"You will avoid the important and take it lightly, your good apprentice said that it is a preface to discuss with Gu Chengyu. However, I asked him questions about the law, but he could not answer. What the truth is, I believe you have a final conclusion in your mind. Xia Aiqing! Your disciple's character is not good! ”

The emperor glanced at Xia Qing and said earnestly.

Xia Qing hurriedly kowtowed to the emperor and admitted his mistake, "Please also ask the emperor to forgive your sins!" Min Feng is not more important, and when he first enters the officialdom, he will inevitably be affected by his temperament. I also asked the emperor to look in front of the old minister and forgive him. ”

The emperor didn't call up, so Xia Qing naturally didn't dare to get up. Let's talk about Min Feng, he still needs to turn around.

The emperor saw that Xia Qing was soft, and he also sighed in his heart. Xia Qing is a little sincere to Min Feng, and he can intercede for Min Feng.

He looked at Xia Qing who was kneeling at the bottom, and saw that there were already silver threads on his temples, and he couldn't help but think that Xia Qing followed him when he was still the prince.

After he ascended the throne, he was also diligent. Although his heart is big now, he didn't collude with the princes in the end.

"Xia Aiqing, you are an old minister, and you have been worried a lot for me for so many years. But you should know how to deal with the crime of deception. ”

Even though the emperor has relented, he will never allow anyone to flout the imperial power.

Although he didn't hold any handle on this matter, he was the emperor, and he said that it was the crime of bullying the king, that is, the crime of bullying the king, who would dare to disagree?

As soon as Xia Qing heard it, he knew that it would cost a lot of money to succeed. If the emperor really wanted to cure Min Feng for the crime of bullying the king, he didn't need to wait for him to come over, and directly made a will.

Xia Qing thought for a while, and remembered that a few days ago, the military department had played a book in the court.

It is said that the salaries of the soldiers guarding the border have been delayed for more than four months, and if the imperial court still does not pay the salaries, those soldiers will even run out of food.

The emperor was furious when he heard this, and asked why the household department did not pay the silver. But the household department said that there was no money, and he kept crying poor, and the emperor was so angry that he almost fell ill.

There is no silver in the household, which is something that everyone in the court and the middle of the country knows. But to say that there is none, it is certainly impossible. Don't say make up for it all, make up for two months first, that's still enough.

However, the soldiers guarding the border were not a small amount of silver, and they needed millions of taels.

As the money bag of the imperial court, if the household department gives all the silver to the soldiers guarding the frontier, once something happens to the imperial court to ask for silver, how can the household department get it?

At this time, it is May, and Daxing is also the season when the grass grows and the warbler flies, and there is food and drink, and the possibility of war is very small.

Therefore, the household department has been delaying again and again, and there is no hurry.

Xia Qing thought about it, if he could solve this matter for the emperor, the emperor would not only be able to spare Min Feng, but also be happy for this.

However, this is a bit more difficult.

First, the emptiness of the treasury needs to be addressed; Secondly, Shen Shikang, the head of the household department, has a bad relationship with him, if he goes to find Shen Shikang, needless to say, he will definitely return in defeat.

He has to ponder carefully to see who can open this mouth in the DPRK and China.

If you can catch Shen Shikang's handle, this matter can naturally be solved. But Shen Shikang is cunning and cunning, they have been officials in the same dynasty for so many years, and no one has been able to catch Shen Shikang's handle.

The second prince has a pure character, and seems to be mediocre, but he has no handle that people can grasp.

Those inconsequential little things, just pick up eye medicine in front of the emperor on weekdays, but it doesn't work here.

For a while, Xia Qing suddenly felt that he was a little at a loss.

At present, the emperor's biggest headache is the salary, and the others have to stand aside.

Xia Qing was ruthless, even if he racked his brains, he had to solve the matter for the emperor. Besides, the emperor has been getting colder and colder to him recently, and it's time to show some merits.

Thinking of this, Xia Qing pondered for a while before saying, "Please also ask the emperor to be gracious!" It was Wei Chen's teaching that made him do such a wrong thing, and asked the emperor to give Wei Chen a chance to atone for his sins. ”

The emperor took a deep look at Xia Qing, since Xia Qing has bowed down to his subordinates, then don't blame him for throwing the pot.

It just so happened that he was worried about the side salary, although the household department was crying poor, but that was also a fact, so he did not force the household department to pay the money.

He didn't care what method Xia Qing used, as long as he didn't go to the people's fat and people's ointment, he thought of solving the month's silver owed by the side salary.

As long as he made up for a month, and the remaining silver money was sent to the soldiers on the border, he would no longer pursue Min Feng's fault.

As for the other three months, it can only be delayed any longer.

The emperor sat down in front of the imperial case, only feeling physically and mentally exhausted. He couldn't sleep for the past few days and nights, all because of this matter.

If the border pay continues like this, it will definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the soldiers on the border, and this matter is already imminent.

"Now the treasury is empty, and you know it. The household department couldn't get the money, so they came to cry with me. The soldiers on the border are already in arrears for a few months, what good can you do? ”

The emperor looked at Xia Qing, and no longer beat around the bush, and said directly.

Xia Qing didn't expect the emperor to directly raise this matter, and it seems that the emperor was also anxious.

"Emperor Qiqi, according to Weichen, you still have to think from the household department. It's not that the household department has no money, but Shen Shangshu refuses to take it out. Weichen felt that it was imperative that he first ask the household department to take out the silver and send it to the frontier to solve the urgent need. ”

The emperor frowned, Xia Qing didn't know that the household didn't have any money.

But he also said that the household department should take out the emergency first, but if the treasury is vacuum, and something big happens, such as a big flood in the local area, then can't you just just watch?

"Don't you know that the treasury has no money? If I can get the money from the household, then why should I worry? ”

When he hadn't thought of a way to fill the treasury, the little silver left in the treasury could not be touched, and the emperor couldn't help but be disappointed in Xia Qing.

Speaking of which, there is no safe way.

"Your Majesty! The treasury was not full because the imperial court did not have much income, and Weichen thought that it was better to raise the taxes of those merchants. Those businessmen are so rich that they have to do their part for the court. ”

Xia Qing has long been complaining about the taxation of merchants. It was easy for merchants to make money, but the tax money collected by the imperial court was not as much as the tax on the land.

It is absolutely impossible to increase the tax on the land, and the original tax of the common people is about fifty percent, and they can barely survive without experiencing a famine year.

Therefore, to this day, the land tax, the per capita tax and the salt and iron tax have become the main taxes of this dynasty.

And those businessmen are full of fat intestines, and he has long wanted to bite off a piece of fat on these merchants.

However, it is not easy to raise taxes. Most of those big businessmen have backers, and I don't know which official is standing behind them.

Besides, there must be a reason to raise taxes, and if it is raised on the basis of the original, it will naturally make those businessmen lament. Therefore, it must be cleverly established in order to achieve it.

When the emperor heard this, he thought about it, the merchants naturally have silver, but if they want to take the silver from them, they have to have a name.

It's not that I haven't thought about it before, but five years ago, all kinds of commercial taxes have been increased by one percent compared with the original, and if they are raised again, it will be a bit too much.

"Do you have a charter for this?" The officials of the Manchu Dynasty were helpless, and he wanted to see what good ideas Xia Qing could say.