Prime Minister

Chapter 439 The Difficulties of Cai Xiang

At the turn of Jiayou and Zhiping, Zhang Yue rushed back to Bianjing.

When it's snowing and freezing, what Zhang Yue misses most now is the warm charcoal stove at home and the thick quilt.

This trip to Shaanxi was a long trip, and Zhang Yue also bought a lot of things as gifts for his friends.

In addition to green salt, Xixia's specialties are swords and Kunlun jade.

Among them, Xixia swords are particularly famous, and are generally famous products like Khitan saddles. Zhang Yue has to lament that Xixia people are really good at making swords. In history, even the emperors of the Song Dynasty used Xixia swords for their swords.

No matter how the Song people imitated and made it, they could not imitate the Xixia sword.

In addition to buying some famous products such as swords and Kunlun jade, Zhang Yue also bought two Xixia horses, which are Haomen horses rather than the famous Hequ horses.He also bought a White Falcon, which he planned to give to Han Zhongyan who was about to return to Beijing.

In this way, I will return to Bianjing with a full harvest.

As for Huang Haoyi, Tang Jiu gained a lot from this business trip with him.

Xue Xiang treats Zhang more politely, and he must not treat the people around him lightly, otherwise these people will be in trouble if they say a few words that are not well greeted or secretly make trouble.

Zhang Yue also turned a blind eye to his subordinates collecting money.

When the water is clear, there are no fish.

If you read Water Margin, you will know what kind of bottle and what kind of plum. The officialdom and folks in the Song Dynasty used money to open the way. If you restrain your subordinates so tightly, who will help you?

After Huang Haoyi took the money, he went to find Hu Ji to accompany him in Chang'an City. The money was spent and there was not a penny left.

In the end, Huang Haoyi spent all his money, and it was Zhang Yue who took the money and went to the brothel to redeem the man before bringing it back.

When Zhang Yue saw it, he sighed again about what it means to not be able to support the wall. With Huang Haoyi's appearance, he thought of his fellowship with fellow students, so it would be difficult to help him.

Zhang Yue was extremely disappointed with Huang Haoyi, so he took the money to redeem him and turned around and left.

Huang Haoyi saw that Zhang Yue walked away in a huff, and immediately chased him out of the door, and apologized repeatedly.Huang Haoyi made thousands of mistakes, but he had one advantage, that is, what Zhang Yue said was what he said, and he just accepted it with an open mind and never changed after repeated admonitions.

But even if you scold Huang Haoyi, he won't get angry with you, and even smiles at you.

Seeing that Zhang Yue finally reprimanded him a few words, Huang Haoyi felt relieved and relaxed.Zhang Yue is willing to scold you, which means that this matter has been exposed.On the way back to Bianjing, Huang Haoyi also stopped a lot and worked hard.

Seeing the bustling Bianjing city, Huang Haoyi and Zhang Yue said: "Sanlang, we finally returned to Beijing, my sister-in-law must have been waiting at home for a long time."

Zhang Yue remembered that he hadn't seen Shiqi Niang for several months, how could he not miss her, she was pregnant again at the moment.

Zhang Yue said to Huang Haoyi: "Don't be busy, let's go to the Sansi Yamen to resume business first."

Huang Haoyi immediately praised: "Sanlang is amazing, this is really admirable, and it is nothing more than Dayu's three visits to the house..."

Huang Haoyi wanted to put on a top hat, but he saw that Zhang Yueji had driven away, leaving him only the shadow of a horse's butt.

Huang Haoyi sneered and said Duzhi and so on, and then started to follow.

Both of them were equal classmates at the beginning, but now that he is working under Zhang Yue, there is a difference between them.Most people can't change their minds, but Huang Haoyi has changed without any pressure.

Zhang Yue went to the Sansi Yamen, and at the end of the year, the Sansi Yamen was very busy.

Every year, the Sansi Yamen will collect the gold, silver, silk, and military expenditures from all over the country into a booklet and submit it to the emperor.At the same time, they also sent people to count Zuo Zangku, internal and external treasury affairs, and review and dispatch the money and grain reported at the road, state, and county levels.

This is definitely the busiest time at the end of the year for the prime minister's government office like the Third Division.

And it seems that other yamen have already thought about how to celebrate the New Year at this time.

When Zhang Yue entered the yamen, he could feel the busyness of the officials below, but the end of the year was also a big test for them, the officials of the third department.

Comparing last year's revenue and expenditure expenses with this year's, whichever official bears the deficit, the third division will bear the name of ineffective supervision.

What's more, the stall left by Emperor Renzong, as the new king ascended the throne, countless money was spent like water, and the account books reported by the third division this year are only ghosts.

When Zhang Yue arrived at his judge's hall, Zhang Kongmu was the first to come up to see Zhang Yue when he learned that Zhang Yue was back.

Zhang Kongmu said: "Is the bachelor's business trip going well?"

Zhang Yue said: "It's good, I haven't been in the Yan case for several months, so nothing went wrong."

Zhang Kongmu said: "Deputy Envoy Fan is watching in person, nothing serious will happen. The bachelor must be tired after traveling all the way, tonight..."

Zhang Yue stretched out his hand and said: "What kind of reception banquet, dust-cleaning banquet is unnecessary. The minister's money in our hall does not need to be spent on these. Where is the deputy envoy?"

Zhang Kongmu said: "Reporting to the bachelor, the deputy envoy is playing with the provincial governor."

Zhang Yue thought to himself, just happened to meet him together.

So Zhang Yue put the official hat he had just taken off on his head again and said, "I'm going to the envoy hall now!"

