Some excited, some uneasy.

At noon today, His Majesty suddenly summoned him.

Cui Fuli served as a household servant in the court, and since he beat His Majesty, he began to strictly investigate the Cui family, and since the last few days, he has not seen His Majesty's good face.

Not to mention being summoned individually.

Could it be that a few days ago, he took the initiative to please His Majesty about the barren mountain?

Thinking so, Cui Fuli came to the main hall.

"Minister Cui Fuli, meet Your Majesty."

Li Shimin still closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Let's talk about it, what happened." ”

Li Shimin's face was gloomy.

It stands to reason that Qin Shou's recognition of his ancestors and his return to his ancestors is in front of him, plus marriage, double happiness is coming.

You shouldn't have such a complexion.

But today, when he came out of the Taiji Palace, the results of the household department's accounting and finances came, which immediately made Li Shimin's heart sink.

Xiao Li, the head of the household department, had a solemn face, and after Li Shimin's voice settled, he took a step forward, opened the fold in his hand, and said: "Your Majesty, last year's tax and silver in ten provinces and 358 states totaled 58.31 million taels, and the budget expenditure of each ministry at the beginning of last year totaled 41.5 million taels. ”

"However, in the first month, according to the bills sent by various departments, our household department found that last year's expenditure was more than 57.8 million taels."

"There are only 510,000 taels left in the treasury, and this is just the bills of the ministries."

"Coupled with the total expenditure of the palace of 3.15 million taels, this calculation, the deficit of the imperial court's overspending last year reached 2.64 million taels."

"If it is..."

Li Shimin didn't let Xiao Li finish his words, took a deep breath, raised his eyes slightly, and said, "Don't say it yet." ”

"Spread the word and summon all the ministers to the palace to discuss matters."

"I'm going to convene a council."

"In a quarter of an hour, I must see everybody standing in the temple."

With that, Li Shimin waved his wide sleeves, got up from the chair, and left the hall.

Datang has suffered disasters year after year, and there is not much silver left in the treasury, and Li Shimin has a foreshadowing.

But he never expected that the calculated finances had reached the point of deficit.

Although the amount of deficit is not much, even so, it is a wake-up call for Li Shimin.

Sitting in front of the couch, Li Shimin fell into deep thought.

The deficit was two hundred and sixty taels, although every huge amount had to go through his hands.

But it is inevitable that there will be people who hide and deceive, and perhaps someone has done something from it.

After Li Shimin left.

Du Ru and Fang Xuanling looked at each other.

At that time, Du Ruhui was the secretary of the ministry, and last year's budget expenditure of the ministry was 7.8 million taels, which did not exceed the budget, but there was not much left in the year.

In a short time, all the books had come to the front of the temple.

But most of them are blindfolded, and they don't know why.

It's just that the first few people who arrived are all serious, and they also realize that something is wrong.

Before a few people could speak, a eunuch slowly walked out of the palace, walked in front of everyone, and said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, Your Majesty suddenly felt unwell and is resting behind the palace. ”

"Your Majesty said, let the adults discuss the matter first."

This time, there was chaos at the bottom.

They all inquired about what happened to His Majesty.

And Du Ruhui and a few other people who arrived first were a little strange on their faces.

This is a physical discomfort, Your Majesty is in a bad mood.

At this time, Li Shimin did not go far, just behind this hall, not far away, and he could just hear the eunuch standing next to the dragon chair, with low eyebrows.

Xiao Li knew the focus of this meeting in front of the palace, and Cong Guang took out a letter in his sleeve and unfolded it: "Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to say a few words. ”

The hall of manna slowly fell silent.

Xiao Li detailed the previous financial deficit.

After talking about the general situation, Xiao Li sighed and said: "According to the comparison of the budgets and bills reported by various ministries last year, the budget at the beginning of last year and the beginning of the army was five million, but the bills reported yesterday were more than four million taels. ”

"These four million taels are recorded in the manufacture of ordnance and other things."

"It includes 20 warships, more than 20,000 armor, and more than 10,000 weapons such as swords, guns, and swords."

As he spoke, Xiao Li cast his eyes on Li Jing, the secretary of the military department.

Li Jing bowed his hand slightly, and then said: "It's really good, but our military department only received armor and weapons and other equipment, and the number has been checked." ”

"Only ten military ships were received, and the remaining ten ships were requisitioned by the Ministry of Industry for transportation due to the severe drought in Huainan Province."

Xiao Li nodded and said, "I don't have too many objections to the bill reported by the Ministry of War. ”

"But I'm a little confused about the bill from the Ministry of Rites."

"At the beginning of last year, the Ministry of Industry reported an advance of 3 million taels, but the bill in the previous newspaper was 9 million taels."

"As a result, there is a deficit of six million taels!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Shimin, who heard these words behind the palace, also had slightly condensed eyes.

The Ministry of Works is the agency in charge of construction projects. He is in charge of various projects, craftsmen, tuntian, and water conservancy.

It is also the most convenient department for corruption among the six ministries of the three provinces.

Duan Lun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, had a pale face, how could he not hear the meaning of Xiao Li's words.

Immediately glared and said: "Last year, there was a great drought in Huainan Road, and our Ministry of Engineering built water conservancy projects along the Grand Canal. ”

"Doesn't the labor of building materials need silver taels?"

"There are also tuntian, water conservancy and other projects in Jiangnan East Road that do not need silver taels, this comes and goes, and naturally costs a lot!"

But having said that, few of the people present believed it.

After all, it is not that these projects have not been built in previous years, but the cost is far less huge.

Xiao Li sneered: "The Ministry of Industry borrowed a military ship from the Ministry of War last year, and the transportation cost must be less than in previous years. ”

"But this bill is a lot more than in previous years."

These words were full of suspicion, and pointed the finger at Duan Lun's Ministry of Industry.

The people in the hall know it, and His Majesty is listening from the back of this hall.

Duan Lun was angry and said, "What does Xiao Shangshu mean, can I, Duan, get all this money?" ”

Seeing that the two were going toe-for-tat, they were about to quarrel.

Lu Kuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, hurriedly came out to play haha, and said, "Lord Duan, don't worry. ”

"Your Majesty's purpose in convening this imperial meeting is also very simple, that is, to ask about the deficit."

"If this household department has questions, it would be good for the Ministry of Industry to explain it clearly, so don't be anxious."

Duan Lun took a deep breath, tried his best to calm down, and said, "In this case, I will publicize the bill for the repair project of the Ministry of Engineering in this hall, and you can study it carefully." ”

After that, Duan Lun sent the eunuch to the Ministry of Industry to take down the list details.

Du Ruhui narrowed his eyes, and his gaze quietly fell on Cui Fuli.

The squire of the household, it is said that he should not be summoned to this temple meeting.

But His Majesty specially instructed Cui Fuli to enter the palace.

I have pondered this matter.

In a short time, the Ministry of Works' bill details for last year were retrieved.

And after half an hour of checking.

Although there are some subtle and vague details, in general, they are generally in line with each other.