Fenghou

Chapter 1320 Scheme
Qin Hui pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, the purpose of Chen Qing's establishment of the "Beijing News" is to let the "Beijing News" publicize his achievements in the south of the Yangtze River. Unless the "Beijing News" is shut up, it will definitely insist on reporting every day. Chen thought about letting it run out of paper, but it still solved it, and Beizhi was thinking, if it can't be stopped by cutting off raw materials, can it be stopped by cutting off people, for example, the chief writers of the newspaper have offered to resign."

Suddenly, Zhao Gou felt bored, thinking about dealing with the newspaper all day long, it was useless and could not solve the troubles in his heart at all.

He put his hands behind his back and sighed: "I am a majestic emperor, but I am racking my brains to compete with a newspaper. What's the point? It can't solve the problem from the root. The biggest threat I face now is that Chen Qing will replace Zhao. Song Jiangshan, if we can't keep our country, this is the key. You can't let Chen Qing have any accidents, or make our army stronger. Otherwise, we can negotiate with Chen Qing. If he is willing to continue to serve Song Chen , What conditions will I give him? I think these three paths are the right way, instead of thinking about dealing with a small newspaper all day long!"

Qin Hui blushed, how could he not know?The emperor is no longer fooled.

Qin Hui said for a long time: "Your Majesty, the assassination method may not work. I am worried that it will trigger Chen Qing's strong revenge. A strong military force is a long-term process. If it cannot be achieved in a short time, it must be negotiated, but I don't know Chen Qing What else do you want? But Your Highness can give it a try and ask Xu Xianggong to talk to Hu Yun!"

At this time, the eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Mr. Xu and Mr. Zhang are here."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Let them in!"

Soon, Xu Xiantu and Zhang Jun walked into the inner study, Qin Hui's expression became a little unnatural, it turned out that the emperor didn't just summon him.

"See Your Majesty!" Xu Xiantu and Zhang Jun bowed together.

"Thanks for your hard work, both of you!"

Zhao Gou asked again: "There are no too many students making trouble outside, right?"

"no!"

Xu Xiantu hurriedly said: "They just went out for a walk, the weather was too hot, some of them couldn't bear it, and fainted from heatstroke, so the Tai students went back, and the people had dispersed, and went home."

Zhao Gou nodded, "Just now I was discussing with Qin Xianggong how to prevent Chen Qing from further annexing the court. There are two ways. One is to be strong himself, and the other is to reach an agreement with Chen Qing. He is willing to be a Song minister forever. I have repeatedly considered it. , even if Chen Qing agrees to any conditions, it is an expedient measure, the key is to have a strong military force, I want to hear the opinions of the two of you!"

Zhao Gou looked at Zhang Jun, "Grand Scholars, let's talk first! Say what you want, we have to face the reality, Grand Scholars feel free to speak freely!"

Zhang Jun hesitated for a moment and said: "This question has been considered more than once. The source of population and soldiers is not a problem. Famous generals can also be cultivated. The key is a financial problem. Building a strong army requires equally strong financial support. Before we issued Jiaozi This method has raised 1000 million yuan of money. If we calculate according to the 30 troops and three yuan of money per soldier per month, the 1000 million yuan can only support ten months. That is to say, we need at least 1000 to [-] million yuan per year to pay the military salary, but what is our current annual tax revenue?"

"800 sticks!"

Xu Xiantu interjected: "Every year, the taxes and taxes received from Jiangnan East Road, Liangzhe Road, Fujian Road, and Lingnan Road are only 800 million guan, including salt tax, not only to pay military salaries, but also to pay hundreds of officials' salaries, Palace expenses, court and local government expenses, and all kinds of necessary expenses are removed, and there are only 500 million yuan at most to pay for military salaries."

Qin Hui said from the side: "If you don't consider the 30 troops, but change to 20 troops, and build an elite army, isn't it almost the same?"

Zhang Jun shook his head, "20 people are not enough, there is a gap of one million guan in the salary alone, and there is also a gap of one million guan in order to provide food, vegetables, and meat for the army, and to build soldiers, that is to say, We raise an army of 20 people, and there is a gap of 200 million guns every year, and the previous 1000 million guns can only make up for the gap of five years at most, not to mention that I heard that only about half of them are left.”

"Is there any way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure?" Zhao Gou asked.

Zhao Gou no longer has the extravagant hope of having an army of 30, and he is satisfied if he can maintain an army of 20.

"I remember before that you can conduct overseas trade, and you can make a lot of money!"

