My year-old harvest balance is only more than 15 million yuan,!?? Xiao Mo asked incredulously. [No pop-up novel network]

In the feudal dynasty, the state's annual income, annual balance, expenditure, and other data were all kept secret, and no one else could know except for the qualified courtiers.

But Xiao Mo clearly remembered that when Emperor Wen of Chu was reigning ninety years ago, he once planned to build a new palace, but was dissuaded by the courtiers under the pretext of frugality, but Emperor English said quite proudly:

"I have a lot of harvests every year, and there are more than 30 million yuan of surplus every year, which are stored in the treasury every year, which is useless and even more wasteful." As a proof of the wealth and strength of the Chu Dynasty, this sentence was passed on to the people and has been passed down to the present.

It stands to reason that in the past 90 years, the Chu Dynasty has never had wars and natural disasters, and all walks of life have developed, why is the annual harvest surplus only half of that of 90 years ago?

Hearing Xiao Mo's inquiry, the Eight Sages King was slightly stunned, and only then did he realize that when he was angry, he unconsciously told the Chu Dynasty secret to Yu Zi Xiao Mo.

But the identity of the Eight Sage Kings is different, and Xiao Mo will have to enter the court as an official sooner or later, so he simply nodded and admitted, and said with a wry smile: "Yes, my Da Chu's annual income balance is only a little more than fifteen million guan, only half of a hundred years ago." "Why is this so?" Xiao Mo frowned and asked.

The Eight Wise Kings were silent.

Xiao Mo looked at the appearance of the Eight Sages King, seemed to remember something, and asked cautiously, "Literati privileges?" Hearing Xiao Mo's words, the Eight Sages King couldn't help but be taken aback, and turned his head to look at Xiao Mo, but he didn't expect Xiao Mo to think of this, and he didn't expect Xiao Mo to dare to say this!!

Looking at Xiao Mo's questioning expression, as if waiting for his answer, the Eight Sages King hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly: "Compared with ninety years ago, now there are three times as many meritorious literati in my Chu Dynasty, and more than twice as many officials, and the cost of which is more than 30 million!" After hearing the words of the Eight Sage Kings, Xiao Mo sighed softly.

Since Xiao Mo was taking the county exam in Changzi County, when he saw that there were only three counties, and in a year, the number of candidates was hundreds, he had already guessed that the privilege of literati would sooner or later drag down the Chu Dynasty.

The literati only know how to read, not work, and that's it. The most important thing is that Chu Taizu stipulated that in the Chu Dynasty, if a literati can be admitted to the meritorious service of Xiucai, whether they are engaged in business or agriculture, the tax only needs to be paid 90%, if they are admitted to the exam, the tax only needs to be handed over 60%, and if they can be admitted to the Jinshi meritorious name, the annual tax only needs to be paid 30%!!

And most of the time, there are many scholars who have made a name for themselves, and there are many reproductions in their families.

Others, such as scholars who have a reputation for raising their children, can use post stations all over the country for half the cost; For example, those who are above the fame of their sons will receive a subsidy from the court every year...... And so on, all of this added up, although it caused the unprecedented prosperity of the Chu Dynasty's culture, but also greatly reduced the annual income of the Chu Dynasty, and also greatly increased the cost of the Chu Dynasty's treasury.

In addition, the Chu Dynasty has always pursued the principle of paying for honesty, and the income of officials can be said to be the highest in all dynasties, compared with a hundred years ago, the officials in the DPRK and China are more than doubled, but it is a great burden.

In addition, the Chu Dynasty has been stable for many years, and it is luxurious everywhere, and all kinds of face expenses that are not important at all add up to a lot.

All these things were added together, and Xiao Mo was stunned to find that in this case, the Chu Dynasty was still able to have a surplus of 15 million yuan, which was already a clear proof of its prosperity.

Hearing Xiao Mo's soft sigh, the Eight Sages King was slightly stunned, looking at Xiao Mo's appearance at this time, Xiao Mo, who was a big man in the literary world, didn't even approve of the privilege of literati. As if thinking of something, the Eight Sages King also hesitated a little, and asked Xiao Mo:

"Zirou, in your opinion, if I abolish the privilege of literati in the future, can I succeed?"

Xiao Mo was slightly stunned, but he didn't expect the Eight Sages King to have such ambitions, he stared at the Eight Sages King in a daze for a moment, and after a long time, his expression regained his composure again, and he slowly shook his head and said: "Eighth Prince, if you want to do that, you are making enemies of the world, let alone you, even Your Majesty, it is impossible to succeed." ”

Hearing Xiao Mo's words, the Eight Sages King sighed gloomily and was speechless for a long time.

He knew how difficult it would be.

