I studied in modern times

Chapter 723 Finance (1)

The tenth day of the second month of the second year of Yuanyou.

Great worship!
Lu Gongzhu, Shangshu You Pushe, Zhongshu Shilang, and Shen Guogong, was promoted to Shangshu Zuo Pushe and Menxia Shilang, and concurrently the Director of the Labor Law Review Office and the Director of Low-interest Loans for the Convenience of the People.

After taking office as a new official, Lu Gongzhu began to accept the political legacy left by Han Jiang.

He visited the Labor Law Review Office non-stop and examined documents. For several days, he discussed labor law matters with Kaifeng Prefecture and the Ministry of Revenue.

Then, he formally entered the Taifu Temple, and as the left prime minister, he required all the departments to report to him regularly on the audit situation of various departments in Beijing.

After consulting Zhao Xu, Liu Weijian readily agreed to this request.

then……

Liu Weijian sent someone to invite Lu Gongzhu to the Taifu Temple.

Then, he handed Lu Gongzhu a room full of account books.

Lu Gongzhu was embarrassed on the spot, thinking that Liu Weijian was deliberately making things difficult for him.

But his doubts were soon dispelled.

Because Liu Weijian also called dozens of officials who were proficient in accounting to demonstrate to Lu Gongzhu on the spot how to calculate the detailed income and expenditure of various departments.

At the same time, he also communicated with Lu Gongzhu about the secrets of various departments in Beijing.

This is different from the Ministry of Revenue’s Zuo Zang, who was running away like a mouse.

All the government departments in Beijing have huge surpluses.

From the eighth year of Yuanfeng to the present, the total surplus has reached more than four million strings of cash!

This really scared Lu Gongzhu.

"How can there be such a huge surplus?" Lu Gongzhu could hardly believe his ears.

More than four million strings of cash!
This is more than four million strings of cash!
In all the prefectures and counties of the Song Dynasty, there were two million households in cities and towns, and the total commercial tax collected in one year was only more than three million strings of cash!
And in just over two years, the various departments in Beijing have made a surplus of more than four million strings of cash?
If he had not been appointed as the Left Prime Minister, he would not have known that the various government departments in the capital were so lucrative!
Liu Weijian smiled and said, "Eight years before Yuanfeng, all the departments in Beijing had to pay money from the Fengzhuang Treasury every year..."

"And now, the various departments have a surplus of more than 4 million strings of cash in two years, which is due to the wisdom of the current government and its good management!"

Having said that, Liu Weijian ordered someone to fetch the general ledger of all departments.

Liu Weijian took it and said with a smile: "Take the Military Equipment Supervisory Bureau and the Military Equipment Manufacturing Bureau as an example. Before the eighth year of Yuanfeng, the Fengzhuang Treasury and the Ministry of Revenue had to allocate hundreds of thousands or even millions of strings of money to the Military Equipment Supervisory Bureau and the Military Equipment Manufacturing Bureau every year!"

"And now, the Military Equipment Manufacturing Bureau not only does not need money from the palace or the Ministry of Revenue, but can also support the Military Equipment Supervision Bureau..."

Lu Gongzhu listened and could hardly believe his ears.

He is not familiar with the bureau that specializes in manufacturing military equipment.

But he was very familiar with the Arms Inspectorate!

He had been a Privy Councilor and knew very well what a money-eating beast the Military Equipment Bureau of the Song Dynasty was.

Whenever war breaks out, the Military Equipment Inspectorate would be eager to wipe out every last bit of the Ministry of Revenue's wealth.

Therefore, when he was the Privy Councilor, he went to the palace every day to block the emperor's way in order to ask for money.

But now, Liu Weijian told him that the Military Equipment Inspectorate and the Military Equipment Manufacturing Bureau no longer needed subsidies from the Ministry of Revenue and Fengzhuangku?

They have achieved financial self-sufficiency!
How can it be?

Lu Gongzhu immediately leaned forward in front of Liu Weijian, his eyes fixed on the account book in his hand.

