The Jin army besieged the city, and the Song emperor’s daughter died

Chapter 71 Taiyuan City Defense

The Taiyuan issue was finally put on the agenda.

The imperial court had no objection to the commendations given to Taiyuan magistrate Zhang Xiaochun and general Wang Zhen.

There is no objection to Han Shizhong's command of the mighty army to garrison Taiyuan City.

However, there were different opinions on other defensive arrangements in Taiyuan City.

Military leaders such as Zhong Shidao and Zongze believed that Taiyuan City should also refer to the regulations of Kaifeng City. The city walls should be strengthened and strengthened, and the city walls should be increased and the height should be increased. The ten miles surrounding Taiyuan City should be strengthened and cleared.

The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Department of Banking and Finance felt that this move would be very costly and would not be allowed given the current strength of the national treasury.

Qin Hui smiled bitterly: "The Department of Silver and Money earned some money from selling national debts a few days ago, but most of the money was used to strengthen the city wall eighty miles away in Kaifeng, and part of it was given to the Academy of Sciences of the Song Dynasty for purchase. The rest has to be Keep it in case something happens, I really don’t have any more money to allocate to Taiyuan."

"Where's the treasury?" Zhong Shidao asked.

The Minister of Household Affairs had no choice but to say: "There is money in the treasury, but the money in the treasury must be used by the Bank and Money Department. If all the money is taken out, the short-term national debt cannot be redeemed in the future, which may cause chaos."

Zongze was a little displeased: "Taiyuan's defense is the top priority, why are we still considering these things?"

Seeing everyone quarreling in the Chui Gong Hall, Zhao Fujin interrupted: "The money used as a backstop for the Silver Coin Department must not be touched. This is related to the well-being of our officials in the Song Dynasty, and it is also related to the credibility of our Song Dynasty court."

Zhao Fujin's words immediately attracted the approval of the civil servants in the store: "What the officials said makes sense. We all spent a lot of money to buy national bonds."

Zongze himself also bought a lot of treasury bonds. Although he had the awareness that "it's a big deal and he doesn't need the money anymore", this awareness was obviously too high, and normal people simply couldn't reach such a height.

"If Taiyuan really needs money, I have a plan!" Qin Hui bowed.

Zhao Fujin nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"If we open up national debt to the public and allow wealthy merchants to buy it, we should be able to raise a lot of money in a short period of time."

Everyone's eyes lit up and they all felt that this plan was feasible!
Anyway, these wealthy merchants have plenty of spare money.

When only court officials were allowed to buy national bonds before, these wealthy households tried every means to participate. Some of them had relatives in the court who were officials, and even gave money to their relatives to buy them.

However, due to strict censorship, not many were successful.

Now that the situation is open, it seems that it will not be difficult to raise a sum of money in a short period of time.

But Zhao Fujin firmly objected: "No!"

As for the reason for his opposition, Zhao Fujin could not explain it clearly, because with the intelligence and wisdom of the people of the Song Dynasty, once everyone can buy national bonds, it is very likely that national bonds will become circulating currency. For example, Zhang San bought one hundred guan of national bonds, and something happened to his family. When something happened and money was urgently needed, Li Si took advantage of the situation and robbed him, and recovered ninety dollars.

This is still a relatively normal way.

Abnormal, refer to land annexation.

There are ways to gather the national debt into the hands of a small group of people. When the time comes, this small group of people will become the court's creditors. Is this repayable?
Unless there is a set of detailed and feasible strategies to avoid this situation from happening, there will only be two results in the future. Either the court will be controlled by this small group of people, or the court will not admit it and directly accuse this group of people and confiscate their homes. But then High-sounding crimes will lead to the bankruptcy of the court's credibility, and the financial seeds will be directly aborted.

Moreover, once the court's credibility goes bankrupt, the impact will be huge.

The reason why officials are allowed to purchase is because the officialdom of the Song Dynasty has its own set of ways of playing, and its controllability is much stronger than what is found in the market.

Therefore, until Zhao Fujin is free to improve these problems, it will never be possible to expand the Treasury Department's national debt.

Seeing the official's rejection, Qin Hui suggested again: "If this plan doesn't work, there is another plan. You can take out the money these people have deposited in the Bank and Coin Department for emergency relief. As long as there is no large-scale withdrawal, it should be fine."

Depositing money is also the main business of the Banking Department.It's just that although the current Bank and Money Department is similar to the banks of later generations, there is no interest on deposits. Not only is there no interest, but deposit management fees must be paid to the Bank and Money Department.

