affairs, and there were no military issues involved in the court meeting, so it was inconvenient for him to express his opinions, but he was named by Zhao Yan to listen to what he thought.

Yang Congyi thought about it again and again, only then did he reply, Jiangnan is rich, materials are sufficient, a big reason is that there are few wars in Jiangnan, the situation is stable, conducive to businessmen and scholars, exchange with each other, all kinds of materials converge, all kinds of talents gather, only then there is the prosperity of Jiangnan, and Jiangbei has been fighting for many years, businessmen are extinct, no businessmen have no money, no materials, no talents, no popularity, Bianjing wants to buy a thing, its difficulty is far more than Jiangnan, Bianjing is so, not to mention other towns. Farming has been rapidly restored, Jiangbei grain production should not be too much of a problem, the next should be the resumption of industry, commerce, let the money flow from the south of the Yangtze River to the north of the Yangtze River, the people have money, the court will have money, Jiangbei is like a lake, whether it is the court or the people, all in this lake to drink, there is water into the lake, there is water in the lake, everyone has water to eat.

The idea of resuming industry and commerce was opposed by the courtiers.

Some courtiers retorted that farming has been related to the stability of the world since ancient times, the success or failure of the government, if the development of industry and commerce, it is bound to reduce the agricultural population, so that the grain output will be reduced, once there is a famine, with the current government, it will definitely be unable to help, and the world is bound to be in chaos, who can bear this responsibility? The imperial court should focus on the overall situation, and must not be deceived by petty profits!

As soon as this theory came out, no one dared to refute it, although everyone loved money, but no one wanted to let them engage in industrial and commercial activities.

However, the problem of the emptiness of the treasury cannot be solved.

Zhao Yan is dissatisfied with the ministers, he needs money, he needs a lot of money, how can he realize his ambitions without money?

Therefore, despite the opposition of the ministers, he once again asked Yang Congyi for a detailed strategy, how to restore industry and commerce, and let the money from Jiangnan flow to Jiangbei?

When the emperor asked for advice, Yang Congyi had no unspeakable reason.

He told Zhao Yan that first of all, in important cities to reduce taxes to attract merchants to come to do business, second, to provide customs clearance convenience for merchants, third, to establish a city shipping department, to guide merchants to carry out overseas trade, and at the same time to give them some preferential treatment and convenience, of course, the imperial court can also set up an overseas return fleet, the income of the fleet, directly into the treasury.

The ministers have more or less heard of the Hui Yi fleet, Western treasures, treasures and spices, more or less seen, many people have even used it personally, I heard that the Emperor Taishang was through several large-scale Hui Yi, only to accumulate a huge wealth in the inner treasury.

In the past few years, the Northern Expedition was actually supported by the inner treasury, and it was only after recovering many lost territories.

Even so, when the north and south were divided and the property was divided, Bianjing also received a huge amount of money from Lin'an Neiku, otherwise it would not be possible to quickly rebuild the imperial court in Bianjing, which was clean and innocent.

The ministers are used to living a good life in Lin'an, and the hard life in Bianjing in the past few months really makes them unspeakable, the key is in places like Bianjing, even if they have real money in their hands, they may not be able to buy things.

The resumption of commerce is actually imperative, but no one dares to mention the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty.

Why did Zhao Yan ask Yang Congyi?

In fact, many people in the court know that Yang Congyi had published "The Theory of Returning to Yi and Enriching the Country" when he was studying martial arts in his early years, and then he was directly awarded by the imperial court and was responsible for supervising the creation of Huiyi.

The Bianjing Imperial Court is now living a difficult life, so poor that no one will stand up to solve the problem, and once an accident occurs, the consequences are unimaginable.

Yang Congyi understands Zhao Yan, but now he is a military general with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, and he has the official position of a privy deputy envoy, so he can't discuss politics according to the rules.

But the imperial court was so difficult that if he didn't open his mouth again, the great cause of the Northern Expedition would never be completed.

So after Zhao Yan asked for advice, Yang Congyi risked being very likely to be involved in the future, and still said something that should not be said by a person of his position and status.

When Zhao Yan asked how to do it and who would be more appropriate, Yang Congyi did not shirk it.

He told Zhao Yan that the most suitable candidate was naturally Lu You, but he is now an official in Jiangnan, and it is unknown where he is.

After hearing this, Zhao Yan nodded slightly.

Lu Youqi, Zhao Yan knows and has seen it.

In the early years of the general selection camp in Huzhou, he was the commander of the selection general camp, and he saw the selection general who was responsible for raising grain and grass to join the army Lu You in the selection general camp, and then he also heard Lu You's name.

said that Lu You's supervisor returned to the Yi Office, took the fleet to the sea, and came back to hand over a lot of wealth to the Inner Treasury, but at that time, the Inner Treasury was still in the hands of the Emperor Taishang, and Zhao Yan had no contact with the Hui Yi Office.

Lu You has been in charge of the return office for many years, and he must have met many wealthy businessmen, and he is also very familiar with the return of trade, so he is indeed a suitable person.

Moreover, now that Yang Congyi is in charge of the army, he is in the position of deputy privy council, presiding over the affairs of the privy council, and he can't get out of it, so it is impossible for him to preside over the formation of the city department or return to the office, and exclude him, then it can only be Lu You.

