The household department has no money, which is a headache for Cai Bian.

For Cai Jing, it may also be a headache.

Compared with Cai Bian, Cai Jing is in charge of the transfer department, and he has more ways than his own brothers.

Of course, his method is not a good way, increase the salt tax, increase the wine tax, mine tax and so on. In the short term, it can solve the urgent needs of the imperial court, but the long-term damage is certain.

Especially coinage, Cai Jing's best field, adding impurities, reducing the proportion of copper, and even casting as ten coins, replacing copper with iron, he can do it.

As a direct result, the credit of the imperial court was lost.

Cai Jing's desire to express himself in the face of Li Kui was very strong, and the first thing he thought of was the most direct way: "Bureau, do you want to let the household department take the lead in issuing coupons?" ”

This is a national debt, a government bond.

Li Kui looked at Cai Jing curiously, could it be that this product has evolved to this extent and started to play finance?

Cai Jing was stared at by Li Kui, feeling a little uncomfortable, and explained in a low voice: "Bureau, now we have to wait for a month or two to collect the salt tax." Since the use of the salt drying method, winter has become the main season for the production of sea salt. However, the collection of salt tax is lagging behind. It is not realistic to solve the problem of the imperial court's money panic in a short period of time. ”

"It takes too long to mint money, and for today's plan, I can only issue coupons for a while. Of course, we can also run the private Jiaozi shop and then issue Jiaozi. However, Jiaozi is just paper, and if you want to ensure its purchasing power, you need the guarantee of the vault. ”

"That's right, Jiaozi is just a convenience in circulation, and it can't make more money in itself." Li Kui bowed his head and said, "But what you said has expanded my thinking." The issuance of coupons is not very appropriate, after all, it is not a small amount of money, and the government is not suitable for issuance, and the issuance of private shops cannot be supervised, but if one is not checked, it will become a mess. ”

"Forget it, change your mind, I'll go to the Privy Council tomorrow to have a look, and I'll talk to you in detail when the time comes."

Li Kui has a case in his heart. Although Jiaozi appeared very early, in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, circulation has always been a big problem. It was not until the period of Huizong of the Song Dynasty that Jiaoziwu was established, which made it feasible to circulate.

The Jiaozi of this period are not of great use.

At least it will definitely not be able to bear the consumption of the next two major battles of the Great Song Dynasty.

However, this does not mean that Li Kui has no choice.

Wars, often a large-scale war, will consume the accumulation of a farming dynasty for ten years, or even longer.

As far as the situation of the Great Song Dynasty is concerned, the Great Song Dynasty was rich, and compared with the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, the economic situation of the Great Song Dynasty was much better. But even with such a strong economic foundation, it is still far from enough for the attrition of the war.

As far as the operation on the Northern Front is concerned.

On the Hedong Road, the east and west roads of Hebei, the forbidden army dispatched about 110,000 troops, 30,000 van troops, nearly 80,000 conscripts, 60,000 war horses, and more than 130,000 pack horses and livestock......

And that's just the numbers.

For example, in addition to the Praetorian Guard, the combat effectiveness of the other armies of the Song army needs to be output by bows and crossbows, and a crossbowman needs two quivers and forty to fifty arrows on the march. Among the Song troops fighting on the northern front, there were 50,000 crossbowmen, and more than two million arrows were needed. Moreover, the logistics of the army also need to replenish a similar number of arrows, so the number of arrows needs to be between four million and five million.

The arrows alone, plus the accessories of the bow and crossbow, cost nearly a million pounds.

Praetorian Guard's ammunition was more expensive than arrows and depleted faster.

There is a saying that when a cannon goes off, there are ten thousand taels of gold, which is not an exaggeration at all.

People eat horses and chew, only one month of fighting on the northern front, not counting the compensation for the soldiers killed in battle, and if there is a reward, there is no 10 million that cannot be delivered.

There were more than 200,000 forbidden troops on the Western Front battlefield, which consumed more than the Northern Front and lasted longer......

No matter how rich Da Song is, he can't afford to toss.

In particular, sulfur, an important strategic material, has begun to be in short supply in the Gunpowder Bureau. In later generations, the extraction of sulfur from natural gas was a common technology. However, in the Great Song Dynasty, the technology still stayed at the collection of primitive mines. The sulfur production in the Great Song Dynasty was also becoming more and more stretched.

This is no ordinary material, but the lifeblood of the firearms of the Praetorian Guard.

Without brimstone, firearms would have no gunpowder, and without the power of gunpowder, the Praetorian Guard would be nothing more than an ornament.

All these issues put together, and it was necessary for the Toshimado to make a decision to use relatively conservative tactics on the northern front for the time being. To put it bluntly, I can't afford to fight.