Looking at the tiredness on the expression of the Eight Sage Kings, Xiao Mo couldn't bear it, but he couldn't help, so he changed the topic and said, "Eighth Prince, are you really going to inspect the Northland?" Although the affairs of the various ministries are not in a good position now, with the help of the eternal minister Zhang Qian and the privy envoy Wang Han, it is expected that they will soon be back on the right track. ”

Who knows, after hearing Xiao Mo's words, the expression of the Eight Sages King became even more cold, and he snorted coldly: "Those two guys can't count on it, at this time, they still only care about fighting for power and profit!" ”

Xiao Mo was slightly stunned and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

The Eight Sages King sneered, "Do you remember that eight months ago, you told Shan Zuotang about the speculation of the Di Clan's invasion? Xiao Mo nodded and said, "Juniors remember." The Eight Sages King said coldly: "Since Na Shan Zuotang told Zhang Qian the news, Zhang Qian not only did not worry about the imminent invasion of the Di clan, but began to take this opportunity to plot how to seize the power of Na Wang Han!" He first informed Wang Han in a letter from Zhu half a year ago, asking him to send Zhou Hong, the secretary of the military department, and Li Geng, the squire, to inspect the northern states, arrange defense affairs, and guard against the invasion of the Qiu tribe. But he didn't say the reason at all, Zhou Hong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Li Geng, the squire of the Ministry of War, were all important figures in Wang Lose's control of the Ministry of War, and it was a few months like this, Wang Han was worried that Zhang Qian would take the opportunity to seize the power of his Ministry of War, how could he agree? Naturally, I don't pay attention to it!! Just delayed half a year of preparation, but Zhang Qian didn't remind him. A few days ago, in the early dynasty, when discussing the affairs of the Qiu clan, Zhang Qian used this as an excuse to attack Wang Han wantonly, so that Wang Yu was reprimanded by His Majesty, and now Zhou Hong and Li Geng are both forced to go to the north to inspect, Zhang Qian can naturally take the opportunity to insert people in the military department, obviously he has long expected this day. Saying that, the Eight Sages King sneered twice and said angrily: "I'm afraid that now Zhang Qian can't wait to lose the war, so that he can use Wang Han's delay in the war as an excuse to completely rectify it, and then he can completely control the court!" What did he think, did he really think I couldn't guess??!! Hearing the description of the Eight Sages King, Xiao Mo was confused Indeed, in essence, Zhang Qian was just a politician, and that's it.

The most important thing is that Zhang Qian didn't realize the danger of the Qiu clan at all, I'm afraid that in Zhang Qian's opinion, even if the battle is lost, with the strength of the Chu Dynasty, it will definitely be a temporary loss, right? Perhaps, Zhang Qian was still worried that the Qiu Clan would not be able to threaten the army of the Chu Dynasty at the moment.

Thinking like this, Xiao Mo's confidence that he had built up before because the Chu Dynasty mobilized a large army to support the northern land disappeared in an instant. Not wanting to continue on such a topic, Xiao Mo asked the Eight Strange Kings: "Eighth Prince, you just said that you called the juniors to come this time, first, to say goodbye to the juniors, and secondly, to ask for something, but I don't know what it is?" ”

It seemed that he also realized that it was not appropriate to say this to Xiao Mo now, the Eight Sages King sighed softly, and said to Xiao Mo: "That's the case, because I don't worry about things in the north, so I'm going to go to the northern states to inspect it, but I don't have any talents in my hands who understand the situation of the Qiu tribe in the northern states and grasslands, didn't Zirou say before, do you know two Yunzhou merchants who often go in and out of the grassland to do business with the Qiu tribe?" All your knowledge of the Qiu clan is also from those two people, so I want Zirou to introduce these two people to me, so that after I go to the Northland, I can also have more helpers around me to understand the situation. Xiao Mo nodded and said: "One of those two is Qiu Hong, the richest man in Yunzhou, and the other is Liu Bo, the largest grain merchant in Yunzhou. The Eight Sages King smiled and nodded in thanks, in fact, he only needed to know the names of these two merchants, when he arrived in the Northland, let Qiu Hong and Uncle Liu help him, how could the two dare to refuse? But since Xiao Mo wanted to introduce him by letter, the Eight Sages would not refuse.

After Xiao Mo wrote a letter to Qiu Hong and Uncle Liu respectively and handed it to the Eight Sages King, the two chatted for a while, and Xiao Mo was about to leave.

However, before leaving, looking at the tiredness and helplessness on the face of the Eight Sages King, he felt a little unbearable in his heart.

is in the midst of a group of monarchs and courtiers who only know how to live and dream of death and fight for power and profit, but they are also embarrassed by the Eight Sages King.

His heart suddenly moved slightly, but he bowed down and asked the Eight Sages King: "Eighth Prince, the junior takes the liberty to ask, how will you prepare after you arrive in the Northland?" If the invasion of the Qiu Clan comes true, and the performance of our Chu Dynasty army is not satisfactory, how will you respond? Hearing Xiao Mo's inquiry, and seeing Xiao Mo's expression at the moment, the Eight Sages King was slightly stunned, and in an instant, he understood what Xiao Mo meant.

Xiao Mo was worried about the situation of the northern states under the invasion of the Di tribe, and he didn't trust the performance of the Chu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, so he wanted to support him. Xiao Mo shook his head and smiled: "Eighth prince, you are laughing, the younger generation is shallow, and he has no experience in military affairs, although he has some thoughts in his heart, but I am afraid that these schemes have already been thought of by the prince, and they are far from good policies, but one person is short, and many people are long, since the prince wants to ask, the younger generation will say what he thinks in his heart, and please don't want to see the prince laugh." After a pause, Xiao Mo said: "In the hearts of the younger generations, there are three strategies. ”