Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 79

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Ma Minwen bowed his body, held the memorial in his hand, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, here are the tax details calculated last year."

Feng Bao hurried down the steps, took the memorial, and handed it to Xiao Cheng.

"Shouldn't the tax be collected after the autumn harvest? Why is this memorial handed in now?" Xiao Cheng frowned slightly, and asked while receiving the memorial.

Hearing this, Ma Minwen quickly explained:

"Your Majesty, although the taxation is after the autumn harvest, the people of all ethnic groups in our country are mixed, and not all of them live on farming. The things to be taxed are complicated, and the statistics are quite time-consuming. In addition, the Taishi led the army to go to war before, in order to avoid logistics. Long, he has collected grain and grass on the spot many times. The tax details have been revised many times, and they were only sorted out yesterday."

Looking through the memorial, it is densely packed with rice, silver, money, silk, silk, tea, etc., which makes people feel dizzy.

Turning directly to the end, you can see that the above-mentioned things on the memorial are converted into silver coins, totaling 8407 million taels.

Although Yunguo is not big, and it is located in the southern corner of the sky, it has trade with Tubo and the Western Regions in the north, and Tianzhu in the west.In addition, Wang Xiao swept the southern countries and took advantage of the fishing, salt, seafood, pearls and treasures in the south. In terms of wealth, he is already one of the best among the countries in the world.

Xiao Cheng assembled the memorial, narrowed his eyes, and asked:
"I remember that the tax revenue of the middle school in the past few years was more than ten million taels? Why is there a difference of nearly one million taels this year?"

"Some time ago, the royal temples of various families in the country wrote a request to recast the golden body of the Buddha statue and renovate the temple. According to the usual practice, the imperial court approved it..."

Xiao Cheng's eyes turned cold, and he said loudly:
"Approved? More than 100 million taels of silver, why didn't I know!"

"At that time, Your Majesty was still in the palace, um... still recuperating in the palace. This is the ancestral system established by the emperor Taizu. The Taishi nodded again at that time, and the ministers are not easy to disobey."

Seeing that Xiao Cheng's face became more and more cold, Ma Minwen hurriedly said:
"It's not so exaggerated in previous years, but it seems that this year, several royal temples that need to be renovated and recast have collided, and it took so much!"

Ma Minwen glanced at Xiao Cheng cautiously, and saw him sitting on the dragon chair with an extremely ugly expression.

Just when Ma Minwen thought he was going to bear Xiao Cheng's thunderous wrath, Xiao Cheng's eyes moved slightly.

In the sight that ordinary people can't see, the Tika template unfolds.

[Blue Dika: Dali Taizu——Duan Siping
……

Practicing Buddhism—Equip this card, and build a temple every year.The favorability of Buddhist disciples increases, the popularity of the people increases by 1 point every year, the cost of building Buddhist temples increases by 50%, and tax revenue decreases by 15%.

...]

In the past few years, the tax revenue was in the early 1000 million silver, but this year it is 850 million, which is 15.00% less!No wonder this Tika is only blue grade.

Xiao Cheng had no choice but to forcefully suppress his unhappiness, and said in a deep voice:

"That's all, let's send taxes to the treasury as soon as possible. Previously, there were only more than 500 million taels in the Grand Master's Mansion, and it was not enough to support the front-line army and run the court. No matter what, when the taxes come up next year, it should be It will be better!"

Damn it, if he can't draw another Dika after a year, he would rather not bring any cards and play directly on the whiteboard.

Hearing what Xiao Cheng said, Ma Minwen buried his head even lower, and became a little stuttering, very embarrassed:

"Your Majesty, this, this tax..."

Seeing his stammering appearance, Xiao Cheng was slightly taken aback, and said:
"what happened again?"

Ma Minwen pursed his lips, bit the bullet, and said:

"Although the details of the list have just been sorted out, the tax has already been collected... The more than 500 million taels in the Grand Master's Mansion are the rest!"

Xiao Cheng froze when he heard this.

Is it more than 500 million taels?

Naturally there are many.

