I just want to make money

Chapter 223 Start Making Money

The emperor goes to court.

This was the first time Song Huizong went to court after taking the poison pill for a month.

Many things happened in this month. Prime Minister Cai Jing, privy envoy Tong Guan, Taiwei Gao Qiu were reprimanded, Shao Zai Wang Fu was arrested, Cai You was demoted, Liang Shicheng, Yang Jian and other eunuchs were killed, and many officials were implicated. Up to 50 people.

Now in court,
It feels much looser than before, empty.

This is the biggest purge since Song Huizong ascended the throne.

of course,

The gazes of many officials, intentionally or unintentionally, sneaked a glance at the young man standing among the group of important officials in purple robes. The number one scholar, who became a senior member of the purple robe in just four or five months, can be said to be unparalleled in the court's favor.

At the meeting,
Cai Jing went out to report the major events that happened these days, such as floods in a certain place, locust plagues in a certain place, the half-year evaluation of officials, and so on.

Song Huizong only briefly explained a few words. In fact, the imperial court has established laws for many things. If there are no major problems, just follow the previous laws.

Yushitai Yushi Zhongcheng came out and counted the crimes of those officials, from Shaozai Wang Fu to Zhu Xi and a large number of officials.

Song Huizong only said, "Punish according to the law."

The three divisions came out to report on the income of salt and iron, fiscal revenue and government expenditure in the first half of the year.

Speaking of,
Compared with other dynasties, the financial revenue of the Song Dynasty is still very high. For example, the annual financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty is only 2000 million taels of silver, the Qing Dynasty can reach 8000 million taels, and the peak of the Song Dynasty can reach 1.6 million taels. Twice the eight times of the Ming Dynasty.

Even now during the Song Huizong period, the annual fiscal revenue of the imperial court can reach about 1.1 million yuan.

But even so, it's still not enough.

The annual deficit reaches about 1500 million to 2000 million guan.

How did the money disappear? Lin Yi read a lot of relevant materials in the library, and coupled with the history books he had read, he could naturally analyze the reason why the money was not enough.

The officials of the Song Dynasty concluded that the financial problems were three redundant and three expenses, redundant soldiers, redundant officials, and redundant monks. The three expenses were fasting and offering sacrifices in dojos, building more temples, and extravagant expenses for public use.

The finances of the Song Dynasty are mainly divided into three parts, the palace finance, the central finance and the local finance. The palace finance is the emperor’s internal money. The state allocates a part of the fiscal revenue to the emperor, and the emperor has the final say on how to spend it.

During the Song Dynasty, the proportion of funds was about 15%-20%, that is to say, 1500 million fiscal revenue, Song Huizong took 2000 to [-] million, of course, he had to support the harem, the prince, and other expenses of the royal family. .

The central finance is the national finance, which involves all aspects of the country, including official expenses, raising soldiers, fighting wars, paying old coins and so on.

Local finance means that the local government retains part of the tax revenue and uses it as local construction expenditure.

Speaking of,
In fact, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty was not short of money. His life was better than that of the emperors of all dynasties. There was no shortage of money in the local area. The most short of money was actually the state finance.

After Song Huizong listened to the report, he nodded and said: "After the court meeting, Cai Jing, the third envoy, and the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs stayed behind to discuss the matter of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."

It should be that Cai Jing, the envoy of the third division, and the Minister of the Ministry of household came out together.

Song Huizong said again:
"The matter of increasing income needs to be discussed, but the matter of reducing expenditure can start now. First, I have decided to stop the expansion of the royal garden and finish it now, so that 300 million can be left."

The ministers present were shocked.

His Majesty has changed his mind, and even the royal garden has to stop working.

"Second, the plans to build gymnasiums in various states are cancelled, so that 600 million can be saved from the budget."

This article shocked the ministers again.

"Third, all localities should abolish the bureau, and stop collecting exotic flowers and stones from now on, so that 1000 million can be saved every year."

The third envoy was overjoyed.

Song Huizong used 2000 million guan less, which is equivalent to spending 2000 million guan less. Now the financial gap and deficit are gone, and he can relax a lot.

Song Huizong looked at Yu Shi Zhongcheng again, and said: "In order to prevent people below from being obedient and violating, Yu Shitai sent people to conduct strict investigations everywhere, and at the same time strictly investigate corruption, embezzlement and bribery in various places, especially the behavior of forcibly occupying people's land and wealth. Report for accountability."

"I obey the order~!"

Yushi Zhongcheng came out and responded loudly.

Excited,
Many upright ministers were extremely excited.

They finally waited for this day.

