Here, after the other ministers retreated, Xianfeng drove the eunuchs and palace maids out of the door and was alone with Su Shun in the warm pavilion. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Su Shun, tell me how I can scrape together the money to buy a foreigner's warship!" Xianfeng looked at Su Shun who was hanging his head and eyes on the side, "Don't tell me, you can't get money." ”

Xianfeng knew that Su Shun said that in the court, there must have been a way to get the silver, so he deliberately stayed for interrogation.

"Your Majesty, the slave does have some superficial views, that is, to cast a lot of money." Su Shun talked eloquently and reported: "Your Majesty, now there is a rebellion in the south, wars have broken out, military salaries are huge, roads are cut off, and taxes are missing, which has brought great harm to the Qing Dynasty. Not only that, the war in the Yangtze River area also caused the copper of Yunnan to be unable to be transported to the Central Plains and Beijing, and there was a shortage of copper for coinage, so that the expenditure on military salaries and disaster relief was huge, but there was no income from taxes and coinage, which would lead to the emptiness of the treasury of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the emperor and the minions suggested collecting the old copper coins and the remaining copper deposits to mint large coins. A large copper coin is given several denominations such as 'when ten', 'when fifty', 'when hundred', 'when five hundred', 'when thousand'. In this way, a small amount of copper can be turned into hundreds of copper coins. ”

When Xianfeng heard this, his face was sad, and he said: "In this way, the people will suffer!" As soon as the big money is minted, the small money in the people's homes will be greatly depreciated, and I will feel uneasy. ”

Su Shun said: "The emperor is sympathetic to the people, which is the blessing of the people!" But now the situation is critical, and the treasury is empty, and there is no salary to be paid, and the people who cannot destroy the traitors suffer even more. If it is regarded as the court to borrow some money from the people, wait for the rebels to be quelled, and the emperor works hard, the Qing Dynasty will definitely be strong and rich, and then give the people some tax reduction and exemption, and return it! ”

Su Shun's statement made Xianfeng very useful, and nodded again and again, yes, I should borrow some first, and then reduce taxes and return them in the future.

He couldn't help it.

Today, the Ministry of Household Affairs reported on the situation of the three major fiscal and taxation fields, salt taxes, and customs duties of the Qing Dynasty, claiming that the war-torn provinces of Liangguang, Fujian, and Muguang, as well as the remote provinces of Guizhou, were no longer able to be urged. Jiangnan Province, which has always been a large tax province, except for Suzhou and Songjiang, cannot be collected. Due to the drought in Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang were all blocked, and some taxes were handed over to the militia to practice bravery, and the road for transporting the Beijing division in Zhejiang was cut off, and the transportation of taxes had to be carried out quietly in batches. Other Henan, Zhili and other countries have just experienced locust plagues, and have been harassed by the Northern Expeditionary Army, and there is no tax to pay money and food.

The treasury of the household department has increased day by day, and the receipts have decreased sharply, and the treasury has dried up.

Moreover, Xianfeng knew that not only the national treasury was like this, but also the local finances were exhausted.

According to the report of Gui Liang, the new governor of Zhili, the rich land of the capital division of Zhili, just because of the locust plague and the interception of the long-haired thief soldiers, the treasury of the Zhili domain lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The other provinces are no better, they are dwarfed and financially insufficient.

To this end, the household ministry requested that the salaries of civil officials of the sixth rank and above and the military rank of four and above be suspended for one year, and that all civil and military officials should be abolished as military salaries, and that the number of students and township examination places be increased, and that the tuition and examination fees should be used for emergency purposes, and that a large number of officials with fictitious titles who had no real power should be donated, and that military expenses be donated to the local squires and that they should be apportioned in the payment of food and salaries.