But in front of a country, these more than 500 million taels don't seem to be too much!
All over the country, there are 30 to 200 soldiers and horses, not to mention weapons and armor, food and supplies, and the military salary alone is nearly [-] million silver a year.

There are also the salaries of hundreds of officials, expenses in the palace, the operation of the court, etc., adding up to 500 million taels is simply unstoppable!
In case of another disaster, I dare not even think about it.

"Where's the money? Where did it go? The weather has been good these few years, so the tax revenue is spent every year?" Xiao Cheng asked with an ugly expression.

Ma Minwen lowered his head and replied:

"The grand master has been training soldiers and horses, forging weapons, and leading troops for conquests in the past few years. The savings in the treasury have been almost spent. A month ago, another 300 million taels of silver were allocated for the frontier army... "

Xiao Cheng's expression became more and more cold, and murderous intent surged in his heart.

What if the treasury runs out of money?
Steal your home and get rich!
"I see, you go down!" Xiao Cheng asked Ma Minwen to back down with a cold face.

Ma Minwen bowed, carefully retreated out of the palace, and then walked out of the palace with a dull head.

It wasn't until he was helped into the carriage by the servants that he breathed a sigh of relief.

But when Ma Minwen thought of the murderous intent that suddenly appeared on Xiao Cheng just now, he couldn't help but tremble all over again.

An emperor who holds the military power in his hands and has the handles of his courtiers, what he can do and what he will do when the treasury has no money, naturally needless to say.

No, it can't be delayed any longer!

Ma Minwen's eyes flickered, and with determination in his heart, he said directly to the outside of the carriage:
"Don't go to the government office, just go back to the government office!"

"Yes, sir."
-
In the big camp in the suburbs of Beijing, the old Taiwei Tao Ai, under the guard of several old soldiers behind him, sat on the commander-in-chief.

Cheng Bushi stood aside, cupped his hands and said:
"Taiwei, the last general has dispatched a reliable man, with the transfer order, and hastened towards the frontier army!"

Tao Ai nodded and said:

"Above this transfer order, there are seals from Yuxi and Taishi's Office. In the name of reward for promotion, eight lieutenants and above generals of the frontier army will be mobilized to return to Beijing. But this is not foolproof. If someone forges rumors in Beijing To encourage the frontier army to rebel and revolt, I'm afraid the situation will be out of control!"

Cheng Bushi moved his eyes and said:
"Then what is the lieutenant going to do?"

A murderous intent flashed in Tao Ai's eyes, and he said hoarsely:
"Shicheng County was originally an important border city, and now it has become a key place for the frontier army to maintain logistics. I want to write a letter to Your Majesty to personally lead the troops and horses to guard this place. If the frontier general obeys the dispatch, I will join the army in person. Big camp, take over the military power. If you don’t obey, cut off the frontier army’s logistics! Even if you try your best to wipe out the tens of thousands of troops, you can’t let the situation be ruined!”

If the hundreds of thousands of elite frontier troops were completely lost, it would be a serious blow to Yun Country.But even so, it's better than letting him rebel.

Cheng Bushi was also born in the army, so naturally he would not have any benevolence for women.

But seeing Tao Ai's aging appearance, he still couldn't help saying:
"The status of the Taiwei is precious, you can't put yourself in danger! If you are the last general, go there, just in case."

Tao Ai shook his head calmly and said:
"General Cheng is young and brave, and he is known for his military strategy, but when it comes to this matter, he is not as old as me. I was originally from the side of the army. Although I have ignored military affairs for many years, I still have a little prestige. I have great righteousness. I should be able to Subdue the frontier army!"

Seeing that Cheng Bushi still spoke, Tao Ai waved his hand suddenly and said:

"No need to say more! I have made up my mind. I don't feel at ease if there are many soldiers and horses in the capital without someone trusted by His Majesty! Therefore, General Cheng, you must stay."

Cheng Buzhi heard the words and knew that Tao Ai's words were true, so he could only cup his hands and say:

"Follow the order of the Taiwei!"

(End of this chapter)