Following.

In the imperial city, the commander of the palace was very excited the moment he saw Li Kui.

They are also military men and have dreams.

The soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, who don't want to go to Da Liao to harm the Liao people. Li Kui did it, and it was enough to become the god of war in their minds.

When Li Kui and Cai Jing left, the soldiers and colonels guarding Deshengmen reacted: "My lord, isn't Li Dashuai fighting Liao dogs in Liao State?" ”

"That's right! Why did he come back? ”

The little colonel was very surprised, and then went to the front of the palace to command the yamen to inform the boss, and the boss went to Han Deqin's office to report. Han Deqin, who got the news, was dumbfounded, wasn't the Dushitang preparing to be led by Zhang Dian to meet the Praetorian Guards?

How did you leave him alone?

Han Deqin sat in the lobby sulking and muttered, "Isn't the military general an official?" It's too bullying, no, this handsome man is going to the official house to sue! ”

Privy council.

Li Kui and Cai Jing easily got involved. Li Kui is the proud protégé of the privy envoy Li Qingchen, and in the first year of Shaosheng, there was a Li Kui.

Everyone knows each other, and everyone thinks that Li Kui is here to find his own eldest master, but they never thought that Li Kui and Cai Jing did not go to the lobby of the Privy Council at all, nor did they go to the official residence, but went to the staff department.

Only when the civil officials wanted to plan a big war did they recall that there was such a yamen in the Privy Council of the Great Song Dynasty. In charge of military intelligence and mapping.

When Wei Yang, the hall of the staff division, saw Li Kui, he thought that Li Kui had been entrusted by Li Qingchen, and said politely: "What kind of wind blew your brother Jie?" ”

Li Kui said with a smile: "Copper stinky wind, this is not the court has no money, the junior brother came to the Ministry to find out if there is a way." ”

"You-"

Wei Yang, the staff of the Sidutang, pointed at Li Kui in horror and said: "Brother Fool, there is no gold or silver in this place, even if you buy this Yamen Treasury, there are not many eldest sons. ”

Li Kui waved his hand and said, "Don't get in the way, the little brother is just curious to take a look." ”

Wei Yang is in his fifties, about the same as Cai Jing, and he looks like a steady person. And the two of them are doing similar things now, and the staff division is the real commander of the army.

The spies of the Great Song Dynasty and the intelligence belonging to the forbidden army are all in the Ministry Division.

After sitting down, Wei Yang ordered the teahouse to serve hot tea, and then asked: "Brother, don't say anything else, as long as you can see it, no matter what it is, the foolish brother will give it to you." ”

When he met someone who was so easy to talk to, Li Kui was immediately polite, and asked: "Brother Wei, the younger brother came to ask my brother for a request, and he wanted to check the maps of overseas islands and surrounding small countries. ”

"That's ......"

Wei Yang originally planned to let Li Kui take care of his nephew who was an official on Hedong Road, but Li Kui's request was so small that he didn't have the face to beg Li Kui's favor. As long as you send someone to take the official documents of the yamen, you can borrow them.

On the contrary, it was Li Kui who came in person and gave enough face, which made Wei Yang a little flattered.

He, the master of the department, is also sad to say. The Great Song Dynasty did not pay much attention to intelligence, of course, it was not a local forbidden army, and the border army did not pay attention to it. If it is really a war zone, scout reconnaissance is the foundation of the operation. can be placed in the court, and the role of intelligence is not valued by the court bosses, so that he is very marginal as an official.

"Come on!"

"Sir."

"Give Master Li all the maps of the islands inside and outside the Great Song Dynasty."

Soon, one by one the boxes were moved to the official residence, and after opening the boxes, Wei Yang happily took out a map and showed off to Li Kui: "Renjie, this is the map of Shamen Island." Just off the coast of Dengzhou, the boat can arrive in two days. ”

Li Kui glanced at Wei Yang strangely, he found that Wei Yang was very good at doing things, and it was estimated that Li Kui wanted to go to Shamen Island to save people, so he deliberately took out this map.

But......

Li Kui didn't have the heart to go to Salmon Island to save people.

The most severe distribution sentence of the Great Song Dynasty was the distribution of Salmon Island.

Those who don't know think that Salmon Island is full of heinous prisoners. But in fact, Salmon Island is just a small island off the coast of Dengzhou, and this is just a prison for distribution. The most terrifying thing on Salmon Island is not the prisoners, but the warden of Sanmen Island, the owner of the village.

This was because the government only provided rations for 500 people a year on Salmon Island, and the number of prisoners on the island was more than 1,000.

In other words, half of the people have no food, what should we do?

