"Lord Squire, be careful that the wall has ears." Liu Yuan hurriedly made a gesture of silence.

This is a feudal society, the world is big, Li Er is the biggest, talking nonsense and letting the villain make a small report, the consequences are unimaginable.

Cui Shang said a little carelessly: "In Cui Mansion, they are all selected again and again, and the trustworthy old man doesn't have to be afraid of anything." After speaking, Cui Shang said a little proudly: "Why are Li Erwei afraid of us?" That's simple, that is, our people are all pinched into a rope, and the strength is in one place, hehe, that is, he is the king of a country, what great things to do, and can he leave the support of my clan? ”

The world of scholars, now it is obvious that the emperor wants to gather power in order to establish his authority, while the scholars have been seeking greater right to speak, the two are interdependent, and they have struggled with each other for hundreds of years, until they broke the Jiupin Zhongzheng system and took the imperial examination, this is the history that Liu Yuan learned.

So it makes sense for Cui Shang to say this.

Liu Yuan didn't want to discuss the matter of scolding Li Er with Cui Shang anymore, but asked curiously: "Lord Shilang, why are you angry?" ”

Cui Shang raised his cup, raised his head, drank all the contents of the cup, and then burst out of his mouth with two words: "Military expenses." ”

"Military spending? The military expenses of sending troops to spit out? ”

"Exactly."

Liu Yuan said suspiciously: "No, Lord Shilang, the Tang Dynasty is thriving, all industries are thriving, the people are living a rich life, collecting some taxes and fighting wars or something, it's not a difficult thing, you won't say, send troops to spit out, you can't even afford military expenses, right?" ”

Cui Shang nodded and said: "Maybe many people don't believe it, in fact, it's like this, if you don't know the price of firewood and rice, the world is decided, it is a broken old mountain and river, and everything is seriously damaged." The population has been greatly reduced, and in the past few years, more attention has been paid to the problem of food and clothing, and the people's livelihood has to be taken care of later, such as repairing official roads, digging canals and rivers, etc., each of which is a huge expense. It's only a little better in recent years, otherwise, after laying down the world, it won't be enjoyable. ”

"But there are so many places of abundance. Just like Chang'an and Yangzhou, these two places alone are as prosperous as smoke. Collect some taxes. Not a problem. Liu Yuan whispered.

"It's not appropriate", Cui Jing shook his head and said: "Your words are right, but unfortunately, in the Tang Dynasty, there is only one Chang'an and Yangzhou, many places." Now I can't even eat enough, like the people who are close to Tufan and Tuyun, and they have to suffer from military disasters from time to time, but the country is so big. There are so many stalls, and everything costs money, and I'm just a household servant, not an immortal who can turn money. ”

"Just like this time, Li Er told me that the Daming Palace was built for Emperor Gaozong to live in order to show filial piety, and Tufan did not fight enough to meet the anger of the people and the morale of the army, so I thought of a way, but it shows that this year's taxes are heavy enough, and I am not allowed to be taxed from the people, do you really want me to make money?"

Cui Shang said coldly: "What kind of heart does he have, I can't see it clearly?" Hum! ”

"What is the emperor's heart? If you don't pay taxes, how can you have money to fight, as the saying goes, if the three armies are not moved, the grain and grass go first, this "Liu Yuan also made it difficult for Cui Shang."

Although it is just the household to treat Lang, but the Shangshu lord on top of him was sick at home a few years ago, and the household actually let Cui Shang control it alone, so he is also responsible for raising military expenses this time, listening to the meaning, it is to let the horses run, and not let the horses eat grass, Li Erxiao's heart can not be less, and the war and prestige can not be less, and the premise of these is that his reputation as a "holy king" cannot fall, and the burden on the people cannot be increased, so as not to make the people complain about him, which is really embarrassing for Cui Shang.

However, from it, it can also be seen that the Cui family is prominent, the six Shangshu, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household are respectively mastered by Cui Jing and Cui Shang, two of the six, falling into the hands of the Cui family, these two departments, or a very important department, I heard that the Cui family also has a master, a doctor, and Cui Cairen in the palace waiting for the emperor, etc., Qinghe Cui's family is indeed not an ordinary illustrious.

"It's very simple, I want our scholar clan to come out, the country is defeated, he became the emperor, and our scholar clan has also lived a stable life, and there is a few more money in our hands, no, I have it on the record." Cui Shang explained angrily.

Liu Yuan suddenly realized, no wonder Cui Shang was so angry in his heart.

is obviously a trap and can't collect taxes, Li Er can say that he is ineffective and takes the opportunity to suppress him, or directly does not correct and disgusts Cui Shang; can afford to collect taxes, that is not from the people, but from the scholars, which damages the interests of the scholars, and also makes the scholars dissatisfied with the Cui family, which is conducive to further disintegrating the unity between the scholars and weakening the strength of the scholars.

This suddenly pushed Cui Shang into a dilemma.

Cui Shang sighed: "Forget it, forget it, I can't tell you clearly." ”

After speaking, he motioned to the maid on the side to pour him wine, and drank the wine alone.

Liu Yuan woke up at this time, and he was willing to come to Li Er's generosity, which was linked to the Cui family, no wonder he was so generous to himself as a small person, and he let himself enter the imperial study, and let himself eat, and he still had a wish to give it to himself after the most reluctance.

Looking at Cui Shang's depressed appearance, Liu Yuan also ate a little tasteless at this banquet.