Xu Xiantu shook his head, "Originally, the imperial court was thinking about making money from overseas trade, but the imperial court had no ships. The last time the navy was organized, the private sea ships were basically requisitioned, and with the issuance of Jiaozi, the major maritime merchants went bankrupt. Fugitive fugitive, Your Majesty, stop thinking about overseas trade."

Zhao Gou's face was a bit ugly, and he waved his hands and said, "Then don't talk about overseas trade, think of other ways, or half of the military salary is paid with land, isn't that what the Western Army does?"

"Your Majesty, the imperial court has no extra land. In the past, the Jianghuai and Jiangnan West Road lands were considered, but now" Xu Xiantu looked at the emperor helplessly.

Zhao Gou was annoyed. He thought for a while, and then asked Qin Hui: "Last time, Xiangguo Qin mentioned the method of exchanging money, which can greatly increase finances. Tell me more specifically?"

Qin Hui bit the bullet and said: "This is actually proposed by the officials of the Third Division. There are two ways, one is to mint large coins, which can be used as ten or five coins, and the other method is to cast iron coins, which are equivalent to copper coins! "

Zhang Jun and Xu Xiantu looked at each other, both of them were shocked. Isn't this blatantly plundering the people?
Zhang Jun said coldly: "Use big money and iron money to pay the army, I'm afraid the army will rebel immediately."

Zhao Gou slapped the table and said angrily: "This is not good, and that is not good. Come up with a feasible solution!"

Zhang Jun bowed and said, "Your Majesty calm down, I may have an unreasonable solution."

Zhao Gou held back his breath and said, "Say it, I'm listening!"

"Your Majesty, the composition of the army actually varies, and not all of them need to be supported by the imperial court. I feel that for a 20 army, 15 is enough for the imperial court. The other 5 soldiers can be deployed by the local government in the form of state soldiers. , 5 people are allocated to each state, which is diluted, and the burden on each local government is not too big. When necessary, the [-] troops will be gathered together and trained for a period of time to become a regular army."

Although Zhao Gou was very reluctant, he had no choice. In the final analysis, his finances could not support so many troops, and he could only support 15 people at most. He thought about it and said, "This method can be considered. I need a specific plan. , Xu Aiqing, this plan will be handed over to your Privy Council to draft."

Xu Xiantu bowed and said, "My minister obeys the order!"

"Then let's talk about negotiating with Chen Qing!"

Zhao Gou said to Zhang Jun: "Zhang Aiqing, you are in charge of the negotiation. It's very simple. I ask him to promise to be a Song minister forever, and then see what his conditions are? Then bargain and see if we can reach a solution acceptable to both parties in the end." .”

The next morning, Zhang Jun approached Hu Yun and formally submitted an invitation to negotiate on behalf of the imperial court. The so-called negotiation does not mean that you can talk if you want, but that both parties must be willing. What will Chen Qing do when the army and land are handed over to the court?It will not be ignored at all, so this kind of negotiation is meaningless.

Hu Yun looked at the official document with the great seal of Zhongshumen, and asked with a smile: "Don't overstep the way of the monarch and his ministers. The inscription is a Song minister, and the long-term recognition of the court's respect. This is a fact. What do we need to talk about?"

Zhang Jun shook his head and said, "King Yong has occupied more than half of the Song Dynasty, seized finances, and appointed officials. In fact, he is an independent dynasty, and he is only a Song official in name. Isn't that the case?"

Hu Yun sneered and said: "Since the university scholar is frank, I also respect the facts. He is a Song official in name. What else does the court want? Hand over the army and return the states and counties to the court? How is it possible? King Yong His Highness did not establish his own dynasty, and continues to recognize the Son of Heaven, which is already the best of humanity, I hope the court can recognize the reality and stop doing things that make people laugh."

Zhang Jun hurriedly said, "I'm afraid Special Envoy Hu has misunderstood me!"

"Scholar please tell me, I'm all ears."

"We are not asking King Yong to be a minister of Song in substance. We also know that this is unrealistic. Even a minister of Song in name is fine, but King Yong needs a promise to be a minister of Song for a long time and cannot be independent."

"Is this what you mean by being a Song official forever and not being allowed to wear a yellow robe?"

"That's exactly what I mean. The Son of Heaven hopes that the two sides can discuss it. If King Yong has a reasonable request, we can also consider it."

Hu Yun nodded and said, "It's not up to me to decide, I have to ask His Royal Highness King Yong for instructions!"

"Of course I have to ask His Royal Highness King Yong for instructions!"

"Okay! I will send an urgent pigeon letter to Jingzhao today."

(End of this chapter)