The naval army of the Xiaoguo Army is the most powerful, it can be said that it is a naval army, and it should be a navy. Sea ships are different from inland river ships, and Zhao Xun didn't dare to say that the soldiers on sea ships must be used to river ships. But come to think of it, since even the swaying sea can adapt to it, then the inland river will naturally not be a problem!

Well, this so-called plan for the repair and dredging of the Grand Canal sounds, and the results are very tempting and good.

However, the cost is also huge, the renovation of the canal requires a lot of financial investment, not to mention Youzhou to the Yellow River, the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, that is, just Youzhou to the Qinghai-Hebei junction of such a long period of time, is enough for the Xiaoguo army headache. It's good to repair the dredging at the right time, not to rebuild it from scratch, otherwise......

If Zhao Xun really wants to renovate this section of the canal, or even continue to do it, at least a large amount of money will be invested in it every year, of course, if it succeeds in the end, the harvest of the result is naturally self-evident. At the same time, the renovation of the canal requires a lot of manpower and material resources, which is a good thing to solve, because of the war in the south, the capture of young and strong soldiers, many people have fled north, Xiaoguo Army is worried about how to settle them, to repair the canal is a good method.

Zhao Xun is not stupid, he also knows that the renovation of the canal can only be done when the country is prosperous and the people are safe. If the canal is forcibly repaired when the power is not enough, it will only backfire and lead to unimaginable consequences. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty perished because of the construction of the canal, the people of the Tang Dynasty kept this in mind, Xuanzong era to renovate the Yellow River, and the ministers grabbed the land with their heads to oppose the land, saying that as long as the river work is opened, the world will be chaotic, it can be seen that the lesson is only profound.

In fact, no matter from which point of view, the renovation of the canal in all dynasties is a matter of the state, and it can only be done when the country is the strongest, and it is definitely not something that a local force can do, and even, even in the Tang Dynasty, repairing the canal is not an easy thing, and the river problem has always been an unavoidable topic for all dynasties.

In addition, the renovation of the canal also requires specialized personnel, after all, it is not an easy task, it requires comprehensive planning, comprehensive planning, and specialized technology. If it is just a simple dredging, there are many places that need to be diverted, the surrounding river tributaries need to be connected, and the canal needs to be better connected with other rivers to play a greater role.

In addition, how to make reasonable use of the people, how to build various canal facilities, especially the construction of uneven sluices, is definitely a very difficult and challenging work, which is not modern, a qiē has a mechanical drive. In this era, all kinds of large-scale projects were built with blood and sweat, and even the lives of people. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built the Grand Canal, it is said that at least more than 100,000 people died. I have to say that although Emperor Yang of Sui is a bastard emperor in contemporary times, all subsequent dynasties have taken advantage of him. It is to repair the river, and it is also repaired on the basis of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

Of course, if the Xiaoguo army wins in the end, it will naturally benefit immensely, and it can be repaired and improved in the future. If you lose, hehe...... That is to make a wedding dress for others.

Of course, at this stage, for Yanzhou and Yuzhou, the Xiaoguo Army still occupies the general trend. As for whether it will make the Yangzhou Navy fight back, that is naturally a later story. It would be a joke if the canal had been painstakingly repaired and the north and south were unblocked, but in the end the enemy ships attacked and advanced, and the Xiaoguo army itself was caught off guard. Of course, the Xiaoguo Army is located in the north, and it is condescending, so it still has a certain advantage.

Moreover, the renovation of the canal is a systematic project, which takes a long time, but in the land of Youzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou, the Xiaoguo army naturally does not have to worry about this, only needs to worry about whether the materials are enough, whether the manpower is enough, and the important thing is whether the money is enough. After all, this is the territory of the Xiaoguo Army.

As for the southern side, it's hard to say. If it doesn't work, the Xiaoguo Army intends to start construction at the junction of Jizhou and Yanzhou, and it will be destroyed by the Tang Army, the Yanzhou Army, and even the Xuzhou Army. Even so, it will take a long time, but fortunately, some places can still be navigated. Of course, as mentioned earlier, it was all in a period of stability.

If there are frequent wars, you fight for each other, and there is often a tug-of-war between the two sides of the Grand Canal, then there is no need to talk about the delay. Once the river work begins, the Xiaoguo army must ensure a stable environment and continuous financial investment, otherwise it will give up halfway, except for throwing away countless money in vain, there is no benefit in the slightest. As for this, it is necessary for the Xiaoguo Army to negotiate with the Tang Army, the Yanzhou Army, and the Xuzhou Army. Think about the power of the Xiaoguo army, they don't dare to oppose it openly, like this. can only send his handle to the hands of the Xiaoguo Army, so that the Xiaoguo Army has a sufficient reason to do something against it. That is, to carry out excuses, reasons for the division of justice.

The only good news is that Xiaoguojun has cement, and the emergence of cement has to be said to be an outstanding contribution to large-scale projects. At this point, Zhao Xun has become the object of admiration of many people. With cement, many things can be done, and compared to before, it is too simple.