Many officials voluntarily went out to bow and salute,

"Your Majesty Shengming."

"Your Majesty Shengming."

When the internal affairs came to an end, someone came forward and bowed to report, "Zhong Shidao, Zhang Shuye, and Zong Ze are waiting outside the hall to see you."

"Xuan."

Zhong Shidao, Zhang Shuye, and Zong Ze entered the hall together and bowed to Song Huizong. Lin Yi looked at the three of them. Zhong Shidao was tall and dignified. Silk, but the body is tall and straight without aging.

Zhang Shuye and Zong Ze are also about 50 to [-] years old, and they all look upright.

Lin Yixin said,
Cultivating these people well in the future will help us in the future.

Song Huizong encouraged them with a few words, let them work hard in the future, and don't live up to their trust.

The meeting is over.

Song Huizong called Cai Jing, the third envoy, and the Minister of the Household Department to discuss financial matters, and naturally called Lin Yi. From this point, the three of them once again felt how much Lin Yi was favored.

And to be honest,

Now Lin Yi's actual authority is no less than theirs.

In the past, Liang Shicheng was known as a "hidden phase". In fact, Liang Shicheng's greatest reliance was writing imperial edicts to the emperor. Now that Liang Shicheng has been killed, the job of writing imperial edicts naturally falls on Lin Yi. Now Lin Yi is writing imperial edicts for Song Huizong No.1.

Formally speaking, Zhongshu Sheren is the official drafter of the decree. Song Huizong used Liang Shicheng to draft the decree for convenience. In fact, it has already messed up the court rules. Now this right is in the hands of Lin Yi. Many ministers agree with it in their hearts, because This is more disciplined.

As for whether Lin Yi will become another powerful minister, that is actually a matter of the future. At least many honest officials are very willing to see this result. Besides, Lin Yi is the number one scholar, a literati leader, and is better than a eunuch. They are easier on the head.

royal garden,
gazebo.

The breeze slowly leaves the fields of lotus leaves.

Song Huizong, or Lin Yi called Cai Jing, San Sishi, and Hubu Shangshu to come, not to discuss anything, but to announce some decisions to them.

Song Huizong sat cross-legged, and others stood beside him. Song Huizong said to the third envoy and the Minister of the Household Department: "I have reduced internal funds, but there is always room for money. I decided to open some royal business, and those businesses I am going to make Lin Qing responsible, and if Lin Qing finds you in the future, she must cooperate well."

The emperor himself earns money to support himself.

How dare the two of them disagree.

He said some details and asked the two to leave, then looked at Cai Jing again, "Cai Xiang, do you have any objections to my running the Imperial Merchant?"

"I have no objection."

"But I have a problem with you."

Cai Jing was shocked.

It is estimated that I will be scolded again.

"You carry out Wang Anshi's New Deal openly, but there are differences inside and outside. Do you think I can't see it? You have been in charge of this matter. From now on, I want you to implement the New Deal policy as it is. You must not discount it if you don't do it well. , you, Cai Jing, are going to retire and return home, including you Cai and all the people you promoted, get out together."

Wang Anshi's New Deal,
Including the method of enriching the country, the method of strengthening the army, and the method of recruiting scholars.

The laws of enriching the country include the Young Crops Law, the Raising Labor Law, the Square Field Average Tax Law, the Farmland Water Conservancy Law, the Market Exchange Law, the Average Transport Law, and so on.

The method of strengthening the army includes the method of protecting armor, protecting horses, generals and military weapons, etc.

The method of selecting scholars mainly includes specific measures such as reforming the imperial examination system, rectifying Taixue, and emphasizing the promotion and appointment of middle- and lower-level officials.

Lin Yi has carefully studied Wang Anshi's reform, and it is considered a good policy that is more in line with the current situation. Cai Jing is also a supporter of the reform. After he came to power, he used the slogan of implementing the new law, but he secretly used this slogan to exclude dissidents. Dry.

The scriptures are good scriptures, but Cai Jing's reading was completely misunderstood.

Since it was Cai Jing who made the mess, Lin Yi naturally let him clean it up. With this prostration skill, you have to listen even if you don’t listen. If you don’t listen, you will break your oath.

"The old minister takes orders, and he will live up to His Majesty's orders!"

Cai Jing bowed and answered with difficulty.

in the afternoon,

Lin Yi came to the Privy Council.

Tong Guan and Zhong Shidao greeted him, Zhong Shidao knew that he was able to be transferred from the frontier army to the capital to serve as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, all because of Bachelor Lin in front of him, so although he was old, he had a respectful attitude.