When they arrived at the main hall, Zhang Yue was notified to enter, and saw Cai Xiang solemnly discussing matters with Zhang Yue's immediate superior, Fan Shidao.

Not seeing her for a few months, it seems that Cai Xiang has aged a lot all of a sudden, with a lot of gray hair between her temples. It seems that it is really a laborious thing to be the family for the court.

Zhang Yue sat at the bottom, listening to Cai Xiang's words: "Nowadays, the imperial court employs people with a large rate of writing. Ministers are also literati; ministers who are close to servants are also literati... The world's transfer envoys are also literati; prefects are also literati. .Although there are military officials, there are only Gai, this is the disadvantage of employing people."

"The civil servants don't know about military matters, the danger of the country, they only know about life and morality, and ignore military matters and financial management. The Zhenzong Dynasty had the Chanyuan Alliance, and the Renzong Dynasty had the Qingli Reconciliation. Another great reward... oh."

Fan Shidao said: "My uncle, Fan Wenzheng, once said that the evils of the world lie in three redundancy and two accumulations. Redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenditure lead to the poverty and weakness of the people. If these three redundancy are not eliminated, the country will be hard to revive."

Cai Xiangdao: "In the past, the imperial court lost 300 million guan every year, and this year it even lost more than 1000 [-] million guan. As the envoy of the third division, I have now become the accusation of thousands of people."

Zhang Yue listened to his heart and said that this year's deficit has reached such a point, but it's normal to think about it. The emperor's ascension to the throne rewarded the imperial army and civil servants with 600 million guan, and the enthronement ceremony and the sacrificial ceremony cost a lot. Calculating that Cai Xiang did not have a deficit of more than 2000 million, it is not easy.

However, the deficit of the imperial court has little to do with the third division, but the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty have all shifted the responsibility to the third division.

It's like a big family's money is not enough to make ends meet, and the housewife who is in charge of the accounts must be scolded, and the resentment is directed at her.

Master Fan said: "Master, it's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice!"

Cai Xiangdao: "I have advocated the selection of officials, appointment of talents, removal of redundancy, identification of evil and sycophants, punishment, suppression of mergers, and cases of enriching the country and strengthening the army. If the country is not cheered up, the imperial court will have no overnight food."

Fan Shidao couldn't help sighing: "The prime ministers should say this matter, but the prime ministers don't say it, but the provincial governor brings it up... The people in the world will add so many grievances to the provincial governor."

Cai Xiang said, "It's hard for me to ride a tiger."

Cai Xiang looked at Zhang Yue and said, "Duzhi is back, how about this trip to Shaanxi? Have you settled with Xue Xiang?"

Zhang Yue said: "It's basically settled."

At present, Zhang Yue will report the content of the negotiations with Xue Xiang one by one. At the same time, the affairs of Shaanxi and Luoyang Exchange Institutes are also reported.

After listening to Zhang Yue's report, Cai Xiang stroked his long beard and smiled: "Very good, even, this Shaanxi and Luoyang Exchange and Reference Office don't cost our three divisions a penny, but they can get tens of thousands of dividends every year. Put together in one place is 10,000+ points.”

"Wang Jiefu often told me that the so-called financial management is nothing more than reducing expenditure and increasing revenue, but reducing expenditure is not as good as increasing revenue. I am still puzzled, but I understand it from the degree."

Zhang Yue said with a smile: "I would like to report to the Governor, this is from Luoyang and Shaanxi. Now the officials of the Bianjing Exchange and Reference Institute have estimated that the profit in the second half of the year can reach more than 35 yuan!"

Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao gasped.

They knew that the exchange in Bianjing was very profitable, and it could be said that it was making a lot of money every day, but they didn't expect to make such a profit at all.

Fan Shidao asked in a trembling voice: "35 guan for half a year, so wouldn't it be more than 70 guan for one year?"

Zhang Yue smiled slightly and thought to himself, where is this going?My own exchange has just been established, and the business is not yet proficient, so I will definitely go further next year.

However, Zhang Yue understood Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao's doubts.When he saw Cai Jing's letter to himself, he was also taken aback.

But after thinking about it, I understand that when future generations look at the financial reports of listed companies, the annual profits of dozens of financial companies are almost equal to half of the profits of all listed companies.

It seems that everyone is busy working for others, but after all, it is difficult to get rich without finance!

Fortunately, this exchange office is in the hands of the imperial court, otherwise so much money is really...

Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao looked at each other.

Cai Xiang has been an official for so many years, and he has also thought of various methods. As a third envoy, even if he can save the court several hundred guan, he will not hesitate to do it.

Fan Shidao was just like Cai Xiang. Since he knew that the government's financial revenue was tight this year, he also deducted some here and there, whatever he could save some money.

Both of them worked hard to serve the court, but both Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao saw another way from Zhang Yue.

At the beginning, they all thought that Zhang Yue could just fiddle with it casually to lower the price of salt in the capital, but they didn't expect the exchange to be so profitable.

But thinking that the big head was going to be taken away by Xue Xiang, Cai Xiang couldn't help feeling like a knife was piercing his heart, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It would have been better if he had known that he would not have given Xue Xiang the shares.

But now it's over...

Cai Xiang suddenly said: "Duzhi, I remember that you sold [-] shares of shares to the people at the beginning, right?"

Zhang Yue said: "Yes."

Cai Xiang said loudly and authentically: "How many of these shares are there, and how much will we buy back from the Sansi Yamen!"

Zhang Yue was taken aback when he heard the words: "Province Governor, once the dividends are paid out at the end of this year, the shares of this stock exchange have increased from [-] shares to almost [-] shares!"

Cai Xiang almost broke his thigh when he heard the words, he regretted it too much!

(End of this chapter)