The rest can not be discussed, but the river under the rule of the Xiaoguo Army can indeed be started, you know, the canals and many rivers in the territory of the Xiaoguo Army have water transportation, but they can't be unblocked from north to south, intermittently. What needs to be done now is to connect them together to form a water transport network of canals and rivers. In this way, it was convenient for the merchants and the common people, as well as for the army.

Seeing that most of the people agreed, Zhao Xun no longer insisted, even if it was not good in the south, he would first get out of his own territory. Although it is a little harder now, it can also solve the problem of internal displacement, and there will be a harvest in the future. For future wars, they will not be forced to suspend or retreat because of logistical problems. Historically, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty repaired the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which was also related to his conquest of Goryeo. Three expeditions to Goryeo, nearly one million people, what do they do? It's not because of transporting food for those hundreds of thousands of troops.

Well, the decision to repair the canal went through, but something went wrong again. What a problem, no money!

"Lord!" Hearing that Zhao Xun agreed to repair the canal, Hu Yi, director of the Finance Department, stood up and said: "Lord, there is no objection to the repair of the canal, but it was only last year that he fought with the Wei army and took Jizhou, and at the end of the year, he accepted Qingzhou. Because of the new policies to be implemented in various places, a lot of taxes will be reduced, and because of the war, all taxes in some war zones will be exempted. ”

"In addition, it will be a huge expense to rebuild the homes of those who have lost their homes to the war and to provide relief to those who have entered the country. Even if they work for our army to repair the canal in the form of cash-for-work in the future, the amount of money and goods needed will be infinite and we cannot afford it. ”

Xu He, director of the Department of Taxation, also stood up and said: "Indeed, it is no longer possible to bear such a large amount of payment by relying on the commercial taxes of businessmen alone. ”

When Zhao Xun heard this, he frowned and said, "Pei Yi, is our financial pressure difficult?" ”

Pei Yi nodded and said: "The difficulty is quite great, spending money during the war is like flowing water, plus the cost of relocating the people, the investment in repairing the road, and the investment in water conservancy, the little coins that I saved before have basically been spent, although it is not clean and slippery, but it is not much better, fortunately, some of our soldiers are supported by the northern Zhuhu, otherwise it will ......."

When Zhao Xun heard this, he couldn't help rolling his eyes, okay you Pei Yi, you were the one who supported the repair of the canal the most, you clearly knew the financial crisis, so you shouted support at the top of your voice.

"That's right!" , Zhao Xun touched his chin, the financial problem is the root of a qiē, no money, you still don't think about anything. Because of the implementation of the new policy and in order to reduce the burden of the people, the Xiaoguo Army was exempted from many taxes, and the financial crisis was inevitable. Zhao Xun knew very well that his army was likely to be the most expensive army in the entire Great Yan Kingdom, not to mention the excellent equipment, the monthly military salary, and the pension after the death in battle, no army could compare. Of course, these armies are also worthy of Zhao Xun to do so.

"Lord, do you want us to raise the price of salt?" Pei Yi said. Pei Yi knew that there was a salt drying field in Lingzhou Mansion in Qingzhou, and a lot of salt could be obtained. However, Zhao Xun has a very low price for these salts, which can be said to be half of the usual price, which is a peaceful and prosperous era, and the price is more than 30% higher than it. Edible salt is something that everyone needs, and as long as you raise it a little, it will be extremely profitable.

"No!" Zhao Xun hurriedly said, "Speaking of which, everyone's salt needs are about the same, and if you raise the price of salt, it will only make the pressure on the people even more, but the rich people don't have any pressure." This is not possible, and it is only ordinary people who will receive the disaster in the end. Supervision Department, you have set rules for all localities, the price of salt is fixed, who dares to raise the price without permission, adulteration, if there is one, kill another. ”

Zhao Xun's cold voice stunned everyone, and they didn't understand why Zhao Xun attached so much importance to this matter.

In Zhao Xun's view, such as table salt, which can be made through guò seawater, is also a basic material that people need, and can be sold to a minimum. It is not difficult to manufacture, the raw materials are endless, and it is an indispensable thing for people, this thing must not be too outrageous. In Zhao Xun's view, no matter what great achievements you make, it is not as important as letting ordinary people live a stable life. When it comes to salt, Zhao Xun unconsciously thinks of smuggler salt dealers. It is not because the price of salt is too high that a group of people who eat illegal salt have been born.

"Or, for the land of Qingzhou and Jizhou, the excess tax will be exempted, but the most basic field tax will continue to be paid?" Pei Yi whispered.