Gao Qiu and Zong Ze were also there, and it was Lin Yi who asked to be notified in advance to come and have a meeting together.

The topic of this chat is only one, to report the situation of the army, and then find ways to carry out reforms, eliminate garbage and retain elite soldiers.

Lin Yi read history,
When the Kingdom of Jin destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin soldiers had about 30 regular cavalry, 10 regular infantry, and 50 reserve troops.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were one million regular forbidden troops and 150 million reserve troops, but these soldiers were defeated in one blow. In the final analysis, they still had insufficient fighting will.

Elite soldiers,

What the Song Dynasty needs is not a large number of people, but elite soldiers. Eliminating redundant soldiers will not only reduce expenses, but also improve combat effectiveness.

Speaking of this, Master Zhong said: "To tell you the truth, there is actually another reason for the defeat, that is, the arrears of military pay are too serious."

"The frontier army is 50, dare to fight Xixia, dare to fight Liao, dare to fight Jin, but they can receive half a year's salary a year, half of the supply is not bad, because the salary supply is insufficient, the army's morale will inevitably be lax, and they will not be able to eat enough If you don’t wear warm clothes, and if you encounter corruption and embezzlement by generals, it’s even less likely that your combat effectiveness will be high.”

Wars are fought over money.

This principle has never changed throughout the ages.

Even in modern society, if you don't have money, don't even think about raising an army, don't even think about sending troops to fight.

At this time, Lin Yi said: "Your Majesty has ordered me to open the 'Imperial Merchant'. I am confident that I will earn a lot of money, even more than salt and iron tea. In two years at most, I can guarantee that the imperial court will provide sufficient military expenses. With the cooperation of the army, I need everyone to help me a little bit."

Royal merchants.

Emperor's business.

A few people naturally dare not say half a word.

"Your Majesty said, the next task for you is to integrate the army and make the Forbidden Army, Frontier Army, and Xiang Army into a more effective army."

Several people got up together.

"Follow His Majesty's orders."

Many things come together in the end, and you will find that one thing needs to be solved.

Money~!

Lin Yi had to sigh again.

Money is really a good thing. Without it, the country is weak, the people are poor, life is hard, and everything is impossible.

So next.

Lin Yi is ready to start making money.

Now that the emperor is him, the prime minister, the household department, and the three departments have opened up the yamen, and several big men in the military have also opened up, and no one can stop him from making money.

evening,

After the meeting, Lin Yi returned to the palace to report.

at night,

Nothing to do, Song Huizong stayed overnight in the harem, and tonight the two beauties from yesterday were still in charge of serving. Yesterday he was unbearable for the first time, but today he recovered almost. Lin Yi didn't spare any effort, and the torrential rain poured down, and the river flooded.

The next day,

In the suburb of Huangzhuang.

Lin Yi called more than 200 craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry. These masters were headed by an official. Lin Yi made these people swear together that the first is to be loyal to His Majesty and the second is not to leak the technology.

Lin Yi's 'this obeisance' took effect.

Dozens of craftsmen were assigned, and Lin Yi taught the 'method of making white sugar'. The craft of making white sugar is simple to these people. Watching the brown sugar water turn white and making snow-white white sugar, these craftsmen were delighted.

A craftsman said: "Brown sugar is cheap and white sugar is expensive. With this method, at least three times the profit can be obtained."

Then Lin Yi taught them how to make rock sugar.

In fact, it is very simple, that is, put cotton thread in the sugar water, and keep the temperature of the sugar water in the pot at about 40 degrees. It takes about a week to condense strings of rock sugar. This method was still used until the 80s.

Rock sugar is also very versatile and has a pure taste. It is one of the best sugars in the world, and it is more convenient to transport.

The next step is to teach how to make snowflake salt.

This is simpler,
Dozens of craftsmen were also assigned to teach the purification method. These people produced several loads of snowflake salt in just one day.

Someone twisted a little salt into his mouth, and immediately said happily: "This is the purest salt I have ever tasted, much better than green salt. Unexpectedly, using the method taught by adults, it can make coarse salt instantly into snow salt."

"The price of this snowflake salt is several times that of coarse salt."

Lin Yi smiled, "The price of these snowflake salts will naturally increase, but I think the price of coarse salt can be lowered appropriately, so that the common people can afford salt, otherwise there is no salt and no energy."

"My lord is benevolent."

The third thing to be presented is soap and soap making technology, but before making soap, Lin Yi asked these craftsmen to make essence.

