On the night of April 20 in the sixth year of Xuanhe (1124 AD), in the Jingshi Bianjing Jinggong Mansion, Tian Zai'an of Huiji counted the coins in the brocade box of the ministers of the imperial court a few days ago, and handed them to me. And I saw that it was written 210,000 taels of gold (one tael is about equal to 10 taels), 13,400,000 taels of silver (1 tael is about equal to 10 taels), 28,700,000 taels of copper coins, and a large number of other immovable property and grain and grass, totaling 44,200,000 taels of gold and immovable property and grain and grass. After reading it, I handed over the paperwork to the crown princess Zhu Lian and others on the side.

The total annual tax revenue of the Great Song Dynasty is about 150 million guan, and at present, the imperial court has a total of 1.2 million forbidden troops and box troops, with an average cost of 50 guan per soldier, which is about 60 million guan, plus 150,000 war horses of the imperial court (two guan costs per month), ordnance and other expenses of more than 10 million guan, totaling nearly 70 million guan, plus nearly 50,000 court civil servants, taking the prime minister's salary as an example, in addition to the most basic salary, there are catering subsidies, food subsidies, and clothing subsidies. The basic salary is 300 yuan per month, the meal subsidy is 50,000 wen (500 yuan), the clothing subsidy is 40 horses of silk every year for spring and winter clothes, 30 horses of silk, 100 taels of cotton, and a grain subsidy of 100 yuan per month. According to the average annual salary of 600 guan, nearly 30 million guan costs, these two expenses occupy two-thirds of the imperial court taxes, it can be seen that the current three redundant problems of my Great Song Dynasty are serious, not to add the old man's overhaul of the palace, Taoist temples and other expenses, plus social welfare, people's livelihood projects, municipal buildings and other expenses throughout the country, no wonder the annual financial is insufficient, especially the redundant soldiers, redundant officials caused by a large number of expenses, a large number of taxes of the imperial court every year are wasted in these three redundancy, it is really shocking, And the high-cost redundancy bred under such a system has also led to the combat effectiveness of the army as a civilian peasant army, which is incredible when you think about it. It seems that it is indeed impossible not to reform the system, and it has reached a very dangerous point.

The crown princess was also taken aback when she took the paperwork, looking at such a shocking number, she couldn't speak for a long time, and Sixiang on the side was also surprised by the number on the paperwork and opened her mouth wide. All of them showed incredible expressions, and the housekeeper Wang Jin and the chief of the guard Zhang Heng also looked at everyone's expressions a little blindfolded at this time, looking at the eager looks of several of them, I signaled to the princess with my eyes, and the princess immediately handed over the paperwork to them.

After a short period of silence, I opened my mouth and said to everyone: You must keep tonight's events absolutely confidential, which involves the secrets of many ministers of the imperial court, and everyone will provide their respective family businesses to this prince, firstly, it is the trust of this prince, secondly, it is also the support of this prince's new policy, and thirdly, it is also the loyalty and support of the ministers to this prince. We don't care how they get this huge amount of money and goods, but the fact now is that these riches already belong to us, and this prince will use these resources to play a greater role, and at the same time give them a temporary sense of security, you can also understand that this is a transaction, but the essence of anything is to exchange and compromise with each other, just to see if you can come up with a starting price.

Listening to what I said so seriously and straightforwardly, everyone nodded in response, and the crown princess also added: This matter involves a wide range of aspects, and the prince also believes in you, so everyone must keep tonight's matter a secret. Recently, so many court ministers in the prince's mansion have been visiting in an endless stream, and I believe everyone knows what the reason is, at this moment, you should be more low-key, you can't be high-profile in everything, and you can't do anything wrong under the banner of the prince, and the king's housekeeper must strictly restrain everyone in the palace.

Steward Wang, Chief Zhang Guard, Tian Huiji, Sixiang and others all bowed their heads and bowed their hands and said: Follow the instructions of the crown prince and the crown princess. At the same time, they are also very clear in their hearts, as far as this situation is concerned, the crown prince is about to succeed to the throne as the emperor, which is a great honor for the subordinates of these mansions, and at this moment, what the prince and the princess said is of course treated like a holy decree, who dares to reveal these things, unless they are impatient.

Seeing that everyone's faces were serious, I continued to say to them: What the crown princess said just now is very true, and you are waiting outside to represent the East Palace, and you must not oppress, neglect, or oppress others. Strive to do your own affairs well, resolutely do not say what should not be said, resolutely do not ask what should not be asked, resolutely do not listen to what should not be heard, remember, you wait to rest early. Everyone answered and bowed, and the crown princess and I were the only ones left in the huge room.

The crown princess Zhu Lian said gently: The prince has to take care of his body, recently the concubine has seen that the prince is busy every day, and he is getting thinner and thinner. I nodded with a smile, and gently stroked Zhu Lian's hair, Zhu Lian continued: Prince, yesterday Empress Xiansu told her concubines that her father and queen mentioned to the queen that before her father's southern tour, he would pass on the throne to the prince. In addition, according to the situation of the inner court harem, many of the concubines favored by the father and the emperor are preparing to pack day and night, and many of them have been shipped to Hangzhou in advance.