"In addition to not being able to collect taxes from the people, does the emperor say that there are any restrictions?" Liu Yuan asked cautiously.

"That's not true, it's just that I can figure out a way, it's funny, I can't think of it and turn the silver out?"

Liu Yuan's eyes rolled a few times, and he quickly came up with an idea, and said to Cui Shang with a smile: "Lord Shilang, in fact, you don't have to worry, it is a crisis, but also a turning point, if it is handled well, not only will there be no loss, maybe, there will be unexpected gains, I have already had three strategies in my own heart, which can help Lord Shilang solve his worries." ”

"Oh, let's hear it." Cui Shang suddenly became interested.

"The next strategy is that the wool is out of the sheep, and the clever name is to increase taxes, such as collecting the city tax, according to the head, one penny at a time, don't underestimate this money, accumulate a lot, Datang enters and leaves the city every day, not to mention tens of millions, in addition, you can also find a way in other places, although this practice bears a little infamy, but the Tang Dynasty is rich, and the military expenses can still be raised enough."

"The middle strategy is to raise donations. Tufan and Tuyuhun have repeatedly violated the border, and there are many blood debts, and there have long been many patriots among the people who have called for troops to send troops to Tufan, and they can take advantage of this craze to let them donate generously, and each state and government will share the money, and if they can't give them benefits, they will give it a name, if they donate more, they will send a plaque or something, and if they donate more. Give a false name, for example, let them see how many officials below the grade, they can not kneel, it is really not attractive enough, then take a day trip to the palace. Drag them to the palace for a walk and let the emperor meet. A few words of verbal commendation. I guess they're all happy.

"There is another good strategy, which is to issue bonds."

Liu Yuan's methods of making money are too coincidental, Cui Jing's eyes brightened the more he listened, and when he heard Liu Yuan say the best policy, he couldn't help but ask: "Xiaoyuan, you said debt." What is a bond? How come the old man has never heard of it? ”

"A debt is an IOU, an IOU, which means that the state and individuals borrow money." Liu Yuan explained.

"It's not proper, it's inappropriate" Cui Shang shook his head and said, "Isn't that the emperor borrowing money from the people?" The one who loses the dragon's face. ”

Liu Yuan smiled and said, "Don't be afraid." As long as the operation is done well, the propaganda becomes that the emperor would rather borrow money than increase the responsibility of the people, which is very conducive to increasing the emperor's reputation, I guess the emperor will not have an opinion, the people's silver is put in the bank, then you have to pay a storage fee, we do not charge a storage fee, and give them a little profit as appropriate, then the store and the people are very happy to buy these bonds. ”

Cui Shang still had doubts and said: "Even if it works, what about the question of repayment, how to repay?" ”

"That's better." Liu Yuan said with a wicked smile: "Lord Lang, you just regard fighting as a business, let's give an example, there is a person named Wang San, he wants to go up the mountain to chop firewood to make money, but he has no money to buy a knife, what should he do, he can go to the blacksmith first to get the knife with the method of accounting, after cutting firewood and selling it, he paid for the knife with firewood, and the one who fell was his own?" ”

"Feeding war with war?"

Liu Yuan nodded and said: "I also see war as a business, this time with soldiers Tufan, the winning rate is extremely high, won the battle, captured the spoils, in addition to the division of the soldiers should be, all put away, used to repay debts, in addition to property, like captured soldiers, population, can be sold as slaves, war horses can be sold for a good price, cattle and sheep can also be put into the warehouse, the fight is almost over, you can also let Tufan cut the land for compensation, that land can also be worth silver taels, anyway, Tubo is a foreign enemy, it is also good to weaken it." ”

Liu Yuan's words were like a key, opening the Pandora box in Cui Shang's heart, but he thought about it for a long time, and soon came up with another question: "Your statement is good, but, as far as I know, this time the use of troops against Tufan is only a revenge and deterrence, and the troops invested will not be many, like your method of digging three feet into the ground, where can we find so many people to transport the loot back to Datang, according to the past habits, just take the valuable ones and go, like the population, cattle and sheep, they are all discarded." ”

"Hehe, that's simpler" Liu Yuan said with a sly smile: "If these things are cheap enough, the businessman is also willing to buy them, organize some businessmen to go out with the army, as soon as there is a trophy, you can immediately change hands and make a profit, get rid of the burden, don't have to be burdened, it can be said that everyone is happy, when the businessman goes, you can also let him transport a little military food or something, and then sell it to the army, he can make a small profit first, and it can also reduce the logistical pressure of my Tang army, of course, our merchants under the Cui family, You can also go in a team and give priority to purchasing when the time comes."

What is the priority procurement, there are really good loot, the good ones can be said to be bad, the bad ones are bad, the price is pressed down, and as soon as they come back, they will be a million profits, Cui Shang is an official oil, and he naturally knows that the road is bent and bent, and the double sunny is shining for a while.

Cui Shangfan didn't eat anymore, stood up, put his hands behind his back, paced back and forth, and said excitedly: "These three strategies are good, it's just that the merchant is with the army, I don't have this precedent in the court, and I don't know if it's feasible, I have to ask the emperor for instructions on this matter, but issue bonds or something, think about it, if you operate it well, it's not without benefits, well, you have to plan it well." (To be continued.) )

PS: It's almost the end of the month, everyone has a lot of monthly tickets in their hands, vote for it, don't vote again, it will be cleared soon, of course, it's best to vote for the artillery too!