Spices have existed since ancient times, and they have been widely used in the Song Dynasty. However, essential oils have not been researched yet. Now is the season of flowering. Lin Yi asked people to get a lot of spices and flowers, and distilled them to produce essences, such as sandalwood and benzoin. , rose, jasmine, acacia, camellia, orange peel, lemon and so on.

make the essence,

Lin Yi also asked people to make distilled alcohol, which can be easily mixed into perfume.

As for making soap,

It uses lard, lime water, and lye to produce soapy water after a few steps of chemical reaction, then add different essences, pour it into a mold and cool it to make beautiful soap, Lin Yi also added some colors on purpose, Good to distinguish each scent.

The craftsmen liked the beautiful and smelling soaps very much. After experimenting, they found that these soaps are much better than those on the market, and they are much cheaper to counterfeit. The cost is only one-fifth of the current soap. one.

Everyone knows that this will definitely make money.

Four products have now been identified.

white sugar,

snow salt,
soap.

perfume.

It's not over yet,
Lin Yi took out another even more powerful thing.

Glass.

Does the Song Dynasty have glass now?
Have,
Lin Yi saw a lot of glass products in the palace and robbed Cai Jing and Wang Fu of their belongings, including plates, bowls, cups, bottles, etc.

But it is not called glass, but colored glaze. The color is not pure, there are many impurities, and most of them are imported from the Western Regions.

Even Emperor Huizong, Cai Jing, and Wang Fu of the Song Dynasty did not treat the glazed products they obtained as daily necessities, but placed them as treasures. From this, we can see the preciousness of glazed glass.

The glass that Lin Yi plans to produce is not only pure, transparent and beautiful, but can also be made into glasses and bottles. He also plans to produce glass mirrors.

He believes,
As soon as the mirror appears, it is definitely a big killer, and those rich people will rush to buy it.

After three days of arduous research and development, Lin Yi finally made the glass, and then he taught the palace people how to make various utensils and how to make mirrors. After plating a layer of silver foil on the back of the flat glass, they harvested a mirror.

When the craftsmen saw the silver mirror with no hair left, many people were frightened, "Oh my God, it's so clear, this is a treasure."

I haven't been home for more than half a month.

Lin Yi asked someone to load the car,
Bring a load of samples back to Bianjing.

Lin Yi went straight home. Cui Niannu and Pan Jinlian hadn't seen Lin Yi for half a month, and they all ran out to greet him. Lin Yi smiled and took out gifts.

"This is snowflake salt. From now on, our family will eat this kind of salt. This is rock sugar. Try it."

Several women picked up the rock sugar and put it into their mouths, "Wow, this sweet taste is so pure and delicious."

"It's nothing, look what it is."

Lin Yi took out a small box.

Inside are small boxes one by one, each box contains a piece of soap with different scents, and each woman gets one piece.

"It smells good, is this incense?"

"No, this is soap for bathing. It has rich foam and is cleaner for bathing. It is also good for the skin. After washing, it is fragrant and white. Niannu, Linglong, Jinlian, Yinlian, you all use soap to take a bath tonight." Lin Yi smiled. on the road.

The girls blushed when they heard the meaning of the master's words.

Lin Yi took out another box, which contained small porcelain bottles sealed with cork, "This is perfume. There are twelve fragrances in total. Choose what you like."

Finally Lin Yi took out two sets of glassware.

The women marveled.

"It's such a beautiful glazed vessel. I'm afraid this set will cost no less than two hundred guan, right?" Cui Niannu had seen good things before, and he could tell the extraordinary quality of the glassware at a glance.

Lin Yi smiled and said nothing, he would not tell the women that the cost of this set is only one hundred and ten coins.

At last,
Lin Yi took out the big killer.

glass mirror.

When the women saw how clearly they looked in the mirror, they all became excited, "This mirror is so clear, what a treasure, it must be priceless."

Lin Yi took out six mirrors, each about the size of a football, with tin carvings around them, and brackets behind them, which looked very high-end.

That night,

Several girls waited for Lin Yi to take a bath.

Naturally, it is beautiful.

the next day,
Lin Yi brought the remaining samples to the imperial palace, nominally dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor. That night, Lin Yi exchanged with the clone dolls, brought gifts to the harem, and distributed them to the queen and all the concubines.

this night,
Lin Yi stayed overnight in the palace.

I have also favored two new beauties, and they have infinite beauty.

The fact that Lin Xueshi made many strange things quickly spread to the market. Royal supplies are the best publicity. Many officials’ families are rich and wealthy, and they are very curious about the things in the rumors. However, Lin Yi is not in a hurry. It is estimated that It will be mass-produced in one month, and then it will be the time to make crazy money with big sales.

(End of this chapter)