"It's a big country, what is it to spend some money to build a place for the emperor to live? This money can afford it! Chen Hong smiled again, "Didn't you say that you want to fight Japan?" Japan is rich in gold and silver, as long as you take a large sum from them, are you afraid that you won't have the money to build a palace? I am the head of the Ministry of Finance, I can calculate clearly, as long as this money is not included in the military expenses, we can move it, of course the money can be taken out! Besides, there are so many gold, silver and copper mines in Japan, as long as their mining trade is monopolized in the hands of the imperial court, how much wealth can be obtained in it? It's a trivial matter to build a palace! ”

"So you're really a drunkard, and you don't mean to drink!" The prime minister suddenly realized, then frowned again, and fell into a deep groan.

He had already understood, and the finance minister proposed to repair the palace for the emperor, although most of it was out of enthusiasm for the emperor as a courtier, hoping that the emperor could better enjoy the world, and the other half was that he wanted to use the reason of repairing the palace to transfer the management of Japan's mineral trade in the future from the emperor to the hands of the cabinet and the Ministry of Finance.

"You are the prime minister, and you don't know the country's financial plans, although the imperial court is business-oriented, and has strong control over the local area, and the income is far better than that of the previous dynasty, but there are more places to spend money, and it is stretched thin everywhere. Even if it is possible to issue bonds to the whole country and use the debt money to make up for the shortfall, this is not a long-term solution after all, and the accumulation of too many debts may be detrimental to the country. So, in my opinion, we have to do everything we can to open source. Didn't the emperor think so too? Open the door of Japan and include the gold and silver in the treasury of our dynasty to alleviate the urgent need...... I do not think that this expedition should be used as an expedient measure, but that we should take advantage of this opportunity to give the Imperial Court access to Japan's monopoly trade, which will greatly alleviate our predicament. ”

Japan is prolific in gold, silver and copper, these precious metals are now the currency materials needed by the mainland, and while rich in precious metals, Japan is very lacking in other resources, and needs to import iron, guns and other materials from the outside, so if you monopolize the trade of these materials, the imperial court can profit greatly from these trades, and can partially solve the financial difficulties.

"You said good things, but you have a problem for me......" Contrary to the excitement of the finance minister, Cheng smiled bitterly. If you want to snatch food from the military, it is not a very simple matter, and it depends on the emperor's opinion. ”

"So we'll build a palace for him and make the emperor happy!" The Minister of Finance replied confidently, "We always cry poverty with the emperor, saying that there are difficulties here and there is no money, and we can't use the money in the military expenses. We have to let the emperor know that after all, we are still spending money for the sake of this big man! ”

In order to prevent the accumulation of disadvantages such as the low status of the military personnel of the previous dynasty, the state dynasty raised the status of military personnel in the system from the very beginning, and not only established the principle that civilian officials are not allowed to command the army and that the command of the army is relatively independent, but also stipulates the principle that the army's expenses are relatively independent.

Every year, the army will prepare a budget figure according to its own needs and submit it to the imperial court, this budget is the approximate military expenditure of a year, called military expenses, and the military expenses cabinet can not be dismissed or deleted, only the emperor can decide whether to approve or not, if a certain expenditure is not satisfied, the cabinet can not directly delete, can only write their own opinions into a relevant article and submit it to the emperor, and the emperor will decide whether to delete.

Of course, in order to prevent the army from being too domineering, the cabinet has the power to supervise and audit the expenditure of military expenditures, and if it is found that there is any favoritism or corruption and profligacy, the cabinet can make a statement and submit it to the advisory organs around the emperor, and order the relevant responsible persons to be dealt with.

However, because the Han Dynasty was the first to set the world, and it has always used troops abroad, although the annual military expenditure is an extremely huge expenditure, and there is no way to reduce it according to the wishes of the cabinet. At the same time, although the Cabinet has to endure the pain of allocating the expenses needed for the military from the already insufficient fiscal revenues every year, the Cabinet has not been able to exert its due influence on this expenditure, and even the power to supervise military expenses has been temporarily rendered useless. The ministers, including the prime minister and the finance minister, hoped that this situation would be improved, and at least that the cabinet would have a clear grasp of the source, purpose, and whereabouts of the army's money.

It is conceivable that if nothing is done, Japan's gold and silver deposits, as well as trade channels and monopolies, will fall into the hands of the military system, which is equivalent to adding a source of profit for the army that is not subject to the supervision of the cabinet, and it is afraid that it will become more troublesome to monitor the army's expenditures in the future, and it will not be conducive to the cabinet determining the amount of military spending every year.

