Dahan first prince

Chapter 128 Xiao He, Are You Not Kind?
After exchanging a few greetings with the officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Liu Ying was also invited by Xiao Hegong into the side courtyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion, which was dedicated to Xiao He's meeting guests.

Sitting upright, looking at Xiao He's slightly joyful face, Liu Ying pinched her neck uncomfortably, and turned her head again.

"Co-authoring is not a cold, it's a voice-changing period..."

Recalling just now, the loud 'duck crowing' that she uttered outside the main hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Liu Ying's slanderous words made her look a little embarrassed.

I don't know if he saw Liu Ying's embarrassment, but Xiao He uncharacteristically opened his mouth first and smiled at Liu Ying.

"Fangcai, the Marquis of Beiping summoned the Prime Minister's Office to measure the grain production in Weibei this year."

"I heard that the Marquis of Beiping said that when he was next year, the yield per mu in Weibei should be more than four stones. I was delighted for a while, and I expressed my private opinion a little bit. I never thought that it would be heard by my family..."

As he said that, Xiao He did not forget to make a slightly shy expression, chuckled and lowered his head.

Seeing this, Liu Ying was also happy to change the subject, and followed up with two compliments, "Xiao Xiang is old and mature for the country", "the words just now are really shocking", and so on.

When the atmosphere in the hall returned to normal, Xiao He pondered for a while, then brought the topic back to the right track.

"Today, the family has to go to the prime minister's mansion in leisure, but what is the order for the court affairs?"

After speaking, Xiao He added with some doubts: "I heard that the family returned to Chang'an from the lotus spoon only yesterday?"

Seeing Xiao He's initiative to ask, Liu Ying couldn't help but shook her head and smiled, and then sighed a little pretending to be depressed.

"Ms. Xiao didn't know what to ask?"

"Lonely young and not crowned, and he does not shy away from the important affairs of the court. Although he is able to supervise the country now, he has never intervened in the government affairs and instructed Prime Minister Xiao."

"If it wasn't urgent, how could Gu go to the prime minister's mansion in person to distract Xiang Xiang from state affairs?"

But when Xiao He heard the words, his face became even more confused, and there was a trace of bewilderment in his gaze towards Liu Ying.

"What is it that the family called it: urgent?"

Seeing Xiao He's really curious expression, Liu Ying couldn't help but feel a little bit annoyed secretly.

"Old Fox!"

With a curse in her heart, Liu Ying's face was extremely indifferent, only a little bit of self-mockery in that gentle smile.

"Since the beginning of autumn and September, the renovation of Zhengguo Canal has almost been completed."

"When the spring begins in February, then the matter of fixing the soil upstream will be complete."

"When Zhigu turned around, the Shaofu once cried to Gu's face, saying that Prime Minister Xiao repeatedly refused to allocate food from the state treasury, thinking that the officials and slaves of the Shaofu would eat it?"

As she spoke, Liu Ying laughed at herself again, then shook her head slightly.

"October in the year's hand, holding Li Hou's rent and tax tens of thousands of stones alone, there is still room to allocate food to relieve the urgent needs of the Shaofu."

"Now that the construction of the canal is nearing completion, Marquis Li's rent and tax have been exhausted. I am alone and unable to provide food to help the Shaofu, let alone the private food of my mother's relatives, so that I can benefit from the Shaofu."

Speaking of this, Liu Ying raised her head with a smile on her face, and gave Xiao He a little bow.

"That's why I came here to ask Xiao Xiang on behalf of the Minister of the Shaofu: Is the treasury really so tight?"

"Even the [-] needed by the officials and slaves, and the monthly grain is only [-] to [-] shi, and there is no way to allocate it?"

After saying that, Liu Ying did not forget to make an expression of incomparable confusion, which should be regarded as a reciprocation to Xiao He's appearance of pretending to be stupid.

And Xiao He's next reaction did not exceed Liu Ying's expectation.

"At home."