There is no interest money, and the Yinqian Department cannot use it for investment. Moreover, the Taiyuan incident is a war, and there is no possibility of earning it back. Unless the Jin Kingdom is defeated in the first battle, they will pay the New Year coins to the Song Dynasty. , otherwise you won’t be able to get it back no matter how much you take out.

Seeing that Zhao Fujin still shook his head, Qin Hui had no choice but to retreat.

"How about changing your thinking?" Zhao Fujin knocked on the handle of the dragon chair: "If we don't reinforce the city wall of Taiyuan and don't strengthen the wall and clear the country in Taiyuan, is there no other way?"

Everyone was speechless and looked at each other.

After a moment, Zhao Fujin smiled and said: "Do you still remember "The Alliance of Chanyuan"?"

Although this peace agreement, the longest lasting in human history, was considered a shame by some later generations, it still had its value.

At least it is of great reference significance in dealing with the current Taiyuan issue.

"The officials want peace? No!"

Li Bangyan, the previously steadfast leader of the Peace faction, was the first to jump to the side!
"If we sue for peace, we will have to cede territory and pay compensation. This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Li Gang and other main combatants were all dumbfounded. What stimulated Mr. Li?
Zhao Fujin is very satisfied. There are many benefits of national debt. One of them is that everyone has become a grasshopper in a line. I can't run away, and I can't run away from you. Li Bangyan bought half of his family wealth in national debt. If he sues for peace, no matter how he cedes land, He couldn't accept it either as compensation or compensation.

With the ceding of land, there will be less tax revenue, less money for the treasury, and less dividends.

To pay compensation, the money secretary waved his hand, and he lost even his principal.

One of the reasons why the pro-peace faction and the fence-sitting faction, who used to always clamor to spend money to get things done, are so active is because they feel that they always have a way out. Anyway, reparations are not spent on their own money, and ceding land is not ceding their own land. Even if the old Zhao family is gone, it is just a change of master. It might be better to follow brother Wanyan.

"What kind of peace are you asking for? Even if you want peace, it is still a peace negotiation. What I want to say is, in "The Alliance of Tan Yuan", what does the Liao Kingdom care about most?"

"Sui coins!" Li Bangyan answered quickly.

"Sui coins? It was before, and then I remember that it wasn't just once or twice that we defaulted on the sui coins. The Liao envoy didn't think it was important, and even took the initiative to ask us if we had any difficulties. If so, just ask."

During the reigns of Renzong, Shenzong, and Zhezong, it was true that the Liao Dynasty was not in arrears once or twice, and the Liao Kingdom never demanded payment. This was a tacit understanding.

"What I am asking is, the Liao Kingdom can tolerate the arrears of annual coins, but what is the one thing that it cannot tolerate?"

Even if Li Bangyan wanted to answer the question, he could not answer it due to his limited knowledge.

Li Gang thought about it for a long time, and suddenly his face lit up: "I understand! Tangdai!"

Zhao Fujin smiled and nodded: "During the Zhenzong period, Li Yun, the magistrate of Xiongzhou, cleared the canal fields outside Xiongzhou City in order to increase the grain harvest. He only dug holes outside the city and turned over the soil, but did not divert water for irrigation. , the Liao Kingdom couldn't sit still, and rushed to Kaifeng to protest at Xingye. Why?"

Li Gang also smiled and looked at his colleagues in the palace: "This pond is just a patch of paddy fields. The fields are connected with each other. It is difficult for the cavalry to move. If you want to set up artillery, you have to fill these holes first."

Zhao Fujin then said: "At the end of February, it is the time of spring plowing. We should strengthen the walls and clear the fields, strengthen the city defenses, and mobilize the people to open ponds and dais around the city to divert water to grow rice. Anyone who builds ponds and dais will be provided with rice seeds by the imperial court. Grain tax exemption for three years! In this way, the city defense will be available, the rice will be harvested in time for the summer harvest, and the food will be available."

Zhao Fujin used this trick to solve Taiyuan City's defense problem with just some rice seeds.

"Then why don't we do it in Kaifeng?" Li Bangyan was puzzled.

Li Gang sighed: "Taiyuan's city defense is only ten miles away, but our Kaifeng defense is eighty miles away. Eighty miles of fields and streets...does Mr. Li think it's feasible?"

(End of this chapter)