Subsequently, Zhao Yan ignored the opposition of some old ministers, ordered the preparation of the city and the return office, and at the same time ordered people to go south to find Lu You, bring him back to Bianjing as soon as possible, and entrust him with important tasks.

Two months later, Lu You came to Bianjing alone from Jiangnan and was solemnly summoned by Zhao Yan.

After Lu You's visit, he was really entrusted with an important task the next day, and he served as the governor of Haizhou as a household servant, presiding over the establishment of the Haizhou City Shipping Division, and at the same time concurrently serving as the head envoy of the Hui Yi Department, a special agency of the imperial court, specifically responsible for the affairs of the Hui Yi Department.

Soon after, the Bianjing Imperial Court issued an edict and promulgated the "Shangjia Law", which reduced the tax rate levied by the imperial court on Shangjia in the form of a law, and also made relatively clear provisions on the objects and tax rates of collection.

Its purpose is to grasp the big and let go of the small, encourage private business, encourage the circulation of coins and materials, and attract businessmen from all walks of life to Bianjing, Zhengzhou, Damingfu, Jinan, Guidefu, Xingrenfu, Xuzhou, Xiangyang, Haizhou, Yangzhou, Luzhou and other big cities to concentrate and operate in big cities.

It is impossible for the merchants who have gone south to return in a short period of time, and the vitality of the city can only be slowly restored.

But the imperial treasury is empty, and it can't wait too long, under the tax exemption in Jiangbei, the heavy responsibility of enriching the treasury is almost all on Lu You, and the whole court is looking at him.

Zhao Yan also gave Lu You an order that within three years, the city department and the return office must hand over 10,000 yuan to the imperial court.

At the same time, he also gave Lu You a promise that if he encountered difficulties or obstructions, he could bypass the commander, the head of the household, and the prime minister and give him feedback directly.

Lu You, who came to Bianjing not long ago, really felt the dilemma of the Bianjing Imperial Court's urgent need for money from Emperor Zhao Yan, and at the same time, Zhao Yan's commitment and trust to him also made him feel more pressured.

Before leaving Bianjing and rushing to Haizhou to take up his post, Lu You met Yang Congyi alone to say goodbye.

Since the two separated in Lin'an on the 31st of Shaoxing, they have not had the opportunity to meet again, and in the blink of an eye, four years have passed.

Reminiscing about the old days, chatting about business, Yang Congyi learned from Lu You's mouth that everything is fine now, and there are not many changes, most of the people who went to sea three years ago are still mobilized from Liuqiu, this year he was transferred from Lin'an Huiyi, let the place go, and rarely asked about the matter of returning to Yi, but he is still quite concerned about Quanzhou and Liuqiu.

In fact, in recent years, Yang Congyi's army and Shandong Shen Jin had a lot of contact with Lu You and Liuqiu, and many of the grains, grasses, materials and money needed by the Northern Expeditionary Army and the Shandong Righteous Army were all transferred from Liuqiu and Nanyang through Lu You, so although Yang Congyi was in the north, he still maintained a certain connection with Liuqiu.

Liuqiu as a base for returning to Yi, at the beginning of the concentration of tens of thousands of people there, built a large camp, four years ago after Yan Liang went south, Yang Congyi first led 3,000 elite troops from Liuqiu to the north, to assist in the defense of the Yangtze River defense line, the second year when he led the army to garrison Suzhou, and ordered Shen Jin, Luo Cong, Yao Chang and others to lead thousands of people north to Shandong, and later successively transferred people from Liuqiu into Shandong, Xingren Mansion, Daimyo's Mansion, and now the Liuqiu camp is estimated to be less than 4,000 people.

Although the number of people in the camp has decreased, the horse farms established in the south have grown rapidly, and over the years, the scale of the horse farms has increased again and again, and the number of horses and horses has reached no less than 40,000.

Although the Great Song Dynasty recaptured a large area of territory in the north, it was not easy to establish a horse farm, because the best horse farm had long been lost in the early years, after the Jingkang Rebellion, the Guanzhong horse farm also fell into the hands of the Jin people, the entire Great Song Dynasty in addition to the Jianghan Plain There is a horse farm, other places have not been able to find a large-scale horse farm, because in the south can raise horses, the same suitable for reclamation and farming, due to the southward migration of the population, more and more land has been reclaimed, the only horse farm is gradually shrinking, and the horses are naturally less.

Although there are many horses in the Liuqiu Horse Farm, the horses raised in the south are not as good as the grassland horses in the north, let alone compared with the war horses in the north.

However, although those horses are not suitable for cavalry formation, long-distance travel, but they are still more than enough as pack horses, and now that the north is recuperating, resuming farming, and resuming trade, a lot of pack horse transportation is needed, and it is time to transfer them to the north, and if they are sold, they can be exchanged for a sum of money.

Subsequently, the two talked about the city and the return office, and Yang Congyi proposed to transport the horses from the Liuqiu Horse Farm to the north, which could not only supplement the pack horse transportation capacity for the north, but also exchange a sum of money as the starting capital for the return of trade.

With this help, Lu You is naturally happy.

After that, the two discussed for a long time around the City Ship Division and the Hui Yi Office, and Yang Congyi gave Lu You a lot of suggestions.

One of them suggested that Lu You first set up a smaller fleet to go to Goryeo and the Wa Kingdom, first get some money back, and then recruit wealthy businessmen to form an ocean-going caravan to go to the South Seas and the Western Ocean, and take them to the sea.