When Xiao He heard the words, he almost didn't think for a moment, so he gave Liu Ying a little hand.

"The treasury is in short supply, and the family knows about it."

"When Your Majesty is about to go on an expedition, in order to raise the food and grass needed by the army, I even hesitated to withhold half of the salaries of the courtiers and officials, thinking it is an expedient measure."

"After the Mid-Autumn Festival harvest in the Guan, although the national treasury has received last year's agricultural tax, but today, His Majesty personally leads more than 20 troops out."

"There are more than 20 soldiers and horses from all over Yan, Qi, Jing, Chu, and Liang, and hundreds of thousands of civilians called by His Majesty from Guanzhong. The ministers need to transport the military rations of the Guandong every month, which is far more than a million stones... ··”

After saying these words full of bitterness, Xiao He shook his head with a wry smile.

"The family knows how much tax and food went into the treasury last year?"

"Less than 800 million stones!"

"However, since His Majesty set off on the expedition in autumn and September, the minister has lost nearly three million stones in military rations!"

Speaking of this, Xiao He's face couldn't help showing a little seriousness.

"The lands of Dai and Zhao have been bitterly cold since ancient times. Once frozen, the war must be temporarily suspended; the earliest revival should be in February and March in spring."

"However, it's halfway through the eleventh month of winter, and it's still more than three months since the war between Dai and Zhao Fu started."

"If your Majesty puts down the Chen Xi Rebellion, and restores Dai and Zhao, the army will still fight outside until Jixia in the middle of the year."

"In this way, it is nearly half a year old again; I still need to transport millions of stones of military rations for His Majesty's use..."

After saying that, Xiao He finally let out a long and leisurely sigh, and looked at Liu Ying with a bitter face.

"I don't know at home, but the minister has ordered the court to have divisions, as well as the counties and counties in Guanzhong: the salaries of all officials this year will be temporarily reduced by half."

"However, even if this is the case, I still have more than enough heart to shoulder the burden of food, grass and supplies for Your Majesty's army, but I don't have enough strength..."

Listening to Xiao He's description that was not a complaint, but seemed to be a complaint, Liu Ying's face could not help but take on a little solemn expression.

As the saying goes, once the cannon is fired, there will be ten thousand taels of gold.

Today, in the era of cold weapons that Liu Ying lives in, the biggest consumption of war is actually food.

For example, now that Liu Bang leads the army to fight to quell the rebellion of Chen Xi, the prime minister, the soldiers and armies from all walks of life are combined, and there are at least 40 combatants alone!

As for the civilian husbands who transported grain, as well as non-combat establishments such as cooking and suiying, it is not an exaggeration to say that Liu Bang's army has "millions of troops".

Even if the civilians who transported the food all brought their own food and grass, they did not need to eat for non-combat establishments such as cooking and camping. The monthly military food consumption of the more than 40 combatants alone was nearly 100 million shi!
——Two stones of rice for the monthly food, that is the standard for ordinary people, if the soldiers are allowed to eat such a small amount, they will not have the energy to fight at all!

Now, Chang'an Chaotang, which can only collect agricultural taxes from Guanzhong and Bashu, has an average monthly income of less than 150 million shi.

Calculated in this way, it is no exaggeration to say: Whether it is Chen Xi, who is currently rebelling, or Huainan Wang Yingbu, who is about to rebel next year, he only needs to guarantee that within one to two years, Liu Bang will always be forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the army stays in the Kanto and is not completely defeated, then the foundation of the Han Dynasty will inevitably be shaken!

From this point of view, under the premise of "supplying hundreds of thousands of military rations" on the shoulders of Prime Minister Xiao He, Liu Ying, as the prince, was entangled with "why not sow food for the Shaofu to support officials and slaves", which is indeed a bit indiscriminate. suspect.

If this matter gets out, Liu Ying will inevitably be scolded by someone with a heart: After living in the country, she doesn't know how to share the worries for the king.