Thinking of this, Xianfeng had no choice but to bite the bullet and say: "The method of casting a lot of money, He Shaoji, a Sichuan scholar and politician, had an excerpt the year before last, but I didn't agree." Now that you've brought it up again, and it's so big in one cast, alas, I really don't know if it should be like this. However, even so, can you buy a foreigner's warship? ”

Su Shun said respectfully: "Your Majesty, in addition, you can also borrow money from foreigners." Recently, the minister sent someone to ask Wu Jianzhang, a Taoist of Susong Taidao, about the foreigners, and in Shanghai City, the foreigners have a bank there, and as long as there is a mortgage for the goods, they can borrow money. ”

"Su Song Taidao Daoist Wu Jianzhang? This person is a businessman, and it seems that he is a platform for donations, but I have heard the Ministry of Household mention that the annual customs duties paid are a lot of silver. In this case, he gave him a flower feather and asked him to come forward to borrow money, and he could buy Western warships as collateral by the silver tariff of the Shanghai Sea and the rent of the Shanghai Concession. Xianfeng made an order.

Su Shun bowed his head and bowed: "The slave obeys the order!" ”

Then, he looked at Xianfeng again and said, "Your Majesty, the slave still has a plan." The treasury is empty, and in addition to donations, it is also possible to donate money to the civil and military officials of the DPRK. The slave suggested that those who donate 5,000 taels of real silver will be rewarded with blue feathers, and those who donate 7,000 taels of real silver will be rewarded with flower feathers, so that a lot of silver taels can be made. ”

Xianfeng said expressionlessly: "Aiqing has a heart!" ”

After Su Shun knelt down, Xianfeng thought about the chaos of the Qing Dynasty alone, and sighed secretly in his heart, a disturbed and sad mood enveloped him.

So, he ordered Shen Lanyu, the chief eunuch in front of the emperor, to guard the gate, open a dark box in the warm pavilion, take out a smoking gun, fill it with tobacco soil, light it, and smoke it beautifully. Only at this moment will he forget his identity as the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and indulge in a world without troubles and failures.

That night, Xianfeng, who was 100 times more energetic, turned over the brand of Lan Guiren Xingzhen again, and made a big conquest, which made Xingzhen happy. Because, she just had a dream last night, and she dreamed that a golden phoenix flew to her bed, which was a good sign!

After finishing the matter, Xingzhen thoughtfully ordered Fushou ointment, took a sip of it herself, and then fed it to Xianfeng's mouth.

When she was about to be carried away by the eunuch in the worship room, Xingzhen suddenly took out a wooden box, took out a large string of pearls and gold bracelets from it, and said faintly: "Your Majesty, the slave maid heard that the emperor was short of silver, so the slave and maid brought these jewels that the emperor had given to the slaves before, and wanted to donate them to the treasury as military salaries to share the emperor's worries." Only one slave and maid remained, this was the first time that the emperor rewarded the slave and maid, and they should stay by their side forever. ”

Xianfeng couldn't help but appreciate it, touched Xingzhen's face, and said, "Xingzhen, you are good!" Know how to share worries for me. Someone, spread my will, Fenglan noble Yehnara? Xingzhen is a concubine and three palace maids. ”

Xingzhen was overjoyed, hurriedly thanked her, and shouted long live the mountain.

…….

When the Qing court was in a financial crisis, Luo Jian leisurely led a cadre of five divisions and a cadre of soldiers to pass through Jeju Island and summoned countless merchant ships and fishing boats from the Ryukyus, and brought the 3,000 war horses and 5,000 bantam horses and several boats of gold and silver back to Fujian. This time, Luo Xuan was going to personally escort these loot, return to Guangzhou, and hand them over to the Holy King in person.

He also heard from the Ryukyuan people that the shogunate of Kamoto had a large amount of silver and that there was a great business opportunity.

At the same time, Luo Jian felt that he had broadened his horizons this time, from Quanzhou, to Mosswan, then to Ryukyu, Jeju Island, and finally to Dagukou in Tianjin, a journey of nearly 10,000 miles.

When the time comes, he will be able to take over the mission of the sea, which the Holy King said.

Liang Peiyou and the 5th Division returned to Jeju Island with more than 100 warships and some transport ships to replenish supplies for the winter. In addition, he occupied Changdao and Daqin Island in the sea north of Dengzhou in Shandong, and Changshan Island, Guanglu Island, and Zhangzi Island in the sea east of Jinzhou. A battalion of sailors was also set up on Dachangshan Island, which had several villages, to listen to the battle between the Taiping army and the Manchu Qing in Liaodong at any time.