After listening to the report on the situation of the crown princess Zhu Lian's inner court harem, coupled with the actions of many other court ministers, I smiled bitterly and said: My father has made a complete merit and completed the great cause of recovering Yanjing that the monarchs of my dynasty dreamed of. Zhu Lian asked puzzledly: The prince doesn't seem to be very happy, if you have any worries, you can talk to the concubine, otherwise you will be suffocated in your heart.

I hesitated and said to the crown princess: Concubine Ai doesn't know, the current situation in the court is very crisis, and it can be said that it is a matter of life and death. On the surface, it seems that everything is calm, but in fact, many hidden dangers behind it are not visible, and they are still constantly gathering and accelerating, just like a timed explosive, just a spark is just ignited, and this spark is the golden man, once the golden man goes south, it will detonate these timed explosives in my Great Song Dynasty, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Crown Princess Zhu Lian asked eagerly: Is the prince so serious? I nodded and continued: The enemy of the Great Song Dynasty is not outside, but inside the imperial court, the concubine knows that now the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty are not really good for me in the Great Song Dynasty, like Liang Shicheng, who is known as the hidden phase, and Tan Zhi, Li Yan, Li Bangyan, Cai You, etc., don't look at the surface and now be respectful to the prince, in fact, there are a lot of dirty things behind the scenes, and the entire court is in a miasma, no matter what kind of identity the person, it is recommended to be a court official. The same is true of the Tong Guan family, although as a eunuch, he has long held military priorities and does not act, and that Gao Yu Tai Lieutenant actually used the forbidden army guarding the Beijing division as a private soldier, and let the forbidden army go to major construction sites as free construction workers, and its income is included in his own pocket, can such an army fight?

What's even more annoying is that Wang Huang, Zhang Bangchang, Cai Mao, Zhu Mian and others hooked up together, seriously disrupted the dynasty, and boiled the public resentment of the entire Great Song Dynasty, especially its Huashi Gang, which caused endless harm and seriously overdrew the national strength and people's strength. In terms of the court's external claims, blindly seeking peace with the Jin people, without a little blood as an important minister of the imperial court, led to the Jin people constantly breaking through the bottom line of our Great Song Dynasty's diplomatic patience, and we almost had no way to retreat.

The same is true of the Cai Jing family, who had been in charge of the economy of the Great Song Dynasty for many years, which led to the current economic chaos in our country, and the financial income of the central and local state governments at all levels was beyond their means, which seriously hurt the trade enthusiasm of merchants, led to the bankruptcy of a large number of low-level handicraftsmen and merchants, and was a complete wealth looting of the middle class in China. And like the slightly capable Yu Wencuizhong and Zhao Ye, they are not seeking politics in their positions, and they are rumored to observe, and they are not offended by any side, typical political speculators.

Crown Princess Zhu Lian also sighed when she heard what I said, and couldn't help but sigh: Prince, so that's the case, is there any way to solve it? I looked ahead with resolute eyes and said to Zhu Lian: Concubine Ai doesn't know, all these problems are not overnight, starting from the Taizu began to realize the emphasis on literature and light on military force, after a hundred years of precipitation, it has formed today's passive situation, mainly because it is too heavy on literature, which has led to the military generals under the status of the imperial court, and civilian officials do not understand military affairs, everything is based on people's livelihood and social stability, but all policies are two-sided, and in the long run, it will inevitably lead to the waste of military affairs in the imperial court, thus forming a huge and bloated military and bureaucratic system, These systems consumed a large amount of taxes from the imperial court, and the imperial court's financial constraints led to the introduction of more radical tax policies, which further affected and intensified the burden on the people, thus falling into a vicious circle, and the cycle was repeated, forming the current predicament of the imperial court.

In order to completely solve the current predicament, first, it is necessary to reform its huge and ineffective administrative system, second, to improve the status of military generals in the imperial court and establish a new army, and at the same time to vigorously publicize the importance of military affairs among the people, as long as the army is strong in order to protect the family and the country. Third, it is necessary to intensify and deepen the economic restructuring, adopt a unified new currency in view of the current shortcomings of our dynasty, such as the excessive variety of coins and the inconvenience of circulation in various sectors and in Beijing, integrate various currencies and financial instruments, vigorously develop the canal economic circle, and strive to expand overseas trade to enhance the economy.

The crown princess snuggled up to her side and said softly: Although the prince and concubine do not understand the specific court affairs, but seeing the prince's decisive confidence, the concubine believes that the prince will be able to complete these reforms, and the concubine also believes that the Great Song Dynasty will be revitalized under the leadership of the prince. I hugged the crown princess Zhu Lian tightly and said firmly: Yes, this prince will never let the tragedy happen, and he will definitely not ......