Therefore, the owner of Salmon Island will come up with a way to throw prisoners who have no money for his filial piety into the sea before they go to the island, so as not to give them the opportunity to waste food.

In the hands of each owner of Salmon Island, over time, there will be thousands of lives, all of whom are murderous demons without blinking.

Of course, the official position of the owner of the village is not high, but the oil and water are very rich. There are quite a few people rushing to do it.

Li Kui shook his head and said, "Brother Wei, the younger brother wants to see the bigger islands, or the same is true for the maps of Jiaozhi and other places in Liao. ”

"This one!" Wei Yang sold it, and then said with a smile: "Brother Xian is really in the right place, if you want to talk about these islands, except for me, you can only go to the city department to find them." But the chief official of the city department is a eunuch, so it is not easy to deal with......"

immediately thought that Li Kui was still the brother-in-law of the concubine in the palace, and I was afraid that the eunuchs of the city department in the world would not dare to show Li Kui's face. Suddenly laughed and said: "Don't blame the virtuous brother, the foolish brother is too talkative." ”

"This is a map of the Ryukyus."

Li Kui said that he was very suspicious, what the hell is the painter who drew the picture, it is obviously a long and narrow island, there is no reason to become a circle!

"This is Pulilu."

"Champa Kingdom, Zhenla Kingdom, Bintong Dragon Kingdom, Dengliumei Kingdom, Bagan Kingdom, Srivijaya Kingdom......"

It is very embarrassing that Li Kui is familiar with the maps of the Nanyang countries of later generations, but he only knows a few places even if he guesses. Pulilu is probably called Luzon.

It is easy to understand that the territory of the former Cochin County is well understood.

As for the country of Zhenla, Li Kui also has the impression that it should be Cambodia in later generations.

But the other countries of Bintong Dragon, Dengliumei, Bagan, and Srivijaya ...... He hadn't heard of any of them.

This is very damaging to Li Kui's image as a talented man with five cars, and the more he looks at it, the more serious Li Kui's expression becomes.

Even Wei Yang became nervous, thinking that Li Kui was stumped. wanted to open his mouth to help, but he was afraid of refuting Li Kui's face. While hesitating, Li Kui took a breath and said, "Is there anything closer, such as the Tokyo Road in Liaoguo?" ”

"This ...... Only the map brought by the merchant from the sea, and it is not very reliable. ”

Wei Yang said helplessly: "Renjie, although the Liao State and my Great Song Dynasty have been in contact all the year round, the Liao people do not allow my Great Song merchants to go to their hinterland, and my Great Song Dynasty also stipulates that the merchants of the Liao Kingdom can only trade in a few fields. Tokyo Road is too far away from the place where the transaction is located. However, there should be a record of Dengzhou City, after all, businessmen seek profits, and they can make a fortune across the sea, so why bother to go far? ”

After speaking, Wei Yang asked uncertainly: "Renjie, what are you doing here?" ”

Li Kui laughed and said, "Brother Wei, how about you see that we have sold all these places?" ”

"Sell!"

Wei Yang was stupid, causing Cai Jing's disdain.

Before, when Li Kui told him a way, Cai Jing also looked like a bird. Li Kui said: "Ryukyu, it used to be Yizhou, and Wu was my Central Plains territory when the state of Wu, why not set up prefectures and counties?" Immediately, Li Kui asked Cai Jing in a shyly manner: "If you sell Yizhou, do you think someone will come to buy it?" ”

"Sell, it's the Lord's."

Li Kui had a kind of momentum of pointing at Fang Xuan, and said, "What's wrong with the master? The court is willing to sell, and someone is willing to buy, so it's not done. ”

Cai Jing was in a cold sweat at the time, and he didn't dare to think about it at all. Da Song sold other people's land, and dared to collect money, why?

Soon, Li Kui said the same method to Wei Yang as he had told Cai Jing at the beginning: "The number of people in my dynasty is increasing day by day, the land is insufficient for the people to survive, the displaced people, and there are many people in the market who are difficult to sustain. And although our merchants are rich, they lack recognition. As long as the imperial court is willing to take the lead, divide these ownerless island wastelands according to the region, and then sell each piece of land to merchants according to the hereditary system, is it too much to collect one million to five million guan for a piece of land? ”

"If you think about it, there are 50 million acres of land in Ryukyu alone, plus Pulilu and other places, as long as the operation is good, this place is enough for the Song Dynasty to accumulate for a hundred years. That is, there are a lot of soldiers and horses in Dali, and they may not be able to sell. This is also true, no matter how bad Dali is, it will not be composed of fifty or sixty thousand soldiers and horses. Ordinary businessmen gather some rabble, and they can't beat it at all.