But it is a pity that Xiao He's trick of changing concepts secretly did not escape Liu Ying's keen eyes.

Seeing Liu Ying nodded slightly with a sullen face, she echoed, "What Prime Minister Xiao said, I know myself alone."

"Now that the royal father's army is away, the consumption of food and grass is indeed huge; Xiang Xiang has worked hard to take the responsibility of transporting food out of the customs."

As she spoke, Liu Ying couldn't help but sighed a little, and then quietly changed the topic.

"Even so, the national treasury doesn't even have a place to support the officials and slaves of the Shaofu?"

"Ok?"

Asking quite abruptly, Liu Ying couldn't help but shook her head, and looked at Xiao He's slightly astonished face with a little deep meaning.

"If Gu remembers correctly, the food needed by the officials and slaves of the Shaofu was reserved when the agricultural tax of the previous year entered the national treasury, so that the Shaofu can use it at any time."

"Why now, Prime Minister Xiao actually said that the 'reserved' grain is no longer in the treasury?"

"Could it be that Xiao Xiang is really in such a desperate situation that he has no choice but to use the rations reserved by the officials and slaves of the Shaofu as the rations of the royal father's army?"

Putting this doubt full of confusion, Liu Ying quietly looked at Xiao He with a look of insight.

This is why Liu Ying promised Yang Chengyan, 'I'll help you talk to Xiao He'.

——As the private property of the Shaofu, the state treasury is responsible for the consumption of food rations of all the official slaves under the name of the Shaofu!

And it's the same as the salaries of officials. As soon as the agricultural tax of the previous year is sent to the national treasury, the next year's consumption will be allocated as a reserve!

Now, Liu Bang's army is out, and the military food consumption is huge. If it is said that Xiao He is unable to 'allocate' the food, then Liu Ying thinks it is justifiable.

But the problem is that the rations needed by the officials and slaves of the Shaofu do not need to be "allocated" by Xiao He at all. Xiao He only needs to approve a note to take out the part of the food that has been reserved for the officials and slaves of the Shaofu. Can!

Thinking of this, Liu Ying couldn't help but asked again in confusion.

"Xiao Xiang just said that all officials in Guanzhong will receive half of their salaries temporarily."

"However, Xiao knows quite well that officials and officials have a lot of money, even if their salary is halved, they can barely use it."

"However, the officials and slaves in the Shaofu are all penniless. If Prime Minister Xiao cuts off their rations, what will these tens of thousands of officials and slaves eat?"

As she said that, Liu Ying also felt a little bit annoyed about Yang Chengyan.

"It should be known that in today's court, those who are in the high position of Jiuqing, but do not have the title of Chehou, are alone in the Shaofu!"

"The Zhengguo Canal was built here alone, and the Shaofu also did its best, and there were only 17 private slaves."

"Now that Prime Minister Xiao has said a word, he refuses to allocate the rations used by tens of thousands of officials and slaves. What should the Shaofu do?"

"Waiting for my father's class teacher, I heard that all the officials and slaves of the Shaofu were starved to death, what should the Shaofu say?"

"I thought of myself as the prince of Jian Guo, and I used tens of thousands of official slaves to build canals, but they starved to death. How should I face my father?"

Speaking of this, seeing Xiao He was about to speak, Liu Ying hurriedly raised her hand, and finally there was a little bit of blame on her face.

"Doesn't Xiang Xiang think that the [-] officials and slaves alone can be used as food rations?"

"If that's the case, why doesn't Gu pay with food and hire the people's strength as labor?"

"Furthermore: if Gu Gu didn't drive out tens of thousands of official slaves this time, thinking that he would work hard to build the canal, could it be that Prime Minister Xiao didn't care about the survival of tens of thousands of official slaves?"

"If Gu doesn't use it as a labor force, could it be that Xiao Xiangguo wants to bear the responsibility of 'refusal to allocate grain and rice, causing tens of thousands of officials and slaves to starve to death'?"

(End of this chapter)