"This is absolutely not going to work!" Lu Ziliang, the government envoy, immediately stood up and said loudly: "The policy of tax reduction and exemption in various places has long been set, and it must not be changed at will. Although the people think that this is nothing, not all of them understand it. You know, this divides the fields equally, but many people have no harvest in the fields, there is nothing, how to pay taxes? Whoever we burden cannot burden these people at the bottom! ”

Pei Yi spread his hands and said helplessly: "Brother Lu, I understand what you say, but now, we really don't have any money in our hands, what do you say?" New policies are being implemented in various places, and in the land of Qingzhou, hundreds of thousands of people have to eat, because the houses destroyed by the war have to be rebuilt, and each item is a huge expense...... I'm also a stopgap measure! ”

Lu Ziliang gritted his teeth and said: "I don't care about these, in short, the expedient measures you mentioned are absolutely not feasible at that time!" I think that at the beginning, we started from the four mansions in Youbei, how difficult it was, and we didn't go back on our word, is it ...... today?"

Pei Yi smiled bitterly: "I also understand what you said, but this time is also that time, and now that the action is imminent, does it really have to wait until a year and a half later?" After a year and a half, who can guarantee that there will be no other accidents? ”

Lu Ziliang said in a deep voice: "Brother Pei, we were in the four mansions of Youbei at that time, how difficult it was? Haven't we stood up with the people, expelled the invasion of the Tatar people, and our lives are getting better day by day, have we ever brought a little burden to the people because of our pressure? It is precisely in this way that we can get the support of the people and send the young and strong people in our families to fight for the country and for ourselves. ”

"The people live on food, and now that we have won the battle and reduced our taxes, although life is still very hard, hope is coming, isn't it? Do you want to make the people feel that the Xiaoguo army has won the battle and is getting more and more powerful, but it is not as good as before to treat the people. When the common people find that they can't even eat, they will ask, "What did they get?" How do we answer him at that time? What will be the consequences for the Xiaoguo Army? Today, we have difficulties, let the people pay, and in the future, we will have difficulties? Do you continue to make them pay? ”

"Brother Lu, we are now letting them suffer a little temporarily, but for the sake of the peace of all eternity, for the sake of their future and even future generations, this, they are worth it!" Pei Yi said in a deep voice.

Hearing Pei Yi say this, Lu Ziliang couldn't help but get angry: "Master Pei, what the common people want is to have a full stomach, what they want is the credibility of the Xiaoguo Army, and what they want is something real, not your ethereal things." If only anyone could talk as casually as you did, and let them starve and sacrifice themselves, that would be great! ”

Not only Pei Yi and Lu Ziliang are arguing, but other people are also thinking about this issue. It's not that Xiaoguojun doesn't have any money at all, it's just that once the project to repair the canal starts, it will need too much.

"Okay, stop arguing, go back and think about it and see how to solve it! Also, in addition to money, we also need orthodox water conservancy personnel, and none of us here can do that. Zhao Xun rubbed his eyebrows and said in a deep voice.

Money...... Where's the money...... Where do you get the big money? Zhao Xun sat in the study, rubbing his forehead, only to feel that his head was about to explode, the people wanted silver, the soldiers wanted the army, the officials wanted salaries, the casting weapons, the transportation, everything required a large amount of silver, that is, the war horse, the daily consumption is a large amount, that is not an ordinary horse, a little forage can be sent, they really have to eat food every day, many times, the war horse is more delicate than people! You can't help but get used to them, otherwise, this war horse will be useless.

If this money was all paper money, Zhao Xun would have thought about printing him endlessly. Of course, this is just talk. Even if it is a banknote, Zhao Xun can't print it indiscriminately.

To rob/rob? Who can rob it? Who has the money to rob themselves? Zhao Xun couldn't help scratching his ears and cheeks.

The door knocked gently, someone walked in, Zhao Xun didn't have to look back, he knew that it was Xu Qinlian who came, and he could walk into his study without reporting, so far he was the only one Xu Qinlian, who was careful but never asked about the outside world, and every time he came, he only brought food for himself.

A pair of soft hands on his shoulders and kneading them gently, Zhao Xun leaned on the back of the chair silently, enjoying the tenderness of this moment, but in his mind, he was still thinking about money. Finally, I decided to make it, but I couldn't do it with all my might. Zhao Xun has a sense of giving up.

"Husband, the sisters can sell the money and some jewelry they have saved up on weekdays, and they can contribute a little to their husbands." Xu Qinlian said softly.

Because she brought lunch to herself before, Zhao Xun mentioned this matter herself, and she knew it, and it was also common sense.

"No, keep the money, I rarely buy anything for you on weekdays. Some of the needs are on your own, and there are children who also have what they need. Besides, if a man can't even take care of his home, what else can he talk about? I'm glad that you're doing well. Zhao Xun said with a smile.

Seeing Zhao Xun say this, Xu Qinlian couldn't say more, so he could only massage Zhao Xun gently to relieve the pressure.

After Xu Qinlian left, Wei Dong and Han Meng came to the house, it wasn't that there was anything wrong, but Han Meng was on duty outside the house, and it was too cold. Wei Dong handed over some government affairs that required Zhao Xun's approval to Zhao Xun to deal with. Zhao Xun left them, which can be regarded as a relaxation for himself.