……

Wei Yang really didn't want to stop Li Kui, but he had to do it. Because what Li Kui said is too absurd, the main reason is that there are indigenous kings in these places, although it is a joke, just a few thousand troops dare to call the king.

But even if Da Song sells it, he has to be agreed, right?

Li Kui waved his hand and said simply: "The people's clothes are not possessed, and they drink like blood, I am here to save them from fire and water." There is no reason for unwillingness, those who are blocked are rebellious ministers and thieves. ”

"Kerenjie, it's useless to buy these lands, and the merchants will buy them?"

Li Kui smiled and said, "Brother Wei, if you are given a piece of land, it is not big, it is the size of a state......

Wei Yang was so frightened that he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Renjie, don't hurt me." ”

"I'm just giving an analogy."

Wei Yang pointed at Cai Jing and said, "Renjie, the foolish brother has narrow shoulders and can't bear this burden, so let Yuan Chang come." ”

Cai Jing said: "I'll come, I'll come, bureau, let me say." Let this old man see the power of my military command bureau. ”

Li Kui bowed his head and said, "It's okay." ”

"My Great Song Dynasty now has a lot of people, less land, and more displaced people. In the past, it was all closed by the method of the box army, but not to mention the cost of money, it was also a trouble. Now a state of land is carved out of the borders of the country, and it is sold as goods, and the merchants bid for it, and the one with the highest price wins. The imperial court could give merchants the title of permanent jurisdiction over the land, which was equivalent to the feudal state during the Zhou period. As long as a small part of the annual tax collected is given to the imperial court, the rest can be used for its own use. ”

After the auction was successful, the merchant hired his own strong man. The imperial court helped with training, sold weapons and ordnance for war, formed an army, and when necessary, rented lieutenant colonels. After the victory of the landing, this land became a fief of the merchant family. The imperial court charged a fief management fee every year, and the merchant family became a nobleman in the Great Song Dynasty, how many merchants in the Great Song Dynasty would be willing to buy? ”

"And it can also solve the problem of the growing number of displaced people, killing multiple birds with one stone."

As Cai Jing repeatedly explained Wei Yang's confusion in a demagogic tone, Wei Yang's heart was moved, and he pondered that if he had money, he could try to operate with the Military Command Bureau. After all...... The territory within a radius of hundreds of miles is arranged by the officials themselves, and the taxes are decided by themselves, and even the concubines can be chosen at will...... That's buying land! This is to buy a piece of land and ascend to the throne!

……

"In this case, will I not have to bear the reputation of being unkind and unjust?"

Suddenly, someone at the door questioned, Cai Jinggang wanted to turn around and angrily scold the other party, but suddenly turned around and found that it was the emperor, and immediately swallowed the words he was about to say into his stomach.

He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please see your majesty." ”

"No courtesy."

Emperor Zhao Xu is tired!

Originally, because the household department had no money, he could only give up the opportunity to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun. But in a blink of an eye, Li Kui, who is a confidant and important minister, started the idea of a small overseas country, and the means are unheard of.

If Da Song really did this, wouldn't it be ...... The reputation is stinky?

Cai Jing lowered his head and peeked at Li Kui with his eyes.

Li Kui stubbornly said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, don't worry, we can ...... OK...... Describe the money that the merchant bids on as a gift for the purchase of the title. ”

"Isn't this a traitor?"

Emperor Zhao Xu was even more angry, he finally managed the Great Song Dynasty into the current atmosphere, and he was looking to surpass the Tang Emperor and Han Wu, but he didn't expect Li Kui to even arrange for him to sell his official beard.

But Li Kui's idea is right!

"Your Majesty, you can use the current Great Song Dynasty map as a model, and the land outside the map can only obtain the title according to the territory and population, so there should be no problem."

"Your Majesty, when all nations come to court, where is more stable than the worship of one's own family? Moreover, in the management of the fiefdom, the Confucian Temple can be built first, and then the building can be built, which will benefit the future. ”

Zhao Xu was also moved by this. It seems that in addition to the lack of morality, there are quite a lot of benefits. If you don't like it, it's all fake.

The emperor was also afraid of the lack of money, and asked Li Kui in a low voice: "Aiqing, how much money do you estimate you can get in exchange?" ”

"Find a borderless place to practice first, I estimate that with such a large territory as Ryukyu, it should be no problem to sell it for 20 million."

"Twenty million?"

The Emperor exclaimed. Lack of virtue is not lacking in virtue He doesn't want to do it anymore, anyway, he shoulders the responsibility of educating the dawn of the world, the local people drink hair like blood, and they don't live like individuals, Zhao Xu can't bear it in his heart!