Liu Weijian handed the account book to Lu Gongzhu with a smile and said, "Left Prime Minister, you can review this account book in the Ministry of Finance, but you cannot take it away from here."

"You must also tell the ministers of the outer court about the truth without any instructions."

"This is the rule we set!"

"When Duke Kangguo was here, there were never any mistakes!"

Lu Gongzhu took the account book. He understood what Liu Weijian said - in the past, when Han Jiang was here, this rule had never been broken!

I hope you will not break this rule while in office.

This is the king's order!

What Liu Weijian did not say should probably be: If a minister is not discreet, he will lose his king; if a king is not discreet, he will lose his minister.

At the same time, Lu Gongzhu also grasped the information revealed in Liu Weijian's words, and secretly said: "You are not allowed to talk to the ministers outside the court without an imperial decree..." "In other words, an imperial decree will do!"

"In other words, someone in the outer court came into contact with and knew the secrets in this account book earlier than I did?"

Thinking of this, Lu Gongzhu's curiosity could no longer be suppressed.

He couldn't help but ask, "May I ask the guard... who did Duke Kangguo tell you about this?"

Liu Weijian smiled and said, "How many people did Duke Kang tell about this in accordance with the imperial order? I am not sure, and I dare not ask."

"But, I do know who are the people who are here with Duke Kangguo, reading the account books together, or who are ordered to look at the account books..."

"Cai Fuyin of Kaifeng Prefecture, Shen Tiju who specializes in manufacturing military equipment, Zhang Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue, and the criminal justice scholar of the Academy of Scholars..."

Lu Gongzhu let out a sigh of relief, and understood what was going on.

These people are the true confidants of the current emperor and the core circle, and most of them are frequent visitors to the quiet room in the east hall of the Funing Palace.

Just ...

"Why is there no Prince Shao?" Lü Gongzhu was delighted: "It seems that Prince Shao's favor is not that great!"

This made him feel more at ease.

Although, the reputations of these four guys, Cai Jing, Shen Kuo, Zhang Heng and Xing Shu, are just that.

But compared with Wang Zishao, these four people are all gentlemen!

But they forgot that the people Liu Weijian named were all ministers related to economy and production.

Wang Zishao is in charge of personnel matters.

HR does not need to know the company's financial situation, HR only needs to do a good job of recruiting and firing people.

But in Lu Gongzhu's case, he understood that Zhao Xu knew how to be close to virtuous ministers and stay away from villains.

For those with moral stains, we will use them but not get close to them.

This is great for Lu Gongzhu!

After all, the Zhao officials often behave like inhuman beings.

Even the Emperor Renmiao, who is now regarded as the representative of a benevolent and holy monarch in the eyes of public opinion, is the same!
After letting out a sigh of relief, Lu Gongzhu opened the account book in his hand.

What came into view was the 'form' that the officials in the capital were now very familiar with, and the so-called 'numbers' filled in the form.

These things first came into the attention of the court and the public in the eighth year of Yuanfeng.

then……

Everyone accepted it and then got used to it.

This is normal!

Ministers should adapt to the emperor's habits.

Otherwise, does the emperor have to adapt to his ministers?

It’s against Tiangang!

To be honest, after accepting the tables and getting used to the numbers, all the ministers now find that these things are indeed very convenient!
Just draw the form and fill in the numbers, and everything will be clear at a glance.

So, now not only Dutang has gotten used to it.

The six ministries and officials in Beijing also began to use it.

These tables, numbers and symbols even began to appear in the hands of accountants in many guilds in the city of Bianliang.

At the same time, simple symbols of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division also slowly flowed out.

Holding the account book, Lu Gongzhu looked at it carefully.

He himself is an expert in accounting - to be precise, the Shouzhou Lu family, starting from Lu Mengzheng, has been the accounting experts of the Song Dynasty.

The settlement of accounts is so quick and efficient!
This is also the basic skill for the Lu family to survive!
Li Chang, a student of Lu Gongzhu, was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and concurrently the Editor of the Yuanyou Accounting Records.

Responsible for writing the first book on accounting in the Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)