If the cabinet wants to take food from the mouth of the military, it must obtain the emperor's approval, and if the emperor does not nod, the ministers will not be able to stop the army now, especially in a country like Japan, which relies on the army to conquer.

Therefore, in order to please the emperor, the minister of finance, who has been thinking about this issue, came up with the idea of "building a palace" to get the best of both worlds.

The palace could be used by the emperor to reflect the royal prestige and the prestige of the Han court, and the cost of building the palace could be used as a reason for the emperor to transfer Japan's trade to the cabinet control. In the eyes of the Minister of Finance, compared to the profits that could be obtained by monopolizing Japanese trade, the construction of a palace for the emperor was not an unbearable expense.

"I'm afraid that the emperor will be unhappy!" The prime minister shook his head, obviously not as optimistic as the prime minister, "We are a piece of sincerity, don't be misunderstood by him that we are suppressing the army, the most important thing in governing the country is to work together, if we have a good heart, but add misunderstanding, it will make people regret it." ”

"You are the cabinet minister, the head of the ministers in the world, naturally you have to think about the country and the emperor, how can you think about whether the emperor is happy or not? Could it be that the emperor is not happy, and we will not do things that benefit the country and the people? The minister of wealth seemed to be a little unhappy and retorted, "Besides, my emperor started in the army, and it is normal to take care of the old brothers and subordinates of the army, but it is not necessarily a good thing to take care of too much. In my opinion, we don't care about the personnel promotion of the army, but the power of financial supervision of the army must be held by the cabinet, and every year the army can only take money from the cabinet, and cannot have its own independent financial resources, otherwise it will be a legacy of raising tigers! ”

The prime minister stopped and quietly pondered Chen Hong's words. He didn't expect that this plain marquis, who was usually very low-key and easy-going, had already thought about so many things in his heart, and some things actually coincided with his thoughts.

"You're a minister who thinks about the country." After a moment of silence, he nodded, "I've thought about the question you think about a few times, and I really should bring it up." I'll take care of the things about leaving the palace. ”

"You're the head of the cabinet, and you're off to a good start." Seeing that the prime minister finally agreed to his proposal, Chen Hong breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't worry, this matter will not be carried by you alone, as soon as you take the lead, the cabinet will write a letter to reconsider together." I want to see, who doesn't want the emperor to live in a better place? ”

If the cabinet ministers were to state their feelings at the same time, the emperor would probably conform to the hearts of the subjects of the world, right? The prime minister also silently admitted that what the other party said was very reasonable.

In his opinion, building a palace for the emperor and at the same time bringing the future monopoly of Japanese trade into the hands of the cabinet are things that are of great benefit to the country and the emperor, and they are also worth fighting for.

"I don't think anyone will object to the cabinet, so be it." He let out a sigh of relief, "Japan's affairs must also be fought with the emperor......

After finishing speaking, he turned to the side slightly and looked at Kong Zhang, Zhou Pu and the others who were following him. These people were all his subordinates, so they were far away from him, and he didn't plan to greet them, just gave them a look, and then stretched out his hand and pointed at Chen Hong next to him, suggesting that they would communicate with Chen Hong privately first.

Although these two people cautiously followed behind the guards, they did not ignore the look of the Prime Minister, and hurriedly bowed to him at the same time, indicating that they could understand the meaning of the Prime Minister.

Soon, the guards led them to a large house, and then everyone followed them to a stop.

The door to the lobby soon opened, and several attendants in black uniforms greeted them, saluted the courtiers, and ushered them into the big room.

This large house is much larger than the side hall where the emperor and important ministers discussed military affairs, and it was specially used to hold large state meetings.

The inside of the house is very large, with tiles on the floor and charcoal burning on the walls, so the temperature inside is very high. Brass lamps were hung on the walls on all sides, and candles were lit inside, so that all sides were bright. There were also many more tables and chairs inside, and in addition to a large oval table in the center, there were also many chairs around the periphery, which were used for those who were in lower ranks, and who could only sit in and occasionally speak.

A few solemn-looking clerks sat in the corner, silently preparing to record the minutes of the next meeting.

Under the influence of this tense atmosphere, except for a few cabinet ministers who had become accustomed to it, those civil and military officials who rarely had the opportunity to meet with him, or who came to meet him for the first time, immediately became restrained, and even moved much slower, for fear that there would be an accident here and affect the emperor's mood. They lowered their heads, found the seat they should sit in according to the order of rank, and then sat down hesitantly, without turning their heads to each other, and for a moment the hall suddenly became a little strangely silent.

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